QBits

May 25

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A decade ago, LGBT Puerto Ricans were criminals under the sodomy law, today we’re second-class citizens and when this bill is signed into law, we will be closer to achieving the first-class citizenship that we deserve,’ Serrano added. ‘Equality is inevitable. Puerto Rico will be for all.’

Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said in a statement: ‘The Puerto Rican LGBT community has endured an epidemic of anti-LGBT violence that has taken more than 35 lives in the past three years. Nonetheless, this community has continued to stand strong in the face of adversity and today can celebrate this glorious victory.’

TW: violence, homophobia

“Fuck your mothers,” a priest shouted.

Another priest came armed with a stool. Their followers carried rocks, sticks, and crucifixes. “Kill them! Don’t let them leave alive,” they screamed.

They smashed heads, windows of shops, and a minibus in which activists tried to escape. Twelve people, including three policemen, were seriously injured.

“Before the van arrived, about ten girls—gay rights activists—were being taunted by a growing, frothing mob. A stone was thrown and split a girl’s head open.… This mob was the creation of the Georgian Orthodox Church and the Georgian government has so far been gutless in standing up to the Church to protect the rights of its citizens. Shame on you, Georgia. Shame on you,” Paul Rimple, a Tbilisi-based journalist, posted on his Facebook page.

Despite a ban by a local court, more than a hundred LGBT rights activists held the first gay pride demonstration in the capital of Kiev.

The event was relatively peaceful despite the attempts by a very small number of individuals to disrupt the occasion.

“This can be considered a historic day,” Elena Semyonova one of the organisers told reporters after the activists held a 20-minute-long march along a street near the centre of the Ukrainian capital.

Nikolai Aleskeev, Russian LGBT rights advocate, has been arrested for his part in organizing a gay rights march this morning.

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‘This is the eighth year in a row we are trying to peacefully conduct Moscow Pride, but this time we face unprecedented pressure in terms of laws, bans and threats.

Aleskeev also received a letter from the European Court of Human Rights yesterday, denying his request to intervene with the Russian government for protection.

Aleskeev said: ‘If me or someone else is killed or injured in Moscow Pride on Saturday 25 May then the blood will also be on the hands of the Head of European Court of Human Rights and [its] judges.’

Holy Fucking ShitBalls: Amphibians Are Dying -

holygoddamnshitballs:

From Scientific American:

A new study finds that frogs, toads, salamanders and other amphibians in the U.S. are dying off so quickly that they could disappear from half of their habitats in the next 20 years. For some of the more endangered species, they could lose half of their habitats…

May 24

STFU, Conservatives: Life sentences recommended for owners of collapsed garment factory -

shortformblog:

• April 24 An eight story garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people. Investigations quickly revealed that the building’s owners forced employees to return to work hours before the building fell, after a work stoppage (resulting from safety…

I wonder if they will even serve the full seven years?

(Source: Guardian)

naturallybent:

i do like the idea of rob ford crushing harper and duffy in a big pile.  —nb

Monsanto Found Guilty of Chemical Poisoning in Landmark Case | REALfarmacy.com | Healthy News and Information -

questionall:

French farmer who can no longer perform his routine farming duties because of permanent pesticide injuries has had his day in court, literally, and the perpetrator of his injuries found guilty of chemical poisoning. The French court in Lyon ruled that Monsanto’s Lasso weedkiller formula, which contains the active ingredient alachlor, caused Paul Francois to develop lifelong neurological damage that manifests as persistent memory loss, headaches, and stuttering during speech.

Reports indicate that the 47-year-old farmer sued Monsanto back in 2004 after inhaling the Lasso product while cleaning his sprayer tank equipment. Not long after, Francois began experiencing lasting symptoms that prevented him from working, which he says were directly linked to exposure to the chemical. Since Lasso’s packaging did not bear adequate warnings about the dangers of exposure, Francois alleged at the time that Monsanto was essentially negligent in providing adequate protection for its customers.

To the surprise of many, the French court agreed with the claims and evidence presented before it, declaring earlier this year that “Monsanto is responsible for Paul Francois’ suffering after he inhaled the Lasso product … and must entirely compensate him.” The court is said to be seeking expert opinion on how to gauge Francois’ losses in order to determine precisely how much Monsanto will be required to compensate him in the case.

“It is a historic decision in so far as it is the first time that a (pesticide) maker is found guilty of such a poisoning,” said Francois Lafforgue, Paul Francois’ lawyer, to Reuters earlier in the year.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), exposure to alachlor can cause damage to the liver, kidneys, spleen, and eyes, and may lead to the development of anemia and even cancer. The EPA apparently views alachlor as so dangerous, in fact, that the agency has set the maximum contaminant level goals (MCLG) for alachlor to zero in order to “prevent potential health problems.” (http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/alachlor.cfm)

In 2007, France officially banned Lasso from use in the country in accordance with a European Union (EU) directive enacted in 2006 prohibiting the chemical from further use on crops in any member countries. But despite all the evidence proving that alachlor can disrupt hormonal balance, induce reproductive or developmental problems, and cause cancer, the chemical is still being used on conventional crops throughout the U.S. to this very day. (http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_ChemReg.jsp?Rec_Id=PC35160)

“I am alive today, but part of the farming population is going to be sacrificed and is going to die because of (alachlor),” added Francois to Reuters.

Source: NaturalNews.com

[video]

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This is a situation of two teenagers who happen to be of the same-sex involved in a relationship. If this case involved a boy and girl, there would be no media attention to this case.

“Our client is a model citizen. She has been placed in an environment of school with her classmates where they go to school together, have lunch together, and play on the same team and are allowed to have communication and contact without barriers. Then when something develops between the two as a result of this environment created by the State, it leads to criminal prosecution.

“If this incident occurred 108 days earlier when she was 17, we wouldn’t even be here.

“Right now this is the biggest thing in her life. We are going to stand behind her. Her family and friends are going to stand behind her.

“This is not logical. The State is willing to take this teenager’s life away over 108 days.

“Along with Kaitlyn and her family, we are going to fight to have the law changed so no other teenager finds themselves in this same position created by the State of Florida and prosecuted unfairly.”

Lesbian teen charged in relationship with underage girlfriend rejects plea deal – LGBTQ Nation

Good for her! Now let’s hope the judge sees how vindictive this case is.

“We’ll explain the appeal of curling to you if you explain the appeal of the National Rifle Association to us.” — Andy Barrie (via propertyofcanada)

Colbert: If atheists can go to heaven, I want my Catholicism refunded (video) -

holygoddamnshitballs:

Thursday night on “The Colbert Report,” host Stephen Colbert marveled at the announcement by Pope Francis that there are good atheists who are loved by God.

“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone!” Francis said earlier this week.

“Folks,” said Colbert Thursday, “as America’s most famous Catholic, I am the Pope of basic cable.”

chemicalfreelife:

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GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD: 

Worldwide Protest Against Monsanto

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Challenging Monsanto: 200000 in 40 countries to rally against GMO

Activists around the world are gearing up for a weekend of rallies to protest Monsanto, the biotechnology giant accused of genetically engineering agriculture and food while turning a blind eye to their potentially deadly health ramifications.

Organized by the ‘March Against Monsanto’ movement, an estimated 200,000 activists will participate in the massive campaign spanning six continents, 40 nations, and at least 48 US states.

Angered by the lack of action from governments on the issue, activists in hundreds of cities – including New York, Chicago, Montreal, Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Moscow and Melbourne – will stage coordinated protests against Monsanto and demand a ban on Genetically Engineered and Genetically Modified Organisms (GE/GMOs).

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[video]

aljazeera:

Fallout from rare strike at Arabtec Construction continues, as many South Asian labourers ordered to leave the country.