A custodian at a private college found this suicide note(?) left on a dry erase board. I wonder if this was serious or not. Considering that it’s a private college, it probably was.
The White-Slave Traffic Act, better known as the Mann Act, is a United States law, passed June 25, 1910 (ch. 395, 36 Stat. 825; codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. §§ 2421–2424). It is named after Congressman James Robert Mann, and in its original form prohibited white slavery and the interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes”. Its primary stated intent was to address prostitution, “immorality”, and human trafficking; however, its ambiguous language of “immorality” allowed selective prosecutions for many years, and was used to criminalize forms of consensual sexual behavior. It was later amended by Congress in 1978, and again in 1986 to apply only to transport for the purpose of prostitution or illegal sexual acts.
A new report released this week by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reveals alarming child poverty rates within affluent, or ‘developed’, nations. The US ranks second highest among all measured countries, with 23.1 per cent of children living in poverty, just under Romania’s 25.6 per cent.
The report Report Card 10 shows roughly 13 million children in the European Union (plus Norway and Iceland) lack basic items necessary for their development. 30 million children – across 35 countries with developed economies – live in poverty.
“The data reinforces that far too many children continue to go without the basics in countries that have the means to provide,” said Gordon Alexander, Director of UNICEF’s Office of Research.
Figure shows the percentage of children (aged 0 to 17) who are living in relative poverty, defined as living in a household in which disposable income, when adjusted for family size and composition, is less than 50% of the national median income.
In what appears to be a direct response to the failed boycott campaign of anti-gay group One Million Moms, JCPenney yesterday unveiled a new Father’s Day ad featuring a same-sex couple playing with their children.
According to the company, the two men who appear in the ad are “real-life dads Todd Koch and Cooper Smith,” and the jubilant children are their kids, Claire and Mason.
“First Pals: What makes Dad so cool?” reads the ad’s copy. “He’s the swim coach, tent maker, best friend, bike fixer and hug giver - all rolled into one. Or two.”
Back in February, the department store chain faced criticism from the American Family Association’s One Million Moms project for its hiring of Ellen DeGeneres to be the company’s new spokesperson. JCPenney refused to submit to the group’s bullying, and stuck by DeGeneres.
