Exit polls show that Irish voters have overwhelmingly (~69%) voted in favor to liberalize the country's abortion laws.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44241521
edited 25th May '18 10:13:37 PM by Rationalinsanity
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
I'm hearing the win margin for Yes vote to repeal it is higher than for the Yes vote to originally instate the ban.
The Mod with the Migraine
It's a yes, but it's a rather specific yes; abortion will be legal only until the 12th week of pregnancy, after that point it's only legal for rape, incest, or the medical health of the mother. Interestingly, the only group that did not have a majority vote in favor was the 65+ cohort. Nice to see that age bracket lose a vote for a change.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I could be wrong on this since I haven't really followed this referendum very closely and I have limited knowledge of the Irish Constitution, however I believe the referendum simply strikes the constitutional ban on abortion. It doesn't establish a constitutional right to abortion in any circumstances.
This gives the Legislature in Ireland full power to regulate abortion as they fit, provided such regulation doesn't run afoul other constitutional requirements of course.
The 12 week figure comes from how the legislature intends on using this power.
On a side note I had no idea until now that the Taoiseach was openly gay and of Indian heritage. That's neat.
Something that fluttered into my mailbox this morning: A Science article about an instance of sexist stereotypes about parents derailing a job.
The Mod with the Migraine
Brock Turner has a new attorney appealing his convictions, claiming he wasn't trying to rape her, only tried to have "outercourse", which is of course a giant pile of shit. If it goes to appeal, could he end up serving more jail time than he got?
The particularities of language matter a great deal in Turner’s case. When he first became a household name following his victim’s release of her heart-wrenching, beautifully written impact statement, anti-rape activists argued that journalists should start calling him a rapist, not a Stanford swimmer. And last year, a college textbook about criminal justice placed his mugshot next to the section titled “Rape,” calling him “rapist Brock Turner.”
But Turner was never convicted of rape. He was convicted of three felonies related to sexual assault: assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated person, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object. In California, rape requires a perpetrator to commit forcible sexual intercourse, which Turner did not.
According to a report from the San Jose Mercury News, Turner is trying to get his conviction on that first charge overturned by arguing that he only wanted to nonconsensually rub his body against hers, without penetrating her. Turner only stopped abusing the woman when two graduate students on bicycles found Turner on top of her and saw she was not moving; when Turner tried to run, they tackled him. Now, Multhaup is trying to convince the appeals court that if those two men hadn’t stopped by, Turner would have stopped on his own, without going any further than penetrating her with his fingers.
The term outercourse is not widely used, but in the sexual health community, it generally means anything besides penis-in-vagina sex. That leaves a wide range of acts Turner could have committed, or intended to commit, under the term’s umbrella. His lawyer’s argument, taken at face value, would also render the charge of attempted rape nearly impossible to prove. Juries and judges can only assess a perpetrator’s intent based on his or her actions—rare is the perp who’ll flat-out tell a victim or bystanders, “I’m trying, unsuccessfully, to rape this person!”
Short of that kind of blatant admission, Turner’s behavior offers about as clear a picture of his intent as a prosecutor could hope for. He pulled off the victim’s bra from under her dress, hiked the dress up around her waist, removed her underwear, and spread her legs. He put his fingers inside her, mounted her, and didn’t get off of her until he was under threat of being caught. There’s nothing to suggest he intended to stop just short of rape and walk away after another minute or two of nonconsensual “outercourse.”
But that’s exactly the story Multhaup tried to sell to the judges on Tuesday. He said jury members unjustly “filled in the blanks” when they deduced that Turner intended to rape the woman in 2015. The Mercury News described the judges as “poker-faced,” but one, Franklin D. Elia, seemed skeptical of Multhaup’s argument. “I absolutely don’t understand what you are talking about,” he said. “Intent is rarely proved by direct evidence.” If direct evidence were the standard for attempted rape, the only real proof would be rape itself.
Ahr river
...are the turners aware that could probably get away with more if they just went radio silent for a long enough time for people to forget who they are?
Read my stories!
Oh, bother.
Those assholes still think they are the "real" victims.
Disgusted, but not surprised
"If direct evidence were the standard for attempted rape, the only real proof would be rape itself. "
that is pretty much what they are saying: the guy have to declare how much he want to rape here, brutally rape her and then gloat about how much he rape her, everything less than that is not rape.
In general something I noticed about rape culture is that we define rape by is squaishness: if the act is not disgusting enought then isnt real.
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
But that’s exactly the story Multhaup tried to sell to the judges on Tuesday. He said jury members unjustly “filled in the blanks” when they deduced that Turner intended to rape the woman in 2015.
Do this kid and his parents seriously not realize that the more they do shit like this, the worse they all look? I'm amazed that they still think they're the ones being victimized. Screw these people.
While I doubt it's gonna happen, I'll be pissed if this lawyer actually gets Turner off the hook.
"In 900 years of time and space I've never met anyone who wasn't important."
Oh, bother.
This has to be a fresh slap in the face for the asshole's victim.
Disgusted, but not surprised
What the fuck kind of defense is that? I know lawyers have to defend their clients no matter how much they may disagree or dislike them but we are stooping so low that we are trying to invent new words to pass off an extremely obvious case of rape now??
The victim did a rape kit test and tested positive, this kid should of been shoved on the sex offender list and to jail for a long time back when this first came into view. I don't give a shit if this ruins his life, rapists tend to ruin their victim's lives themselves and the fucking kid shouldn't even of tried to do the act in the first place.
Makes me wonder if the attorney is trying to intentionally make Brock Turner and his parents look like fucking idiots.
Edited by Wispy on Jul 29th 2018 at 2:21:11 AM
The law in the night
I am still laughing how he wasn't trying to have intercourse just outercourse as a defense sounds incredibly stupid.
Inter arma enim silent leges
Oh, bother.
Let's just hope they don't get another judge who is too sympathetic to him.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Another issue is that California's laws on the subject need a rewrite.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Now see, I was thinking that California's laws on rape are actually pretty OK and that this is just typical Amoral Attorney behaviour.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
If California's law requires 'forcible' sexual intercourse to be part of the definition of 'rape' then it's got a Germaine Greer problem.
Edited by Wyldchyld on Jul 29th 2018 at 5:05:17 PM
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Ah, that issue with rape laws. Silly me. That said, §261 (a) does not seem unduly narrow to me. Although it doesn't bother defining "intercourse" anywhere that I can see.
(Also, why does California's rape law have two different provisions for married vs unmarried people?)
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Because until a bit over a decade ago marital rape was legal in the US, it is most likely an artifact of that.
Queen of Good Things, Honest
Ridiculous as it is, these are the kinds of legal arguments you get away with when you're a college-age white male.
If Brock Turner was Hispanic, he'd be serving forty years in prison.
Edited by TobiasDrake on Jul 29th 2018 at 1:44:19 PM
My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
Face me now, Bitch!
Wasn't sure where to put this, but this seems like the best place.
Public Breastfeeding is now completely legal in all 50 states.
Thoughts? I think its great, since Formula companies kept trying to make it seem like their baby formula was better, when it is now known that natural milk is better for babies. Not to mention they have become well known for their predatory practices.
Plus, over time, the stigma against public breastfeeding will probably die off in a few years.
Edited by Demongodofchaos2 on Jul 30th 2018 at 12:43:22 PM
Watch Symphogear
It's a bird.
I think you meant "now".
Face me now, Bitch!
Fixed, Thanks for pointing that out. 
Some of them were in the last year, so if they could they should.