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The members of the Cornell fraternity group chat who did nothing to stop the rape are symbolic of a much larger issue in this country. When you see violence and harm, will you do anything to stop it? Will you stay silent, or even actively cheer it on? And what do we do about that?

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Reposted by Ruth Zakarin

YES on 9 For a Safe Massachusetts on Instagram: "Massachusetts has a strong foundation of data-driven gun safety laws that are already making our communities safer. While they say gun violence is prop...

From my recent debate with the leader of the committee that is trying to repeal our 2024 gun safety law. I didn’t realize how much this moment sums it all up for me. Massachusetts folks, Vote Yes on 9 for a Safe MA, and keep our communities safe from gun violence. www.instagram.com/reel/Dd4aeaJ...

instagram.com

42 likes, 5 comments - yesforasafema on September 29, 2026: "Massachusetts has a strong foundation of data-driven gun safety laws that are already making our communities safer. While they say gun viol...

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We talk a lot about being good bystanders but are we actually teaching our children what that means? My piece on the horrific faiture of the fraternity members in the group chat and a local high school’s missed opportunity to teach youth how to take action. dot-connecting.ghost.io/the-silent-p...

Three hundred and twenty six miles separate Cornell University from Hope High School in Providence, Rhode Island, but right now those two schools sit adjacent in my mind. Two stories of sexual assault...

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Peter Abraham @peteabeglobe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The Globe Spotlight team uncovers the story behind a New Jersey man buying up nursing homes in Massachusetts and cutting services and staffing, leaving the patients to suffer: apps.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/spot...

apps.bostonglobe.com

Outside chains like RegalCare transformed Mass. nursing homes. Quality fell.

RegalCare and other nursing home chains have rapidly expanded in Massachusetts. The Globe Spotlight Team found widespread problems and little state intervention.

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ICE to buy modified Boston Dynamics robot dogs in $1.3 million contract - The Boston Globe

ICE “will spend about $1.3 mil on four of the robots in a deal with… Radeco, which modifies the original machines from… Boston Dynamics with military grade add-ons that include a robotic arm, thermal camera, and sensors for explosive materials…” Absolutely not www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/29/b...

bostonglobe.com

The agency inked the deal with Connecticut company Radeco, which modifies the original machines with military grade add-ons that include a robotic arm, thermal camera, and sensors for explosive materi...

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Matthew W Nugent @n00ge8.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

For those of us in domestic violence work or who have experienced DV we recognize this for exactly what it is. Victim blaming. That’s what abusers do. We understand this.

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Reposted by Ruth Zakarin

🗳️ Vote Yes ~ Save Lives ✔️ Ballot referendum in Massachusetts Protect gun safety laws Yes on Question 9 Election Day is Tuesday November 3rd Early in-person voting period October 17th - 30th 🗳️ Vote Yes on 9 For a Safe Massachusetts ✔️ 🔗 www.YesForaSafeMA.com #YesForaSafeMA #YesOn9 #VoteYesOn9

yesforasafema.com

Home | Vote Yes: Protect MA Gun Safety Law in 2026

Vote Yes in 2026 to protect Massachusetts’ new gun safety laws… Keep communities safes.

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New Democratic candidate talking point just dropped.

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I dislike the argument that we must learn how to accept something because it is inevitable (AI). Something is only inevitable if we treat it as such. It’s the mirror image of the argument that some people are unelectable (women). Someone is only unelectable if we treat them as such.

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White supremacy culture is when all immigrants are criminalized when one immigrant is accused of rape, but no Ivy League students are criminally charged after broadcasting a rape in a group chat.

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Reposted by Ruth Zakarin

I wrote this yesterday, about sexual assault and the people who turn a blind eye. About the abject failure to teach our youth how to disrupt the group chat or protect the drink at the bar. And the need to do better. We need to teach our children. 1/ dot-connecting.ghost.io/the-silent-p...

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Part blog, part newsletter, and heavily seasoned with my own personal experiences, Dot Connecting is my ongoing conversation with my readers. I write to discharge my agitation about the world, and if you are interested in coming along for the ride you can subscribe here! dot-connecting.ghost.io

Essays on violence prevention, coalition building, and connecting the dots.

Dot Connecting

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Reposted by Ruth Zakarin

groceryaddict.bsky.social @groceryaddict.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

When I was in high school, the statistic was 1/4 women had been sexually assaulted. Now it’s 1/3. And we know SA is under-reported, because this is the bullshit that happens. Nearly every woman I know (myself included) has been a victim at some point. We must demand accountability

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Alicia Stoller @aliciastoller.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

As we scream collectively about the rape at Cornell (as we should) I am also thinking of the stories that never get told. That the media doesn’t cover. Or that do not get the communal response elicited by the Cornell case. I am thinking about… (trigger warning — sexual assault) 1/

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Reposted by Ruth Zakarin

"We can’t just tell youth what not to do, we have to tell them what they should do. We have to actively teach boys and young men what to do when they witness the dangerous behavior of their peers. We have to teach them to disrupt the group chat…” - @ruthz.bsky.social

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Gretchen Van Ness @gvlaw.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

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Turns out there are effective existing programs that could be instituted immediately at colleges and universities everywhere.

bbc.com

Teaching boys that 'real men' would stop rape

A project in Kenya is teaching boys how to intervene to stop sexual violence

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NBC10 Boston @nbcboston.com · 28/09/2026

A large fire broke out at a building in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood Monday morning, prompting first responders to ask the public to avoid the area. on.nbcboston.com/GCiUV4H

on.nbcboston.com

Large fire in Roxbury causing street closures

Drivers should expect traffic disruptions near Warren and Dudley streets and are encouraged to find alternate routes, according to Boston police.

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Gretchen Van Ness @gvlaw.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Bystander training for men and boys so that they have the tools (and muscle memory) to act.

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Carolyn Bertozzi @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · 28/09/2026

Ironically, here is Chi Pi’s mission statement: “To Build Better Men. Our members commit themselves to upholding Chi Phi’s values and practicing global citizenship. Chi Phi men are leaders, scholars, innovators, and gentlemen.” chiphi.org/who-is-chi-p...

chiphi.org

Chi Phi Fraternity | Who Is Chi Phi?

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Mary Nasca @mnasca.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

@ruthz.bsky.social dot-connecting.ghost.io/the-silent-p...

"We are supposed to continue as normal," she said.
Do not hold assemblies. Do not bring the community together to talk about what happened. Do not discuss the incident. And do sweep the entire thing under the rug.
That is horrific. It leaves the community wondering and educators silenced. It's an overt instruction to carry on as if nothing traumatic has happened. It is also a completely missed opportunity to teach youth about sexual assault. Education that could empower youth to know what to do in situations like what happened at Cornell.

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Ruth Zakarin @ruthz.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Today I wrote about the Cornell fraternity brothers who saw the group chat about a rape in progress and chose silence. The high school that missed the opportunity to teach boys how to speak out against sexual assault. And the path of silence that connects them dot-connecting.ghost.io/the-silent-p...

Ruth Zakarin @ruthz.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

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More Perfect University @mpuniversity.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

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@aoc.bsky.social: “The culture of rape, sexual assault, and pedophilia is protected in elite institutions across the United States and including Cornell University”

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Ruth Zakarin @ruthz.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I will be buying these in bulk from now on…

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Matthew W Nugent @n00ge8.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

yesforasafema.com

Home | Vote Yes: Protect MA Gun Safety Law in 2026

Vote Yes in 2026 to protect Massachusetts’ new gun safety laws… Keep communities safes.

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I was a rape crisis counselor for many years. The Cornell story is not just Cornell. It’s all colleges and universities. And it reminds me why I am so relieved that my own daughter is done with college.

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Liz Speaks with Ruth Zakarin about Massachusetts Ballot Question 9

MA friends, stuck inside on a rainy Sunday? Want to learn more about ballot question 9 and protecting our strong gun laws from the NRA’s repeal effort? Check out my appearance on my friend Liz Speakman’s podcast, and don’t forget to Vote Yes on 9 for a Safe MA! youtu.be/0CEUwN5X550

youtu.be

YouTube video by Liz Speaks Podcast

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You want to keep women safe? Stop demonizing trans people and instead call for a public outcry against rape. Stop making immigrants leave this country and instead make rapists leave college campuses. Stop punishing women for ending unwanted pregnancies and instead hold men who cause them accountable

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Reposted by Ruth Zakarin

Everyone is talking about the horrific gang rape at Cornell and sexual assault on college campuses. And we absolutely should. But we should also talk about how this happens, not just on college campuses. High schools too. Including one not far away from where I sit right now. 🧵

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Raise your boys to be the ones who yell absofuckingloutely not when they see a man spike a woman’s drink. Tell them about what happened at Cornell and their job is to disrupt the group chat and call the police. Teach them that this is what being a man looks like.

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Reposted by Ruth Zakarin

The student journalists at Cornell who named names did the exact opposite of the fraternity brother who saw the message and did nothing. They held their peers accountable. That’s what we need to see. I commend them.

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Nancy Levine Stearns @nancylevinestearns.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

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ICE is a for-profit human trafficking enterprise. Abolish ICE. "A $172.6 billion industry thrives in the shadows of our global economy, profiting from human suffering. Human trafficking generates profits that rival some of the world’s largest corporations" ourrescue.org/resources/hu...

ourrescue.org

The Dark Market Economics of Human Trafficking | Our Rescue

Human trafficking generates $172.6 billion in dark market economics. Explore how this global crisis impacts business, markets, and human rights.

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Chantal James @chantalalive.blacksky.app · 26/09/2026

Fucking thank you. It's time for the patriarchy to stop gaslighting society about rape culture. Rape culture is the law of the land. Men in college gang rape all the time & it's an open secret on campus & the victim is a shunned pariah. Rape is the rule from the highest halls of power to the gutter.

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If you want to understand how Jeffrey Epstein was able to abuse so many just read about the fraternity brothers in the group chat who knew what was happening and chose to say nothing.

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