CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-16 16:39:13 (0 comments, 14 reshares, 16 +1s)

Please help protect whales from deadly sonar and explosives.
http://goo.gl/wzIxM

As you read this, the Navy is moving ahead with dangerous plans to blast high-intensity sonar and detonate explosives during routine training exercises. 

Unless we act swiftly to stop them, more than 1,000 whales and other marine mammals could be killed over the next five years. 

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/protectingwhales.asp

2013-05-16 02:48:34 (4 comments, 4 reshares, 20 +1s)

{revised}

2013-05-15 00:13:43 (9 comments, 7 reshares, 8 +1s)

Click Link Below to watch bigotry in action:  In real-time

If anyone doubts that we are still fighting anti-gay bigotry, check out this real-time counter of homophobic slurs on Twitter.

Fun?  Not really.  Silly...uh, nope.  Each time an adolescent who is questioning his/her sexuality sees or hears this stuff, they feel just a little bit worse inside.  

It's time to purge this hatred and ignorance from our culture.  

You see someone posting this type of stuff online??.....call 'em on it!

#noh8   #lgbtq  

2013-05-14 01:42:45 (16 comments, 6 reshares, 12 +1s)

Aww, shucks .. she's scared.  Michele wants to get the heck outta Satan-infested Minnesota....now that they've approved Same Sex Marriage

Her reaction to Marriage Equality having passed in her state today?  She believes God will express his wrath on the folks that live in Minnesota.

"The Bible is very clear on this issue," she told KSTP-TV this morning, "Homosexuality is a sin, and God will punish communities that support it....
I have a friend from Eden Prairie who's already packed everything she owns into her car and is driving out to Montana as we speak. These are very scary times. I don't want my family to be the last ones out."

OK, the Current article is satire.  But it sure strikes close to home for good ol' Michele. http://goo.gl/uXT3X   #marriageequality     #minnesota  

2013-05-07 23:40:40 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

DELAWARE BECOMES 11TH STATE TO ALLOW GAY MARRIAGE

Join us tonight for a very special hangout with +Governor Markell to celebrate! We will be speaking to him live after he signs the bill into law. 

The Google Hangout is viewable on this Event page. Ask Gov Markell a question during the event by posting a comment here. 

Also joining us will be +Lavi Soloway founder of the +The DOMA Project 

sensiblepolitics.org #marriageequality   #D4M   #HOA  

2013-05-07 01:15:56 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 7 +1s)

According to an analysis published last year, 231 dams are currently planned in the Brazilian Amazon alone. Another 15 are slated for Peru and Bolivia.

http://news.mongabay.com/2012/1208-raisg-amazon-dams.html

Enough is enough.  Let indigenous people determine their own environmental policies.

#savetheamazon   #indigenousrights  

2013-05-06 22:48:19 (7 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

Okay Marco Rubio and NOM..... Put This in Your Pipe and Smoke It.

The three major Republican-leaning outside groups running ads in support of a comprehensive immigration reform bill are all backed by strong supporters of legal equality for same-sex couples. Despite conservative warnings that including protections for bi-national same-sex couples would torpedo the bill, there appears to be wider bipartisan support for equal rights for gay and lesbian couples.

#LGBT   #equality  

2013-05-02 04:54:37 (29 comments, 21 reshares, 36 +1s)

Could this finally be the big breakthrough the world has been waiting for?

Danish scientists believe they are on the brink of an HIV cure.  You read that right: Cure.  Not treatment, but a way to totally rid the body of HIV.  Forever.

They are conducting clinical trials to test a “novel strategy” in which the HIV virus is stripped from human DNA and destroyed permanently by the immune system.

And, unlike expensive and risky gene-therapy "cures", this would potentially be mass-distributable and affordable.   I hope this isn't too good to be true.

more details here: http://goo.gl/wf9zh   ---- via +peter k 

2013-05-02 01:44:19 (22 comments, 4 reshares, 12 +1s)

I'm trying to stay calm about this.  It's a personal issue:  I'm in a longterm relationship with a foreign national, and we're both really tired of being treated like second-class citizens.....not to mention all the visa hassles, and lawyer expenses. This country is changing, and the majority is now backing our equal rights. Yet the Republicans, who don't appear to mind going down with a sinking ship, are trying to block progress at every turn.  

Yes, the Supreme Court might take care of this issue when they rule on DOMA in late June.   But, jeez Repubs....why so much hate?  Haven't you noticed yet that we're in your families, too?  

And while I'm ranting..... phluck you Politico for framing this as gay rights "threatening immigration deal".

2013-04-20 02:46:39 (5 comments, 3 reshares, 15 +1s)

Massive Rally Failure at Anti-Gay Rally.  

lol.  A little levity on a sad day.
I think it's time for the bigots to finally pack it up and go home.  

#marriageequality   #lgbtrights  

2013-04-18 05:11:27 (17 comments, 5 reshares, 12 +1s)

GMO corn is more toxic than we realize, and corn is in so much of what we eat, from the corn syrup in catsup to the popcorn we buy to pop. Really frightening.

2013-04-18 01:01:55 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

2013-04-17 23:50:23 (8 comments, 3 reshares, 8 +1s)

Note to self: don't buy Eden Foods.

"Organic Eden Foods’ quiet right-wing agenda" http://feedly.com/k/12LNyb0

2013-04-14 17:33:44 (4 comments, 13 reshares, 26 +1s)

SAY NO TO PALM OIL! Did you know that each and everyone of us is fueling one of the world's biggest ecological disasters and acts of primate genocide in history?

Borneo and Sumatra are two of the most bio-diverse regions of the world, yet they have the longest list of endangered species. This list includes the magnificent orangutan. These two South-East Asian islands are extremely rich in life, containing around 20,000 flowering plant species, 3,000 tree species, 300,000 animal species and thousands more being discovered each year. Despite this amazing biodiversity and delicate web of species, an area the size of 300 football fields of rainforest is cleared each hour in Indonesia and Malaysia to make way for the production of one vegetable oil. That's 6 football fields destroyed each minute. This vegetable oil is called palm oil, and is found in hundreds of the everyday products, from... more »

2013-04-14 15:03:35 (35 comments, 67 reshares, 143 +1s)

There are 27 million slaves in our world.  Yes, today.

For the past two years, photographer Lisa Kristine has traveled the world, documenting the unbearably harsh realities of modern-day slavery. She shares hauntingly beautiful images -- miners in the Congo, brick layers in Nepal -- illuminating the plight of the 27 million souls enslaved worldwide. 

Please consider a donation to Free The Slaves, a non-profit whose mission is to liberate slaves around the world, and change the systems that allow slavery to exist.   http://www.freetheslaves.net    h/t +Mark Ward 

2013-04-14 00:40:12 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

+Mark Pogue  #MarkPogue   Obituary.  where to send donations,  Mark was a great guy and great G+er,  he will be missed . 

2013-04-13 22:01:53 (3 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

I want to tell you a very unpleasant truth about climate change. It's a lot more serious than we've been discussing in public.

(Warning the first: This is not going to be a cheerful sort of post. It will, very likely, leave you feeling deeply unsettled. If you do not want this, you should stop reading now.)

(Warning the second: This is not a post on which to say "I don't believe climate change is happening!" or "this is a left-wing plot!" or "I don't believe there's adequate proof that humans are causing it!" There are times that I have the patience and interest to discuss what are essentially political arguments about science, and this is not one of them. If you believe this stuff, it's because you have a deep personal need to do so, and best of luck to you with that. But I'll just delete such comments on this post.)
... more »

2013-04-13 21:14:15 (18 comments, 9 reshares, 45 +1s)

For real.

2013-04-11 23:30:31 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

This is the problem today in U.S. professional sports

"If you were to go to a group of athletes and ask, 'Would you support an openly gay friend,' the vast majority would say yes. But if you were to ask, 'How many of you have used an anti-gay term in the last 48 hours,' the majority would also say yes".

...and this is the answer that the NHL announced today:
The NHL has teamed up with the You Can Play Project, an organization that promotes equality in sports, to develop "what appears to be the most comprehensive measure by a major men’s league in support of gay rights," according to The New York Times. The initiative will include training and counseling on gay issues, along with participation in public service announcements.

How quickly things are changing, and how great it is to witness it!

#... more »

2013-04-08 18:54:16 (18 comments, 11 reshares, 24 +1s)

THIS SADDENS AND SICKENS ME AND IS AN EARLY ONE FOR CATURDAY #caturdayeveryday   #caturday  
"They’re kicking us off our land to hunt lions" - Maasai Community

Dear friends,

Within hours, Tanzania's President Kikwete could start evicting tens of thousands of the Maasai from our land so hunters can come and kill leopards and lions. Last time Avaaz raised the alarm, the President shelved the plan. Global pressure can stop him again. Click to help us urgently:

We are elders of the Maasai from Tanzania, one of Africa’s oldest tribes. The government has just announced that it plans to kick thousands of our families off our lands so that wealthy tourists can use them to shoot lions and leopards. The evictions are to begin immediately.

Last year, when word first leaked about this plan, almost one million Avaaz members rallied to our aid.Your ... more »

2013-04-06 22:32:00 (7 comments, 46 reshares, 32 +1s)

You go Google! 

Google fights FBI's warrantless data requests in federal court

Google has undertaken what appears to be a legal first: an open court challenge by a major Internet company to a warrantless electronic data-gathering technique used by the FBI.

It's the first major company to openly challenge FBI's warrantless data-gathering known as national security letters, which authorize a gag order ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge.

more info here from CNET: http://goo.gl/pKczW

2013-04-04 20:08:17 (6 comments, 4 reshares, 12 +1s)

Ryan Gosling Fights the Barbaric Practice of Cow De-Horning

This practice is unbelievably painful and cruel.  It's time for it to stop.

Ryan's letter on behalf of PETA reads:

"Dehorning is one of the most painful things done to cows on dairy farms, whether it is by burning a calf with a searing hot iron or applying caustic paste to create a chemical burn that eats away at the animal's flesh. There is absolutely no reason—and no excuse—for the cruel, unnecessary practice of dehorning to continue. I respectfully urge the National Milk Producers Federation to take the lead in stopping this barbaric practice by requiring farmers to phase out dehorning by breeding for polled, or naturally hornless, cattle."

more info here: http://goo.gl/ObWmv

#animalrights   #PETA  

2013-04-04 16:46:50 (2 comments, 4 reshares, 10 +1s)

OOOOPS! 

Millions of internal records have leaked from Britain's offshore financial industry, exposing for the first time the identities of thousands of holders of anonymous wealth from around the world, who hide their assets and evade taxes.

The leak of 2 million emails and other documents has the potential to cause a seismic shock worldwide to the booming offshore trade, with a former chief economist at McKinsey estimating that wealthy individuals may have as much as $32 trillion (£21tn) stashed in overseas havens.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/03/offshore-secrets-offshore-tax-haven

2013-04-03 21:32:46 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

Everybody share this video until Jon Stewart eventually sees it.

2013-04-03 20:44:13 (5 comments, 7 reshares, 17 +1s)

The Public Comment period is only open till April 14th.  Please take a moment to make your voice heard!  http://act.350.org/letter/a_million_strong_against_keystone/

via +Melody Polson 

"The Keystone XL Pipeline is dangerous, dirty, and destructive -- and the latest Environmental Impact Statement was both inaccurate and incomplete. 

It ignores the pipeline's significant risk for toxic spills, ignores its catastrophic impacts on our climate, and ignores the clear consensus among financial analysts and oil executives who agree Keystone XL will make the difference in tar sands development. 

The risk to Water Resources, alone, would stop this pipeline. While we cannot order Canada to stop this work, we can refuse to move the product at risk to our citizens.

For the National Interest and the future of our country and our planet, I urgeyou ... more »

2013-04-03 20:18:22 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

*
♥ Please, sign & share this petition. ♥
Background for petition:
The montane rainforests of Ecuador's Intag region are home to a huge biodiversity, including endangered animals such as the spectacled bear. 
Right in the spectacled bear's habitat an unexploited copper reserve is to be exploited. The montane rainforests with all their animal and plant species as well as the people living there would all have to give way to the planned opencast mines in the Toisan mountains.
For many years Rainforest Rescue has been supporting the inhabitants of the Intag region which is the area north of the capital Quito. The support has shown success: Twice, the residents were able to prevent the plans of the Ecuadorian government and international mining companies.
Now, the mining lobbyists have started a third attempt. Please support the people of the Intag regionwith... more »

2013-04-03 04:27:33 (10 comments, 0 reshares, 23 +1s)

Republicans should be scared. Watch how a Detroit crowd reacts to a gay proposal.  
h/t The BigotBasher @DKos http://goo.gl/j5NmZ

"On Saturday 31 March 2013, Lead singer of the band Garbage, Shirley Manson, paused in the middle of their concert at Detroit’s Majestic Theater to let a fan propose to his boyfriend onstage.

The band invited Dominic on stage, Shirley explained how Dominic had been supportive of a sick friend to the band, even flying out to a benefit for the friend. She said, "As it happens I was on my Facebook page yesterday, I was on the tour bus and I was going through messages as we do, I saw this message from your boyfriend, Scott, and he told me that you were really super amazing."

Shirley Manson then brought Scott out, who got down on his knees and proposed to Dominic, his boyfriend of four years.

The crowd eruptedin... more »

2013-03-27 05:20:32 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 18 +1s)

Thanks to +Nate Lew for my new profile pic :-)

One day down, one to go for arguments in the two Supreme Court marriage equality cases.  May Justice Kennedy feel the winds of change blowing at his back, and have the courage to do the right thing.

#marriageequality   #equality  

2013-03-22 19:33:09 (3 comments, 10 reshares, 33 +1s)

At the airport, heading to NYC to meet with family and friends, including +Luke Mulvey .  As many of you know, the upcoming decisions by the Supreme Court will affect him and I tremendously.   Onward towards full equality!

2013-02-02 20:44:01 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

NIH admits that it's time for nearly every research chimp in their facilities to retire. We need to tell them that they should follow their own recommendation.

#animalrights  

2013-02-02 20:28:18 (4 comments, 7 reshares, 37 +1s)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

(.... and of course, happy #caturday  )

2013-01-26 02:17:16 (16 comments, 7 reshares, 16 +1s)

Were they born monsters?

Yes, reducing access to assault weapons and increasing access to mental health services are critical steps to reducing gun violence.  But we need to look deeper at how these horrific acts come to pass in our world.

The essay below delves deep into our collective psyche.  I highly recommend it to everyone who wants to try and understand how people can commit these acts.

Another Look at the Source of Rampage Violence
by Tim Tosta
http://www.mckennalong.com/publications-806.html

2013-01-25 21:02:31 (14 comments, 19 reshares, 49 +1s)

Lesbian wife denied membership to Fort Bragg's spouse club is voted the base's 'Spouse of the Year'

yes, Yes, and YES!      from NBC: http://goo.gl/2D8ng

An Army wife, denied full membership at a Fort Bragg spouses club because she's married to a female Army officer, was named Fort Bragg’s 2013 “spouse of the year” Friday after an annual, national vote that spanned nominees from all military branches, NBC News has learned.
In the online election held Tuesday, Ashley Broadway captured the Fort Bragg vote “by a country mile,” said Babette Maxwell, founder of Military Spouse magazine and the Military Spouse of the Year award. Ballot totals were not revealed. As one of the 154 base-level winners, Broadway now is eligible to be nominated for Army “spouse of the year.”

“A lot of people who voted never me met or talked to me orknew me from Adam. ... more »

2013-01-24 04:09:47 (6 comments, 5 reshares, 22 +1s)

So glad to hear this....
Research Chimps May Be Headed From Lab To Leisure

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=170043901

Chimpanzees who have spent their lives in U.S. research labs being prodded, poked and tested may be headed for retirement in a leafy sanctuary where they can climb trees, socialize at will, play with toys and even listen to music.

More than 300 chimpanzees should be retired from government-funded research and sent to live in a sprawling refuge outfitted with play areas under a recommendation approved Tuesday by a top national panel of scientists.

The proposal from a National Institutes of Health committee is the latest step in a gradual shift away from using chimps as test subjects, because of technological advances and because of ethical concerns about their close relation to humans. It would affect all but 50 of... more »

2013-01-18 19:39:34 (10 comments, 9 reshares, 50 +1s)

These rape protesters in India might be our new favorite people. They're reacting to widespread comments about skirts being the cause of rape, seriously.

Let's get something straight, the only thing responsible for rape is a rapist, if you're blaming a woman's clothes for her rape you're clueless.

I do believe I love these guys

2013-01-16 22:52:21 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 11 +1s)

This is a link to a short video of some of the rarest and most beautiful creatures evolution has ever produced on earth.

New Guinea's "Birds of Paradise"

2013-01-11 20:04:13 (3 comments, 6 reshares, 20 +1s)

As Nurse Lay Dying, Offering Herself as Instruction in Caring

Such inspiration.  This woman reminds me of my dear sister Vivian, also a nurse who died of cancer.

2013-01-09 21:29:11 (36 comments, 0 reshares, 28 +1s)

Teenie, tiny baby-steps

Slowly I'm learning to manage my time better, and break free of my internet addiction/obsession.   It hasn't been easy!

For the 8 months or so leading up to the presidential election, I was basically living on the internet.  Not healthy!!   So I essentially cut the cord.  Now, I'm slowly finding that I can set aside a little chunk of time each day to hanging out with my online friends and community, without falling down the well like poor little Timmy.   

I miss my friends here on G+!!  Thanks for understanding that I'm in recovery :-)

(For anyone who's interested, below is an article that explains a bit about this syndrome, and has suggestions on how to deal with it :-)

http://readwrite.com/2013/01/09/new-years-resolutions-to-manage-your-tech-habits

2012-12-18 17:52:23 (29 comments, 0 reshares, 53 +1s)

Here's where I am working and where I am hiding.

2012-12-15 18:27:11 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

TOP Circle - Sensational Science Fiction Circle Resharers!
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Weekend Share! we already have over 2000 people in our community, come visit!

Your matching community is here - https://plus.google.com/u/1/communities/116559659196021786692

⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿
Why should you add them? They are awesome - they support the SF initiative and are genuinely interested in Science Fiction and Science.

============================================
Reshare and Add for spreading the love


#scifi #scififans #scififriday #scifichat #scifiwatcher #sciencefiction #sciencefictionandfantasy #sciencefictiontelevision #sciencefictionmovies #sf #scifichannel #circle #circles #circlesharing#circleshare #circleoftheday #circleplus #public #publiccircles #publiccirclesproject #publicsharedcircles #reshare #r... more »

2012-12-15 07:45:19 (3 comments, 4 reshares, 23 +1s)

Did you know we are all connected?.. to everything.

2012-12-15 07:37:38 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

first video that popped into my head Dog & Elephant friends (CBS Evening News, 2009-01-02)

2012-12-15 04:21:15 (3 comments, 7 reshares, 25 +1s)

Free Your Mind and Think 

2012-12-15 03:36:00 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 13 +1s)

Kindness is the key to compassion for one's self and towards others. 

Kindness towards animals is a wonderful way to teach a child this lesson.

2012-12-12 06:37:28 (31 comments, 0 reshares, 22 +1s)

Hey folks, sorry I've been so hard to find lately.  I've been missing music in my life, so in basically every spare minute I've had, I've been immersing myself in a redesign of my little home music studio and learning basic stuff about mixing and recording (that I should have learned decades ago).  I'm also relearning the sequencing and mixing software that I was using a few years ago.  Before too long I hope to get back to the actual music composition phase, but for now it's tech slog hell :-)

I'll pop in here when I can...I hope you don't all forget about me.  I value my friends here on G+ a lot!

2012-12-07 17:29:54 (3 comments, 10 reshares, 35 +1s)

2012-12-07 05:41:11 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

Please reshare to share the love!

2012-12-06 17:35:53 (5 comments, 6 reshares, 29 +1s)

via +Victoria Robin 

2012-12-05 06:43:34 (5 comments, 3 reshares, 27 +1s)

GOP: If the rich don't get toys, nobody gets toys

2012-12-05 06:22:18 (9 comments, 9 reshares, 17 +1s)

                             Robert B. Reich presents:
                         Understanding the Fiscal Cliff
                                       (in 2m 30s)

   Learn the facts, and the best way out of this forced showdown.