Hey, kids, welcome come to the Phile for a Monday. How are you? A nightmare has unfolded in Lima, Pennsylvania, at the Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center, as serious allegations were made against the staff. The lawsuit, filed by two young people who were held at the facility, detailed accusations of rape, sexual abuse, and other horrifying abuses that allegedly has been happening for years in plain sight. The detention facility has been temporarily shut down due to the lawsuit’s explicit description of the sexual, physical, and psychological abuse allegations that were filed against county and state agencies on Wednesday. According to the lawsuit affidavit, one of the girls said that the facility guards took her to “private parties” where she was given alcohol and drugs and also sexually abused at 16-years-old. Another plaintiff in the lawsuit said that he was also raped by a staff member who threatened that if the victim told anyone, “he would kill him and his entire family.” The lawsuit also describes abuses that had been happening for years, with staff knowledge, and how they failed to intervene or actually helped cover up the crimes. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, it also named the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, which was responsible for the center’s oversight, and the nonprofit Child Guidance Resource Center (CGRC), the contractor who reported $25 million in revenue from social services contracts in 2019. A spokesperson for the DHS explained how an investigation is ongoing, but no licensing action has been taken, saying, “This comprehensive investigation will include, but not be limited to, interviews with youth that formerly were placed at the facility, interviews with current and former staff of the facility, a review of past incidents, security tapes, and ChildLine complaints that are still available going back at least five years.” Current and former DGRC employees were among whistleblowers who reported, “failings including the use of prolonged seclusion, violent assaults that left kids bruised and battered, and a culture of pressuring staff to cover up the incidents,” and after the Delaware County Defender presented the allegations to County President Judge Kevin Kelly, the facility was ordered closed on March 12th. One out the many disturbing allegations that the lawsuit detailed, including mistreating some of the young people suffering from serious mental illnesses. One of these victims was locked in a room while covered in feces without access to water for days, and another was made to drink from a toilet when she got thirsty after attempting suicide by swallowing clothing. Although the victims’ names were not disclosed, another male victim said he was held in isolation for four days, choked until he nearly passed out, and was repeatedly beaten, eventually causing his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Another female said that five guards had fed her and another female victim Xanax, alcohol, and marijuana at these “private parties,” before raping them. She also alleged that one of the guards obtained her cell phone number years after she had left the detention center, sending her unwanted sexual and harassing messages. And another staff member had proposed her teenage daughter to “link up” on Instagram. The center had housed 782 kids between 2019 and 2020, but the incidents were described to have been happening over a span of about 15 years, according to lawyer Dan McGarrigle, who filed the suit along with Laffey, Bucci & Kent. He said, “The facts that I’ve heard from my two current clients were shocking to me after almost 20 years handling serious criminal cases, and I thought there wasn’t much that would shock me anymore.” Apparently, this isn’t the first lawsuit filed towards the detention facility’s staff. Back in 2012, a boy who had told a social worker about the mistreatment was slammed into the ground by a staffer who had overheard the conversation. The staffer then tried to smash the boy’s head against a window and had punched him in the face, giving him a bloody nose. However, the jury didn’t find the employee guilty.
Republican senator Mitt Romney is the recipient of this year’s John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award for his vote to convict former President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial as well as his “consistent and courageous defense of democracy.” Through a press release the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation stated “During a time of grave threat to U.S. democratic institutions, Mitt Romney has been a consistent but often solitary Republican voice in defense of democracy and the rule of law.” Former Ambassador Caroline Kennedy told NBC News chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander that Romney was “willing to risk his career and his popularity with his own party to do what’s right for our country and to follow his conscience and Constitution and his impeachment votes.” She will present the Profile in Courage Award to Romney through a virtual ceremony in May. Noting that he once ran against Ted Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy’s late uncle, Romeny stated, "I’m very appreciative of the honor, but also humbled by it." She continued saying that she thinks his courage is an example for all Americans. Senator Romney of Utah is the first senator in U.S. history to vote to convict the president in his own party. Trump was acquitted of allegations that he had solicited for interference during the 2020 presidential election. He voted to convict Trump for abuse of power voting with Republicans to acquit Trump of the second article of impeachment, obstruction on Congress. At the end of Trump’s second impeachment trial, Romney was one of the seven GOP senators to vote to convict Trump for incitement of an insurrection that was related to his reckless actions during the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. The former president was acquitted by the Senate and was found not guilty of all charges. Sen. Mitt Romney’s vote created several enemies in his party but he said that he doesn’t regret his decision. He stated, “I sleep well because I know that I did what my conscience told me was the right thing to do. We swore a diff oath when the impeachment trial began,” Romney added. “We swore, under God, that we would apply impartial justice. I took that very, very seriously. I listened to the various testimonies that were provided, I looked into it with some depth... and I felt that that was a severe enough violation of his oath of office to require a guilty verdict. What I’ve found throughout life is doing those things that you know are right which respond to the promptings of your conscience allows you to have a greater degree of happiness and satisfaction than if you just do things to try and get ahead.” Caroline Kennedy’s son, 28-year-old Jack Schlossberg, states that Romney’s actions prove that faith and courage, and integrity are not outdated, and being a politician can still be a noble profession.
Radio host Rob Lederman of the radio show “The Morning Bull Show” has been immediately terminated by broadcasting company Cumulus Media and shunned by probably the rest of society for racist comments he made during one of the show’s episodes. The comments came about during a discussion with also suspended on-air co-hosts Chris Klein and Rich “Bull” Gaenzler, comparing toaster settings and burnt toast to skin tone shades of famous black women. Lederman had compared his toaster settings to tennis star Serena Williams, actress Halle Berry, and CBS anchor Gayle King. He had said, “We have ours [our toaster settings] … at the attractiveness of women that I find to be attractive, so I will never go to a Serena Williams level,” adding as his co-hosts laughed, “But I am very comfortable at a Halle Berry level. I need a little bit of mulatto still coming through. Gayle King is not even on my toaster level.” ESPN reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques shared the audio clip on social media, and it went trending on Twitter. This resulted in several organizations pulling their advertising from Buffalo’s 97 Rock radio station, including Buffalo’s Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation, and the Ride for Roswell, according to the Hill. Lederman was also fired from his role as arena host for the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bandits. Lederman immediately apologized on Twitter, saying he was “horrified” at his own comments. He said, “I want to sincerely apologize for hurting people with my foolish and ignorant comments yesterday. I 100% understand why people are justifiably angry. I made a mistake and it’s hard to look myself in the mirror, but I want to acknowledge it. I apologize from the deepest depths of who I am.” He also explained that reaching out to “the NAACP, my friends in the clergy from the African-American community, as well as the Mayor’s office, to seek their guidance and teaching,” and added, “I ask for your forgiveness and I pledge to learn, to do better and increase my sensitivity and understanding. I want this to be the start of a learning process so we as a community can become better.” Buffalo’s Mayor Byron Brown was one of the first elected officials to publicly criticize the on-air exchange, saying in a tweet, “The racist commentary made on ‘The Morning Bull’ show on 97 Rock is outrageous and intolerable.”
Although COVID-19 vaccines have been rolling out all over the world, it’s still going to take time for the coronavirus pandemic to be completely gone. With that being said, researchers in Mexico have designed a new face mask that is designed for people to wear while they eat. Introducing the nose-only COVID-19 mask. And it looks as funny as it sounds.
The nose masks, however, are actually worn underneath a full mask, held up with the same straps that wrap around the ears. The video demonstration, according to Reuters, shows a man and woman sit down for lunch, take off their full face masks to reveal their nose masks and continue to eat and drink with their nose masks on. I’m not going to lie, these eating masks look pretty comical. And according to Fox News, the responses on social media not only support my observations but also support the idea. While many liked the idea, saying it would “reduce transmission,” others definitely made jokes about its look. One Twitter user said, “Hardly a new invention, clowns have been wearing them for years.” The human cells responsible for people’s sense of smell are actually a key entry point for COVID-19, which is why covering the nose with your mask is important, otherwise its render’s useless, as told by both Johns Hopkins University and the World Health Organization. And the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), showed that more mask material is actually more beneficial than less. In fact, double-masking can significantly decrease the spread of the coronavirus. Let’s hope that people get their COVID-19 vaccinations really soon, or else the world’s going to have to get used to everyone starting to look like clowns for the greater good.
We still know very little about Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures' third Spider-Man film but if you've been keeping up with the latest news surrounding the project, you would know that the film is already stacked with a who's who of actors all confirmed to return. Not to mention the rumors circulating the last couple of months regarding Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's involvement in the sequel. As it stands, production is still ongoing for Spider-Man: No Way Home which Tom Holland is already building up as the most ambitious superhero film to date. So far, we've already seen several on-set photos featuring the main cast but surprisingly enough, the studios have been able to keep everything under wraps so far which is amazing considering we're talking about a high-budgeted project from Marvel. Now, a new rumor is swirling online suggesting that an interesting character could be making an appearance on the film. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actress Elizabeth Henstridge who played Jemma Simmons in the hit ABC Marvel spinoff show was reportedly spotted leaving Atlanta over the weekend, the same location where No Way Home is currently filming. Of course, we're still not quite sure if she was actually there to film Spider-Man 3 or something else so don't get your hopes up just yet. But if she ends up being involved in the project, it'll be totally interesting since "Agents of SHIELD" has already been confirmed to not be canon to the MCU. Then again, we're dealing with the multiverse here so anything is possible at this rate.
Instead of doing this blog thing I should be listening to this album...
If you're looking for a graphic design job, you may want to contact whoever employed the people responsible for this following design fail. They are most likely hiring.
Dividing up childcare responsibilities in a way that works best for everyone involved can be difficult for co-parents, especially when one parent is doing half the work, and the nanny is doing the other half... Hiring a childcare professional to look after your children when you're working or too busy to fully concentrate on keeping a toddler from eating the couch pillows can be an incredibly beneficial decision for many families. However, babysitters and nannies are not parents, and if co-parents aren't communicating in the way they should, it's not fair to force an employee to be the mediator. While it's usually frowned upon to roast the father of your children in front of their entire family, sometimes we have to be a little snarky in order to be heard. So, when a frustrated mom decided to consult the moral compass of the Phile about a comment she made about her ex-husband's parenting skills in front of his mom, I decided to deem a verdict.
"Am I wrong for saying I co-parent with the nanny in front of my ex-husband and his family? My ex-husband and I have been separated for a year and will more than likely be starting the divorce process any day now. Ever since we split up, my ex has hired a nanny to help him with childcare of our two kids during his time. The nanny usually does pickups and drop-offs. Originally, I would try to communicate things about the kids directly to him, but I could barely get in touch with him. He always made some excuse about how work was busy, but I feel like he should at least respond to my emails about the kids quickly and that it was his responsibility to make sure the nanny had the relevant information too. Eventually, I got fed up with having to hound him every single time he needed information about the kids and since the nanny does almost all of the childcare when they’re with their dad, I decided to just communicate with her directly. I do still update my ex too but now I only send him one email and it’s up to him to make the effort to read/respond to it. This has worked really well for the kids and they seem to be doing a lot better during their time with their dad now since the nanny makes the necessary adjustments for them. It was my ex mother-in-law's birthday and she asked me to bring the kids because my ex wasn’t sure if he would be able to go. I still have a good relationship with my ex-in-laws, and I didn’t want my kids to miss out on time with their family, so I agreed. My ex ended up showing up towards the end of the day. I haven’t had to see my ex face-to-face in a very long time and he has always known how to push my buttons. I was trying to be civil to him for the kids’ sake, but he kept baiting me when no one else was in earshot. My mother-in-law made a comment about how she was so proud of us for being able to co-parent so well after everything. My ex had whispered a sly comment to me not 2 minutes before my mother-in-law made her comment, so I was already quietly fuming. So, I responded with “Yes, I really enjoy co-parenting with the nanny. She’s fantastic." My ex and his family weren’t amused, and I received a lot of backlash from all of them. My ex accused me of calling him a deadbeat and said he didn’t want me talking to his nanny anymore because I should be communicating directly with him. Am I wrong?" I’m sorry, but when he’s not making an effort to communicate with you to coordinate around the kids and makes every excuse in the book to make himself unavailable, then you have every right to say what you said. He’s offended because he didn’t think you’d call him out in front of his family and probably painted a picture that he’s doing a much better job than he is doing. Not a huge fan of dragging the drama out in front of the family, but this guy seems like a real piece of work. Definitely start pushing forward harder on that divorce. You are co-parenting with the nanny. What you said was literally true. So, there you have it! You weren't at all wrong to point out that her soon-to-be ex-husband isn't pulling his weight with childcare in front of his family, but a conversation about how to communicate going forward is probably in order. Good luck, everyone! If you have a problem you'd like my advice on then email me at thepeverettphile@gmail.com.
If you spot the Mindphuck then met me know. Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jefferson, New York shall we?
Looks like a nice day there.
The 148th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...
