Today’s POV blog

In an exclusive story, CBS nearly early 90,000 women reported they were raped in the United States last year and that another 75,000 went unreported.  Of those reported, there is an estimated, paltry, arrest rate of about 25%. When you compare this to the 79% arrest rate for murder and 51% arrest rate for aggravated assault, these numbers are frighteningly low — especially to women who may at some point face the decision to report an assault.

For those women who have reported a rate in the last year, and when a rape kit was collected, some 20,000 kits remained untested. At least twelve major American cities: Anchorage, Baltimore, Birmingham, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Oakland, Phoenix, and San Diego are not clear on how many rape kits in storage are untested.

While rape is typically thought of as assault on women, as many as 1 in 5 males will be sexually abused before the age of 18, according to data from the FBI, and about 1 in 5 adult rape victims is male. Male rape does not only happen in prisons, though that is common. Male rape, like the rape of women and children, can happen almost anywhere and with little regard for how strong the man.

In 1977, Roman Polanski, plied a thirteen-year-old Samantha Gailey with champagne and a quaalude before having her pose for topless photos, joining her nude in a hot tub, and then performing oral sex and intercourse on the young teen. Following his indictment, Polanski agreed to a plea deal that spared him prison time, but when it seemed that the judge might not honor the deal, Polanski fled. He was arrested earlier this year — more than 30 years later.

Though rape is extremely violent, it is often coupled with other violence such as physical beatings and even murder. Authorities have been investigating convicted rapist Anthony Sowell, 50, after discovering two bodies in a fresh grave at his home on 29 October 2009, as reported by NYDailyNews.com. Since that date, nine more bodies have been found. Investigations have just begun into unexplained disappearances and rapes in other cities in which Sowell resided.

On 24 October 2009, a 15-year-old girl was gang raped, robbed, and beaten outside of her high school homecoming dance as a group looked on and did nothing. Investigators in that case are weighing options for charging the onlookers with a crime.

Escalating the beyond rape and into additional violent behavior at least raises the propensity for having the crime thoroughly investigated and solved, but it’s unpalatable to think one has to be murdered just to have their rape solved.

In a quick review of three key indicators — borrowing, spending, and working — the word for the holidays seems to be “proceed with caution.”

This week the US Federal Reserve unanimously agreed to keep near zero the cost of borrowing money for an extended period.

According to TradingEconomics.com, the United States unemployment rate stands at 9.80 percent. (The labor force is defined as the number of people employed plus the number unemployed but seeking work. The non-labor force includes those who are not looking for work, those who are institutionalized, and those serving in the military.)

In the national employment report compiled by ADP, non-farm private employment was reduced by another 203,000 from September to October 2009. However, October was the seventh consecutive month in which the decline in employment was less than in the previous month.

ADP projects that despite recent indications that overall economic activity is stabilizing, employment, which usually trails overall economic activity, is likely to decline for at least a few more months.

In light of high unemployment rates, Gallup is reporting that Americans are planning to spend about $740 on gifts this year, down from $801 in 2008. 33% today, versus 35% a year ago, say they will spend less, while over half plan to spend about the same amount and 9% will spend more.

Though total sales are expected to be lower this holiday season, U.S. online sales are expected to rise eight percent and reach $44.7 billion. Big-box retailers such as Walmart and Amazon – those able to support discounts – are likely to see the best results.

In May, gay marriage was passed in Maine but was not enacted due to a petition drive from the conservative opposition. Today Maine has put the question to its public and by the time you read this blog, the fate of same-sex marriages will have been decided.

According to Yahoo, early returns show a close contest with those in favor at 53% and those opposed at 47%. If the end result supports this initiative, it would be the first time voters in any state have passed such a measure.

It is believed that a yes vote would drive a grassroots movement to support more ballot propositions across the US, despite the loss suffered in California last year when voters reacted to a court ruling allowing gay marriage.

Court rulings have also approved gay marriages in Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. On the flip side, there have been 30 states that have enacted constitutional amendments that banned gay marriage.

In Washington voters are deciding whether or not to uphold or overturn a recently expanded domestic-partnership law that entitles same-sex couples to the same state-granted rights as heterosexual married couples.

In London, England, a one-year old baby born with a severe birth defect has caused discourse between his amicably separated parents on whether or not to disconnect the respirator that is keeping him alive.

The disease, congenital myasthenic syndrome, is a rare genetic condition that prevents the child from breathing on his own. It causes severe muscle weakness, feeding, and respiratory problems. According to the hospital, the disease is progressive, but the baby has been taken off his artificial respirator at least three times. Each time, the baby was able to breathe on his own for less time, until the third time when he was able to maintain for only five minutes.

Siding with the doctors, the mother is in favor of ceasing life support, but the father is pleading his case to the high courts in Britain.

According to lawyers in a story reported by CNN, the baby is “miserable, sad, and pitiful.” When describing the child’s plight, they lawyers say his lungs fill with fluid every few hours giving him the sensation that he is choking. Doctors must use suction to remove the fluid, causing further suffering.

The father claims the baby can play and recognize his parents and that his lawyers plan to show videos of the baby in court to demonstrate he is capable of responding.

Both parents feel they have the baby’s best interests at heart, and this is clearly a life or death matter. With everyone feeling they are right, where has it gone wrong?

In 1534, Anglicans split with Rome when the Vatican refused to give English King Henry VIII a marriage annulment; since that time, Anglicans have become divided over such issues as admitting women to the priesthood and the consecration of V. Gene Robinson, as the first openly gay bishop.

After nearly 500 years, the Vatican has said that married Anglican priests will be admitted to the Catholic priesthood on a case-by-case basis.

This move — easing the way for disillusioned Anglicans to convert to Roman Catholics — might undermine decades of efforts between the Holy See and Anglican leaders over how the two churches could reunite. Some faithful Anglicans are unhappy about the progressive reforms in their church and consider themselves Catholics — though they have not officially joined the Roman Catholic church.

While the Holy See statement does say that the Vatican would consider accepting married Anglican priests into the Roman Catholic priesthood as it has in the past, in no case could a married man become a bishop.

In 2005, 15 people were killed and 180 injured in an explosion at a BP plant in Texas. After t blast, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducted an investigation and discovered 270 safety violations. BP was fined $21.3 million and directed to correct the violations; entering a four-year agreement to do so. BP was further fined $50 million to settle criminal charges, $1 billion dollars to correct the hazards, and $2 billion dollars in civil court cases.

At the end of the four-year period, OSHA ran a six-month inspection of the facility to see if BP had corrected the violations. Once again, BP was found to have failed and this time OSHA levied an $87 million fine. BP has 15 days to correct the remaining problems or contest the fine in court.

To keep the size of these fines in perspective, note that BP reported third-quarter profits of $4.98 billion.

Are OSHA’s fines really having an impact with profits at this level? Is it time the federal government stepped in and started filing criminally against BP? The fines may have temporarily hurt profits, but for a company that is making billions in profits a year, these relatively meager fines are not getting results.

With a world that runs on petroleum, are OSHA and governments powerless when it comes to ensuring the safety of workers at these facilities?

In an article reported by FOXnew.com, a Michigan man has filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming his constitutional rights were violated when he was ordered to remove a Nativity (creche) scene from the median of a public road.

At Justia.us they report that this issue has twice been heard by the US Supreme court — with varying results.

In 1984, the Court found no violation of the establishment clause when a Nativity scene was displayed in a city’s Christmas display. Conversely in 1989, the inclusion of a creche in a holiday display was found to constitute a violation.

These cases were decided by determining whether the court majority believed that the overall effect of the display was to emphasize the religious nature of the symbols, or whether instead the emphasis was primarily secular.

The underlying issue is the interpretation of the establishment clause of the first amendment by typical American citizens. According to About.com, this clause has generally been interpreted in two ways:

1. To prohibit the establishment of a national religion by Congress. This is called the separationist or no-aid interpretation.
2. To prohibit the preference of one religion over another (or the support of a religious idea with no identifiable secular purpose). This is called the accommodationist interpretation.

With the accommodationist intrerpretation, a challenge arises in that it does not prohibit the government’s entry into religious domain to make accommodations in order to achieve the purposes of the accompanying free-exercise clause. This clause is still being scoped by the Supreme Court so its definition is not yet clearly defined.

As cases come before the court, those cases help the justices to further define this clause. In one such ruling, the Supreme Court said, “Congress cannot pass a law for the government of the Territory which shall prohibit the free exercise of religion. The first amendment to the Constitution expressly forbids such legislation.” Of federal territorial laws, the Court said, “Laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious beliefs and opinions, they may with practices.”

Despite the first amendment right that guarantees our freedom of religion, do you believe that displaying Christian icons at government offices during Christmas should be allowed?

There have been countless crimes over the years where witnesses to crimes don’t testify, don’t intervene, or worse yet, don’t even call the police. Genovese Syndrome (also known as the bystander effect) is the name given to people who witness a crime or violent act and don’t want to get involved or just stand idly by and watch. The term was coined after Kitty Genovese was raped and murdered in New York in the ’60s. When asked why he didn’t report it, a witness in a nearby building stated, “I didn’t want to get involved.”

Such was the case recently when a girl was gang-raped the evening of her school’s homecoming dance. Police estimate over 20 people were involved or stood by and watched; some even laughing. Witnesses did nothing, not because they didn’t want to get involved, but because the group as a whole had decided to do nothing and thus reaffirmed the notion that what was occurring was acceptable.

Should these witnesses be charged with the same crimes as the actual perpetrators? Are they just as guilty for not standing up for the victim? Is there another side to this story that makes their actions justifiable? Does it matter?

In California, it is illegal not to report a crime if it involves children, but it only covers those who are 14 and younger, so the victim of the homecoming gang-rape is excluded (she is 15 years old). One person is all it would have taken to call the police, or just say stop. Should apathy be punished?

The Federal Aviation Administration has revoked the licenses of two Northwest Airlines pilots who shot 150 miles past their Minnesota destination.

Captain Timothy B. Cheney, and first officer Richard I. Cole, both seasoned pilots with more than 30,000 hours of flight time between them, claim that they were using their laptops and discussing work schedules. The FAA is investigating how it is possible that not only did the pilots ignore 78 minutes of attempts from ground crew to reach them, but that none of the flight attendants were concerned when the flight extended more than an hour past its scheduled landing time.

Backed by union membership in the Delta Air Lines Union, the pilots have ten days to appeal the decision of the FAA. The union is urging caution against a rush to judgment.

Earlier this year, in a story reported by TheStreet.com, a US Airways’ pilot was reinstated after being fired 18 months earlier. Captain James Langenhahn accidentally discharged his gun in the cockpit. He credits his union with getting him back to work.

Also this year, captain Gilbert Ponder is seeking reinstatement after failing an alcohol test. In a suit against Frontier Airlines, the Frontier Airline Pilots Association is claiming that the airlines is refusing to abide by an arbitrator’s recommendation that the pilot would be better served if he were given a chance for conditional reinstatement.

Whether or not Cheney and Cole will be reinstated remains to be seen, but to date officials still have a lot of questions and little confidence in the responses that have come from the pilots thus far.

With a difficult job market, dwindling savings, threatened retirement accounts, and worries over our Social Security system, short-term career advancements for the younger generation and earnings potential are at risk as an entire class of financially vulnerable 60-somethings are staying at work longer to hedge their dwindling bets.

You probably know a YUPPIE (young upwardly mobile professional), and maybe a couple of DINKYs (dual-income, no kids — yet), and perhaps even a SCUPPIE (socially conscious upwardly mobile person), but economic shifts have created a couple new acronyms: TYTR (too young to retire) and the TOTH (too old to be hired) that may be upsetting the delicate balance.

It’s more than just a case of the well trained staying in their jobs longer; there is evidence of change in the entire employment lifecycle.

When cash-strapped companies are looking for jobs to cut, often the younger generation is the first to go. Hired last, they may have the bigger payrolls and at a time when companies need desperately to get the biggest bang for their buck, they hang onto the best-trained, most-skilled workers. When push comes to shove out the door, this means the older workforce.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics the unemployment rate for July 2009 through September 2009, for key age groups are as follows:

• Ages 25 to 34: July 10.0%, August 10.4%, September 10.6%
• Ages 35 to 44:  July 7.9%, August 8.1%, September 8.8%
• Ages 45 to 54: July 7.4%, August 7.7%, September 8.0%
• Ages 55 years and over: July 6.7%, August 6.8%, September 6.8%

Notice the trend: the older the employee, the lower the unemployment rate. Is this supporting evidence? Well, that’s arguable — like most discussions surrounding the unemployment rate.

It’s certain that these are short-term issues and that at some point, the older employee will go back to becoming the eager retiree and the younger employee will again become the up-and-coming executive. The key for all of us is to parlay this point in time to our benefit either through continuing education for the young, or better savings, investments, and planning for the middle-aged.