rfmcdpei

In a statement released on Thursday, Haida Salmon Restoration Corp. (HSRC) said it has “removed” Mr. George as a director of the company. “In addition, the HSRC has terminated Mr. George’s employment as an officer of the corporation,” it states.

Mr. George could not be reached for comment. The California businessman is a proponent of the theory that global warming can be blunted and ocean acidification stopped by fertilizing the ocean with iron.

The Haida organization made international headlines several months ago, when it dumped more than 100 tonnes of an iron substance into the ocean off Haida Gwaii in an attempt to stimulate plankton growth.

The HSRC hoped to recover its investment through increased salmon harvests and through selling carbon credits by demonstrating that the iron grew massive clouds of plankton that sucked CO2 out of the atmosphere.

But the experiment, which was not sanctioned by any official body and lacked the involvement of recognized ocean scientists, was widely condemned by researchers, the federal government and the United Nations.

shatterstripes

I am now part of a successful stretch goal on someone else’s Kickstarter.

Warning: don’t go do a last-minute pledge based on expecting a whole ton of Peggy art, I’ll probably only be able to contribute a half dozen pieces of art at the absolute most because I’m so damn busy with Rita. Pledge because you like the idea of a crazy prog-rock SF RPG with some Peggy art as a tiny bit of seasoning. But still; my inner eight-year-old is going “holy cow I’m a real pro now, I’ve been asked to be in an RPG.”

Meanwhile I am annoyingly behind schedule on Rita again, thanks to catching something at Furlandia. I thought it peaked in the middle of this past week but I’m still coughing a lot. It is not fun and I hope it’s done soon because I’m really tired of just wanting to sleep so I can not be coughing.

Originally published at Egypt Urnash. You can comment here or there.

rfmcdpei

By the late 1950s, when Fidel Castro and his guerrilleros came to power, homosexuality was viewed as a form of capitalist decadence at best and counter-revolutionary deviance at worst. Simply put, gays weren’t welcome to join in the revolution. Little wonder, for it was a revolution spawned by machismo and which soon came to be marked by a close alliance with the USSR, another regime fostering openly hostile attitudes and policies toward gay people.

In the 1960s, the climate only worsened. Reinaldo Arenas, a Cuban author whose most famous book is the memoir Before Night Falls, wrote about the perils of being a gay Cubano in Pentagonia, his “secret history of Cuba,” before escaping to New York, where he died of AIDS in 1990. In a 1965 interview, Castro remarked that a homosexual could never be “a true Communist militant.” In his understanding, it was a matter of nature clashing with politics.

[. . .]

Times changed. By the 1990s, Castro began to soften his stance on queer rights, to the point that he recently declared that the persecution of homosexuals in Cuba was “a great injustice” for which he accepted personal responsibility. His niece, Mariela Castro, has taken up the rights of transgender people with gusto. Sex reassignment surgery is now free to eligible citizens. But ordinary Cubans, it seems, are not ready to listen just yet.

Today, there is only one “official” gay bar in all of Cuba, and it’s not in Havana. It’s in Santa Clara, scene of a historic battle that handed Castro control of the country more than half a century ago. The city is now a tourist destination, and the bar in question is famous for its transvestite shows. Think Disney World presents Stonewall à la Copacabana. It’s for them, not us.

[. . .]

Despite Castro’s declaration of support for the queer community, there are no official gay-rights groups active inside Cuba. It’s hard to band together in a country where the internet is strictly regulated, with fines and imprisonment for unauthorized hookups. The Cuban Association of Gays was formed in 1994, during a thaw in relations between gays and the state, but disbanded in 1997 after its members were arrested. Pride marches and gay publications have also been banned, lending a very ambivalent tone to what it means to be “state sanctioned.”

[. . .]

There is also a well-known gay-themed party, 10 Pesos (named for the cost of entry), which takes place in or around Havana every Saturday, if you know where to find it. That’s not always easy, as it changes location to avoid becoming a target for the police. Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar was arrested at one such party. So was designer Jean Paul Gaultier. Foreigners found on the premises were reportedly released with the admonition not to “flaunt” their homosexuality or risk further arrest. Some of the locals were beaten.

rfmcdpei

Cuba's outward tide looks unlikely to end any time soon, and may increase.

The government relaxed laws in January, making it easier for Cubans to leave the country, which U.S. officials in Havana say has led to a 10 percent increase in inquiries about visas.

Before the change, most visa applications came from the elderly but now most are coming from young people, they said.

Schools in Havana offering classes in foreign languages, particularly English and French, are overloaded with young applicants.

[. . .]

"One of the things that's ironic is Cuba has an educated population, but it doesn't have anything for them to do. They've almost prepared their professionals to emigrate," said Cuba expert Ted Henken at Baruch College in New York.

"I think in some ways the Cuban revolution is the best thing that ever happened to Miami, because half of their professional force was probably trained there," he said.

In a world where population growth is exploding and a region where countries have high birth rates and low median ages, Cuba's population is declining and getting older.

Preliminary figures from a national census last year showed that the number of Cubans had slightly declined from 2002 to about 11 million people.

The median age of Cubans has risen to about 39 from 36 in the 2002 census, according to a U.S. government estimate, far above that of any other country in Latin America.

splinister

Laydeez do Comics – Dublin had its first meeting last night, and it was a blast. Our guests – Sarah McIntyre, Maeve Clancy, and Alan Nolan – were fun, witty, and full of smart insights and tips about the business of comic books.

We had an attentive audience, and a good question and answer session afterwards. Dublin writer Catie Murphy brought along ginger snap cookies (recipe here), which were a big hit will all the attendees. Lynda and I were touched by Catie’s generosity and thoughtfulness.

Galwegian artist Róisín Curé travelled a long distance for the meeting, and also did the honours of documenting the event through a cartoon. She laboured away for most of the evening, and her results are beautiful.

Lynda and I were blown away by the quality of our guests’ presentations and the knowledge they shared. It was better than either of us could have hoped. It’s a long haul up the stairs to the Odessa Club rooftop bar, but it’s definitely worth the effort.

Afterwards people chatted in the room, and then in the bar. It was lovely to meet new people who are passionate about the vast potential of comic books.

The next meeting is probably going to be in September, and we’ll announce more news about that in the coming weeks.

Thanks to our guests and all who attended!

~ Originally published at Splinister. You can comment here or there. ~

wardrobewitch

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