La Cucaracha 2016 Oscars Night; GoComics.com, 2/28/16

Lalo Alcaraz, GoComics.com; La Cucaracha 2016 Oscars Night

La Cucaracha's 2016 Oscars Nomination Preview: "Best Actor in a Leading Role"; GoComics.com, 2/27/16

Lalo Alcaraz, GoComics.com; La Cucaracha's 2016 Oscars Nomination Preview: "Best Actor in a Leading Role"

La Cucaracha's 2016 Oscars Nomination Preview: "Best Actress in a Leading Role"; GoComics.com, 2/26/16

Lalo Alcaraz, GoComics.com; La Cucaracha's 2016 Oscars Nomination Preview: "Best Actress in a Leading Role"

Apple shareholders reject diversity plan to recruit minorities as company leaders; Guardian, 2/26/16

Danny Yadron and Julia Carrie Wong, Guardian; Apple shareholders reject diversity plan to recruit minorities as company leaders:

"Apple shareholders have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal that would require the board of America’s largest company to adopt an “accelerated recruitment policy” for minorities among company leaders.

The result offered a fresh reminder how Silicon Valley, a meritocracy dominated by white men, is having a tricky time navigating identity politics and modern attitudes towards diversity. The proposal, which wasn’t expected to pass, failed 94.9% to 5.1%, according to an early tally announced at Apple’s annual shareholder meeting at company headquarters in Cupertino, California...

Until recently Apple had a director of “worldwide inclusion and diversity”, Jeffrey Siminoff, but he was poached by Twitter in December 2015. Apple would not say whether it has replaced him."

J.J. Abrams says it’s time for gay ‘Star Wars’ characters; ComicBookResources.com, 2/27/16

Brendan McGuirk, ComicBookResources.com; J.J. Abrams says it’s time for gay ‘Star Wars’ characters:

"Director J.J. Abrams brought the “Star Wars” universe some balance with “The Force Awakens,” when he cast a woman and men of Nigerian and Guatemalan descent as the leads in the new generation of the Lucasfilm mythos, breaking the trappings of a genre that often trains its focus on the adventures of white males, at the expense of others. Now, Abrams thinks “Star Wars” is ready to break its next barrier, and that it’s time a gay character be introduced to the universe. Rey, Finn and Poe may evidence progress in pop-culture sci-fi, but Abrams sees work yet to be done. “When I talk about inclusivity, it’s not excluding gay characters, it’s about inclusivity,” the “10 Cloverfield Lane” producer remarked Thursday while addressing press at the the US-Ireland Alliance Oscar Wilde Awards, according to EW. “To me, the fun of ‘Star Wars’ is exploring the possibilities, so it seems insanely narrow-minded to say that there wouldn’t be a homosexual character in that world.”

Time to fire Trump; The Economist, 2/27/16

The Economist; Time to fire Trump:

"The things Mr Trump has said in this campaign make him unworthy of leading one of the world’s great political parties, let alone America. One way to judge politicians is by whether they appeal to our better natures: Mr Trump has prospered by inciting hatred and violence. He is so unpredictable that the thought of him anywhere near high office is terrifying. He must be stopped."

The Governing Cancer of Our Time; New York Times, 2/26/16

David Brooks, New York Times; The Governing Cancer of Our Time:

"We live in a big, diverse society. There are essentially two ways to maintain order and get things done in such a society — politics or some form of dictatorship. Either through compromise or brute force. Our founding fathers chose politics.

Politics is an activity in which you recognize the simultaneous existence of different groups, interests and opinions. You try to find some way to balance or reconcile or compromise those interests, or at least a majority of them. You follow a set of rules, enshrined in a constitution or in custom, to help you reach these compromises in a way everybody considers legitimate.

The downside of politics is that people never really get everything they want. It’s messy, limited and no issue is ever really settled. Politics is a muddled activity in which people have to recognize restraints and settle for less than they want. Disappointment is normal.

But that’s sort of the beauty of politics, too. It involves an endless conversation in which we learn about other people and see things from their vantage point and try to balance their needs against our own. Plus, it’s better than the alternative: rule by some authoritarian tyrant who tries to govern by clobbering everyone in his way."

No, LGBT People Aren't Exempt from Donald Trump's Blatant Bigotry; HuffingtonPost.com, 2/25/16

Michelangelo Signorile, HuffingtonPost.com; No, LGBT People Aren't Exempt from Donald Trump's Blatant Bigotry:

"Even if Trump is serious about supporting anti-discrimination laws, he's not only not shown any evidence that he'd actually push Congress to pass them, but since he also supports FADA he'd be in favor of broad religious exemptions included within any such laws, which would allow those who want to discriminate to continue to discriminate.

As we've seen, Trump is a master of manipulation (of media and of constituencies) who learned that on the gay issue he could give mixed signals, implying "tolerance" of LGBT rights while on the campaign trail but then speaking to anti-gay bigots within their forums and telling them exactly what they want to hear."

President Obama Announces His Intent to Nominate Carla D. Hayden as Librarian of Congress; WhiteHouse.gov, 2/24/16

WhiteHouse.gov; President Obama Announces His Intent to Nominate Carla D. Hayden as Librarian of Congress:

"Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Carla D. Hayden as Librarian of Congress.

President Obama said, “Michelle and I have known Dr. Carla Hayden for a long time, since her days working at the Chicago Public Library, and I am proud to nominate her to lead our nation’s oldest federal institution as our 14th Librarian of Congress. Dr. Hayden has devoted her career to modernizing libraries so that everyone can participate in today's digital culture. She has the proven experience, dedication, and deep knowledge of our nation’s libraries to serve our country well and that’s why I look forward to working with her in the months ahead. If confirmed, Dr. Hayden would be the first woman and the first African American to hold the position – both of which are long overdue.”

Carla D. Hayden, Nominee for Librarian of Congress, Library of Congress:

Dr. Carla D. Hayden is CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland, a position she has held since 1993. Dr. Hayden was nominated by President Obama to be a member of the National Museum and Library Services Board in January 2010 and was confirmed by the Senate in June 2010. Prior to joining the Pratt Library, Dr. Hayden was Deputy Commissioner and Chief Librarian of the Chicago Public Library from 1991 to 1993. She was an Assistant Professor for Library and Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh from 1987 to 1991. Dr. Hayden was Library Services Coordinator for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago from 1982 to 1987. She began her career with the Chicago Public Library as the Young Adult Services Coordinator from 1979 to 1982 and as a Library Associate and Children’s Librarian from 1973 to 1979. Dr. Hayden was President of the American Library Association from 2003 to 2004. In 1995, she was the first African American to receive Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year Award in recognition of her outreach services at the Pratt Library, which included an afterschool center for Baltimore teens offering homework assistance and college and career counseling. Dr. Hayden received a B.A. from Roosevelt University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Graduate Library School of the University of Chicago."

Looking Back; New Yorker, 2/29/16 Issue

Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker; Looking Back:

"Antonin Scalia, who died this month, after nearly three decades on the Supreme Court, devoted his professional life to making the United States a less fair, less tolerant, and less admirable democracy. Fortunately, he mostly failed. Belligerent with his colleagues, dismissive of his critics, nostalgic for a world where outsiders knew their place and stayed there, Scalia represents a perfect model for everything that President Obama should avoid in a successor. The great Justices of the Supreme Court have always looked forward; their words both anticipated and helped shape the nation that the United States was becoming. Chief Justice John Marshall read the new Constitution to allow for a vibrant and progressive federal government. Louis Brandeis understood the need for that government to regulate an industrializing economy. Earl Warren saw that segregation was poison in the modern world. Scalia, in contrast, looked backward...

Like Nick Carraway, Scalia “wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever.” The world didn’t coöperate. Scalia won a great deal more than he lost, and he and his allies succeeded in transforming American politics into a cash bazaar, with seats all but put up for bidding. But even though Scalia led a conservative majority on the Court for virtually his entire tenure, he never achieved his fondest hopes—thanks first to O’Connor and then to Kennedy. Roe v. Wade endures. Affirmative action survives. Obamacare lives. Gay rights are ascendant; the death penalty is not. (These positions are contingent, of course, and cases this year may weaken the Court’s resolve.) For all that Presidents shape the Court, the Justices rarely stray too far from public opinion. And, on the social issues where the Court has the final word, the real problem for Scalia’s heirs is that they are out of step with the rest of the nation. The public wants diversity, not intolerance; more marriages and fewer executions; less money in politics, not more. Justice Scalia’s views—passionately felt and pungently expressed though they were—now seem like so many boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”"

Blacks See Bias in Delay on a Scalia Successor; New York Times, 2/17/16

Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Hartman, New York Times; Blacks See Bias in Delay on a Scalia Successor:

"After years of watching political opponents question the president’s birthplace and his faith, and hearing a member of Congress shout “You lie!” at him from the House floor, some African-Americans saw the move by Senate Republicans as another attempt to deny the legitimacy of the country’s first black president. And they call it increasingly infuriating after Mr. Obama has spent seven years in the White House and won two resounding election victories."

Rally held against defacement of LGBT-friendly banner on North Side; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2/15/16

Karen Kane, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Rally held against defacement of LGBT-friendly banner on North Side:

"Determined to transform a “message of hate” to a “message of hope,” about 75 people attended a rally Sunday that involved signing their names and well-wishes on a North Side banner that had been vandalized Friday with words derogatory to the homosexual community.

“[The rally] was about hope and healing and moving forward. It was about bringing people together to send a message that all people need to be treated with dignity and respect. We wanted to say that we're not going to let this incident determine who we are and what we’re about,” said Christine Bryan, director of marketing and development with the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh, a leading organization in Western Pennsylvania dedicated to improving the lives of the LGBT community.

The vandalized sign had been hanging outside the Central Wellness Outreach Center on Anderson Street. The center, open since August, provides medical care for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, specializing in the areas of Hepatitis C, HIV and transgender.

Ms. Bryan said the cloth banner, which measures about 12 feet wide by 3 feet tall, had contained the name of the center and its logo. A vandal added a profane, homophobic phrase. On Sunday, the same banner became a canvas for messages of inspiration and support."

Defaced LGBT Sign Prompts Rally For Acceptance; KDKA, 2/14/16

Bob Allen, KDKA; Defaced LGBT Sign Prompts Rally For Acceptance:

"The Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church is taking a stand against hate, while calling for diversity and acceptance.

The morning church service ended with members signing the flag for the Central Outreach Wellness Center after someone defaced it with hate speech on Friday...

The Central Outreach Wellness Center offers medical care to members of the gay, lesbian and transgender community. Graffiti scrawled on the flag was aimed at patients, and some believe those words have a uniting effect on the community.

“I think the Dignity & Respect Campaign along with a number of members in the community we are all about trying to let people know that one incident doesn’t define the community, doesn’t define the organization and it surely doesn’t define who we are in the city of Pittsburgh,” said Candi Castleberry-Singleton, CEO of the Dignity & Respect Campaign.

In a show of support, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald signed the flag.

“We’re a city and a region again that’s attracting people. It’s attracting young people, it’s a attracting people from all over the world and we want to make sure when people come here they feel welcome,” Fitzgerald said."

Rally held after business sign defaced with LGBT hate speech; WPXI, 2/14/16

[Video and Article] WPXI; Rally held after business sign defaced with LGBT hate speech:

"A rally was held Sunday after a North Side business sign was vandalized with LGBT hate speech on Friday.

Dozens of people gathered to show their support after a sign at the Central Wellness Outreach Center’s was found with LGBT hate speech...

A “Hope Against Hate” rally was held, and attendees signed the sign that was defaced in hate.

"We've really turned it into a positive message when we've all come together today to show them that they're not going to win," Lane said."

Hope Against Hate; Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh, 2/13/16

Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh; Hope Against Hate:

"Join us tomorrow at 10:30 AM at the Allegheny UU Church on the North Side for a worship service followed by a short program of guest speakers who will address the recent incident of profanity against our North Side neighbor Central Wellness Outreach Center, one of the leading providers of culturally competent medical care for the LGBT community.

For more info about the incident, click here:

Following the service, join us downstairs and add your name to the sign as we surround it with a message hope, love, and support that the North Side and Pittsburgh is a welcoming city for all--in spite of our differences--and that everyone should be treated with dignity & respect.

Confirmed speakers include Dr. Stacy Lane from Central Wellness Outreach Center and Candi Castleberry Singleton from the Dignity & Respect Campaign.

Visit our Facebook page here for the most up-to-date speakers as they are confirmed."

Defaced sign won't deter medical practice from its mission; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2/13/16

Dan Majors, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Defaced sign won't deter medical practice from its mission:

"Dr. Lane, who specializes in care to the LGBT community, said the homophobic and profane graffiti saddened her. But she has a message that is more important and will connect with more people, she said...

“Unfortunately, many people that I serve are used to being victimized and marginalized,” she said. “They’re used to having to deal with this on some low level regularly in their lives. That saddens me deeply, that this happened in my space. We intentionally try to make a space that’s welcoming, where this doesn’t happen.”

Dr. Lane said the only change she anticipates in the wake of the incident is the purchase of four more signs — to show that her work will go on.

“I think that awareness that these kind of things still go on is important for Pittsburgh, as a city and us as a community, to realize,” she said. “There are people still out there that hate for no good reason.

“Many people have felt marginalized at some point in their lives, probably including the people that write these type of messages. I would encourage all people to take a good look at themselves and their lives and their families. I would think that most of us would be hard-pressed to have a family that doesn’t have someone that doesn’t necessarily fit into the box that the rest of us fit into.

“We have to remember that we don’t have to like each other. We don’t have to agree with each other’s opinions. But we do have to treat each other with dignity and respect.”"

Pitt to merge SIS, CS department; The Pitt News, 2/11/16

Taylor Mulcahey, The Pitt News; Pitt to merge SIS, CS department:

"Within the next year and a half, Pitt’s computer science department and school of information science will become one.

The new undergraduate school, the School of Computing Informatics, is slated to accept its first students in the fall of 2017 and will combine the 32 SIS faculty with the 18 CS faculty and distribute the 50-person staff in three new departments: computer science, informatics and network systems and information culture and data stewardship...

A “shift from a singular focus on high performance computing to embracing big data, data analytics, [and] the interaction between computation and information, is driving the department merger,” Larsen said.

A growing number of other universities around the country, such as University of California, Irvine, University of Michigan, Indiana University and Drexel University, have reorganized their programs in similar ways.

For Pitt, the change comes as the University looks to shift its focus to big data projects. In March 2015, Pitt teamed up with Carnegie Mellon University and UPMC to form the Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance, a partnership to find new ways to use large sets of patient data in health care.

In October 2015, Pitt collaborated with UPMC, CMU and other city and county officials to open the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center, which has published city and county data, such as logs of the city’s 311 calls and information about opioid deaths, online."

On Darwin Day, 5 facts about the evolution debate; Pew Research Center, 2/12/16

David Masci, Pew Research Center; On Darwin Day, 5 facts about the evolution debate:

"Today is the 207th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, a day now celebrated by some as Darwin Day. Darwin, of course, is best known for his theory of evolution through natural selection. When Darwin’s work was first made public in 1859, it shocked Britain’s religious establishment. And while today it is accepted by virtually all scientists, evolutionary theory still is rejected by many Americans, often because it conflicts with their religious beliefs about divine creation.

While not an official holiday, Darwin Day has been adopted by scientific and humanist groups to promote everything from scientific literacy to secularism. This year, more than 100 events have been planned worldwide, many of them anchored by scientific talks or symposia. Others, such as a children’s scavenger hunt at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., are a little less serious.

Here are five facts about the public’s views on evolution as well as other aspects of the debate in the U.S. and elsewhere:"

Women in Company Leadership Tied to Stronger Profits, Study Says; New York Times, 2/9/16

Daniel Victor, New York Times; Women in Company Leadership Tied to Stronger Profits, Study Says:

"Companies pondering the incentives for increased gender diversity in their executive ranks may need to look no further than the bottom line.

Having women in the highest corporate offices is correlated with increased profitability, according to a new study of nearly 22,000 publicly traded companies in 91 countries.

The study, released Monday by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a nonprofit group based in Washington, and EY, the audit firm formerly known as Ernst & Young, found that despite the apparent economic benefits, many corporations are lacking in gender diversity.

Almost 60 percent of the companies reviewed had no female board members, and more than 50 percent had no female executives. Just under 5 percent had a female chief executive."

’80s X-Men characters come to life in rocking music video; ComicBookResources.com, 2/10/16

Brett White, ComicBookResources.com; ’80s X-Men characters come to life in rocking music video:

"In addition to a spot-on Lila Cheney (performed by singer Sage Montclair in full ’80s Joan Jett glory) and Dazzler (Gentry Roth) on backing vocals, the fan-made music video features the complete nine-person New Mutants roster (that’s Cannonball, Sunspot, Mirage, Karma, Wolfsbane, Magma, Magik, Cypher and Warlock), the team’s dance instructor Stevie Hunter (complete with a shout-out to Kitty Pryde) and Strong Guy. Yes, Strong Guy. If you’re a fan of the X-Men and don’t mind having a super catchy song stuck in your head for the rest of the day, then “I Will Steal Your Heart!” is necessary viewing."

Microsoft’s Cortana gets sexually harassed, but she fights back; Digital Trends, 2/6/16

Lulu Chang, Digital Trends; Microsoft’s Cortana gets sexually harassed, but she fights back:

"According to Harrison, when Cortana was first launched in 2014, “a good chunk of early queries were about her sex life.” Now the team behind the AI is fighting back; Cortana is a true woman of the 21st century, you see, and she doesn’t take any crap.

“If you say things that are particularly a**holeish to Cortana, she will get mad,” said Harrison during a talk at the Re•Work Virtual Assistant Summit in San Francisco. “That’s not the kind of interaction we want to encourage.”

To combat this sort of behavior, Harrison and seven other Microsoft writers tasked with the fascinating job of determining how Cortana responds to inquiries have decided to be very careful with the way in which they structure this virtual woman."

Student Demands: Who’s Resigned, What’s Renamed; New York Times, 2/3/16

Kate Sinclair, New York Times; Student Demands: Who’s Resigned, What’s Renamed:

"This academic year, administrators have wrestled with a deluge of student demands related to cultural and racial issues on campus. Some have been met. Here’s a recap:"

After Racist Episodes, Blunt Discussions on Campus; New York Times, 2/3/16

John Eligon, New York Times; After Racist Episodes, Blunt Discussions on Campus:

"The new frontier in the university’s eternal struggle with race starts here, with blunt conversations that seek to bridge a stark campus divide. Yet what was evident in this pregnant moment during a new diversity session that the university is requiring of all new students was this: People just don’t want to discuss it...

Yet administrators might have been missing a trickier truth: Diversity is one thing, inclusion is another...

Inclusion starts with ensuring that minority students are “not on campus in token amounts,” said Linda S. Greene, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who has served in various administrative roles that included diversity work. While some universities, particularly wealthy elites and flagships, conduct outreach to minority high school students, Ms. Greene challenges them to be as committed to building diverse and thriving student bodies as they are to recruiting top-flight athletes. She advocates identifying, developing and nurturing minorities as early as kindergarten, and investing in research on initiatives that drive success. “The big picture for me is this: You can determine an institution’s priorities by its dollar commitments,” she said. “We know what it takes for stem cell advancements and transplantation breakthroughs. When diversity becomes important enough, those commitments will be made.”

The terms “campus climate” and “inclusion” have taken off as diversity buzzwords."

African Avengers: the comic book creators shaking up superhero genre; Guardian, 2/3/16

David Barnett, Guardian; African Avengers: the comic book creators shaking up superhero genre:

"“I don’t think Africa and Africans are well represented in mainstream western comics. That is why we are here ... to give us a place in this genre and to show the world what Africans are capable of.”

Interestingly, half the digital downloads from Comic Republic come from outside Africa – specifically, the US and the UK. Martin says the general response has been “amazing” and adds, “Africa and the world in general has welcomed us with open arms and we are grateful."...

And could the rise of the African comic industry also herald a sea-change in the way the continent is portrayed in mainstream comics over here? It wouldn’t be that difficult, according to Richardson. “We live in an information age,” she says. “Go out and do a little damn reading. No one is keeping that from you. But this is a great opportunity for someone to tap into a narrative not yet being utilised. I notice fictional media and entertainment in general, will paint a very one-sided representation of African countries and its people. I imagine the world would have an obscured view of the United States if all that was ever seen of its people were the ghettos, the impoverished, the starving and the vitriolic, you’d probably not want to visit."

New UN stamps promote LGBT rights; Associated Press via Guardian, 2/4/16

Associated Press via Guardian; New UN stamps promote LGBT rights:

"The United Nations Postal Administration has released six new postage stamps promoting equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The colourful stamps by artist and UNPA art director Sergio Baradat are also meant to celebrate the diversity of the gay community and marks the first time the global body’s post office has issued stamps with an LGBT theme...

“We need to change attitudes to one of acceptance,” said Stephen Cutts, UN assistant secretary general.

The stamps support the UN human rights office’s Free & Equal campaign, which aims to promote fair treatment of the LGBT community.

Charles Radcliffe, chief of the global issues section of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said there have been advances in human rights for members of the LGBT community, but more must be done because hate crimes are still too common and homosexuality is still criminalised in some countries."

LGBT-Inclusive Companies Are Better at 3 Big Things; Harvard BusinessReview, 2/2/16

Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Kenji Yoshino, Harvard Business Review; LGBT-Inclusive Companies Are Better at 3 Big Things:

"For the first time in the history of Davos, LGBT rights made the official agenda at the World Economic Forum. Business leaders including Beth Brooke-Marciniak, the global vice chair for public policy at EY, and Shamina Singh, the executive director of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, spoke at length about the unparalleled opportunity businesses have to make a difference in the lives of LGBT individuals around the world. “Multinational companies have enormous economies and employ millions of people,” said Brooke-Marciniak. “This gives them the ability to influence change on this issue in a unique and powerful way.”

LGBT inclusion is top of mind for the business community — and not just because it’s the right thing to do. The Center for Talent Innovation’s newest report, “Out in the World: Securing LGBT Rights in the Global Marketplace,” demonstrates that countering LGBT discrimination makes a corporation competitive on three fronts. Fostering an LGBT-inclusive workplace helps a company attract and retain top talent, woo and win critical consumer segments, and innovate for underserved markets."

Here's Why HuffPost Gay Voices Just Changed Its Name To HuffPost Queer Voices; HuffingtonPost.com, 2/2/16

Noah Michelson, HuffingtonPost.com; Here's Why HuffPost Gay Voices Just Changed Its Name To HuffPost Queer Voices:

"Today, for the very first time, we're thrilled to welcome you to HuffPost Queer Voices.

Our name change comes four-and-a-half years after we originally debuted as HuffPost Gay Voices -- and after countless conversations with countless people, both inside and outside of the HuffPost newsroom.

Though I've had my own love affair with the word "queer" for as long as I can remember (more on that in a minute), at the time of our launch in 2011 some people felt that the term was too controversial, too divisive and, because of its history as a slur, perhaps just too painful to use."

Unpublished Black History; New York Times, 2/1/16

Rachel L. Swarns, Darcy Eveleigh, and Damien Cave, New York Times; Unpublished Black History:

"Hundreds of stunning images from black history, drawn from old negatives, have long been buried in the musty envelopes and crowded bins of the New York Times archives.

None of them were published by The Times until now.

Were the photos — or the people in them — not deemed newsworthy enough? Did the images not arrive in time for publication? Were they pushed aside by words here at an institution long known as the Gray Lady?...

Every day during Black History Month, we will publish at least one of these photographs online, illuminating stories that were never told in our pages and others that have been mostly forgotten...

Many of these photographs, and their stories, are equally intriguing. But the collection is far from comprehensive. There are gaps, for many reasons."