Homophobe Margaret Court: Livid Over Marriage Equality in Australia
If Australians voting “yes” to marriage didn’t upset Court enough, Martina Navratilova dragged her on Twitter about the upcoming holidays.
www.advocate.com/world/2017/11/16/homophobe-margaret-court-livid-over-marriage-equality-australia
Vote now in the 2017 ‘Best of GayCities’
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Trees Can Fight Air Pollution And Reduce Asthma Attacks In Urban Areas
A new study from the University of Exeter has found that trees could be serve an additional function in the battle against air pollution.
The study found that in heavily polluted neighbourhood an increased number of trees actually reduced the amount of people who were admitted to hospital with asthma attacks.
Published in the journal Environment International, the study looked at over 650,000 serious asthma attacks over a 15 year period. It then compared emergency hospitalisations across 26,000 urban neighbourhoods in England.
In the worst polluted areas the data was loud and clear – trees made all the difference.
“We wanted to clarify how urban vegetation may be related to respiratory health.” explains Dr Ian Alcock, research fellow at the University of Exeter’s Medical School.
“We know that trees remove the air pollutants which can bring on asthma attacks, but in some situations they can also cause localised build-ups of particulates by preventing their dispersion by wind. And vegetation can also produce allergenic pollen which exacerbates asthma.”
What they found however was that despite these concerns, the increased vegetation did significantly more good than harm.
What’s interesting is that this only applies to trees in particular.
Increased use of parks, or green spaces can reduce asthma attacks but only at low pollution levels. Using them to combat high pollution areas just simply wasn’t effective.
Instead trees can very effectively remove pollutants from the air, even at extraordinarily high levels.
The team hope that their findings can help inform local councils in their urban planning policies – creating environments that balance each other out and ultimately result in a space that prioritises air quality.
There are public health implications as well, over 5.4 million people receive treatment for asthma in the UK which costs the NHS around £1 billion every single year.
While London continues to struggle with its own air pollution issues, cities like Paris have already started trialling projects to try and combat the global problem.
In 2016 Paris trialled a series of ‘smart trees’. The “trees” combine a vertically-installed moss culture with air pollution monitors and reduce fine dust and nitrous oxides 275 times more efficiently than normal trees, according to the manufacturer.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/trees-can-fight-air-pollution-and-reduce-asthma-attacks-in-urban-areas_uk_5a0d978be4b0b37054f4c213
Once Denied, LGBTQ Couple Finds Joy in Foster Parenting
Kevin Spacey, Elephant Trophies, Tax Bill, Prince Harry, Tom Hardy, Leonardo da Vinci, Coldplay: HOT LINKS
TAX BILL. House passes rewrite of tax code in 227-205 vote: “Attention now turns to the Senate, which was grappling on Thursday with another setback after a congressional analysis found that their revised tax bill would actually raise taxes on lower-income Americans within a few years.” DEMS MOCK. “na na na na, hey hey, goodbye.” GOP NO. 13 House Republicans voted no.
WHO BENEFITS. Tax plan would save Trump and his family more than $1 billion.
PREDATOR. London’s Old Vic Theatre has received 20 allegations of sexual harassment against Kevin Spacey.
PUSSY-GRABBER IN CHIEF. Still hasn’t commented on Roy Moore, and now Al Franken.
WATCH: President Trump departs the Capitol after meeting with House Republicans ahead of tax bill vote t.co/AbfcqhrdIN
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 16, 2017
HILLARY CLINTON. She’s warning us again, but will we listen?
KILLING ELEPHANTS. Trump administration reversing ban on trophy elephants: “The decision, cheered by some hunting and gun rights groups, is a reversal of the policy under the Obama administration. The United States and international authorities say the African elephant is a threatened species, and the Obama administration argued that allowing trophy imports would harm the animals by encouraging killing them. The reversal is part of a wide-ranging effort by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, whose department includes the FWS, to promote hunting.”
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI. Prince William, Prince Harry, Tom Hardy, and Gary Barlow will all make cameos in the movie.
$450 MILLION. Leonardo da Vinci painting goes for record price: ‘The painting, called “Salvator Mundi,” Italian for “Savior of the World,” is one of fewer than 20 paintings by Leonardo known to exist and the only one in private hands.’
COVER OF THE DAY. Coldplay in Argentina cover “De Música Ligera”.
A powerful cover of De Musica Ligera by Argentinian superstars Soda Stereo.
R42 pic.twitter.com/RZnSQUDEy1— Coldplay (@coldplay) November 15, 2017
UPSETTING LOSS OF THE DAY. One million dollars.
THIRSTY THURSDAY. Bulim Nattha.
The post Kevin Spacey, Elephant Trophies, Tax Bill, Prince Harry, Tom Hardy, Leonardo da Vinci, Coldplay: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad.
Old Vic Apologizes After 20 Kevin Spacey Accusers Come Forward
Former staff members of the London theater where Spacey once worked have reported allegations of sexual misconduct.
www.advocate.com/crime/2017/11/16/old-vic-apologizes-after-20-kevin-spacey-accusers-come-forward
Australian senator moved to tears introducing Marriage Equality Bill into Parliament
“As a young man I never believed I could serve as a senior adviser to a Prime Minister or a Premier because I was a gay man.”
1st Degree Murder Conviction for Man Who Tortured, Killed Girlfriend’s 8-Year-Old Son He Thought Was Gay
A jury has found Isauro Aguirre guilty of first degree murder in the torture and killing of his girlfriend’s 8-year-old son he thought was gay.
Jurors deliberated for about six hours before returning the verdict against Isauro Aguirre, also finding true a special allegation that the murder was committed with the infliction of torture.
The boy, Gabriel Fernandez, “was found unconscious with a cracked skull, three broken ribs and BB pellets embedded in his lung and groin” and was brain dead and unconscious after being subjected to months of ruthless torture at the hands of Aguirre and his mother, who also faces trial as an accomplice.
The prosecutor told jurors in closing arguments this week that the 6-foot-2, 270-pound Aguirre clearly enjoyed torturing the small boy and had systematically brutalized him in the months leading to his death, forcing him to eat cat litter and feces and making him sleep bound and gagged in a small cabinet overnight…
…Aguirre’s defense attorney asked the jury to set aside their “complete horror” at what was done to the boy and recognize that his client never intended to kill Gabriel. He argued that because Aguirre brutalized the boy during a fit of rage, he was guilty of second-degree, not first-degree, murder.
“He was completely out of control,” said Deputy Public Defender Michael Sklar.
The attorney said that it was the boy’s mother who was responsible for much of the abuse, including shooting him with a BB gun and hitting him with a belt, and that Aguirre had attempted to perform CPR to revive Gabriel before paramedics arrived.
The jury will now consider if they will sentence Aguirre to death. The penalty phase of the trial begins November 27.
The post 1st Degree Murder Conviction for Man Who Tortured, Killed Girlfriend’s 8-Year-Old Son He Thought Was Gay appeared first on Towleroad.
David Davis Warns EU That Punishing UK Over Brexit Will Damage Their Economies
Brexit Secretary David Davis has warned Germany and other European nations not to “put politics above prosperity” during negotiations over the UK quitting the European Union.
In a provocative speech in Berlin, Davis signalled Germany and other EU states risked damaging their own economies by playing hardball with Britain as they thrashed out trade deals.
After detailling the many economic ties between the UK and Germany, he said: “In the face of those facts I know that no one would allow short term interests to risk those hard-earned gains. Because putting politics above prosperity is never a smart choice.”
Davis warns German audience not to put EU politics ahead of getting a trade deal – ‘putting politics above prosperity is never a smart choice.’
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) November 16, 2017
The Cabinet minister mapped out a vision of Britain and the EU working together on issues like education qualifications and health and safety standards, and suggested this would be crucial for trade to continue.
“We will be a third country partner like no other. Much closer than Canada, much bigger than Norway, and uniquely integrated on everything from energy networks to services,” he said.
“The key pillar of this will be a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement – the scope of which should beyond any the EU has agreed before.
“One that allows for a close economic partnership while holding the UK’s rights and obligations in a new and different balance.”
David Davis is speaking in Germany today about how the UK will remain a great place to trade and do business after EU exit pic.twitter.com/9MDHcTHH7q
— Exiting the EU Dept (@DExEUgov) November 16, 2017
He made no mention of the so-called ‘divorce bill’ that has so far held up talks over trade and against suggestions the UK is willing to offer £80bn.
Davis also said the referendum vote had left many Europeans with “doubts about what kind of country we are”.
He told the Süddeutsche Zeitung economic conference: “I recognise that, since the referendum last year, some in the European Union have had their doubts about what kind of country we are, or indeed what we stand for.
“Now if you want to know the mind of a nation all one must do is read its press. so with that in mind I looked through some copies of Suddeutsche Zeitung. I read that ‘Britain wants to isolate itself’, that we are ‘short-sighted islanders’, or ‘Inselbewohner’.
“Well I’m afraid I have to disagree. We are the same country we have always been, with the same values and same principles we have always had: a country upon which our partners can rely.
“The sixth largest economy in the world, and a beacon for free trade across the globe; and when it comes to trade – as we forge a new path for Britain outside the European Union – I believe we can be its boldest advocate.”
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/david-davis-brexit_uk_5a0de5dae4b0b17e5e1500f2
