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Cats Are Not Lab Equipment, Washington University

Animal advocates have been protesting Washington University’s continued use of cats in its Pediatrics Advanced Life Support (PALS) program to teach students how to perform tracheal intubation, but the university refuses to budge.

Highlights:

For students at Washington University, the procedure involves placing a hard plastic tube down cats’ throats, which can cause them to suffer from a number of issues from bruising, bleeding, swelling and scarring to broken teeth, collapsed lungs, chronic pain and death.

[…]

Washington University is the only school using live animals locally – St. Louis University School of Medicine, Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center and St. Louis Community College have all switched to simulators – it’s believed to be the only one left using them at all for PALS training.

[…]

A recent undercover investigation conducted by PETA found that cats may be forced to endure up to 15  intubations during one session, and noted that studies have shown that intubating an animal more than five times in one session can cause pain and trauma. Several students also said that the cats they were working on woke up during the procedure. PETA has since called for a USDA investigation into violations of the Animal Welfare Act, which include using animals where alternatives are available and failing to minimize cats’ pain and distress.

Following the investigation, Missouri-native Bob Barker wrote an open letter to the university urging it to stop using cats and offered $75,000 to cover the cost of two state-of-the-art simulators to help transition the PALS program away from the use of cats – outdoing himself only with an added offer to provide homes for the nine cats currently being used in the program.

The university, which works in conjunction with the St. Louis Children’s Hospital, already has access to simulators, but continues to defend the practice under the argument that the cats are only used a few times a year, are under anesthesia during the procedure and that after three years of “service” they are then adopted out. However, according to Faye, there are no records to verify this claim.

[…]

The majority of schools and pediatrics programs in the U.S. have stopped using animals in their curricula and have switched to human patient simulators that are anatomically correct, can be used repeatedly, do not cause harm to any living being and have been approved by the American College of Surgeons. Washington University’s continued use of cats to train students is not only cruel, but is an outdated practice that cannot be justified when there are effective alternatives available.

TAKE ACTION!

Please sign and share the petition urging Washington University to stop using live animals in its PALS program.

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North Carolina House representatives, vote No on HB 693

stfuconservatives:

On Tuesday, the NC General Assembly approved a bill that would require teenagers to provide notarized parental approval in order to access STD testing, STD treatment, mental health counseling, pregnancy care or substance abuse treatment. This bill, House Bill 693, will take away crucial human rights of any number of at-risk children. If this bill passes, who will children of neglectful parents turn to? What about teenagers in situations of incest or abuse?

 
Supporters of the bill claim that this bill may bring a child’s risky behavior to their parents’ attention. But the sad fact is, not all families are ideal, and not all parents have the best interests of their children in mind. Why can’t we trust competent parents to keep an eye on their children on their own, without North Carolina’s help, and allow children of neglectful or abusive parents to advocate for themselves?

Sign & signal boost, folks. You know the drill. (ETA: Link is fixed.)

again parental rights are fucking bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit and all about oppressing children and teenagers and keeping them on a short choke chain

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Walt Disney Company: Stop their application for the trademark of "Dia de los Muertos."

stfuconservatives:

angryasiangirlsunited:

solaceames:

sulitati:

STOP DISNEY FROM TRADEMARKING DIA DE LOS MUERTOS! I am signing this petition to stop Walt Disney from appropriating and exploiting Mexican religion and culture.

Dia de los Muertos is a religious observance during which people, and particularly native peoples, in Mexico, the United States, and abroad, honor ancestors and loved ones who have died. This important religious, spiritual, and cultural observance pre-dates the invasion of Mexico by the Spanish. We celebrate and honor our deceased loved ones by making altars and placing offerings of food such as pan de muertos baked in shapes of skulls and figures, candles, incense, yellow marigolds known as cempaxochitl, and offering prayers and the smoke of copal. 

I initially couldn’t believe this, so I verified it from another source. Ugh, I fucking hate Disney.

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION!

Disney, stop it.

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stfuconservatives:

hugewiener:

There was a party on May 3rd at the University of Southern California with the majority of attendees being African-American and Hispanic USC students. The party was registered with the school, and there was another party directly across the street being attended by mostly Caucasian/White students. Both parties had similar noise levels according to dozens of accounts from both sides (source).

Two cops arrived to the party with the minorities and told them to lower their noise level; the party’s host told the attendees to go inside the house and they resumed the party in there with lower volume. A few minutes later the cops came back and students began leaving, and the cops arrested the host. More and more cops began to arrive and soon a helicopter came. All of this was while the students were filing out and more and more cops entered the home; furthermore, the white party continued across the street and some officers even went there to tell them to stay inside and safe. A white student told reporters that “basically they didn’t stop our party at all. They had no problem with us.” (source).

As the minority students saw all the cops and attempted to leave, some were tased, and some were slammed to the ground and arrested. Many resisted on the grounds that they had no idea why they were being arrested seeing as they were leaving peacefully and were over the drinking age (the party required ID). Even more cops arrived (source)(video).

Later that night at about 4:30am, a resident at the house where the white party was thrown was awoken by thudding. He rose to see two LAPD officers trying to speak to his roommate. They ordered him to wake up everybody in the (co-ed) house and as they did so they stumbled into two female residents shirtless and asleep, and one of the officers simply stared. (source)

The reason that they were in that house was to gather statements about how LAPD acted correctly against the minority students but the students at the white party’s house gave factual statements that did not incriminate the minority students how the officers wanted. They have complained about their home being entered without a warrant in the middle of the night but have yet to hear back.

On Tuesday USC will have an open forum in regards to the racial profiling that happened (at the party and in the past) at the school but that is not enough; this has to be more than a local issue and should be made known nationally. USC has issues with racial profiling and it is time that it stops. Anyone can help by signing this petition and making it big. (Photograph source)

If living in LA had a bingo card, “LAPD harassing a Black or Hispanic person” would be the free space.

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stfuconservatives:

lakotapeopleslawproject:

As of now, real solutions will NOT be on the agenda of the upcoming BIA summit on Native foster care in SD! Congress asked for NPR’s criticisms to be addressed, and Standing Rock Lakota Sioux tribe has just told Congress that this is NOT happening. PLEASE SIGN & SHARE this petition to Congress to come hold field hearings in SD on Native foster care abuses! Petition http://bit.ly/XkHLCBRead: http://bit.ly/186dbkj

Sign & signal boost!

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Murder of black trans woman in Cleveland referred to as "oddly dressed man" in local newspaper

thegoddamazon:

writeswrongs:

I think we should collectively endeavor to let John Caniglia of Cleveland, Ohio, know that he is attacking the life of a black trans woman who is already dead.

In another article, Caniglia goes on to quote officers from a police report that had nothing to do with the victim’s murder: 

“Acoff gave us verbal information stating that he was a female. Acoff later acknowledged that legal documents listed his identity as a man.”

What this has to do with Acoff’s death is unclear.  Caniglia goes on to cover Acoff’s miscellaneous petty crimes, including illegal possession of hormones, macing an attacker on public transportation, and unpaid bus tickets.  All of these crimes paint a picture of a queer person of color who has been the butt of ridicule, humiliation, and violence in the Cleveland community, and this continues even after her death.

Please, help hold John Caniglia, “the Plain Dealer” of Cleveland Ohio, accountable for his part in the death, murder, and humiliation of Acoff.  

You can contact  John Caniglia at 216.999.4097 or jcaniglia@plaind.com.

OMG seriously…

Fuck this country so hard.

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The effects of unchecked criminalization: Teen charged with felony for science experiment

stfuconservatives:

aka14kgold:

onebigpear:

fuckyeahfeminists:

This is what the school-to-prison pipeline looks like. This is how black youth criminalized.

1. She was doing a science experiment
2. She’s being charged as an ADULT
3. She’s being charged with a FELONY

If this all goes the way the prosecution wants, this young woman will be LEGALLY discriminated against for the rest of her life. No voting, housing discrimination,  employment discrimination (as if getting a job while black isn’t hard enough), etc. etc.

There is a petition up … spread the word.

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-bartow-police-and-bartow-high-school-drop-charges-against-kiera-wilmot

Hey, remember this from yesterday? Go ahead and hit up the petition. 

Unreal that we’re doing this to the next generation of scientists. Sign it, folks!

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fall3nsoldi3r:

i-am-the-one-who-knocks:

jacks-black-canvas:

blacksheep-runner:

Petition the Obama Administration to mandate education about sexual assault and rape in schools

The last petition we were pushing did not obtain enough votes, we will not stop until this is mandated.  Please vote on the WHITEHOUSE.GOV website, it takes 2 seconds and they never send you emails. 

Good Idea

I support this 100%

wow signal fucking boost

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A man is sexually assaulted by four women. Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star assaults him again.

stfuconservatives:

stfusexists:

Enquiring minds are eager to know what the heck befell a young man who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a group of women in downtown Toronto.

**Trigger Warning: Rape culture, victim blaming - exercise caution before clicking the link or reading further**

After a man - who is alternately referred to as a teenager - in Toronto reported to the police that he had been the victim of  a sexual assault at the hands of four women in their thirties, Rosie DiManno thought it would be a good idea to pen one of the most disgusting, victim-blaming, pathetic excuse for an article I have ever had the misfortune of reading. DiManno inexplicably thought it was appropriate to write about a sexual assault using the following phrases:

“Of course, one man’s sexual assault is another man’s sexual fantasy come true.”

Having a fantasy of multiple simultaneous partners is not an invitation to be raped.

Mustn’t be seen to make light of an alleged sexual crime simply because the victim is a male…snickering quotient.” 

Excuse me, but I simply don’t see the “snickering quotient” of someone being outnumbered, overpowered, and sexually assaulted. I doubt the millions of victims of sexual assault - victims of all genders - see that either.

“Sexual assault, you say? Lucky guy others say, nudge-nudge, a fivesome and didn’t even have to pay for it.”

Those people are despicable human beings, they are wrong, and they and their  boss should probably be promptly fired from the Toronto Star.

“They could be sex molls or sex maulers.”

The fact that they were reported as perpetrators of a sexual assault makes them criminals, actually. What journalism program taught DiManno or any of her superiors that this was okay?

“Some “assaults’’ are merely unwanted touching, annoying for an adult woman but should be slapped down when they occur rather than directed to police.” 

This teenager was offered a ride home by these women, and taken instead to an abandoned parking lot and assaulted. If this is something the police should ignore, I’m not sure what their role is in society.

Wanted: Bad girls in black minidresses and stilettos, approach with caution.

Yes, the sexual predators in their thirties are just “girls,” as well as an excellent punchline, according to the Toronto Star.

This isn’t DiManno’s first horrifying and utterly hamfisted attempt at being clever. In January, she came under fire for her disgusting coverage of another sexual assault, and the Star immediately came to her defense. As a result, another victim of sexual assault has been publicly mocked, mere weeks after teenage rape victim Rehteah Parsons tragically took her life after being mocked by her peers. 

Please sign the petition to have Rosie DiManno fired. This is reprehensible, unacceptable, and cannot be allowed to continue. 

(Thank you to reader verolynne for bringing this to my attention.)

It is always, always, always unacceptable to blame the victim.

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