May 10th
12:36 PM
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a-l-l-e-n-t-h-o-m-a-s: Against Me! singer/founder Tom Gabel comes out as transgender Tom Gabel, the lead screamer of Florida band Against Me!, has come out as transgender and plans to undergo sexual reassignment surgery, according to excerpts from an interview published Tuesday night on the website of Rolling Stone magazine. The singer, 32, founded Against Me! in 1997, and over the course of the past 15 years it has risen to become one of the most successful of a new wave of punk rock bands. According to Rolling Stone, Gabel, who is married, will soon begin the process of becoming a woman by taking hormones and receiving electrolysis treatments. He will take the name Laura Jane Grace. Gabel isn’t the first high-profile musician to undergo sexual-reassignment surgery; in the 1972, “Switched on Bach” creator Walter Carlos became Wendy Carlos — but she announced the news quietly seven years later in a Playboy interview. Throbbing Gristle’s Genesis P-Orridge in the mid-’00s underwent a series of surgeries to become gender-neutral. But for a major rock star to announce the news is unprecedented. Online, Against Me! fans are trying to come to terms with the news, even as they note a particular lyric in the band’s song “The Ocean” in which Gabel sings honestly about his desire: “And if I could have chosen, I would have been born a womanMy mother once told me she would have named me LauraI’d grow up to be strong and beautiful like herOne day, I’d find an honest man to make my husband” —————————————————————————- that lyric was so much more literal than I thoughtcongratulations to Tom though, I’ve met him at a couple of Warped Tourswhen I was youngervery friendly character. much love to himand good luck on his operation(s) 

a-l-l-e-n-t-h-o-m-a-s:

Against Me! singer/founder Tom Gabel comes out as transgender

Tom Gabel, the lead screamer of Florida band Against Me!, has come out as transgender and plans to undergo sexual reassignment surgery, according to excerpts from an interview published Tuesday night on the website of Rolling Stone magazine. The singer, 32, founded Against Me! in 1997, and over the course of the past 15 years it has risen to become one of the most successful of a new wave of punk rock bands.

According to Rolling Stone, Gabel, who is married, will soon begin the process of becoming a woman by taking hormones and receiving electrolysis treatments. He will take the name Laura Jane Grace.

Gabel isn’t the first high-profile musician to undergo sexual-reassignment surgery; in the 1972, “Switched on Bach” creator Walter Carlos became Wendy Carlos — but she announced the news quietly seven years later in a Playboy interview. Throbbing Gristle’s Genesis P-Orridge in the mid-’00s underwent a series of surgeries to become gender-neutral.

But for a major rock star to announce the news is unprecedented. Online, Against Me! fans are trying to come to terms with the news, even as they note a particular lyric in the band’s song “The Ocean” in which Gabel sings honestly about his desire:

“And if I could have chosen, I would have been born a woman
My mother once told me she would have named me Laura
I’d grow up to be strong and beautiful like her
One day, I’d find an honest man to make my husband”

—————————————————————————-

that lyric was so much more literal than I thought
congratulations to Tom though, I’ve met him at a couple of Warped Tours
when I was younger
very friendly character. much love to him
and good luck on his operation(s) 

#against-me!      #punk      #news      #gender identity      #Tom Gabel     
May 9th
12:18 PM
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explorans: A journalist takes a sample of polluted red water from the Jianhe River in Luoyang, Henan province, China, on December 13, 2011. According to local media, the sources of the pollution were two illegal chemical plants discharging their production wastewater into the rain sewer pipes.

explorans:

A journalist takes a sample of polluted red water from the Jianhe River in Luoyang, Henan province, China, on December 13, 2011. According to local media, the sources of the pollution were two illegal chemical plants discharging their production wastewater into the rain sewer pipes.

#science      #photogtaphy      #news     
11:57 AM
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Pit Bull Pulls Owner Off Train Tracks

Boston, MA

Oh man this story- Lilly the pitbull survived the impact of a train! 

#hero      #news      #pit bull      #pitbull      #apbt      #beautiful     
11:50 AM
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dirtcrumbgoddess: Singer Morrissey urges closure of Indonesian zoo The singer called on the Indonesian government to immediately shut down a notorious zoo in Java where hundreds of animals have died or disappeared. In March, the zoo’s last remaining giraffe was found dead with a 44-pound ball of plastic in its stomach, believed to have formed from years of visitors throwing food wrappers into the pen.

dirtcrumbgoddess:

Singer Morrissey urges closure of Indonesian zoo

The singer called on the Indonesian government to immediately shut down a notorious zoo in Java where hundreds of animals have died or disappeared. In March, the zoo’s last remaining giraffe was found dead with a 44-pound ball of plastic in its stomach, believed to have formed from years of visitors throwing food wrappers into the pen.

#animal rights      #news      #veghead      #morrissey     
May 2nd
1:14 PM
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"Almost every tow we did contained plastic, regardless of the depth."
Giora Proskurowski, a University of Washington researcher. His new research has found that natural ocean processes such as wind, drag, turbulence and wave height can push the plastic deep down, where it floats along, suspended underwater and unobserved by people examining the ocean’s surface.

The new report claims scientists have only skimmed the surface on the devastating pollution caused by plastic debris in the ocean, and the research community is likely underestimating the amount of plastic in the ocean. Read more. (via centerforinvestigativereporting)
#science      #plastic      #pollution      #ocean      #earth      #news      #environment     
April 27th
10:52 AM
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House rushes passage of CISPA, including new amendments limiting online privacy

poorrichardsnews:

I’m no expert in internet intellectual property law, but this doesn’t strike me as good news…

from Tech Dirt:

Up until this afternoon, the final vote on CISPA was supposed to be tomorrow. Then, abruptly, it was moved up today—andthe House voted in favor of its passage with a vote of 248-168. But that’s not even the worst part.

The vote followed the debate on amendments, several of which were passed. Among them was anabsolutely terrible change to the definition of what the government can do with shared information, put forth by Rep. Quayle. Astonishingly, it was described aslimitingthe government’s power, even though it in fact expands it by adding more items to the list of acceptable purposes for which shared information can be used. Even more astonishingly, it passed with a near-unanimous vote. The CISPA that was just approved by the House is much worse than the CISPA being discussed as recently as this morning.

Previously, CISPA allowed the government to use information for “cybersecurity” or “national security” purposes.Those purposes have not been limited or removed.Instead, three more valid uses have been added: investigation and prosecution of cybersecurity crime, protection of individuals, and protection of children. Cybersecurity crime is defined as any crime involving network disruption or hacking, plus any violation of the CFAA.

Basically this means CISPA can no longer be called a cybersecurity bill at all. The government would be able to search information it collects under CISPA for the purposes of investigating American citizens with complete immunity from all privacy protections as long as they can claim someone committed a “cybersecurity crime”. Basically it says the 4th Amendment does not apply online, at all. Moreover, the government could dowhatever it wantswith the data as long as it can claim that someone was in danger of bodily harm, or that children were somehow threatened—again, notwithstanding absolutely any other law that would normally limit the government’s power.

Somehow, incredibly, this was described as limiting CISPA, but it accomplishes the exact opposite. This is very, very bad.

read the rest

Note to Republicans in the House, rushing the passage of bills wasn’t cool when the bill was Obamacare, and it’s not cool now either. 

#politics      #news      #CISPA      #House      #Cybersecurity      #piracy      #internet      #privacy      #4th amendment     
April 23rd
10:34 PM
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1 in 2 College Graduates Unemployed or Underemployed

poorrichardsnews:

In recent months, polls have been conducted showing President Obama’s approval numbers among young Americans isn’t even close to what it was in 2009.  This is likely one of the main reasons…

from the AP:

The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work.

A weak labor market already has left half ofyoung collegegraduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don’t fully use their skills and knowledge.

Young adults withbachelor’s degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wagejobs— waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example — and that’s confounding their hopes a degree would pay off despite higher tuition and mounting student loans.

An analysis of government data conducted for The Associated Press lays bare the highly uneven prospects for holders of bachelor’s degrees.

Opportunities forcollege graduatesvary widely.

While there’s strong demand in science, education and health fields, arts and humanities flounder. Median wages for those with bachelor’s degrees are down from 2000, hit by technological changes that are eliminating midlevel jobs such as bank tellers. Most future job openings are projected to be in lower-skilled positions such as home health aides, who can provide personalized attention as the U.S. population ages.

Taking underemployment into consideration, the job prospects for bachelor’s degree holders fell last year to the lowest level in more than a decade.

read the rest

#politics      #news      #education      #economy      #unemployment      #jobs     
April 20th
9:18 AM
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kohenari: If editorials about all the evidence of bias in capital cases don’t give you pause, perhaps you’d be interested in the evidence itself: Juries formed from all-white jury pools in Florida convicted black defendants 16 percent more often than white defendants, a gap that was nearly eliminated when at least one member of the jury pool was black, according to a Duke University-led study.   The researchers examined more than 700 non-capital felony criminal cases in Sarasota and Lake counties from 2000-2010 and looked at the effects of the age, race and gender of jury pools on conviction rates. The article — by Shamena Anwar, Patrick Bayer and Randi Hjalmarsson — is here. HT: Karen Fink.

kohenari:

If editorials about all the evidence of bias in capital cases don’t give you pause, perhaps you’d be interested in the evidence itself:

Juries formed from all-white jury pools in Florida convicted black defendants 16 percent more often than white defendants, a gap that was nearly eliminated when at least one member of the jury pool was black, according to a Duke University-led study.  

The researchers examined more than 700 non-capital felony criminal cases in Sarasota and Lake counties from 2000-2010 and looked at the effects of the age, race and gender of jury pools on conviction rates.

The article — by Shamena Anwar, Patrick Bayer and Randi Hjalmarsson — is here.

HT: Karen Fink.

#politics      #death penalty      #criminal justice      #justice      #racism      #human rights      #news      #education     
April 18th
9:01 AM
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97% of cable news coverage of climate change is about politics, not science

sugarazor:

Our study finds that the Sunday shows consulted political and media figures on climate change, but left scientists out of the discussion. Of those hosted or interviewed on climate change, 50% were political figures — including elected officials, strategists and advisers — 45% were media figures, and none were scientists. By comparison, 32% of those interviewed or quoted on the nightly news programs were political figures, and 20% were scientists.

Almost Every Mention Of Climate Change Was About Politics. Our results show that on the Sunday shows, 97% of stories mentioning climate change in the past three years were about politics in Washington, DC or on the campaign trail. One story — on Fox News Sunday — was driven by extreme weather, and none were driven by scientific findings.

Disgraceful. 

#politics      #global warming      #climate change      #news     
April 16th
10:29 AM
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boston: Harvard study finds common pesticide kills bees - Researchers pointed to the pesticide imidacloprid as the probable cause of destruction of honeybee colonies worldwide since 2006.

boston:

Harvard study finds common pesticide kills bees

- Researchers pointed to the pesticide imidacloprid as the probable cause of destruction of honeybee colonies worldwide since 2006.

#honeybees      #imidacloprid      #pesticide      #bees      #agriculture      #Harvard      #nature      #news