In January of 2009, in peak hour traffic, a man in a 4WD (SUV) pulled over on Melbourne’s infamous West Gate Bridge, and hurled his tiny daughter (age 4), to her death while her two brothers sat on in stunned horror, before he got back in his car, and drove away.
This week, the man, Arthur Freeman, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for this act of cruelty.
Today, one of Australia’s most well-known television and sporting personalities announced his sympathies for Freeman. While, he didn’t endorse the act, he did state, “I feel sorry for Arthur Freeman,” … “…you have to think about what would drive that man to do that and you’ve gotta have some compassion, not for what he’s done, but what the thought process would be going on in that man’s mind,”
No. And perhaps this makes me callous, but, just… NO. There is nothing in this world that is so bad, so devastatingly soul destroying, that should lead a person to act out in this way.
Sam Newman, where the hell is your sympathy for the bystanders who witnessed this act? Your sympathy for the little brother who pleaded with his father to go back, because he knew his baby sister couldn’t swim?
2 years ago -
1
Diane Latiker, mother of 8 and grandmother of 13, opened the doors to her own home in 2003 to any young person who felt the need to come there. Since then, she has changed the lives of over 1,500 children, teenagers, and young adults; getting them off of the streets and into schools, jobs, and a life worth living.
Starting out of a single room in her own house, at one point Diane had as many as 75 kids living in three rooms under her roof and up to six gangs in her house at the same time, all of whom respected her and her mission enough to mark it as a safe place where no inter-gang violence would happen.
Telling the kids that her door is open “24 hours a day, seven days a week. They could come over for food, or homework help, or just to talk about their hopes, dreams and fears.” Diane has changed the lives of thousands of kids such as Maurice Gilchrist, 15, who joined a gang at twelve and states that without this program he would likely be in prison, in the hospital, or dead. In regards to Diane, he says, “Miss Diane, she changed my life. I love her for that.”
I only have one thing to say to anyone reading this article…if you don’t cry, there is something very, very wrong with you…
2 years ago
Another law suit has been filed on the grounds of gender discrimination, this time against Virgina Tech, but that’s not what makes me stare in wonder at this article. No, what boggles my mind are some of the comments it has received and the overall reaction of the populous. This boggles me because many of the readers, even some of the women, are saying that employers HAVE THE RIGHT to discriminate against women as they cause loss of work time due to pregnancy and menses…wait…what?
I am aware that the ignorant people of this world seem to be under the belief that medical issues are no excuse for not raking in the dough, however you would think that the conservative right would at least be ok with pregnancy, I mean, they are the ones currently fighting tooth and nail against abortion right now so they must LOVE babies. Oh wait, they’re fighting against abortion because they want to keep women at home and repressed, not for any moral reason…so I guess blaming pregnancy for women’s lower pay and lower chances to get a job fit right in with that plan.
However, for all those who actually believe this ideology for why women deserve less in the workplace, I would like to point something out to you. In all of my years working in various areas, including some where I maintain a position of some power, I have never, that’s right never, chosen to work with a male over a female. This is not because I am biased in the other direction (though I won’t deny that I likely am) but instead because when I enter a new job I examine each of my coworkers as if I were the one hiring them and, low and behold, it is always the women who are actually doing more work yet never seem to be complaining about it. I will admit that argument that men take less sick days because they don’t have menses and can’t get pregnant is true, however when women, on a normal day, do twice the work of their male counterparts for half the pay I begin to wonder exactly who is holding “the company” back. As a medical professional, I am aware that the majority of receptionists and nurses are female, this is partly because females tend to flock towards these jobs more than males, however I also believe that it’s partially due to the fact that doctors and hospitals are aware that women are able to deal with a frustrated, angry, upset, depressed, concerned, hopeless patient with ease whereas I have seen men in utterly ballistic fits of rage due to single telephone calls. Men have a higher propensity to show up late, leave early, and ignore company policy because they simply think they have the right to do so “every now and again” and I know this because I AM ONE.
So I am forced to wonder, is pregnancy and menses as a possible (but not always probable) loss of work time really a valid reason to discriminate against women when men tend to waste far more time while on the clock? I seriously doubt so…
2 years ago
The supreme court of Arkansas has recently overturned a ban, put in place in 2008, on homosexual couples ability to adopt or foster children. While I think the majority of the article can be summed up in the title alone, there is one thing that I would like to point out for those who will actually read the article.
I am hoping that I’m not the only one to notice this, but as most people tend to read only what they want to I find it pertinent to point this out. The first set of interviews are with the ACLU and other members of the side against the ban in which they state facts, refer to experts, and indicate past cases to which this is pertinent in order to build a case (even in just these few lines) for why this ban is not only pointless, but harmful to both the adults and the children involved. But then, in just a few sentences, we are given the opinion of those defending the ban who fail utterly to sound like logical adults, pointing out that this is “Judicial tyranny” and that a bare majority two years ago agreed with this ban so it obviously must be in the right.
First, I know I am a scientist and a doctor, but I general find that people like to be given concrete facts on a matter before making a decision, not vague points of view flaunted as fact. Second, and in my mind more importantly, it seems that every time a conservative or religious group is denied their ability to legally be bigoted they demand that it is “Judicial tyranny” and that the judicial ruling should be overturned until more suitable judges (in other words, judges that agree with them) can be found. Am I the only person who recalls that the point of having a judicial branch to our government is to prevent the abuse of power in all other branches? Including, but not limited to, the ability to overturn the ruling of the majority when that majority is found to be infringing upon the rights of a minority?
I know that, at least for the most part, I am simply preaching to the choir here and that everyone reading this will either have already know this, already agreed with this, or will do so shortly after having read it, but I still feel like, just in case, I should get the info out there.
This is Tyrror from TehPainfulTruth and sometimes…the truth hurts…
2 years ago -
2
As if being kicked off a bus because your baby is giggling isn’t bad enough, America is attempting to up the ante by suspending a 6 yo boy for crying during class…
2 years ago
Darwin, Australia.
Seriously, what is the world coming to, when children can no longer be children? Not only was the baby (and parent) in question, not breaking any rules or regulations for riding on a public mode of transportation, but a 13 month-old doesn’t understand the concept of keeping quiet, and the bus driver in question is demonstrating a serious lack in judgment as well as an ignorance and failure in her position for duty-of-care.
The bus driver in question is employed to provide a public service, and in doing so, has a duty-of-care to see that the passengers of the bus reach their destination safely. If she had succeeded in kicking the mum and her baby off the bus sooner, and then the mum and baby had come to harm…
2 years ago -
2
In a world where most news makes you want to punch something, its good to know that the next generation may have more hope due than we give then credit for. 13 year old Noah, online music blogger with over 80,000 subscribers, has decided to hold an indie music confer of which all proceeds go to The Trevor Project and the It Gets Better project, both of which support lgbt youth during times of social thoughts. Check the link for more details…
2 years ago
It’s amazing what has no place in a debate about abortion. Women, their health (both mental and physical), the health of the foetus, and now, in a debate about medical procedures, it would seem that it is no longer appropriate to use the correct terminology for the portions of anatomy affected by pregnancy and abortion. I half expect these politicians to cover their ears and go ‘lalalalala I can’t hear you!’… Oh… wait….
2 years ago -
1
A woman who was groped unwillingly by a police officer was ignored by police once she reported the incident and began to record the officers who refused to handle her case for which she was arrested on charges of “eavesdropping”, a charge which can lead to 15 years in prison. The kicker, this was 6 months ago and her case, either of them, had yet to be tried.
2 years ago
Just when you think Australia may be stepping towards the light and embracing change - hey! We have a FEMALE Prime Minister now… *and* a FEMALE Governor General! - our “esteemed” Prime Minister, Ms Julia Gillard has claimed that she cannot condone same-sex marriages to take place within Australia as it goes against her “traditional up-bringing”.
Dear Ms. Gillard,
Please allow me to point out just how you’ve let Tradition dictate your life so far.
You are not married and currently live in a de-facto relationship. Tradition does not recognise this as being married, in fact, it is considered living in sin.
You also claim to be an Atheist, and, whilst I have no qualms over your religious beliefs or non-beliefs, I’d like to point out, that Tradition would see you arrested, tried and charged with heresy.
And finally, Ms. Gillard, if the world allowed Tradition to apply over reason, you would not currently be in the position you find yourself in.
So, in saying that….
Pull your damn head out of your arse and stop trying to justify your homophobia as being ‘Tradition’, when so far, all you have done until now, is defy it.
2 years ago -
2
