Wait - What just happened? A roundup of the week in news, May 12, 2013
Jessica Ahlquist to visit the Playboy Mansion
Jessica Ahlquist will be honored with the Hugh Hefner First Amendment Award for her successful lawsuit against Cranston High School West in Rhode Island's third largest city. The award is given to those individuals who "have made significant contributions in the vital effort to protect and enhance the First Amendment rights for all Americans", according to
Hefner's foundation website.
Three kidnapped women in Cleveland rescued by one hero
Three women kidnapped close to a decade ago were rescued when a neighbor helped one escape and contact police for help. Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, along with a six-year-old girl later identified as the daughter of Amanda were saved on Monday, May 6. All three girls disappeared in close proximity of where they were discovered and are being examined to discover the full extent of their health. They have survived a major tragedy and now the difficult part of healing and overcoming the time spent in captivity can begin.
Louisiana still trying to figure out their school voucher program
The Louisiana State Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that the voucher program pushed by the Governor, Bobby Jindal, was unconstitutional. Monies allocated for public schools through the Minimum Foundation Program cannot be used to fund private schools. In addition, when the approval was made it was done so illegally, at the very least because not enough affirmative votes were made for it to pass. It's unknown what will happen to those students that were accepted using those funds, however Jindal will be asked to replace the money that was spent on their behalf using the court system again if necessary.
Will Minnesota become the twelfth state to allow gay marriage?
Six months after an attempt to ban same-sex marriage was defeated by Minnesota voters, a bill passed by a 75-59 margin in the House with support that surprisingly included four Republicans. Monday the bill will go before the Senate where itâs also expected to pass. Governor Mark Dayton has already stated that he intends to sign it into law, which would put Minnesota as the 12th state to legalize same-sex marriage. With a blend of protests and roaring cheer the House took a giant step toward joining the side of marriage equality.
Meanwhile in Pennsylvania...
The Red Lion Area School District (RLASD) decided to stick with their guns when it comes to their decision to deny a transgendered student, Issak Wolfe, the right to run for prom court or graduate using anything other than his legal name. Since he just turned 18 and legal name change requires a court hearing, there isn't time even to make it happen by graduation. Legal action has been threatened against the District if it refuses to refer to Wolfe by his chosen name, so it will be interesting to see if RLASD will take the threat made by the ACLU seriously. Isaak will try again at the next school board meeting on the 18th of this month to make his plea.
Selfless Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan is once again trying to protect human rights
And this time he's looking out for the best interests of male rapists. That's right, all those guys out there who take advantage of and, as a result of an unsolicited and often violent rape, impregnate their victim will soon be able to dictate whether a resulting pregnancy can be terminated. Rape has already proven to be about power and what better way to provide aid than to offer even more power to the assailant? This time he will also have the power to thrust his will one final time and force his victim to carry a pregnancy to term that was never wanted.
Sir, you have some serious Mommy issues that really need to be dealt with, and soon.
Benghazi is still making headlines this week
As the nation looks for blame, and indeed wonders if some of it will be directed at U.S. officials, accusations are pointed at everyone from the Obama administration, Mitt Romney, Hilary Clinton and even God was given credit (thanks again for your genius, Michelle Bachmann) for the responsibility of the explosion. However, while everyone scrambles to work out what actually happened all eyes watch for testimony from the "whistleblowers" that are said to shed light on how it was handled.
The U.S. military works toward possibly dealing with sexual assault
Well, at least they are considering not charging the female victims with a crime anymore. As assault cases continue to rise, the Department of Defense (DOD) gives their brochure on the subject a revamp. Although some of the wording is somewhat controversial, the male-dominated institution is taking steps toward being more protective of their female counterparts. The recent charges of the Air Force officer accused of sexual assault helped bring this issue to the eyes of the nation, especially when it was released that he was leading the Sexual Assault Prevention Unit. How his case is handled will help set the perceived mood of the DOD and let us know just how serious they are taking sexual assault.
The "THAW"
A group of students seek to "THAW" the Nation's increasing desire for separation of church and state. In a recently released video filled with over-dramatic music and a pile of misinformation, a group of young teens make a plea to other kids to stand up and fight against the removal of church from public schools. These poor kids feel persecuted, in true Christian form.
New Jersey stand-off ends after 37-hours
A registered sex-offender was shot Sunday, May 12 during a stand-off while he held three children aged 18, 16 and 4 captive and locked in an upstairs room of their house with him. The body of the children's mother was found in another room and appeared to have been deceased for about two weeks. With her body was also the body of one of her other children, a 13 year old son. The police were initially sent to the home by extended family that hadn't heard from anyone in the house for several days. It was also discovered that the children had reportedly missed twelve days of school. Motives for this incident are still unknown at this time.