Yet Another Woman Has Been Killed For Turning Down A Man Who Asked Her Out

Yet Another Woman Has Been Killed For Turning Down A Man Who Asked Her Out: "Many women feel uncomfortable when men tell them to smile or make comments about how great they look while they walk down the street, a point that's been underscored over and over again by the anti-street harassment movement. But even though some feel that catcalling is fairly harmless, many women know the truth: that rejecting a man in public could end up getting you bullied, beaten or even killed.

At about 2 a.m. on Friday, that's what happened to 29-year-old Pittsburgh woman Janese Talton-Jackson. Earlier in the evening, Talton-Jackson had been at a bar called Cliff's, where a man named Charles McKinney, 41, reportedly approached her to ask her for a date. Police say the woman rejected McKinney's advances shortly before closing time, then left the bar. When she did, McKinney followed her outside, shot her in the chest and fled. Talton-Jackson was found laying in the city street and was pronounced dead at the scene."



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Levant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Levant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The Levant (/ləˈvænt/; Arabic: المشرق /ʔal-maʃriq/[1][5][6][7][8][9][10]) is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the eastern Mediterranean. In its widest historical sense, the Levant included all of the eastern Mediterranean with its islands,[3] that is, it included all of the countries along the eastern Mediterranean shores, extending from Greece to Cyrenaica.[1][2] The term Levant entered English in the late 15th century from French.[3] It derives from the Italian Levante, meaning "rising", implying the rising of the sun in the east.[1][2] As such, it is broadly equivalent to the Arabic term Mashriq,[5] 'the land where the sun rises'. The western counterpart in Arabic is the Maghreb,[5] and Ponente in Italian, meaning 'west, where the sun sets'.[11]"



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Life after aid work: When the ground begins to shake | Devex

Life after aid work: When the ground begins to shake | Devex: "Those of us who entered the sector when it was still a genuine subculture had little formal training or exposure to the theory of development. We were educated on the job. We were in our positions because we had proven we wanted them bad enough — not because we were experts in development or humanitarian action. 




Having said that, as I attended meetings and got drawn into programs and situations of some complexity, it was often clear that things were amiss. That the “good” we were supposedly doing was not so unalloyed as people, including many of us young professionals, imagined.



 For me, the ground began to shake about six years into my career. I was appointed to a senior management position in Angola with a well-respected European NGO. Several things struck me immediately after I arrived for my two-year assignment. First, the massive humanitarian effort of hundreds of NGOs that catered to almost every conceivable need of the population. Thirty percent of Angola was being fed by the World Food Program. Luanda, the sleepy former colonial capital, vibrated night and day with the whup of choppers, the roar of cargo planes and the rumble of convoys heading up country."



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Malaysian PM cleared of wrongdoing over $681m donation - Al Jazeera English

Malaysian PM cleared of wrongdoing over $681m donation - Al Jazeera English: "Malaysia's Attorney General said on Tuesday that $681m transferred into Prime Minister Najib Razak's personal bank account was a gift from the royal family in Saudi Arabia and there were no criminal offences or corruption involved.

"I am satisfied with the findings that the funds were not a form of graft or bribery," Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali told a press conference.

"There was no reason given as to why the donation was made to PM Najib. That is between him and the Saudi family," he said."



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You Won't Like It, But Here's the Answer to ISIS

You Won't Like It, But Here's the Answer to ISIS: "What Hasn't Worked



 You'd need to start with a persuasive review of what hasn't worked over the past 14-plus years. American actions against terrorism -- the Islamic State being just the latest flavor -- have flopped on a remarkable scale, yet remain remarkably attractive to our present crew of candidates. (Bernie Sanders might be the only exception, though he supports forming yet another coalition to defeat ISIS.)



 Why are the failed options still so attractive? In part, because bombing and drones are believed by the majority of Americans to be surgical procedures that kill lots of bad guys, not too many innocents, and no Americans at all. As Washington regularly imagines it, once air power is in play, someone else's boots will eventually hit the ground (after the U.S. military provides the necessary training and weapons). A handful of Special Forces troops, boots-sorta-on-the-ground, will also help turn the tide. By carrot or stick, Washington will collect and hold together some now-you-see-it, now-you-don't "coalition" of "allies" to aid and abet the task at hand. And success will be ours, even though versions of this formula have fallen flat time and again in the Greater Middle East."



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Malay-speaking wing of ISIS sends video warning to Malaysia, SE Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Malay-speaking wing of ISIS sends video warning to Malaysia, SE Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times: "KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The Malay-speaking wing of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has sent a warning to Malaysia for stepping up its campaign against the terror group.

In a strongly defiant video posted in Bahasa Malaysia, the Malaysian-Indonesian unit of ISIS, called the Katibah Nusantara, threatened revenge for the arrests of its members.

Titled "Mesej Awam Kepada Malaysia" (Public Message for Malaysia), the video warned: "If you catch us, we will only increase in number but if you let us be, we will be closer to our goal of bringing back the rule of the Khalifah (caliph).""



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The Inside Story of an Aid Worker's Secret Weapon: The Tarp | WIRED

The Inside Story of an Aid Worker's Secret Weapon: The Tarp | WIRED: "One of the least unusual items is plastic tarpaulin, also known as tarp or plastic sheeting, though neither of those names make it sound any less boring.



 Ask an aid worker, though, and the paeans to tarpaulin come pouring out. Cheap, lightweight, and waterproof, “tarpaulin is the most common shelter material,” says Joseph Ashmore, shelter consultant for the International Organization for Migration. Responders and survivors can use tarpaulin for roofs, fences, and flooring—but don’t limit your imagination to shelter. “I’ve seen people dry rice on it, in latrines, as bags, as trousers, as umbrellas,” Ashmore adds.



 Not all tarpaulin is created equal, though."



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Saving more lives with business on board | Devex

Saving more lives with business on board | Devex: "Win-win: A collaboration success story

What have we gained from partnering with Flexiway?

We’ve got the lights we desperately needed — and at a reduced price, given our key role in research and development, led by our ICT for development team, ICT4D. And thanks to Concern’s feedback, on-the-ground experience and access to far-flung rural settings, Flexiway has developed a superior and much-needed product.

In 2014, the company was acquired by NRS International, a leader in emergency and public health supplies. NRS International has now redesigned its temporary shelters used in humanitarian and refugee settings to house the solar lights in special pockets.

Meanwhile, we’re providing NRS International with product development feedback on its medical light kit — each of which has four solar lights and two solar head torches — from midwives and other health workers caring for pregnant women and newborns in Kenya and Sierra Leone."



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How much development data is enough? | Jordan Times

How much development data is enough? | Jordan Times: "his data revolution offers enormous potential for improving decision making at every level — from the local farmer to world-spanning development organisations.
But gathering data is not enough. 
The information must also be managed and evaluated — and doing this properly can be far more complicated and expensive than the effort to collect it.
If the decisions to be improved are not first properly identified and analysed, there is a high risk that much of the collection effort could be wasted or misdirected.
This conclusion is itself based on empirical analysis. "



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Congress is actually working together on something: reforming foreign aid - Vox

Congress is actually working together on something: reforming foreign aid - Vox: "Congress, against all odds, appears to be working again. While gridlock has been the norm since Republicans retook the House in 2011, last year legislators succeeded in permanently fixing Medicare doctor payments, passing a five-year highway funding bill, replacing No Child Left Behind, extending the solvency of the Social Security disability program, and making a whole raft of tax breaks for low-income families and corporations permanent.



 As far as 2016 is concerned, the odds of progress are looking good on one topic where you'd never expect the parties to agree: foreign aid. Two bills that would modestly but significantly revamp US assistance programs are making their way through Congress. One has already passed the House, while the other has bipartisan backing in the Senate. Here's what they'd do, and what development experts think about them."



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Malaysia to become first country to develop credit recognition policy for online courses | New Straits Times | Malaysia General Business Sports and Lifestyle News

Malaysia to become first country to develop credit recognition policy for online courses | New Straits Times | Malaysia General Business Sports and Lifestyle News: "Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said through the initiative, students around the world will be able to pursue their studies online for free and be given credit recognition.

“MOOCs have been implemented around the world for years but no credit is awarded after the students complete their course.

“The ministry plans to award credit through the country’s own MOOCs to encourage flexible learning among students, reduce the duplication of learning and recognise the lessons and experiences gained outside the conventional classroom."



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The big sleep

The big sleep: "Her parents never wanted to leave their home nor be cared for. Nor were they the types to sit around for another decade with rugs on their knees.

“To those people who say we don’t have the right to choose the time and manner of our departure, our mother and father said, ‘Well, we do and we did’,” she said."



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New Allegations Highlight Issue Of Sexual Misconduct Among U.N. Peacekeepers : Goats and Soda : NPR

New Allegations Highlight Issue Of Sexual Misconduct Among U.N. Peacekeepers : Goats and Soda : NPR: "Secretary General Ban Ki Moon referred to the issue as "a cancer in our system."

Part of the issue has to do with the way the organization is structured. The high demand for U.N. peacekeepers means that the the organization is constantly scrambling for personnel — so training and oversight take a hit. And if peacekeepers engage in sexual abuse, the U.N. cannot punish them directly. They're under the legal protection of their home countries, explains Sarah Taylor, a women's rights advocate at the nonprofit Human Rights Watch."



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Burkina Faso and Mali to coordinate forces after deadly attacks | Reuters

Burkina Faso and Mali to coordinate forces after deadly attacks | Reuters: "Burkina Faso and Mali have agreed to work together to counter the growing threat of Islamic militants in West Africa by sharing intelligence and conducting joint security patrols following two deadly and well-coordinated attacks in the region.

Their prime ministers met on Sunday, two days after al Qaeda militants seized the Splendid Hotel in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, opened fire on a restaurant and attacked another hotel nearby, killing at least 28 people from at least seven countries, and wounding 50 other people.

The assault, claimed by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), follows a similar raid in November on a luxury hotel in Mali's capital, Bamako, which killed 20 people, including citizens of Russia, China and the United States."



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Along With Assault And Arson, FBI Starts To Track Animal Abuse : NPR

Along With Assault And Arson, FBI Starts To Track Animal Abuse : NPR: "The FBI will now track animal abuse the way it tracks arson or assault.

This could help save more animals — and, perhaps, people: Research has shown that animal abuse is often a precursor to other acts of violence. And tracking acts of violence against animals may help law enforcement intervene before that develops into violence against people."



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Taiwan elects first female president Tsai Ing-wen - Al Jazeera English

Taiwan elects first female president Tsai Ing-wen - Al Jazeera English: "Pro-independence candidate Tsai Ing-wen has effectively won Taiwan's presidential elections after Eric Chu, the candidate and chairman of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), conceded defeat."



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Teacher Tom: Can't We At Least Stop Hitting Children?

Teacher Tom: Can't We At Least Stop Hitting Children?: "Spanking is hitting. Hitting is violence. Violence is morally wrong and I believe that the US should join the 48 nations that have made spanking illegal (good links to research in that post). That's where I come from on this matter. As I've written before:"



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Aid worker faces jail for trying to smuggle refugee into UK - Independent.ie

Aid worker faces jail for trying to smuggle refugee into UK - Independent.ie: "Rob Lawrie with Bahar Ahmadi, a young Afghan girl whom he tried to smuggle into the UK from The Jungle in Calais. Photo: PA
An AID worker and former soldier who tried to smuggle a four-year-old Afghan girl into the UK says he is "preparing for the worst and hoping for the best" as he waits to be sentenced by a French court."



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How a project with good aims delivered bitter outcomes in Sierra Leone

How a project with good aims delivered bitter outcomes in Sierra Leone: "To achieve the targets, concerns about women’s empowerment, restructuring of customary power relations, or economic inequality were de-prioritised. They were seen as something to be addressed only after the project was economically viable.



 The staff required to meet the initial targets were engineers, agriculturalists and farmers. Gender specialists, anthropologists, sociologists, or human rights advocates were unnecessary. There was no incentive, in essence, to prioritise those concerns or to spend scarce resources on such skills.



 For all their rhetoric about the positive impact the project would have on sustainable human development, the development banks and bilateral funders' funding mechanisms did not incorporate incentives to achieve such outcomes."



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Why Have So Many People Never Heard Of The MOVE Bombing? : Code Switch : NPR

Why Have So Many People Never Heard Of The MOVE Bombing? : Code Switch : NPR: "After my stories last week on the 30th anniversary of the MOVE siege in West Philadelphia in 1985, in which Philadelphia police dropped a bomb on a residential neighborhood, leaving 11 dead — including five children — we were surprised by how many people told us they'd never heard of the bombing."



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Guns in a divided America: Barack Obama’s despair over guns | The Economist

Guns in a divided America: Barack Obama’s despair over guns | The Economist:

More to the point, from the opening minutes of the town hall meeting Mr Obama defended private gun-ownership as both constitutional and rational. He recalled a campaign tour of Iowa when his wife, Michelle, had said that if she lived in a farmhouse far from the nearest sheriff’s office or patrol, she would want a shotgun or rifle for self-defence. Mr Obama suggested that the costs and benefits of gun ownership look different on the streets of Chicago or similar big cities, where handguns enable far too many murders, and 12-year-olds can obtain a gun more easily than a book. But he fell over himself to praise most gun dealers and gun owners as responsible, to note that suspicion of an overbearing government is a hallowed American tradition, and to promise that he has no intention of trying to restrict the right of law-abiding citizens to buy guns for self-protection.



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30 Principles That Turn Good Kids into Good Adults | John M. Simmons

30 Principles That Turn Good Kids into Good Adults | John M. Simmons: "My grandpa had a different way of looking at things. Chances are he was a lot like your grandpa. Words of wisdom in one-liner form flowed from him just like Ben Franklin's under his Silence Dogood pen name. I once heard another adult provide an excuse for mischief done by her sons. She made the mistake of using the "Boys will be boys" cliché in Grandpa's presence. "No ma'am," Grandpa replied in a serious tone. "Boys will be men." I have always tried to consider that thought in my own family. It has been my desire to raise my children to be adults, not kids. Following are 30 principles we have tried to rely on in our family in our attempt to reach that goal. Some of them came from Grandpa. I'd like to think he would approve of the rest."



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In Live Address, Obama Takes His Plan For Gun Control To The Public : The Two-Way : NPR

In Live Address, Obama Takes His Plan For Gun Control To The Public : The Two-Way : NPR: "Saying that Second Amendment rights matter, President Obama states:



 "There are other rights that we care about, as well, and we have to be able to balance them. Because our right to worship freely and safely — that right was denied to Christians in Charleston, S.C.; and that was denied Jews in Kansas City; and that was denied Muslims in Chapel Hill, and Sikhs in Oak Creek. They had rights, too."



He then says the right of peaceful assembly has been robbed in movie theaters in Colorado and Louisiana — and the pursuit of happiness and liberty has also been taken away in attacks on schools. 




"Those rights were stripped from college kids in Blacksburg, in Santa Barbara, and from high-schoolers in Columbine, and from first-graders in Newtown."



 While applause had followed the president's listing of those events, his final words about students were said after an emotional pause; they were greeted with silence in the room.



 The president repeats: "First-graders.""



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Paul Graham has accidentally explained everything wrong with Silicon Valley’s world view - Quartz

Paul Graham has accidentally explained everything wrong with Silicon Valley’s world view - Quartz: "I will throw Paul Graham a bone for recognizing that in terms of scale and impact on the American economy, Wall Street is definitely the bigger concern.



But my guess is that what probably infuriates you about Paul Graham’s essay is his tacit contention that startups create wealth. This is not true.



First of all, the vast majority of startups fail. Every venture capitalist knows this. Those pesky things, for the most part, just eat money and more often than not actually destroy wealth.



But the second reason why you should not allow yourself to think that startups create wealth is because of how they are funded."



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5 Phrases to Stop Kids From Begging | POPSUGAR Moms

5 Phrases to Stop Kids From Begging | POPSUGAR Moms: "Now, I'm far from a perfect parent, but I cringed knowing what this mother had just traded. Basically her soul. She traded a nasty temper tantrum for a life of bargaining between her and her little sweet pea. And the sad thing is, it doesn't have to be that way, nor should it.

I wanted to hand the mom a laminated card with these five fail-proof sayings burned into the paper. They've worked for me for years and remind me of chocolate. Every single one of them is good and I pick which "flavor" depending on my mood.

Next time your mini cross-examiner is giving you the run-down, take charge, be a mom, and above all, be consistent.

If you say no, you better mean it. By changing your mind, your child has gained more than a piece of candy; they've gained the knowledge you can be broken down easier than a cardboard box.

Have fun practicing these phrases with your little interrogator:"



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Obama to take unilateral action on US gun violence - BBC News

Obama to take unilateral action on US gun violence - BBC News: "In his first weekly address of 2016, Mr Obama said he would meet Attorney General Loretta Lynch to discuss actions he could take.
He said he was using his executive powers as president because the US Congress has failed to address the problem.
Analysts say there will be a backlash from gun activists and Republicans.
But Mr Obama told Americans that he had received too many letters from parents, and teachers, and children, to sit around and do nothing.
"We know that we can't stop every act of violence," the president said. "But what if we tried to stop even one? What if Congress did something - anything - to protect our kids from gun violence?"
He has admitted that his inability to win Congressional backing for what he called "common sense gun laws" was the greatest frustration of his presidency."



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3D printed ceramics hold great promise in aerospace industry - Modern Readers

3D printed ceramics hold great promise in aerospace industry - Modern Readers: "Researchers have come up with a new and novel way to leverage 3D printing technology – the ability to create custom ceramics that are far more durable than these objects traditionally are. This ability to make crack-proof ceramics may even hint at some tantalizing potential in the aerospace industry.

“If you go very fast, about ten times speed of sound within the atmosphere, then any vehicle will heat up tremendously because of air friction,” said Tobias Schaedler of Malibu-based HRL Laboratories. “People want to build hypersonic vehicles and you need ceramics for the whole shell of the vehicle.” This could suggest the eventual arfrival of hypersonic planes that could travel from one side of the globe to another in just a couple hours’ time."



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California cranks out new businesses and jobs despite criticism - LA Times

California cranks out new businesses and jobs despite criticism - LA Times: "But ultimately, he said, no amount of tax incentives could outweigh the benefits of being close to a dense network of customers, suppliers and potential employees."



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