Breaking News Events

[Hollylane]

Originally Posted by Sparkle

http://www.accuweather.com/en/featur...tic_1/10107004

snip/

A solar flare that occurred around 2 a.m. Thursday morning may create a spectacular display of northern lights Saturday evening.

The flare is also expected to cause vibrant northern lights from the Arctic as far south as New York, the Dakotas, Washington and Michigan, with a smaller possibility of it going into Pennsylvania and Iowa, even Kansas. The lights are currently estimated for 8 p.m. EDT Saturday arrival, with a possible deviation of up to seven hours. If the radiation hits much after dark settles on the East Coast the lights may be missed and will instead only be visible for the West.

Viewing conditions will be best in the mid-Atlantic, specifically for parts of Pennsylvania and the Delmarva. Most of the country will have poor to fair views as a result of cloud cover, with areas further south not experiencing the aurora at all. A pocket of fair conditions sits over parts of Oregon into Washington and southern Idaho. A swath of partly cloudy conditions will also spread over a section of the Ohio Valley for parts of Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Ohio will experience fair to good viewing conditions. For the rest of the country conditions will be poor.

maps included in the link

I'm quite excited!!!

Damn, I am in the "poor" area....

[Andrea]

Boston bombings: Two men speaking Arabic escorted off American Airlines flight

http://www.firstpost.com/world/boston-bombings-two-men-speaking-arabic-escorted-off-american-airlines-flight-704164.html

Passengers were afraid of someone speaking another language? And so the airline kicked them off the plane?

What next? Kicking gay men off because they might have AIDS? /end sarcasm

[puddin']

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10878200

[MsTinkerbelly]

West Texas fertilizer plant explodes...hundreds injured...going on now.

[MsTinkerbelly]

Just outside of Waco, felt for 50 miles.

[MsTinkerbelly]

Sorry, on CNN now

[Bèsame*]

Texas..

Entire town asked to evacuate. 60-70 dead. Four blocks on fire. It was a fertilizer plant with toxic fumes. Parts of Dallas thought they were having an earthquake. This will go on all night.

[Kobi]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Thomas Herndon, a student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst's doctoral program in economics, spotted possible errors made by two eminent Harvard economists in an influential research paper, he called his girlfriend over for a second look.

As they pored over the spreadsheets Herndon had requested from Harvard's Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, which formed the basis for a widely quoted 2010 study, they spotted what they believed were glaring errors.

In the world of economic luminaries, it doesn't get much bigger than Reinhart and Rogoff, whose work has had enormous influence in one of the biggest economic policy debates of the age.

Both have served at the International Monetary Fund. Reinhart was a chief economist at investment bank Bear Stearns in the 1980s, while Rogoff worked at the Federal Reserve, passing through Yale and MIT before landing at Harvard.

Their study, which found economic growth slows dramatically when a government's debt exceeds 90 percent of a country's annual economic output, has been cited by policymakers around the world as justification for slashing spending.

Former U.S. vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, a Republican congressman from Wisconsin, is one influential politician who has cited the report to justify a budget slashing agenda.

Using the two professors' data, Herndon found that instead of a dramatic fall in growth, the decline was much milder, slowing to about 2.2 percent, instead of the slump to minus 0.1 percent that Reinhart and Rogoff predicted.

Herndon's paper began life as a replication exercise for a term paper in a graduate econometrics class. He expected to replicate Reinhart and Rogoff's results, then challenge the idea that high public debt caused growth to slow.

But he never got that far. Repeated failures to replicate the results roused his interest.

Herndon said only 15 of the 20 countries in the report had been used in the average. He also said Reinhart and Rogoff used only one year of data for New Zealand, 1951, when growth was minus 7.6 percent, significantly skewing the results.

Reinhart and Rogoff have admitted to a "coding error" in the spreadsheet that meant some countries were omitted from their calculations. But the economists denied they selectively omitted data or that they used a questionable methodology.

For Ash, the findings mean the claim that high public debt causes growth to stall no longer holds water.

"Their central thesis has been substantially weakened," he said.

Reinhart and Rogoff, however, say their conclusion that there is a correlation between high debt and slow growth still holds.

It is sobering that such an error slipped into one of our papers despite our best efforts to be consistently careful," they said in a joint statement. "We do not, however, believe this regrettable slip affects in any significant way the central message of the paper or that in our subsequent work."

Now that Herndon has ably crossed swords with some of the most eminent figures in his field, he is thinking about expanding his work into a Ph.D. thesis.

http://news.yahoo.com/student-took-e...-business.html

[*Anya*]

According to data released last month by the Children’s Defense Fund, each day in America:
2 mothers die in childbirth.
4 children are killed by abuse or neglect.
5 children or teens commit suicide.
7 children or teens are killed by firearms.
67 babies die before their first birthdays.
892 babies are born at low birth weight.
914 babies are born to teen mothers.
1,208 babies are born without health insurance.
1,825 children are confirmed as abused or neglected.
2,712 babies are born into poverty.
2,857 high school students drop out.
4,475 babies are born to unmarried mothers.

That is a supremely sad list of numbers, and it’s only a small sample.

This says nothing of the violent society that we have created for our children. We have the third highest homicide rate among developed countries, according to Unicef. And according to a December Gallup poll, a third of parents fear for their children’s physical safety at school, and most believe it’s likely that a shooting like the one in Newtown, Conn., could happen in their communities.

That only makes sense in a country with nearly as many guns as people, where nearly half of all households have guns in them and where extending federal background checks — while supported by the vast majority of the American public — can’t make it through the Senate.

We hear so much about what we’re leaving behind for future generations, but not nearly enough about how we are failing them today. It is a failure of parenting, a failure of society, a failure of politicians.

We need smart and courageous parenting, as well as policies that invest time and money, love and understanding in our children.

[UofMfan]

Excellent cover, well deserved recognition.

[Allison W]

Originally Posted by UofMfan

Excellent cover, well deserved recognition.

A bunch of violent and hateful grown men with guns couldn't kill this girl by shooting her square in the face at point-blank range. They didn't even scare her into capitulation. They hardly slowed her down. We mere mortals need to find the Sword of Truth quick so that we can present her with it when she grows up and learns of her destiny to fell the patriarchy.

She's pretty badass and totally earned that cover is what I'm sayin'.

[thedivahrrrself]

Originally Posted by Allison W

A bunch of violent and hateful grown men with guns couldn't kill this girl by shooting her square in the face at point-blank range. They didn't even scare her into capitulation. They hardly slowed her down. We mere mortals need to find the Sword of Truth quick so that we can present her with it when she grows up and learns of her destiny to fell the patriarchy.

She's pretty badass and totally earned that cover is what I'm sayin'.

^^^^
What she said!

[Teddybear]

Update......




Reports r that one suspect in the marathon bombing is dead and a man hunt under way for the othe suspect. Seems they were two forgein nationals ages 20 & 19.

They have shut down public transportation and alot of the colleges r closed today also

[Kobi]

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea’s newest batch of future soldiers — scrawny 11-year-olds with freshly shaved heads — punch the air as they practice taekwondo on the grounds of the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School. Students and teachers here say they’re studying harder these days to prepare for a fight.

Across the country, banners, slogans and artwork have been redrawn to focus on fighting ‘‘the imperialist Americans and their traitorous followers,’’ a reference to South Korea. Slogans on improving North Korea’s economy had dominated since 2009, but anti-American propaganda has re-emerged over the past year, particularly following U.S.-led censure of North Korea’s decision to launch a long-range rocket and test a nuclear bomb.

At the military school, where students work on desktop computers without Internet access and practice their English with chants such as ‘‘The respected Marshal Kim Jong Un is our father,’’ classwork is infused with conflict.

‘‘Because of the present situation, I am trying to study harder, because I really think that’s how I can get my revenge on the American imperialists: by getting top marks in class,’’ one student, Jo Chung Hyok, told The Associated Press.

‘‘It’s my revolutionary duty,’’ Jo said. ‘‘I'm working extra hard to get top marks in military subjects like tactics and shooting.’’

The uptick in anti-American sentiment comes on the heels of international condemnation and U.N. sanctions for North Korea’s long-range rocket launch in December and its underground nuclear test in February, which Pyongyang accuses Washington and Seoul of instigating. Joint U.S.-South Korean military drills south of the border also have incensed Pyongyang.

The anti-American campaign also comes as North Korea prepares to mark the 60th anniversary in July of the close of the Korean War. The three-year conflict pitting North Korea and China against U.S.-led U.N. troops ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The continued division of the Korean Peninsula, and the presence of 28,500 American troops in South Korea, has rankled North Korea’s leadership.

For weeks, North Korea has threatened to attack the U.S. and South Korea for holding joint military drills and for supporting U.N. sanctions. Washington and Seoul say they've seen no evidence that Pyongyang is actually preparing for a major conflict, though South Korean defense officials say the North appears prepared to test-fire a medium-range missile capable of reaching the American territory of Guam.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asi...L/story-1.html

[Kobi]

Since 2001, the month of April has been observed to raise awareness of sexual violence and help educate the public about prevention.

Sexual assault and abuse includes any type of non-consensual sexual activity and can be verbal, visual or anything that forces unwanted sexual contact or attention. According to the National Institute for Justice, most victims know their offender and a majority of assaults go unreported each year.

---------------------------------------

On Rape Culture, Masculinity and Reproductive Justice

Kierra Johnson.

Executive Director, Choice USA


Sexual assault is a reproductive justice issue. The threat of sexual violence affects the way we experience sex, relationships and even our own bodies. Real and effective organizing for reproductive justice requires an understanding of the intersectional impacts of rape culture (how race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability and myriad other identities affect the way we perceive the perpetrators and victims of rape) and the ways that systems of privilege and oppression work together to make rape acceptable and even normal.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, but the reality of sexual assault has been inescapable lately. The long saga in Steubenville and recent tragic suicides of rape victims have shown up in Twitter feeds, blogs, and mainstream media. In a culture with an attention span that seems to max out at 140 characters, it's rare, and telling, that these stories are holding our national attention.

The real question, of course, is whether our society is learning anything from these high profile cases -- and whether the conversation around rape and the culture of sexual violence is changing.

Campus approaches to rape prevention are slowly evolving -- we're moving on from "girls shouldn't drink/wear short skirts/leave their dorms after dark because you might get raped" to what's commonly known as Bystander Intervention Training. The target of this training is neither the victim nor the perpetrator, but the other people at the party or bar who might see a really drunk girl being assaulted and could, theoretically, intervene to make sure she gets home safely.

Bystander intervention and programs raising awareness for women are great steps in the right direction, but the obvious limit to these approaches is that they hold everyone but the rapist responsible for rape. Teaching men about consent and healthy relationships -- how not to rape -- is where we need to go next if we want to bring down the rates of sexual assault. This seems like it should not be a controversial idea, but it is. Ask Zerlina Maxwell, a rape survivor herself, who made this very point on Sean Hannity's show on women and guns in March. Her idea was dismissed by Hannity as ludicrous and she was attacked viciously on social media.

The idea that it would be more practical to arm every woman than to teach men about rape is depressing -- and it's insulting to men.

It's an extreme manifestation of the classic "boys will be boys" mentality -- and everyone but the "boys" are responsible. That's why two young students in Steubenville saw no problem posting their drunken exploits on social media for all the world to see. So much of our culture tells young boys that those actions are okay, they are natural, they are what makes you a man. That aggression and violence becomes the currency of manhood and anyone weaker is subject to domination and exploitation.

These messages can have tragic consequences for women, as seen in Steubenville and so many other places, but these low expectations hurt men too. What effect does it have on young men when they are seen as potential perpetrators when walking at night? Does living under that societal expectation remove some of the shock value when an assault takes place in front of them? What happens when this assumption of violence is amplified by racist stereotypes of men and boys of color?

What does it mean to be a man entrenched in rape culture?

Men who would never commit assault still live with the weight of these expectations imposed by masculinity. Men deserve better than that. They deserve to be able to call out the actions of their peers without the fear of emasculation. They deserve to be free of the gender policing that limits their actions and emotions -- and can have harsh and sometimes dangerous consequences for trans and gender non-conforming folks. They deserve to have their own victimization of sexual assault taken seriously, whether in church, in prison, or in a frat house.

That's why we're launching the Bro-Choice campaign. Because creating healthy visions of masculinity is a reproductive justice issue. Because stopping rape is a reproductive justice issue. Because supporting everyone's gender identity and expression is a reproductive justice issue. And because making men genuine stakeholders in fighting for sexual health, reproductive rights, and the eradication of violence means true justice for everyone.

It's not going to be easy. These are big challenges that address ideas so deeply ingrained in our culture that they are invisible to most. But it's time to stop hinting at these problems and start tackling them head on.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kierra...hp_ref=college

--------------------------------------

[Toughy]

Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury Player And Gay WNBA Draft Pick, Signs Deal With Nike

The Huffington Post | By Glennisha Morgan
Posted: 04/25/2013 5:38 pm EDT | Updated: 04/25/2013 5:41 pm EDT

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...093,b=facebook



I guess coming out did not hurt her at all.........go Brittney!

[Kobi]

We Americans entered a new phase in our history – the era of integration–in 1954.

–Constance Baker Motley

When Constance Baker Motley, lawyer, judge, activist, and author of the original complaint filed in the 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education, wrote those words, she could likely not have imagined that the issue of integration would still be a battle for students in public high schools almost exactly 60 years later.

This Saturday will mark the first time in the history of Georgia’s Wilcox County High School that an integrated prom, open to students of all races, will take place.

Until 2013, Wilcox County High School held two proms: one for white students and one for African-American students. It comes as a surprise to many that a tradition of racially segregated proms still exists—and leaves many with questions about the legality of the segregation.

In 1954, the Supreme Court was asked whether it was legal to segregate students in public school based on race.

The school district in Topeka, Kansas, as in other districts in the South, separated white students from African-American students into different elementary schools.

The NAACP sponsored a lawsuit against the Board of Education of Topeka, claiming that the segregated facilities violated the African-American students’ constitutional rights.

A unanimous Supreme Court ruled that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” and as a result, the practice of segregation by a public school was held unconstitutional.

About 10 years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, making it illegal for a place of public accommodation—an establishment that serves members of the public—to deny service or accommodation to a person on the basis of his race, color, religion, or national origin.

How can it be, then, that almost 60 years after the Supreme Court found that separate public schools to be unconstitutional and almost 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 making segregation in all public accommodations illegal, can separate proms still take place?

The answer lies in the sponsorship of the prom.

In many school districts, it is the school and its administration that organizes and monitors the school dances and the prom. In such cases, it is the public school that is responsible to ensure that it extends civil rights to all participants in school-sponsored events.

Similarly, a hotel or other public accommodation cannot prevent a person from entering the venue based on his or her race, color, religion, or national origin.

But the Wilcox County High School doesn’t organize the prom. It does not provide funding or space, it does not send chaperones, and it is not responsible for the event.

Nor does the accommodation at which the prom is held have a rule that says that students of a given race may not enter. Instead, the prom is a private event, organized by some parents and some students who decide who will be invited.

Just as the government doesn’t regulate to whom a student sends an invitation to a birthday or graduation party, neither does it regulate who is invited to a dance organized by private parties.

So while laws have eliminated segregation based on race in public education and public events, the laws do not prevent the students at the schools—or the parents of those students—from hosting segregated private events.

This year, students in the school have organized a third prom. There is a prom for white students, a prom for African-American students, and an integrated prom to which all students are invited, sponsored by current students at Wilcox County High School.

According to the statement on the district’s website, “The Board and Superintendent not only applauded the idea, but passed a resolution requesting that all activities involving WCS students be inclusive and non-discriminatory.”

The board plans to put the issue of having the high school officially sponsor an integrated prom next year on its agenda.

Further Reading
•Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). Read online at oyez.org.

http://news.yahoo.com/segregated-pro...102048415.html

[Tommi]

Malala Yousafzai



Activist, 15
By Chelsea Clinton


MARK SELIGER FOR TIME
People whose courage has been met by violence populate history. Few, though, are as young as Malala was when, at 15, a Taliban gunman boarded her school bus in northwestern Pakistan and shot her and two other girls, attempting to both kill Malala and, as the Taliban later said, teach a “lesson” to anyone who had the courage to stand up for education, freedom and self-determination, particularly for girls and women. Or as young as 11, when Malala began blogging for the BBC’s Urdu site, writing about her ambition to become a doctor, her fears of the Taliban and her determination to not allow the Taliban — or her fear — to prevent her from getting the education she needed to realize her dreams.

Malala is now where she wants to be: back in school. The Taliban almost made Malala a martyr; they succeeded in making her a symbol. The memoir she is writing to raise awareness about the 61 million children around the world who are not in school indicates she accepts that unasked-for responsibility as a synonym for courage and a champion for girls everywhere. However Malala concludes her book, her story so far is only just beginning.



Read more: http://time100.time.com/2013/04/18/t...#ixzz2Rg9XOadj
___________________
What a brave young person, everyday of her life, moving forward in her own special way. Makes me really appreciate our country.

[Kobi]

*trigger warning*

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co has been forced to apologise for an advertisement that sought to promote the zero carbon emissions of one of its cars by featuring a man failing to commit suicide using a hose attached to the exhaust.

The YouTube ad for Hyundai's hydrogen-powered car ix35 featured a middle-aged man attempting to commit suicide by sitting in his car with a hose connected to its exhaust pipe feeding into the car's interior.

He failed to kill himself because the car had "100 percent water emissions," according to the advert.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/hyunda...065445098.html

-------


smh

[Kobi]

April 29 (Reuters) - Jason Collins, a veteran center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), announced on Monday that he was gay, becoming the first active player from any U.S. professional sports league to publicly reveal his homosexuality.

Collins, a free agent who played with the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics during the NBA's 2012-13 regular season, made the announcement inan interview with Sports Illustrated that was published on Monday.

"I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation," he said.

"I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, 'I'm different.' If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand."

In the ultra-scrutinized world of U.S. professional sports, there had never been an openly gay player in any of America's major professional sports leagues, although some had revealed their sexual orientation after retiring.

In a country with openly gay politicians, entertainers and even soldiers, professional sports had become a final frontier and questions were being asked why sports, which helped play a key role in changing public opinion on racial discrimination, was out of step with the rest of American society.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, whose daughter Chelsea was a classmate of Collins at Stanford University, applauded Collins for coming out.

"Jason's announcement today is an important moment for professional sports and in the history of the LGBT community," Clinton said in a statement.

"It is also the straightforward statement of a good man who wants no more than what so many of us seek: to be able to be who we are; to do our work; to build families and to contribute to our communities. For so many members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community, these simple goals remain elusive.

"I hope that everyone, particularly Jason's colleagues in the NBA, the media and his many fans extend to him their support and the respect he has earned."

NBA Commissioner David Stern also praised Collins for breaking the barrier.

"Jason has been a widely respected player and teammate throughout his career and we are proud he has assumed the leadership mantle on this very important issue," Stern said in a statement.

Collins, 34, has played for six NBA teams since entering the league in 2001 and twice appeared in the playoffs. He said he wants to continue playing and hopes to find a new team.

It had seemed like only matter of time until an active player said he was gay after the issue had become one of the hottest topics in North America, no more so than in the National Football League (NFL), the most macho of America's pro sports.

In the days leading up to this year's Super Bowl in New Orleans, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver told reporters he would not welcome a homosexual teammate into the locker room.

He later retracted his comments but reports have since emerged of NFL teams asking college players about their sexuality at a scouting combine in February.

This prompted the New York State attorney general to send a letter to the NFL, urging the league to take action and adopt a formal policy of sexual discrimination.

Culliver's comments are not typical of the attitude of all professional sportsmen. Indeed, there are several high-profile NFL players, most notably Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo, who have advocated for gay rights.

Both believe it was only a matter of time before a professional player came out publicly.