HRC Children, Youth and Families Program Director: “The Kids Are Alright. Really.”
HRC’s Director of Children, Youth, and Families Ellen Kahn debunks a few of the most common myths about same-sex parenting.
HRC.org
Category Archives: NEWS
Great White Shark Rescue on Cape Cod: The Videos
Great White Shark Rescue on Cape Cod: The Videos
We’ve written here before about the proliferation of great white sharks off the coast of Cape Cod, particularly in the area around Chatham, Massachusetts, where the grey seal population has exploded in recent years. The people of Chatham are very aware of the conservation efforts underway by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy to track, count, and help the species, so yesterday, when a juvenile white shark beached itself in an inlet while it was hunting seagulls, beach-goers pitched in to save it.
And the shark rescue worked.
You’ve probably seen at least a news clip of the action if you’ve been anywhere near Facebook in the last 18 hours, but below are two full clips of the action, which will restore your faith in humanity (at least for a little while).
RELATED: Massive Great White Shark Captured on GoPro as it Feeds on Dead Whale: VIDEO
Here is the initial footage of the shark on the beach as rescuers douse it with water, and the AWSC hooks it to the boat to be dragged back in to the water:
Chatham harbormaster Stuart Smith was initially called to help around 1:30 p.m. When he arrived, he saw 30 to 40 bystanders, with several people pouring buckets of water on the shark’s body to keep him breathing. The people looked like “a bucket brigade putting out a fire,” Smith said.
“Twenty, 25 years ago, they wouldn’t be exactly helping the shark. They’d be harming the shark. But now every single person on that beach was trying to assist it,” he said. “The people on the beach made the difference.”
RELATED: Great White Shark Photobombed by Another Great White Shark: VIDEO
Here is further video from the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy which shows what happened after the researchers led the shark away in the boat to tag and release it:
The post Great White Shark Rescue on Cape Cod: The Videos appeared first on Towleroad.
Andy Towle
5 Things Same-Sex Couples Need To Know About Social Security
5 Things Same-Sex Couples Need To Know About Social Security
Until the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling requiring states to recognize same-sex marriages, Social Security was a crapshoot for gay couples. The Social Security Act says that in order for a surviving or former spouse to receive benefits from a worker’s record, the state that couple lived in needed to recognized their marriage. So if a same-sex married couple were legally married in one state but lived in a state that didn’t recognize their marriage, no spousal benefits could be claimed.
But the recent court ruling changed all that. States are now required to allow same-sex marriage and to recognize those marriages when they occur in other states. And that recognition opens the door to Social Security’s spousal and survivor benefits — considered to be among the most valuable features of the program.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that now same-sex couples can be as confused as heterosexual couples are when it comes to tapping into the SSA. Here are five things everyone should know:
1. For all things Social Security, it pays to be married — literally.
At your full retirement age, your benefit as a spouse can be equal to one-half of your mate’s full retirement amount. Claiming Social Security benefits as a married couple (instead of as two single individuals) can increase additional lifetime benefits significantly — in some cases, to the tune of $100,000 or more.
2. When your spouse dies, you will be provided for.
There are a ton of rules around claiming survivor benefits, but in a nutshell, if you are married and your spouse dies, you can claim Social Security benefits based on their working record instead of your own. So, if your spouse earned way more than you did, you would be eligible to receive their higher earned benefit for the rest of your life — which, again, wouldn’t be possible if you claimed Social Security as two single individuals. If you and your spouse earn about the same, the impact of this benefit will be minimal. But prior to the Supreme Court ruling, not having your marriage recognized meant no money paid to a survivor.
3. To have loved and lost beats never having loved at all.
Put more directly: Divorce beats never marrying. That’s because if you are divorced, you can still collect Social Security benefits from the work record of your ex. Doing this won’t impact how much his/her present spouse collects. This only works if you are single though. Once you remarry, this money faucet turns off. To get benefits as an ex-spouse, your marriage must have lasted at least 10 years.
4. Opposite-sex couples may still get more Social Security money than same-sex couples.
Financial Engines recently estimated that the value of spousal and survivor benefits is even larger for heterosexual couples because there are greater age differences among spouses in opposite-sex marriages. These age differences increase the potential values of marriage benefits, especially survivor benefits. Women outlive men and spend more than 11 years on average as widows, according to the Society of Actuaries, so survivor benefits are enormously important to them.
5. Social Security is like a tree trunk with many branches.
Let’s start with a principal earner who is eligible for Social Security retirement benefits. A little-known feature of the Social Security system is that in addition to paying retirement benefits for the retired worker, it may provide benefits to the worker’s spouse, an ex-spouse if the marriage lasted at least 10 years, and dependent children and grandchildren, depending on the circumstances. Moreover, these benefits can be paid all at the same time.
Anyone have any other pieces of wisdom to share when it comes to Social Security? Please tell us about it in comments.
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78 Malibu Colony, Malibu, California
78 Malibu Colony, Malibu, California
Looking over the sandy beach, this iconic five bedroom house, declared a California State Cultural Landmark, sits in the famed Malibu Colony, California.
Built in 1968 as architect John Lautner’s first Malibu project, the Stevens Residence’s striking glass, timber and concrete exterior was designed to resemble waves.
The property’s iconic shape had been described as an ‘avant-garde boat’.
In 2007, film producer Michael LaFetra bought the property and restored it to its former 1960s glory, while some upgrades build a bridge to the present.
As a result, the original cedar planking throughout the property has been carefully replaced and intended, but never implemented lofts have been realized.
The property doesn’t just boast a fantastic position, sitting on the sandy beach, but also a large deck, grassy yard and the large pool; cork flooring and solar energy enhance the house’s sustainability.
Reportedly, John Lautner was the only architect able to fit a residence with a pool onto the limited building ground.
Its unique shape, big windows and interior layout don’t just mean a number of rooms enjoy breathtaking views over the Pacific Ocean, but the property is also flooded by natural light.
High ceilings and rounded shapes make the residence feel open and spacious, while built-in furniture ensures all available space is used as effectively as possible.
The interior, including built-in furniture, has been restored to its near-original state.
Sold through Knight Frank, the Stevens Residence clocks in at $19.75 million (€17,944,366, £12,632,484).
The post 78 Malibu Colony, Malibu, California appeared first on Gay Star News.
Stefanie Gerdes
www.gaystarnews.com/article/78-malibu-colony-malibu-california/
PHOTOS: Frisky Go-Go Boys Engage In Foreplay In San Francisco
PHOTOS: Frisky Go-Go Boys Engage In Foreplay In San Francisco
Club kid Ricky Rebel performed live with world-renowned DJ Hector Fonseca and Audio4Play Records at Beatbox in San Francisco earlier this month. Meanwhile, scantily-clad go-go boys shook their tail feathers as the crowd cheered them on enthusiastically. There’s a reason Beatbox was voted one of San Francisco’s best nightclubs.
Scroll down to see the go-go boys in action, and check out the full gallery over at GayCities…
Photo credit: Marques Daniels
Graham Gremore
Op-ed: Thank You, Mormon Church
Op-ed: Thank You, Mormon Church
The president of the Utah Pride Center says we should be greeting the Mormon Church’s slow embrace of LGBT people with appreciation, not scorn.
Kent Frogley
www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/07/15/op-ed-thank-you-mormon-church
Product of the day: Flying Flames chandelier
Product of the day: Flying Flames chandelier
No matter how elegant or modern, in the end all lamps come down to a basic skeleton: circuits, a light source and electricity are what make the magic happen.
So why not give your lamp a twist by stripping it down to its core – for example in form of the delightfully different, yet elegant Flying Flames chandelier, designed by Ingo Maurer and Moritz Waldemeyer.
The flexible chandelier system combines dimmable LED candles, made of a printed circuit board, metal, anodized aluminum and plastic, with simple Downlight Elements adding a pleasant light below.
The flames make visible what is usually hidden inside a lamp’s casing.
In a bid to make chandeliers as personal as possible, candles and Downlight Elements can be placed freely along the canopy; cables can be adjusted to different lengths.
Each canopy has jacks for up to ten flames and two light elements, but canopies can be combined to create a bigger chandelier; the downlights are equipped with a touch dimmer (with memory function) while candles can be dimmed separately.
Buyers can choose between black or red flames; the Downlights come in black, with the canopy only available in white.
Stocked around the world, the Flying Flames are not available online – to find a retailer near you, have a look here.
The post Product of the day: Flying Flames chandelier appeared first on Gay Star News.
Stefanie Gerdes
www.gaystarnews.com/article/product-of-the-day-flying-flames-chandelier/
The Bold and the Beautiful's Scott Turner Schofield Speaks Transgender Truth to 30 Million
The Bold and the Beautiful's Scott Turner Schofield Speaks Transgender Truth to 30 Million
‘If this was on prime time, people would be losing their minds,’ says the soap star, who’s showing audiences that trans people owe no one an explanation.
Mitch Kellaway
Former college wrestler gets 30 years for ‘recklessly’ transmitting HIV
Former college wrestler gets 30 years for ‘recklessly’ transmitting HIV
A former college wrestler has been sentenced 30 years in prison for ‘recklessly’ transmitting HIV.
Michael Johnson, 23, tested positive for HIV in January 2013. But the former Lindenwood University student continued to have unprotected sex with men he met on hookup apps until he was arrested in October that year, after a partner who contracted the virus from went to the police.
A jury found Johnson guilty of ‘recklessly infecting’ a man with HIV, attempting to infect another, and exposing three others to the virus in May.
Judge Jon Cunningham told Johnson that he had committed ‘very severe’ crimes before handing down the sentence on Tuesday (14 July).
‘The main thing is the profound effect your actions have had on the victims and their families,’ he said.
Johnson was also given 30 years and six months for the four lesser charges, which he will serve concurrently with the main sentence.
Johnson did not apologize but said in a statement: ‘I never want anyone to have to go through the pain’ of having HIV.
Missouri is one of 33 states that have HIV criminalization laws, which AIDS activists have slammed for being outdated and unfairly targeting black men.
‘The criminal statute that Michael Johnson was convicted of violating was originally passed in 1988, at a time when HIV was considered a “death sentence,”‘ said Mayo Schreiber, deputy director of The Center for HIV Law and Policy.
‘Today, with proper treatment, HIV is a chronic, manageable disease and those with HIV can expect to live a full, healthy life.
Yet violation of the Missouri law is a class A felony, with a sentencing range of 10-30 years or life imprisonment. Other class A felonies include murder or child abandonment resulting in death. Punishing Michael Johnson as if he is a murderer because state officials have failed to address a severely outdated, irrational criminal law is not only fundamentally unfair, it is barbaric.’
The post Former college wrestler gets 30 years for ‘recklessly’ transmitting HIV appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
www.gaystarnews.com/article/former-college-wrestler-gets-30-years-for-recklessly-transmitting-hiv/
WATCH: Texas County Sees Impassioned Debate Over LGBT-Themed Kids' Books
WATCH: Texas County Sees Impassioned Debate Over LGBT-Themed Kids' Books
Some residents of Hood County had complained about the books’ presence in the public library, leading to a heated meeting — but a decision to keep the books.
Trudy Ring
