Among Time’s Heroes of the Year: the women of Iran, who rose up and continue to struggle against a repressive regime. It’s hard to picture now, but Iran was once a secular country where women wore anything they wanted and worked at every kind of job. Then it was hit with a revolution that swept right-wing fundamentalists into power. Had a few things gone differently on Jan 6th, we could have been headed in the same direction. Freedom is a constant struggle, and we can’t let up.
As always, this diary is a team effort. Thanks to mettle fatigue, elenacarlena, SandraLLAP, and the WOW crew for links and discussion.
Violence:
From medscape: Florida Cosmetic Surgeon Dies by Suicide After Allegedly Drugging and Raping 2 Patients, age 51 and 72. And now it appears there were additional victims.
From TheConversation: A judge in Texas is using a recent Supreme Court ruling to say domestic abusers can keep their guns.
Bill Cosby and his enablers sued by 5 women, 2 of whom acted on the Cosby Show, for sexual assault. (I still can’t believe he got out of prison….wait, sadly, yes I can.)
Asian American author Rodlyn-mae Banting on learning self-defense and bystander intervention as hate crimes strike close to home.
Warden of federal “rape club” prison convicted in sexual abuse cases.
Ex-Border Patrol agent convicted in slayings of four sex workers:
"Ortiz told investigators he had been a customer of most of the women, but he also expressed disdain for sex workers, referring to them as 'trash' and 'so dirty' and insisting he wanted to 'clean up the streets.'"
Reproductive Rights:
Indiana prosecutor seeks to punish doctor in 10-year-old’s abortion case. The anti-choicers have been scrambling to claim Dr. Bernard did something wrong. First they claimed she’d made up the 10-year-old rape victim. She didn’t. Then they accused her of not reporting the child abuse. She did. Now they’re accusing her of violation of privacy, although she has protected the child’s identity.
The attorney general is not questioning whether the girl met the Indiana statutory requirement that she be no more than 22 weeks pregnant. When Dr. Bernard learned of the situation, the girl was three days past the six-week limit in Ohio.
News of the 10-year-old's case launched a bitter legal battle between Dr. Bernard and Rokita.
Dr. Bernard and her medical partner sued Rokita earlier this month, demanding an end to investigations seeking medical records about patients and their abortions. The lawsuit accused Rokita's investigation of being a "sham" and said it violated requirements that investigations be based on merit, narrowly focused and kept confidential.
Dr. Bernard's suit said the subpoenas she had received from the attorney general were based on complaints from people who had only heard of the case on the news and repeated the false claim that Dr. Bernard failed to submit a report.
A study from Colorado found that contraceptive access correlates with more college degrees for women.
Workplace Issues:
New Lawsuit Claims Elon Musk’s Twitter Layoffs Targeted Women:
"Under Musk’s helm, Twitter laid off 57% of the women who worked at the company and only 47% of the men, according to the proposed class action filed late Wednesday in a San Francisco federal court.
Women in engineering roles were even more likely to have been fired, with 63% of women being let go compared to 48% of men, according to the lawsuit."
Health:
Research suggests young adults and women may be particularly susceptible to Seasonal Affective Disorder this time of year. A nutritional neuroscientist offers advice.
Studies on optimism and longevity have usually been done on white non-Hispanic women. A recent study of a more racially diverse population found that optimism correlates with longevity and with a higher chance of exceptional longevity.
Politics:
VP Kamala Harris will swear in Karen Bass as the first female mayor of Los Angeles. Also in California politics: the shadow race is on to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who will be 91 when her term is up in 2024. She hasn’t said whether she is retiring, but names being floated include Reps. Ro Khanna, Katie Porter, and Barbara Lee, only Adam Schiff having stated his intention to run if/when this seat opens up. L.A. City Council member Kevin de Leon, who tried to primary Feinstein in 2016, is currently caught up in a scandal over the leaked tape of a racist conversation with other Council members. Incoming Mayor Bass has called on all the participants in that tape to resign; so far, de Leon is the only one still hanging on, though he doesn’t seem to be showing up for work.
Herschel Walker’s many exes are celebrating that he won’t be their next Senator. But Misogynists gotta misogynise: Herschel Walker staffers have meltdown over campaign loss, blame candidate's wife for his defeat.
Good News:
Thanks to a deal made by the Biden administration, Russia has released WNBA player Britney Griner. It’s worth noting again that WNBA players moonlight playing in Russia and elsewhere because they’re paid so much less than their male counterparts in the NBA. (Meanwhile, right-wingers who’d never heard of Paul Whelan before this week are screaming in outrage that Griner was released when he wasn’t.)
Chemical&EngineeringNews Podcast: "Carolyn Bertozzi and K. Barry Sharpless chat about sharing the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry."