Carnivorum

mydarling: Yep, just so you’re aware.

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:21:44 -0500

Yep, just so you’re aware.

Why do you have to bring up race?

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:12:29 -0500

sinidentidades:

70 Percent of Anti-LGBT Murder Victims Are People of Color

Report: Immigration Status and Race Affect Domestic Workers’ Pay

Marijuana Prohibition Turns 75, Blacks Three Times More Likely to be Arrested Than Whites

While people of color…

breakingnews: Delhi gang-rape victim dies in hospital in...

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 08:54:56 -0500

breakingnews:

Delhi gang-rape victim dies in hospital in Singapore

BBC News: The 23-year-old woman gang-raped on a bus in India’s capital Delhi has died at a Singapore hospital, doctors say.

“The patient passed away peacefully at 4:45am on 29 Dec 2012,” a statement from the hospital said. The patient’s family had been by her side, it added.

The 23-year-old had arrived in Singapore on Thursday after undergoing three operations in a Delhi hospital.

Follow updates on the story at Breaking News.

Photo: A young woman, one hand covered in fake blood, takes part in a protest earlier Friday in Calcutta against the gang rape of a student. (Piyal Adhikary / EPA via NBC News)

thepeoplesrecord: Women’s incarceration rate soars by 600%+ as...

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 17:11:30 -0500

thepeoplesrecord:

Women’s incarceration rate soars by 600%+ as they face abuse
December 26, 2012

Allowing male guards to oversee female prisoners is a recipe for trouble, says former political prisoner Laura Whitehorn. Now a frequent lecturer on incarceration policies and social justice, Whitehorn describes a culture in which women are stripped of their power on the most basic level. “Having male guards sends a message that female prisoners have no right to defend their bodies,” she begins. “Putting women under men in authority makes the power imbalance as stark as it can be, and results in long-lasting repercussions post- release.”

Abuse, of course, can take many forms, from the flagrant - outright rape, groping, invasive pat-downs and peeping during showers or while an inmate is on the toilet - to verbal taunts or harassing comments. And while advocates for the incarcerated have long tried to draw attention to these conditions, they’ve made little to no headway. But that may be changing thanks to the promulgation of rules, finalized in June, to stem the overt sexual abuse of prisoners. The nine-years-in-the-making Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) is the first law in US history to address the sexual abuse of those in lock-up, and its passage made clear that the sexual abuse of the incarcerated - men and women - is a pervasive problem in prisons throughout the 50 states. But let’s hold off on PREA for a minute and first zero in on the reality of female incarceration more generally.

According to The Sentencing Project, between 1980 and 2010, the number of incarcerated women ballooned by 646 percent, from 15,118 to 112,797; most were convicted of nonviolent offenses. Add in females who are incarcerated in local jails and the number increases to approximately 205,000. In addition, more than 712,000 women are presently on probation, and another more than 103,000 are on parole.

Prisoners’ rights activists note that, more often than not, these women enter the criminal justice system with long histories of domestic and other abuse. Indeed, a 2007 study by The American Civil Liberties Union found that 92 percent of California’s female prisoners had been abused in some way prior to being taken into custody.

The Center for Child and Family Studies at the University of South Carolina corroborates this finding and notes that many teenage girls experienced their first arrest shortly after fleeing abusive homes. “What may be remarkable within this sample is the cumulative impact of cumulative victimization over the life span,” CCFS researchers report. “Many of the women suffered multiple traumas. They were victimized in multiple ways - child abuse and neglect, adult relationship violence, sexual violence, not to mention the number of times they experienced each type of victimization.” The Center calls it “poly-victimization” and cites women’s efforts to stop aggression or retaliate against an aggressor as a key reason many are behind bars. The researchers also note that a history of sexual abuse typically leads to other problems, including unplanned pregnancies, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, low self-esteem, depression and addiction - issues that can make incarceration exceptionally difficult.

Whitehorn acknowledges that many of the women she was jailed with, or has come to know since her release, were abused, and says that the daily pat-down searches that take place in federal prison sometimes cause flashbacks for those who’ve been molested; many subsequently become easy prey for exploitative guards and administrators, the result of a learned acquiescence to predatory behavior.

At the same time, she says, sex between staff and inmates happens, and when it occurs, it raises the ante of unequal power even further. “Even when it’s quote ‘consensual,’ for a prisoner to consent to sex with her ‘boss’ is troubling, especially since a refusal can be considered a refusal to obey a direct order,” Whitehorn continues. “The woman can lose her job or be thrown in the hole [an isolation cell] for saying ‘No,’ and even if her job pays pennies, it allows her to buy toothpaste and other necessities.”

Source

xvinaharrison: $$$$$$$

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 10:51:04 -0500

xvinaharrison:

$$$$$$$

strangeasanjles: “It’s no secret that miscegenation...

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 17:07:51 -0500

strangeasanjles:

“It’s no secret that miscegenation (interracial marriage) was kind of a big deal in the United States until very recently — as in, it was totally illegal for a non-white person to marry a white person until 1967. That’s why it’s so shocking to learn that, just one year after that supreme court decision the Star Trek episode “Plato’s Stepchildren” featured the first ever interracial kiss on scripted TV in the US. It was so controversial, even on the set, that they had to shoot it twice — once where William Shatner (Kirk) and Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) kissed, and one where they didn’t. But Shatner intentionally ruined the shot where they didn’t kiss, forcing the studio to use the other one.”

“7 Ways Star Trek Changed the World” via Ranker

Star Trek is the best thing that has ever happened to the world.

nycedc: Why Broadband Is Good for Business There are just 10...

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:12:01 -0500

nycedc:

Why Broadband Is Good for Business

There are just 10 days left to get in your application for the ConnectNYC Fiber Challenge.

As the submission period comes to a close, we want to emphasize the importance of high-speed broadband and the impact that it can have on businesses in New York City.

Improving the city’s broadband infrastructure

Here’s a short paragraph on why the ConnectNYC Fiber Challenge is important, in the words of venture capitalist Fred Wilson. (If you haven’t read Fred’s full blog post on the ConnectNYC Fiber Challenge, definitely check it out.)

“In addition to getting a lot of local businesses high speed broadband, this contest will also give an indication to the city and local ISPs of where the most important neighborhoods are for broadband buildout. We spend a lot of time with our portfolio companies dealing with infrastructure issues around real estate and broadband and I can tell you that this is big problem in NYC. Companies that want to move to low cost neighborhoods with interesting buildings like Red Hook, Gowanus, Vinegar Hill, the Greenpoint waterfront, Long Island City, and other similar places simply cannot do that due to the lack of good broadband. If the city wants to see these neighborhoods emerge commercially, they will need to deal with the broadband problem. ConnectNYC is a nice way to get going on the problem.”

NYCEDC President Seth Pinsky agrees:

“In recent years, New York City has emerged as a global hub of technology and innovation. The ConnectNYC competition is the next important step in our efforts to build upon this momentum, expanding broadband connectivity across the City and ensuring that our broadband infrastructure meets the needs of our businesses throughout the 21st Century.”

If your business could benefit from faster internet, we urge you to enter the ConnectNYC Fiber Challenge (and spread the word to your friends)! If you haven’t already, take a look at the submission form and start drafting your answers today.

I've been watching this local news live stream

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:19:17 -0500

I've been watching this local news live stream:

jennydeluxe:

drinkyourjuice:

from the Connecticut school shooting if any of you guys wanna keep it open in a tab while you’re doing work.

This is like 25 minutes from where I grew up.

difficult but impt to tune in. no words, none.

thepeoplesrecord: Just a few of the awesome graphs put together...

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:04:16 -0500

thepeoplesrecord:

Just a few of the awesome graphs put together by PrisonPolicy.org.

inothernews: A woman waits to hear about her sister, a teacher,...

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:59:08 -0500

inothernews:

A woman waits to hear about her sister, a teacher, following a shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. (Photo: AP via Newsday)

inothernews: A child is comforted outside the scene of a school...

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:45:07 -0500

inothernews:

A child is comforted outside the scene of a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. At least 27 people — including 18 students — were killed. One gunman is dead and another suspect is in custody. (Photo: Reuters via The New York Post)

Shooting at Connecticut elementary school

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 11:10:28 -0500

breakingnews:

BREAKING: State police are responding to reports of a shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

Follow live updates on BreakingNews.com.

Stress-Resilience/Susceptibility Traced to Neurons in Reward...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:37:07 -0500

Stress-Resilience/Susceptibility Traced to Neurons in Reward Circuit

A specific pattern of neuronal firing in a brain reward circuit instantly rendered mice vulnerable to depression-like behavior induced by acute severe stress, a study supported by the National Institutes of Health has found. When researchers used a high-tech method to mimic the pattern, previously resilient mice instantly succumbed to a depression-like syndrome of social withdrawal and reduced pleasure-seeking – they avoided other animals and lost their sweet tooth. When the firing pattern was inhibited in vulnerable mice, they instantly became resilient.

“For the first time, we have shown that split-second control of specific brain circuitry can switch depression-related behavior on and off with flashes of an LED light,” explained Ming-Hu Han, Ph.D., of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, a grantee of NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). “These results add to mounting clues about the mechanism of fast-acting antidepressant responses.” Han, Eric Nestler, M.D., Ph.D., of Mount Sinai, and colleagues, report on their study online, Dec. 12, 2012, in the journal Nature.

In a companion article, NIMH grantees Kay Tye, Ph.D., of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., and Karl Deisseroth, M.D., Ph.D., of Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., used the same cutting-edge technique to control mouse brain activity in real time. Their study reveals that the same reward circuit neuronal activity pattern had the opposite effect when the depression-like behavior was induced by daily presentations of chronic, unpredictable mild physical stressors, instead of by shorter-term exposure to severe social stress.

Prior to the new studies, Han’s team suspected that a telltale pattern – rapid firing of neurons that secrete the chemical messenger dopamine in a key circuit hub – makes an animal vulnerable to the depression-like effects of acute severe stress, and that slower firing supports resilience. But they lacked direct, real-time evidence.

To pinpoint cause-and-effect, they turned to a research technology pioneered by Deisseroth, called optogenetics. It melds fiber optics and genetic engineering to precisely control the activity of a specific brain circuit in a living, behaving animal. Genetically modified viruses are used to inject light-reactive proteins, borrowed from primitive organisms like algae, to make the circuitry similarly light-responsive.

On Anne Hathaway: Being an adult woman with a body is not something someone should be ashamed of, but being a leering creep totally is

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 12:15:40 -0500

On Anne Hathaway: Being an adult woman with a body is not something someone should be ashamed of, but being a leering creep totally is

Neuroscience: Kentucky team inhibits Alzheimer's biomarkers in animal model by targeting astrocytes

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 11:38:39 -0500

Neuroscience: Kentucky team inhibits Alzheimer's biomarkers in animal model by targeting astrocytes:

neurosciencestuff:

A research team composed of University of Kentucky researchers has published a paper which provides the first direct evidence that activated astrocytes could play a harmful role in Alzheimer’s disease. The UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging has also received significant new National Institutes of…

theendfantastic: At least a few hundred First Nations people...

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 10:43:59 -0500

theendfantastic:

At least a few hundred First Nations people from the Tsuu T’ina and Treaty 7 nations rallied in front of PM Stephen Harper’s constintuency office in Calgary, then downtown in Olympic Plaza, and then in front of the federal office. I feel honoured have stood in solidarity with them.

This was part of a nation-wide protest called Idle No More organized by four women in Saskatchewan. The protests are focused on bills recently put forward by the Harper government, mainly the Bill C-45 Budget Implementation Bill, which includes changes to the Indian Act, Fisheries Act and Navigable Waters Act. These changes infringe on the treaty rights and way of life of First Nations people, and cannot just be changed on a whim, with no discussion or consultation, by an arrogant and ignorant federal government.

I’m glad this was on Internation Human Rights Day, because Canada’s treatment of indigenous peoples is a human rights tragedy.

thesmithian: You know, like how regular folk wonder things....

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:49:27 -0500

thesmithian:

You know, like how regular folk wonder things. Why another non-Native playing a Native? It’s not as easy as, “There’s no Native American Johnny Depp.” We are here. We are out there. Artists, film writers/directors and actors, poets, authors and musicians. Cashiers. Engineers. Doctors. Etc. We are everywhere, just not on your screen or any screens near you…I’ve also heard (a little birdie said) it’s possible that the movie’s Johnny Depp Tonto character might actually be a white man renegade pretending to be Native to hide from the law. Wouldn’t that be something? Couldn’t that explode the thing! What if the Tonto of a Johnny Deppness brought up so many of the right questions? What is it like to think one can dress and hide in a culture? What might it mean for a character to work…through the complexities of living out a life like a Native? Might this strip the fetish off you, Johnny Depp Tonto?

more.

Jon Stewart Blasts Fox News' Gun Control Hysteria: Network Loses It Over Bob Costas' Halftime Remarks (VIDEO)

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 08:54:55 -0500

Jon Stewart Blasts Fox News' Gun Control Hysteria: Network Loses It Over Bob Costas' Halftime Remarks (VIDEO)

Baltimore Fishbowl » Baltimore Feminists Prank Victoria’s Secret — And Spark an Internet Revolution

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 18:07:26 -0500

Baltimore Fishbowl » Baltimore Feminists Prank Victoria’s Secret — And Spark an Internet Revolution:

francaiseamericaine:

excellent, excellent prank.

though it kinda pisses me off that being against rape culture is apparently a ‘radical feminist’ thing. pretty sure it’s just a ‘decent human’ thing.

"The blowback [about drone strikes] is always from the extreme left in the United States that won’t..."

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:11:17 -0500

“The blowback [about drone strikes] is always from the extreme left in the United States that won’t be happy until we give terrorists food stamps.””

- Ralph Peters, a Fox News analyst

(The Raw Story)