Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by transhumanist92

Science Fiction Aims to Fund Real Weapon

transhumanist92 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 23:16:48 +0800

Can a science fiction book's sales fund development of a futuristic laser weapon? A physicist hopes to find out with his "Dragon Empire" book that envisions such a weapon helping to fend off a Chinese invasion during a future war.

The "Dragon Empire" book imagines how lasers, hypersonic missiles, stealth aircraft and satellite weapons might influence a huge war between China, the U.S. and U.S. allies in 2025. But the book's real purpose is to help fund Lightning Gun Inc., a startup aimed at making laser weapons capable of knocking out guided missiles with electronics-disabling electromagnetic pulses (EMPs).

"I never had a good idea for an entire fiction book until I started to realize that if directed energy weapons did nullify the effect of guided missile technology, then all of warfare would be changed — especially strategy and tactics," said Adam Weigold, founder and CEO of Lightning Gun Inc.

Weigold hopes to raise $20,000 on the crowd-funding website Kickstarter to get professional editing and marketing for the book's planned release in November. The book's sales would ideally represent one way for Lightning Gun to fund large-scale laser experiments by raising $2 million over the next few years.
How to make a laser weapon

The U.S. military has investigated the idea of laser-powered EMPs in the past. High-energy lasers can create an ionized ball of plasma by ripping electrons from molecules in the air — enough to generate a small EMP pulse that could knock out the electronic sensors and guidance systems of missiles. That means an F-35 fighter jet armed with a kilowatt-class laser could theoretically become invincible against a swarm of missiles.

But earlier experiments faltered because the lasers could not focus accurately over greater distances to ensure an EMP knockout blow. Differences in air pressure, clouds and smoky conditions can throw the laser targeting off by 98 to 164 feet (30 to 50 meters) over a firing distance of 0.6 miles (1 kilometer), whereas the laser-powered EMP can only hit targets about 7 to 16 feet (2 to 5 meters) within range of the laser's focal point.

"Our patent-pending technology not only dramatically improves the focal accuracy of the laser plasma but helps to focus the EMP energy produced directly at the target," Weigold told TechNewsDaily.

If Lightning Gun can raise about $300,000 to $500,000 to set itself up, Weigold plans to apply for U.S. Department of Defense funding through the small business innovation research program that requires companies to have established employees and security clearances. The Australian-born physicist has already moved his startup to the U.S. and unofficially recruited several physicists and engineers.

Such research may come with even greater uncertainties than the average Kickstarter project — Weigold acknowledges that there is no guarantee that Lightning Gun can successfully scale its experimental results up to the kilowatt power levels needed for a viable weapon. But he hopes successful funding and testing can lead to an operational weapon within three or four years.

A future world at war

Luckily, Kickstarter donors don't have to worry about the research project's likelihood of success or failure. They just have to decide if they like Weigold's storytelling enough to donate $10 and up to preorder their copy of the final book. (A 5-chapter sample of "Dragon Empire" sets the stage for China's fleets to launch simultaneous strikes on Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Hawaii even as the first U.S. female president is sworn into office.)

The "Dragon Empire" story reflects a future in which China's hardliners win the battle for control over more liberal politicians, Weigold said. He envisions a full-scale war as more of a "worst-case scenario" in reality, but pointed to the possibility for smaller conflicts as the U.S. moves to enhance cooperation with its Pacific allies and China faces territorial disputes with neighbors such as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Whatever the future, Weigold sees laser-powered EMP (LEMP) and other energy weapons as game-changing military technologies. "Remote weapons" such as guided missiles and drones have become dominant offensive weapons capable of dealing out death and damage from afar, but laser weapons offer the possibility of a cost-effective defense against missiles and drones in the future.

"I think as laser weapons (and LEMP) become smaller and cheaper, they have the real potential to offer defenders "remote shielding," which will be the first real challenge to the era of remote weapons," Weigold said.

Russia grants Bangaladesh $1 billion loan

transhumanist92 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 20:39:33 +0800

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia, the world's second-largest weapons exporter, has granted a $1 billion loan to Bangladesh for arms purchases, President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday after talks with the country's prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in Moscow.

(Reporting by Alexei Anishchuk, writing by Gabriela Baczynska,; editing by Steve Gutterman)

Firaun sebenarnya adalah mat salleh

transhumanist92 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:59:00 +0800

Ancient Egypt, like India, had a caste system, with the ruling class and nobility being primarily blonde and red heads.

Ohio teacher claims discrimination due to

transhumanist92 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 06:22:32 +0800

A teacher from Mariemont, Ohio, is suing her school district, claiming discrimination. What makes the case unique is that the teacher, Maria Waltherr-Willard, suffers from pedophobia, a crippling fear of young children. She claims her disability led to the discrimination.

We first saw the news over at the Cincinnati.com. The paper reports that Waltherr-Willard began her career as a high school teacher, a position she held for decades. She was reassigned to teach in a junior high in 2010, despite, she claims, being assured earlier in her career that she would not have to teach younger children.

According to the Enquirer, pedophobia can lead to shortness of breath, vomiting and feelings of terror when around young children. Waltherr-Willard claims that she was discriminated against based on her age (she's 61) and her disability.

"It's a tough phobia. You can't really get away from [children] when you're outside," Dr. Caleb Adler, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati, told Cincinnati.com. Adler did not treat Waltherr-Willard.

The backstory, as described by the Enquirer, goes as follows: Waltherr-Willard taught foreign languages in high school for many years. Several years ago, word got to her that her district was considering putting those classes online, a move that would have had an effect on her position.

Waltherr-Willard apparently spoke to parents about the district's decision to eliminate face-to-face French courses. Parents spoke out, and the district was not amused that one of its teachers was stirring the pot. Waltherr-Willard claims she was sent to teach at junior high as a kind of punishment for speaking out.

She eventually resigned her position.

"Good Morning America" reports that the lawsuit says "both parties agreed the phobia and anxiety disorder fell under the Americans With Disabilities Act and exempted her from future transfers within the school district."

Parts of the lawsuit have already been dismissed by a federal judge. Three allegations remain. The case is scheduled to go to court in early 2014.

Blind Russian girl criticizes adoption ban

transhumanist92 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 04:55:03 +0800

MOSCOW (AP) — A blind Russian high-schooler's impassioned criticism of the ban on adoption by Americans has added a new and compelling voice to the chorus of condemnation of the law.

Since her Jan. 6 blog entry complaining about the ban, written as an open letter to President Vladimir Putin, Natasha Pisarenko has attracted the wide attention of Russian media and, she fears, drawn the disapproving notice of authorities.

The adoption ban, which went into effect Jan. 1, is one of the most controversial moves of the first year of Putin's third term in the Kremlin. It was enacted as part of a bill retaliating for a new U.S. law that calls for sanctions against Russians deemed to be human rights violators.

But critics say it punishes innocent children by denying them a chance of escaping Russia's often-dismal orphanages. Around 20,000 people held a protest march against the measure in Moscow on Sunday that included banners likening Putin to King Herod, whom the Bible says ordered the massacre of Jewish male infants.

Pisarenko wrote sarcastically that by signing the law, Putin was "saving children from American evil" and said that Russians rarely adopt disabled children because the country's medical system is backward and can't take care of them.

"They die because Russia doesn't have modern medicine," she wrote.

Pisarenko, blind from birth, writes that she has painful personal experience with Russia's medical inadequacy. She says that although her father detected her blindness within days of her birth, Russian doctors were unable to diagnose it for months. But, she says, she received precise diagnosis and the hope of treatment from German and American doctors.

"For Russian doctors, I am a child with an illness of unknown etiology ... but in Germany and America I am a patient whose sight the doctors are trying to restore," she wrote.

Concluding her post, Pisarenko called on Putin to adopt five or 10 children with serious congenital disorders.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by a local radio station as saying "Of course we will pay attention to such a statement.
"This girl is well known to us, she's known by the regional authorities and by the health ministry," he said.

Pisarenko and her parents have challenged authorities before, according to Russian media, notably when her parents agitated to have her educated at a regular school in her native Rostov-on-Don, rather than sending her away to a school for the blind. She's now in 10th grade, one year short of graduation under the Russian system.

In a later post, she expressed worry that her letter would cause her parents to be called in for questioning by regional authorities.
When The Associated Press on Monday asked her father, Nikolai, if Natasha could be interviewed, he said he had been ordered not to comment to news media, but declined to say who issued the order.

"Probably, I will regret that I wrote what I think," Natasha wrote in her blog on Saturday.

Deaf Twins Going Blind Euthanized

transhumanist92 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 04:39:53 +0800

yahoo

Two deaf twin brothers in Belgium were euthanized by their doctor after realizing they were going blind and would be unable to see each other ever again, their physician says.

The 45-year-old men, whose names have not been made public, were legally put to death by lethal injection at the Brussels University Hospital in Jette, on Dec. 14.

The men, who were born deaf, had a cup of coffee and said goodbye to other family members before walking into hospital room together to die, their doctor told Belgian television station RTL.

"They were very happy. It was a relief to see the end of their suffering," said Dr. David Dufour.

"They had a cup of coffee in the hall. It went well and a rich conversation. Then the separation from their parents and brother was very serene and beautiful," he said. "At the last there was a little wave of their hands and then they were gone,"

More than 1,000 people legally availed themselves of doctor-assisted deaths in Belgium in 2011, most of them were terminally ill cancer patients.

The brothers are unique in that their illness was not terminal. Belgian law, however, allows doctors to euthanize "suffering" patients who are both mentally sound, over 18 and want to die.

Belgian lawmakers are considering a law that would extend euthanasia to dementia patients and children, whose families and doctors consented.

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

Palace: Prince William and Kate's baby due in July

transhumanist92 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:18:07 +0800

LONDON (AP) — The former Kate Middleton is due to give birth to her first baby in July, and her health is improving after a bout of severe morning sickness, palace officials said Monday.

The child of Kate and Prince William will be third in line to the British throne.

The 31-year-old Duchess of Cambridge, as she is formally known, spent several days in the hospital last month being treated for acute morning sickness.

She has since resumed public appearances, and looked healthy at the unveiling of an official portrait last week.

The palace said in a statement that "the duchess's condition continues to improve."

It said the two "are delighted to confirm they are expecting a baby in July."

The announcement by the couple's St. James's Palace office lays to rest speculation that the duchess could be having twins.

The palace would not comment on whether the baby is a boy or a girl. The British government is changing centuries-old succession laws to ensure that a royal daughter will have the same claim to the throne as a son.

Bookmaker William Hill released odds on the name of the royal baby, with favorites including George, Victoria and Diana, all at 10-1.

Millions of Hindus bathe in Ganges to cleanse sins

transhumanist92 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 22:37:53 +0800

Associated Press/Kevin Frayer - Indian Hindu holy men, or Naga Sadhus, run naked into the water at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati river, during the royal bath on Makar Sankranti at the start of the Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, India, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. Millions of Hindu pilgrims are expected to take part in the large religious congregation that lasts more than 50 days on the banks of Sangam which falls every 12 years. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

An Indian Hindu holy man, or Naga Sadhu, swings his head as he bathes at Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati, during the royal bath on Makar Sankranti at the start of the Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, India, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. Millions of Hindu pilgrims are expected to take part in the large religious congregation that lasts more than 50 days on the banks of Sangam during the Maha Kumbh Mela in January 2013, which falls every 12th year. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

Thousands of Hindu devotees gather at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati river on Makar Sankranti, the first day of the Maha Kumbh Mela, in Allahabad, early Monday morning, Jan. 14, 2013. Millions of Hindu pilgrims are expected to take part in the large religious congregation, which falls every 12 years and lasts for a period of over a month, during which devotees wash themselves in the waters of the Ganges believing that it washes away their sins and ends the process of reincarnation. (AP Photo /Manish Swarup)

ALLAHABAD, India (AP) — Millions of devout Hindus led by naked ascetics with ash smeared on their bodies plunged into the frigid waters of India's holy Ganges River on Monday in a ritual they believe can wash away their sins.

The ceremony in the northern city of Allahabad took place on the most auspicious day of the Kumbh Mela, or Pitcher Festival, one of the world's largest religious gatherings that lasts 55 days. The festival continues until March 10.

Top festival official Mani Prasad Mishra said nearly 3 million people had bathed by late morning and 11 million were expected to enter the frigid water by the day's end.

Over 110 million people are expected to take a dip at the Sangam, the place where three rivers — the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati — come together at the edge of this North Indian city. There are six auspicious bathing days, decided by the alignment of stars, when the Hindu devout bathe to wash away their sins and free themselves from the cycle of death and rebirth.

A sea of humanity assembled on the river bank as people waited patiently for their turn to step into the water. Men in underpants, women in saris and children — naked and clothed — chanted from Hindu scriptures as they walked into the icy-cold water.

The bathing process was initiated by religious heads of different Hindu monasteries who reached the bathing points, called ghats, riding silver chariots. Some were carried on silver palanquins, accompanied by marching bands. Applause rose from tens of thousands of pilgrims waiting behind barricades as the religious heads set off the ceremony.

The heads of the monasteries threw flowers on the devotees as they shouted "har har gangey," or Long Live Ganges.

The biggest spectacle was that of the Naga sadhus, or ascetics, who raced to the river wearing only marigold garlands in a cacophony of religious chants.

About 50,000 policemen have been deployed to keep order at the festival, fearing everything from terrorist attacks to the ever-present danger of stampedes of pilgrims. Several squads policemen on horseback regulated the flow of pilgrims to and from the bathing ghats.

According to Hindu mythology, the Kumbh Mela celebrates the victory of gods over demons in a furious battle over a nectar that would give them immortality.

As one of the gods fled with a pitcher of the nectar across the skies, it spilled on four Indian towns- Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain and Haridwar.

The Kumbh Mela is organized four times every 12 years in those towns. Hindus believe that sins accumulated in past and current lives require them to continue the cycle of death and rebirth until they are cleansed. If they bathe at Ganges on the most auspicious day of the festival, believers say they can rid themselves of their sins.

Tens of thousands of pilgrims slept the night on the vast festival grounds in more than 1 million tents — green, blue, and brown — erected all over, while many huddled together under trees. Some 20,000 makeshift toilets have been have been erected, while 10,000 sweepers have been deployed to keep this make-shift tent town clean.

India army chief warns Pakistan of retaliation

transhumanist92 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 22:03:01 +0800

NEW DELHI (AP) — India's army chief on Monday accused Pakistan of planning the attack in which two Indian soldiers were killed in the disputed Kashmir region last week, and warned of possible retaliation.

Gen. Bikram Singh's strong words are a clear message that India believes the Jan. 8 attack was a deliberate provocation and not an unintentional skirmish of the kind that often breaks out along the Line of Control, which forms the de facto border between the two arch-rivals in the Himalayan territory.
Pakistan did not immediately respond to the comments, which are likely to raise tensions further.

The tit-for-tat fighting began on Jan. 6 when Pakistan accused Indian troops of raiding an army post and killing a soldier. India denied raiding the post, and said its troops fired across the border in response to Pakistani shelling that destroyed a home on the Indian side.

On Jan. 8, India claimed Pakistani soldiers, taking advantage of heavy fog, crossed the border and killed two Indian soldiers and beheaded one of them.

Pakistan denies India's allegations and has suggested U.N. monitors in the region conduct an inquiry — a call that India rejected, saying it didn't want to internationalize the issue.

"The attack on January 8 was premeditated, a pre-planned activity. Such an operation requires planning, detailed reconnaissance," Gen. Singh told reporters. He said India reserved the right to retaliate at "time and place of its choice" for the attack.

Singh urged his troops to be "aggressive and offensive in the face of provocation and fire" from Pakistan. He said the alleged beheading of the Indian soldier was "unacceptable and unpardonable" and accused Pakistan of violating the "ethics of warfare."

Tensions escalated further on Jan. 10 when Pakistan said Indian troops fired across the border and killed another one of its soldiers. The Pakistani army said the shooting was unprovoked, while the Indian military said its troops were responding to fire from across the frontier.

Both countries accused each other of violating a 2003 ceasefire and have summoned their envoys to lodge protests.

Singh spoke hours before Indian and Pakistani military commanders met to defuse tensions along the Line of Control.

The meeting between the local commanders of the two armies in Poonch region of Indian-controlled Kashmir lasted for about half an hour, said Col. R.K. Palta, an Indian army spokesman.

No other details were immediately available.

The cease-fire over Kashmir has largely held for about a decade, despite periodic firing across the de-facto border that sometimes causes casualties.

The two countries have fought three major wars since Pakistan's birth after British colonial rule of India ended in August 1947. Two of the wars have been over Kashmir, which both countries claim in its entirety. The wars have left about one-third of Kashmir with Pakistan and the rest with India.

Jodie Foster reveals she's gay

transhumanist92 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:43:30 +0800

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Jodie Foster came out without really coming out, and suggested she was retiring from acting without exactly saying so, in a long, breathless and rambling speech at Sunday night's Golden Globe Awards.

Foster took the stage as this year's winner of the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award, which had been announced previously. But her acceptance speech was anything but predictable as the veteran actress seized control of what is every year a noisy, boozy ballroom; the crowd of A-listers quickly quieted down as it became apparent that she had something serious and important to say.

The 50-year-old Oscar-winner for "The Silence of the Lambs" and "The Accused," who's been protective of her private life and reluctant to discuss her sexual orientation, was coy at first, suggesting she had a big announcement that would make her publicist nervous (the broadcast audio dropped out at this point, but for no apparent reason; nothing was said off-color). Then she stated: "I'm just going to put it out there, loud and proud ... I am, uh, single," pausing for dramatic effect before that last word. "I hope you're not disappointed that there won't be a big coming-out speech tonight. I already did my coming-out about a thousand years ago back in the Stone Age."

Foster joked that celebrities are now expected to reveal they're gay "with a press conference, a fragrance and a prime-time reality show. And you guys might be surprised, but I am not Honey Boo Boo Child. No. I'm sorry. That's just not me. It never was and it never will be. But please don't cry, because my reality show would be so boring."

She added defiantly: "If you had been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler, if you'd had to fight for a life that felt real and honest and normal against all odds, then maybe you, too, might value privacy above all else."

Foster thanked Cydney Bernard, a production manager whom she identified as "my heroic co-parent, my ex-partner in love but righteous soul sister in life," her former partner of 20 years — a relationship she never hid and from which she has two sons.

She also made it sound as if she planned to retire from acting once and for all, something she'd toyed with previously.

"This feels like the end of one era and the beginning of something else. Scary and exciting, and now what?" Foster said. "I may never be up on this stage again, on any stage, for that matter."

But backstage afterward, she clarified for reporters: "I could never stop acting. You'd have to drag me behind a team of horses. I'd like to be directing tomorrow. I'm more into it than I have ever been."

As for why she chose this place and time to discuss her private life, Foster explained backstage: "The speech kind of speaks for itself. ... It's a big moment. I wanted to say what's most in my heart."

Her revelation, vague as it was, nonetheless set Twitter on fire with reactions. Some called her words moving and brave while others suggested that she should have done more to be a role model for lesbians.

Ricky Martin, who came out himself in 2010, tweeted: "Jody Foster On your terms. Its your time! Not before nor after. Its when it feels right."
And Amy Poehler, who co-hosted the Golden Globes with longtime friend and fellow comedian Tina Fey, cracked as she was signing off for the night: "We're going home with Jodie Foster!"

how to become a senior member very fast

transhumanist92 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:53:37 +0800

‘Dog who wouldn’t die’ home after surgery

transhumanist92 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 05:35:42 +0800

The dog who was found shot in the head and face with a pellet gun, stuffed in a garbage bag and left to die earlier this month was released from a Texas veterinary clinic on Saturday, following eye surgery paid for by a Facebook campaign.

The 3-year-old male mixed breed--nicknamed "Buck"--had the estimated $3,000-to-$5,000 surgery at the North Houston Veterinary Clinic on Thursday to repair entry wounds to both of his eyes.

"Buck is sleeping comfortably now," Tami Augustyn, the woman who first rushed him to the hospital and has since adopted him, wrote on Facebook. "He's been through a lot this past 7 days and he deserves the rest to help him continue to heal."

It's too early to tell if Buck's vision was permanently damaged, according to Dr. Marc Rainbow, the ophthalmologist who performed the surgery.

The bag containing the dog was discovered tied to a fence in Conroe, Texas, earlier this month. When local residents opened the bag, the canine emerged, took a few steps and collapsed, according to the Montgomery County Police Reporter.

Buck was covered in blood, Augustyn said, leading her to believe he was a "bait dog"—or a dog used by fighting dogs for practice.

Augustyn rushed Buck to an emergency animal clinic, where he was treated for multiple bird-shot pellets to the face, eyes, mouth, neck and shoulders, and hypothermia from being left outside overnight.

Buck's Facebook page--Buck Needs Bucks for his Buckshot Injuries--has attracted more than 40,000 "likes" since its Jan. 5 launch. And Augustyn says she's received more than enough money in donations to cover his treatment.

"To everyone wanting to donate for Buck, please be advised I have raised more than enough money for even the worst case scenario," Augustyn wrote on Facebook. "The generosity of everyone and the outpouring of love and support has given me the opportunity to fulfill a life-long dream."

She's since created the Buck Foundation to help other animals like Buck, assist rescue organizations and raise awareness about animal cruelty.
Montgomery County police say they are continuing to investigate the incident.

Vatican criticizes gay adoption

transhumanist92 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 05:21:41 +0800

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican underlined its opposition to gay adoption on Sunday as same-sex marriage supporters staged a topless protest in front of the pope in St. Peter's Square.

The Vatican paper L'Osservatore Romano published a response to an Italian court's rejection of an appeal by a father who feared his son would not have a balanced upbringing if he lived with his mother and her female partner.

The Court of Cassation ruled it was "mere prejudice" to assume that living with a homosexual couple could be detrimental for a child's development.
While gay rights group Arcigay called it a "historic ruling" for Italy, where it is illegal for gay couples to adopt, Catholic leaders were quick to defend the traditional family unit.

L'Osservatore Romano, the 151-year-old mouthpiece of the Holy See, ran an editorial that sought to play down the court ruling, saying that children often grow up in difficult circumstances without a mother or father.

"But no one believes that these situations should be created just because in some cases they don't cause damage," wrote Adriano Pessina, director of bioethics at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.

"The human is the masculine and the feminine ... the monogamous family is the ideal place to learn the meaning of human relations and is the environment where the best form of growth is possible," he wrote.

He reaffirmed the Vatican's view that no one has the "right" to children that he said gay couples who want to adopt are claiming.

In Paris, hundreds of thousands of people protested against President Francois Hollande's planned legalization of same-sex marriage.

The Vatican has become increasingly vocal against homosexual marriage in recent months. Pope Benedict strongly reaffirmed the Church's opposition to it in December, saying heterosexual marriage had an indispensable role in society.

While the pope was giving his weekly address on Sunday, four women from the Ukrainian Femen group who were in the crowd, pulled off their T-shirts to reveal the slogan "In Gay we Trust" painted over their bodies.

Screaming "Homophobes shut up" as the pope started his Angelus blessing, they provoked angry reactions from pilgrims in St. Peter's Square. One woman in the crowd started hitting the activists with an umbrella, calling them "diabolical".

Italian police grabbed the protesters and pulled them away from the crowd.

Gay marriage protest converges on Eiffel Tower

transhumanist92 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 03:52:19 +0800

PARIS (AP) — Holding aloft ancient flags and young children, hundreds of thousands of people converged Sunday on the Eiffel Tower to protest the French president's plan to legalize gay marriage and thus allow same-sex couples to adopt and conceive children.

The opposition to President Francois Hollande's plan has underscored divisions among the secular-but-Catholic French, especially more traditional rural areas versus urban enclaves. But while polls show the majority of French still support legalizing gay marriage, that backing gets more lukewarm when children come into play.

The protest march started at three points across Paris, filling boulevards throughout the city as demonstrators walked six kilometers (3 miles) to the grounds of France's most recognizable monument. Paris police estimated the crowd at 340,000, making it one of the largest demonstrations in Paris since an education protest in 1984.

"This law is going to lead to a change of civilization that we don't want," said Philippe Javaloyes, a literature teacher who bused in with 300 people from Franche Comte in the far east. "We have nothing against different ways of living, but we think that a child must grow up with a mother and a father."

Public opposition spearheaded by religious leaders has chipped away at the popularity of Hollande's plan in recent months. About 52 percent of French favor legalizing gay marriage, according to a survey released Sunday, down from as high as 65 percent in August.

French civil unions, allowed since 1999, are at least as popular among heterosexuals as among gay and lesbian couples. But that law has no provisions for adoption or assisted reproduction, which are at the heart of the latest debate.

Hollande's Socialist Party has sidestepped the debate on assisted reproduction, promising to examine it in March after party members split on including it in the latest proposal. That hasn't assuaged the concerns of many in Sunday's protest, however, who fear it's only a matter of time.

"They're talking about putting into national identity cards Parent 1, Parent 2, Parent 3, Parent 4. Mom, dad and the kids are going to be wiped off the map, and that's going to be bad for any country, any civilization," said Melissa Michel, a Franco-American mother of five who was among a group from the south of France on a train reserved specifically for the protest.

Support for gay marriage — and especially adoption by same-sex couples — has been particularly tenuous outside Paris, and people from hundreds of miles from the French capital marched Sunday beneath regional flags with emblems dating back to the Middle Ages, chanting "Daddy, Mommy."

If the French parliament approves the plan, France would become the 12th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, and the biggest so far in terms of economic and diplomatic influence.

Harlem Desir, the leader of Hollande's Socialist Party, said the protest would not affect the proposal's progress. The Socialists control Parliament, where the bill is expected to be introduced on Tuesday, with a vote following public debate at the end of January.

"The right to protest is protected in our country, but the Socialists are determined to give the legal right to marry and adopt to all those who love each other," he said. "This is the first time in decades in our country that the right and the extreme right are coming into the streets together to deny new rights to the French."

Views on Gay People Shift in Singapore

transhumanist92 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 03:41:43 +0800

Americans' views about gay people have shifted dramatically in the past few decades. For instance, a Gallup poll last month showed that support for same-sex marriage in the United States stands at 53 percent — still a polarizing figure, but about double what it was in 1996.

New research shows that positive attitudes toward homosexuals are becoming more common in other countries, too, like Singapore, where the increasing visibility of gay people seems to be helping to move the needle.

A nationally representative survey in the Southeast Asian city-state found that in 2005, 68.6 percent of adults had negative attitudes toward gay people, while 22.9 percent had positive views and 8.5 percent were neutral. By 2010, fewer adults in Singapore had negative attitudes toward homosexuals (64.5 percent), while more expressed positive attitudes (25.3 percent) or were neutral (10.2 percent), the survey found.

Researchers found that older people and those with lower levels of education and income tend to be less accepting of gay people. Meanwhile, those with a more Western cultural orientation and those who don't greatly value conforming to social norms tend to be more accepting of homosexuals, the study showed.

Singapore's citizens and residents with gay or lesbian family members, friends, or coworkers are also less likely to have negative attitudes about homosexuals, the survey found. And those who watched more films and television shows with gay characters were more likely to express positive attitudes toward gay people.

"As more Singaporeans come into contact with gay people and with the rising availability of films and television programmes with gay characters via cable television, local cinemas and the Internet, it seems possible that there will be a more significant shift in attitudes towards gays and lesbians over time," researcher Shirley Ho, of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said in a statement.

Various ideas have been put forth to explain prejudice against gay people, with one line of research finding that children with low intelligence are more likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults. That link between low IQ and prejudice, including low acceptance of homosexuals, may be explained by the fact that low-intelligence adults tended to gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, which stress hierarchy and resistance to change — attitudes that can contribute to prejudice.

The research was detailed in the Asian Journal of Social Psychology in December.

yahoo

Poisoned Lottery Winner's Kin Were Suspicious

transhumanist92 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 18:19:09 +0800

Urooj Khan had just brought home his $425,000 lottery check when he unexpectedly died the following day. Now, certain members of Khan's family are speaking publicly about the mystery -- and his nephew told ABC News they knew something was not right.

"He was a healthy guy, you know?" said the nephew, Minhaj Khan. "He worked so hard. He was always going about his business and, the thing is: After he won the lottery and the next day later he passes away -- it's awkward. It raises some eyebrows."

The medical examiner initially ruled Urooj Khan, 46, an immigrant from India who owned dry-cleaning businesses in Chicago, died July 20, 2012, of natural causes. But after a family member demanded more tests, authorities in November found a lethal amount of cyanide in his blood, turning the case into a homicide investigation.

"When we found out there was cyanide in his blood after the extensive toxicology reports, we had to believe that ... somebody had to kill him," Minhaj Khan said. "It had to happen, because where can you get cyanide?"

Authorities could be one step closer to learning what happened to Urooj Khan. A judge Friday approved an order to exhume his body at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago as early as Thursday to perform further tests.

Moments after the court hearing, Urooj Khan's sister, Meraj Khan, remembered her brother as the kind of person who would've shared his jackpot with anyone. Speaking at the Cook County Courthouse, she hoped the exhumation would help the investigation.

"It's very hard because I wanted my brother to rest in peace, but then we have to have justice served," she said, according to ABC News station WLS in Chicago. "So if that's what it takes for him to bring justice and peace, then that's what needs to be done."

Khan reportedly did not have a will. With the investigation moving forward, his family is waging a legal fight against his widow, Shabana Ansari, 32, over more than $1 million, including Urooj Khan's lottery winnings, as well as his business and real estate holdings.

Khan's brother filed a petition Wednesday to a judge asking Citibank to release information about Khan's assets to "ultimately ensure" that [Khan's] minor daughter from a prior marriage "receives her proper share."

Ansari may have tried to cash the jackpot check after Khan's death, according to court documents, which also showed Urooj Khan's family is questioning if the couple was ever even legally married.

Ansari, Urooj Khan's second wife, who still works at the couple's dry cleaning business, has insisted they were married legally.

She has told reporters the night before her husband died, she cooked a traditional Indian meal for him and their family, including Khan's daughter and Ansari's father. Not feeling well, Khan retired early, Ansari told the Chicago Sun-Times, falling asleep in a chair, waking up in agony, then collapsing in the middle of the night. She said she called 911.

"It has been an incredibly hard time," she told ABC News earlier this week. "We went from being the happiest the day we got the check. It was the best sleep I've had. And then the next day, everything was gone.

"I am cooperating with the investigation," Ansari told ABC News. "I want the truth to come out."

Ansari has not been named a suspect, but her attorney, Steven Kozicki, said investigators did question her for more than four hours.
"Absolutely, positively, you know, she had nothing to do with her husband's death," Kozicki said.

Despite the legal battle over the estate, Minhaj Khan said the family "can't really point fingers or we can't really speculate until a further investigation is done."
"When they are exhuming his body, I really hope the truth does come out, and our family finds some peace and we get to the bottom of this," he said. "Because everybody has to go one day, but the way that he died was not the way to go."

Urooj Khan won $1 million in a scratch-off Illinois Lottery game in June, though he elected to take the lump sum payout amounting to $425,000 after taxes. He said he planned to use the money to pay off his bills and mortgage, and make a contribution to St. Jude Children's Research Center.
Minhaj Khan remembered his uncle as that sort of giving person.

"He had a successful business, he was a great father, he was a great uncle to us and we knew him since the late '80s, since he came here [to the United States]," he said. "We lived with him. My kids used to play with him too, you know? I have two little girls. He was a really big family man and everybody loved him.

"He was the life of the party," he said, "always joking around, always joking with us and the family."

Austrian man gets nine years for neo-Nazi website

transhumanist92 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 17:52:41 +0800

VIENNA (Reuters) - An Austrian court has sentenced a leading neo-Nazi figure to nine years in jail for his role in launching an extreme-right website that glorified Nazism.

Gottfried Kuessel, 54, had denied any wrongdoing and told the court he had turned over a new leaf since serving a previous jail term for neo-Nazi activity, which is banned in Austria.

But heeding prosecutors' description of Kuessel as a prime leader of the extreme right, the jury voted 5-3 late on Thursday to convict him. Two other defendants got sentences of seven and four-and-a-half years.

Kuessel's attorney, Michael Dohr, said he would appeal against the conviction.

"I had expected an acquittal because of the very thin evidence. There was only circumstantial evidence, not more," he said in remarks broadcast by Austria's ORF radio.

Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, and a debate still smoulders on whether Austrians were Hitler's first victims or willing accomplices. Austria's Jewish population was nearly wiped out in the ensuing Holocaust.

Jewish leaders have warned of late against what they called creeping tolerance of anti-Semitism in Austria.

A rabbi said in September that neo-Nazi soccer fans had verbally abused him while police looked on, and a far-right politician drew criticism from the country's president for posting a cartoon on his website that was widely seen as anti-Semitic.

Brooklyn resident wins Miss America crown

transhumanist92 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 17:28:27 +0800

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 23-year-old blonde from Brooklyn, N.Y., won the Miss America crown Saturday night after deftly dealing with a question about armed guards in schools and raising the issue of child sexual abuse in her contestant platform.

En route to her victory in the Las Vegas pageant, Mallory Hagan also tap danced to James Brown's "Get Up Off of That Thing," strutted down the runway in an asymmetrical white gown, and donned a revealing black string bikini.

She defeated Miss South Carolina Ali Rogers, who took second, and Miss Oklahoma Alicia Clifton, who finished third.

Hagan wins a $50,000 college scholarship and a year as an instant celebrity and role model to many girls. Her platform, the issue she will promote during her reign, is fighting child sexual abuse.

She told The Associated Press in an interview after her win that it was her mother who encouraged her to tackle the issue. She said that sexual abuse had "rippled through" her family, touching her mother, aunt, grandmother and cousins. Her mother had trouble at first convincing others of the trauma she had faced.

"That kind of sent her into a whirlwind of anxiety and depression. So as a teen I lost my mom kind of for a couple years," she said. "She was dealing with her own issues, and that's something that now as an adult I understand, but then I certainly did not.
"
During an interview backstage, Hagan's mother Mandy Moore wiped tears away as she spoke.
"It's very overwhelming," she said. "It's all hitting me so fast."

Hagan said she will work to make child abuse education mandatory in all 50 states.

"It's something I can hopefully change for the next generation," she said.

Hagan left her native Alabama for New York at 18 with less than $1,000 in her pocket. She began competing in pageants when she was 13 and tried for Miss New York in 2010 and 2011 before winning last year.

She studied communications at the Fashion Institute of Technology and has been living in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Hagan, who aspires to be a global cosmetic company executive, ends a long dry spell for New York in the competition. The previous winner from that state was actress Vanessa Williams, who became the first black winner when she took the crown in 1984. Hagan is the first Brooklyn-dweller to claim the title.

She was good enough during preliminary contests for the 92nd annual Miss America pageant to be chosen as one of 16 semifinalists who moved on to compete in the main show. Her bid lasted through swimsuit, evening wear, and talent competitions that saw cuts after each round.

In the final moments of the show, "Good Morning America" weatherman Sam Champion asked her if schools should hire armed guards in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. shooting.

"I don't think the proper was to fight violence is with violence," she replied. "I think the proper way is to educate people on guns and the ways we can use them properly. We can lock them up, we can have gun safety classes, we can have a longer waiting period."

Hagan defeated titleholders from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Several of her competitors had grabbed headlines this year because of their backstories.

Miss District of Columbia plans to undergo a preventive double mastectomy to reduce her risk of breast cancer, which killed her mother and grandmother.

Miss Montana was the pageant's first autistic contestant. Miss Iowa has Tourette's syndrome. And Miss Maine lost more than 50 pounds before winning her state crown.

During the opening number at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, when all the queens gave short quips about their states, Hagan referenced last year's superstorm, saying, "Sandy may have been swept away our shores but never our spirit."

The pageant, which started as little more than an Atlantic City bathing suit revue, broke viewership records in its heyday and bills itself as one of the world's largest scholarships programs for women.

But like other pageants, the show has struggled to stay relevant as national attitudes regarding women's rights have changed. More recently, the rise of reality television has provided a superabundance of options for Americans interested in seeing attractive young people in competitive pursuits.

Hagan's boyfriend Charmel Maynard said he knows that pageants are dismissed by some, but he hopes Hagan's willingness to take on the sexual abuse issue will lend legitimacy to her new role.

"I don't think it's taken seriously, but I think she's going to be a great ambassador and it could change," he said.

Amateur Astronomers Discover 42 Alien Planets

transhumanist92 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 17:06:59 +0800

gambar hiasan sahaja

A team of amateurs has discovered evidence for 42 alien planets, including a Jupiter-size world that could potentially be habitable, by sifting through data from a NASA spacecraft.

Forty volunteers with the crowd-sourcing Planet Hunters project discovered the new planet candidates, which include 15 potentially habitable worlds and PH2 b, a Jupiter-size planet that the team confirmed to be in the habitable zone of its parent star.

This is the second time Planet Hunters project, which is overseen by Zooniverse, has confirmed a new exoplanet discovery. What's more, several candidate planets found by the project may be in the habitable zones of their parent stars. These candidates are awaiting confirmation by professional astronomers.

Researchers suggested this bonanza of planets in the so-called Goldilocks zone around a star, a habitable zone in which conditions are liquid water to exist on a planet’s surface and potentially supportlife, could mean there is a "traffic jam" of worlds where life could exist, project officials said.

"These are planet candidates that slipped through the net, being missed by professional astronomers and rescued by volunteers in front of their web browsers,” said the University of Oxford's Chris Lintott, who helms the Zooniverse, in a statement. “It's remarkable to think that absolutely anyone can discover a planet.”
Life on an 'Avatar'-like moon

The planet PH2 b was found using data from NASA's prolific Kepler Space Telescope and confirmed with 99.9 percent confidence by observations at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

Ph2 b is considered much too large to host life. However, any moons orbiting the planet could be strong candidates, astronomers said. The atmospheric temperature on the planet would range between 86 and minus 126 degrees Fahrenheit (30 and minus 88 degrees Celsius) in the habitable zone.

“Any moon around this newly discovered, Jupiter-sized planet might be habitable," stated Ji Wang, a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University. He is lead author of a paper about the discoveries, which has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal and is available on the pre-publishing website Arxiv.

If a theoretical moon were to host life, it would likely have a rocky core, plus a greenhouse atmosphere of some sort that could have liquid water on its surface, the researchers said.

"It’s very similar to what was depicted in the movie ‘Avatar’ – the habitable moon Pandora around a giant planet, Polyphemus," Wang added.
A telltale dim

Volunteers spotted PH2 b by watching its parent star. As the planet passed in front of the star, the apparent brightness from Earth dimmed.

This is one of two commonly used techniques for finding exoplanets; the other is looking for wobbles in a star's gravityas a planet speeds around it.
Excluding PH2 b, citizen scientists recently discovered 42 planetary candidates, with 20 of those likely in their respective stars' habitable regions.

"These detections nearly double the number of gas giant planet candidates orbiting at habitable zone distances," the paper stated.
Planet Hunters includes participation from Oxford, Yale and several other institutions. Volunteers pour over data from Kepler. Once the strongest candidates are identified, professional astronomers take a look at them.

Planet Hunters has found 48 candidate planets so far. The first confirmed planet, PH1, was revealed in October 2011.
To learn how to participate in the Planet Hunters project, visit: http://www.planethunters.org/

Mexico dog mutilated by drug traffickers recovers

transhumanist92 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 04:44:22 +0800

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A dog reportedly mutilated by Mexican drug traffickers is recovering at a sanctuary for abused and abandoned dogs.

Sanctuary owner Patricia Ruiz says Pay de Limon, or Lemon Pie, was fitted with prosthetic front legs last year. The Belgian shepherd mix now walks, jumps and runs.

Ruiz says the dog was left in a trash can to die after his two fronts legs were cut off. She says people who asked her to help Pay de Limon told her that drug traffickers used the dog to practice for mutilating humans.

Pay de Limon is one of 128 abused dogs living at the Milagros Caninos sanctuary. Dogs on wheelchairs, blind, deaf or ill frolic and run around the huge sanctuary in the southern part of Mexico City.

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «