"yes means yes" | California's new targeted consent for sex law

You can read the text of the 1700 word Student Safety: Sexual Assault law right here.

The law requires California post-secondary schools:

• to adopt policies concerning sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking that include certain elements, including an affirmative consent standard in the determination of whether consent was given by a complainant.

• to the extent feasible, to enter into memoranda of understanding or other agreements or collaborative partnerships with on-campus and community-based organizations to refer students for assistance or make services available to students.

• to implement comprehensive prevention and outreach programs addressing sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.

Key definitions:

• “Affirmative consent” means affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity. It is the responsibility of each person involved in the sexual activity to ensure that he or she has the affirmative consent of the other or others to engage in the sexual activity. Lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent, nor does silence mean consent. Affirmative consent must be ongoing throughout a sexual activity and can be revoked at any time. The existence of a dating relationship between the persons involved, or the fact of past sexual relations between them, should never by itself be assumed to be an indicator of consent.

• ...it shall not be a valid excuse that the accused believed that the complainant affirmatively consented to the sexual activity if the accused knew or reasonably should have known that the complainant was unable to consent to the sexual activity under any of the following circumstances:

(A) The complainant was asleep or unconscious.

(B) The complainant was incapacitated due to the influence of drugs, alcohol, or medication, so that the complainant could not understand the fact, nature, or extent of the sexual activity. 

(C) The complainant was unable to communicate due to a mental or physical condition.

At first glance these standards appear to be consistent with existing laws governing sexual assault. So, California's play here ties state funding, down to the level of financial aid to students in private colleges, to the adoption and implementation of campus policies regarding informed consent for sexual contact and consistent standards of information about consent, prevention of nonconsensual sexual contact,  and when necessary, aftercare for victims of sexual assault.

I see nothing here that can't or shouldn't be the subject ongoing education for teenagers and children in families, community organizations and faith-centered youth groups.

in the wind | tweets from the space ending 09.27.14

the people's business | why people like us register and vote jimhancock.blogspot.com

US 'Active Shooter Incidents' 2000-2013 | a new study jimhancock.blogspot.com

MINO vs CINO | Do you believe everyone who claims to be a Muslim is, in fact, a Muslim jimhancock.blogspot.com

MINO vs CINO | Do you believe everyone who claims to be a Muslim is, in fact, a Muslim?

Do you believe everyone who claims to be a Muslim is, in fact, a Muslim?

How about this: Do you believe everyone who claims to be a Christian is, in fact, a Christian?

How about these guys, the Church of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan?

What do we believe in our Church? We believe in the Bible before liberals translated it. We of the White Race came from Adam and Eve, not monkeys. The Bible clearly shows we are of one lineage, and makes reference to Beasts who walked on two legs. It also spoke of the wrongs of sleeping with these beasts. So we believe that blacks are not our Brothers and Sisters, but are beasts of burden.  To accept evolution fully, is to say that we are equal with these animals, which history shows that we are not equal to, and in fact are superior to.  While the Supreme Court has accepted animals to Vote and Marry with our race, we have not and never will accept this.

They are a 501(C)(3) tax exempt religious organization. Do you think they represent the mainstream of Christian faith? Do you think they represent Jesus? Or do you think they may be Christians in name only?

Going out on a limb here to propose that most Christians would not agree to have the Church of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan speak for them in matters of faith and practice — is it any further out on a limb to imagine there are Muslims who abhor and reject the hatred and violence of people who are Muslims in name only?

US Active Shooter Incidents 2000-13 | a new study

The FBI has concluded a study of the 160 active shooter incidents in the US from 2000 - 2013. An active shooter incident is a situation in which a person (or, rarely, persons) actively engages in killing or attempting to kill people in populated locations like businesses, schools, government facilities, houses of worship, and open spaces.*

Among the principle findings:

• Active shooter incidents increased in frequency. There were on average 6.4 incidents per year in 2000 - 2006, rising to an average of 16.4 incidents in 2007 - 2013.
• There were 1,043 casualties (486 killed, 557 wounded—excluding the shooters).
• Six of the 160 incidents involved a female shooter.
• 158 of 160 incidents involved just one shooter.
• 64 incidents fall within the federal definition of mass killing—three or more killed in a single incident
• 107 incidents ended before police arrived
• 90 shootings ended on the shooter’s initiative by suicide or flight. 
• 21 incidents ended after unarmed citizens restrained the shooter.
• Four incidents were interrupted by armed security guards or off-duty law officers. 
• One incident was ended by a citizen with a valid firearm carry permit.
• In the 64 incidents where duration could be determined, 44 ended in five minutes or less, 23 of those in two minutes or less.
• In 21 of the 45 incidents where law enforcement engaged the shooter, nine officers were killed and 28 were wounded.
• Active shooter incidents occurred in seven environments
• 73 incidents occurred in commercial environments
• 39 took place in educational environments
• 16 were in government facilities
• 15 were in open spaces
• seven in residences
• six in houses of worship
• four in health care facilities.

* Active shooter incidents are distinguished from "ordinary" murders by the active and public nature of the crime  

why people like us register and vote

The US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology reminds me of a church Buildings and Grounds Committee who believe their main job is keeping people out of the buildings and off the grounds.

These guys — not everybody in Congress but the presence in Congress of people like these guys — are a very good reason to register and vote this year so we can get on with what functioning congresses have always referred to as, "the people's business." 

Today is National Voter Registration Day. We're not voting for a president, but there's a lot to gain and a lot to lose in this year's midterm elections. It would suck if people like these remained in positions of responsibility simply because people like us didn't register and vote.

You can probably register online: Rock the Vote | League of Women Voters

The Daily Show

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in the wind | tweets from the space ending 09.20.14

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U2 | free + clear jimhancock.blogspot.com 

The Daily Show (finally) comes clean on Obamacare jimhancock.blogspot.com 

where credit is due | a microburst of interest today in a pro-adolescent post from last year http://bit.ly/1r4RyfX

Daily Show (finally) comes clean on Obamacare

i

The Daily Show
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U2 | free + clear

Every once in a while I post an ad because it's thought-provoking. I'm posting this one because U2's new album, Songs of Innocence, is free on iTunes—which is a pretty good deal all things considered.

in the wind | tweets in the space ending 08.06.14

FIVE PICTURES | LABOR DAY + A LIVING WAGE http://jimhancock.blogspot.com

kids gone wild | don't let the facts get in the way of a good story (your funding might just depend on it)
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not having it | US smoke-free homes grew from 43% in 1992 to 83% in 2011 
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Common Sense guide for reducing social media drama http://bit.ly/1o7htjy

2nd Class Kids? | Friends of the Court brief to 7th Circuit (IN + WI) on same sex marriage http://bit.ly/1oRQvMg

FIVE PICTURES | LABOR DAY + A LIVING WAGE

 

Images courtesy the US Department of Labor