Tag Archives: gay

~ Culture & History

World’s Oldest Shoe Discovered, Dates Back 5,500 Years


world's oldest shoe brown sheep dung lace-up stuffedYou won’t find this style on Zappos! The world’s oldest shoe dates back 5,500 years. Photo: AP Photo/Department of Archaeology University College Cork
Looks like our ancestors had a little trouble watching their step.

Researchers excavating an Armenian cave have discovered the world’s oldest shoe — a cowhide lace-up encased in a pile of sheep dung, The New York Times reports.

(Ew. We suspect even Imelda Marcos might give this one a pass.)

Tanned in oils from a plant or vegetable and bearing leather eyelets for its laces, the right shoe reportedly pre-dates Stonehenge, the Egyptian pyramids and Joan Rivers.

“These were probably quite expensive shoes, made of leather, very high quality,” Gregory Areshian of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, a lead scientist on the project, told the paper.

The shoe is estimated to date back to the Copper Age, around 3653 to 3627 B.C., and would fit a woman (or petite man) with a size 7 foot, according to The New York Times.

Scientists told the source that the shoe appears to have been deliberately preserved, with grass stuffing and yellow clay lining keeping its shape intact. (Nice to know ancient gals were as shoe-obsessed as we are.)

“You can see the imprints of the big toe,” another team leader, Ron Pinhasi of Ireland’s University College Cork, told the paper.

“As the person was wearing and lacing it, some of the eyelets had been torn and repaired.”

The discovery was reportedly made after the National Geographic Society-funded researchers found other artifacts, including horns, pottery, and something doctoral student Diana Zardaryan thought felt like “an ear of a cow.”

“But when I took it out, I thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s a shoe,'” she told the paper. “To find a shoe has always been my dream.”

Ah — a woman after our own hearts!

So who was this Copper Age Carrie Bradshaw? We may never know… but it makes for one heck of a good, old-school Cinderella story.

In other shoe news, read about this government-funded “Sexy Heels in the City” college course.

by Erin Donnelly

~ my 2cents ..., ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

A better tomorrow means less Tea in Congress


In March of 2010, a Gallup Poll report stated that if a vote from We the People for Congress were taken right now it would result in 47% voting for Democrats and 44% Republicans. My response, if this is true, organizers definitely need to get prepared for November 2010.  That the numbers were this close because the Democrats have not gone big bold and progressive as most of us want. Well, we all know what happened and granted the process of changing policy and or making better laws are not easy or pleasant but it should not be the reason for changing your attitude or your vote solely for hating the process.  The bills that are being considered or waiting in the Senate, could improve the lives of the many rather than a select few and we need to get beyond the status quo Republicans seem to have claimed as the best way to gain back Congress. I don’t know about you but what I hear and see just makes it clear that Republicans like Speaker Boehner and Senator Mitch McConnell do not represent America… period.  We need Senator Reid to find the will not only be tough but remember this is not just a historic moment for everyone it is the opportunity to move America into the 21st Century. The people spoke in 2008 and again in 2012 with 53% voting for Barack Obama for a 2nd term. Now,  it’s time for Congress to stop acting out earn their pay and do the right thing.

The fact is while Congress ignores passing legislation the Sequester is moving into the living rooms of families all over the country … invisible to those on tv from commentary reporters or journos offering entertainment judgments advice as well as conservative politicians who we call public servants seemingly acting extreme … are bad actors

The Media continues to speculate or re-enforce the negative and mocking President Obama’s so-called improbable agenda of climate change, immigration overhaul as well as stating that Democrats are wavering on a vote that could quite possibly bring all that is Democratic down.   It is at this moment that the Democratic Party should be willing to create change that has been needed for quite some time and like the President has stated…

My question for you voters is … if not now when, because we may never get this chance for a long time if ever.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Save Bristol Bay: ~ repost from 2009 ~ sigh


ANCHORAGE – Seattle diners who order the salmon will get their meal with a message.

Chefs at more than a dozen restaurants are cooking up fish dishes that come with a special side: a warning that the creature’s future could be threatened by a giant gold and copper mine proposed for Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska, home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon runs.

Kevin Davis, co-owner of the Steelhead Diner, is an avid catch-and-release fly fisherman who recently returned from Washington, D.C., where he lobbied for permanent protection of Bristol Bay.

“Wild seafood is a rare and special commodity,” Davis said Thursday. “When I heard the news about the Pebble Mine and how it could potentially affect what is probably the world’s remaining strongholds of salmon, I became very concerned.”

To encourage his customers to help in the cause, the Steelhead Diner will feature three dishes using Alaska salmon: Tomato-Crusted Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon, Meyer Lemon-Crusted Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon and Hot-Smoked Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon Cheesecake.

~ Culture & History

gambling …


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With the governor and legislature poised to approve a state constitutional amendment next year that would allow for corporate casino gambling throughout the state, some elected officials in Brooklyn have begun to prematurely salivate at the promise of tax revenues, jobs and community revival. Before jumping on this casino bandwagon and forcing the development of a casino complex on what will likely be a vulnerable community, I implore our elected and community leaders to take a hard look at what the real impact casino gambling would have on a battered and dense urban community such as Coney Island as well as other similarly situated communities in Brooklyn.

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Take Action: #DontCrapOut

Bertha Lewis, President and Founder
The Black Institute
http://www.theblackinstitute.org/

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Speaker of the Ugandan parliament promises to pass …”kill the gays” bill

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Change.org
Uganda’s speaker of parliament has promised to pass a “Kill the Gays” bill in the next two weeks. Citibank and Barclays wield significant influence in Uganda, but have not spoken out against the bill.
Sign Collin’s Petition

The speaker of the Ugandan parliament has promised she will pass the so-called “Kill the Gays” bill in the next two weeks — she called it a “Christmas gift” for the Ugandan people. The bill would legalize the death penalty for LGBT people and people with HIV or AIDS.

Uganda experts say that one way to stop this bill is to get pressure from banks that have significant resources invested in the country, such as Citibank and Barclays.

Citibank and Barclays together have hundreds of millions of dollars invested in Uganda and wield significant influence in the country, just as banking lobbyists wield influence with Congress in the US. Citibank and Barclays speaking out against the “Kill the Gays” bill might be the best — and only — chance to stop it.

Collin Burton is a Citibank customer who is also gay. Collin started a petition on Change.org asking Citibank and Barclays to speak out against the “Kill the Gays” bill. Click here to sign Collin’s petition right now.

Citibank and Barclays are both big supporters of LGBT rights for their own employees, yet they invest money with a government that is threatening to execute LGBT people. “I expect Citibank and Barclays to live up to the values of equality and fairness, not just list them on their websites,” Collin says.

If Citibank and Barclays speak out against the “Kill the Gays” bill, Ugandan legislators will see that they are risking the business relationships that keep their government afloat.

Click here to sign Collin’s petition asking Citibank and Barclays to issue strong statements condemning Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill. The bill could come up for a vote any day, so swift action is essential.

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Mark Anthony and the Change.org team