Shooting at Jacksonville, Florida Madden video game tournament today at least four are dead. Source CNN

New Campus Sexual Misconduct Rules From Betsy DeVos Protect The Accused and Colleges........


In new proposed rules obtained by The New York Times and described in a detailed news report today, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is proposing changes to federal policy on campus sexual misconduct that would boost the rights of students accused of rape and other forms of sexual assault and harassment. The policy would also relieve schools of liability in many cases while encouraging them to give more support to victims.

I've tried to post the link to this Forbes article but it went wonky

Postal Service: Release of Ex-CIA Officer’s File Was ‘Mistake’—and Not the Only One.


https://www.thedailybeast.com/postal...ly-on?ref=home

Anonymous Op-Ed in New York Times Causes a Stir .....


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/b...anonymous.html


Thankfully someone is watching out for America!

Jitu Brown (Journey for Justice Alliance)
 

I couldn't find the Educator's forum thread here in the community, but wanted to leave an news link to an very important conversation I'm listening to on Democracy Now.

Amy Goodman featured an news investigation interview featuring Jitu Brown and multiple other VIP activists on the front lines of Education and how "black and brown children/kids" are increasingly targeted by prejudicial, racially motivated flawed policies exacted upon the greater sector of Education and how these right-wing flawed policies hurt children and their families. It's an extended conversation on how right-wing policies in Education have criminalized people of color.


If you're not familiar with Jitu Brown (I just now am learning about him and his activism), I highly recommend tuning into this very important news coverage presented by Democracy Now.

Link to news coverage (which starts at about the 39 minute mark of today's headline news):
Lift Us Up: Meet The Activists on the Frontlines of Educational Justice Movement.



Excerpt from Transcribed Interview:



Link to ~~>>>>>>> transcript of interview

scientists breed healthy mice from two mothers
 

apparently, the chinese have bred healthy mouse pups from two female parents... using just a few DNA modifications
just think about that fact....!!!
imagine two lesbian women requesting a child using same technology

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/scie...hers-using-dna

even the daily mail, is aware of the the possibility of hope for gay couples, requesting their own children!!!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...orn-China.html

Pot/Weed/Ganga/Grass
 

Oh, I just realized pot is now legal in Canada - as of today!

(btw, I don't smoke pot, and usually back off when around someone who is smoking it... I would be concerned now even more as to any effect on my brain cells, because of all the meditation I have done. While off on an errand today, and while waiting for the bus, a bunch of happy and laughing youngins went by and you could smell the pot very strongly. I worry about the effect of such a drug on the youth; but my opinion here in Canada doesn't count for much - oh well!!)

Study re: Length of ring and index fingers 'linked to sexuality'
 

I saw this study discussed on the BBC, and it concluded that when the index finger and the ring fingers are of different lengths, the chances are the girl will be a lesbian.

• "Women whose left index and ring fingers are different lengths are more likely to be lesbians, a study suggests.
  
• Scientists measured the fingers of 18 pairs of female identical twins, where one was straight and the other gay.
  
• On average, the lesbians, but not the straight twins, had different sized index and ring fingers, typically a male trait, but only on the left hand.
  
• This may be the result of exposure to more testosterone in the womb, the University of Essex researchers said.
  
• The scientists also measured the fingers of 14 pairs of male identical twins, where one was straight and the other gay, but found no link.
  
• In women, typically the index (second) and ring (fourth) fingers are a similar length, while in men there is a larger difference between the two
  
• Both men and women were exposed to the "male" hormone, testosterone, in the womb - but some may be exposed more than others, the scientists said.
  
• Study author Dr Tuesday Watts, from the psychology department at Essex University, said: "Because identical twins, who share 100% of their genes, can differ in their sexual orientations, factors other than genetics must account for the differences.
  
• Research suggests that our sexuality is determined in the womb and is dependent on the amount of male hormone we are exposed to or the way our individual bodies react to that hormone, with those exposed to higher levels of testosterone being more likely to be bisexual or homosexual.
  
• Because of the link between hormone levels and difference in finger lengths, looking at someone's hands could provide a clue to their sexuality."
  
• The findings are published in Archives of Sexual Behaviour."

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-45887691

laughs... yes, my index finger is slightly longer than my ring finger --> lesbian!
chuckling....

Antisemitism is alive and well but in my experience conversation surrounding it is not usually welcomed. It's easily discounted I've noticed. It's not an issue that warrants much discussion. You're lucky to get a nod when trying to examine the issue, even in the face of ever mounting evidence showing the rise of antisemitism in most of Europe. I've read articles over the past couple of years about Jews contemplating whether it is time to leave Europe. I have a friend who lives in Germany and tells me how disturbing it is there. It's really over the top in France. Yet, you're hard pressed to get a conversation going surrounding the surge in antisemitism around the world. It's like antisemitic rhetoric is perfectly acceptable. I have a German friend who lives in Montreal and every time I bring up antisemitism she sighs heavily and looks at me with a put upon glare and seems to say "that old chestnut".To be fair my wife is Jewish so I am aware of this stuff in a way that is painful and I am not just indignant and disturbed like I am when confronted with prejudice against other minorities, I go into protective mode because I don't want her to be hurt. But let me tell you people just feel perfectly comfortable saying the most abhorrent things about Jews. And since I am more recognizably butch than my wife is recognizably Jewish she gets to hear this crap as well. I get that the Jewish struggle is totally different from the struggles of black people, or Latinxs, or Asian people or Muslims or whatever. An attempt to identify and examine the rise in antisemitism does not diminish other communities' struggles Every struggle is different and unique to the individual ethnic group and I would never want to compare struggles. I just wish there was a degree of comfort and understanding surrounding conversation about the difficulties facing the Jewish community worldwide at this time. What happened in Pittsburgh makes it horrifically clear that antisemitism is flourishing. Just to be clear, I'm talking about my experiences in real time and getting that off my chest, nothing to do with these boards. Your mileage may be different.
Here's a couple of articles about the Pittsburgh attack.
https://forward.com/opinion/412838/t...EAyxcQedUs21sg

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/28/us/pi...ims/index.html

[QUOTE=Cin;1229656]Antisemitism is alive and well but in my experience conversation surrounding it is not usually welcomed.

What happened in Pittsburgh makes it horrifically clear that antisemitism is flourishing. Just to be clear, I'm talking about my experiences in real time and getting that off my chest, nothing to do with these boards. Your mileage may be different.
Here's a couple of articles about the Pittsburgh attack."

One of the many things of which I was unaware until I became dear friend with a Jewish dyke was how connected Jews are regardless of time or distance. As she celebrates Shabbat each week, she says she has the knowledge of people everywhere around the world doing the same thing she is doing. For her, that comes through as them celebrating with her and vice versa. I know there's a phrase for it in Hebrew; I don't know what it is. If a joyous celebration is something shared, how much worse is it when something horrific is shared?

An announcement was made at her schul about the shooting. Once the service was over, she said she went home and stared out the window until it was dark.

The apathy about the growing acts of anti-Semitism as well as the worldwide treatment of people who are not us (however us is defined) is increasing and becoming more accepted. If we do not speak out, silence becomes our answer to those who believe there is an us and a them and more importantly that one is better than the other.

In my opinion it will stop when voters realise that every "responsible" gun owner is just one murder away from being an " irresponsible " gun owner, and psychiatry and understanding human motivation and psyche is no where near able or developed enough to determine the difference.

You want guns; your Constitution grants you that right; ok...keep killing each other till it finally hits home and someone you love dies for this insane, stupid, anachronistic "right".

When we restore the Mental Health facilities that provided treatment and housing for those in need and stop passing the buck and making sure that all military persons receive top notch treatment for PTSD and other disorders.

Not EVER going to turn over my weapons.

We have GOT to put back into place all the facilities that housed the folks that need to receive medication/housing/treatment. This lunacy started in the eighties and dismantled the little assistance we had in this country.

This Government's policy of shunning folks in dire need of help and creating an atmosphere of "otherness" and separating "Us" from "Them" is dangerous and causing a rift of which we are part of and perpetuating daily.

People in need of help with Mental Health issues in this country are the ones who can afford it the least. Instead of building a wall, let's build community and a system that works for Us and Them to heal those that are hurting and starving and freezing to death. Divide and conquer is never going to make this Country "great again". We make the Country great. We the People.

We ARE the Country. (f)

RBG
 

Please send blessing, good thoughts, and prayers for Ruth. She fell and broke her ribs and is in the hospitalhttps://www.theamericanconservative....BG-554x380.jpg:praying:

Every excuse except one: you are armed to the teeth and you die in record numbers and you have no way of knowing who will do what.

All of these murders have one common denominator: guns.

However there is no single "mental disorder" that will predictably indicate who will kill with a gun.

You can lock up or hospitalise everyone you think will be an "irresponsible " gun owner ...it will cost you far beyond what any of you are willing to pay and it won't make an iota of difference in terms of the slaughters you can expect.

I am 73 years old. I've never even seen a handgun or held one.
What's wrong with me?
What's wrong with you?

Ivanka Trump
 

Ivanka Trump used personal email account to send 100's of emails for govt business, thus violating federal records' rules:

https://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...nt-business-on

to which, I have only one thing to say:

Women sleep better next to dogs than their human partners
 

"Let sleeping dogs lie!

"Women sleep better next to dogs than their human partners, according to a study published this month by researchers at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.

"Of the 962 women living in the U.S. interviewed by the school, 55 percent of them shared the bed with at least one dog and 31 percent of them shared the bed with at least one cat. The study found 57 percent of the women shared the bed with a human partner. Dogs were less likely to wake their owners in the middle of the night than cats and humans, results revealed.

"The study found that both cats and humans were equally disruptive to women’s sleep and provided them with fewer feelings of comfort and security than dogs.

"Dog owners also reported earlier sleep and wake times than cat owners and participants without pets.

“Dog ownership and its associated responsibilities may cause individuals to adhere to a stricter routine,” researchers said. “Keeping to a consistent sleep schedule may be beneficial to dog owners.”

"Women aren’t the only ones who report better sleep with dogs, according to a study published last year.

"Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Arizona conducted a study of 40 healthy adults, both male and female, and found that people who slept with a dog in the bedroom got more rest than people who didn’t. Although, the Mayo study found sleeping with a dog in the bed, as opposed to another place in the bedroom, could disrupt the sleep cycle."

all the above quoted from:
https://nypost.com/2018/11/27/women-...-humans-study/

Now, I usually sleep like a log, but I found this fact actually quite interesting, so decided to post it.

I don't own a dog, but I heard on CBS this morning something to the effect that it is better to sleep with a four-legged dog than a two-legged dawg!! (lol) :byebye:

Thank you. I'm now glowing and hovering over your northern border like a glittering shiny little rainbow coloured unicorn. ( Btw, that "u" in coloured" disappears when I slip out of my lane and trespass into US territory ...to which I always say "sorry" ... cause I'm nice. )

But then again, what would we do without you? lol

For Those Who Are Interested George Bush Has Died
 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/pol...nes:newsletter

I couldn't find the light a candle thread.

so sad to hear..he was a great manhttp://www.tradearabia.com/source/2018/12/01/bush.jpg:candle:..we need a man like him now, as President

The SCOTUS just sided with a lower court ruling in a case by conservative states against Planned Parenthood!!

Kavanough and Roberts voted along with the liberal minority. Knock me over with a feather! :seeingstars:

I can’t copy the article on this iPad, so if someone else can find it and post it I would be grateful. (f)

** the story was put out by NBC news

I saw this on tv a minute ago. Ty SCOTUS


https://slate.com/news-and-politics/...h_all_dt_tw_ru

Boy oh boy, Nancy and Chuck kicked Trump ass. That was fun to watch. MSNBC were saying he's not faced this since he was elected.

When he said he had the House, she's like try it. Go ahead. LOLOL.

Piercing sound used to clear homeless from downtown Portland street corner ....
 

PORTLAND, Ore. — A piercing sound that was coming from a 7-Eleven corner of Southwest 4th and Southwest Taylor Street in downtown Portland violates a city code, according to a city official. Portland noise control officer confirmed a report that he went to the 7-Eleven on Wednesday after the city received multiple complaints. He said the tone screaming from the front of the convenience store registered at more than twice the legal limit. The sound has since been turned off.

The high-pitched sound appeared to be coming from a box mounted above the 7-Eleven sign. It's unclear how long the sound had been playing, but the idea was to clear out the homeless that congregate at the store entrance.One man who camps downtown said he couldn't stand the noise.
“Multiple nights, it played continuously, the entire night. It was on still during the day. Like it didn't stop,” said Jeff McKenzie. “It's horrible because I've got sensitive hearing.”

Local Boy Scouts Chapter now allowing girls into scouting program
 

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) made a historic change Friday by officially welcoming girls into the organization.While the parent organization's name won't change, the scouting program for 11- to 17-year-olds will no longer be known as the Boy Scouts. Instead, boys and girls will now be able to join Scouts BSA.

The Cascade Pacific Council chapter of BSA held a kickoff celebration Friday night. "I grew up in the scouting program, and I always wanted to be a bigger part of it," said Claire Osterman, director of Family Scouting for the Cascade Pacific Council. "Today, I get to see these girls do the things that so many of us have wanted to do." Girls were admitted into the Cub Scouts last year.

The Girl Scouts of the United States of America filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against BSA in November. The organization argued that only it has "the right to use the Girls Scouts and Scouts trademark with leadership development services for girls."

GSA is wrong for this. Even if they have a case, they should not press it. There is nothing they could lose, infringement-wise, to BSA that won't be further imperiled by appearing to erect barriers to opportunities for the very constituency they serve.

I agree, but unfortunately trademark law doesn't work that way. If you have a trademark and you don't protect it against _every_ violation, you lose your rights to protect it from anybody at all; i.e., if Girl Scouts doesn't bring legal action against the Boy Scouts, any group anywhere could start calling themselves Girl Scouts and selling cookies, and there would be nothing the Girl Scouts could do about it.

That said, I expect they will work out something legally protecting both parties.

Also, I have a (girl) friend who always wanted to be a Boy Scout. All her brothers were Scouts, and her dad was a Scout Master. She didn't want to join Girl Scouts at all. (I assured her that her impression of Girl Scouts was quite wrong - we did not just sit around knitting and baking cookies. Grrr - irritating misconception.) She didn't care - she had just wanted to do what her brothers did.

I expect it will eventually be a good thing, overall. At least, I hope so.

Bitcoin
 

Trust noone here has $$ in Quadriga, a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, as the CEO, Gerald Cotten, has died at age 30 of complications due to Crohn's disease. He had the only password that has locked out @ $145 million in assets.

BPA
 

BPA found in cash register and ATM receipts

This chemical is found in all cash registers receipts as well as ATM receipts across the world. Apparently, people working in retail are most at risk. BPA from thermal paper receipts passes through the skin. I saw this on Canadian news on CTV Vancouver News, where they showed an in-house group of people touchimg these receipts, and later on in the day they checked their urine, and apparently most had 42% more BPA than normal. The problem is that this chemical may be linked to hormonal imbalance, obesity, and cancer. Toronto (Ontario) is thinking of banning such usage.
It's already banned in most countries for baby bottles. "In 2008, Canada became the first nation to take action by banning the import and sale of polycarbonate baby bottles containing BPA."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/bpa-found-in...eipts-1.907162

So, handle all cash receipts with great care, and then throw away asap!!! (And, then, of course, all this dangerous junk lands in landfills and kills everything... I think the end is coming (smh)....)

My mom used to say that money is dirty (germs). Of course, we all know that it is the "love" of money which is "dirty"... but now, we can add to that "cash receipts"!!! It's not the germs that will kill you, it is BPA ...

By the way, there are only 5 companies that make BPA in the United States: "Bayer, Dow, Hexion Specialty Chemicals, SABIC Innovative Plastics (formerly GE Plastics), and Sunoco. Together, they bring in more than $6 billion a year from the compound."

https://www.fastcompany.com/1139298/...hind-bisphenol

No LGBTQ clergy or same sex marriages in the Methodist Church

And to think, I was so admiring of the Methodist Church when they came up with reconciling congregations.

www.umnews.org/en/news/gc2019-daily-feb-26

I'm UMC. Born and bred. So done. Great allies in the UMC, but still done. I haven't been going, but still it feels bad. If I go back to church, it'll be UCC. I wonder how Loqui is feeling. Hy works for them.

BTW, they might be able to rule the penalties for performing same sex marriages etc unconstitutional, but still . . . done. Kinda mind-blowing not to be UMC anymore. I don't know. I so feel for LGBTQ folks and allies who are leaving their beloved churches that they attend every week. Fucking heartbreaking.

Your bishop in North Georgia pissed me off. She supports inclusion, but she released this statement about staying in the church and talked about having meals with and learning from African bishops during the conference. They are largely responsible for this decision. Fuck that. I wanted to say there are LGBTQ folk in Africa, some of whom live in countries that criminalize gay sex. So think about them, straight lady. And fuck your PC bullshit. Those African bishops have blood on their hands.

Justin Trudeau (here in Canada)
 

My, My, APPARENTLY, Trudeau may have pressured the Justice Department to go "soft" in a bribery enquiry on one of the world's largest engineering Company here in Canada - SNC-Lavalin, based in the Province of Quebec.

"The firm and two of its subsidiaries face fraud and corruption charges in connection with about C$48m ($36m; £28m) in bribes it is alleged to have offered to Libyan officials between 2001-11."

Two ministers in Trudeau's cabinet have quit!!!

Jane Philpott has stated, "It is a fundamental doctrine of the rule of law that our Attorney General should not be subjected to political pressure or interference regarding the exercise of her prosecutorial discretion in criminal cases." She was a top minister in Trudeau's cabinet (Treasury Board Minister).

This is a big (like HUGE!!!) scandal here in Canada...
And, there are rumours here that it may bring down the entire Trudeau administration.

The first Minister who quit was our Attorney General, Jody Wilson-Raybould !!!

One of Trudeau's closest friends, has also quit: "Gerald Butts, who quit as Trudeau’s principal secretary last month over the SNC-Lavalin affair, will testify to the House of Commons justice committee on Wednesday."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...justin-trudeau

Considering what happens in the States, where such things happen almost every day with no consequences to their jobs (lol), you may find it incredible that such powerful people in the cabinet of a duly elected leader find it untenable to remain in positions of power when faced with pressure from the leader to do anything illegal.

Can I tell you how much I wish we had your Canadian scandals instead of our our own super-sized American scandals?

Michael Jackson
 

After the release of the documentary Leaving Neverland - an HBO release, some radio stations have stopped airing Michael Jackson songs, notably in Quebec (3), and in the Netherlands. I have seen excerpts of the documentary on TV but have not watched the entire documentary, which alleges sexual abuse (child molestation) between Jackson and two boys who are now grown men.

Oprah Winfrey had anchored an interview after HBO aired the documentary, "in which she interviewed the two men — Wade Robson and James Safechuck — and director Dan Reed." I saw excerpts of this interview on TV.

"Winfrey, who revealed on her talk show decades ago that she was sexually abused when she was young, said Reed’s documentary did an excellent job of illustrating what she had always tried to explain — child sexual abuse is also about seduction."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-...=.cd547810ed02

omg!

Yikes, which brings up the interesting dilemma, does one listen to Jackson's songs (i.e. Thriller, which we all know), or do we boycott?

This reminds me of a woman who once told me she could no longer listen to and enjoy anything by Benjamin Britten because she found out he was gay. (NOT to equate being gay with child molestation here . . .) just making the point that we can't throw out all art that we later learn was made by an artist who did something wrong. Of course, individuals may no longer be able to bring themselves to enjoy it - but I don't think we can get rid of it. I believe I've heard that Michelangelo had a thing for boys. Should we knock down the Sistine Chapel?

Pedophilia
 

I'm glad you see the difference between child molestation and being gay, but I'm not sure that what Rembrandt did (art) and what Jackson did (pop) are the same thing. While I love art that expresses love (not lust), I (like many others) liked Jackson's music, but it's not the same thing. And if the Sistine Chapel fell into ruin, I wouldn't care. Actually, I might breathe a sigh of relief, considering all the damage that the Catholic Church has perpetrated on women throughout thousands of years. Art is something which moves the heart, and pop music is something which moves the loins. Such art never causes any damage, and never incites stupidity.

Btw, bringing up Britten is the classic straw-man fallacious argument, which seeks to confuse the issue by bringing up an idea that has nothing to do with child molestation and pedophilia. Clever but not intelligent.

One of the victims in that documentary said that Jackson said: "This is the way we show love."

I think that one of the consequences of the dark cancer that is spreading worldwide is that the boundaries between right and wrong are being eroded by people who are evil, to the extent that many people no longer understand the difference.

The inheritors of Jackson's fortune are putting up a big backlash, because every time someone does the right thing and decides not to click on one of Jackson's songs (say on Spotify), they risk losing millions.

Bad
(Michael Jackson)
Your butt is mine
Gonna tell you right
Just show your face
In broad daylight
I'm telling you
On how I feel
Gonna hurt your mind
Don't shoot to kill
Come on
Come on
Lay it on me
All right
I'm giving you
On count of three
To show your stuff
Or let it be
I'm telling you
Just watch your mouth
I know your game
What you're about
Well they say the sky's the limit
And to me that's really true
But my friend you have seen nothin'
Just wait 'til I get through
Because I'm bad, I'm bad come on
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad
The word is out
You're doin' wrong
Gonna lock you up
Before too long
Your lyin' eyes
Gonna tell you right
So listen up
Don't make a fight
Your talk is cheap
You're not a man
You're throwin' stones
To hide your hands
But they say the sky's the limit
And to me that's really true
And my friends you have seen nothin'
Just wait 'til I get through
Because I'm bad, I'm bad come on
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad
We can change the world tomorrow
This could be a better place
If you don't like what I'm sayin'
Then won't you slap my face
Because I'm bad, I'm bad come on
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad
Because I'm bad, I'm bad come on
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad
Who's bad?

I won't miss this song being played.