Haiti Catastrophe, Is This Truly The Way Gay Couples Fight, An Attack On Gay Female Troopers, The Beaver Becomes Canada’s History

Just before 5:00 pm EST, an earthquake that measured 7.0 in magnitude, struck Haiti, some ten miles southwest of the capital city of Port-au-Prince, the quake shallow rendering it more severe at the earth’s surface. The destruction, according to early reports, appears massive and widespread, reports that most of the captial city, whose population is an estimated two million, has been destroyed. There have been at least twelve aftershocks. The airport suffered serious structural damage, and at this time, is closed. Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, and the natural disaster cripples what is already an impaired country.

This story about a domestic violence incident in Fort Walton Beach, Florida that occurred on January 1st, would likely have remained a local one, but were it not for the callous posture of the combatants. An officer reports that he witnessed the couple fighting in their car, stating “he saw the defendant wildly punching in the area of the driver’s seat. He then watched as the suspect moved over to the passenger’s seat.” He continues that he approached the vehicle and saw the driver covered in blood, badly beaten. The victim was “adamant that being hit was an acceptable behaviour,” according to the arrest report. The victim is alleged to have told the responding officer that he was fine and that “this was the way gay couples fight.” A 22 year old has been charged with domestic battery, the story underlining a growing problem of domestic violence in the LGBT community that too often remains unreported.

An attorney for Sergeant Christine Shallcross, a New Jersey State Police officer suspended over accusations that she sexually harassed another female trooper, says his client’s suspension was the result of “an organized attack on the gay female trooper community” by fellow troopers angry that they have been bypassed for promotion.

The Beaver, the Winnipeg, Manitoba based magazine launched in 1920 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Hudson’s Bay Company, Canada’s second oldest publication, is changing its name because the title is too frequently censored by online porn filters, thereby preventing the title from reaching an online and new audience. The February/March issue is the last under the old banner, beginning in April it will be known as Canada’s History.