Voxant Newsroom Blog

Catholic Church fights sexual abuse with coloring books

The Catholic Church is really onto something with its latest tactic in fighting the much publicized sexual abuse that has plagued the Church recently. They've decided to give the kids coloring books! Wow! How innovative! How revolutionary! How life-changing!

The coloring books are being handed out to good little Catholic boys and girls in schools and at churches in the New York Diocese. The books warn children to avoid being alone with strangers, beware of online predators and that there are certain parts of their body that are no-no zones. Gee, we covered most of that in kindergarten with our "Beware of Strangers" campaign.

One criticism I have, and is apparently shared by others, is the vagueness with which they address the entire priest sex abuse issue. Rather than state outright that if a priest touches you, he's not a good priest and you need to tell somebody, the book sidesteps the whole priest scandal. That's a pretty ludicrous move, considering the scandal is the reason the coloring books were made in the first place. Perhaps it's a sign that the Church still hasn't learned its lesson that it needs to be just, forthcoming and honest when dealing with issues like this.

Another criticism I have is the guardian angel bit. By putting the guardian angel in there and saying that she's there to protect the reader, you're immediately setting kids up to lose faith and suffer from self-esteem issues. What about those who already have been abused? Why didn't the guardian angel protect them?

If my devoutly Catholic Portuguese grandmother were here I'm sure she'd be dismayed at my criticism of the Catholic Church but I call 'em like I see 'em. Desculpa-me avó.

Check out the coloring book story yourself from the AP.

-Ricky

California fires declared major disaster

As southern California burns for the fourth consecutive day, President Bush has signed a major disaster declaration that will increase federal aid to the area.  Nearly a million people have been displaced and an estimated $1 billion dollars in home damage has been caused so far.

For updates on this story, embed our wildfires newsfeed:

-Mike

Birth control in middle school?

So much for the old school, abstinence only sex ed motto...

King Middle School in Portland, Maine is taking a different (read: realistic) approach, making a full range of contraceptives - including condoms, birth control pills and patches - available to its students at the school's health center.  These kids, mostly ages 11-13, need only to complete a physical exam to be eligible to receive birth control prescriptions.

Okay, granted it is Maine and maybe there's not much else to do, but 11-year-olds having sex?  I guess the video of the lady giving birth isn't enough to scare kids anymore. 

The question then becomes, is making birth control available at this age the solution, or will it encourage kids further?

-Mike

Cleveland School Shooting

Another school shooting has taken place today, this time in Cleveland, Ohio.  At least four people were injured after a 14-year-old gunman opened fire on teachers and classmates.  The gunman has been killed.

For updates on this story, check our editor's picks feed here.

Racism still the issue

It is fifty-three years after the verdict of Brown vs. The Board of Education was handed down, and somehow the biggest problem facing American society is still racism. In recent weeks, race has come to the forefront of the media, and the way the various news outlets have handled it is nothing short of deplorable. Since September 10, three major stories regarding race have hit the front pages of news papers: O.J. Simpson arrested again, Donovan McNabb stating black quarterbacks experience more scrutiny and the case of the Jena 6 in Louisiana.

O.J. Simpson has been a part of the American consciousness for over thirty years. Shamefully for the last thirteen years his exposure was due to a flamboyant double-murder trial, followed by idiotic publicity stunts. O.J.’s most recent encounter with the law has landed him as the top story in every news broadcast across America. If O.J. was a politician or even a person of stature in society, the headlines would be warranted. However he is neither, and yet he has dominated headlines. If anything, Simpson has been a detrimental force on American society for the last decade. His murder trial in 1994 created as harsh a racial divide as this country has ever seen. Now his reemergence into the mainstream is threatening to do the same thing, and the excessive coverage from the media is driving us in that direction.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb conducted an interview this past week where he explained how he is under extra scrutiny as a quarterback because of his race. Naturally, these comments sparked a firestorm within the sports talk radio community. However much of the commentary was centered on attacking McNabb for even making such an “outlandish statement.” There was little effort put into investigating if there was any validity to what McNabb had said. In most media outlets he was portrayed as a heretic for insinuating that racism was possible in today’s sporting world. The reaction that McNabb received to his comments only helped to prove that while racial problems in the U.S. may be on the decline, sensory denial is at an all time high.

In the small town of Jena, Louisiana a protest march was held on Wednesday. Thousands of people from across the country descended on the small town to protest the trial and of six black youth who are currently being prosecuted for getting into what amounted to be a school yard tussle. While these youth are being prosecuted for beating up a white classmate, those responsible for hanging nooses around the school yard never had to face charges. This story sounds like news one would expect from small town Louisiana in 1957 not 2007, yet the town of Jena is having to face this problem.

There is a saying, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” From the looks of the current condition of our society, there are far too many of us who have not taken the opportunity to learn from the past.

Racism is still a cancer in this country, and with the power and influence of the media outlets, they have the responsibility to avoid flaming the issue with stereotypes and generalizations. However, they are all too often more interested in serving their own self-interests, which is selling the story.

Sadly sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same.

-Dumont

If I stole it

Is it just me, or is everything getting lamer? There was a big Britney Spears controversy at the VMAs this year, but it just pales in comparison to the Britney award show controversies of years past. Used to be we had President Badass in the White House, eating late-night pizza and bangin’ interns. Now we’ve got President Dumbass staying off the sauce and ordering low-fat hotdogs.

Even OJ’s on the lame train. A decade ago, he was under a cloud of suspicion after a high-profile double homicide in a swanky Southern California neighborhood. Now the only crimes he gets accused of are poorly executed robberies in 1-star off-the-strip Vegas hotels.

Don’t even get me started on the Superbowl. How we went from this to this I’ll never know.

- Evan

9/11 remembered, take 6

Today marks the six year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and what an appropriately gloomy day it is here in the DC area as well as in NYC.  Memorial ceremonies have been taking place in both cities and elsewhere across the nation.

Osama bin Laden, in keeping with tradition, has resurfaced on the anniversary to rub a little salt in the wound while reciting a few verses of "Death to America."

I've read that some have grown weary of all the ceremonies, that grief has a shelf life and should be allowed to expire rather than be revisited every year. 

Maybe so. 

But with the mug of the man responsible showing up every year while still at large - and with the war in Iraq still dominating headlines after nearly half a decade, I can see where it would be hard to find closure.

-Mike

Return to New Orleans 2: Electric Boogaloo

This week marks the two year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  As you might expect, the networks have big plans for coverage of this event.  Which is great actually, because I have been pining for a Katrina fix.  I forget, how is the rebuilding process going?   Something about the relief money being tied up in bureaucracy or something?

While the networks will be all over New Orleans, it is important to remember that other areas were also devastated by Katrina.  This article from GulfCoastNews.com describes the process of rebuilding homes in Biloxi, and why it is not working.

-Mike

Week In Review: We're baaaack

Dangerous amounts of air blustering around at rapid speed. Destructive forces leading to desperate pleas.

Also, there were some weather stories this week.

In a week that started with Democratic presidential debate number 27, the repetition of old news was the order of the day. The first old chestnut was the blundering Mr. Magoos that lead America’s intelligence services. A heretofore secret internal CIA report from 2005 starkly illustrated the failures of our intelligence leaders in the lead up and aftermath of 9/11. The report says George Tenet, the former CIA director and darling of three presidents, never really got it together when it came to Al Qaeda and ignored need for a comprehensive intelligence plan to combat the terrorist threat. Tenet said the report is completely wrong, but it sounds like a slam-dunk to me.

Climate change also found its way into the headlines yet again this week. As the Southeast baked under record high temperatures, floods drowned the Midwest and the Category 5 Hurricane Dean slammed into the Caribbean and Mexico. Dean didn’t do as much damage as was originally expected, but it still found a way to clear out tourists and bring the space shuttle home early. Go buy a hand-crank radio and some Exxon stock – we’re going to have more weather like this before we ever start having less. 

Making the week’s most surprising encore onto the news stage was of course the Vietnam War. Remember it? It was endless conflict based on a lie that left America with nothing but thousands of dead soldiers and lost global credibility. President Bush finally admitted that the flawed logic behind that war was part of the flawed logic behind the current quagmire in Iraq. In a speech before the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Bush said that the pullout of troops from the war he skipped shouldn’t be repeated in the country he skipped out on Osama to blow up. Yet again, he’s asking other people to keep dying pointlessly so he can save a little face. The ballsy part? He gave this speech before the room most likely to have people in it that would be dead if we never left Vietnam.

Finally, Sen. John Warner reprised the role of the hundreds of reports and experts he ignored in the run-up to Iraq and said basically that winning there is hopeless. Seems new, but it’s actually the oldest story in the book – politician jumps on the bandwagon just as soon as the tide turns.

- Evan

Worst flooding in 100 years hits Midwestern US

Flooding from Ohio to Oklahoma has displaced over one thousand people from their homes this week.  As many as 25 people have been killed and a state of emergency has been declared in multiple states.

Naturally, where there are flood waters, there are correspondents reporting in ankle deep water wearing hip-high rubber galoshes.  Here is a playlist of coverage from areas that have been hit hardest:

-Mike