Sydney fireman John McGirr accuses Virgin of discrimination
The Daily Telegragh, The Herald Sun, Australia, by Phil Jacob, August 11th, 2012
VIRGIN Airlines has been accused of treating men like paedophiles, after it made a man swap seats because he was seated next to two minors.
Sydney fireman John McGirr, who wrote an online blog post titled "My Virgin experience as a Paedophile", was on board a flight from Brisbane when he was seated next to two males he estimates were between 8 and 10 years old.
Just before take-off Mr McGirr was approached by a flight attendant, who asked him to move seats because the company's policy states that men cannot sit next to unaccompanied minors.
"She said it was the policy and I said, 'Well, that's pretty sexist and discriminatory. You can't just say because I'm a man I can't sit there,' and she just apologised and said that was the policy," Mr McGirr wrote in a blog online.
"By this stage everyone around me had started looking."
A female passenger was then asked to take Mr McGirr's seat.
"After that I got really embarrassed because she didn't even explain. I just got up and shook my head a little, trying to get some dignity out of the situation," he said.
Virgin defended its policy, yesterday saying Mr McGirr's reaction was typical of the industry.
"In our experience, most guests thoroughly understand that the welfare of the child is our priority," a Virgin spokeswoman told the media.
"Our intention is certainly not to discriminate in any way,'' the airline said in a statement, before stating that it would review its policy.
The decision by Virgin inspired Mr McGirr to pen what appears to be a satirical letter to Virgin, suggesting some amendments to their seating policies:
Amendment 1# Men should only be allowed to sit next to other men.
Because after all the majority of individuals who commit rape are men. Shouldn't we then presume that we are all rapists and can't be trusted to sit next to any female. Actually that discounts male to male rape. Sorry.
Amendment 2# No male should sit next to anyone.
An empty seat will be allocated next to every male at all times to ensure the safety of women and children.
TV Show about Parental Alienation
W5 investigates: Children on the frontlines of divorce
November 7, 2009
The world of divorce is scary for any child. But when a divorce becomes especially toxic, children can become the target of an unrelenting crusade by one parent to destroy the child's relationship with the other. Experts call it parental alienation.
Affair led to mother murdering her own kids
Days after buying another woman Valentine's Day flowers, a Sydney father came home to find a trail of blood leading him to the bodies of his two young children lying next to their mother, a court has been told.
Australian Associated Press
Aug 24 2009
The woman had given the couple's three-year-old daughter and four-year-old son rat poison and an unidentified pink liquid before smothering them and killing them, court papers said.
She then tried to take her own life, the NSW Supreme Court was told.
Doctors agree the mother, from Canley Heights in Sydney's west, was suffering from "major depression" when she poisoned her children on February 19 last year.
She has pleaded not guilty to the two murders by reason of mental illness.
As her judge-alone trial began, the mother's lawyer told Justice Clifton Hoeben his client didn't think life was worth living after learning about her husband's affair.
American Psychological Association
Dating Violence Statistics in the United States
Nearly one in 10 girls and one in 20 boys say they have been raped or experienced some other form of abusive violence on a date, according to a study released Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.
Teen depression on the increase
More and More teens are becoming depressed. The numbers of young people suffering from depression in the last 10 years has risen worryingly, an expert says.
BBC, UK, August 3, 2004
Government statistics suggest one in eight adolescents now has depression.
Unless doctors recognise the problem, Read More ..uld slip through the net, says Professor Tim Kendall of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health.
Guidelines on treating childhood depression will be published next year. Professor Kendall says a lot Read More ..eds to be done to treat the illness.
Woman convicted of killing 3 kids after custody battle
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, USA, August 26, 2008
HELSINKI, Finland - A court in Finland has convicted a woman of murdering her three young children and has given her a life sentence.
The Espoo District Court says Thai-born Yu-Hsiu Fu was found guilty of strangling her 8-year-old twin daughters and 1-year-old son in her home.
She tried to kill herself afterward.
The verdict on Tuesday says the 41-year-old woman was found to be of sound mind at the time of the murders.
Court papers show the murders were preceded by a bitter custody battle with her Finnish husband who was living separately from her at the time of the murders.
A life sentence in Finland mean convicts usually serve at least 11 years in prison.
New Brunswick woman ruled responsible in burning of baby's body
ST. STEPHEN, N.B. - A New Brunswick judge says a woman who burned and dismembered her newborn son is criminally responsible for her actions.
Becky Sue Morrow earlier pleaded guilty to offering an indignity to a dead body and disposing of a newborn with the intent of concealing a delivery.
Judge David Walker ruled Friday that the 27-year-old woman may have been suffering from a mental disorder when she delivered the baby but that that was not the case when the baby's body was burned and its remains hidden.
It is not known if the baby was alive at the time of birth.
At a hearing last month, the court heard contrasting reports from the two psychiatrists. One said Ms. Morrow was in a "disassociated" mental state when the crime occurred. The other said she clearly planned her actions and understood the consequences.
CanadianCRC position:
This type of discrimination against men and children must stop. This indoctrinates children into believing that all men are dangerous and that they must be protected from them. The facts are that women commit more child abuse and neglect than men ...... and that fact isn't probably based on their gender. It is likely because they are doing more child care work.
All airlines which discriminate should be sued.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states
15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.