Alameda County, which occupies the East Bay region in the San Francisco area, is home to the first-ever transgender trial judge in the country. Winning 50.2% of the vote, Victoria Kolakowski was elected Alameda’s new trial judge on, filling the missing seat on the county’s Superior Court bench.
Kolakowski won against veteran politician, Deputy District Attorney John Creighton, who had 48.7 percent and 25 years of relevant experience as a county prosecutor. Though Kolakowski’s experience isn’t as extensive as her opponent’s, she has five years under her belt as an administrative law judge and 21 years as an attorney. According to the Oakland Tribune, Kolakowski’s platform was aimed at “bring[ing] diversity to the bench through her experience being transgender and her background as an attorney focusing on civil matters through her job as an administrative law judge at the California Public Utilities Commission.”
Kolakowski is a male-to-female transgender person who underwent reassignment surgery more than two decades ago, according to The New York Times. She was born and raised in Queens, New York, and holds an impressive array of postgraduate degrees, including an MS in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane, an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Orleans, a law degree, an MA of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley and an MA of Public Administration from Louisiana State University.
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“Dear ladies, if you’ve had sex before, you can’t be raped! You’re probably faking it anyways because you’re just mad about that abortion you allegedly had. Vote for me, Ken Buck!”
No thanks, buddy.
The upcoming election has brought us some seriously sexist shit, and it looks like the trend is continuing. GOP Senate candidate Ken Buck didn’t say those exact words, but he came close. Buck is in a bit of a pickle over his refusal as a Weld County District Attorney to prosecute an obvious rape case in 2006, along with offensive comments he made about the victim.
The victim had asked a former lover over to her apartment because she was intoxicated and scared. He arrived and raped her while she, slipping in and out of consciousness, said “no” and tried pushing him away. Despite the fact that both the victim and suspect agree upon what happened and police recommended prosecution, Buck publicly called the case facts “pitiful” and claimed that, due to their consensual sexual encounters over a year prior, reasonable juries would see this as a case of “buyer’s remorse.” In a private meeting with the victim, Buck lays blame squarely on her shoulders, telling her, “It would appear to me that you invited him over to have sex with him. Whether that you, at that time, were conscious enough to say yes or no … the appearance is of consent.”
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In an important speech on foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations this week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton only spent a few minutes on U.S. policy toward Sudan (thanks to Travis Atkins, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who posed a question). But what she did say regarding North-South issues – “the situation… is a ticking time bomb” – provoked a torrent of follow-up questions when a State Department spokesperson held his daily briefing with reporters.
The State Department sought to step away from the suggestion that war in Sudan was “inevitable,” but the press secretary continued to convey a sense of urgency. “We are very mindful that if, for some reason, full implementation of the CPA is not forthcoming, or if the referendum is not seen as credible, there certainly is the risk of further conflict,“ he said.
As someone who peruses the press briefing transcript daily, I can say this is the most attention directed at Sudan from D.C. journalists in recent months, and the fact that it led off the press secretary’s updates is also significant.
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When Timmy DeJordy of Edmonton bought a new mattress, she gave her old set to Sleep Country Canada, a major mattress retailer whose donation program provides beds to charitable organizations throughout the country. The delivery guys wrapped up DeJordy’s old, double-sized mattress and took it away. The next morning, DeJordy’s 17-year-old cat, Precious, was gone.
Her sister reminded her that Precious had a habit of hiding in the old bed, so DeJordy called Sleep Country. Several employees searched through dozens of donated mattresses before finding the frightened feline hiding in a box spring. A Sleep Country manager delivered the slightly stressed, but otherwise okay, Precious back home to DeJordy.
This isn’t the first time a cat has made the news for being accidentally donated along with furniture.
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I’m a big fan of HBO’s True Blood, but I was a little worried last week when it became apparent that the show was going to take on dogfighting. (If you’re not caught up on the latest episodes, here’s the obligatory Spoiler Alert warning.)
If you don’t watch True Blood, here’s the background: Sam Merlotte is a shapeshifter who was ditched by his family when he was just a pup. This season, he meets his family for the first time, including a younger brother, Tommy Mickens. In an earlier episode, the brothers go for a run in dog form; Sam picks his favorite breed, a collie, and Tommy shifts into a pit bull. It turns out that Sam’s deadbeat dad has been taking both Tommy and their mom into the fighting pit for years. In this past weekend’s episode, Sam tracks down the dog fighting ring to save his brother.
In theory, when a popular show decides to address an issue, it can help raise awareness. Or, it can end up diminishing — or even glorifying — the issue, and this is one show that’s not exactly known for taking the high road with violence. But here are 10 ways that True Blood got it right this time:
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Alameda County, which occupies the East Bay region in the San Francisco area, is home to the first-ever transgender trial judge in the country. Winning 50.2% of the vote, Victoria Kolakowski was elected Alameda’s new trial judge on, filling the missing seat on the county’s Superior Court bench.