3. Wealthy Russian businessman faked his own death before proposing to his girlfriend
Worked with a stuntman, make-up artist, screenwriter and a director to stage a car crash
She agreed to marry him
Alexey Bykov - “I wanted her to realize how empty her life would be without me and how life would have no meaning without me. I think it worked but I promise it’s the last time.”
http://gawker.com/5940288/before-proposing-to-girlfriend-man-fakes-his-own-death-to-show-her-how-meaningless-life-would-be-without-him
TW: rape, violence, abortion
2. Pregnant Turkish woman (26) shot and decapitated her rapist and threw his head into the village square
She was abused by him for months, he threatened to send nude photos to her parents, her actions were spurred by him saying he was going to tell everyone about the rape
“Everyone would have insulted my children. Now no one can. I saved my honor. They will now call [my] children the kids of the woman who saved her honor.”
Mother of 2, currently 5 months pregnant
Shot him 10 times, several times in the genitals, then decapitated him
When arrested she said, “That is the head of one who toyed with my honor.”
Abortion is illegal in Turkey after 10 weeks, but she is demanding that she be allowed to get one, saying she is prepared to die so long as she gets an abortion first.
6. Boston University newspaper editor fired
April Fool’s Day edition of the independent student newspaper included articles about the rape and sexual assault of Disney characters
BU has had a series of high-profile sexual assault cases on campus in the previous months
Stories included:
Cinderella involved in a political prostitution ring
Alice in Wonderland taking LSD supplied by frat brothers
Snow White gang-raped by frat brothers (seven dwarfs)
5. Christian Rock Band preaches hate to high school kids
(TW for anti-gay and anti-woman sentiments)
Dunkerton High School in Iowa invited Junkyard Prophet (a Christian rock band) to perform a few songs and preach a message against bullying, being violent and doing drugs - instead they preached their opinions on homosexuality, abortion and women
After the band performed, they separated the faculty from the students and the students into boys and girls
Talked to the boys about the band’s Ten Commandments and talked about musicians who had died of a drug overdose
Told the girls to save themselves for their husbands and to assume a submissive role in the household - leader forced the girls to chant a mantra about remaining pure - would not allow anyone to leave the room
Girls were told they’d have mud on their wedding dresses and anyone who was gay would die at 42 (unclear whether they discussed homosexuality with the boys)
The band is part of the “You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International” Christian youth ministry founded by Bradlee Dean
Dean has advocated for imprisonment of LGBT people, said gay men molest an average of 117 children “before they get caught” and that Muslim nations who execute gays are more moral than American Christians
2. Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a slut and a prostitute
On his radio show, suggested that since she is asking America to foot the bill of her six life, she should post videos of her having sex on the internet
Later apologized - “I should not have used the language I did, and it was wrong.” “Those two words [slut and prostitute] were inappropriate. They were uncalled for. They distracted from the point I was trying to make.”
Republicans have distanced themselves from his remarks, calling them out of line
Eight companies have stopped advertising on Limbaugh’s program [Update: the number has increased significantly since we talked about it]
Limbaugh suggested he’d have little problem finding new sponsers
Ron Paul - “I don’t thing he’s very apologetic, I think he’s doing it because people were taking their advertisements off his program.”
6. Capitol Hill hearing about religious freedom and birth control debate
Mandate that health insurers cover contraception
Panel was all-male religious leaders
Representative Darrel Issa (R), committee chairman said Democrats could not add Sandra Fluke because she is a student at Georgetown not a member of the clergy
Fluke would have talked about a classmate who lost an ovary because of a syndrome that causes ovarian cysts - Georgetown does not insure birth control, which is used to treat the syndrome
Also not invited: representatives from the Catholic Health Association (run by a woman and actually runs Catholic hospitals) and Catholic Charities - both said they support the president’s plan
Representative Elijah Cummings (D) said it was important to have at least one woman at the witness table because the issue involved health repercussions for women
Issa’s staff sent out a letter: “As the hearing is not about reproductive rights but instead about the administration’s actions as they relate to freedom of religion and conscience, he believes Ms. Fluke is not an appropriate witness.”
Fluke:”I can understand that [the issue] is connected to religion, but I don’t understand how you can have an open conversation without hearing from the women who have been personally affected by this.”
“It was staggering to sit there and feel like this panel of men was going to talk about my heath and women like me, it felt so very wrong.”
Rep. Cummings: “[the hearing] commits a massive injustice by trying to pretend that the views of millions of women across the country are meaningless.”
Roman Catholic Bishop William Lori - presented example of government forcing a Jewish orthodox owned deli to serve pork as a comparison
Fluke: “He spent his entire testimony talking about a hypothetical story. It was difficult to hear his testimony about a hypothetical story and not about the real stories, about the women in my story.”
9. Susan G. Komen debacle timeline
Tuesday: Planned Parenthood announced they would no longer receive support from Susan G. Komen because of a policy that prevented them from giving money to an organization under investigation (conservatives will always have PP under investigation)
Wednesday: All hell broke loose on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. SGK’s facebook page blew up with angry comments
Karen Handel - Senior Vice President of Public Policy appointed less than a year ago- re-tweeted anti-PP tweet: “Just like pro-abortion group to turn cancer orgs decision into a political bomb to throw. Cry me a freaking river.” - it was deleted soon after.
Komen’s website was hacked - caption on homepage read “Help us run over poor women on our way to the bank.”
Tursday: The Atlantic reported that Handel was behind the rule change
Millie Williams (high-level employee) resigned in protest
Chair of L.A. chapter resigned
New York radiologist advisor threatened to leave unless funding was reinstated
26 senators signed a letter to Komen to re-fund PP
SGK engaged in damage control: attempt to streamline funds, only give to direct providers of mammograms (SGK also has a rule that prevents them from giving money to for-profits like doctors)
Friday: news outlets questioning why rule was only applied to PP and why they were offering contradictory explanations
Komen folded again under all the outrage
SGK posted available job that looks a lot like Handel’s job (Update: Handel resigned)
Good news: PP received $3 million from donations including $250,000 from Mayor Bloomberg and $100,000 from Livestrong
7. Under new health care law religious institutions are required to cover birth control in insurance plans
One law student found out that health services would simply refuse to prescribe it. Bridgette Dunlap organized a one day, off-campus clinic that wrote dozens of prescriptions.
“We can’t just lie down and die and let religious freedom go.” Sister Mary Ann Walsh - US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Institute of Medicine report released in July:
- half of all pregnancies in U.S. are unplanned and of those 4 of 10 end in abortion
- women with unintended pregnancies are more likely to be depressed, smoke, drink and delay or skip prenatal care
Romney has pledged to end it and Title X (provides family planning services to millions of women)
Santorum says health insurance plans should not be required to cover birth control, states should decide on legality of birth control, supports “person hood” initiatives.
Gingrich supports “person hood” too and wants to withdraw federal funding from Planned Parenthood.
“We do not happen to think pregnancy is a disease. We think it’s a gift of love of two people and our creator.”
“No one would go to a Jewish barbecue and expect pork chips to be served.”
9. Abortion issues
Last year set a record for new abortion restrictions (94)
Yesterday was the anniversary for Roe v. Wade
New study confirms abortion rates are higher in countries where it is illegal.
