Posted on

Domestic Violence Drops

The rate of domestic violence dropped, in half, between 1993 and 2004. Everything you’d expect is still true, however: women who own homes are less likely to be beaten than those with low annual incomes; black women are more likely than white women to be beaten, and domestic violence against men is dropping faster than violence against women.

Analysts speculate that the lower rate of intimate violence may be linked to better police training and more funding for prosecution as a result of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act or the declining violent crime rate in general (it reached its lowest recorded level in 2005).

From the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Posted on

& She’s Not Alone

In addition to Nancy Pelosi breaking “the marble ceiling” for women in US government, there are a few other women who were recently elected to history-making positions:

  • May Eljeribi was elected in late December to lead Tunisia’s Progressive Democratic Party, the principal opposition party in the North African country. She is the first woman party leader in Tunisia.
  • In Iran, Mehrnoush Najafi, a lawyer, women’s rights activist, and blogger, recently won a seat in the Hamedan City Council Elections.
  • Finally, in the United Arab Emirates, one woman was elected to office in the country’s first ever national election. Amal Abdullah al-Kubaissi, an architect, was elected to serve on the Federal National Council.
Posted on

Gay Marriage Takes a Hit

In Massachusetts, the legislature voted against gay marriage, despite the state’s supreme court having ruled to the contrary. That said, this may only be the impact of outgoing Governor Mitt Romney’s last efforts, and there is hope on the horizon.

Incoming Governor Deval Patrick (D) is opposed to the ban. He lobbied throughout the State House and held a press conference to encourage legislators to cast a “No” vote on the measure. The New York Times reported that Governor-Elect Patrick strongly objected to the constitutional amendment process, saying, “I believe that adults should be free to choose whom they wish to love and marry,” and that an amendment should not be used “to give a minority fewer freedoms than the majority.”

Posted on

Stop the Cat Box

There’s a Singular commercial that shows two guys listening to The Clash’s Rock the Casbah who can’t understand the lyrics,and who come up with the sheep don’t like it / stop the cat box / stop the cat box (the correct lyrics are the shareef don’t like it / rocking the casbah) and every time I see it I wonder if a guy I knew in junior high & high school ever thinks of me when he sees it. I made him a tape of the Combat Rock album when we were in maybe 8th grade biology together. I have no idea where he is now, or what he’s doing, but I think of him every single time I see that commercial. He was always a nice guy, even when I went full-on punkrock and he was something like captain of the football team. So, wherever he is – hello, Mike.

Posted on

The Other Polar Bears

The New York Polar Bears made a point of not swimming in the water today. Why?

Polar Bears held a moment of silence, turned their backs on the Atlantic and headed toward the boardwalk, a protest, albeit an underdressed one, against global warming, they said.

Louis Scarcella, 55, a former homicide detective and president of the Coney Island club, said the weather has been so mild that he is considering canceling the group’s winter swimming season, which usually runs from November to April. A club season has not been canceled since the group was founded 104 years ago.

“I have not made the decision yet,” Mr. Scarcella said gravely. “I have to meet with my board.

“It’s a possibility,” he added. “It’s not the extreme sport that we love. It’s a very easy swim.”

How much do they rock? While everyone else is saying vapid things about enjoying the “unseasonable weather,” they actually said what needed saying.