Breaking News Events

[EnderD_503]

Even though it's from a Canadian newspaper, it's about the sex abuse that occurred at Penn State so figured I'd post it here. It's a pretty good satire showing how the sexual abuse that occurs in sports really needs to be addressed.

I should probably warn that the piece is deeply satirical, and some who don't seem to realise what the author is trying to do found it offensive. I'd just like to say that I think the author is bringing up some very good points. First of all, we are facing something that even today is considered "unspeakable" within mainstream society, to the point where youth are silenced from expressing what they've experienced. Boys silenced because of the heteronormative tendency to victim shame, and silently imply that boys cannot be raped or victimized, and if they are then their masculinity is called into question, forcing them to remain silent. Girls because of the sexism in place which implies some wrong done by the female victim. Young children and teenagers are quite commonly faced with sexual assault within athletic, educational and religious institutions by those in positions of authority. Yet very often among those of evangelical or heavily religious leanings, the problem is not addressed as a problem that occurs within a heteronormative framework, which they push upon everyone around them as the most "moral." It is something that is passed off as "sick" or a "sinister sodomite/homosexual agenda." I think an article like this means to expose the darker underbelly of human society, that often fails to look to itself and the atrocities that it's "sports heroes" and "religious leaders" commit. The dangers of glorifying these leaders, and the dangers of pushing sex/gender stereotypes that often serve to silence victims.

Also, the author is Ontarian and I do see some undertones of him using the arguments used by Ontarian Catholic and evangelist fundamentalists about the Ontario Public School Board "pushing the gay agenda" on students and deceiving "good Christian parents." That much is a little locally biased, but I think applies elsewhere, too. I definitely see this article as holding up a mirror to mainstream society and its moral perception of itself.

Sorry about the long spiel, but I read some negative reactions to the article elsewhere, and I think those reactions really did not fully understand the article's intent. It was not meant at all to make light of the situation, or to take advantage of it, but to raise awareness and force society to think.

Anyways, just wanted to share it hear, because I think it is a really good and thought provoking article on an important current issue.

Meanwhile, in straight . . . Penn State exposes the Heterosexual Agenda

BY ROB SALERNO - Straight people. Lately, they're everywhere. Building hospitals, making movies about famous gay people, even teaching our kids. But are all these good deeds simply a cover for a deeply concerning "heterosexual agenda" that takes as its prime objective the raping of children?

Exhibit A: The long history of alleged sexual abuse at Penn State.

Penn State assistant football coach and openly heterosexual man Jerry Sandusky was charged with more than 40 counts of sexual abuse involving minors. The assaults allegedly took place over a period of nearly 15 years.

Sandusky, who together with his opposite-sex wife adopted and raised six children, allegedly inflicted a pattern of escalating abuse on children that he met at Second Mile, a youth charity he helped found.

The alleged victims were all young boys, a clever ploy to throw investigators off the scent since Sandusky is such a raging heterosexual.

Some straight activists say it's just a coincidence that this alleged child rapist is also a heterosexual. But how then do you explain that several known heterosexuals allegedly aided and abetted this spree of shower-room child anal rape?

Once the charges came to light, it emerged that several people -- all heterosexuals -- at Penn State had been aware of allegations of child rape against Sandusky for nearly a decade. In 2002, a grad student walked into the shower room where he says he saw Sandusky anally raping a boy no older than 10 years old. After a cursory investigation by campus police, Sandusky was simply told not to bring children to the shower room again, presumably because carrying out the heterosexual agenda of raping children right in the middle of heterosexual HQ would arouse suspicion. Nothing else was done; neither the police nor the boy's parents were notified. Two of the heterosexual men involved in the cover-up have also been formally charged.

Well, in a face-saving move, the Penn State board of trustees summarily fired two of the heterosexuals who knew about the allegations, including the beloved head coach, Joe Paterno.

It can be hard for queer readers to understand, but let me try to put the scale of this in perspective. US collegiate football is like the heterosexual equivalent of Pride or the Oscars. More than 100,000 people cram into Penn State's suspiciously named Beaver stadium to watch men in outfits that are both scandalously tight and ridiculously padded parade around a field, tackle and pin each other, and dance flamboyantly in joy. By firing the guy who ran the HeterOscars right before a game, some students thought the event was being put in jeopardy.

Notably, when we fire a heterosexual from running the real Oscars, we have the good sense to do it several months in advance and have Billy Crystal on speed dial.

So the students rioted. Thousands took to the streets of the campus, turning over a news van, knocking over lamp posts and pelting riot cops with rocks. It was like the heterosexual Stonewall, except that while adult gays in 1969 were fighting for the freedom to have consensual sexual and social relations with each other, the Penn State students were basically demonstrating for the right to anally rape children with impunity.

If these heterosexual child rapists are out there marching openly in the streets, it can only mean that this "heterosexual agenda" (I choose not to use the word "straight" at this point because it seems to imply a positive moral value that can never be associated with something as despicable as child rape) is more advanced than we ever suspected. It's time for us to fight back, my queer brothers and sisters, because soon, these heterosexuals could be coming after your own children.

Source: http://www.xtra.ca/blog/national/pos...-football.aspx

[Midnight]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

Ummm...who is "we"? You don't have a location indicated.

LOL Sorry Dapper. Australia - where the Aussie dollar is currently worth more than the US dollar.

[betenoire]

Originally Posted by Midnight

LOL Sorry Dapper. Australia - where the Aussie dollar is currently worth more than the US dollar.

It's 59 cents for a standard letter in Canada.

What I don't understand is why dropping mail delivery down to 5 days a week in the US would be such a giant crisis, especially if it would save money. Canada Post only works Monday through Friday, and to my knowledge no Canadian has ever dropped down dead from not being able to expect mail to arrive on a Saturday.

[Toughy]

I would entirely support 5 days a week over closing local post office branches..........

the local post office has a long history as a gathering place for the people..

[betenoire]

And plus, I think your mail carriers deserve Saturdays off.

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by Toughy

I would entirely support 5 days a week over closing local post office branches..........

the local post office has a long history as a gathering place for the people..

Just wondering, do Postal workers there have a strong union?

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

Just wondering, do Postal workers there have a strong union?

I am pretty certain the answer is yes.

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Toughy

I would entirely support 5 days a week over closing local post office branches..........

the local post office has a long history as a gathering place for the people..

I completely agree and think it is ridiculous that it is even being argued.

However, I would guess that on a regular basis the carriers do not work 6 days a week. Therefore, doesn't this mean that there would have to be some lay offs?

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

I am pretty certain the answer is yes.

Ah ok. I'm just wondering because here CUPW played/plays a big role in workers getting proper hours (excepting those who choose to work nights or weekends at the post office itself, not letter carriers evidently). Is a reduction in delivery days something the union over there has tried to push for, or are they happy to continue delivery on weekends? I'm just wondering like if closing branches vs. cutting delivery was something the service itself decided or whether it's something the union has also backed.

Sorry for lack of lucidity.

[SoNotHer]

Global Solar PV to Rise 24% This Year, to 24 Gigawatts

11/16/2011
SustainableBusiness.com News

Despite a weak start to the year and a tumultuous environment for the world's solar industry, solar PV installations will reach 24 gigawatts (GW) in 2011, a rise of 24% from the previous year.

Solar PV will rise just 3% in Europe, however, and Italy will displace Germany as the world's largest market.

Although installations almost doubled in the second half of 2011, suppliers haven't seen a surge in orders because of high inventory levels, according to IMS Research's Q4'11 PV Demand Database.

Earlier this year, IMS Research found that solar module inventory stood at a huge 10 GW, and inverter inventory was at an unusually high level of 6 GW.

Italy is expected to be the world's largest market for the first time, installing 6.8 GW. But slowing markets in Germany, the Czech Republic and other countries have dragged down Europe's world share - which will fall sharply from 82% in 2010 to 68% in 2011.

While Europe is stagnating, the American and Asian markets are performing well and will generate 85% of the global growth in installations in 2011.

"The PV market continues to diversify in 2011; this will create short-term pain for suppliers that can no longer solely rely on one market to fuel their growth, but creates long-term stability for the industry by helping to balance the effects of a single country's incentive policy and reduce large swings in supply and demand. This diversification is clearly continuing to happen and we have identified 20 markets that will install more than 100 MW in 2011, up from just 14 last year," says Ash Sharma, Senior Research Director for Photovoltaics at IMS Research.

In fact, only four of the top 10 solar PV markets will be in Europe in 2011, and the UK will be one of those.

"Despite installing just 45 MW last year, the UK is set to install more than 500 MW in 2011 and become the 8th largest PV market. The attractive incentive levels helped kick-start the market, but the changes to the tariff during the year to prevent large-scale projects and the sudden cuts proposed for December have created a surge in demand," explained Sharma.
IMS expects the US to be the third largest market this year, and China will be the fourth largest.

"Installation rates in China have rocketed since the introduction of provincial and the national FiTs; as China's government seeks to provide domestic demand for its huge manufacturing base whilst Europe falters. Installations in China could reach as much as 2.5 GW this year, but 1.9 GW is most likely," concludes Sharma.

[Toughy]

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

Ah ok. I'm just wondering because here CUPW played/plays a big role in workers getting proper hours (excepting those who choose to work nights or weekends at the post office itself, not letter carriers evidently). Is a reduction in delivery days something the union over there has tried to push for, or are they happy to continue delivery on weekends? I'm just wondering like if closing branches vs. cutting delivery was something the service itself decided or whether it's something the union has also backed.

Sorry for lack of lucidity.

I'm not sure what the Union says about only Mon-Fri delivery days. I do know the Union does support removing the 10 yr advance funding of the retirement fund. That advance funding is really driving the budget problems.

The strongest and largest unions left in the US are government employee unions. Overall union membership is less than 25% of the workforce...I don't remember the exact number but I do think it's closer to 20%. Reagan started busting the unions (starting with the Air Traffic Controllers Union) in the 80's and it has been very successful.

40 hour work weeks are standard (for the entire country) with overtime payed for more than 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. As far as I know Sat/Sun is no different than weekdays. Nothing special about those 2 days. There is holiday pay if you work on certain holidays...but not all of them unless you work for the government.

I'm sure staff would be cut some if Sat delivery is done away with. The question also would be about leaving the branches open for business on Sat. I think branches are open until noon on Saturdays, but are always closed on Sun and federal holidays.

[Tommi]

Mass. Passes Transgender Rights Bill
By KATIE MOISSE
Nov. 16, 2011

A bill that protects transgender people in Massachusetts from discrimination and hate crimes has been passed in both houses of the state legislature. It's not yet known exactly when Gov. Deval Patrick, who supports the bill, will sign it.

The bill amends the state's nondiscrimination statute and existing hate crime laws to include gender identity and expression. Thirteen other states and Washington, D.C., have passed similar bills.

"Transgender individuals in Massachusetts face unacceptably high levels of violence and discrimination in their daily lives," said state Rep. Carl Sciortino Jr., a Medford Democrat who co-sponsored the bill. "This bill will extend our statutory civil rights and hate crime protections to the transgender community."

The bill, which was first filed in 2007, drew strong opposition from such groups as the Massachusetts Family Institute -- which "strongly opposes any efforts by political activists to normalize homosexual behavior and all attempts to equate homosexuality with immutable characteristics such as skin color," according to its website.

Roughly 33,000 people in Massachusetts identify themselves as transgender.

A 2009 survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force found that 97 percent of transgender people reported they were harassed or mistreated at work because of their gender identity or expression. And 47 percent reported they were denied a job or promotion or fired.

"I think it's very difficult for transgender people to be out as transgender," said Gunner Scott, president of the Transgender Political Coalition, a main proponent of the bill. "They risk losing employment, housing, credit, family support, even the opportunity to go to school."

Fifteen percent of transgender people reported living on $10,000 or less per year and 19 percent said they have been homeless, according to the survey.

"This is a community that his disproportionally high levels of not only discrimination, but poverty," Sciortino said. "It has a broad impact not only for these individuals and their families but also for the tax payer who doesn't even know a transgender person."

Hate crime statistics suggest transgender people are more likely to be victims of violence than other members of the LGBT community. If the bill is passed, perpetrators that target people based on gender identity would face the same penalties as those who target people because of their race, religion, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation.

The vote came in the middle of Transgender Awareness Week, a statewide event hosted by the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition. The week closes Nov. 20 with Transgender Day of Remembrance -- a memorial to victims of anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.

"Internationally, more than one transgender person a month is murdered for who they are," said Scott, adding that 11 such cases have been documented in Massachusetts since 1979.

This is the first time the bill has made it to a vote -- a feat Sciortino credits to increased awareness.

"It's been a challenging issue in part because the transgender community is not as familiar to people as the gay community," Sciortino said. "But with people like Chaz Bono on Dancing With the Stars, people are getting a better sense of who transgender people are and the challenges they face."

[Tommi]

Mass. Passes Transgender Rights Bill
By KATIE MOISSE
Nov. 16, 2011

A bill that protects transgender people in Massachusetts from discrimination and hate crimes has been passed in both houses of the state legislature. It's not yet known exactly when Gov. Deval Patrick, who supports the bill, will sign it.

The bill amends the state's nondiscrimination statute and existing hate crime laws to include gender identity and expression. Thirteen other states and Washington, D.C., have passed similar bills.

"Transgender individuals in Massachusetts face unacceptably high levels of violence and discrimination in their daily lives," said state Rep. Carl Sciortino Jr., a Medford Democrat who co-sponsored the bill. "This bill will extend our statutory civil rights and hate crime protections to the transgender community."

The bill, which was first filed in 2007, drew strong opposition from such groups as the Massachusetts Family Institute -- which "strongly opposes any efforts by political activists to normalize homosexual behavior and all attempts to equate homosexuality with immutable characteristics such as skin color," according to its website.

A 2009 survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force found that 97 percent of transgender people reported they were harassed or mistreated at work because of their gender identity or expression. And 47 percent reported they were denied a job or promotion or fired.

"I think it's very difficult for transgender people to be out as transgender," said Gunner Scott, president of the Transgender Political Coalition, a main proponent of the bill. "They risk losing employment, housing, credit, family support, even the opportunity to go to school."

Fifteen percent of transgender people reported living on $10,000 or less per year and 19 percent said they have been homeless, according to the survey.

"This is a community that his disproportionally high levels of not only discrimination, but poverty," Sciortino said. "It has a broad impact not only for these individuals and their families but also for the tax payer who doesn't even know a transgender person."

Hate crime statistics suggest transgender people are more likely to be victims of violence than other members of the LGBT community. If the bill is passed, perpetrators that target people based on gender identity would face the same penalties as those who target people because of their race, religion, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation.

The vote came in the middle of Transgender Awareness Week, a statewide event hosted by the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition. The week closes Nov. 20 with Transgender Day of Remembrance -- a memorial to victims of anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.

"Internationally, more than one transgender person a month is murdered for who they are," said Scott, adding that 11 such cases have been documented in Massachusetts since 1979.

This is the first time the bill has made it to a vote -- a feat Sciortino credits to increased awareness.

"It's been a challenging issue in part because the transgender community is not as familiar to people as the gay community," Sciortino said. "But with people like Chaz Bono on Dancing With the Stars, people are getting a better sense of who transgender people are and the challenges they face."

[Cin]

Published on Friday, November 18, 2011 by Reuters
Extreme Weather Set to Worsen With Climate Change: IPCC
by Elias Biryabarema

KAMPALA - An increase in heat waves is almost certain, while heavier rainfall, more floods, stronger cyclones, landslides and more intense droughts are likely across the globe this century as the Earth's climate warms, U.N. scientists said on Friday.

An increase in heat waves is almost certain, while heavier rainfall, more floods, stronger cyclones, landslides and more intense droughts are likely across the globe this century as the Earth's climate warms, U.N. scientists said on Friday. (AFP Photo/Ethan Miller) The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) urged countries to come up with disaster management plans to adapt to the growing risk of extreme weather events linked to human-induced climate change, in a report released in Uganda on Friday.

The report gives differing probabilities for extreme weather events based on future greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, but the thrust is that extreme weather is likely to increase.

"It is virtually certain that increases in the frequency and magnitude of warm daily temperature extremes ... will occur in the 21st century on the global scale," the IPCC report said.

"It is very likely that the length, frequency and/or intensity of warm spells, or heat waves, will increase," it added.

"A 1-in-20 year hottest day is likely to become a 1-in-2 year event by the end of the 21st century in most regions," under one emissions scenario.

An exception is in very high latitudes, it said. Heat waves would likely get hotter by "1 degrees C to 3 degrees C by mid-21st century and by about 2 degrees C to 5 degrees C by late-21st century, depending on region and emissions scenario."

Delegates from nearly 200 countries will meet in South Africa from Nov. 28 for climate talks with the most likely outcome modest steps towards a broader deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change.

CARBON EMISSIONS UP

The United Nations, the International Energy Agency and others say global pledges to curb emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases are not enough to prevent the planet heating up beyond 2 degrees Celsius, a threshold scientists say risks an unstable climate in which weather extremes become more common and food production more difficult.

Global carbon emissions rose by a record amount last year, rebounding on the heels of recession.

"It is likely that the frequency of heavy precipitation or the proportion of heavy rainfall from heavy falls will increase in the 21st century over many areas of the globe," especially in "high latitudes and tropical regions."

For the IPCC, "likely" means a two-thirds chance or more.

It said there was "medium confidence" that this would lead to "increases in local flooding in some regions", but that this could not be determined for river floods, whose causes are complicated.

The report said tropical cyclones were likely to become less frequent or stay the same, but the ones that do form are expected to be nastier.

"Heavy rainfalls associated with tropical cyclones are likely to increase with continued warming. Average tropical cyclone maximum wind speed is likely," the report said.

That, coupled with rising sea levels were a concern for small island states, the report said.

Droughts, perhaps the biggest worry for a world with a surging population to feed, were also expected to worsen.

The global population reached 7 billion last month and is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, according to U.N. figures.

"There is medium confidence that droughts will intensify in the 21st century ... due to reduced precipitation and/or increased evapotranspiration," including in "southern Europe and the Mediterranean region, central Europe, central North America, Central America and Mexico, northeast Brazil and southern Africa."

There is a high chance that landslides would be triggered by shrinking glaciers and permafrost linked to climate change, it said.

[SoNotHer]

The Delaware watershed is safe for now

The Delaware River Basin Commission has cancelled their upcoming meeting on Monday, when they could have voted to allow fracking in the Delaware watershed.

That means the Delaware River Basin, and the 15 million people who get their drinking water from it, are safe — for the moment — from the dangers of fracking.

In the last week more than 40,000 CREDO members signed petitions, and made nearly 3,000 phone calls to the Governors of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, and to President Obama.

Cancelling the meeting is a huge indication that this pressure was heard by the Delaware River Basin Governors and President Obama — and that the commission did not have the votes in favor of the plan to allow nearly 20,000 gas wells in the basin. Indeed, the cancellation was announced shortly after Delaware Governor Jack Markell sent a letter yesterday stating that he would oppose the rules.

We don't know yet when or if the commission will reschedule the meeting, or how this fracking plan will now move forward. But for the moment, this is a huge victory for clean water. Our congratulations and thanks go to the many activists that did so much great work over the past months to make this happen. Gasland Director Josh Fox and Save The Delaware, Mark Ruffalo and Water Defense, Food and Water Watch, Frack Action and many others.

Please share this victory now and keep up the pressure on our leaders to stop the rapid expansion of dangerous fracking. Your pressure worked. Thank you for helping to make this happen.

https://act.credoaction.com/pages/dr...059182-1P1fn5x

[Soon]

Clarence Thomas Assailed For Alleged Ethical Lapses By More House Dems

[LeftWriteFemme]

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_N...ing_a_Lesbian/

Texas: Parents Rally for Teacher Fired for Being a Lesbian
By Michelle Garcia


Nikki Williams
A high school history teacher and basketball coach was fired last month for what administrators say were "performance issues," but parents at the Life School in Waxahachie, Texas, think it's because the teacher is a lesbian.

Nikki Williams, 26, was replaced by a football coach who resigned in September after a grievance was filed against him. Williams's mother told KDAF News that Life School administrators referred only to the school's code of ethics and standards of excellence as the reason behind Williams's ousting. Administrators have said they will not expunge her firing from her work records.
Dozens of parents are now circulating a petition asking to bring Williams back to school. She was fired October 18.

"I think that her being gay has nothing to do with her coaching skills," parent Tiniqua Smith told KDAF. "She has not tried to push this off on the kids, and I don't feel like that should be a problem."

[LeftWriteFemme]

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/1...es/?ref=health

Medical Schools Neglect Gay and Gender Issues
By PAULINE W. CHEN, M.D.

The middle-aged patient with long dark hair made it very clear that this was not her first urinary tract infection. “It’s because when I urinate,” she said, “I need to use a catheter.” She opened the leather satchel on her lap and, to prove her point, pulled out a thin, red sterile length of tube covered in plastic.

“Just ask one of the older nurses or doctors,” she said, smiling. “They all know me.”

But as I would learn, it was not because of her recurrent infections that so many of my colleagues knew her. Several years earlier, she had come in for a routine operation. The doctor had evaluated her before the operation, learned that she was a homemaker and met her husband. But on the morning of her operation, as he pulled down the sheets to begin inserting the urinary catheter into his now sleeping patient, he was startled to discover that the patient was not exactly who he had assumed she was.

She was transgender, and where he had been expecting to find female genitalia, he found male genitals instead.

The operation had gone well; but years later the doctor’s glaring oversight continued to haunt the rest of us. The patient had obviously not felt comfortable disclosing her transgender identify, and the doctor had clearly not asked the right questions. We knew that any one of us could have made the same mistake. While we had been trained well in treating cancer with the best chemotherapy regimen, curing flesh-eating infections with the most powerful antibiotics or transplanting organs with the greatest of ease, when it came to caring for patients who were transgender, we were lost. For many of us, the same could be said for lesbian, gay and bisexual patients as well. The only thing most of us knew how to do was ask about a single issue: “Whom are you having sex with? Men, women or both?”

A study published recently in The Journal of the American Medical Association shows that the situation has not changed much for young doctors. Researchers from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Medical Education Research Group at Stanford University School of Medicine surveyed medical school deans in the United States and Canada and asked about the curriculum devoted to topics like gender identity, coming out as gay and disparities in health care access for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients. While nearly all the students were learning to ask patients about the gender of their sexual partners, a majority of medical schools devoted only five hours to teaching anything more than that simple question. Fully one-third of schools allotted no time at all.

“These results should serve as a call to action for the health profession to include L.G.B.T. health as part of the standard curriculum,” said Dr. Desiray Bailey, an anesthesiologist and president of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association.

What little training medical students do receive — focusing on sexual behavior or H.I.V. infections — ignores the many other complex health-related issues these patients often deal with. As documented in a report issued this year by the Institute of Medicine, L.G.B.T. patients tend to be more isolated and have higher rates of chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure. And because of the discrimination they face and fear, many also have difficulty gaining access to care and thus face an increased risk of suicide, substance abuse and unaddressed domestic violence.

Just “seeing the doctor” can be fraught with tension, as it entails coming out to one’s physician.

“These patients need to feel that they can tell their doctor they are gay and that their doctor will accept them,” said Dr. Mitchell R. Lunn, senior author of the study and a resident in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

But while the federal government has recently announced several initiatives to address disparities in L.G.B.T. health care access, the study confirms that most medical schools are lagging behind. Those schools that do integrate the material into standing courses, offering electives or inviting outside experts to speak on topics like gay parenthood, lesbians’ health or the use of hormones in transitioning from one gender to the other. At other schools, medical students can discuss sexual identity issues with actors who have been trained to play the part, asking them whether they feel different from the identity assigned by society at birth, for example, which helps the students to eventually discuss these topics with real patients in a nonjudgmental but confident way.

But it’s unlikely that most medical schools will change how they teach medical students anytime soon. Organizations responsible for accrediting medical schools and licensing physicians do not require that prospective doctors know about health care issues for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender patients. And because research in this area is relatively new, it’s difficult for medical schools to find experts qualified to teach.

Nonetheless, many still view the study results as hopeful because of the level of insight from most of the medical school deans. More than a quarter characterized what their school taught in regards to L.G.B.T. patients as “poor” or “very poor,” and almost half called their offerings only “fair.” “This honest appraisal gives me hope that they might already be making plans to improve what they teach,” Dr. Bailey said.

And those kinds of improvements, the study authors believe, would benefit all patients.

“This is about being a good doctor, because a trusting relationship is not just about a patient’s physical or even mental well-being,” Dr. Lunn said. “It’s about learning who that patient is.”

[Soon]

Originally Posted by LeftWriteFemme

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_N...ing_a_Lesbian/

Texas: Parents Rally for Teacher Fired for Being a Lesbian
By Michelle Garcia


Nikki Williams
A high school history teacher and basketball coach was fired last month for what administrators say were "performance issues," but parents at the Life School in Waxahachie, Texas, think it's because the teacher is a lesbian.

Nikki Williams, 26, was replaced by a football coach who resigned in September after a grievance was filed against him. Williams's mother told KDAF News that Life School administrators referred only to the school's code of ethics and standards of excellence as the reason behind Williams's ousting. Administrators have said they will not expunge her firing from her work records.
Dozens of parents are now circulating a petition asking to bring Williams back to school. She was fired October 18.

"I think that her being gay has nothing to do with her coaching skills," parent Tiniqua Smith told KDAF. "She has not tried to push this off on the kids, and I don't feel like that should be a problem."

Comment:
Just to provide a bit more feedback, (I am Nikki's Williams partner/future spouse). She has been promoted three times in the last three years (from JH to JV to Varsity head coach). She has also been protmoted in the classroom (from JH Texas History to High School AP World Geography). Her TAKS tests scores (state testing scores) were 98% passing, her annual evaluations were all proficient and she received a personal email from the superintendent just a couple months ago commending her leadership and strong coaching skills. She's never been suspended, put on a performance plan or been told anything other than that she's doing a great job. But one month after some players ask her if she is gay and if her girlfriend is the one at the games, she says yes. Two months later, she's terminated. Abysmal. Discrimination at its finest.

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

contact info of school (etc)


http://www.lifeschools.net/administr...central-office Executive Superintendent Brent Wilson brent.wilson@lifeschools.net Principal ena.meyers@lifeschools.net Chief Academic Officer Joseph Mena joseph.mena@lifeschools.net Human Resources Director Charles.pulliam@lifeschools.net Chief Operations Officer Barry West barry.west@lifeschools.net Director of Academics Andrew Barbee andrew.barbee@lifeschools.net

taken from comments section @ http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_N...ing_a_Lesbian/

[LeftWriteFemme]

Women driving means prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce: Saudi
Posted by admin on Nov 18th, 2011 and filed under Politics & Foreign. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Saudi Arabia — Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive, the only country in the world to do so. Two months ago, Saudi Arabian court sentenced a woman to 10 whips because she was caught driving around. The Saudi king however, immediately revoked the sentence few days later amid international embarrassment.
It seems apparently that Saudi Arabia in reality has no appetite to forgive the woman. We will now continue the stories of that woman who was sentenced to 10 lashes for driving that time.
Saudi women who drive, would be whipped 10 times
Six months ago, Shaima Jastaniya drove her car in one of Jeddah’s streets before getting arrested by the police. In September, Jastaniya was sentenced to 10 lashes for challenging the driving ban which sparked outrage across the world, and a few days later, news spread that she received a pardon from the Saudi monarch himself.
When interrogated, Shaima said she drove her car because she had no means of public or private transportation and needed to get to the hospital.
Shaima’s sentence became a cause celebre within the royal family when it emerged two months ago. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a billionaire entrepreneur who is Saudi Arabia’s richest man and his wife, Princess Ameerah, made a personal appeal to the king to spare the young mother. The two have been working and actively taking part in international events to improve Saudi image across the world.
The king agreed, and the royal couple telephoned Shaima to reassure her that the charges would be dropped. But no one seems to have ‘informed’ the court in Jeddah, and it has now notified her that the sentence will stand.

Shaima has appealed against the verdict, but there are fears that the ultra-conservative clerics within the government want to make an example of her to warn all women in the Kingdom not to drive. Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, the newly appointed Crown Prince, is more conservative than his half-brother the king, and has been adamant in his opposition to granting women greater freedoms. Two female Saudi journalists are now being sued for reporting Shaima’s case, and at least three other women are facing trial for driving.
“Shaima is frightened and very confused,” said a friend and fellow activist in Jeddah. “She thought that this was finished, but apparently not. It was bad enough that she was sentenced, but if she is pardoned and still gets punished it would be ridiculous.”
Saudi Arabia is the only country to deny women the right to drive. But despite renewed protests against the ban this year, resistance to reform and change remains strong among conservative royals and clerics.

Shaima has appealed against the verdict, but there are fears that the ultra-conservative clerics within the government want to make an example of her to warn all women in the Kingdom not to drive. Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, the newly appointed Crown Prince, is more conservative than his half-brother the king, and has been adamant in his opposition to granting women greater freedoms. Two female Saudi journalists are now being sued for reporting Shaima’s case, and at least three other women are facing trial for driving.
“Shaima is frightened and very confused,” said a friend and fellow activist in Jeddah. “She thought that this was finished, but apparently not. It was bad enough that she was sentenced, but if she is pardoned and still gets punished it would be ridiculous.”
Saudi Arabia is the only country to deny women the right to drive. But despite renewed protests against the ban this year, resistance to reform and change remains strong among conservative royals and clerics.
Saudi ultra-conservative hardline radicals: there would be ‘no more virgins’ in our country within 10 years if we allow women to drive
The Saudi highest religious council, the Majlis al-Ifta’ al-A’ala and conservative professors in King Fahd University, a prestigious university in the kingdom, warned that the country would become a den of evil if the ban on women driving were lifted. In their report, it was stated that allowing women to drive would provoke a surge in prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce. Within 10 years of the ban being lifted, it warned, there would be “no more virgins” in the kingdom.
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