Friday, August 30, 2013

University of Alberta creates ‘all-gender’ restrooms for transgender students


EDMONTON, Alberta, August 29, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Although the University of Alberta already has unisex restrooms on campus, the university has agreed to create "all-gender washrooms" for transgender students.

“We see a lot of people on our campus who may be trans- or gender non-conforming who do have issues with the washrooms because they are forced to act on this [sexual] binary," said Melanie Alexander of the school's "Gender-Based Violence Prevention Project," according to a CBC report.

"It’s this really vulnerable place to be when you don’t feel like you have places that reflect your gender expression,” she added.

The school has replaced the signs on all single-toilet washrooms, such as those that are wheelchair accessible, with ones that show both male and female figures in addition to a wheelchair.  (more...)

Giant billboard seeks college girls with 'strong Oral skills,' features porn star

The ad targets female students.
A new billboard just three-miles from the University of California Los Angeles's (UCLA) Westwood campus is seeking female students who are equipped with "good oral skills."

"Do you have good oral skills?" asks the billboard which hangs over the corner of Pico and Gateway Blvds.

The job? Providing "companionship" as a "sugar baby" for successful area men who in exchange provide money and gifts.

The billboard, which also features a photo of smiling, but clad, porn star Bree Olson, is the creation of Toronto-based ArrangementFinders.com, which provides Sugar Daddy services to young cash-strapped women.  (more...)

Hundreds turn out to Downtown Billings to protest Judge Baugh's comments


As many as 400 people gathered Thursday outside the Yellowstone County Courthouse demanding changes to how sexual assault victims are treated and calling for the resignation of District Court Judge G. Todd Baugh.

Ontario College of Teachers Hearings



  • A Discipline Committee panel reprimanded former Waterloo Region DSB teacher Colin Jeffrey Sawers for unprofessional behaviour with a male student.
  • A Discipline Committee panel revoked the Certificate of Qualification and Registration of Stephen Edward Fletcher, a teacher with the Halton DSB, for engaging in an inappropriate and unprofessional personal relationship with a female student, which culminated in a criminal conviction for sexual exploitation.
  • A Discipline Committee panel ordered that the Certificate of Qualification and Registration of Toronto private school principal Yusuf Ali Talukder be revoked in connection with a criminal conviction for sexual assault and sexual interference involving a 13-year-old student.
  • A Discipline Committee panel revoked the Certificate of Qualification and Registration of Stewart Montague Adams after hearing allegations of professional misconduct related to criminal convictions for accessing, possessing and making available child pornography between February and June 2010.
  • A Discipline Committee panel revoked the Certificate of Qualification and Registration of Brian Douglas Jones after conducting a hearing into allegations of professional misconduct related to criminal convictions for sexual exploitation and obstructing justice.


Details:

Conversion Therapy Law Threatens Christians

When Chris Christie signed a law against conversion therapy directed at counseling teens experiencing homoerotic feelings, he probably didn't think he had just put New Jersey on a path similar to countries like Saudi Arabia, which forbids conversion from the prevailing Muslim faith.

But forbidding efforts to convert is essentially what the governor did.  He expressly forbade conversion from the prevailing progressive religion, whose chief doctrine is that sexual behavior, including the homoerotic behavior of some children, is a sacred, infallible, and therefore unchangeable indicator of what human identity entails.

He forbade moral suasion.  He forbade attempts to persuade young people that another way of life is available. That other way that is forbidden is, of course, the way of Christian sexual ethics.  Counseling a kid to follow the Christian way, to attempt to change his or her homoerotic behavior, is verboten.  (more...)

NB councillor's crimes would net 75 years in prison if sentenced separately, court reportedly hears


Saint John, N.B., councillor and youth worker Donnie Snook would be behind bars for 75 years if he was sentenced for each of his child sex abuse crimes separately, court reportedly heard Friday.

Snook, who pleaded guilty in May to 46 child exploitation charges, faced the second day of a sentencing hearing.

The offences -- which include making and distributing child pornography, sexual assault and touching a child for a sexual purpose -- took place between 2001 and 2013 and involve 17 boys.

Psychological assessments of Snook presented in court confirmed he was sexually abused as a child  (more...)

Human Rights Groups Support Russian Law


NEW YORK, August 30 (C-FAM) Human Rights Organizations from around the world are supporting Russia’s effort to protect children from homosexual propaganda.

A statement from civil society affirms the recently enacted Russian law, which imposes fines on individuals and groups that promote homosexuality among minors, as important steps towards fulfilling international obligations towards the family and minors.

Organizations from around the world are “rushing” to offer their support according to Profesionales por la Etica, the Spain based organization coordinating the effort. In just one week 71 organizations have offered their support.

Russia is protecting “genuine and universally recognized human rights against artificial and fabricated false values” like sexual orientation and gender identity, according to the statement.

The statement recognizes the Russian law as an effort to protect the family, the fundamental group unit of society. The law is about protecting the “innocence of children” and the “rights of parents”, it reads.  (more...)

SEX & THE CIVILIZED


Civilizing Sex: On Chastity and the Common Good
by Patrick Riley
Edinburgh, Scotland: T&T Clark, 2000
(272 pages; $28.95, paper [available in the U.S. in May 2002])

reviewed by Angus J. L. Menuge

For some, the topic of chastity is rather like Ptolemaic astronomy: a fascinating relic of the unenlightened past. Hedonistic license is so mainstream that we find it even in the magazines publicly displayed at grocery stores. The mantra of sex education, “They’ll do it anyway,” is promoted as realism and compassion, rather than as cynical defeatism and irresponsible indifference to the mental, physical, and social carnage that results.

Patrick Riley, a philosopher and journalist, does not aim at erudite irrelevance. He provides a philosophical argument, backed by historical analysis, to show that chastity, the confinement of genital activity to marriage, is necessary for the survival of any civilized society. Riley is aware that his thesis clashes with the widely held view that sexual morality is a matter of private preference, and so (unlike justice) is irrelevant to the public good. Such a perspective illustrates Gertrude Himmelfarb’s thesis that society has been “demoralized” by the substitution of private values for public virtues. Virtues, as classically understood, are precisely those traits that support the common good, and whose absence undermines it. Very naturally then, Riley’s philosophical defense of chastity depends on showing that it is a virtue in just this sense.  (more...)

Ours has become a neo-pagan culture, and that can be even worse than a simple pagan culture


By Father George Rutler

Last week the Church celebrated the feast of the Martyrs of Uganda. In the late nineteenth century, French and English missionaries were welcomed by King Mutesa I of Buganda in the southern part of modern Uganda. His successor, Mwanga II, however, was a youth who became a persecutor of Christians and all foreigners. He especially opposed Christian morality, as it contradicted his affinity for unnatural vice which was abhorred by the local Buganda culture, but which he is said to have learned from Arab tradesmen.

The young male pages of Mwanga’s court were Christian converts and refused the king’s attempts at seduction. This disobedience to the king was considered treasonous, and Mwanga exercised what he considered his right to destroy any life at will, according to the saying, Namunswa alya kunswaze — meaning “the queen ant feeds on her subjects.” Mwanga soon decreed the execution of converts Yusufu Rugarama, Makko Kakumba and Nuwa Sserwanga on January 31, 1885. A senior advisor to the king, Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe, was beheaded on November 15, 1885, and there were many martyrdoms in the following year, climaxing on June 3, 1886, with the torture and burning alive of twenty-six at Namugongo, including their leader, Charles Lwanga, a recent convert himself and majordomo of the royal household. Pope Paul VI canonized them in 1964.  (more...)

Thursday, August 29, 2013

The Empire Strikes Back


Wow. Just Wow.

LifeSiteNews Article - http://ow.ly/ootaa

Financial information for - 
Catholic Answers (2010) - http://www.churchmilitant.tv/document...
Catholic Answers (2011) - http://www.churchmilitant.tv/document...
Relevant Radio (2011) - http://www.churchmilitant.tv/document...
EWTN (2011) - http://www.churchmilitant.tv/document...
Ave Maria Radio (2011) - http://www.churchmilitant.tv/document...

Retired judge resigns from review of police use-of-force policies over conflict-of-interest concerns

Former judge Dennis O'Connor has ties to the police through his law firm.
A retired judge appointed by Toronto’s police chief to look into use-of-force policies has stepped down from the review, citing conflict-of-interest concerns raised by victims’ families.

Dennis O’Connor announced late Wednesday that he was withdrawing because he works for a law firm that also acts for the insurers of the Toronto Police Service in civil suits — some of which include allegations of excessive and lethal force.

Judge O’Connor was the associate chief justice of Ontario’s Appeal Court for 10 years and conducted inquiries into both the Walkerton water tragedy in Ontario and the rendition and torture of Maher Arar, a Canadian of Syrian descent.

He said neither he nor Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair thought his association with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP would affect the advice he would give, but he decided to back out because he did not want the issue to distract from the review.

“After the announcement, we were surprised by the objections raised by lawyers for some of the victims’ families to my conducting the review,” Judge O’Connor wrote in a statement.  (more...)

Rolf Harris charged with nine counts of indecent assault

Rolf Harris painted the Queen to celebrate her 80th birthday
in 2006, and is known to be well-liked by Her Majesty
Rolf Harris was today charged with sexual offences on two under-age girls in the 1980s.

The 83-year-old entertainer has also been accused of making indecent images of a child last year.

Harris is the biggest name to face trial as a result of Scotland Yard’s Operation Yewtree.

The Crown Prosecution Service said today the alleged physical offences dated back to the 1980s.

The entertainer has been charged with six offences of indecent assault relating to a 15-year-old girl from 1980 to 1981.

He is also accused of three offences of indecent assault relating to a girl aged 14, in 1986.

The remaining four offences are of making indecent images of a child between March and July 2012.  (more...)

THE MYTH OF THE TEENAGE TEMPTRESS: OR WHY A YOUNG GIRL CAN NOT CONSENT TO SEX WITH AN ADULT MAN


I started having sex with adult men when I was 13 years old.
Neglected at home and ostracized at school, I found comfort in the sexual attentions of older men. Unlike boys my own age, who cruelly taunted me, older men were nice to me. Unlike my emotionally distant father, older men paid attention to me. They were grooming me, but to that chubby, attention-starved teenage girl, their attentions felt a lot like love.
And so I created Prodigy chat rooms with names like "13yo girl home alone" and spent hours chatting and having phone sex with the men who would find me there. I "dated" men in their 20s and 30s that I met at the movie theater, online or hanging around local college town with my other underage girlfriends. I pursued these relationships with with Lolita-like abandon. The terrifying thing is how few adult men ever said no.  (more...)

National Education Association Goes Full LGBT Agenda In 2013


The NEA held their annual convention in Atlanta in July, but it wasn’t Georgia that was on their mind it was the LGBT Agenda.
From NEA Website
During the 93rd NEA Representative Assembly and Annual Meeting held July 3-6 in Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center, one idea resonated above the rest: When it comes to leading a movement for student success that is real and sustainable, no one is more equipped than educators.
We must empower our members to create change, -NEA President Dennis Van
This from an article entitled, “NEA It’s Time For Us To Transform Public Education.”  Uh oh, where have were heard that before?  According to Eagle Forum one of the NEA’s main concerns this year is advancing the homosexual agenda:
NEA Executive Director John Stocks urged delegates at the 2013 Convention to be social justice patriots  who stand with the LGBTQQ community against bigotry and for marriage equality. He heralded “that wonderful Supreme Court decision striking down the Defense of Marriage Act” and gave thanks to NEA general counsel Alice O’Brien and the NEA legal team for their joint submission of a brief to the Supreme Court targeting DoMA.
Hmmm  (more...)

Child porn sentencing begins for disgraced NB city councillor

DONNIE SNOOK

The sentencing hearing is due to begin Thursday for former Saint John, NB councillor and youth worker Donnie Snook, who pleaded guilty in May to 46 child pornography-related offences.

Snook, 41, was first elected to Saint John council in 2008. He was re-elected in 2012, but resigned after his arrest on Jan. 9, the result of a joint investigation by Saint John and Toronto police.

He was also the executive director of the Saint John Inner City Youth Ministry.

The 46 offences - which include making and distributing child pornography, sexual assault and touching a child for a sexual purpose - took place between 2001 and 2013 and involve 17 boys.  (more...)

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Bottum's Up on Same Sex Marriage

Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D. is the
President of the Ruth Institute
The blogosphere has been all abuzz with reactions to Catholic intellectual Joseph Bottum's recent meandering piece on same sex marriage. The Sexual Revolutionaries consider Bottum's support of redefining marriage a coup, while supporters of natural marriage are naturally disappointed. But I think this article provides important clues to the way the Sexual Revolution has proceeded and succeeded. And far from persuading me to change my views, Mr. Bottum has convinced me more than ever that natural marriage is the right side of history.
At the bottom of the essay is this note: "Funding for this essay was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation." Well now. The rich people in our country want to redefine marriage. They have wanted the entire Sexual Revolution. The Sexual Revolution has been good for the rich. For the poor, not so much. But never mind. (If there are any rich people who would like to support the Sexual Counter-Revolution, donations to the Ruth Institute will be gratefully accepted.)
The Sexual Revolutionaries have, once again, seduced a Catholic intellectual with money and flattery.  (more...)

Extra sex, hold the fries: Lunch lady says student ‘intimidated’ her into assaulting him

WEST JORDAN, Utah – A former school lunch lady has pleaded guilty to forcibly having sex with a 15-year-old student, according to Deseret News.

Jamie Lynn Greenwood, 44, was sentenced to 1-to-15 years in prison for two counts of forcible sexual abuse and two counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor. Police said her position as the former Eastmont Middle School lunch manager did not “aid” in the relationship, according to the newspaper.

“The woman had contended that the relationship was consensual and that the teenager ‘threatened and intimidated’ her into taking part in the sexual activity, according to a Utah Supreme Court ruling in the case. The state countered, though, that Greenwood exchanged cash and gifts for the sex acts and threatened to call the boy’s mother if he didn’t comply with her requests,” according to the newspaper.  (more...)

“. . . lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

If you ever want to claim instant credibility for your opinion, all you have to do is come up with a scientific paper, written by some PhD or group of PhD’s, that seems to support it.  You’ll probably find one, too, no matter how wacky your opinion might be.  The reason?  That’s easy.  The findings of most scientific studies these days are false.  This fact isn’t very well known in the lay community, but it’s common knowledge among scientists.

John P.A. Ioannidis blew the whistle on the reasons for this in 2005 in a published paper titled “Why Most Published Research Findings are False.”  He’s far from alone in that position.  Since that article, some in the scientific community organized the World Conference on Research Integrity which is convened every three years.  The first was in Lisbon, Portugal in 2007, the second in Singapore in 2010, and the most recent was held in Montreal, Canada this past May.

After three world conferences and growing concern in the scientific community, not much has improved.  This is not an insignificant issue.  Changes instigated as a result of faulty science often have profound impact on our whole culture.  Too often these changes have pushed us in the wrong direction, to the detriment of us all.  (more...)

How to talk about same-sex marriage when it looks like we've lost

I have been touched by how many people have written me the last few weeks to ask, "why haven't you been writing stuff lately?"

Thanks so much for all the love. I've been very busy, is all. The school year starts this week and I am doing online lectures for the first time. Online lectures are surprisingly labor-intensive. I am also fully engaged in the bureaucratic work to launch a children's rights institute, which is a labor of love and what I will consider my crowning life achievement, if I can only make it happen. I've made great contacts with people in Asia and Europe to push forward with it.

I will be catching up with all the news, I promise. There is so much to talk about, so much to mull over.

But I want to address something to people who are on my side (you readers of ThinkProgress and Towle Road, you can stop reading here and go back to something more interesting, if by chance you were bounced here by a hostile link.)

Each day, it seems, I get another grim alarm that some other conservative has converted to supporting same-sex marriage. If it isn't the people at Pajamas Media, it's someone at the Daily Caller, a libertarian, John Bolton, Rob Portman, a Catholic editor of First Things, and so on and so on. I notice a sense of loss and grief that repeats itself each time people on our side, who worry about the destruction of the family, find yet another reason to feel let down. Remember when the big defection was Dick Cheney and his daughters -- and we were kind of happy to be rid of them anyway? Now it seems like it's a daily hemorrhaging.  (more...)

The Transgender Culture Wars


A few weeks ago, readers of the New York Post were confronted with a story whose sensational title was characteristic of the tabloid: “I’m a Guy Again! ABC newsman who switched genders wants to switch back.” Replete with pictures of Don Ennis both as a woman and a man, the article informed readers that the ABC news editor “strolled into the newsroom last May wearing a little black dress and an auburn wig and announced he was transgender and splitting from his wife. He wanted to be called Dawn.”

By August, Ennis said that he had suffered a bout of amnesia, which led to the realization that he wants to live his life again as Don. The newsman is now asking his co-workers and “all who accepted me as a transgender to now understand that I was misdiagnosed…I am already using the men’s room and dressing accordingly.” He also has reassured the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community that “even though I will not wear the wig or the makeup or the skirts again, I promise to remain a strong straight ally, a supporter of diversity and an advocate for equality and other LGBT issues including same-sex marriage.”

It is no surprise that Ennis would feel compelled to continue his support of the LGBT community—even though he is no longer participating in the transgender lifestyle. It is likely that if he were viewed as unsupportive of those who experience gender-identity disorder, he would be quickly ostracized in his newsroom community—and beyond.  (more...)

The Atlantic publishes two articles normalizing pedophilia

August 27, 2013 (National Review) - I have written about this before. In our growing hedonistic culture, pedophilia is in the process of being normalized, downgraded by some from a severe sexual perversion into a mere ”orientation.”  

The Atlanticmainstream media!–has two articles that push us in that direction. First, “I Pedophile,” by David Goldberg–a Canadian journalist convicted for viewing child pornography–argues that his obsession with children is a “sexual orientation:”
The main query that I am convinced will always be without an answer is why I am a pedophile. It is the equivalent of trying to determine why someone is heterosexual or gay. We don’t choose our sexual orientations. If we could, believe me, no one would choose mine.
Then, he says incarceration isn’t the right approach to child porn consumers:
I am not advocating the cross-generational lifestyle. In fact, there is never an instance when an adult should engage in sexual behavior with a child. But until we as a society learn that help for those who view child pornography is a far better alternative to incarceration, we are doomed to see the continued proliferation of this problem. Scientists don’t know for certain if there is a correlation between viewing child pornography and offending against children. Wouldn’t it be nice to get pedophiles help before we find out for certain?
Cross generational lifestyle?”  (more...)

Herod and Pilate

With a view to Joseph Bottum's rising and Gwen Landolt's falling friend-counts, I offer you this piece I wrote for my KofC Council's newsletter a few months ago:

The quick friendship of Herod and Pilate is the most infamous alliance in human history. The demise of the Just Man occasioned by this association is a trope of fallen human nature. How often has Barabas been preferred to Jesus? How many Abels, Urias, Naboths, and Baptists have been sacrificed to greed, love of power, lust and vanity?
Sin propagates like mould in bread and quickly ruins the whole structure of society. Blindness to the plight of the weakest is a symptom, not a first cause, of corruption of the prevailing culture. Institutions that serve the way of the world rather than the will of God advance the worst of society while crushing all others in a vice of mediocrity.
The light in this darkness is not found anywhere but on Calvary. No way but the narrow one leads to freedom. No life can be preserved but through death to the world. But one promise can be believed with confidence: This day thou shalt be with me in paradise.” 
 False friends? Flee them.
 Vivat Jesus

Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird, Has Been Misinformed


Mr. Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs, has caricatured the Russian law on homosexuality as “anti-gay” and characterized it as “hateful, intolerant and mean-spirited”.  Mr. Baird has been misinformed.  He could not have actually read the law.  The law was not born out of hostility towards persons with same-sex attraction.  Rather, it was drafted with the intent of protecting the innocence and total well-being of children.

This legislation is an amendment to the law previously passed by the State Duma in 2010 dealing with the “protection of children from information harmful to their health and/or development”.  The 2013 amendment aims at protecting children from information “promoting non-traditional sexual relationships”, in addition to the 2010 comprehensive law which also forbids the targeting of children regarding pornography, narcotics, alcohol and tobacco products, amongst other harmful influences. 

Russia decriminalized homosexuality in 1993.  Nothing has changed since then.  The recent legislation is in line with international law and does not violate human rights in any form.  There is no punishment for acts of homosexuality conducted, in private, between adults.  Russian officials have affirmed that the law does not penalize homosexual activity.   In Russia, no one is arresting or putting gays in prison for being gay. 

Another instance of Mr. Baird’s misinformation is in regard to the death of gay activist, David Kato, in Uganda, which Mr. Baird attributes to persecution of homosexuals.  According to the world press and the Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, this was not the case.  Mr. Kato’s death resulted from a disagreement with another gay man who beat him to death.  The assailant is now serving a 30 year sentence for his crime.

In future, REAL Women hopes that, when Mr. Baird sets government policy on foreign affairs, he will do so, based on accurate information.

REAL Women will continue to speak out for life, family and traditional values.


by Gwen Landolt
REAL Women of Canada
August 27, 2013

What I Meant to Say: A Case for Same-Sex Marriage


I had a friend named Jim Watson.  We used to play bluegrass music together on street corners in New York City.  When we did, Jim used to shout loudly to people passing by, using very crude and explicit language about his gay sexual practices.  That didn’t bother me.  I liked playing music with him.  (And I’m cool because of that.) But Jim became increasing anti-Catholic over time, showing intense and irrational hatred, first towards the hierarchy, and then towards all Catholics.  That didn’t bother me either; I still wanted to play old-timey Americana tunes with him.

Last time I was in New York, Jim did not return my phone call about playing music together.  I think I have lost him as a friend.  Actually, no one in the arts circles of New York wants to be my friend. The reason is that I am a Catholic and therefore stuck with a Church that annoyingly keeps opposing same-sex marriage.  Frankly, the Church right now is just a big embarrassment to me and a huge rock around my neck.

So, the purpose of this essay is to say that I wish the Church would make life easier for me.  I know that that sounds like special pleading and weakens my case, but hey … if I can re-frame the question, not in terms of what embarrasses me, but rather in terms of what will make the Church more effective, then no one will notice.  (more...)

R.A. Dickey uses baseball as powerful platform to fight sexual abuse


Opening up about childhood sexual abuse is never easy, especially in the macho world of sport.

In Canada, NHL players Sheldon Kennedy and Theo Fleury are the most high profile athletes to broach the difficult topic in public.

Now another big name has joined in: the newest Toronto Blue Jay, R.A. Dickey.

“Sport has provided us with the opportunity to get the white elephant out of the room,” the 2012 Cy Young winner said Tuesday during his first interview with Canadian reporters since he was traded from the New York Mets to Toronto.  (more...)

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Scholar: Liberals, Feminists Have Made Men Afraid to Embrace Their Manhood

The important role men play in a family is due to their natural instincts to protect the weak and vulnerable, Morse explained, but liberals and feminists have made men afraid to embrace their unique role.

“This is what the left despises about the family – they cannot control it and government is not necessary for it,” Morse said.

“I want the men listening … to embrace your manhood,” Morse said. “Do not be ashamed. … There’s nothing wrong with being a man. That’s what we need from you. We need those who will take responsibility for protecting the weak and will sustain the family. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Morse criticized some of the libertarian views expressed at the conference for not recognizing the importance of families.

Conservatives love the free market, Morse said, because it is an act of social cooperation that does not require the government. Conservatives should recognize as well, though, that “marriage is the most basic unit of social cooperation that doesn’t need the government to be involved.”  (more...)

Teacher who admitted raping student, 14, who later committed suicide gets just 30 days

Rambold, 54, lost his house, his job, his teaching license and his wife as a result
of the charges. His lawyer suggested he had been 'punished enough'
A Montana teacher who admitted to raping a troubled 14-year-old student who later committed suicide has been given just 30 days in jail after a judge ruled that the girl was more mature than her age and 'just as in control' of the relationship as the teacher.

Cherice Morales' furious mother stormed out of the courtroom Monday after Judge Todd Baugh handed down the sentence, which was less than 1percent of the 10 years prosecutors had demanded.

Attorneys for Stacey Dean Rambold, 54, said the teacher has lost his job, his license, his house and his wife and suffered the 'scarlet letter of the Internet' as a result of the allegations. Defense lawyer Jay Lansing said his client had been punished enough for his crime.  (more...)

Child psychiatrist receives max sentence, 8 years, for molestation case


REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — A former San Mateo psychiatrist did not flinch when a San Mateo Superior Court judge sentenced him Monday to eight years in state prison for molesting boys who were patients of his in the 1990s.

Judge Beth Labson Freeman handed down the sentence just before 4 p.m. following a long day of victim impact statements and an afternoon of pleading from Ayres' wife, son and daughter. Ayres himself did not speak.

Ayres was sentenced to eight years concurrent for each of the eight counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child 14 or younger, which means he will serve all the sentences at the same time. He must also register as a sex offender for life and pay a $10,000 fine to the Victim Witness Assistance Fund. Based on time served, Ayres will likely be behind bars for nearly six years.

“My conclusion is based on the fact that you violated the innocence of young boys in your care,” Freeman said before she delivered her sentence.  (more...)

Parents' horror as Chinese boy, 6, has his eyes GOUGED OUT after being 'kidnapped by organ trafficker


A six-year-old Chinese boy had his eyes gouged out after reportedly being kidnapped by an organ trafficker.
Family members found the youngster covered in blood some three to four hours after he went missing while playing outside his home.

The child's eyes were found nearby but the corneas were missing, reports said, implying that an organ trafficker was behind the harrowing attack.

Police offered a 100,000 yuan ($16,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of the sole suspect, who they said was a woman.

'He had blood all over his face. His eyelids were turned inside out. And inside, his eyeballs were not there,' his father told Shanxi Television.

Its report showed the heavily-bandaged boy being taken from an operating theatre and placed in a hospital bed, writhing in agony as family members stood at his bedside weeping.  (more...)

Homosexuality: A New Approach is Needed


If we are going to save our culture, it is important that Christians change their approach toward homosexuality. Fighting the GLBTQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) agenda in the legislatures and courts will not succeed as long as the GLBTQ activists define the debate. We must treat same-sex attraction and sexual identity disorders (the so-called transgendered and queer) as what they are—preventable and treatable problems.

Such a change in attitude has happened before with alcoholism and abortion and needs to happen again.

In the 19th century alcoholism was considered an untreatable and deadly condition that destroyed lives and families. Many people came to believe that prohibition of the sale of alcoholic beverages was the only solution. The 18th amendment passed, but failed to achieve its goal. After repeal, alcoholics were treated as a joke in films or even heroes, but a quietly growing movement—Alcoholics Anonymous, a 12 step program based on spiritual insights—provided the answer. There are still alcoholics and drunk drivers, but now there is hope and help. Millions of men and women are living full lives in recovery.  (more...)

U.S Behavioral Research Studies Skew Toward Positive Results

Researchers from the Universities of Stanford and Edinburgh found, in a comparison of 1,174 primary outcomes from 82 meta-anlyses of biological and behavioral research, that U.S.-based behavioral researchers were more likely to exaggerate overall effect sizes in relation to individual results. “These problems are hypothesized to be worsened by lack of consensus on theories and methods, by selective publication processes, and by career systems too heavily oriented toward productivity, such as those adopted in the United States,” say the authors, “Behavioral studies have lower methodological consensus and higher noise, making US researchers potentially more likely to express an underlying propensity to report strong and significant findings.”  (more...)

‘Ex-gay is OK’

Chuck Peters, director of Sexual Orientation
Change Institute in Beverly Hills, Calif., speaks
at a rally in Washington.
WASHINGTON—The cultural shift on same-sex marriage can be traced in large part to people who personally know someone who identifies as homosexual. If a friend is gay, it becomes harder for the average person—who doesn’t have biblical convictions—to oppose the behavior, which is why homosexual activists have for decades urged people to “come out of the closet.”

On Wednesday, a small band of former homosexuals representing about 10 organizations stood on the steps of the Supreme Court to demand recognition and equal rights under the Constitution.

“Anti-ex-gay extremists say that I do not exist—that we don’t exist,” said Christopher Doyle, president of Voice of the Voiceless and Equality and Justice for All. “Tell that to my wife of seven years. Tell that to my three beautiful children.”  (more...)

Archbishop Chaput: American Culture Digesting Latino Values

Philadelphia's Archbishop Charles Chaput addressed a national convention of Catholic Hispanic leaders Friday, warning that an idea that Latinos, simply by their presence in the United States, "might restore the moral tenor of our public discourse is a delusion."

In a talk at the national convention of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL) held in Los Angeles, the archbishop spoke about "why faith matters," explaining the importance of recognizing and respecting human dignity.

Toward the end of his discourse, the prelate reflected on Latino influence in the United States.

"Nations change when people change. And people change through the witness of other people -- people like each of you here in this room. That brings me to the main reason for my comments today. When Archbishop Jose Gomez [of Los Angeles] and I founded CALL eight years ago, our goal was simple. Demography is destiny. The Latino population in the United States is growing very rapidly -- more rapidly than any other ethnic group -- and transforming the face of our country. The 'next America' will have a spirit infused with Hispanic experience. This should be a good thing. And it is a good thing, because Latin American culture, even today, has a legacy of respect for the family, for community and for the Catholic faith that too many North Americans have traded away, much too cheaply, for the satisfactions of social approval and material success," Archbishop Chaput said.  (more...)

Monday, August 26, 2013

TDSB has a false sense of security


Ever wonder why governments are almost always broke and harassing hard working people for more money in the form of increased taxes, fees or “revenue tools?”

It is because they are fiscally irresponsible and childish in their decision making.

For example, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) is spending $10 million on security that won’t actually keep kids safe.

According to a report on CTV, this is the first fall that every elementary school in the TDSB system will have a security system that has every door locked during class, with a requirement that visitors must be buzzed in.

CTV reported that it comes with a $10-million security commitment from the province following the “tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that left 26 people dead, including 20 children.”  (more...)

Rays of Light in Higher Education


Canadian government policy over the past few decades has been to open universities to the largest possible number of students—a seat for everyone who wants to attend, as Ken Coates and Bill Morrison describe it in their higher education exposé Campus Confidential (2011). Partly as a result of this open-door policy, a perfect storm has battered the Humanities.

Program requirements have been reduced or eliminated altogether, replaced by an ever-widening range of popular electives. At my university, “Magic, Witchcraft, and Occult Phenomenon” was the most popular course for a number of years running. In addition, the content of individual courses has been progressively watered down to accommodate those students who have neither the time nor the inclination to read. A recent American study by Philip Babcock and Mindy Marks showed a significant decline in the number of hours students spend studying every week. At the same time, grade inflation has run rampant, both to pacify students and to support the university’s stated goal of “retention” (i.e. preventing dropouts). Working in tandem with all these developments has been the infiltration of once-legitimate academic subjects by progressivist ideology.

The dispiriting results should surprise no one: a generation and more have learned buzz words rather than knowledge; many are barely literate, incapable of understanding what they read or of expressing an idea in precise and correct language.  (more...)

Paedophiles are given 'free rein' to abuse abroad: Just 50 orders ban offenders from travelling overseas

Free to attack again: Paedophiles such as pop star Gary Glitter are largely free to
travel abroad where they can attack again
Britain’s regime for controlling dangerous paedophiles is fundamentally flawed, a damning police review has concluded.

It leaves thousands of serious sex offenders free to leave the country to abuse youngsters overseas.

There are some 65,000 registered sex offenders in the UK, but only 50 orders stopping such individuals travelling abroad have been obtained in the past five and a half years.

Yet every year the Foreign Office is notified of dozens of alleged paedophiles arrested overseas for child sex offences. There were some 66 such arrests last year.

At the same time, the protection of children in Britain is ‘compromised’ by the system of court orders for child rapists and molesters, the report states.

Only 2,658 Sexual Offender Prevention Orders supposed to control dangerous paedophiles in Britain were imposed in 2011/12.  (more...)

Rachelle Gendron, Sex Ed. Teacher, Charged With Rape Of 14-Year-Old Student


A sexual education and health teacher at a Massachusetts high school has beenindicted on rape charges after prosecutors said she had a sexual relationship with a student.
Rachelle Gendron, 27, was fired from her job at North Central Charter Essential School in Fitchburg following an investigation in which police allegedly recovered "significant" evidence of inappropriate conduct, including text messages and photos of the teacher "in various states of undress with genitals and breasts exposed," from the phone of a 14-year-old male student.
In court Friday, Gendron appeared crying and visibly shaken as she was arraigned on charges including five counts of rape aggravated by age difference.  (more...)

BATHROOM WARS: TRANSGENDERS GET FLUSHED

MIAMI, Fla. – A well-organized coalition of pro-family and civic organizations in Miami-Dade soundly defeated a measure that would have given transsexuals access to public restrooms and locker rooms used by the opposite sex.

The Miami-Dade Commission gave initial approval in May to adding “gender identity and expression” to the county’s anti-discrimination law by an 11-1 vote but the measure stalled after intense lobbying by opponents – led by the local Christian Family Coalition.

Bill sponsors withdrew it on August 14 because they lacked the votes to get it through committee.

The victory in liberal Miami-Dade “is really landmark,” said Christian Family Coalition executive director Anthony Verdugo of the win 36 years after singer Anita Bryant led the successful repeal of Miami-Dade County’s homosexual rights law.  (more...)

Ricca and Chaouqui, Two Enemies in the House

ROME, August 26, 2013 – More than two months have passed since the unhappy appointment of Monsignor Battista Ricca as “prelate” of the Institute for Works of Religion and more than a month since that, no less unhappy, of Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui (see photo) as a member of the commission for the reorganization of the financial-administrative Vatican offices.

Both of these appointments were made by Pope Francis, the first through his own highly personal decision.

And for both of them, immediately afterward, there came to light grave counter-indications about which the pope was initially in the dark.

And yet, in late August, no correction of course appears to be in sight.  (more...)

Pope asks pontifical academies to help fight human trafficking


At the request of Pope Francis, scholars and researchers belonging to two pontifical academies and the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations are to begin focusing on the phenomenon of human trafficking and ways to fight it.
Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the academies, said a working group from the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences and the federation will meet at the Vatican on November 2-3 to examine the size of the problem, its causes and steps that can be taken to prevent trafficking and to help victims.
The bishop told Vatican Radio that no one could deny that “the trade in human persons constitutes a terrible crime against human dignity and is a serious violation of human rights”.
In a speech in May, Pope Francis said human trafficking is “a despicable activity, a disgrace for our societies, which describe themselves as civilised”.  (more...)

'Gay' Lawmaker to Christians: 'We'll Take Your Children'

Few people doubt that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie hopes to become president in 2016. Unfortunately for him, he may have just signed Obama Christieaway any chance of that.

Last week, Christie signed A3371, a draconian piece of legislation that bars licensed therapists from helping children overcome unwanted same-sex attractions, behavior or identity. This law bans help for minors even when – as is so often the case – those same-sex attractions arise from childhood sexual abuse by the likes of a Jerry Sandusky.

This law will prohibit minors and their parents from receiving counseling they desire and will force counselors to violate ethical codes because they will not be able to help clients reach their own counseling goals. This law would enslave children – whether abused or not – to a subjectively determined sexual identity that they reject.

The connection between homosexual abuse and “gay identity” is undeniable. Consider this: Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have found that homosexual men are “at least three times more likely to report CSA (childhood sexual abuse)” than heterosexual men.

Moreover, the Archives of Sexual Behavior – no bastion of conservatism – determined in a 2001 study that nearly half of all gay-identified men were molested by a homosexual pedophile: “46 percent of homosexual men and 22 percent of homosexual women reported having been molested by a person of the same gender. This contrasts to only 7 percent of heterosexual men and 1 percent of heterosexual women reporting having been molested by a person of the same gender” noted the study.

For obvious reasons, this politically motivated law has been dubbed the “Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act.”  (more...)

Illinois system fails to protect students from abuse


Chemistry teacher and cheerleading coach Mark Krockover was reprimanded over his conduct toward female students, but it took several years before Maine Township High School District 207 tried to fire him.
The school board cited "immoral and cruel conduct," alleging Krockover rubbed the legs, thighs and backs of girls, caressed their arms and shoulders and kissed them on the head, causing many to quit cheerleading. He allegedly emailed and texted students, visited some at their jobs and even bought some girls bikinis and designer jeans, records state.
Ultimately, Krockover, 43, of Park Ridge, was allowed to resign. The school district paid him $60,000 as part of his "resignation agreement," stored disciplinary records in a confidential file and agreed to tell future employers he resigned for "personal reasons," according to district records.
In March 2011 — more than three years after his resignation and after repeated delays and legal challenges — the state suspended Krockover's license to teach for 30 months. He will be eligible to return to the classroom this fall.  (more...)