News of Note
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The Unwelcome Mat
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2 min read
(También en Español) News of Note: The Unwelcome Mat: How America Scares Away Tourists Imagine that you’re the citizen of a prosperous, democratic ally like Britain, Spain or Japan, and you’d like to visit America. Before traveling, you must pay $14 to complete an online United States government form called ESTA, short for Electronic System…
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White House Proposes Online Privacy Bill of Rights
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2 min read
(También en Español) News of Note: White House Proposes Online Privacy Bill of Rights the Obama Administration released a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights for online users, including the ability for browser users to opt out of being tracked by advertisers and others. The proposed document was described by the White House as “part of…
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Major Transhumanist Event in Second Life—July 20
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4 min read
TERASEM ISLAND CONFERENCE CENTER, SECOND LIFE JULY 20, 2012 1PM – 4PM EDT This year’s workshop theme: PRINCIPLES OF GEOETHICS & THEIR APPLICATION TO LIFE-SAVING NANOTECHNOLOGY WHAT: The workshop is an exchange of scholarly views regarding the varied applications to life- saving nanotechnologies, including the impact of its use on others, the accessibility of it…
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Going Live: espanol.venusplusx.org and venusmasx.org
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3 min read
También en español Having been a bilingual site since last fall, VenusPlusX is now gradually rolling out its new all-Spanish site, espanol.venusplusx.org (o, en español, venusmasx.org) — our continuing gift to the worldwide Spanish-speaking community, side by side with our now all-English site, venusplusx.org. Our round seal, in English and Spanish, portrays “Columbia,” The Statue of…
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Follow up: Adolescent Sexual Health: To Improve or Not to Improve? That is the Question…
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3 min read
También en español After initially postponing the decision to adopt either abstinence-only or abstinence-plus sex education curriculum, the Natchez-Adams School Board in Jackson, Mississippi chooses “both.” The Board voted to adopt the abstinence-only program, but also voted to require all 12 modules of the “Rise to Your Dreams” curriculum . . . the same curriculum…
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(También en Español) The Natchez-Adams School Board in Jackson, Mississippi, is currently deciding whether to adopt abstinence-only or abstinence-plus curriculum. This decision for Mississippi schools, to implement either abstinence-only or abstinence-plus curriculum, is the same as deciding whether or not to improve adolescent sexual health. The former, abstinence-only education, will be laden with religious ideologies, teach students about…
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(También en Español) News of Note: U.S. Teen Birthrates Are Down, But Still High in These States In 2009, a landmark study found a strong correlation between religion and teen pregnancy. The CDC’s newest data suggests not much has changed. Teen pregnancy closely follows the contours of America’s Bible belt, according to the map (above)…
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Female Genital Mutilation in the UK
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1 min read
(También en Español) News of Note: Medics Offered Genital Mutilation, Report Says As many as 100,000 women in Britain may have been mutilated in the name of culture and religion, a report claims. Refuges from other countries, particularly from Africa, perpetuate this “procedure” illegally, while practitioners charge more than $1000 to have the clitoris cut…
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Afghan schoolgirls poisoned in anti-education attack
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1 min read
(También en Español) News of Note: Afghan schoolgirls poisoned in anti-education attack Conservative radicals are suspects in the recent poisoning of about 150 Afghan high school girls who drank contaminated water at their high school, and other similar attacks on female students, teachers, and their buildings. It may be hard to believe that anyone would…
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Anti-gay adverts pulled from bus campaign in London
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1 min read
(También en Español) News of Note: Anti-gay adverts pulled from bus campaign by Boris Johnson Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, has stopped a Christian advertising campaign by the “christian” group Core Issues Trust that promotes the idea that gay people can be converted to heterosexuality and whose leader, Mike Davidson, said “homoerotic behavior is sinful” and…