Florida politician is rejecting calls to resign after a high school photo showing him in blackface
A Florida politician is rejecting calls to resign after a high school photo showing him in blackface surfaced — claiming the image was merely a prank with a black classmate.
State Rep. Anthony Sabatini, a 30-year-old Republican representing House District 32, said the image showing him as a teen with darkened skin while wearing sunglasses, a New York Yankees cap, a do-rag and gold chains has been “decontextualized” since his days at Eustis High School, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
“I’m 16 years old, one of my best friends of the time was black, and we thought at the time — looking back, it was immature — it would be funny to dress as each other,” Sabatini told the newspaper. “He dressed in my clothes — a Ralph Lauren polo shirt, shorts, Converse — and I dressed in his clothing … None of us thought 14 years later any of us would be a public figure and the photo would be decontextualized.”
Sabatini insisted that the controversy surrounding the image, which has resurfaced on social media after being mailed anonymously to media outlets in Lake County prior to his defeat of Democratic Cynthia Brown in November, had “zero” in common with the blackface scandals that prompted Florida Secretary of State Michael Ertel to resign and calls for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to do the same over a racist photo in his medical school yearbook from 1984.
Sabatini, who denied the photo was racist, accused the Democratic Party of doing “whatever it takes to influence” elections in the Sunshine State, including “going into high school yearbook pictures of you.”
But Brown on Monday renewed her call for Sabatini to resign over the photo, calling the behavior “mean, cruel and unacceptable for anyone,” particularly an elected official.
“Floridians need to know that our elected leaders will not accept this behavior and will stand consistently in opposing racism,” Brown wrote on Facebook.
Brown said in a separate post that the specifics behind the photo, including how old Sabatini was at the time and his political party today, should not factor into the discussion on whether he should step down.
“Anthony you cannot represent ALL of the people of our district, just as the Florida Secretary of State decided he couldn’t,” Brown wrote. “Do what is right for once, step down and resign.”
The state’s Democratic chair, Terrie Rizzo, echoed Brown’s sentiment, calling for Sabatini to step down in a statement released Tuesday.
“Governor DeSantis did the right thing in accepting Michael Ertel’s resignation — and he and Leader Jose Oliva should do the right thing and ask for the resignation of Rep. Anthony Sabatini,” Rizzo’s statement read. “In calling out racist behavior Florida Democrats and Republicans should stand united.”
A message seeking comment from Sabatini early Wednesday was not immediately returned.
Sabatini’s high school friend, meanwhile, defended the image picturing Sabatini and himself, saying he didn’t understand the controversy surrounding it.
“Every year at high school homecoming week, we had things like ‘80s day and celebrity days,” Brandon Evans told the newspaper. “We said, ‘I’m going to be you and you’re going to be me.’ I don’t know how it got to be seen as racial. That’s all it was.”
Sabatini, a native of New York state whose campaign website billed him as a “true conservative,” defeated Brown by 13 percent in November, one month after the photo initially surfaced.
“When we were 15, 16 sophomore year, it was OK to joke around like that,” Sabatini told the Orlando Sentinel in October. “It’s changed, OK? There is definitely a different standard. I get it.”
Asked if he would be photographed in blackface again, Sabatini said at the time: “Are you joking? Of course not.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/02/06/florida-pol-rejects-calls-to-resign-over-high-school-blackface-photo/
Lorena Bobbitt opens up about the night she cut off John Wayne Bobbitt’s penis
Lorena Bobbitt has no regrets about the infamous night, nearly 26 years ago, when she chopped off her husband’s penis.
“How can you regret something that was not planned?” Bobbitt, 49, says in a snippet of an interview for the “Today” show that will air Friday.
“You have to understand, I wasn’t in my right mindset.”
The interview comes in advance of the new Amazon documentary “Lorena,” which aims to retell the sensationalized story in order to address issues of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Bobbitt has always maintained that her then-husband John Wayne Bobbitt raped and abused her — including on the night of June 23, 1993, when, after he fell asleep, she hacked off his penis with a kitchen knife.
It was reattached following a 10-hour surgery, and John Wayne went on to have a career in porn.
The gruesome story made headlines around the world, but Lorena tried to stay out of the spotlight.
She says people focused more on what she did rather than why, “based on the act itself, that it was a severe organ, a male organ.”
With this new documentary, she hopes to steer the story away from the gory details and onto the alleged abuse that lead her to cut off her ex’s penis in the first place.
“As a victim… I felt very alone, isolated. I thought it was happening to me only,” Bobbitt says in another clip.
“I applaud the MeToo and TimesUp because those are voices that need to be heard, we need to be strong and I think my story, documentary, will actually push that conversation on the table again.”
“Yes we had this happen 25 years ago but things are not changing much, things need to be changed a lot more.”
The series premiered at The Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 29 and will launch on Amazon Prime Feb. 15.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/02/07/lorena-bobbitt-opens-up-about-the-night-she-cut-off-john-waynes-penis/
‘Anti-natalist’ suing parents for having him without his consent
New vocab word for the day: anti-natalism. If you need a quick primer on what it means, just ask Raphael Samuel, a 27-year-old from India who’s suing his parents based on just that philosophy.
To wit: He doesn’t think they had the right to force him to be born without his consent.
The BBC notes that Samuel gets the seeming illogic behind the concept—after all, how can you ask someone who hasn’t been born yet if they agree to be born?—but his point is that since “it was not our decision to be born,” our parents should have to pony up the funds to take care of us for life.
Per the Facebook page he created devoted to anti-natalism, Samuel says people bringing kids into a miserable world is akin to “kidnapping and slavery,” and an act that strains the Earth’s resources, per News18.
This isn’t a new thing that’s been bugging Samuel, either: He says he first felt the anti-natalism pull when he was 5 and he didn’t want to go to school one day. He and his parents fought back and forth, until finally he blurted out, “Why did you have me?” The fact that his father had no answer got him to thinking.
The Times of India cites a now-viral YouTube videoin which he expands on his thoughts, and why he’s suing his mom and dad. Samuel tells the BBC that his parents, both attorneys, are pretty good-natured about his whole philosophy, though when he told them about his plans to sue them, his mom replied, “That’s fine, but don’t expect me to go easy on you. I will destroy you in court.”
He also concedes he’s not even unhappy with his life—it’s just that he wishes he’d had the choice whether to have one.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/02/07/anti-natalist-suing-parents-for-having-him-without-his-consent/
Ivanka Trump slams art exhibit called ‘Ivanka Vacuuming’
Ivanka Trump on Tuesday blasted a performance art piece that features a lookalike of her vacuuming up crumbs that spectators toss at her.
“Women can choose to knock each other down or build each other up,” the first daughter tweeted, alongside a link to a story on the exhibit. “I choose the latter.”
The piece by New York-based artist Jennifer Rubell, titled “Ivanka Vacuuming,” invites visitors at the Flashpoint Gallery in Washington, DC, to “throw crumbs on the carpet, watching as Ivanka elegantly vacuums up the mess, her smile never wavering.”
A pink-clad model in 3-inch heels plays an ersatz Ivanka making the mess disappear over and over again.
A description of the work calls Trump a “contemporary feminine icon.”
“[She is] a figure whose public persona incorporates an almost comically wide range of feminine identities – daughter, wife, mother, sister, model, working woman, blonde.”
The gallery text also calls the act of throwing bread crumbs for her to vacuum “surprisingly pleasurable.”
Trump’s brothers also slammed the work.
“Sad, but not surprising to watch self professed ‘feminists’ launching sexist attacks against Ivanka Trump. In their crazed world, sexism is OK if hurts their political enemies,” Donald Trump Jr. tweeted.
Added Eric Trump on Fox News: Ivanka is a “powerful woman who has done more for women than probably anybody in Washington, DC.”
The work, presented by the CulturalDC arts organization, is open to the public from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/02/05/ivanka-trump-slams-art-exhibit-called-ivanka-vacuuming/
Bus driver arrested for watching porn in front of kids
A New Jersey school bus driver has been arrested for allegedly watching pornography in front of elementary school-age children.
Franck Lafortune, 64, of Burlington Township, NJ, was charged with obscenity to minors under the age of 18 for the alleged incident, New Jersey State Police said Wednesday.
According to police, staff members from the Indian Mills Elementary School in Shamong were notified on Monday that two children at the school told their parents that they saw Lafortune watching the X-rated video on his cellphone before they got off the bus around 8:30 a.m.
The bus reportedly was parked at the time, cops said.
The parents of the children later reported the alleged incident to state troopers, prompting authorities to investigate.
Lafortune was charged and released pending a court appearance
via: https://nypost.com/2019/02/06/bus-driver-arrested-for-watching-porn-in-front-of-kids/
Gucci slammed for sweater that appears to resemble blackface
A black balaclava sweater from Gucci’s 2018 “Fall Winter” collection has caused an uproar on social media — with some calling it “Haute Couture Blackface for millennials.”
The $900 “knit top” features a large mouth cover with big red lips on it.
“Inspired by vintage ski masks, multicolored knitted balaclavas walked the runway, adding a mysterious feel to this collection,” says an item description from last year. “The Fall Winter 2018 runway show space reflected the stark environment of an operating room, emulating the theme of the collection where reconstructing materials and fabrics created a new identity.”
The sweater couldn’t be found on Gucci’s website Wednesday, but its information was still archived online. Social media users were sharing pics of the listing throughout the day.
“Balaclava knit top by Gucci. Happy Black History Month y’all,” tweeted one person.
“Ah yes, black face but make it fashion,” another said.
User @stegotaurus wrote: “THIIIIIIIS is blackface guys. THIS. huge overdramatic red lips and a literal BLACK face. This is DISGUSTING. I don’t wanna see any of you with Gucci belts and slides after this.”
The backlash caused Gucci to release a statement late Wednesday night, saying it “deeply apologizes for the offense caused” by the sweater.
“We can confirm that the item has been immediately removed from our online store and all physical stores,” the company added. “We consider diversity to be a fundamental value to be fully upheld, respected, and at the forefront of every decision we make. We are fully committed to increasing diversity throughout our organization and turning this incident into a powerful learning moment for the Gucci team and beyond.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/02/07/gucci-slammed-for-sweater-that-appears-to-resemble-blackface/
Elementary School Students Hospitalized After Being Exposed to Marijuana Gummies; Ohio Mom Arrested
More than a dozen students at an elementary school in Cleveland were admitted to the hospital after being exposed to gummy candy that police say contained marijuana.
On Monday, a teacher’s aide at the school found the gummies in a room the children were in, and she noticed that the packaging said the candy contained drugs, according to a Cleveland Division of Police report. The school called police and emergency medical services.
Cleveland Police arrested Shari Gould, the mother of a student who they say brought the candy to Anton Grdina elementary school, on suspicion of endangering children, according to the report. Efforts to reach Gould for comment were not successful.
The police report says the student gave the candy to at least 12 others. Fifteen children, ages 5 to 9, were tested for drugs and released from Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital at University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center, said Katelyn McCarthy, a media relations strategist at the hospital.
She said that a couple of the children complained of stomachaches.
The police report noted that one of the children tested positive for a mind-altering chemical found in marijuana called tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC.
The case is just one example of how accidental exposure to marijuana or other substances in young children can lead to health concerns.
“The concerns with marijuana edibles are, they are attractive and palatable to children and can contain high amounts of THC,” said Dr. Sam Wang, a pediatrician and toxicologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, who is not involved in the case but has conducted research on unintentional exposures to marijuana in children.
“When young children consume them, they can result in severe symptoms, including dizziness, excessive sleepiness and, in rare circumstances, impair their breathing,” he said.
In a paper published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics last year, Wang and his colleagues found that visits to Children’s Hospital Colorado related to marijuana exposures more than doubled in 2017 compared with in 2016, and calls to regional poison centers climbed.
“Our hospital has continued to see an increase in young children presenting to the ED; however, the severity of symptoms appear to be less,” Wang said, adding that the rise might be related to how marijuana is more common in Colorado due to legalization of recreational marijuana.
Meanwhile, Colorado’s “THC dose limitations may have helped decrease some of the severity of illness,” he said.
To help keep marijuana products out of the hands of young children, he recommends proper storage, such as keeping products up and out of reach in locked containers; regulations, such as child-resistant packaging; and educating the public about potential health risks.
Several states with legal recreational marijuana, including Colorado, Oregon and Washington, have made child-resistant packaging a requirement for certain products.
It’s key to safely store marijuana products far from where children can see them, said Dr. Suzan Mazor, director of toxicology for Seattle Children’s Hospital and a toxicology consultant for the Washington Poison Center, who was not involved in the Cleveland case.
Also, “make sure to have the poison center phone number on hand for caretakers, grandparents: 1-800-222-1222,” said Mazor, who is also an associate professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
“Young children react differently to marijuana — different than adults or teens usually do,” she said. “They’re more likely to be sleepy, with difficulty walking and extreme confusion after an exposure to marijuana. Also, since kids are smaller, they get a bigger dose per pound of body weight from the same-size edible product, so they are more likely to have severe effects.”
Sheriff’s deputy in NJ charged with sexually abusing teen, posting video online
EASTON, Pa. — Authorities in Pennsylvania are accusing a New Jersey sheriff’s deputy of having sex with a 17-year-old Pennsylvania girl and posting the video online.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro says 33-year-old Joshua Padilla was arrested Friday and faces extradition to Northampton County to face felony charges including unlawful contact with a minor, obscene materials and sexual abuse of children.
State police in the commonwealth say they received a tip that Padilla had sexual contact with the girl in 2018. Authorities say they arrested Padilla as part of a sting in which an agent posed as a 14-year-old girl.
Middlesex County, New Jersey Sheriff Mildred Scott says Padilla has been suspended without pay. Court documents don’t list an attorney for Padilla; a listed phone number for him couldn’t be found Tuesday.
Man fails to open register at Popeyes, steals chicken instead
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans police say a man entered a fast-food restaurant and tried to swipe some cash but couldn’t open the register so he made off with some fried chicken instead.
NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports the man entered the Popeyes in eastern New Orleans on Monday morning and tried to steal money from the register. But police say the register wouldn’t budge so he grabbed some fried chicken and fled.
Police arrested 27-year-old Phillip Lee a short time later in the area. He faces charges of simple robbery and simple battery.
Magistrate Judge Brigid Collins set his bond at $13,500. It was unknown if he’s represented by an attorney who could comment on his case.
New Jersey school custodian accused of installing hidden camera in bathroom
ENGLEWOOD, New Jersey (WABC) — Police in New Jersey have arrested a school janitor after he allegedly installed a hidden camera inside a bathroom.
Authorities
say 59-year-old Francisco Javier Lopez-Martinez, who is the head
custodian at Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, was found to have
installed the hidden camera after a woman who works as a cleaner
discovered it and watched a clip on it that showed him installing the
device.
It’s believed that Lopez-Martinez targeted the woman
and there is no evidence any children or other school staff were
recorded, police say.
Officials say all of the schools in the district have been checked for cameras.
via: https://abc7ny.com/nj-school-janitor-accused-of-planting-hidden-camera-in-bathroom/5122759/