Archive for the ‘Scandal’ Category
UPDATE: Children from Fundamentalist Mormon Compound Were Taken Illegally Says Court
The New York Times is reporting that an all-Republican Texas appeals court has ruled that the 468 children taken from the Mormon fundamentalist compound in west Texas were taken and held illegally. The children were taken from the Yearning for Zion FLDS polygamist ranch outside of Eldorado, Texas.
The prosecutors for the state could not prove that the children were in any imminent danger of physical or sexual abuse and that the abuse previously reported was mostly unsubstantiated. Though the ruling only applied to the families who appealed, the burden of proof now lies with the state to prove that those remaining children are in immediate danger. Without such proof, all of the children will be returned from the foster families they’ve been living with in as soon as 10 days.
The call that prompted the decision, a call made by a supposed 16-year old girl who was being sexually abused by an older “husband,” is being called a hoax by many. The search for the girl who made the phone call came up empty, leading many to doubt that she actually existed in the first place.
The quick reaction to take away the community’s children was sanctioned by a lower court judge who was chastised in the appeals court’s ruling.
The quick reaction to take away the children, as I’ve said before, stinks of religious condemnation rather than genuine concern for the children. After all, the impetus for the raid was a single phone call and not the long, documented histories required for most children to be placed in the protective custody of a foster family.
Hopefully the state will now find a way to accurately find those children being abused and take them out of their family situations without widespread harm to the entire community.
You can read my previous posts on this subject here and here.
Let’s Put The Miley Cyrus/Vanity Fair/Annie Leibovitz Photo Scandal in Perspective
People are upset about THAT photo of Miley Cyrus, the 15 year old teen queen who took a scandalous picture showing her back that appeared in Vanity Fair magazine. The photo is so overexposed–in the media, I mean–that I’m not even going to bother posting it. You can just do a Google Image search if you want to see it.
My concern isn’t for Miley Cyrus at all. After all, she took the pic and I don’t feel she was under a lot of undue duress when the picture was taken. In fact, I don’t think the photo was all that racy, either, and I don’t know where this sudden concern for young girls is coming from. This is the current opening picture of the Limited Too website advertising swimwear:
If we’re so concerned about 15 year old showing their bony backs in public, why don’t we put a stop to the slutty clothes they’re selling to young girls at the mall? If we’re really so concerned, why don’t we tell companies like Limited Too and other girls clothing companies that they can no longer sell low waisted panties and swimsuits along with tiny triangle tops that show, surprise surprise, bony backs?
There was an excellent article in Slate magazine about this very topic. The author wrestles with the idea that, if she wants to buy school clothes for her daughter at the mall, her daughter has to dress like a hoochy. Apparently, that’s the market for girls clothing today.
I’m not saying that dressing sexy is right or wrong. I’m no longer a teen or tween girl, and I don’t have any children. I’ll leave that decision to parents. In the meantime, though I’d really like to read stories about something other than Miley Cyrus/Vanity Fair/Annie Leibovitz. I’m ready for a new scandal.
