For those of us that are lazy...Prop 8 Blog
 

Secretary Clinton’s speech, and what matters as much or more
By Adam Bink

Like many of you here, I read through Secretary Clinton’s speech today (a top 8 moments can be found here). It certainly made headlines not just in the US around the world, and it was an important gesture and decision to stand up for a minority that often goes voiceless. But many of you thought as I did, which is, okay, great, she made a speech. Speeches educate the public and change minds. But what does that compel other countries to do? What do representatives in, say, Nigeria, whose lawmakers not only have “banned” being gay but are moving to criminalize same-sex marriage with a jail term of up to 14 years, care about a speech?

Then the following memorandum issued by the White House came into my inbox. In it are important measures to be taken by this Administration, including relating to foreign aid. These kinds of things are the ones that make countries listen.

In my opinion, that’s the real positive outcome of today: that this Administration says it will walk the walk, and not just talk to talk. The memorandum can be found below.

December 06, 2011
Presidential Memorandum — International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons

The struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons is a global challenge, and one that is central to the United States commitment to promoting human rights. I am deeply concerned by the violence and discrimination targeting LGBT persons around the world whether it is passing laws that criminalize LGBT status, beating citizens simply for joining peaceful LGBT pride celebrations, or killing men, women, and children for their perceived sexual orientation. That is why I declared before heads of state gathered at the United Nations, “no country should deny people their rights because of who they love, which is why we must stand up for the rights of gays and lesbians everywhere.” Under my Administration, agencies engaged abroad have already begun taking action to promote the fundamental human rights of LGBT persons everywhere. Our deep commitment to advancing the human rights of all people is strengthened when we as the United States bring our tools to bear to vigorously advance this goal.

By this memorandum I am directing all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons. Specifically, I direct the following actions, consistent with applicable law:

Section 1. Combating Criminalization of LGBT Status or Conduct Abroad. Agencies engaged abroad are directed to strengthen existing efforts to effectively combat the criminalization by foreign governments of LGBT status or conduct and to expand efforts to combat discrimination, homophobia, and intolerance on the basis of LGBT status or conduct.

Sec. 2. Protecting Vulnerable LGBT Refugees and Asylum Seekers. Those LGBT persons who seek refuge from violence and persecution face daunting challenges. In order to improve protection for LGBT refugees and asylum seekers at all stages of displacement, the Departments of State and Homeland Security shall enhance their ongoing efforts to ensure that LGBT refugees and asylum seekers have equal access to protection and assistance, particularly in countries of first asylum. In addition, the Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security shall ensure appropriate training is in place so that relevant Federal Government personnel and key partners can effectively address the protection of LGBT refugees and asylum seekers, including by providing to them adequate assistance and ensuring that the

Federal Government has the ability to identify and expedite resettlement of highly vulnerable persons with urgent protection needs.

Sec. 3. Foreign Assistance to Protect Human Rights and Advance Nondiscrimination. Agencies involved with foreign aid, assistance, and development shall enhance their ongoing efforts to ensure regular Federal Government engagement with governments, citizens, civil society, and the private sector in order to build respect for the human rights of LGBT persons.

Sec. 4. Swift and Meaningful U.S. Responses to Human Rights Abuses of LGBT Persons Abroad. The Department of State shall lead a standing group, with appropriate interagency representation, to help ensure the Federal Government’s swift and meaningful response to serious incidents that threaten the human rights of LGBT persons abroad.

Sec. 5. Engaging International Organizations in the Fight Against LGBT Discrimination. Multilateral fora and international organizations are key vehicles to promote respect for the human rights of LGBT persons and to bring global attention to LGBT issues. Building on the State Department’s leadership in this area, agencies engaged abroad should strengthen the work they have begun and initiate additional efforts in these multilateral fora and organizations to: counter discrimination on the basis of LGBT status; broaden the number of countries willing to support and defend LGBT issues in the multilateral arena; strengthen the role of civil society advocates on behalf of LGBT issues within and through multilateral fora; and strengthen the policies and programming of multilateral institutions on LGBT issues.

Sec. 6. Reporting on Progress. All agencies engaged abroad shall prepare a report within 180 days of the date of this memorandum, and annually thereafter, on their progress toward advancing these initiatives. All such agencies shall submit their reports to the Department of State, which will compile a report on the Federal Government’s progress in advancing these initiatives for transmittal to the President.

Sec. 7. Definitions. (a) For the purposes of this memorandum, agencies engaged abroad include the Departments of State, the Treasury, Defense, Justice, Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Export Import Bank, the United States Trade Representative, and such other agencies as the President may designate.

(b) For the purposes of this memorandum, agencies involved with foreign aid, assistance, and development include the Departments of State, the Treasury, Defense, Justice, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, the USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Export Import Bank, the United States Trade Representative, and such other agencies as the President may designate.

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

The Secretary of State is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

Thank you for posting this. It is good to see action accompanying the speech. I would encourage those who haven't visited Iamkeri's thread with a video of the speech to do so as well.

I also think that people are entitled to sound research on prescription medications in order to make informed decisions about taking them. There are situations in which one decides that whatever side effects do not outweigh the benefits for them. We do have to make difficult decisions in life like this, but I don't believe that we get the data from objective researchers in order to really base these decisions on. I don't like that these variables exist, but, sometimes quality of life can outweigh longevity for some people. But they need the best researched data to consider what they want to do.

Just read this and thought this was pretty awesome. Still much to be done but nice to see progression

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A new scorecard compiled by the nation's largest gay rights group shows the number of major U.S. companies covering the cost of gender reassignment surgery for transgender workers has more than doubled in the past year. The Human Rights Campaign says in a report to be published Thursday that 207 of the 636 businesses it surveyed for its annual Corporate Equality Index either are providing transgender-inclusive employee health benefits or plan to at the start of next year. Last year, 85 companies had insurance plans that paid for sex transformation surgeries. Only 49 did in 2009. A decade ago, when the campaign launched the index, none did. Among the corporations that expanded their insurance coverage this year are Apple, Chevron, General Mills, Dow Chemical, American Airlines, Kellogg and Office Depot.

Had to come to this- I think the evidence is clear when research is supported by our government and done by unbiased researchers. Like drug studies, far too often environmental research gets farmed outside of the agencies that are responsible to all of us concerning these hazards. The whole conflict of interest investigations. This has happened due to so much due to funding cuts and contracting out to private entities to do studies. It is extremely depressing to see how much research grants to universities have been eliminated and these would most likely bring in the best work.

I see the point you are making, but there is a huge lag in follow-up studies in order to replicate findings which would really get firm conclusions out to the public. Again, due to lack of resources. Think about how so many environmental impact studies not done simply because a loophole is found that gets around having to do them. Even when sound regulations are developed calling for testing, there always seems to be a way around them. This happens often with environmental studies.

I think overall, that there is more fruad and deception in areas like drug studies because the FDA allows the very company developing a drug to do studies in the first place. But also, to cut costs, our own government agencies allow environmental studies to done by research "companies" in the private sector and often further studies of the possible negative outcomes are not done because of weak methodology and what is or isn't considered "significant." Makes me sick how politics ends up rolling over research design and methodology. Also so many talented scientists are wooed to private jobs by huge increases in salaries and leave public research.

Combining Medical Marijuana with Opiates to Fight Chronic Pain

ENN: Environmental News Network -- Know Your Environment
From: David A Gabel, ENN
Published December 7, 2011 09:43 AM


Scientists have found that patients who suffer from chronic pain can receive greater relief if medical marijuana is combined with their opiate-based pain medicine. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco have conducted a small scale study to see if this combination produces any real benefits. They intended to show that the cannabis, rather than relieving pain itself, actually caused the opiate medicine such as morphine or oxycodone to be more effective. While the cannabis did not bolster the opiates in the blood, the patients all declared that their pain had been significantly decreased.

According to the National Centers for Health Statistics, 76 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, more than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined. "Pain is a big problem in America and chronic pain is a reason many people utilize the health care system," said the paper's lead author, Dr. Donald Abrams, professor of clinical medicine at UCSF and chief of the Hematology-Oncology Division at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH). "And chronic pain is, unfortunately, one of the problems we're least capable of managing effectively."

The study was conducted by administering controlled amounts of cannabinoids, the main ingredient in medical marijuana, via inhalation through a vaporizer. The goal was to see if adding the cannabinoids changed the level of opiates in the blood stream. The researchers measured the opiate levels prior to the cannabis. Then, the 21 patients were subject to vaporized cannabis for four consecutive days. The result was a very slight drop in opiate levels, leading the scientists to believe that the patients would receive less pain relief.

http://www.enn.com/image_for_article...2-1.jpg/medium

However, they were surprised to find that the patients actually reported an increase in their overall pain relief. Those who were on morphine reported a 33 percent reduction in pain, and those on oxycodone reported a 34 percent reduction.The results imply that patients may be able to decrease their intake of opiates but receive greater pain relief by also taking medical marijuana. This can be extremely beneficial due to the negative side effects of opiates, which can be highly addictive, suppress the respiratory system, and cause nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite.

The researchers intend to expand their study by examining individual chemicals within marijuana. For example, the main psychoactive ingredient is Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-9 THC). Another ingredient which is good at fighting pain, without creating the "high" sensation, is cannabidol (CBD). The next step, according to Dr. Abrams, would be to conduct similar medical trials with each cannabis strain.

The report was published in the journal, Clinical Pharmacology & Therpeutics.

Link to published article: http://www.nature.com/clpt/journal/v...t2011188a.html

This is really interesting- especially if results continue to yield what looks like a way to decrease opiates due to their side effects that so often hurt daily quality of life for people with chronic pain (as well as the addiction). So many end up chronically depressed not fully due to the constant pain, but the suppression of neurotransmission and output caused by opiates. This could prove to be a big help!

Indeed, it would. I think pain is important inasmuch as it's your indication that something is off; nevertheless, I find studies like this promising, especially for folks in chronic pain.

Remains of 274 US troops dumped in landfill: report
 

The US Air Force dumped the cremated, partial remains of at least 274 troops in a landfill before halting the secretive practice in 2008, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

The procedure was never formally authorized or disclosed to senior Pentagon officials, who conducted a review of the cremation policies of Dover Air Base -- the main point of entry for US war dead -- in 2008, the Post said.

Nor was the dumping ever disclosed to the families of the fallen troops, who had authorized the military to dispose of the remains in a respectful and dignified manner, the Post said, citing Air Force officials.

The newspaper quoted officials as saying that a precise count of the remains disposed of at a Virginia landfill would require searching through the records of 6,300 troops whose remains have passed through Dover since 2001.

An additional group of 1,762 remains -- which could not undergo DNA testing because they were badly damaged or burned -- were also disposed of in this manner, the Post said, citing the Air Force.

Defense officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Last month investigators said they had found "gross mismanagement" at the US Air Force mortuary, with body parts lost and remains mishandled.

After allegations from whistle-blowers, an Air Force probe found that two "portions of the remains" of fallen troops had been lost and uncovered other problems at the morgue.

New procedures have been put in place at the mortuary and the commander at the morgue, a colonel, together with two civilian officials were disciplined over the episode but not sacked.

The Dover affair echoes a scandal that erupted last year at Arlington National Cemetery, the country's hallowed ground for war dead. Investigators there uncovered cases of misidentified remains and mismanagement.

Following an Army probe, the conduct at Arlington is now the subject of a criminal investigation.

http://news.yahoo.com/remains-274-us...081234306.html

This woman is in for such a rude awakening......sigh
 

Sandusky's wife says he would not harm children

By GENARO C. ARMAS and MARK SCOLFORO | AP – 2 hrs 19 mins ago

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — The wife of ex-Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky said Thursday that her husband is innocent of the child sex abuse allegations against him and that his accusers are making up their stories.

Dottie Sandusky's comments were the first she has made since her husband was arrested last month and accused of molesting boys he met through a charity he founded for troubled youth.

She released the statement through her husband's lawyer a day after a grand jury report said one alleged victim screamed in vain for her to help him while Sandusky attacked him in a basement bedroom.

Dottie Sandusky said she is devastated by the accusations and that no such incident occurred.

"I am so sad anyone would make such a terrible accusation which is absolutely untrue," she said. "We don't know why these young men have made these false accusations, but we want everyone to know they are untrue."

She added that she and her husband love children and have always tried to help and care for them, and would never do anything to hurt them.

Sandusky faces more than 50 charges stemming from what authorities say were assaults on 10 boys in his home, on Penn State property and elsewhere. He has maintained his innocence.

___

http://news.yahoo.com/sanduskys-wife...211724380.html

Chile glacier in rapid retreat
Thu, Dec 8, 2011

The Jorge Montt glacier is seen in Southern Patagonia, some 1,800 km south of Santiago. The Jorge Montt glacier in southern Chile is melting at a rate of a kilometer (0.6 miles) per year, making it one of the world's most visible milestones of global warming, according to researchers. (AFP Photo/)

The Jorge Montt glacier is seen in Southern Patagonia, some 1,800 km south of Santiago. …

http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/o_...Mvd6143346.jpg

Chile's Center for Scientific Studies (CECs) said Wednesday that several glaciers in the country's south have shrunk because of global warming but that the 454-square-kilometer Jorge Montt is one of those shrinking the fastest. The withering glacier is part of the 13,000-square-kilometer (5,020 square mile) Southern Ice Field, the third largest frozen landmass after Antarctica and Greenland.

During the 1990s, the glacier retreated some seven kilometers, but its rate of melting has "accelerated," releasing an increasing number of icebergs into the fjord where the glacier lay, according to Andres Rivera, of the CECs. The latest study of the glacier took place between February 2010 and January of this year, during which two stationary cameras timed to shoot four times a day took some 1,445 pictures of the glacier.

Baraer and his colleagues examined satellite views of the Cordillera Blanca glaciers and levels of water discharge, as well as how much the flow varied over time. They found that peak discharge from the glacier is over, Baraer said. That means that less water will reach the Rio Santa Valley during the June to November dry season, when rain is minimal and communities rely on meltwater to supply towns and agricultural fields. If the glaciers disappear completely, Baraer said, water discharge from the mountains during the Rio Santa dry season may shrink by another 30 percent of the current level. Dams could save up wet season precipitation in reservoirs for the dry season, Baraer said, but liquid reservoirs evaporate faster than solid ice glaciers, meaning that the lakes wouldn't be able to provide as much water as the glaciers have traditionally stored.

"Dams, of course, can be seen as a solution for some very particular projects, but we have to know that these dams will never ever replace the hydrological systems that are in place today," he said. Other South American regions in Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador may soon face similar challenges, he said. Peruvian officials expected this day to come, Baraer added, but many expected to have decades to plan for the end of peak water.

"What it means now for the population is that instead of having 10, 20, 30 years' perspective to find some solution for water use and allocation, in fact, these years do not exist," Baraer said.

You can follow LiveScience senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

http://news.yahoo.com/chile-glacier-...171225862.html

From Medscape Medical News > Psychiatry

FDA Forced to Rule on Potential BPA Food Packaging Ban

Barbara Boughton

December 8, 2011 (San Francisco, California) — As part of a settlement in a lawsuit brought against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency has agreed to rule on whether the controversial chemical bisphenol A (BPA) should be banned in food and beverage packaging.

The lawsuit was brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national nonprofit environmental advocacy group, which filed a petition with the FDA in 2008 requesting that BPA be banned as a food additive.

When the FDA did not reply in the timeframe required by law — at most 180 days — the NRDC took its case to court. The new settlement announced on Wednesday requires the FDA to decide on BPA use by the end of March 2012.

"There have been hundreds of studies that show that bisphenol A causes harm in many different ways and in many different body systems, including the reproductive system, and it poses a risk for development of cancer. It hasn't been shown to be safe," Sarah Janssen, MD, PhD, senior scientist with the NRDC, told Medscape Medical News.

"We're happy that the FDA will be required to respond to our petition but at the same time we had to go to the courts to get them to do their job," Dr. Janssen added.

Dr. Janssen noted that the FDA could respond in a range of ways to the NRDC petition — by denying it in whole, by revoking approval for BPA in all food-related products, or by revoking approval in certain products named by the NRDC as a particular concern, such as baby food jars.

Because of the controversy surrounding the use of BPA, many baby bottle manufacturers and some plastic water bottle manufacturers have already stopped using BPA in their products.

BPA Ubiquitous

However, the chemical is ubiquitous in modern-day consumer products — it is found in polycarbonate plastic products, such as water bottles; resins used to line metal products, such as canned foods; as well as juice boxes, packaged foods, and even cash register receipts.

Animal studies as well as human epidemiologic studies have linked BPA to increased risk for precancerous growths in the mammary and prostate glands and to such health conditions as heart disease, liver disease, diabetes, and behavior conditions in children (eg, depression, anxiety, and hyperactivity).

Yet the link between BPA and health conditions in humans has been controversial, and in 2008 a report by the US National Toxicology Program expressed some concerns about the chemical's health effects on just fetuses, infants, and children. The report also concluded that the low levels of BPA most people are exposed to as adults were of "negligible concern."

The FDA declined a request by Medscape Medical News for an interview, but in its latest statement on BPA, released in January 2010, the agency noted that recent studies raise some concern about the potential effects of the chemical on the brain; behavior; and the prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and children.

Yet the agency's statement also noted that there are "substantial uncertainties with respect to the overall interpretations of these studies and their potential implications for human health."

New scientific studies on humans and animals now underway may provide at least some answers to the questions of how harmful BPA is to infants, children, and adults — if it is harmful at all.

Some Remain Unconvinced

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has earmarked $30 million in funding to study BPA, and it's expected that results from some human and animal studies will be available within the next 6 to 12 months, according to Joe M. Braun, MSPH, PhD, from the Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.

In a study published in Pediatrics in October and reported by Medscape Medical News at that time, Dr. Braun and colleagues found that prenatal exposure to BPA was associated with anxious, depressive, and hyperactive behaviors in female children at age 3 but not in male children of the same age.

"The new study results [of a soon-to-be-released paper] may help resolve some of the inconsistencies we've seen in both human and animal studies regarding BPA," Dr. Braun told Medscape Medical News. "Newer studies may help resolve questions about the potential harm of BPA, but then some people may even then remain unconvinced," he said.

Whatever the FDA ultimately decides, the agency's judgment will be welcomed by both industry and consumers alike, said Gilbert Ross, MD, medical and executive director of the American Council on Science and Health, a nonprofit that receives funding from industry as well as other sources.

"BPA use is widespread in consumer products, and its safety is well-studied," Dr. Ross said. "The consensus of the scientific data is that there is no serious threat to human health," he added. On the basis of the scientific evidence, concern about the health effects of BPA are unjustified, he added.

Canned Goods a Major Source

"If BPA were to be banned from consumer products such as canned goods, in which the chemical keeps metal from leaching into foods, substitutes would have to be found," Dr. Ross noted." And none of the possible substitutes are as well studied as BPA," he said.

Dr. Janssen acknowledged that it's likely that the FDA will revoke approval for use of BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups in response to an industry petition filed several months ago.

"But we know that the major source of exposure isn't baby bottles, but canned foods," Dr. Janssen wrote in the NRDC's blog, Switchboard, after the announcement of the settlement.

"Every day millions of American consumers are exposed to this dangerous chemical...The FDA has an obligation to use scientific evidence to assure us that food additives such as BPA are safe," Dr. Janssen writes.

Dr. Janssen, Dr. Braun, and Dr. Ross have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Medscape Medical News © 2011 WebMD, LLC

She sure is. This is so common with offending spouse's complete denial over many years. Very common. In fact, this entire case is text book (no pun intended)! And one can see total rationalization in Sandusky's eyes when he is interviewed. And a pet peeve is going on for me with all of the comments from his friends about him being a "big kid." He is a grown man and a sexual predator. How much has that persona projection thwarted his closest associates seeing what he was up to?

Actually, at trial with a DA and team with expertise with child sexual abuse (especially serial offenders), his interviews will be key evidence against him with expert witnesses. His lawyer is an idiot!

Thankfully, he is under house arrest and has to wear a GPS device- just like any other person with these kinds of charges.

The fact that this has been going on for a long time is fairly disturbing. I can understand that they have to do something with the bodies of unidentified soldiers or soldiers whose family asked them to dispose of the bodies. A landfill is just not the proper place! I think that, since it is not feasible to bury the cremains of every fallen soldier in time of war, they should at least put the cremains out to sea. Such an injustice to those who die serving our country. I was in the Air Force and Air National Guard for 12 years. Sadly, there are many things that the civilian would would be very aghast over if they were to be informed by our government. This would be a prime example.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Co...embedlarge.jpg

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43257536/ns/health-diabetes/
Indian tribe turns to tradition to fight diabetes
Arizona's Tohono Nation hopes indigenous foods can help stop skyrocketing disease rate

Glad to see this in more mainstream news and hopefully consciousness
 

Abuse May Alter Child's Brain Activity

FRIDAY, Dec. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Children who are abused or exposed to family violence have changes in brain activity similar to those seen in combat veterans, a new study finds. The brains of these children become increasingly "tuned" for identifying possible sources of danger, said U.K. researchers who used functional imaging to monitor brain activity.

When the study authors showed pictures of angry faces to children with a history of abuse, the children's brains showed increased activity in the anterior insula and amygdala, which are involved in detecting threat and anticipating pain. These changes don't indicate brain damage but are the brain's way of adapting to a challenging or dangerous environment, study author Eamon McCrory, of University College London, explained. The study appears in the Dec. 6 issue of the journal Current Biology.

"Enhanced reactivity to a biologically salient threat cue such as anger may represent an adaptive response for these children in the short term, helping keep them out of danger," McCrory said in a journal news release. "However, it may also constitute an underlying neurobiological risk factor increasing their vulnerability to later mental health problems, and particularly anxiety."

The findings are important because of the large numbers of children who are exposed to family violence. "This underlines the importance of taking seriously the impact for a child of living in a family characterized by violence. Even if such a child is not showing overt signs of anxiety or depression, these experiences still appear to have a measurable effect at the neural level," McCrory said.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about child abuse.

This article is available here -

http://news.yahoo.com/abuse-may-alte...170206644.html

Highlighted by me in this color



Thanks for posting this. It was BPA that I was referring to when I spoke of the water cooler at work (I think it was this thread?). It is still found in hard plastics.

I could have told them that. Hypervigilant was always added to anything any shrink ever had to say about me. I will tell you though this hyper- vigilance saved my ass more than once. It is so fine tuned I’ve managed to duck before there was any sign something was heading my way. I remember walking out of a bar and even though I never saw anyone I just felt something coming at me; I just knew it somehow and moved just enough that the person just grazed my face. The people I walked out with weren’t as lucky. I guess they weren’t from abusive and violent homes. Who says good stuff doesn’t come from bad.

The good news is I don't have any mental health problems or anxiety issues, at least none I'm aware of. However, addictive behavior is another story. I can pretty much get addicted to anything. I try to focus this in directions that can help me. Like work, exercise, projects around the house, stuff like that. I can be relentless. I never quit.

I get that growing up in abusive and violent homes are not ideal situations. Really it doesn't take Einstein to figure that out. Of course there will be long term effects.

Knowing that always left me feeling there is something wrong with me. And I felt guilty or ashamed and I never understood exactly why. i remember a job I had working at a home for abused kids. The director and I were looking through applications from DYS and he said this one is out because there's too much physical abuse. We won't be able to work with this kid. I remember getting a sick feeling in my stomach and I only tried half-heartedly to talk him out of his opinion. I felt too ashamed to talk about my personal experiences. Like I was defective and just a throw away. You know i'm not sure where I'm going with this LOL. I guess nowhere really. I don't know what I'm trying to say. Reading the article just brought shit up for me. Thanks for posting the article though

Hyper-vigilance downshifted my adrenals considerably (I'm on hydrocortisone at the moment among other things), but I'm quite sure it saved my ass too. I worked with a really smart, savvy body-centered psychotherapist in recent years who educated me on the brain shift and, most importantly, how to recenter and reshift out of residence in the primal, fear-based center. When you realize you don't have to some part of your guard up at all times and keep awake even while sleeping, it's quite a fine thing.

And speaking of awake, I can only hope the consciousness will continue to grow about how a primordial abuse sets in motion a lifetime of "stuff."

I don't even know what to say. It's downright depressing. It's not even that they don't get it. It's that frankly Scarlet they don't give a damn.

Romney: Scientists can figure out global warming 50 years from now

When asked about his views on climate change at a campaign event, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney replied that the earth might be getting warmer, but that his top priority as president would be to increase energy production in the United States.

“I’m not a scientist, so I don’t know the answer to these things,” he told the questioner. “I think the earth is getting warmer. May be wrong. I think we probably contribute something to it, but I don’t know if we contribute a little or a lot. And therefore, when I come to the policies I’d put in place, I do not support cap and trade policies, which raise the cost of energy.”

“Scientists will figure that out ten, twenty, fifty years from now,” he concluded. “But the right policy for me is, use our domestic sources of energy — including our renewables, and our gas, and our coal, and our nuclear, and our oil — and that’s the right course for America.”

In sharp contrast with Romney’s suggestion that the question of climate change can be deferred for another fifty years, however, the majority of scientists have already concluded that man-made global warming is real, has already contributed to an unprecedented number of climate disasters, and will be irreversible unless significant changes are made within the next decade.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/0...ears-from-now/

3 Women Awarded Nobel Peace Prize
 

(AP) — Three women who fought injustice, dictatorship and sexual violence in Liberia and Yemen received the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in the Norwegian capital on Saturday.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, her compatriot Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen collected their Nobel diplomas and medals to applause at Oslo's City Hall.

Prize committee Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said the three women represent the struggle for "human rights in general and of women for equality and peace in particular."

No woman or sub-Saharan African had won the prize since 2004, when the committee honored Wangari Maathai of Kenya, who mobilized poor women to fight deforestation by planting trees.

By selecting Karman the prize committee also recognized the Arab Spring movement championed by often anonymous activists from Tunisia to Syria.

Sirleaf was elected president of Liberia in 2005 and won re-election in October. She is widely credited with helping her country emerge from an especially brutal civil war.

The 39-year-old Gbowee long campaigned for the rights of women and against rape, challenging Liberia's warlords. In 2003, she led hundreds of female protesters through Monrovia to demand swift disarmament of fighters, who continued to prey on women, despite a peace deal that should have ended the 14-year civil war.

Karman, a journalist and member of the Islamic party Islah, is the first Arab woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and at 32, the youngest peace laureate ever. She also heads the human rights group Women Journalists without Chains.

http://news.yahoo.com/3-women-accept...124201887.html

Yeah, definitely something in me is "moving" watching Perry's ad...
 

Rick Perry’s ad moves the Web
By czap | The Upshot – 23 hrs ago

Rick Perry's latest ad has divided his campaign and gone viral on the Web.

The TV spot shows Rick Perry wearing a jacket that could have been swiped from the "Brokeback Mountain" set (as former "Star Trek" star and gay activist George Takei has pointed out), as the candidate criticizes Obama for reversing the ban on gays in the military.

In the commercial, titled "Strong," Perry says, "You know there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas."

The spot has even divided top Perry staffers. Terry Fabrizio, a lead pollster for the Perry campaign branded it "nuts" in an email according to Sam Stein of the Huffington Post. The campaign message has definitely sparked public debate, but perhaps not in the way that Perry hoped, serving as instant fodder for late-night comedy shows: Stephen Colbert mounted a mock defense of the spot on his show last night. And a steady viral stream of video spoofs have been making the rounds. The website BuzzFeed has a remix of the ad, in which Perry delivers a message directly opposite of the original script. Buzz on the ad has also caused Yahoo! searches to surge in just one day on "rick perry anti-gay ad," "rick perry brokeback mountain" and "rick perry youtube."

Gay rights groups have circulated a petition asking that the ad on YouTube get the "dislike" button: So far, the video has tallied over 440,000 dislikes.



More at -

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2264918/

No, they don't give a damn! They really do not! Sometimes I think these idiots must have huge investments in the private space programs so that their families can just go to another planet to live while the "little people" stay on earth and are chronically ill and then die. The first private flight to the space station is coming up and if it goes well, NASA will be off the hook for paying for and carrying other countries supplies, etc. to the station- it will be a completely private "frieght" liner space industry with a couple of years.

Hummm... yeah, I guess sometimes I can be a conspiracy theorist, but, think about how freaking rich these people are that are putting this private space travel industry together. Who will be their passengers? Certainly not the 98%!!!

New UN climate deal struck, critics say gains modest
ReutersBy Nina Chestney and Jon Herskovitz | Reuters

DURBAN (Reuters) - Countries from around the globe agreed on Sunday to forge a new deal forcing all the biggest polluters for the first time to limit greenhouse gas emissions, but critics said the plan was too timid to slow global warming.

A package of accords agreed after marathon U.N. talks in South Africa extended the 1997 Kyoto Protocol - the only global pact enforcing carbon cuts - allowing five more years to finalise a wider pact which has so far eluded negotiators. Kyoto's first phase - due to expire at the end of next year but now extended until 2017 - imposed limits only on developed countries, not emerging giants like China and India. The United States never ratified it.

Those three countries and the EU held a last-ditch huddle in the conference centre before finally agreeing to wording that commits them to a pact with legal force, although exactly what form it will take was left vague. Countries also agreed the format of a fund to help poor nations tackle climate change.

But many small island states and developing nations at risk of being swamped by rising sea levels and extreme weather said the deal marked the lowest common denominator possible and lacked the ambition needed to ensure their survival.

Agreement on the package, reached in the early hours of Sunday, avoided a collapse of two weeks of climate talks and spared the blushes of host South Africa, whose stewardship of the fractious negotiations came under fire from rich and poor nations. "We came here with plan A, and we have concluded this meeting with plan A to save one planet for the future of our children and our grandchildren to come," said South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, who chaired the talks.

"We have made history," she said, bringing the hammer down on the Durban conference, the longest in two decades of U.N. climate negotiations. Delegates agreed to start work next year on a new, legally binding accord to cut greenhouse gases, to be decided by 2015 and to come into force by 2020. The process for doing so, called the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, would "develop a new protocol, another legal instrument or agreed outcome with legal force" that would be applicable under the U.N. climate convention.

That phrasing was used by all parties to claim victory. Britain's Energy and Climate Secretary Chris Huhne said the result was "a great success for European diplomacy." "We've managed to bring the major emitters like the U.S., India and China into a roadmap which will secure an overarching global deal," he said.

U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern said Washington was satisfied with the outcome: "We got the kind of symmetry that we had been focused on since the beginning of the Obama administration. This had all the elements that we were looking for."

Yet U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres acknowledged the final wording on the legal form a future deal was ambiguous: "What that means has yet to be decided." Environmentalists said governments wasted valuable time by focusing on a handful of specific words in the negotiating text, and failed to raise emissions cuts to a level high enough to reduce global warming. Sunday's deal follows years of failed attempts to impose legally-binding, international cuts on emerging polluters, such as China and India, as well as rich nations. Poor countries argue they should deserve leeway to catch up in development. Sunday's deal extends Kyoto until the end of 2017, ensuring there is no gap between commitment periods. EU delegates said lawyers would have to reconcile those dates with existing EU legislation.

LEAST-BAD OPTION

India's Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, who gave an impassioned speech to the conference denouncing what she said was unfair pressure on Delhi to compromise, said her country had only reluctantly agreed to the accord. "We've had very intense discussions. We were not happy with reopening the text but in the spirit of flexibility and accommodation shown by all, we have shown our flexibility... we agree to adopt it," she said.

Small island states in the front line of climate change, said they had gone along with a deal but only because a collapse of the talks was of no help to their vulnerable nations. "I would have wanted to get more, but at least we have something to work with. All is not lost yet," said Selwin Hart, chief negotiator on finance for the coalition of small states.

Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, head of the Africa Group, added: "It's a middle ground, we meet mid-way. Of course we are not completely happy about the outcome, it lacks balance, but we believe it is starting to go into the right direction." U.N. reports released in the last month said delays on a global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions will make it harder to keep the average rise to within 2 degrees Celsius over the next century.

"It's certainly not the deal the planet needs - such a deal would have delivered much greater ambition on both emissions reductions and finance," said Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Producing a new treaty by 2015 that is both ambitious and fair will take a mix of tough bargaining and a more collaborative spirit than we saw in the Durban conference centre these past two weeks."

GOProud (a gay repub group), OUTed Terry Fabrizio, Perry's lead pollster. They said that they thought he was already OUT, however.

http://metroweekly.com/poliglot/2011...he-tweets.html

The Log Cabin Repubs find it shameful to have done so: http://dclogcabin.wordpress.com/

AZ immigration legislation will be heard by Supreme Court
 

Anti-Gay Alabama GOP dude secretly donates sperm to Lesbian couples in New Zealand

(or: I hate the gays but that won't stop me from jerking off into a cup for them)

Led by the child who simply knew

The twin boys were identical in every way but one. Wyatt was a girl to the core, and now lives as one, with the help of a brave, loving family and a path-breaking doctor’s care.




http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/201...xaL/story.html

The moon was a gorgeous shade of Amber tonight: softly gracing the eastern horizon, slightly bent, sad looking (if you ask me); yet Mr. Man in the Moon spoke to my heart tonight and, well, I didn't understand him very well at all but promised, as if any promise from me might help at all, that, I still adore him and worship him in the nighttime skies when he's got the time to hang out with me.

In other urgent news:

New Years eve looks promising because guess what?
Summer will be here soon.

:kissy:

Twice-discharged gay sailor reinstated

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/1...stated-121211/

Gay Veteran Steals the Show at Romney Endorsement Event


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics...rsement-event/

What a great story. Thank you for sharing :)

Reading this made me smile. Romney thought he was sittin' down for some war stories... little did he know :)

Sassy's right. This is fantastic. Thank you, LeftWriteFemme.

The Amazing, Heartbreaking Story Of Tony Briffa, The World’s First Openly Intersex Mayor

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...020318710.html

Neural Payoffs from Giving Support to a Loved One

In women, helping a distressed partner activated brain regions involved in reward and maternal behavior.

Social support benefits its recipients — but may also benefit support givers with improved physical and psychological well-being, including decreased mortality. Maternal caregiving behavior in animals has been associated with activation of the reward-related ventral striatum and the septal area, a reward-related pleasure center also associated with fear reduction.

To see whether caregiving similarly affects humans, researchers conducted magnetic resonance imaging scans of 20 romantically connected women, all very happy with their partners and comfortable with touching them, while they held the arm of their partners who were receiving painful electric shocks (i.e., the "support-giving" condition).

Each woman was also scanned during three control conditions (holding her partner's arm during a non-shock trial and holding a rubber "squeeze" ball during her partner's shock and non-shock trials). Greater activity in both the ventral striatum and septal area was observed during the support-giving condition compared with control conditions.

In self-ratings performed after each trial, women's greater feelings of support effectiveness and social connection were associated with greater septal area and ventral striatum activity. Moreover, greater septal activity during support giving was associated with lower activity in both the right and left amygdalae, consistent with fear reduction.

Comment: These findings are concordant with the presence of mammalian pathways that reward caregivers while inhibiting fear and perhaps reducing their pain distress. The authors note that the septal area, ventral striatum, and amygdala have many oxytocin receptors.

Studies examining concurrent neuro-humoral events involving the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (including oxytocin) during caregiving would be of interest. These acute processes may shift over time and become less beneficial during chronic caregiving.

For clinicians educating caregivers, these findings support the view that "giving has its own rewards."

Joel Yager, MD
Published in Journal Watch Psychiatry December 12, 2011

Citation(s):
Inagaki TK and Eisenberger NI. Neural correlates of giving support to a loved one. Psychosom Med 2011 Nov 9; [e-pub ahead of print]. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e3182359335)

So love this!!