SALT LAKE CITY ? Thousands of humans and their pooches went for a walk at Liberty Park on Saturday as part of the largest dog-themed fundraiser in the state.
Donning special t-shirts or?bandanas, supporters of Best Friends Animal Society and other animal rescue organizations participated in Strut Your Mutt.
?We?ve been doing this for 16 years now and this is a record turnout today. It just fills the park with a lot of very happy dog owners and the dogs get along very well together. There?s no problems with dogs getting on together so that?s fun,? said Gregory Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society.
Best Friends Animal Society is headquartered in Kanab, but they also run No More Homeless Pets in Utah, working throughout the state.
Hello there :3 So, this is a fantasy kinda roleplay with post-apocalyptic elements (most of humanity has been wiped out, but demons thrive). I'm looking for someone to play a male demon for me. Also, should mention that I'm looking for something long term.
The setting: Based in the very distant future. Demons took the world by force, and obliterated the majority of humanity. The few humans that remain live under ground, or have been captured by demons. So many centuries have passed that no one knows for sure what year it is anymore. All the human cities have been destroyed, and replaced with magnificent, ominous demon cities. Even the flora and fauna have started to change. Every now and then demons stumble across the entrance to a human base. They flush the humans out with ruthless brutality. Some humans are killed in all the mayhem, the majority are captured and taken back with the demons, and a very small few escape with their lives. Recently, one of the largest human bases was attacked. Hundreds were taken captive, dozens were killed, only a handful survived. Those few were determined to find their family and friends.
Unable to defend themselves properly, the group was slowly picked off one by one by either starvation, exhaustion or demon attack. Now only one remains, her survival thus far has relied heavily on the mistakes the other humans she was travelling with. She's alone, and nearing the edge of the demon city of Civitatem Afflictionem et Dolorem. With any luck, she'll be able to find some information about where her family and friends may be.
I'm guessing one of the questions I'm going to be asked is about how she goes undetected amongst demons, so I'll just answer that one now :P I was thinking that the demons take their (for lack of better wording) "human" form to conserve energy while just carrying on in their day-to-day business, but when they're fighting they take their "demon" form.
To make the bathroom comfortable bathroom appliances is one of the important things. We want to choose some perfect bathroom appliances. We want to keep the unique bathroom appliances with wooden inserts. We keep our bathroom clean and pretty. We design our bathtub with wooden inserts on the inside and white on the outside. There are variety of bathroom appliances like copper, silver and platinum. The traditional and natural bathroom becomes more popular for interior d?cor ideas. Bathroom vanity is going to look nice and elegant than other bathrooms. If you purchase bathroom vanity you have to choose the size and shape. Bathroom cleaning products are very dangerous to our health. It contain some chemicals that can lead to serious health problems. We can use the soap to clean the sinks, toilets, showers, baths and surfaces. We need hot water and soap to remove the surface level stains. So keep the bathroom clean daily.
Samsung was on hand at Pepcom's Holiday Spectacular tonight in New York with an emphasis on myriad of accessories for its flagship models, the Galaxy S 3 and the Galaxy Note 2. In time for the holidays, Samsung says it will begin offering its singature Flip Cases in a variety of colors for the two devices, including Light and Cobalt Blues, Pink, Mint, Lime Greene, Orange and Yellow, in addition to the standard Titanium Gray and Marble White. Samsung will also begin offering bundled packages of the cases for those who want to swap out and accessorize at will. The bundles will include four cases and will cost $100, a bargain considering one case currently sells for $39.99. Samsung said that the bundles will hit the market sometime this Fall.
(RNS) As Muslim Americans try to make sense of the violent demonstrations in some 20 Muslim-majority countries triggered by an anti-Islamic film, President Obama and dozens of Muslim leaders will be attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week (Sept. 25-Oct.1).
One of those leaders will be President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt, the first country to protest against the film, and where demonstrators scaled the walls of the American embassy and replaced the American flag with a flag bearing the Islamic declaration of faith.?
Show Caption | Details
President Obama waves goodbye from the steps of Air Force One as he departs King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on his way to Cairo, Egypt, June 4, 2009, where he called for a "new beginning" with the Muslim world. For use with RNS-MUSLIM-OUTREACH, transmitted April 12, 2010. Credit: White House photo by Pete Souza
In July, advisers to Morsi, a leading member of the Islamist organization known as the Muslim Brotherhood, claimed that Obama had invited Morsi to a meeting when he visits the United States. The White House, the U.S. State Department, and the Egyptian embassies in Washington and New York, however, did not confirm such a meeting is planned for next week.
But after the violent protests, a meeting is warranted more than ever, say many Muslim Americans. Obama and Morsi have a lot to talk about, Muslim Americans say, from Islamophobia and human rights for religious minorities to Islamic extremism and cooperation.
Religious Rights
Many Muslim Americans said Obama should ask Morsi to guarantee the rights of religious minorities in Egypt, where Coptic Christians and others face both official and informal discrimination.
Eboo Patel, president of the Interfaith Youth Core in Chicago, said Obama should ask Morsi how he would ensure that all Egyptians' rights are respected.
Asma Afsaruddin, chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies and Cultures at Indiana University, said Obama should ask Morsi how he will curtail sectarian violence and promote understanding between Muslims and Copts.?
?Peaceful co-existence of religious communities is after all recognized and celebrated within Islam -- how can you help to better realize this objective in contemporary Egypt?? Afsaruddin said.?
?I would like to see Obama express his hopes that the new Egyptian constitution will grant Christians and others in Egypt the same freedom to practice religion and participate in civil society as is granted to Americans under the First Amendment,? said Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad of the Minaret of Freedom Institute in Bethesda, Md.
Fight Extremism
Not surprisingly, many observers said Obama should press Morsi to fight Islamic extremism.
Alaa Badr of the Muslim Association of Puget Sound in Redmond, Wash., said he hoped Obama would ask Morsi about Egypt?s commitment to fight terrorism, especially in North Africa.
Ahmed Ahmed, an Egyptian-American comedian, wants Obama to ask Morsi if Egypt will ever be a country with freedom of speech.
Wajahat Ali, a Muslim-American activist and playwright, suggested Obama be short and direct, but acknowledge America?s problem with Islamophobia. ?You reign in your extremists, and I'll reign in ours,? Ali said.
Islamophobia
Many Muslims and non-Muslims said Obama should tell Morsi that most Americans are not anti-Muslim, but that he would speak more forcefully against Islamophobia.
Qamar-ul Huda, a senior officer at the Religion and Peacemaking Center at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, said Obama should say that ?The U.S. government and society at large does not reflect the hysterical and outrageous Islamophobic sentiments of the few.?
?He needs to talk about Muslims in the U.S., to show that the U.S. is not at war with Islam,? said Hussein Rashid, an Islamic studies lecturer at Fordham University.
Shared Values
Several Muslim Americans said Obama should also get back to diplomatic basics, such as America?s and Egypt?s long history of cooperation.
?He has to return to the theme of an ally, and talk about the reciprocal nature of that relationship,? said Rashid.
Huda said Obama should pledge to support Egypt while also demanding that it respect basic human rights. ?The U.S. stands with all young emerging democratic societies and we will be supportive in all of its stages of growth,? said Huda, describing what he thinks Obama should tell Morsi. ?Our nations share a common heritage in areas of culture, education, economics. Let us build on our common interests and goals, and when we differ, let us remind ourselves this is natural and healthy for our friendship.?
Jobs
One way to fight Islamic extremism, many Muslims say, is with jobs, especially for young people. According to a 2011 report from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, about 60 percent of Muslims in Muslim-majority countries were under 30 in 2010, but many of these youth are unemployed and vulnerable to extremism.??
With that in mind, al-Husein N. Madhany, an associate at Samasource.org, an employment website focusing on the developing world, said Obama should focus on three things: ?Jobs, jobs, jobs.?
Other issues that observers wanted Obama to raise with Morsi included the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran?s nuclear program, and protection for American embassies and diplomats. There were a few observers, however, who said Obama should stay mum.
?Perhaps Obama should not say anything. Maybe he should listen to what Morsi has to say,? said Sherifa Zuhur, director of the Institute of Middle Eastern, Islamic, and Strategic Studies in Carlisle, Pa.
Tori Mueller, Staff Writer September 20, 2012 ? 47 views Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Despite what many devoted lovers of Bon Iver?s first album, For Emma, Forever Ago, may believe, Justin Vernon and his nine band members most certainly ?did not lose it in the stacks.? Quite contrary, their mind-blowing performance at The Mann Center in Fairmount Park this past Sunday left many audience members, including myself, in tears.
The show began with the vocally intricate one-man a capella song ?Woods,? from their 2009 EP, Blood Bank. Quickly, the band jumped into the next song, ?Perth,? the opening track on their Grammy award-winning self-titled LP, Bon Iver, Bon Iver. The stage, illuminated in dazzling green lights, kept time with the music and brought the performance to a whole new level. It left the audience in a state of awe.
The band smoothly transitioned into ?Minnesota, WI? and then ?Towers.? Vernon jokingly introduced ?Flume,? a track from his 2007 debut album, as ?the genesis of Bon Iver.?
After returning to Bon Iver, Bon Iver to play ?Wash.? and ?Holocene,? the band played another handful of their older material, including ?Blood Bank,? ?Skinny Love,? and ?Creature Fear,? which began with a muted trombone solo and progressed into the percussion section?s jam session, putting the audience into a wild frenzy of excitement.
After playing three more songs from their most recent release, Bon Iver quickly returned for an encore to play ?The Wolves (Act I and II),? during which Vernon asked the audience to sing along.
The band ended with their signature heartbreak song, ?For Emma,? which brought the house down and left the crowd satiated after a long night of beautiful music. Philadelphia could not have asked for a better evening.
Qualcomm's Vellamo app has been a part of the furniture in our Android benchmarking suite for a while now, providing a fun little test of browsing and networking speeds on almost any Android device. Version 2.0 adds something extra, however: a section called "Metal" that is all about putting your processor and memory through the wringer.
As a quick taster, we ran the new HTML5 and Metal tests on the HTC One X (both global and AT&T) and the Galaxy S III (global and Sprint), settling on the average of three consecutive results. Conspiracy theorists who think that Qualcomm's app favors its own processors will only find further ammunition in the CPU results, however the HTML5 scores actually give the QCOM devices much less of a lead than the old Vellamo did, scoring all four handsets roughly equally. You'll find the table overleaf, along with a publicity video that explains the update.
Third Workplace: Business Networking Social and After Work Happy Hour
Sept. 20, 2012 from 5:00pm to 6:30pm, Treat Blvd at Jones Rd, Walnut Creek, CA
MORE INFO: thirdworkplace.eventbrite.com/
Thursday Sept. 20, join other business professionals at Third Workplace in Walnut Creek for a Business Networking Social and After Work Happy Hour hosted by Third Workplace. RSVP at thirdworkplace.eventbrite.com/. Free for members of Third Workplace and $5 for guests.
This event at Third Workplace in Walnut Creek is perfect for San Francisco and Bay Area professionals who want to connect with other professionals while enjoying Third Workplace's beautiful space. We will enjoy beers, relax, and get to know each other. Don't miss this opportunity to be social and meet new people at Third Workplace in Walnut Creek just steps from the Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre BART, Avalon luxury Walnut Creek apartments and across the street from Renaissance Club Sport Walnut Creek.
About Third Workplace:
Do you think it's complicated or expensive to get into a professional working environment? Third Workplace provides open workplaces to work by the hour. Choose to pay as you go or save money by selecting a subscription plan. We are the ideal business meeting space and event location for small companies and San Francisco Bay Area professionals. Come in, grab a seat, and get things done. Print, copy, fax...and blazing fast internet are included however you work with us. So come check out Third Workplace on Sept. 20, 2012 during this Happy Hour Event. Network, learn and socialize with other professionals, successful entrepreneurs and business owners who see the value in co-working.
DATE & TIME: Sept. 20, 2012 from 5:00pm to 6:30pm
LOCATION: Third Workplace
Treat Blvd at Jones Rd (FREE garage parking on Sunne Ln)
Walnut Creek, CA 94597
Website: thirdworkplace.eventbrite.com/
Email: contracostacentre@thirdworkplace.com
Phone: (925) 482-0910
Send to Outlook: www.fullcalendar.com/vc.cfm?i=718326
T-Mobile U.S.A. has just announced a new CEO by the name of John Legere who starts the job on September 22. Jim Alling, T-Mobile's chief operating officer, had been interim CEO since June when long-time CEO Philip Humm stepped down. Before T-Mobile, Legere had occupied quite a few senior positions at AT&T and Dell.
Legere's immediately preceding position was as CEO of a wireline communications infrastructure company called Global Crossing, a company which suffered shady executive spending and a messy bankruptcy. T-Mobile is still on a rocky financial road, so at least Legere will be in familiar territory.
Anyone remember Global Crossing from the internet boom years? How confident are you in Legere's ability to pull T-Mobile out of last place in the U.S. wireless service provider game?
Today?s IT world continues to move forward at an amazing velocity. One of the major innovation drivers is desktop and server virtualization. Many Ontario businesses are now looking at desktop and server virtualization solutions to help decrease the operating costs of IT, implement one standardized platform across a company and aid in business continuity efforts. Working World understands the importance of this new technology standard and offers technical training on the latest Citrix desktop and server virtualization solutions from its training centre in Brantford, ON.
Brantford, ON Sep. 18, 2012?- Technology innovation continues to drive business forward across Ontario, but how does a business stay current with all the latest innovations? Working World believes it has the answer to many of the technology challenges facing businesses in the Province of Ontario.
Working World?s computer software training and IT technical training services offer quality education through an expert virtual instructor-led training and a wide course selection, including software training on the latest Microsoft, Adobe and Web related technology, in addition to top technical training on Microsoft and CompTIA programs.
Starting in September 2012, Working World will offer Citrix desktop and server virtualization training. Training on the top Citrix solutions including NetScaler, XenServer and XenDesktop will be offered from the training centre in Brantford.
?Citrix is great, and we are honoured to be offering the technical community across Ontario training on many of the leading Citrix technologies,? said Working World president Josie Kocsis. ?Citrix provides a solid foundation for businesses to build a solid IT platform upon?.
To learn more about Working World?s IT and software training visit?http://www.workingworld.ca.
###
About Working World:?Working World is based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada and offers business IT support and computer/technical training to businesses throughout Southern Ontario. Working World provides businesses with a solid foundation of technical support services including support for desktop and server virtualization solutions, Windows networking, and server support and backup/business continuity services. To learn more about how Working World can help your Brantford or Southern Ontario business visit?http://www.workingworld.ca.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) ? A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the South Dakota prison system's ban on tobacco in religious ceremonies substantially burdens Native American inmates' religious rights.
Chief Judge Karen Schreier ruled that even if state officials had asserted a compelling governmental interest, they did not prove that the complete ban was the least restrictive means available to further that governmental interest.
Schreier said in her ruling that inmates and officials should meet and propose an appropriate, narrowly tailored injunction, which should include revisions to the tobacco policy for inmates practicing the Lakota religion. She cited cases involving prisons in Missouri, Texas and Pennsylvania that allowed their inmates to use tobacco for religious purposes in ceremonies.
"This widespread allowance of tobacco in prisons lends substantial credence to plaintiffs' position that less restrictive alternatives to a complete ban on the use of tobacco in Lakota religious ceremonies is possible," Schreier wrote.
James Moore, the officials' attorney, said he was reading through the ruling and was not yet ready to comment. The inmates' attorney, Pamela Bollweg, did not immediately return voice mail and email messages.
Inmates Blaine Brings Plenty and Clayton Creek in their 2009 federal lawsuit against the South Dakota Department of Corrections contended that the policy was discriminatory. The state said ceremonial tobacco inside the state penitentiary was becoming increasingly abused, and the policy was not overly restrictive because it allowed other botanicals such as red willow bark to be burned.
The Justice Department, in a brief filed in July, said the state's position ran contrary to the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
The South Dakota prison system went tobacco-free in 2000 but made an exception for tobacco used in Native American ceremonies. Officials in October 2009 eliminated that exemption, saying tobacco was being sold or bartered and inmates had been caught separating it from their pipe mixtures and prayer ties.
Members of prison-based Native American Council of Tribes sued, arguing that for Native American prayer to be effective, it must be embodied in tobacco and offered within a ceremonial framework.
Brings Plenty and Creek in their suit said the policy change violated their U.S. constitutional rights ensuring that no prisoner be penalized or discriminated against for their religious beliefs or practices.
Your memory is like the telephone gamePublic release date: 19-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Marla Paul Marla-Paul@northwestern.edu 312-503-8928 Northwestern University
Each time you recall an event, your brain distorts it
CHICAGO --- Remember the telephone game where people take turns whispering a message into the ear of the next person in line? By the time the last person speaks it out loud, the message has radically changed. It's been altered with each retelling.
Turns out your memory is a lot like the telephone game, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.
Every time you remember an event from the past, your brain networks change in ways that can alter the later recall of the event. Thus, the next time you remember it, you might recall not the original event but what you remembered the previous time. The Northwestern study is the first to show this.
"A memory is not simply an image produced by time traveling back to the original event -- it can be an image that is somewhat distorted because of the prior times you remembered it," said Donna Bridge, a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of the paper on the study recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience. "Your memory of an event can grow less precise even to the point of being totally false with each retrieval."
Bridge did the research while she was a doctoral student in lab of Ken Paller, a professor of psychology at Northwestern in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
The findings have implications for witnesses giving testimony in criminal trials, Bridge noted.
"Maybe a witness remembers something fairly accurately the first time because his memories aren't that distorted," she said. "After that it keeps going downhill."
The published study reports on Bridge's work with 12 participants, but she has run several variations of the study with a total of 70 people. "Every single person has shown this effect," she said. "It's really huge."
"When someone tells me they are sure they remember exactly the way something happened, I just laugh," Bridge said.
The reason for the distortion, Bridge said, is the fact that human memories are always adapting.
"Memories aren't static," she noted. "If you remember something in the context of a new environment and time, or if you are even in a different mood, your memories might integrate the new information."
For the study, people were asked to recall the location of objects on a grid in three sessions over three consecutive days. On the first day during a two-hour session, participants learned a series of 180 unique object-location associations on a computer screen. The next day in session two, participants were given a recall test in which they viewed a subset of those objects individually in a central location on the grid and were asked to move them to their original location. Then the following day in session three, participants returned for a final recall test.
The results showed improved recall accuracy on the final test for objects that were tested on day two compared to those not tested on day two. However, people never recalled exactly the right location. Most importantly, in session three they tended to place the object closer to the incorrect location they recalled during day two rather than the correct location from day one.
"Our findings show that incorrect recollection of the object's location on day two influenced how people remembered the object's location on day three," Bridge explained. "Retrieving the memory didn't simply reinforce the original association. Rather, it altered memory storage to reinforce the location that was recalled at session two."
Bridge's findings also were supported when she measured participants' neural signals --the electrical activity of the brain -- during session two. She wanted to see if the neural signals during session two predicted anything about how people remembered the object's location during session three.
The results revealed a particular electrical signal when people were recalling an object location during session two. This signal was greater when -- the next day -- the object was placed close to that location recalled during session two. When the electrical signal was weaker, recall of the object location was likely to be less distorted.
"The strong signal seems to indicate that a new memory was being laid down," Bridge said, "and the new memory caused a bias to make the same mistake again."
"This study shows how memories normally change over time, sometimes becoming distorted," Paller noted. "When you think back to an event that happened to you long ago -- say your first day at school -- you actually may be recalling information you retrieved about that event at some later time, not the original event."
###
The research was supported by National Science Foundation grant BCS1025697 and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health grant T32 NS047987.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Your memory is like the telephone gamePublic release date: 19-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Marla Paul Marla-Paul@northwestern.edu 312-503-8928 Northwestern University
Each time you recall an event, your brain distorts it
CHICAGO --- Remember the telephone game where people take turns whispering a message into the ear of the next person in line? By the time the last person speaks it out loud, the message has radically changed. It's been altered with each retelling.
Turns out your memory is a lot like the telephone game, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.
Every time you remember an event from the past, your brain networks change in ways that can alter the later recall of the event. Thus, the next time you remember it, you might recall not the original event but what you remembered the previous time. The Northwestern study is the first to show this.
"A memory is not simply an image produced by time traveling back to the original event -- it can be an image that is somewhat distorted because of the prior times you remembered it," said Donna Bridge, a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of the paper on the study recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience. "Your memory of an event can grow less precise even to the point of being totally false with each retrieval."
Bridge did the research while she was a doctoral student in lab of Ken Paller, a professor of psychology at Northwestern in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
The findings have implications for witnesses giving testimony in criminal trials, Bridge noted.
"Maybe a witness remembers something fairly accurately the first time because his memories aren't that distorted," she said. "After that it keeps going downhill."
The published study reports on Bridge's work with 12 participants, but she has run several variations of the study with a total of 70 people. "Every single person has shown this effect," she said. "It's really huge."
"When someone tells me they are sure they remember exactly the way something happened, I just laugh," Bridge said.
The reason for the distortion, Bridge said, is the fact that human memories are always adapting.
"Memories aren't static," she noted. "If you remember something in the context of a new environment and time, or if you are even in a different mood, your memories might integrate the new information."
For the study, people were asked to recall the location of objects on a grid in three sessions over three consecutive days. On the first day during a two-hour session, participants learned a series of 180 unique object-location associations on a computer screen. The next day in session two, participants were given a recall test in which they viewed a subset of those objects individually in a central location on the grid and were asked to move them to their original location. Then the following day in session three, participants returned for a final recall test.
The results showed improved recall accuracy on the final test for objects that were tested on day two compared to those not tested on day two. However, people never recalled exactly the right location. Most importantly, in session three they tended to place the object closer to the incorrect location they recalled during day two rather than the correct location from day one.
"Our findings show that incorrect recollection of the object's location on day two influenced how people remembered the object's location on day three," Bridge explained. "Retrieving the memory didn't simply reinforce the original association. Rather, it altered memory storage to reinforce the location that was recalled at session two."
Bridge's findings also were supported when she measured participants' neural signals --the electrical activity of the brain -- during session two. She wanted to see if the neural signals during session two predicted anything about how people remembered the object's location during session three.
The results revealed a particular electrical signal when people were recalling an object location during session two. This signal was greater when -- the next day -- the object was placed close to that location recalled during session two. When the electrical signal was weaker, recall of the object location was likely to be less distorted.
"The strong signal seems to indicate that a new memory was being laid down," Bridge said, "and the new memory caused a bias to make the same mistake again."
"This study shows how memories normally change over time, sometimes becoming distorted," Paller noted. "When you think back to an event that happened to you long ago -- say your first day at school -- you actually may be recalling information you retrieved about that event at some later time, not the original event."
###
The research was supported by National Science Foundation grant BCS1025697 and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health grant T32 NS047987.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The new Secretary of State, Maria Miller, yesterday came out in favour of civil marriage for same-sex couples. In her piece in the Independent's new comments section, she says:
At the moment the state does not support same-sex couples in the same way that it supports a man and woman choosing to celebrate their commitment. Many people in civil partnerships already refer to their partner as their "husband" or "wife", but they are not technically "married" and do not have the option to become so. I see no reason to perpetuate this.
This is good news. As someone in a heterosexual relationship, I have no interest in fitting my relationship into a predefined box with lots of associations that I personally dislike, but I think everyone should have the right to get married if they want to, regardless of their sexuality. The current set-up of civil partnerships for same-sex couples and marriages for heterosexual couples sends out a clear message that heterosexuality is more valued in our society than homosexuality, and that's wrong. Legalising same-sex marriage would also end the injustice of trans people's marriage's being invalidated when they change their legal gender.
However, I don't think Miller's piece is a "great article", as Stonewall tweeted earlier today. The Secretary of State's reasons for wanting to introduce civil marriage for same-sex couples are rooted in the conservative notion of marriage as the bedrock of society:
[Marriage] helps bind society together and strengthens our communities. [...] My view is simple; marriage is hugely important. It makes us stronger. Vital family ties will be forged when two people choose to commit. I believe that marriage is an institution that benefits Britain and extending it will make sure it stays as important - and relevant - as ever. Love, fidelity, commitment and stability are something to celebrate.
I find it disappointing that some gay marriage campaigners have been willing to use these kind of arguments to support their cause. Being in a signed and sealed monogamous sexual relationship does not make you any more valuable to society than someone who is single or poly or prefers to have close non-sexual relationships. An individual's ability to care for others, to contribute to their local community, to commit to their loved ones and to bring up children is not contingent on their marital status. Marriage doesn't magically stop abusive people being abusive or turn selfish people into pillars of society.
I don't believe that married couples - whether heterosexual, lesbian or gay - are deserving of any more social recognition than anyone else, let alone financial benefits granted through the tax system. If you feel marraige is right for you, then great, I'm happy for you. But it doesn't make you a better or more valuable person, as Maria Miller would have us believe. It doesn't mean that your relationship is any more important, committed or valid than any other form of relationship.
I don't support marriage rights for same-sex couples because I want to "strengthen" the "institution of marriage", as the Independent's petition text puts it. I have no love for an institution founded on the abuse and exploitation of millions of women, regardless of the different forms it may take today. I support equal marriage rights because I support equal legal rights for all and an end to homophobic discrimination. Buying into the conservative fetishising of marriage is unnecessary, and ignores the many people of all sexualities who are not or never will be married.
Photo of a white wedding cake decorated with lilacs by cpastrychef, shared under a Creative Commons licence.
Permalink // Tags: civil partnership, LGBT rights, marriage, relationships
Earlier today, rumors started circulating around the web about Microsoft having hired a former CBS executive to oversee the creation of original video content for the company's famed console. It didn't take long for the whispers to turn into something more concrete, however, as Redmond has now made it official, announcing that Nancy Tellem will be the outfit's Entertainment and Digital Media president. According to Microsoft, Tellem's set to take over a new production studio in Los Angeles, California -- one that's going to be in charge of developing "interactive and linear content for Xbox and other devices." Certainly this could be seen as a smart move from Microsoft in its quest to take over the living room reigns, which would make perfect sense given the Xbox's obvious transition from a simple gaming console to an all-around media hub. You'll find all the official details inside the presser below.
AKCAKALE, Turkey (Reuters) - Syrian rebels battled government forces near a Turkish border crossing on Tuesday and bullets flew into the northern neighbor that has backed the 18-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
The revolt, which began as peaceful street protests cracked down on by Assad's military, has escalated into a civil war in which over 27,000 people have died. Daily death tolls now approach 200 and the last month was the bloodiest yet.
In another bid to stem the bloodshed, Iran's foreign minister proposed a new regional monitoring mission ahead of talks with President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Wednesday, Iranian state media said. Two previous missions have collapsed.
From the Turkish side of the crossing with Tel Abyad, a Reuters witness heard sporadic, heavy machinegun fire and saw an ambulance nearby. A Turkish official said stray bullets hit some houses in the town of Akcakale, wounding at least one person, a woman.
He said the rebels were trying to gain control of Tel Abyad, which was a major crossing for Turkish-Syrian commerce in peacetime, and which rebels were rumored to have used for weapons smuggling in the past year.
It appeared to be the first attempt by insurgents to assert their grip over a border zone in al-Raqqa province, most of which has remained solidly pro-Assad.
Rebels hold two other crossings on the northern border with Turkey. A third border point would help strengthen their control in the north and put more pressure on the army as they battle for control of Syria's largest city Aleppo not far away.
Residents say only one town near the border has welcomed rebels in al-Raqqa province. The town held an anti-Assad protest on Tuesday, prompting government shelling, wounding several people, and fighting later erupted.
Parts of Syria's frontiers with Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq have become porous as the conflict spread. More than 200,000 refugees have poured into Turkey and Jordan to escape bombardment by pro-Assad forces in pursuit of rebels.
Shell fire has occasionally crashed over the borders, and the fighting has sometimes come so close that the armies of neighboring states have gone on high alert.
Syria's second and third cities, Aleppo and Homs, have been shattered by fighting. With the army relying on fighter jets and helicopter gunships and the rebels on makeshift bombs, neighborhoods in both cities have been leveled.
Damascus, once seen as an impregnable Assad stronghold, has also suffered near daily shelling and clashes on its outskirts.
At least five fighters and four soldiers died in the latest clashes on the capital's southern outskirts, the London-based Syrian Observatory or Human Rights said.
Security forces are trying to stamp out a rebel foothold in Damascus's southern and eastern suburbs.
Heavy army shelling battered rebellious towns in the southern Deraa region, fount of the uprising, and Idlib, in the north near the Turkish border. More than 60 people were killed nationwide before evening on Tuesday, the Observatory said.
IRAN PROPOSES NEW MONITORING MISSION
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi pitched his proposal for an observer force when a regional "contact group" met in Cairo on Monday, Iran's state news agency said. He said observers should come from the group's four member countries - Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Given mutual mistrust within the quartet, it was unclear whether Salehi's proposal had much prospect of success. The new grouping is an awkward combination of supporters and opponents of the uprising. Iran has stuck by Assad while Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey have demanded the president step down.
"Salehi suggested the sending of observers from the four countries to monitor the cessation of violence, the conducting of dialogue, emphasizing the need for a sense of integration and national unity and Syrian territory," IRNA news agency reported.
Two monitoring missions in Syria have already unraveled. The first, a regional Arab League group of observers, left in protest at a continued escalation of violence with little sign of political reform pledged by Assad. A United Nations mission pulled out most of its observers for similar reasons.
Violence has intensified and spread across this large, pivotal Arab country and more than 200,000 refugees have flooded into neighboring states.
Iraq, which in August closed its border crossings, reopened them on Tuesday to allow in 100 Syrian refugees per day. But Iraq will refuse entry to young men, officials said, citing security reasons, as many young men are believed to be rebels.
REGIONAL RIVALRIES POSE OBSTACLE
Western officials and diplomats are skeptical that the new Middle East contact group that convened in Cairo could reach any deal to draw down the spiraling violence in Syria.
The four countries have differences with sectarian and strategic dimensions that seem insurmountable.
Saudi Arabia and Turkey are actively supporting Syrian rebels and are believed to be training them as well. Other Sunni Muslim countries in the region are also throwing their weight behind the mostly Sunni-led uprising in Syria.
Shi'ite Muslim power Iran has supported Assad, whose Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, has dominated the country for decades. Tehran has acknowledged having members of its security forces there, but only in an advisory role. Rebels say that Iranian forces are helping Assad militarily.
Underlining the inherent tensions, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister stayed away from the Cairo meeting of the contact group on Monday. Egyptian officials did not say why no one else came in his place.
International powers seem to be equally deadlocked along old Cold War lines, with Western powers backing the Syrian opposition, and Russia and China blocking any U.N.-mandated intervention aimed at dislodging Assad.
Iranian state media said that Salehi, who like Moscow and Beijing has called for an internal resolution without foreign interference, was to meet Assad in Damascus on Wednesday and propose ways to resolve the Syrian crisis.
(Additional reporting by Jonathon Burch in Ankara, Zahra Hosseinian and Yeganeh Torbati in Dubai; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
September 17, 2012 on 12:19 pm | In Green Building, Green Cities, Green Houses, LEED, Trends, Uncategorized | No Comments
by Jodi Summers
Fresh out of college and ready for adventure, Millennials have been flocking to the downtown Los Angeles urban core. They?re looking for a lifestyle adventure before the responsibilities of marriage and family lead them to settle in. Experts point to several building trends that are very sexy to this demographic:
1. Green by Desire
Jill Heron chose her loft lease by Pershing Square because it?s centrally located, with ?access to just about everything. Lifestyle is important.?
Proximity to restaurants, entertainment and mass transit is important to this group that is now out on their own and spreading their wings for the first time.
2. Green by Mass Transit
Today?s new renters are a highly eco-conscious generation. Buses, trains and bike lanes are as important as cars to this green group.
Have you noticed the new transit villages that are being designed along the metro lines? They?re quite European style in that you can shop, get your dry cleaning and do everything you need in close proximity to your metro stop and your home.
3. The Green Home
We live in a green age. City codes, tenants, builders and developers are all moving toward green design. The benchmark is LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design) an international certification system which offers bronze, silver, gold, and platinum certification levels. Statewide we have the CalGreen Code, which is more like everytown?s way of going green. And, individual cities ? lead by the examples of West Hollywood and Santa Monica ? have passed their own green building codes.
4. The Green Shared Space
Less is more. There is a trend in small rental units, including micro-units and efficiency studios. These downsized units offer renters a more affordable, energy-saving housing alternative in dense neighborhoods, with shared multi-use spaces providing additional amenities.
Roof decks, atriums, the urban version of a vast front porch > common areas appeal to today?s renters. In dense neighborhoods, where living space is at a premium, renters revel in shared multi-use spaces which provide additional amenities.
?The rooms provide an efficient living space for tenants who are ?on the go? and don?t want the space (or expense) of a more traditional apartment,? observes Sarah Hatfield of architecture firm S + H Works.
5. Specialized Green Amenities.
Solar power, bike storage, garden space, pet areas, fitness rooms and even Zipcar parking are just a few examples of lifestyle design features that designers and developers are implementing to meet renter demands. Pet areas go a long way with renters, and will lead to a consistent stream of tenants and their pets.
Kirby Dick is a documentary filmmaker known for picking fights with powerful institutions that operate in secrecy. In the Oscar-nominated Twist of Faith, he scrutinized the abuses of the Catholic Church covering up for sexual predators. In 2006's This Film is Not Yet Rated, he hunted down the then-unknown members of the MPAA ratings board and delivered an overwhelming critique of their ratings hypocrisies. With The Invisible War, Dick has taken on a subject that's even more powerful. The Invisible War, which won some awards at the Sundance film festival, examines the rampant numbers of sexual assaults and rape within the military. Through extensive, emotionally draining interviews and enraging statistics, Dick shows that most of the victims, when courageous enough to report their abuse, are met with skepticism, contempt, and injustice. One interview subject says that being raped isn't what makes her angry the most: "It's the commanders that were complicit in covering up everything that happened." This is a shocking, sobering, and eye-opening documentary that deserves to be seen by every American. You owe it to the brave men and women who serve this country, to see this movie. The ugly truth needs to come out and be finally dealt with.
The upsetting statistics of sexual abuse within the military come from the Department of Defense, not an advocacy group, but our own government. Here are some of the most devastating stats:
-20 percent of all women in the military have been sexually assaulted and/or raped while serving.
-Women are twice as likely to be raped in the military rather than outside it.
-Military sexual assault/rape victims have a higher rate of PTSD than soldiers who have fought in combat.
This is a profoundly revolting, morally repugnant, and infuriating story presented with damning testimonials clear-eyed logic. When I left the theater, I was radiating unquenchable fury. You could have harnessed my rage as an alternative resource. A lot of people blithely say they support the troops but we as a nation are letting these brave men and women down. The system is letting these people down, protecting rapists, training them to be better rapists, and then setting them loose upon the civilian population to continue their heinous crimes (it's estimated the average sexual predator commits 300 acts in his or her lifetime). Listening to these heartbreaking stories can be grueling, but it is vital to listen. The women speak with such candor and bravery, befitting those ready to lay down their lives out of service for this country. But lest you believe this is merely a "women's issue," the film has a few interviews with male victims as well. With men outnumbering women six to one in the military, men are the majority of the victims of sexual abuse, a fact I doubt many would have known. As the experts attest, for an organization that rewards machismo, the shame for men can be compounded by the rampant homophobia within the American military culture.
It's sadly understandable that so many of the interview subjects contemplated or attempted suicide. "Suicide or AWOL, those are your only two real options," a military investigator laments. According to TIME's investigative report, one Iraq and/or Afghanistan veteran commits suicide every day in America. Now remember that stat above concerning PTSD, and think about what the suicide rate must be like for victims of sexual abuse. One military man, husband to a rape victim, breaks down in sobs recounting his phone call for help while he tried to stop his wife from taking her own life. Watching proud, grown men break down into tears when they try and make sense of their institution harming their wives or daughters, it's heartbreaking all its own. These veterans would not advise any woman to consider a career in the military, not when this is the sorry state of justice.
These victims were often handled with apathetic, callous, or downright hostile behavior, often being blamed for being attacked. These victims risked their careers to report their abuses, expecting some semblance of justice, and many times they were simply ignored or punished for "making waves." One interview subject talks about how her commanding officer related that he had heard about three rape accusations that week and incredulously asked if the women were all in cahoots. One woman was raped and then charged with adultery; she wasn't married but her rapist was, though he was never brought up on charges. Dick's documentary lays a clear argument that giving the commanding officers, people often without any legal training whatsoever, the power to prosecute cases leads to plenty of ignored abuses. In 2010, the military reported 3,158 reports of sexual abuse (remember that 80 percent of cases generally go unreported), but only one-sixth of those cases lead to a court martial and only 175 of the assailants served jail time. And when they do serve jail time, it's often knocked down to mere weeks. That way, the convicted serviceman doesn't get charged with a felony. This also means when they leave the military, the convicted sexual offender does not have to register with a national sex offender database. When investigations do arise, they are routinely stonewalled.
What emerges from this inflammatory documentary is that the command's response wasn't to protect the victims but to protect the accused, time and again. These commanders are supposed to be objective and impartial arbitrators, but this is hardly the case. It's all about saving face, and a commander looks bad when he has a rapist in his unit, so rather than expel and punish the rapist, the military often drops the case and punishes the victim. Sometimes the commanding officer the victims are supposed to report the abuse to was in fact the perpetrator. In those instances, the victims have no possible path to justice. Major General Mary Kay Kellogg, Director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (DOSAPRO), said victims could appeal to the Defense Department's Attorney General, hence going over their commander's head. Except that of the almost 3,000 cases sent to the DOD AG, not a single case was ever prosecuted. Kellogg also absurdly suggests that victims petition their Congressman. Just imagine a civilian being raped and told, "Better ask your Congressman if you want justice."
The response to the systemic abuses has been ineffectual. The military response was to raise awareness, not sift out rapists from the ranks and protect their own soldiers from sexual predators. The ad campaign to raise awareness is jaw-dropping, with slogans like, "Wait til she's sober," and a horrendously ear-splitting rap song about sexual assault prevention. It's so bad you can almost feel the seething resentment of the military. There's also an informative video with a dramatization of a woman, fleeing helplessly after a man tries to touch her (the fact that this dramatization makes the woman look silly is intentional, me thinks). This woman runs into another serviceman who admonishes her, "Where's your buddy?" The implication is that women should know that they can be raped at any time unless accompanied by a buddy. Does this not imply that every man in the military is capable of rape at the drop of a hat? And what if that buddy ends up being your rapist? The military builds a greater sense of camaraderie, and the men and women in uniform feel like a family. As one interview subject notes, when one soldier rapes another, it is akin to a crime of incest, a betrayal of that family. One victim was told she brought on the sexual harassment because of what she was wearing... which just happened to be her military uniform.
Dick's film is obviously advocating a very specific side, but who cares about the idea of presenting balance given the subject? The Department of Defense spokespersons and their rote, officious responses are edited for some major points of baffled, incredulous laughter, as we contrast their company line with the testimonials of the men and women they failed to protect. Again, I return to the notion that not every story has two sides. What exactly is the other side in this epidemic of abuses? What possibly could the merits of the other side be, the status quo? This is not just some anti-military screed. In fact, many of the participants speak so highly of the ideals of the military, the duty to serve, and their genuine feelings of belonging to these hallowed institutions. This makes their disillusionment all the more distressing. Almost every interview subject has a military background, some discharged and some retired, and the movie presents its claims with clear, level evidence. The testimonials are so damming, the abuses so clearly documented, the obfuscation from justice so repeatedly maintained, that I cannot even fathom a second side to this story. When it comes to sexual assault, there is only one side to this issue.
Dick also doesn't overplay the obvious emotional appeals in the film. There is plenty, but he doesn't sensationalize the drama or amplify the emotions in a self-serving manner. Instead, the film looks to clearly examine a systematic problem. Rather than deal only with potent outrage, Dick's film is also a call to action with some strong ideas on how to better protect the victims of sexual abuses. Set up an independent system of justice outside of the commanders' control, and work on preventing rapists from joining the military rather than cutting down the possibilities of how women can be raped. How about we punish the guilty party?
Last year, a group of veterans who had been sexually abused, initiated a class-action lawsuit against the military. This suit was dismissed by the court because, in their words, rape was an "occupational hazard of military service." Reread that sentence again. Let it sink in. Now ask yourself is that at all acceptable given the values we profess for our country? The culture within the military is simply that rape and sexual abuses are just not that big of a deal (a Congresswoman admits that the Defense AG told her they have "other, higher priorities" to worry about), and so it all continues. The implication is that for the military to function, you're going to have to excuse some excess, that excess being an estimated 30,000 sexual assaults a year. I'd like the military brass to explain to me what number would be unacceptable. How prevalent do these abuses need to be before proper action is taken, and not some facile PR, face-saving empty gesture, but something real? To me, one rape is one too many.
Dick's excoriating advocacy documentary is powerful, furious, but sensitive to the victims and their horrifying ordeals. It declares that we can and should do better. In April, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta watched The Invisible War and two days later made some changes. He took the decision to prosecute away from the commanders. It's a start, but there's a long way to go to fixing the military's patronizing view of women. The movie opens with a series of advertisements targeted at women through the years, and the treatment is astoundingly patronizing and the film's only spot of bleak humor. At one point, one of the victims asks if she and her fellow victims hypothetically deserve purple hearts for being wounded in battle too. "We're never going to get anything," another replies. These victims deserve recognition and justice, which has long been denied them. You won't see a more challenging, infuriating, and compelling documentary of this year. It's hard to watch at many points, and I cried at five separate occasions, but this is a movie that needs to be watched. I invite all readers to visit the Not Invisible site and consider joining the advocacy of this noble cause. You say you support the troops? Prove it.
Nate's Grade: A
The Leica deluge continues here at Photokina in Cologne. We played around with two new point-and-shoots from the company, starting with the D-Lux 6, the larger and pricier of the pair. The camera features an all black body, with a red Leica logo on the front. It's got a 1.7-inch CMOS image sensor, a processor capable of ISO 80 to 12800 and adjustable aperture on the lens that can be changed with a twist. It's also got a large three-inch display on the rear and is capable of full HD video.
The cheaper V-Lux 40 features a similar all-black build with red logo in a smaller form, with a 1/2.33-inch CMOS sensor. On the rear of the camera, you'll find a three-inch touch display with the same bright resolution as the D-Lux 6. The camera, which bears a striking resemblance to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20, can also do 1080p video. The V-Lux is available now here in Europe for €590 and the D-Lux is coming soon, priced at €699.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The government's monthly jobs report has become Washington's most anticipated and studied economic indicator, pounced upon by politicians, economists and journalists for snap judgments as the presidential election nears. But in the real world, most everybody else just looks around and figures things out for themselves.
Is that steel plant closing? Are Ford or General Motors rehiring? How much are those groceries? What's a full tank of gas going to run me? How much is our house worth? How's that 401(k) doing? When will I find another job? Will our college-educated daughter ever find work and move out.
These are the kinds of questions economists and pollsters say are on people's minds more than government statistics.
"People are not looking at these government reports to decide how the economy is doing, or how well they or their neighbors are doing. They know from their own daily experience," Democratic pollster Mark Mellman said.
"The flow of economic news matters," but only to supplement what their own eyes tell them, Mellman added.
Given that the unemployment rate hasn't dipped below 8 percent since the first month of President Barack Obama's term, Republicans are seizing on the new jobs numbers that come out the first Friday of each month. The GOP is using the fresh figures to batter the president and revive the question famously asked by Ronald Reagan in 1980: "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"
"We're going in the wrong direction," GOP nominee Mitt Romney contends. "This president ... doesn't understand what it takes to make our economy work. I do."
The latest numbers show a jobless rate of 8.1 percent for August, with monthly job creation an anemic 96,000, not enough to even match the growth in working-age population. It's doubtful the picture will improve much by Election Day. No president since Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s has won re-election with an unemployment so high.
Unemployment for Roosevelt was then about 15 percent, but falling from around 25 percent. Momentum and direction do count for something.
The economy has lost a staggering 8.8 million jobs in the downturn and has clawed back only 4.1 million. Just two jobs reports remain before the Nov. 6 election ? on Oct. 5 and Nov. 2 ? and they could be crucial to the outcome.
"To the average person, the economy is a very personal thing," says White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer. He said people look at different factors.
But which ones?
"Jobs is still No. 1," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "It's at the top of everyone's list. People might not know the government jobs number that comes out each month, but they see it every day in their lives." A close second right now, Zandi says, are gasoline prices, with the national average grazing $4 a gallon. But otherwise, inflation is generally muted.
Dan Connaghan, 69, a retiree in Traverse City, Mich., who supports Romney, agrees. "Unemployment figures don't have an effect on my vote." He questions their accuracy. But he also says there's one thing he knows for sure: "We're worse off than we were four years ago. No doubt about it."
Pollster Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center, said the government numbers "give people a basis of confirmation of their own sense about the economic issues that are the most important to them. And right now, it's jobs."
Only 10 percent of the people in a recent Pew survey consider today's economic conditions "excellent" or "good," Kohut said.
To homeowners, the value of their house ranks high. With nearly half the nation's adult population owning stocks and other securities, mostly through 401(k) and similar programs at work or in pension funds, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is paid some heed.
At its Friday close, the Dow marked its highest level since December 2007, the first month of the recession.
Other reports are more ominous.
The government reported this past week that the income of the typical American household has fallen to levels last seen in 1995.
Interest rates are also followed by many. When they're low, as now, it means individuals and businesses with good credit can borrow money at exceptionally low rates.
But there is a down side. For savers and seniors on fixed-income, there are paltry payouts on balances often drawing interest of 1 percent or less. This only adds to anxiety, particularly among baby boomers and other older Americans, especially given the softness in housing prices.
Jabril Shaikh, 27, of Milwaukee, works at a temporary job in the legal department at a JPMorgan Chase bank. He considers himself underemployed and says he works with a lot of lawyers who are deeply in debt but are only temporary workers. "It's really sad and frustrating ... but this is all I can get right now, you know?"
Leaning toward Obama, he said the unemployment rate will be a factor in his vote for president. But he's also taking into account other social issues.
Jonathan Ketcham, an Arizona State University associate professor who studies the link between local and state economies and presidential elections, said that, contrary to what many political operatives believe, voters are actually more influenced in their presidential decision by the national economy than by state or local conditions.
"We found that, going back to 1932, a state's unemployment rate had no ability to predict voting for president," he said. Furthermore, he said, despite the GOP four-year "are you better off" question, "we found that most people only pay attention to the most recent year, not to the past four years."
He said he views this as evidence that "people are rightly holding presidents accountable for the performance of the national economy." If true, that could be an important factor in this year's swing states that will likely determine the election outcome.
They're nearly evenly divided between states with jobless rates lower than the 8.1 percent national average, such as Ohio, Iowa, Virginia, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, and battleground states with higher rates such as Florida, Colorado, Michigan, North Carolina and Nevada.
Heading into the home stretch, Obama leads Romney in Florida, Ohio and Virginia, according to new post Labor-Day NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls.
"I think that in general, Obama's whole economic plan isn't working. Obviously people have been unemployed for a long time," said Rob Sheehy, 41, of Saukville, Wis., an information technology consultant who generally votes Republican. "I definitely do think it's time for a change and we need to try something else."
___
Associated Press writers Paul Wiseman and Alan Fram in Washington, Carrie Antlfinger in Wisconsin and John Flesher in Michigan contributed.
___
Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_suvvevIkM0_iLZEWdDnMFcqbvMzJLAWPAMLlO7_ebJ3gu-Lqe9dbEeGPkSXQpbeuIS8JtW-PebS8BkJ7c7_LATlpxefyKhXshrfWWzh4M=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 19-Sep-2012
Share ] 
The new Secretary of State, Maria Miller, yesterday came out in favour of civil marriage for same-sex couples. In her piece in the Independent's new comments section, she says:
Fresh out of college and ready for adventure, Millennials have been flocking to the downtown Los Angeles urban core. They?re looking for a lifestyle adventure before the responsibilities of marriage and family lead them to settle in. Experts point to several building trends that are very sexy to this demographic:
4. The Green Shared Space
