Category Archives: Fail!

High School Student Committed Suicide After Video Of Him Masturbating Went Viral, Parents Say: LAist

The school district should admit its fault in the matter – and the newspaper that copped the student’s photo off of a tribute site should be ashamed that it did so.

The school district issued this statement on Monday: “At San Diego Unified, the safety and well-being of our students is a top priority. The district also adheres to the privacy and confidentiality laws and regulations related to students, families and ongoing investigations. For this reason, the district cannot provide details about Matthew Burdette’s death. Our hearts and thoughts continue to be with his family and loved ones.”

via High School Student Committed Suicide After Video Of Him Masturbating Went Viral, Parents Say: LAist.

City of Tehran’s female workers fired ‘for own well-being’ – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Tehran City Council member Gholamreza Ansari said on the issue of segregation, “In a situation where a worker has no choice but to work two shifts for the financial security of one’s family, these limitations will have negative consequences and will cause corruption, bribery and fraud.”

Ansari went on, “These kinds of actions have high costs and are only propaganda … and have no relation to the spirit of our religion and ethics. Separating the sexes has been tested many times in various places, such as our universities, and it has not been successful.”

via City of Tehran’s female workers fired ‘for own well-being’ – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.

Kidnapped women, kids are ‘sex slaves’ in DR Congo | News , World | THE DAILY STAR

Anyone listening? Didn’t think so, since this has been going on for decades. As long as minerals keep flowing from Congo to rest of the world’s industries – no one seems to really care.

“Victims have been held as sex slaves – sometimes for months at a time – and sexually assaulted violently by several men, several times a day,” MSF psychologist Ana Maria Tijerino said in a statement.

The aid group also warned that men are being kidnapped and put to work as laborers in the gold and diamond mining region of Okapi, in the east of the vast, mineral-rich nation.

In just one village between May and early July, MSF said its medical teams provided consultations for 3,586 people and treated 143 women, three men and two children who had suffered sexual violence.

Last month a team treated 20 women in a single village who had been raped, it said.

“Violence and sexual violence are nothing new in DR Congo,” Tijerino said. “But for the victims, these atrocities are not normal. No one should have to accept violence on this level.”

MSF warned that many of the victims of sexual violence kept captive for weeks were not receiving vital medical aid that could protect against HIV, sexually transmitted infections or pregnancy.

“Months after an assault, the physical and psychological trauma is still apparent in the survivors,” Tijerino said. “Many suffer from pain, infected wounds, stress, depression and nightmares. They are scared for the future and haunted by what they have lived through.”

via Kidnapped women, kids are ‘sex slaves’ in DR Congo | News , World | THE DAILY STAR.

Israel warns 100,000 Gazans to evacuate their homes | Maan News Agency

So if this child is killed because he has no place to go – it will be his fault because he was warned, or it makes it OK for the homes of 100,000 people to be destroyed?

Israel urged 100,000 Gazans to flee their homes on Wednesday, but the warning was largely ignored despite an intensification of the military’s nine-day campaign.

via Israel warns 100,000 Gazans to evacuate their homes | Maan News Agency.

Israel to demolish 3 homes of Hebron men suspected of killing teens | Maan News Agency

Never have understood this and wonder if homes of three people who have admitted killing of Palestinian teen will be similarly demolished?

Israeli forces on Tuesday delivered demolition orders to the families of two Palestinians in Hebron Israel accuses of kidnapping and killing three Israeli teenagers.

More than a week ago, Israeli forces partly demolished two of the houses, which belonged to Amer Abu Aisha and Marwan al-Qawasmi.

via Israel to demolish 3 homes of Hebron men suspected of killing teens | Maan News Agency.

Wild Horse Oversight Act (H.R. 5058) – {Not!} GovTrack.us

The act would hand over protection and/or destruction of wild horses and burros to each state and tribal organization. The Federal government would no longer protect or manage the welfare of these wild animals.

So, if Utah, New Mexico, or Montana decided it wanted to round up all “their” animals and sell them to slaughter houses for export or consumption in US, they could and US horse burgers would be a big deal in in areas of the world where they are used to eating horses. If you are not in favor of Pinto tacos, or Mustang steaks – you might want to write your Representative.

Chris Stewart

Representative for Utah’s 2nd congressional district

via Wild Horse Oversight Act (H.R. 5058) – GovTrack.us.

Afghanistan car bomb leaves at least 89 civilians dead | World | The Guardian

On and on it goes, down and down they go, why oh, why oh why?

A suicide attacker killed 89 people when he detonated a car filled with explosives in a crowded bazaar in eastern Afghanistan, the bloodiest insurgent attack on civilians for several years.

Dozens more were injured in a blast so big that it brought down the roofs of shops lining the roads, trapping shopkeepers and their customers in the rubble.

“A man in a Toyota SUV was identified by police as a potential attacker, but when they ordered him to stop for checks, he set off the bomb,” the deputy provincial police chief, Nasar Ahmad, told the Guardian. He said all but two of the victims were civilians.

via Afghanistan car bomb leaves at least 89 civilians dead | World | The Guardian.

rubble and dust | Palestine Rose

Dr. Nasser al-Tatar, shining example

of selflessness and humanity,

worked continuous shifts for six days

in Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital;

…when he finally went home,

Dr. Nasser al-Tater,

watched as his home

where he had lived for 30 years—

was being bombed into rubble and dust

in less than one minute,

by an American F-16 ‘Falcon Fighter’ jet,

given to Israel by American tax payers…

via rubble and dust | Palestine Rose.

Read carefully – Israel isn’t bombing Gaza because of Hamas — New Internationalist

Israel’s oppression of Palestinians doesn’t start and finish with large-scale military operations: ‘normality’ for Gazans is ghetto life, for those in the West Bank, ethnic cleansing and colonization. Rockets or no rockets do not change this. The air, sea and land blockade of Gaza – now supported by Egypt – has gone on for seven long years. And when a ceasefire is implemented, and it may be in place by 9am on 15 July, Israel and its supporters will expect a return to the status quo. This is why resistance should not be denounced by those outside liberation movements: resistance in all forms is any oppressed people’s right to shout to the world, ‘we’re still here’ and to demand justice and change.

Until the world realizes that military operations in Gaza are about subduing the population into compliance with Israel’s quest to carry on as it pleases, the occupying state will continue killing and oppressing, unabated for decades to come.

via Israel isn’t bombing Gaza because of Hamas — New Internationalist.

Hobby Lobby: A “Perfect Storm” to Galvanize the Public | National Women’s Law Center

  1. The Use of Religion As an Excuse to Discriminate: Over the past few years, there has been a campaign to use religion as a disguise for discrimination. (It must be noted that many people of religion have spoken out against these attempts.) Perhaps the most famous recent example of this is the Arizona bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse to serve LGBT individuals and others. In Hobby Lobby, the Supreme Court allowed employers to impose their religious beliefs on their employees.
  2. Corporate Personhood: There have been many attempts to imbue corporations with an ever-increasing number of legal rights in order to allow the 1 percent to further entrench their power. The best known example of this is the Citizens United case – in which the Supreme Court held that corporations had a First Amendment right to make campaign donations. Thanks to the Hobby Lobby decision, corporations will not only be joining us on the campaign trail but in the pew as well, since the Supreme Court ruled that some corporations have a right to religious liberty under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
  3. Denying Women The Ability to Make Their Own Reproductive Health Decisions: At the heart of the campaign against reproductive rights is the idea that women should not be able to make their own decisions about their health care. The outpouring of support for Wendy Davis’ 2013 filibuster was precisely because women were feeling silenced about their own health and Davis spoke up seemingly on all of our behalf. The Hobby Lobby decision doubles-down on this point – both by allowing bosses to have a say in their women employee’s health care choices and because it is about birth control. Let’s repeat that – they don’t trust women to make decisions about BIRTH CONTROL. In the year 2014.

via Hobby Lobby: A “Perfect Storm” to Galvanize the Public | National Women’s Law Center.