Sudanese Army Accused of Mass Rape in Darfur; From Campus Bullies to Empty Churches;

Sudanese Army Accused of Mass Rape in Darfur Sudanese army soldiers raped more than 200 women and girls in a methodical attack in Darfur last October, Human Right Watch has charged in a report released Wednesday.

Jonathan Loeb, author of the organization’s 48-page report, said its investigation found that at least 221 women and girls were raped during a 36-hour attack in the north Darfur town of Tabit.

The attack “included looting of property, beating of men and women, and the mass rape of dozens, if not hundreds, of women and girls,” Loeb said...

Boko Haram Attacks Prompt Nigeria to Delay Feb. 14 Elections

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Donates $992 Million to Charity Funding Planned Parenthood ...Donations were earmarked under broad terms such as “health,” “supporting families,” and “building community.” The annual donations to Planned Parenthood have almost doubled from 2011, when the SVCF report shows that SVCF gave close to $250,000.

Although Zuckerberg hasn’t publicly commented on the programs their gift will support, he did say their philanthropy would focus on children. Zuckerberg and his wife have every right to spend their money as they see fit. I’m grateful that they are donating to assist children in need. I only hope none of their funds will end up in the big pockets of Planned Parenthood...

Planned Parenthood pushes abortion on pregnant women 94% of the time

Onondaga County Officials Worried About Surge of Syphilis Cases  ...In 2008 just three cases of syphilis were reported in the county, but by 2011 that number rose to 14, and last year 56 cases were diagnosed. Experts say one cause locally and nationwide could be the increased use of social media for anonymous sex. And they say while people may feel safe if they're using a condom, that's not necessarily true.

"With syphilis you have an opportunity to still attain an infection even if you're using a condom, because of the cankers and where they're located, so if you come in contact with the lesion you have a really high risk of acquiring syphilis," said ACR Health Prevention director Erin Bortel.

It can be cured if caught early, but the disease can have devastating consequences if allowed to progress. Experts hope a new rapid screening test, just recently approved by the FDA to be used in non-clinical settings, can help the diagnosing process, in the office and beyond...

From Campus Bullies to Empty Churches  ...The intimidation varies from one campus to another, from one department to another, and from one protest to another. But while the decibels of ferocity may change, the negative posture toward religious believers ­themselves—or for that matter toward anyone who finds anything of value in the Judeo-Christian tradition and bothers to defend it—remains the same. And once more, Occam’s razor would suggest a causal connection here.

Students, like any other human beings, cannot help being sensitive to atmospherics. Let’s think again of the new force that drives a CEO out of his post for having donated to defend traditional marriage. If the new intolerance can penalize an “alpha” like him so dramatically, how much more menacing must it be to people just starting out, whose futures and livelihoods depend so heavily on the opinion of their peers?

 Sometimes, interestingly enough, the very incivility of the new intolerance backfires.
A friend with a son at an overwhelmingly progressive college said recently that the experience of sitting through one particular class had turned that student toward conservatism. Why? Because as a white male known also to be heterosexual, he was singled out repeatedly for second-class social treatment by the ­professor—no matter what his bona fides otherwise. He has become, in virtue of the new intolerance, what might be called a political counter-convert...