Google debuts new gender-neutral emojis
Google is launching a new feature designed to make the digital world more inclusive.
The internet giant debuted gender-neutral emojis on Tuesday as part of the launch of Android Q Beta.
Those who have one of these phones can download the Beta now. For everyone else, they will be available with the official release of Android Q later this year, a Google spokesperson said.
The latest release includes 53 new non-binary designs. The emojis will feature curly, chin-length hair. In some cases, Google has tweaked the outfits to ensure the emojis appear gender-neutral.
“It is an impossible task to communicate gender in a single image,” a Google designer told Fast Company. “It’s a construct. It lives dynamically on a spectrum.”
via: https://abc7chicago.com/technology/google-debuts-new-gender-neutral-emojis/5292899/
Photo Credit: abc7chicago.com
12-Year-Old Girl Faces DWI Charge After Joy Ride With 3 Kids Leads to Police Pursuit in New Mexico
Authorities say an intoxicated 12-year-old girl went on joy ride in the family car with three other children inside, leading police on pursuit on a New Mexico highway.
The Alamogordo Daily News reported Wednesday that the car fled from Alamogordo police and drove onto U.S. Highway 70 where she passed a New Mexico State Police vehicle.
Alamogordo police say the car then drove through a dirt lot and nearly struck an Otero County deputy.
The chase ended when the car spun out of control and hit a speed limit sign. No one was injured.
The young driver was referred to juvenile services on charges of reckless driving and DWI.
According to police documents, the four children told authorities that they all had been drinking.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
New State Sex Ed Guidance Offers Framework for Discussing Gender Identity With Kindergartners, Masturbation With Middle-Schoolers
California has overhauled its sex education guidance for public school teachers, encouraging them to talk about gender identity with kindergartners and giving advice to help LGBT teenagers navigate relationships and practice safe sex.
LGBT advocates praised the new recommendations for giving such attention to a community that often is left out of sex education policies. But some parents and conservative groups assailed the more than 700-page document as an assault on parental rights, arguing those issues should be taught by parents in the home.
The guidance approved by the California State Board of Education on Wednesday does not require teachers to teach anything. But it is designed to expose them to the latest research and help them make sure students are meeting state standards. It’s also influenced by a 2015 state law that made California one of the first states to address LGBT issues as part of sex education.
Much of the pushback has focused not on the framework itself, but on the books it recommends students read. One suggested book for high schoolers is “S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-to-Know Sexuality Guide to Get You Through Your Teens and Twenties.” It includes descriptions of anal sex, bondage and other sexual activity. Several parents read from the book and held it up so board members could see the pictures, which many described as “obscene.”
But Wednesday, the State Board of Education removed that book, and a few others, from the guidance. State Board of Education member Feliza I. Ortiz-Licon said the books had “created panic” and distracted from the framework’s goals, including teaching students about consent and sex trafficking.
“It’s important to know the board is not trying to ban books. We’re not staying that the books are bad,” she said. “But the removal will help avoid the misunderstanding that California is mandating the use of these books.”
More than 200 people signed up to speak during a public hearing on Wednesday that lasted for several hours. Supporters and opponents mingled together in the lobby of the California Department of Education, where parents handed out snacks to appease their young children while waiting for their number to appear on dry-erase board telling them it was their turn to get one minute of time at the microphone.
Speakers included 16-year-old Phoenix Ali Rajah, a transgender boy who said he is rarely taught information for people like him during sex education classes at his Los Angeles area high school.
“I’m never taught about how to be in a relationship with gay men,” he said, adding that the “conversation with sex starts from a different place.”
Patricia Reyes traveled more than 400 miles from her home in Southern California to bring her six children to the hearing, all of whom attend or have attended public schools. They included her 4-year-old daughter, Angeline, who held a sign that read: “Protect my innocence and childhood.”
“It’s just scary what they are going to be teaching. It’s pornography,” she said. “If this continues, I’m not sending them to school.”
The framework tells teachers that students in kindergarten can identify as transgender and offers tips for how to talk about that, adding “the goal is not to cause confusion about the gender of the child but to develop an awareness that other expressions exist.”
It gives tips for discussing masturbation with middle-schoolers, including telling them it is not physically harmful, and for discussing puberty with transgender teens that creates “an environment that is inclusive and challenges binary concepts about gender.”
Tatyana Dzyubak, an elementary school teacher in the Sacramento area, said she would have a hard time teaching the material. “I shouldn’t be teaching that stuff. That’s for parents to do,” she said.
California’s education standards tell school districts what students should know about a particular subject at the end of every grade level. The state’s curriculum framework gives teachers ideas on how to do that. The state updated its health education standards in 2008. But because of a budget crisis, state officials delayed giving schools a framework for how to teach them. That changed Wednesday.
“As a mom myself, whether you are ready for your kid to have those questions or not, they have them. And they need medically accurate information,” said Cheri Greven, public affairs director with Planned Parenthood of Mar Monte. “Otherwise, who knows what they will find on their own.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images
San Francisco Teacher on Medical Leave for Breast Cancer Is Forced to Pay for Her Own Substitute
A San Francisco teacher who is on medical leave has to worry about more than just battling breast cancer.
On top of footing medical bills, she has to pay for a substitute teacher at Glen Park Elementary School.
All teachers receive 10 paid days of medical leave a year in the San Francisco United School District. If a teacher needs more time, they can get another 100 sick days — at a price. Under a 1976 California law, the cost for the substitute teacher will be deducted from the teacher’s salary.
The average daily cost of a substitute teacher in San Francisco is $203.16, San Francisco United School District spokeswoman Laura Dudnick said. In 2018, the average teacher salary in the school district, excluding benefits, was $82,024.37.
“This reflects California Education Code language related to extended sick leave that applies to all other school districts in California,” Dudnick said in a statement. “This is not unique to San Francisco. This is not a district-only rule.”
Teachers who require additional medical leave can draw from a Sick Leave Bank for up to 85 days without any deduction from their paycheck. Teachers donate unused sick days to the bank to help their colleagues.
Parents say it’s unfair
The Glen Park teacher has chosen to remain anonymous, but parents at the school are speaking out about what they think is an unfair policy.
Parent Elia Hernandez told CNN affiliate KGO that the teacher deserves better treatment. “She’s an incredible teacher and that’s not fair,” Hernandez said. “That’s crazy!”
Another parent, Abby Hipps, told KGO that the the teacher is “one of the best teachers” in the school and called her situation “terrible.”
Susan Solomon, president of United Educators of San Francisco, said her teachers union is hoping to negotiate better sick leave policies next year.
“The issues involving teachers’ use of extended sick leave and the catastrophic sick leave bank, as well as the school district’s use of a daily substitute dock rate, are governed by law and the collective bargaining agreement,” Solomon said in a statement.
“UESF is consulting with our members on their priorities for contract negotiations next year. As always, we look forward to making improvements in this and other parts of the contract.”
A GoFundMe for the teacher that has now stopped collecting donations received $13,000.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Video Showing Wisconsin Girl With Special Needs Being Bitten in ‘Gruesome’ School Bus Attack Prompts Investigation
A school district in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is investigating after parents say their little girl was attacked on the school bus.
Lillian Waldron’s parents told Green Bay television station WBAY that their 10-year-old daughter was bitten multiple times by another girl on the school bus this week.
Her mother, Lynn Waldron-Moehle, said her daughter is developmentally delayed, has mannerisms of a 2-year-old and cannot speak. Lillian’s dad, Chad Waldron, said the bus is for children with special needs.
Lynn said her daughter was crying uncontrollably when she got off the bus. “She loves baths and that’s soothing to her, so I brought her home, and I was getting her ready for the bath and I took her sweatshirt off and that’s when I noticed the major bruising on her upper arm,” she told WBAY.
She said the elementary school principal watched video of the incident which was captured on the bus’ camera and described it as “gruesome” and “horrifying.”
The superintendent released a statement to WBAY that said, in part, “The District is conducting an investigation into the situation and will be working with the bus company to ensure appropriate processes and procedures are in place to prevent this from occurring in the future.”
The girl who allegedly attacked the child is no longer going to the school.
Photo Credit: ktla.com/Lynn Waldron-Moehle,
O.C. Teen Describes Frightening Encounter With Naked Intruder Who Undressed in His Room
A naked man who was chased out of a Rossmoor home after undressing in a 14-year-old boy’s bedroom was taken into custody at a nearby elementary school early Thursday following an hourslong standoff, authorities said.
The incident began Wednesday night when the intruder walked into a teen’s bedroom while the boy was laying in bed, according to a statement from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
“When he got into my room, he shook me on my shoulder. I was facing away from the door,” said Dane Boryta. “He looked at me and said, ‘Just making certain you weren’t deaf.’”
Detailing the harrowing ordeal, the teen told KTLA on Thursday that he had never seen the man before and believed he was on drugs at the time or perhaps mentally ill. Somehow he managed to keep his composure as the man started taking off his clothes.
“He started undressing. I looked at him and told him to give me a moment,” Boryta said.
As the man disrobed, the teen then went to the kitchen and found his mother and told her there was a stranger in his room.
The man — completely naked by then — came out of the room and into the kitchen where he attacked the mother, putting a computer cable around a neck, according to Boryta. His mother fought back.
The quick-thinking teenager didn’t want to hit or punch the man because he concerned it would only escalate the situation. Instead, he grabbed a meat cleaver.
“I raised it over my head and I told him that I didn’t want to have to use it,” Boryta said, adding, “I would never use the meat cleaver on the guy, but he doesn’t know that.”
The boy’s father, who had been outside, heard the commotion and went back into the house. He grabbed the man around the neck and then chased him outside.
Boryta said his father was moving a car and left the front door unlocked, which was how the intruder got inside.
Deputies responded to the scene after receiving multiple 911 calls regarding the incident. When they arrived, the man got into a white Dodge Van and sped off, stopping his vehicle several blocks away on the grass of Hopkinson Elementary School.
He then climbed atop one of the buildings at the school, which is located in the 12500 block of Kensington Road.
Sky5 video over the scene showed him crouched on the roof, apparently in an effort to hide from deputies.
Multiple law enforcement agencies responded, including at least two air units, and surrounded the area, according to the sheriff’s statement.
The naked man remained on the roof for about 2 1/2 hours before surrendering, authorities confirmed to KTLA shortly before 2 a.m.
He was allegedly under the influence of an unknown drug and had committed “several acts of vandalism” while trying to hide on the roof, according to the statement.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department identified the suspect as 37-year-old Keith Eric Newbury.
He was treated at a local hospital emergency room. After, Newbury was booked at the Orange County Jail on suspicion of burglary, indecent exposure, assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance.
Photo Credit: ktla.com/Sheriff’s Department.
Energy drink addiction left mom with pacemaker at 32
A British mom is speaking out about the dangers of energy drinks after developing an addiction “worse than that of heroin” that left her on the verge of diabetes and forcing her to get a pacemaker — all by the time she was 32.
“The drinks made my heart beat faster, which would cause palpitations, then after I would crash when I needed another one,” Samantha Sharpe told Leicestershire Live. “It would give me headaches, I’d be grumpy, and I’d need another one to keep me good.
“I felt like an addict to the stuff.”
The mom-of-three started pounding five to six of the sugar-packed drinks every day starting in 2014 to keep up with her childcare and her then-job as a cleaner.
“I have three children and I work so it was daily life that pushed me to drinking the energy drinks,” Sharpe told the outlet. “I work in the evenings so it got me through the day.”
But Sharpe’s body grew dependent on the drinks, leaving her plagued by insomnia and constantly in search of her next sip.
“I wouldn’t sleep and I had an overwhelming feeling of doom when trying to sleep,” she said. “It’s something I haven’t experienced before, which made me want another one.”
Sharpe began to suffer kidney stones, and was told she was on the precipice of Type Two diabetes — but it was the blackouts that finally made her see the light.
“I went to the doctor over a year ago because I kept blacking out at home,” recalled Sharpe. “I had a first-degree heart blockage and it then extended to second degree.”
Sharpe had a pacemaker implanted through a vein in her leg.
“My sister, who is a nurse, said the addiction is worse than that of heroin, which I can understand because I needed it to help me be awake,” said Sharpe.
Now 33, working as a bartender and off the sugary stuff, Sharpe “has a new lease on life,” and wants to make sure no one else goes through what she did.
“The effects of energy drinks need to be advertised more,” she told Leicestershire Live. “I think everyone knows they aren’t good for you — but no one has ever said why they aren’t.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/05/09/energy-drink-addiction-left-mom-with-pacemaker-at-32/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
TV anchor fired for suggesting Baltimore needs a change from black female mayors
A Baltimore TV anchor has been fired after suggesting the city needed a “different kind” of mayor after three black women had held the post.
Mary Bubala, 49, was fired from WJZ after 15 years at the station following a huge backlash from her comments while covering the recent resignation of Mayor Catherine Pugh amid a corruption scandal.
“We’ve had three female, African American mayors in a row,” the anchor said on-air.
“They were all passionate public servants. Two resigned, though. Is this a signal that a different kind of leadership is needed to move Baltimore City forward?”
After an outcry, she later tweeted a “sincere apology,” insisting the “question did not come out the way I intended.”
“I am so deeply sorry and sincerely regret the words I chose,” she wrote.
However, WJZ general manager Audra Swain confirmed to the Baltimore Sun that “Mary Bubala is no longer a WJZ-TV employee.”
“The station apologizes to its viewers for her remarks,” Swain added.
Bubala posted to Facebook after her firing, insisting that it was not in her “heart to intentionally cause this kind of harm.”
“Unfortunately, I now stand in the path of the tornado,” she wrote.
“WJZ was forced to let me go. I am saddened and shocked by this decision. I fully intend to fight to restore my reputation because I’ve invested my heart and soul in my work and my city.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images
BBC host Danny Baker fired after comparing royal baby Archie to a chimp
One of Britain’s best-known broadcasters was fired by the BBC on Thursday for a tweet he wrote comparing the new royal baby to a chimp.
Danny Baker, 61, tweeted out a photo of a chimp in a suit holding hands with a smartly dressed couple, writing, “Royal baby leaves hospital.”
It sparked instant outrage because of the clear racist undertones against Duchess of Sussex Meghan, 37, whose mom, Doria Ragland, is African American.
Baker admitted it had been a “stupid unthinking gag” — but insisted it was an innocent dig at the royals that was being wildly misinterpreted.
“Never occurred to me because, well, mind not diseased,” he wrote. “Soon as those good enough to point out its possible connotations got in touch, down it came. And that’s it.”
He later called the backfired joke “grotesque” and “an enormous mistake,” sending a message to Harry and Meghan’s newborn Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, “Here’s to ya Archie, Sorry mate.”
His apologies were not enough, however, with him soon tweeting, “Just got fired.”
“This was a serious error of judgment,” insisted a BBC spokesman, saying the joke “goes against the values we as a station aim to embody.”
“Danny’s a brilliant broadcaster but will no longer be presenting a weekly show with us.”
Baker remained defiant, damning the call to fire him as a “masterclass of pompous faux-gravity”
“Took a tone that said I actually meant that ridiculous tweet and the BBC must uphold blah blah blah,” he added. “Literally threw me under the bus. Could hear the suits knees knocking.” He ended the message, “#F–kem.”
Royal baby Archie was born Monday, with proud parents Meghan and Prince Harry publicly debuting him Wednesday.
Photo Credit: nypost.com/AP
Couple Dies From the Plague After Eating Raw Rodent Kidney
t’s not the 14th century, but the plague is still a very real threat in certain parts of the world. Last week, a Mongolian couple died from the disease after eating the raw kidney of a marmot in Bayan-Ölgii province, which borders China and Russia. According to BBC News, the incident sparked a six-day quarantine in the region the couple was visiting before they died.
The couple reportedly decided to eat the animal’s raw organs, including its kidney, gallbladder and stomach, because of the local (and ironic) belief that eating marmots can have health benefits. Eating raw meat of any kind, can be dangerous, however, since it can harbor dangerous bacteria.
In this case, it seems the marmot had the plague—a potentially deadly disease caused by bacteria often found in animals and fleas. According to the CDC, the plague can be spread through flea bites, infectious droplets (such as saliva from a cough), and contact with contaminated fluid or tissue—like eating infected organs.
As a result of their dinner choice, the surrounding village was quarantined. Health officials worried that the couple may have spread pneumonic plague, a form of the disease that’s highly contagious and spread through airborne droplets. More than 100 people who’d come in contact with the couple since they were infected were isolated and given preventative antibiotics. News of the quarantine reportedly kept many locals off the streets, in fear of contracting the deadly bacteria.
According to the Washington Post, the couple reportedly died of organ failure caused by septicemic plague, which occurs when the plague bacteria enters the bloodstream. Unlike the bubonic plague, which is usually caused by a flea bite and can take up to six days to show symptoms, septicemic plague can cause the body to go into shock and organ failure shortly after transmission. Symptoms include fever, lightheadedness and abdominal pain.
While the plague is extremely rare in the United States, it does occur occasionally in rural areas, usually in the western part of the country. It’s more common in Africa and Asia, where hundreds of cases have been reported over the past 20 years. Regardless of where you live, you can protect yourself from plague by treating your pets for fleas and avoiding contact with wildlife, as well as reporting any dead animals to the local health department.
Photo Credit: Getty Images