November 24, 2014

Monterey researchers take first-ever known video of mysterious black seadevil

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/11/22/monterey-researchers-take-first-ever-video-mysterious-black-seadevil/

A research team conducting a dive in Monterey Bay off the coast of California have captured first-ever video of a rarely-seen denizen of the deep called the black seadevil.

The creature was spotted this week in the dark, deep waters 1,900 feet below the surface by researchers with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

"We've been diving out here in the Monterey Canyon regularly for 25 years, and we've seen three," MBARI Senior Scientist Bruce Robinson told the San Jose Mercury News Friday.

Robinson said a luminescent "fishing pole" projecting from the anglerfish's head is a glowing lure to attract prey.

Robinson told the paper they captured the fish to study, but don't know how long it will survive.

<sigh>

November 22, 2014

Texas approves textbooks with Moses as founding father.

Texas approves textbooks with Moses as Founding Father

November 21, 2014Leave a Comment
by: Michael Stone
Christian conservatives win, children lose: Texas textbooks will teach public school students that the Founding Fathers based the Constitution on the Bible, and the American system of democracy was inspired by Moses.
On Friday the Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education voted along party lines 10-5 to approve the biased and inaccurate textbooks. The vote signals a victory for Christian conservatives in Texas, and a disappointing defeat for historical accuracy and the education of innocent children.
The textbooks were written to align with instructional standards that the Board of Education approved back in 2010 with the explicit intention of forcing social studies teaching to adhere to a conservative Christian agenda. The standards require teachers to emphasize America’s so called “Christian heritage.”

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2014/11/texas-approves-textbooks-with-moses-as-founding-father/


I hope to hell I've been taken in by a hoax, because this is downright scary.

November 21, 2014

Gay teen commits suicide after being outed and harassed by Catholic school officials

http://www.thegailygrind.com/2014/09/11/gay-teen-commits-suicide-outed-harassed-catholic-school-officials/

Sergio Urrego, 16, took his own life last month after Catholic school administrators harassed the teenager by making his relationship with another young man public and accused him of sexual harassment.

Sergio’s mother, Alba Reyes, has just recently opened up to the media about her son’s suicide in order to clear his name.

Reyes said her nightmare began in May when a teacher at Gimnasio Castillo Campestre school in the Colombian capital Bogotá, saw a photo of Sergio kissing his boyfriend of a month and a half on his cellphone. After confiscating the phone, both boys were sent to the school psychologist.

Edited to add....

Shortly after his funeral, his classmates were called into a meeting with the principal who described the deceased teen as an ‘anarchist,’ ‘atheist,’ and ‘homosexual,’ never once showing any sadness or sense of loss for the former student. The school psychologist also told the students to be ‘discreet’ about the suicide, according to a student who wished to remain anonymous.