According to government figures, Mumbai has 3,536 public restrooms that women share with men, but not a single women’s-only facility — not even in some police stations and courts. Enter the Right To Pee movement, a coalition of NGOs fighting for more — and safer — toilets for women.

Deepa Pawar, an activist from a women’s rights organization called Vacha, has collected horror stories over the past three years about how the lack of toilets hurts women in Mumbai.

Some women get bladder and urinary tract infections from holding in their urine, while others simply don't drink water all day to avoid the bathroom. Many women are raped or assaulted each year when they leave their homes to find a toilet, and those who find toilets safely can face other risks — scorpions, rats, infections.

And there are the larger societal issues as well: “The number one reason that girls drop out of school is because there are no toilets," Pawar points out.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/women-in-india-agitate-for-their-right-to-pee/ar-BBfP1LG?ocid=HPCDHP

According to the LA Times, Dems' chance to retake the state house as a supermajority rests on two contested seats:: Solorio v. Nguyen in Orange County and Chavez v. Vidak in the Central Valley.

http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-state-senate-20141020-story.html#page=1

I've been voting by mail-in ballot for over 10 years in Orange County --always as a registered Democrat. My ballot has always come at least a month before the election. Here it is October 19 and I still don't have my ballot. This has never happened before. My husband, who is a registered Independent, got his ballot several weeks ago. I did receive the Sample Ballot booklet when my husband got his. Both booklets tell us we are registered as a mail-in ballot voter and we must vote using our mail-in ballot; we can't go to a voting booth.

So I call the Orange County Registrar of Voters on Friday and the clerk says a lot of people have been calling about late ballots. I point out my husband, who lives at the same address as me, has had his ballot for several weeks. She says yes, she's been hearing about a lot of those kind of situations. She tells me the best thing to do is just for her to re-register me for an absentee ballot so that she can send me out another ballot. And she says I called just in time because Monday October 20 is the deadline to request an absentee ballot. Then she tells me I will also receive a Declaration I must sign promising I won't vote both ballots if I end up getting both in the mail. But, she tells me the Declaration must be mailed back separately. Now I'm waiting for my replacement ballot and this Declaration to sign. This whole process sounds screwy.

Is anyone else here an OC Dem who still hasn't gotten their ballot? This delay seems really fishy to me. Or am I being paranoid?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2771530/Would-considered-boobs-ground-Fox-News-host-Eric-Bolling-apologizes-sexist-joke-female-fighter-pilot-bombed-ISIS.html

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When Ed Schultz made a sexist comment, he made a teary apology and was taken off the air for a week by MSNBC. Fox seems happy with a limp apology--or none at all in the case of Gutfeld.

...
State Farm Insurance has dropped an ad campaign featuring the "Deuce Bigalow" star in a reprisal of his "Richmeister" character -- a.k.a. the "making copies" guy -- from "Saturday Night Live." The decision stems not from an objection to rehashed humor from the mid-'90s, but to Schneider's outspoken stance against childhood vaccines. 
...

Schneider has not taken the news lightly, posting a quote on Twitter attributed to George Washington implying that he'd been denied his 1st Amendment rights and thanking his supporters "who believe as I do that parents should decide what's in the best interests of their child, not Gov't mandates." 

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-rob-schneider-state-farm-antivaccine-views-20140925-story.html

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I'm glad these anti-vaccination idiots are becoming pariahs.

Source: msn.com/Reuters

Mills Police Department Officer Zachary Miller entered his plea on Friday, a month after drug-sniffing police dog "Nyx" died, the Casper Star Tribune reported.

Citing court filings, the paper reported that Miller left Nyx in his patrol car, parked outside the police station, with the windows rolled up.

Police dogs are prohibited from the Mills police station, the paper said.

If convicted of the misdemeanor charges, Miller faces up to six months in jail and a fine of $750, the paper reported.


Read more: http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/wyoming-officer-charged-over-death-of-police-dog-in-hot-car

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Finally, a police officer is charged for a death, albeit not for the death of a human being.

Raw video: Humpback whales feast on record number…:


More than a dozen humpback whales have camped out near the shore in Monterey Bay, San Francisco, drawing large crowds to the area.

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/rush-of-humpback-whales-appear-in-monterey-bay/

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I haven't seen whales down in Southern California, but the anchovies are definitely here. I've been seeing tons of pelicans dive - bombing the surf for anchovies.

Source: cbsnews.com

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell defended the league on Friday against criticism that it was too lenient in suspending Ray Rice two games for his "horrible mistake."

"We just can't make up the discipline," Goodell said. "It has to be consistent with other cases. And it was in this matter."

Goodell stressed that the Baltimore Ravens' running back has assumed responsibility for his conduct, has no history of assault and is following a court order to enter a diversionary program following his domestic violence arrest.


Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/roger-goodell-defends-nfls-2-game-suspension-of-ray-rice-for-domestic-violence/

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No Goodell, a mistake is thinking you'll like the new Vin Diesel movie. Punching a women into unconsciousness and dragging her body through a casino is a CRIME.

Contrary to this CBS article, Rice did not just "punch" her. Here’s one of the few articles that actually describes what Rice did:

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/2145308-the-baltimore-ravens-defense-of-ray-rice-is-indefensible?utm_source=m.cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=m.cnn-sports-bin

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes:

It bags on grammar errors--"Word Crimes"--to the tune of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines."

http://www.upworthy.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-reveals-that-hes-been-black-his-whole-life-hilarity-and-wisdom-follow?c=reccon1

Scroll to the last 4 minutes of the video at the link for Neil's answer to the audience question. He recounts the struggles he faced as an African American wanting to be an astrophysicist and states that we first must create a system of equal opportunity before we can even ask the question of whether genetics play a part. The rest of the hour-long video has a pretty brilliant, humorous discussion of the issues involved in getting people engaged in science.

Two measles outbreaks are occurring in major metropolitan areas at opposite ends of the country, putting the spotlight back on a once virtually-eliminated disease.
...
In the California outbreak, none of the children had been vaccinated, but 10 of the adults said they received an MMR (measles mumps and rubella) vaccine, while six had an unknown vaccination status.
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The CDC says more than 95 percent of people who receive a single dose of the MMR vaccine are immune against measles, and a second dose gives immunity to almost all of those who don't respond to the first dose.
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"The issue there from our side as I see it is not an issue of the vaccine, but the number of people exposed in a health care situation," he said. "When you have that many exposed, even if the vaccine is 99 percent effective, you're going to have breakthrough cases. "

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/measles-outbreaks-new-york-orange-county-spotlight-risks-even-for-vaccinated/
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So the folks not getting their kids vaccinated are even endangering us folks and our kids who do get vaccinated, since the vaccine is only 95-99% effective.