Read more at ONTD: http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/65880375.html#ixzz20C5zgpFr
Showing posts with label Community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Community. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
How Much of an Age Gap is Too Much for Relationships?
Read more at ONTD: http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/65880375.html#ixzz20C5zgpFr
Monday, July 9, 2012
Episcopal Church Votes To Allow Transgender Ministers
posted by elev8.com
Episcopal church votes to allow transgender ministers to lead congregations.
A day after a legislative body of the Episcopal Church voted to sell the denomination’s New York headquarters amid budget cuts and declining membership, church leaders on Saturday adopted legislation to give transgenders the right to become lay and ordained ministers.
At the church’s ongoing week-long General Convention in Indianapolis, Ind., the House of Bishops approved proposal that would amend two canons to prohibit discrimination based on “gender identity or expression” in the lay and ordained ministry discernment process and in the overall life, worship and governance of the church, Episcopal News Service reported.
The House of Deputies, the other legislative body of the bicameral General Convention of the Episcopal Church, must approve the legislation to pass at the convention.
The bishops’ move overlooks the fact that 200,000 members and 300 parishes have left the denomination in the past few years partly due to the church’s leftist policies on social and political issues. Nine years ago, the church approved its first openly gay bishop.
For many in the church, Saturday’s resolution was about “inclusion.”
“I am pleased that these resolutions did pass in that they have the very significant effect of validating, in the eyes of the church, the humanity of those who are transgender,” the Rev. Carolyn Woodall of the Diocese of San Joaquin was quoted as saying. “We are greatly misunderstood and there is a widespread lack of knowledge about what it means to be transgender.”
What do you think? Is this smart or not?
Episcopal church votes to allow transgender ministers to lead congregations.
A day after a legislative body of the Episcopal Church voted to sell the denomination’s New York headquarters amid budget cuts and declining membership, church leaders on Saturday adopted legislation to give transgenders the right to become lay and ordained ministers.
At the church’s ongoing week-long General Convention in Indianapolis, Ind., the House of Bishops approved proposal that would amend two canons to prohibit discrimination based on “gender identity or expression” in the lay and ordained ministry discernment process and in the overall life, worship and governance of the church, Episcopal News Service reported.
The House of Deputies, the other legislative body of the bicameral General Convention of the Episcopal Church, must approve the legislation to pass at the convention.
The bishops’ move overlooks the fact that 200,000 members and 300 parishes have left the denomination in the past few years partly due to the church’s leftist policies on social and political issues. Nine years ago, the church approved its first openly gay bishop.
For many in the church, Saturday’s resolution was about “inclusion.”
“I am pleased that these resolutions did pass in that they have the very significant effect of validating, in the eyes of the church, the humanity of those who are transgender,” the Rev. Carolyn Woodall of the Diocese of San Joaquin was quoted as saying. “We are greatly misunderstood and there is a widespread lack of knowledge about what it means to be transgender.”
What do you think? Is this smart or not?
Thursday, June 21, 2012
How Does Losing Weight Mean Alcoholism Abuse?
Study Says Alcohol Abuse Increases After Weight Loss Surgery
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Whose Responsible After a Teen Misses Graduation Because of Mistaken Arrest?
Honor Roll Student misses graduation after police mistakenly arrest her
Prosecutors said they dropped the case after realizing she was not involved in a crime. It appears to be a horrific case of mistaken identity, 11 News I-Team reporter Barry Simms said.
"She's been crying the whole time. She's terrified. She's never been through this environment before," mother Catia Brown said.
Worried about their daughter, Catia and Elvin Brown said they did everything they could to get her released.
A warrant charged Tiarra Brown with attempted murder, assault and reckless endangerment. She was held without bail after police arrested her Thursday during graduation practice at Casa Academy in Southwest Baltimore.
"That's not her profile. She's an honor roll student. She has scholarships going to college June 21. She did track and field. She worked all year to pay for her graduation, and she missed graduation for a misunderstanding," the girl's mother said.
The warrant was issued in connection with the May 6 stabbing of a woman outside the Half Mile Track nightclub on Frederick Avenue near Collins Avenue. It happened around 1:30 a.m.
According to a statement of charges, what appears to be the victim's daughter filled out a complaint and submitted it to a commissioner at the Patapsco Avenue Courthouse claiming that Brown stabbed her mother six times and threatened her as well.
The commissioner issued a warrant for her arrest, but to add to the confusion police said they had already charged a woman named Brittany Johnson with the stabbing when Brown was arrested at her high school during graduation practice.
"It was negligence on their side, and I think it's disgraceful to just pick a person out and charge them without investigating," Catia Brown said. "She's always in the house. She's too young to go to a club. She's never been to a club a day in her life."
Police and prosecutors now said the warrant was wrongfully issued by a court commissioner and that Tiarra Brown committed no crime.
Once they said they realized what happened, the investigating detective and the detective from the Warrant Apprehension Task Force went to the state's attorney seeking Brown's release.
She was released around 6 p.m. Monday into the custody of her elated parents (image of release to the right).
"This is the longest I've ever been away from (my parents)," the girl told 11 News after she was released. "I was real upset, but I prayed to God and read my Bible and knew the best thing for me was just to come home."
When she finally emerged from detention, Brown was so grateful to see her parents, she didn't express any bitterness about her ordeal, 11 News reporter Kerry Cavanaugh said.
"The officers were very nice. They checked on me and made sure I was eating and drinking and not so depressed and crying too much," Tiarra Brown said.
11 News went to the home of the person who filed the handwritten complaint that led to the warrant. No one answered.
The family said police showed the stabbing victim and two witnesses Tiarra Brown's picture, and all of them said she was not involved.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Do you have a Recipe you Won't Share? And Why?
Okay, So a friend of mine tells me he's having a birthday party for his son. He is doing a cookout themed party and wants to have baked beans. He then tells me how a member of his church, who makes the best baked beans he has ever tasted, would not share the recipe. He tried texting his church member for the recipe, and was shocked at the response. The individual told him it was a family secret and he had to sign a contract with his mom just to get it himself. My friend was so amazed at the replied text that he told his church member to stop joking and come on a give up the recipe. The last text he got was that it was not a joke, sorry!!!
His church member then suggested that he go buy the canned beans from the store, citing that they are just as good. My friend of course would beg to differ. There is a huge difference he explained and could not believe that he refused to share.
So my question is why do people not like to share their recipes? It's not like you are patenting this recipe and making money off of it? Why not share with your friends and the ones you love? I know that some people like to be the only one that can make a special dish the way everybody likes. That means that now people must rely on you only. Is it that serious? Do you even share with family? Or do you make people promise not to tell by signing contracts? This is out of controll!!!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
TSP Information Hacked...Are You Secured?
123,000 Thrift Savings Plan accounts hacked
Posted : Friday May 25, 2012 13:02:41 EDT
Social security numbers and other personal data for 123,000 Thrift Savings Plan account holders were stolen from a contractor’s computer last year, a TSP spokeswoman said Friday.
Names, addresses, and financial account and routing numbers of some accounts were also compromised.
Kim Weaver, spokeswoman for the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which manages the TSP program, said the hacking incident targeted a computer operated by contractor Serco Inc., which provides record-keeping services for 4.5 million federal employees, service members and beneficiaries with TSP accounts.
“It was a sophisticated attack that overcame the defenses [Serco] had in place,” Weaver said.
Weaver said both TSP and Serco have enhanced their cybersecurity. “We have monitored our TSP accounts, [and] we have no reason to believe that the data was misused in any way.”
The attack occurred in July, but the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board and Serco were not aware of it until they were notified last month by the FBI, Weaver said. The infected computer was immediately shut down and the security of all TSP and Serco systems was reviewed.
FBI spokeswoman Jacqueline Maguire said because the investigation is ongoing she could not say when the FBI knew about the attack or why it took nearly a year to notify TSP officials and Serco.
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board notified affected TSP account holders Friday and detailed in a letter how to connect with a call center for support and services, including free credit monitoring. Account holders were not notified until the board determined who was affected.
Source: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/05/federal-tsp-accounts-hacked-last-year-052512/
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Is The Internet Hurting Children?
updated 10:04 AM EDT, Mon May 21, 2012
Editor's note: Chelsea Clinton is a board member of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit advocacy organization focused on media and technology's effects on children and teens, and wrote the foreword to "Talking Back to Facebook." James P. Steyer is founder and CEO of Common Sense Media and the author of "Talking Back to Facebook."
(CNN) -- Amid the buzz over the Facebook IPO, the ever-evolving theories about how Twitter is reshaping our communications and speculation about where the next social media-enabled protest or revolution will occur, there is an important question we've largely ignored. What are the real effects of all this on the huge segment of the population most affected by social media themselves: our children and our teens?
The explosive growth of social media, smartphones and digital devices is transforming our kids' lives, in school and at home. Research tells us that even the youngest of our children are migrating online, using tablets and smartphones, downloading apps. Consumer Reports reported last year that more than 7.5 million American kids under the age of 13 have joined Facebook, which technically requires users to be 13 years old to open an account. No one has any idea of what all of this media and technology use will mean for our kids as they grow up.
By the time they're 2 years old, more than 90% of all American children have an online history. At 5, more than 50% regularly interact with a computer or tablet device, and by 7 or 8, many kids regularly play video games. Teenagers text an average of 3,400 times a month. The fact is, by middle school, our kids today are spending more time with media than with their parents or teachers, and the challenges are vast: from the millions of young people who regret by high school what they've already posted about themselves online to the widely documented rise in cyberbullying to the hypersexualization of female characters in video games.
These challenges also include traditional media and the phenomenon of "ratings creep" in the movies that our kids consume. Movies today -- even G-rated ones -- contain significantly more sex and violence, on average, than movies with the same rating 10 or 20 years ago.
The impact of heavy media and technology use on kids' social, emotional and cognitive development is only beginning to be studied, and the emergent results are serious. While the research is still in its early stages, it suggests that the Internet may actually be changing how our brains work. Too much hypertext and multimedia content has been linked in some kids to limited attention span, lower comprehension, poor focus, greater risk for depression and diminished long-term memory.
Our new world of digital immersion and multitasking has affected virtually everything from our thought processes and work habits to our capacity for linear thinking and how we feel about ourselves, our friends and even strangers. And it has all happened virtually overnight.
It goes without saying that digital media have also altered our fundamental notions of and respect for privacy. Young people now routinely post and share private, personal information and opinions on social media platforms without fully considering the potential consequences.
The immediacy of social media platforms, coupled with vulnerable youngsters who are socially inexperienced and not fully developed emotionally, can create a combustible mix. Kids often self-reveal before they reflect, and millions of kids say and do things they later regret. The permanence of what anyone posts online and the absence of an "eraser" button mean that the embarrassment and potential damage can last forever.
We urgently need a public conversation in our country among key stakeholders: parents, educators, technology innovators, policymakers and young people themselves. The dialogue must focus on the ways social media and technology enable our kids to give up their privacy before they fully understand what privacy is and why it's important to all of us. We should also discuss how social media can help empower kids to find their voice, find their purpose and potentially create the next technology revolution.
All adults know that the teen years are a critical time for identity exploration and experimentation. Yet this important developmental phase can be dramatically twisted when that identity experimentation, however personal and private, appears permanently on one's digital record for all to see.
In the 1990s, as a reaction to an explosion of television programming of increasingly questionable quality for kids, Congress passed the Children's Television Act. There was universal recognition that given all the time kids were spending in front of the television, the nation had a collective responsibility to offer positive, educational programming with limited commercials. We are at, arguably, an even more important crossroads when it comes to digital media and technology.
Howard Gardner, a professor and researcher at the Harvard Graduate School of Education who developed the concept of multiple intelligences, calls kids' use of digital media and technology "epochal change." He compares the revolution in digital media to the invention of the printing press because of its extraordinary impact on the way we communicate, share information and interact with one another. As a society, we have no choice but to engage with this new reality and work to ensure that it affects our kids in healthy, responsible ways.
The promise of digital media to transform our lives in positive ways is enormous. If managed well, technology can improve our schools and education, deepen social connectedness, expand civic engagement and even help advance our democracy. But for these positive outcomes to occur, we as a society must confront the challenges endemic in our 24/7 digital world.
We need legislation, educational efforts and norms that reflect 21st-century realities to maximize the opportunities and minimize the risks for our kids. Only then will we be able to give them the safe, healthy childhood and adolescence they deserve.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Pastor Marvin Winans Carjacked and Robbed
Detroit pastor and renowned gospel singer Marvin Winans was mugged, robbed and carjacked Wednesday afternoon while pumping gas at a Citgo station on the city’s west side. As of Thursday morning, his pricey SUV has not been recovered. The 54-year-old pastor is also founder of Detroit’s Perfecting Church, which now has about 4,500 members. Recently, Pastor Winans gave the eulogy at Whitney Houston’s funeral. At about 3:20 PM yesterday afternoon, the pastor stopped for gas at a Citgo station near the intersection of Linwood and Davison. When he went inside to pre-pay for the gas, he noticed perhaps a dozen young men in the station not buying anything. Winans was suspicious but went about his business. But about four young people followed him out of the station and to pump one where his vehicle waited. Winans was on alert as he pumped gas. Suddenly, one of the four men approached and sucker-punched Winans in the head, knocking him down. Then all four were on him, punching and kicking him as he lay on the ground. They ripped away his pants looking for money. Then the men were gone. But when Winans got up, his SUV was also gone.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
President Obama: “If I Had A Son, He’d Look Like Trayvon” [VIDEO]
Via MajicAtl.com
President Barack Obama has broken his silence over the Trayvon Martin killing, calling the case a “tragedy” and saying that “every aspect” of Martin’s death must be investigated.
“My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin: If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” Obama said. “I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves, and we’re going to get to the bottom of what happened.”
The president spoke Friday in the White House’s Rose Garden where he announced his nomination of Dartmouth president Jim Yong Kim for president of the World Bank.
Martin, 17, was shot and killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman has yet to be arrested for Martin’s murder, which has led to outrage and protests around the world.
“Obviously, this is a tragedy,” President Obama added. “I can only imagine what these parents are going through. And when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids.”
He added, “I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this and that everybody pulls together – federal, state, and local - to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened.”
Students at several South Florida high schools staged walkouts Friday morning in a protest against the lack of an arrest in the shooting. Martin was a junior at a Miami high school and was unarmed when he was killed.
SOURCE
President Barack Obama has broken his silence over the Trayvon Martin killing, calling the case a “tragedy” and saying that “every aspect” of Martin’s death must be investigated.
“My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin: If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” Obama said. “I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves, and we’re going to get to the bottom of what happened.”
The president spoke Friday in the White House’s Rose Garden where he announced his nomination of Dartmouth president Jim Yong Kim for president of the World Bank.
Martin, 17, was shot and killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman has yet to be arrested for Martin’s murder, which has led to outrage and protests around the world.
“Obviously, this is a tragedy,” President Obama added. “I can only imagine what these parents are going through. And when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids.”
He added, “I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this and that everybody pulls together – federal, state, and local - to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened.”
Students at several South Florida high schools staged walkouts Friday morning in a protest against the lack of an arrest in the shooting. Martin was a junior at a Miami high school and was unarmed when he was killed.
SOURCE
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Black Baltimore Pastors Support Gov. O'malley's Same Sex Marriage
By Tom McParland
— 15 February 2012
— 15 February 2012Delmon Coates and Donte’ L. Hickman Sr., both black pastors, flanked Gov. Martin O’Malley recently as they argued that allowing same-sex marriage would extend equal rights to citizens, while not impinging on the theology of churches.
“For me, this is a question of public policy, not theology, and as such, we should not ask, ‘What are my personal beliefs and biblical understandings about marriage and homosexuality, and how, then, can I impose those beliefs on society,’” Coates told two House committees.
For O’Malley, who has spent substantial political energy this year pushing same-sex marriage, Coates and Hickman personify one of the most complex storylines in the contentious debate.
While O’Malley and bill proponents have found public support from leading voices in the black community, including prominent civil rights leaders and clergy, same-sex marriage legislation faces considerable opposition from both voters and groups of legislators from predominantly black districts, where religious influence is strong.
The conflict is likely to play out this week in the full House of Delegates as lawmakers debate the same-sex marriage bill in the chamber where similar legislation died last year.
A January Gonzales Research and Marketing Strategies Inc. poll, which included 194 blacks across the state, found that only 33 percent of them favored the legalization of same-sex marriage, an 8 percentage point decrease from a similar poll last year.
Some say the numbers are reflective of attitudes toward homosexuality from some in the black community.
Bill co-sponsor Delegate Shawn Z. Tarrant, D-Baltimore, said gay blacks have traditionally not identified themselves as homosexual or part of a larger gay community.
“That, to me, is the real issue, that you have same-sex couples and people who identify themselves as gay in the black community that don’t share that, their families don’t embrace it, and that they don’t push to be embraced,” Tarrant said.
In a city lacking strong organization on either side of the issue, many of his constituents are indifferent toward same-sex marriage, he said.
Prince George’s County, on the other hand, is home to one of Maryland’s largest blocs of black voters and a very active circuit of faith communities that oppose the legislation.
“We’ve got a huge faith-based community,” said Delegate Jay Walker, D-Prince George’s, and a bill opponent.
“They haven’t asked for much during the six years I’ve been here. They haven’t asked for many things at all, and this one, they are clearly asking, ‘Protect our values in regard to same-sex marriage,’” Walker said.
Predominantly black churches, Tarrant said, have become a major political force in the same-sex marriage conversation, particularly in Prince George’s, because they offer Democratic politicians a venue to reach large numbers of black voters from varying economic backgrounds.
“It can’t be a situation where you tell the black churches when they can or cannot get involved in the issue,” Tarrant said. “You forced them into getting involved when you made it an issue for the legislature, because any time the governor’s running for office, he’s going through black churches.”
Delegate Dereck E. Davis, D-Prince George’s, while acknowledging the “overwhelming majority” of his constituents oppose the bill, was quick to deflect blame from Prince George’s delegates, saying the vote last year would have split the county’s delegation down the middle.
“It was pretty close to 50-50,” said Davis, an opponent of the bill. “So you’re probably talking, I don’t know, in the area of seven or eight, probably eight African-American delegates who were going to vote against it. There’s no way eight delegates can kill a bill.”
While some advocates have used civil rights rhetoric in promoting same-sex marriage, lawmakers and advocates on both sides are wary of that language being taken too far.
“There are different definitions of civil rights. I’m saying that. I agree with that, but thinking that these are African-Americans’ civil rights, comparing them to the civil rights that we had as a race, I don’t think that’s in the same ballpark as us,” Walker said.
A key difference, some say, is that gay people are able to hide their sexual orientation, an opportunity not afforded to blacks.
“We are concerned that people don’t confuse the difference,” Tarrant said.
“The difference is when you’re African-American, there’s nothing you can do to prevent somebody from knowing that you’re African-American,” he said.
There are, however, many similarities between the two groups that, some leaders say, unite them.
Wade Henderson, president and chief executive officer of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, wrote an opinion piece earlier this month in an attempt to “lay the foundation” for the same-sex marriage bill, in which he said blacks and the gay and lesbian community share the goals of civil rights and equality.
“I want to challenge the assumption that somehow African-Americans are not supportive of marriage equality,” Henderson said in a phone interview.
He stressed a widespread acceptance of the gay community by blacks, who share a history of struggling to achieve their own civil rights.
“African-Americans are for equal rights for everyone, and that includes the LGBT community,” Henderson said.
Ben Jealous, president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and an active proponent of same-sex marriage, gave the keynote speech at last month’s Lesbian and Gay Rights Task Force conference in Baltimore in which he called for unity of leaders across the lines of race, gender and sexual orientation.
The NAACP’s position has rankled some in the black community.
“I think people feel that (the organization has) lost touch with their roots, and this seems to be proof positive of that,” Walker said.
Attitudes of blacks in Maryland are consistent with statistics from other states where support for same-sex marriage bills has lagged.
For example, when California passed Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage, Associated Press exit polls showed that seven out of 10 black voters favored the ban. The California ban has been overturned in federal court.
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