You may remember, this past March, two high school football players from Ohio were tried and convicted of sexual assault.  Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond were found guilty of sexually abusing a passed out 16-year-old while others took pictures and video which quickly spread on various social media sites.  Since that time, the public wondered if those who stood by and disseminated those images were find themselves in court as well.  Yesterday other indictments were issued against some of those involved after the fact.

Several adults have been accused of covering up evidence in relation to the case.  The most serious of the charges are against Stuebenville Superintendent Michael McVey... he faces charges of felony obstruction and tampering with evidence.  The two players were members of the Steubenville powerhouse football team who was set to play a semi-final football game.  There are three other adults facing charges in the case as well.  


In the sports-crazy culture in which we currently live, it's difficult to imagine a group of adults, whose job it is to serve and protect the children of a school community, would behave in such a manner in an effort to win a football game.  

Thoughts? 

You turn your computer on, scan an image, and hit print... pretty simple.  Now imagine you scan a three dimensional object, hit print, and that object is printed... in all three dimensions. We assume such technology to exist only the the realm of science fiction, however this is pure science, not fiction.

This technology was first being developed in the 1980's and is now being perfected and it is now available to the general public.  You can literally print tools, toys, utensils... pretty much anything.  You can print things with movable and working parts, and they work!  

In order to fully appreciate this technology you have to watch the video below... amazing!

Click here for the 3D Printer. 

Thoughts??

Same-sex marriage is one of the most divisive issues in our country today.  Several states, with Hawaii being the latest, have passed laws guaranteeing the rights of same sex couples to legally marry.  The First Amendment however allows individual churches and religious leaders to refuse to perform ceremonies for such couples.  

On Tuesday the United Methodist Church suspended a Pennsylvania pastor for performing the wedding ceremony for his gay son.  According to the Church, Frank Schaefer broke the laws put forth in the Church's Book of Discipline.  Schaefer is suspended from performing pastoral duties for 30 days, however he says he expects to be forced from the Church following his suspension.  Church leaders have ordered him to not perform such ceremonies in the future... Scaefer says he will not submit to such a restriction.

 "I feel I have to be an advocate, an outspoken advocate for all lesbian, gay, transgender, and bisexual people." 

 He went on to say that his Church and all religious organizations need to stop judging people based on sexual orientation, and that the hate directed at homosexuals also needs to stop... the Church, his and others, need to stop treating the gay community as second-class citizens.

Some in his community agree with his decision claiming that they are fully in support of his decision to perform the services.  Others however are extremely angry with the Schaefer and believe that he should be defrocked.

Time will tell what will happen to Schaefer in terms of his status as a Pastor for the United Methodist Church, but one thing is clear as Schaefer spoke to reporters, "I will never be silent again... this is what I have to  do."

Thoughts?

This past Friday the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan came under fire after some comments he made in response to the backlash against the educational reforms known as the Common Core; a set of standards that have been adopted by 45 states... including Rhode Island.

When we think of people being give a life sentence, we assume it to be a person convicted of murder or another overly violent type of crime.  However according to recent studies there is an increasing number of people being given such sentences for non-violent offenses.

This is absolutely amazing... a must watch!

Google Glass

Over this past weekend, students at Lakeville Middle School in Battle Creek, Michigan heard the news that one of their classmates had lost her three year battle with leukemia.  Caitlyn Jackson died on Saturday and her friends, faced with the pain and grief that comes from losing a loved one, especially one so young, wanted to do something to honor the memory of their friend.  They decided to celebrate the life of Caitlyn by wearing T-shirts bearing her name.  On Monday students came to school with brightly colored blue and orange t-shirts with messages to Caitlyn written on the front and back... blue was Caitlyn's favorite color and orange is the color promoting leukemia awareness.  

As students began arriving to school on Monday however, school administration told students that they either had to turn the t-shirts inside-out or be sent home and face possible suspension from school.  The decision by administration was based on a district policy of crisis management that bars "permanent memorials" to deceased students.  The policy was intended to avoid things like plaques, yearbook pages, and memorial benches to students who commit suicide for fear that such remembrances would trigger other suicide attempts.  Parents, including Caitlyn's mother, are pointing out that there is, and needs to be, a recognized difference with issues like suicide and a student who died as a result of an accident or long term illness.

Critics are claiming that instead of creating an atmosphere of support for young students dealing with the death of a classmate, the school created an adversarial environment which did not allow those in pain to grieve.  Parents and others in the community are now calling for the administrators to be fired claiming that to enforce such a rule shows that they do not understand how to best deal with or teach the children of Battle Creek.

Thoughts? 

This past Friday, one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the Philippine Islands devastated the region  leaving thousands dead.  Even now the complete picture of the desperation being experienced in the region is not clear.  Coastal towns, cities, and fishing villages were all in the path of Typhoon Haiyan as perhaps as many as 10,000 people are feared dead.

There is no power, no fresh water, and in many cases no chance of help getting to the ravaged areas.  Bridges are down or unstable and the military is overwhelmed with trying to get aid to the most desperate communities.  The international community has begun to respond as foreign governments are sending help.  The United States, in responding to a request from the Philippine government, has ordered the deployment of ships and aircraft to deliver what aid it can.

This VIDEO provides a little perspective about what these people are going through.  Multiple charities have been set up for anyone who wishes to donate to the aid effort. 

As the Hitler's Third Reich made its way through Europe in a bloody campaign of conquest and murder, they not only stole the lives and land of their victims, they stole their material possessions as well, this past Monday, some of those possessions were recovered.

More than a thousand paintings were discovered in an apartment in Munich whose total worth is estimated at over one billion dollars.  According to reports the trove has works by Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Auguste Renoir, and Henri de Toulouise-Lautrec to name a few.  In addition there are original works from Albrecht Durer and Canaletto from the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

The paintings were in the home of Cornelius Gurlitt whose father Hildebrand was a collector of modern art in the early 20th century.  His job under the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels was to collect "degenerate art" and sell it abroad to earn cash for the Nazi state.  This art was largely stolen from Jewish families as they were sent to the concentration camps.  The public has begun to demand that the art be returned to the original owners.  Such a plan could be difficult as many of the original owners, along with their families were killed in the camps.

Thoughts? 

22 year old Alicia Lynch thought she had a clever costume for Halloween... Ms Lynch decided to dress as a bloody Boston Marathon victim and after she posted a picture of herself in costume on Twitter, the backlash against her was immediate, strong, and threatening.

Directed at her were tweets expressing their displeasure... "you are an absolutely disgusting human being."  There were dozens such tweets, however the most emotional came from bombing victims themselves... Celeste Corcoran posted this comment, "You should be ashamed, my mother lost both her legs and I almost died in the marathon. You need a filter."

Such comments are to be expected when dealing with such insensitivity, however people from the Twitterverse took it to the next level as Ms. Lynch began receiving death threats.  People began to search through her timeline both on Twitter and Facebook... they found a picture of her license with her address and reposted it for the world to see, they got the address of her parents who also began receiving death threats.  Ms. Lynch disabled her social media for a short period of time, but reactivated in an effort to plead with the public to at least leave her parents alone...
From Twitter,

 "I have been fired from my job. I am paying for what I thought was a simple joke. I know it was wrong now. I wasn't thinking."

"Plz stop with the death threats towards my parents.  They did nothing wrong. I was the one in the wrong and I am paying for being insensitive."

"Please stop spreading around my parents number, and my home address.  THEY DID NOTHING WRONG."

Thoughts...??