#and im concerned that including white prominently in a 'look at this thing that looks like the African American pride flag!' pay would be

[unintentional-pride]

Unintentionally lesbian, gay, and bear yarns at Walmart today!

[xbuster]

I'm not trying to be a smartass im genuinely curious, but isn't race genetic? Wouldn't that be biological? I'm confused

Just like gender theory, the first thing you learn about racial theory is that it’s a social construct. Race is about social perceptions of physical traits, it has nothing to do with biological genotypes.

Race is instead usually interpreted by a body’s expression of phenotypes. The way we categorize these phenotypes is incredibly arbitrary and associated with political lines separating the world by country and grouping countries with similar features. There is no gene in your body that says “this person is white,” or “black,” or “Asian.”

Race is very much a self-identifier and this is easily seen in people of mixed race. If someone had a black parent and a white parent, they may choose to identify as “white,” “black,” or “mixed.” This may even go against how we would categorize the features they most prominently display. There is also the fact that people of the same race can look wildly different (like compare southern Italians to the Irish. They’re both considered white but have very little overlap in regards to expressed phenotypes).

It would be disingenuous to say race is just like gender, but being social constructs, they do have similarities. Race is informed by genotypes expressed through phenotypes, like how gender is informed by sex chromosomes, but determined by other means including self-identification and expression.

If someone was to undergo surgery to look like another race, how would we even define that person’s race? Their features are then expressed in different ways that no longer express race in the traditional way we may think. Consider how people would say Michael Jackson “turned white.” This is the kind of problem that arises through socially constructed categorization. As a kid, I had a Jewish friend who considered himself Jewish by race and we just kind of respected that even though he would traditionally be considered white by looking at him. That is race by self-identification.

Race as a social construct is honestly not discussed enough in leftists circles, so I can understand why you would not know about this. We tend to be more concerned about ethnic struggles that are informed by race and residence rather than racial grouping itself. Which is fair! Race’s biggest purpose is to inform ethnicity (but not determine it!). I think it’s worth having bigger talks on race and the importance/ unimportance of separating people by race and where we draw the lines between races and why.

[incendavery]

I saw your tag so: What’s your opinion on the Cats the musical trailer?

here are some of my opinions on cats the movie:  

i never thought cats the musical would ever be a relevant topic ever

i especially never thought it would be relevant because cats the musical is getting a movie adaption. i thought it was pretty incredible the dvd had even been made.

obviously theyll include ‘memory’ but i also hope theyll include ‘grizabella the glamor cat’. (on that note i don’t know what i like better the idea of bombalurina and demeter knowing and having bad blood with grizabella or of them being these two mean randos who are just maliciously narrating her movements and i wonder which it will be, if either, in the movie)

obviously they’ll put in an extraneous love story between victoria and mr mistoffeelees (i assume thats who the black and white cat is? the two do have a dance duet in ‘invitation to the jellical ball’ in the dvd version)

if i were doing it id make the love story between victoria and jemima/sillabub. it would be very symbolic, as vitoria has no singing parts and jemima/sillabub has one of the most beautiful singing parts, and theyre both sort of connected to grizabella who is basically the only semblance of plot in the original and the whole concern is symbolic for LOVE and the POWER IT HAS TO SAVE US. itd be cool!!

im hyped out of my MIND for an mckellen as gus the theater cat i don’t care if its super on the nose

you know what im GLAD the designs look so cursed now maybe people will realize the that the costumes from the original Are Good Actually

if “catsonas” dont become a thing i will eat my hat

not wild about taylor swift tbh. i wonder if her bombalurina and daniela norman (who i know nothing about but i almost always prefer casting stage actors to screen actors)’s demeter will each get a similar amount of lines/prominence as the characters do in the original

i liked james corben in into the woods and im prepared to like him as bustopher jones

i remember rebel wilson doing a solid job in pitch perfect and im sure she’ll do a reasonable job as jennyanydots

 i had assumed that judi dench would be playing grizabella but no shes old deuteronomy which is legitimately really cool

i hope dialog is minimal and we just go from one song to another with as little explaination or context as possible

OK IM CUTTING MYSELF OFF.... you get the picture im EXCITED!!

[samingtonwilson]

taal can we talk about the bollywood a-listers sTILL sitting with their lips sealed about all the stuff happening in india rn?! i mean i get that publicists are a thing but seriously. nothing!? wasn’t priyanka chopra the brand ambassador of assam when the nrc first got implemented? and while she’s being cradled in her white husband’s arms millions of people are fucking dying because they’re voicing concerns about THIER government? (1/2)

i’m sick and tired of nepotism-endorsing biggies claiming they’re being victimised because they have rich parents every time they’re asked to make a statement about their validity in the industry but when they have to actually speak up about an issue, they’re nowhere to be seen. (2/2)

okay so i think there’s a lot to unpack here so bear with me, this will be long.

i do agree that it’s disheartening that they are not outwardly vocal at ALL about the growing number of atrocities against anyone with the right mind to speak up against a horribly right-winged government that is fussing with laws to make religious discrimination and violence more prominent and frequent. i agree entirely. 

HOWEVER, i do think that is us looking at it without taking the consequences into consideration. deepika padukone, who for all intents and purposes is the biggest actress in india right now/has been for the last 7 years, received death threats (to be literally BEHEADED) for playing padmavati by those same right wingers and is now being told god knows what on her instagram after she showed solidarity with the students impacted by violence at the hands of the bjp. her stardom, her worldwide fame isn’t stopping people from threatening her. it isn’t stopping anyone from painting her out as “anti-india” like they’ve called ANYONE who has said anything remotely critical of modi and his goons. it genuinely isn’t stopping her from having feared for her life. i think they managed to attack the padmavat sets and sanjay leela bhansali, too. 

so i think when you consider the consequences that include literal violence, death threats, and destruction of their careers, their silence becomes a little understandable. NOT ENTIRELY EXCUSABLE, but understandable. the result is always persecution, in some shape or form. 

priyanka, on the other hand, is going out of her way to praise modi. she isn’t silent– she’s OUTWARDLY SUPPORTING a regime systematically stripping muslims of legal status, of autonomy of any kind, of just the right to live peacefully. she’s also shutting people with valid points who ask how she can reconcile her being a peace ambassador and supporting all of this down by claiming it is a result of patriotism rather than clear islamophobia and hindu extremism. im not gonna say anything about her man though because i don’t think her relationship needs to be brought into this. 

as for nepotism, i agree with you that all of these starkids run around like woe is me each time someone brings up the ease with which they’ve gotten the opportunities they have. i’ve said it before but they have ACCESS above all else which is the biggest privilege in an industry like this. people work YEARS to even gain an inch whereas these kids are in the rooms, auditioning, getting their first roles without struggles. siddhant chaturvedi said it right when he said, basically, that when you’re an “outsider” your dreams are coming true the minute you get your debut role and your struggle seems to have ended. whereas when you’re “from the industry” your struggle begins after your debut film because that’s when it matters less who you’re related to and matters more what you can do. but oh no, woe is me, people have expectations!! fuck off 

i don’t think i covered everything i wanted to and forgive me if i’m not making much sense. it’s nearly midnight and i’m v tired :(

[tuthillscopes-blog]

Milky Way no longer visible to one third of humanity, light pollution atlas shows

check it out @ https://tuthillscopes.com/milky-way-no-longer-visible-to-one-third-of-humanity-light-pollution-atlas-shows/

Milky Way no longer visible to one third of humanity, light pollution atlas shows

Scientists describe cultural lack of unparalleled magnitude as global atlas reveals extent of sunshine pollution within the worlds skies

It’s inspired astronomers, artists, musicians and poets however the Milky Way turn into a remote memory for a lot of humanity, a brand new global atlas of sunshine pollution suggests.

The research reveals that 60% of Europeans and almost 80% of Americans cannot begin to see the glowing gang of our universe due to the results of artificial lighting, even though it is imperceptible towards the entire populations of Singapore, Kuwait and Malta.

Overall, the Milky Way is not visible to several third from the worlds population.

Lead author Fabio Falchi in the Light Pollution Science Institute in Italia stated the problem would be a cultural lack of unparalleled magnitude.

Chris Elvidge of america National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration along with a co-author from the study, added the occasions he’s seen the Milky Way happen to be magical encounters.

Through our technology weve stop that possibility for big figures of individuals for multiple generations now, he stated. Weve lost something – but how can we place value onto it?

Explained John Milton like a broad and ample road whose dust is gold, and pavement stars, the Milky Strategy is so obscured through the results of modern lighting that it’s no more visible to 77% from the United kingdom population, using the universe masked from view across nearly 14% of the nation, including regions stretching from London to Liverpool and Leeds.

Further afield, areas round the metropolitan areas of Hong Kong, Beijing along with a large stretch from the New England of the usa are among individuals in which a peek at the galactic band is unthinkable – a scenario also found across a lot of Qatar, holland and Israel. In Belgium, it can’t be viewed in 51% of the nation.

Humanity has surrounded our world inside a luminous fog that stops the majority of Earths population from getting the chance to look at our universe, the authors write.

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The bright areas on the map show where the glow from artificial lighting blots out the stars and constellations. Photograph: University of Colorado/PA

Published in the journal Science Advances by an worldwide group of scientists, the study is dependant on data collected from space through the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite, along with computer types of sky luminescence and professional and citizen science measurements of sky brightness obtained from the floor.

The resulting global atlas reveals that giant swaths of humanity experience light pollution, including greater than 99% of individuals living in america and also the Eu. People living near Paris would need to travel 900km to areas as a result central Scotland, Corsica or central The country to locate a region with night skies almost unpolluted by light, the authors add.

By comparison, Central African Republic and Madagascar are some of the countries least impacted by light pollution, with nearly the whole of Greenland boasting pristine skies.

Before the creation of night-time lighting grew to become really prominent within the 19th and 20th centuries, everyone could have been acquainted with the Milky Way, stated Marek Kukula, public astronomer in the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, who had been not active in the study. We have seen it in mythology concerning the sky, in most cultures all over the world. It is among the apparent aspects of heaven combined with the stars, the planets and also the moon.

When light from your streetlamps, homes and illuminations is tossed up in to the sky it bounces off particles and moisture tiny droplets within the atmosphere and it is scattered, leading to artificial sky glow – among the important aspects adding to light pollution. The upshot is the fact that spectacles such as the Milky Way may become obscured from view.

The night time sky belongs to our natural heritage. It’s beautiful, it’s awe-inspiring or being able to see it’s a method for us to connect with the broader world and understand our devote natural world, stated Kukula. When we lose that it’s a shame because we’ve lost that direct reference to something larger than us then one that’s very beautiful.

The problem turn into worse. Based on the new study, if all sodium lighting is substituted for awesome white-colored Brought lighting, artificial sky brightness seen across Europe could greater than double because of the rise in blue-light emission.

Also it isnt only our look at the night time sky that’s impacted by light pollution. There’s also biological consequences, not just on wild birds and insects and mammals, but additionally even on humans, stated Elvidge, mentioning the light pollution can disrupt natural conduct of creatures and it has elevated numerous human health concerns.

It’s not all disaster and gloom. Regardless of the Milky Way being masked from view in lots of metropolitan areas over the United kingdom you may still find regions of the nation where you’ll be able to obtain a good look at the night time sky. There are numerous dark sky parks and reserves within the United kingdom that have been worldwide certified through the International Dark Sky Association to possess lower levels of sunshine pollution – places like Galloway Forest Park, stated Kukula, adding that various online tools will help direct stargazers right area of the sky.

However the authors from the new study say more must be completed to tackle the problem of sunshine pollution. Among possible measures, states Elvidge, are using more shielded street lighting, motion-activated lights and cut-off occasions for illuminating structures.

Kukula concurs, It’ll reduce our power bills, it’ll reduce our carbon footprint, it will not modify the lighting we have around the roads, he stated. And it’ll let us see a lot of wonders from the night sky.

Our children and grandchildren won’t ever observe that beauty

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Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE . Photograph: Richard Saker for the Observer

We are here on planet Earth but we live in a huge cosmos, and its one of the things that links us to our position in the universe. And so it is wonderful to see it. I think by looking up at the stars we have endeavoured to do so many things, weve sent probes to Pluto and beyond, and if we lose contact with that I think we lose some of our ability to dream and to aspire. It starts with the Milky Way but where will it end?

I spent a wonderful six months working at a telescope in Chile, at the Gemini telescope, and there we could actually see [the Milky Way] – it did look like a path across the sky. It has inspired songs, it has inspired people to great endeavours and so I think the more light pollution there is the more we miss out on that, and the generations to come will never see that beauty.

Maggie Aderin-Pocock, space researcher and presenter from the Sky during the night

I’m possibly more inspired through the Milky Way than any artist that has ever resided

For me personally the Milky Way continues to be an unfailing supply of inspiration and question, as fundamental element of my identity as the truth that I survive Earth within our Solar System.

I’ve been a separate evangelist for that universe, and am possibly more inspired through the Milky Way than any artist that has ever resided.

I deplore the barriers we’ve erected that block the vista for many of Earths people. Nothing can obvious your brain, elevate the soul, or inspire curiosity greater than the Milky Way.

Jon Lomberg, artist and principal artistic collaborator of astronomer Carl Sagan

Its essential that it is not just astronomers who worry about this

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Martin Rees, the astronomer royal. Photograph: David Levenson/Getty Images

The night sky is the most universally-shared part of our environment. Its been gazed and wondered at, throughout history, by people in all parts of the world. Its indeed a sad deprivation that many young people have never seen a clear starry sky. And its important that its not just astronomers who care about this.

Im not an ornithologist, but Id feel deprived if songbirds disappeared from my garden. Likewise, there would surely be widespread sadness if light pollution screened out our celestial environment from ever more of us.

Lord Martin Rees, astronomer royal

The Milky Strategy is our link to another

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Ben Miller, comedian and author of The Aliens Are Coming! Photograph: Jim Ashcroft/ Dan Clifton/ Abigail Adams/BBC

The Milky Way is our link to the Other: to the lost civilisations out there in the galaxy, so far away and so profligate that they appear not as stars, but as a single brush stroke of watery light. When we lose the Milky Way, we sever the umbilical cord that connects us to the wider universe.

Ben Miller, actor, comedian and author

We, within our ceaseless dash to earn money and canopy the planet with concrete, have forfeit this priceless treasure

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Former guitarist of Queen, Brian May. Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA

Its not just the Milky Way [people] cant see. Who in the 21st Century has ever seen the Zodiacal Light – that beautiful cone of dusty light that can even outshine the Milky Way, a thrill to see if you are lucky enough to have dark skies where you live. And probably about 10,000 stars that the three Wise Men on their way to Bethlehem would have been able to see are all invisible to us in the cities, where we are swamped by mainly unnecessary stray light. From my roof in Kensington on a clear night I can see roughly 30 stars – its a tragedy, really. Along with all the other excesses of what we call civilisation, our first-hand awareness of the cosmos has been forgotten.

We are so fortunate to be living on a planet that gives us a view, not only of our own Solar System companions: the planets, comets, etc – but also of countless stars in our own Milky Way Galaxy. Because of this weve been able make the foundations of cosmology, discovering the very nature of the vast universe around us. From our position out on a spiral arm of the Galaxy, we see both inwards towards the centre of the Galaxy and outwards towards its edge. The billions of stars in the Galactic plane show up as a milky light which has enchanted people from the dawn of history. But we, in our ceaseless dash to make money and cover the world with concrete, have lost this priceless treasure. Along with almost all our wildlife, our contact with Nature, and our humanity.

Brian May, astrophysicist and lead guitarist of Queen

We ought to act to safeguard our capability to benefit from the world

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Professor Lucie Green. Photograph: Penguin Random House

The Milky Way evokes a feeling of awe when I see it. It always has and it always will. This is partly because it is rare to see now due to light pollution. Its analogous to spotting a rare bird in your back garden. But I have many memories of seeing this band of hazy light from the dark skies of my village when I was younger. To be able to see the collective light from the stars making up our own galaxy gives a tantalising sense of the enormity of our universe and the structures within it. That so few people are now able to see now the Milky Way is a great loss. We are forcing ourselves to look inward and not outward. And just as we bemoan the loss of our countryside we should act to protect our ability to enjoy the universe. If we dont, its inspirational value will be untapped and a site of scientific interest will be rendered accessible only using professional telescopes on mountains or on spacecraft.

Lucie Green, Professor of Physics at College College, London and presenter from the Sky during the night

Find out more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jun/10/milky-way-no-longer-visible-to-one-third-of-humanity-light-pollution

[viralhottopics]

With A Stroke Of A Pen, Trump May Have Sparked An American Brain Drain

Mohammed Salih is precisely the type of academic the United States would want to keep within its borders: a 33-year-old doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvanias Annenberg School for Communicationstudying how extremist movements in the Middle East use and manipulate the media.

Its a research area with obvious implications for counterterrorism operations. And its one that Salih wants to continue pursuing in the United States after he gets his degree.

But Salih, who is here on a student visa, has a problem. Hes from the Kurdistan region of Iraq, which means that under President Donald Trumps executive order designed to impede the worst outcomes of extremism he would be prohibited for the next 90 days from coming back into the country should he leave.

And he needs to leave. His research brings him back to Iraq as well as to various international conferences. He attended one in Beirut just four days before Trumps inauguration. His family is in Iraq, too, and should there be an emergency, hed be forced to choose between uprooting his life or missing out on family events.

He is now contemplating the once unthinkable. After waiting seven months for his first visa and four months for his second, hes now waiting 90 days to see if the suspension of refugees and travelers from Iraq and six other countries is lifted. If it is not, hell explore greener career pastures outside of the United States.

Before coming to Annenberg, I had admission from Concordia University in Montreal, which is also a good school. And when I was weighing my option, I was thinking quite a bit about it given the rhetoric in the primaries, Salih said. At the end, because of Annenbergs standing and reputation, I decided I would want to come here. And you can imagine, right now, im sort of wondering quite a bit if I made the right decision. Im actually wondering whether I should have not picked the school in Canada and gone there.

After just 10 days in office, Trump has shaken the world of science and academia. Its not just the general skepticism that he and his Cabinet seem to bring to some fields (predominantly climate science) or the promises hes made to tighten the nations discretionary spending, which could come at the price of federally funded scientific research. The Trump White Houses decision to clamp down on communication from various federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, has left researchers frightened over political influence seeping into their work. And his executive order has left students and scientists in limbo, removed from their classrooms and work.

Advocates are warning that the inhospitable environment will lead, quite quickly, to a brain drain. A young generation of thinkers, academics and researchers might simply look to other countries to conduct their work.

We understand that a strong visa policy is important for our national security. But if we abandoned our goal here of attracting the best and brightest, the long-term implications are serious for our leadership in the world, said Association of American Universities President Mary Sue Coleman. I would have a tough time, if I felt that we couldnt be welcoming as a country, telling a student that he or she should come here.

Stefan Wermuth / Reuters

Protests of Trump’s order have extended overseas, including this one in London. Other countries might benefit, however, if top scientists choose not to work in the U.S.

Already, the beginning of brain drain is taking shape. Coleman said the Institute for International Education estimates 16,000 to 17,000 students hold valid visas from the seven countries were listed in Trumps executive order. Many prominent schools spoke out in concernMonday, while entire research labs were thrown into uncertainty.

Beyond that, there are faculty and university staff from those seven countries who are unable to leave the U.S. now or, in some cases, return to their classrooms. Two associate professors at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth were detained at Bostons Logan International Airport over the weekend. A Yale professor was separated from his wife and newborn, who were visiting family, while a professor at Middlebury College remained decamped in Iran with his two children waiting for further guidance on whether hed be allowed back into the United States with his green card. The Association of American Medical Colleges warned that its ability to attract top talent from around the world was being threatened.

Scientific consortiums and organizations are planning to move conferences overseas for fear that they couldnt have full attendance under the constructs of Trumps order. The International Astronomical Union urged U.S. officials to reconsider their screening measures, noting that they had hosted a conference in Hawaii in 2015 with about 3,000 astronomers, including some from the seven targeted countries. Wendy Naus, executive director of the Consortium of Social Science Associations, said that, on a phone call to discuss the executive order Monday morning, two members of a group of scientific societies pushed to move their conferences to Canada.

People are scrambling right now in the scientific community to figure out all the ways it plays out and what it means for grad students, innovation and the private sector, Naus said. If it is a glitch or a blip, and the outrage is heard and things go back, the damage isnt done. But if it is the new normal, then, yeah, we are risking our competitive advantage. These are fundamentally things weve never confronted before.

Chris Wattie / Reuters

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been more welcoming to refugees and could see an upswing in scientists coming to Canada as a result.

As the United States begins closing its doors on foreign-based scientists, other countries are sensing an opportunity. Kaz Nejatian, co-founder and CEO of Kash, a next-generation payment company, promised to connect those turned down for H-1B visas (which Trump is rumored to be targeting for restrictions) with Canadian tech companies who are hiring. Meanwhile, U.S.-based tech companies at least those who spoke out were uniform in their disapproval of the executive order, noting that theyd be left without the ability to recruit from some of the best workforce pools.

Lawmakers are acutely aware of this issue, not least because many hail from districts with universities and others receive campaign donations from groups and industries affected by the executive order. But the prevailing sentiment within the White House has been against opening up U.S. borders.

Thats a real problem, said Liz Mair, a pro-immigration Republican strategist, both in terms of risking longer-term brain-drain but also in terms of actual direct, day-to-day health care where America is very reliant on foreign nationals something that might change in 10 years but cant change in the course of 72 hours and might matter to a lot of people in the next 90 days.

The concerns for science and research advocates go beyond immigration policy. Apparent gag orders at the EPA along with the fear of belt-tightening from Congress will sour the scientific climate and drain the pool of funds for prospective researchers. In that environment, the more established scientists with better known projects tend to thrive, while the younger ones flounder, become discouraged and look elsewhere.

Naomi Charalambakis, 26, a U.S. citizen, is a third-year doctoral student at the University of Louisville, studying anatomy and neurobiology. But upon graduation, she plans to leave the field. Part of it is a lifestyle decision, an eagerness to have a family and a 9-to-5 job. But the funding climate is also daunting: Her mentor, she said, has stopped ordering lab supplies over concerns that appropriations will dwindle. And her career choice is a reflection of that.

After earning her doctorate, Charalambakis plans to come to Washington, D.C., to advocate for expanded budgets at the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and elsewhere.

My colleagues are frustrated and dont know what to do. A lot of them say they dont know if they can continue in the lab and are wondering if they will have to start all over and have another career entirely. I feel we just cant be quiet.

Read more: http://ift.tt/2kN7RDP

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