Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Jaslene Gonzalez is not your typical model. She rose to fame after winning Cycle 8 of America’s Next Top Model, and since then, has been aggressively tapping into the fashion industry. As a result of her Latin background, Gonzalez has been successful at marketing herself both in the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking worlds. However, Gonzalez is much much more – a fighter, a humanitarian, and a good Latin granddaughter.

Born in Chicago to a Latina mother, and a Puerto Rican-born father, Gonzalez had, in many ways, a typical U.S. Latino experience – her tight knit family, grandparents, and spirituality played an intrinsic part in her upbringing.

“I went to an all-girl Catholic school and grew up with tons of family…..My family was very close knit and supportive. They were involved in my life everyday. So there was so much joy in every little occasion…..Every Sunday we would go to my grandmother’s house where we [the family] would hang out together….We enjoyed being around each other and being together,” states Gonzalez.

Her grandfather was the director of a local dance group, Viva La Gente, which Gonzalez credits with impacting her life positively.

“I was a dancer for 12 years and life revolved around dancing. I was a very active girl, and was always involved with my grandfather’s dance studio. The whole family was. My aunts, my cousins – everyone took part in performances and were involved in the group…That’s how we spent our summers, and we looked forward to being outside, dancing salsa, hip hop, merengue,” states Gonzalez. Through her involvement in the dance studio, Gonzalez’s horizon was broadened significantly, and her humanitarian streak began to deepen.

“We were always constantly traveling. We traveled to Mexico to poor villages where we gave performances to give back to the community,” said Gonzalez.

Ironically, ANTM gave her the opportunity to overcome her own difficulties and to further help those in need. “I went in there, without knowing that I was in an abusive relationship. They were the ones that brought that up to me…they felt I was emotionally destroyed, they wanted me to get support,” commented Gonzalez. While the ANTM staff was supportive, she also credits her life long dream for helping her get out of the abusive relationship.

“Having a dream and having a goal in life, is the most important thing I did in my life. Because of that I maneuvered my way to that dream. I knew I was better than that, I wanted to be happier,” stated Gonzalez.

Soon after winning ANTM, Gonzalez became a spokesperson for Liz Claiborne and the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and began traveling the country reaching out to women.

“We had several meetings, and they asked me to be a spokesperson. I was so happy and blessed to help women, to have that title. It’s something I want to do, besides modelling….I enjoy sharing my personal experiences because I can educate them, but I can also save someone’s life. It’s something precious, it’s a gift,” stated Gonzalez.

Abuse is not the only obstacle Jaslene has had to face. Growing up Latina had its own set of difficulties. “Being a minority is a challenge no matter what,” states Gonzalez.

However, Gonzalez also states that being a Latina has many positive aspects in regards to her profession. “As a Latina, you have the advantage of being a Latina. Not only do you have this corporate job, but you can relate to many groups as a person.”

When asked if the fashion industry forces Latina models to change certain aspects about themselves, she remarks that she focuses on always staying true to herself. “Modeling is a difficult job because of what you go through. 80% of the time it’s a no…When I go in, I go in like me, I don’t have to change anything. Any time I get a chance to show who I am, I do. I am a Spanish girl, trying to pursue my dreams. I try to be the best I can be,” remarked Gonzalez.

It is that same confidence and will to succeed that she seems to appreciate in other woman. “I find women beautiful. I find a girl with no makeup, not worrying about her style and appearance, I find that sexy. I find confidence beautiful…Its so simple. It’s being natural and confident,” said Gonzalez.

As a role model, she has two key pieces advice that she offers women: nurture your mind with positive thoughts, and identify and foster the principles in life you value.

It is not surprising to see why Gonzalez’s family is proud of her. “My family is so funny. They are so happy. I’ve never seen them so full of life. My mom acts like she won. My grandmother screams ‘mi flaca‘ every time she sees me. They are so proud. Especially my grandparents. I was practically raised by them. To see them see you so happy and successful, there couldn’t be a better feeling,” said Gonzalez.

She adds that her grandparents would be extremely happy if she appeared on Cristina, the Spanish-language talk show whose host is referred to as “the Spanish Oprah Winfrey.”

In the coming years, Gonzalez plans to continue on the path she is on. She wants to continue gracing magazine covers, as well as dedicating herself to helping young teens develop self growth and esteem. “Every time I wake up, God gives me the opportunity to be a better me…Life gets better as it goes by.”

This is the third in a series of articles with America’s Next Top Model contestants.

Monday, November 5, 2007

In the 1980’s and the 1990’s there were multiple allegations of sexual abuse of children or non-consenting adults in the context of Satanic rituals that has come to be known as The Satanic Panic. In the United States, the Kern County child abuse cases, McMartin preschool trial and the West Memphis 3 cases garnered worldwide media coverage. One case took place in Jordan, Minnesota, when children made allegations of manufacturing child pornography, ritualistic animal sacrifice, coprophagia, urophagia and infanticide, at which point the Federal Bureau of Investigation was alerted. Twenty-four adults were arrested and charged with acts of sexual abuse, child pornography and other crimes related to satanic ritual abuse; only three went to trial with two acquittals and one conviction. Supreme Court Justice Scalia noted in a discussion of the case, “[t]here is no doubt that some sexual abuse took place in Jordan; but there is no reason to believe it was as widespread as charged,” and cited the repeated, coercive techniques used by the investigators as damaging to the investigation.

One of the most visible Satanic organizations—though one that was never a suspect or charged in any of the Satanic Panic cases—is the Church of Satan, founded by Anton LaVey. Members of the Church, such as Peter H. Gilmore, Peggy Nadramia, Boyd Rice, Adam Parfrey, Diabolos Rex, and musician King Diamond, were active in media appearances to refute allegations of criminal activity and the FBI would later issue an official report debunking the criminal conspiracy theories of this time.

Gilmore feels Satanists are often misunderstood or misrepresented. LaVey’s teachings are based on individualism, self-indulgence, and “eye for an eye” morality, with influence from Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand; while its rituals and magic draw heavily from occultists such as Aleister Crowley. They do not worship—nor believe in—the Devil or a Christian notion of Satan. The word “Satan” comes from the Hebrew word for “adversary” and originated from the Abrahamic faiths, being traditionally applied to an angel. Church of Satan adherents see themselves as truth-seekers, adversaries and skeptics of the religious world around them.

On a windy October day in Central Park, Wikinews reporter David Shankbone sat down with the High Priest of the Church, Peter H. Gilmore, who has led LaVey’s congregation of Satanists since his passing in 1997 (he became the High Priest in 2001). They discussed the beliefs of the Church, current events, LaVey’s children and how Satanism applies to life and the world.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Macomb, New York Councilman Steve Burke took some time to speak with Wikinews about his campaign for the U.S. Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nomination.

Burke, an insurance adjuster and farmer, was elected councilman in Brookhaven, New York in 1979. He left the town after being accused and found not guilty of bribery in the 1980s. Since 1987 he has served as Macomb councilman off-and-on and currently holds the post. From 1993 to 1996 and 1999 to 2002 he worked as chairman of the Democratic Party of St. Lawrence County, New York. Among his many political campaigns, Burke unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1992 and recently attempted to run for U.S. Congress in 2014 but too many of his ballot petition signatures were found invalid. Burke filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for president in the 2016 election on September 18, 2015 and has qualified for the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire Primary.

With Wikinews reporter William S. Saturn?, Burke discusses his political background, his 2016 presidential campaign, and his policy proposals.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Chantelle Houghton has won the British reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother. Michael Barrymore came in second place.

Houghton, 22, was the only non-celebrity on the show and was given a secret mission for four days by Big Brother to convince the other housemates she was a member of the fictional band “Kandy Floss”.

The television show, aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom is a spin off of the popular series shown around the world. This series of the show started on 5 January 2006 and lasted for 23 days. There were 11 housemates, six of whom were evicted on the 27 January 2006.

Unknown to either the audience nor the winner until her exit interview, Houghton won £25,000 for winning the show and not being a Celebrity.

Also evicted on the 27th were:

• Chantelle Houghton (non-celebrity promotions girl and Paris Hilton look-a-like) – Winner
• Michael Barrymore (television broadcaster and comedian) – Runner Up: 2nd Place
• Maggot (member of Goldie Lookin’ Chain) – Runner Up: 3rd Place
• Samuel Preston (lead singer of The Ordinary Boys) – Runner Up: 4th Place
• Pete Burns (former Dead or Alive singer) – Runner Up: 5th Place
• Traci Bingham (actress from Baywatch and model) – Runner Up: 6th Place

[edit]

Sunday, August 29, 2010

A University of Tokyo group of researchers, led by bioengineer Shoji Takeuchi, has made an electronic sensor capable of smelling gases. The sensor uses genetically engineered frog cells. Since previous sensors were not very accurate, the scientist decided to try a biological approach. The invention was revealed in a US scientific journal yesterday, and is supposed to be used to design better machines to detect polluting gases in the atmosphere.

Previous smell sensors were based on quartz rods, which vibrate when a substance binds to them. The gases are distinguished by their molar masses, which can be similar for molecules with different structure, thus relatively often triggering a false positive. Trying to find a more accurate solution, Takeuchi decided to follow an example from insect world. As he explained, “when you think about the mosquito, it is able to find people because of carbon dioxide from the human. So the mosquito has CO₂ receptors. When we can (extract) DNA (from the mosquito) we can put this DNA into the frog eggs to detect CO₂.”

Genes of several insects (the silk moth, diamondback moth and fruit fly), injected into African clawed frog Xenopus laevis eggs, allowed them to produce relatively inexpensive and useful sensors. The choice of the species was caused by their widely studied and well-understood protein expression mechanism.

The modified cells responded to three kinds of pheromones and one odourant, which have similar chemical properties. When a molecule of an odorous substance adhered to the receptor on the membrane protein, ion channels opened for a certain period of time, and a current was generated. Its magnitude was clearly different for all four tested substances, allowing to distinguish between them accurately.

The colleagues embedded the sensor into a mannequin, so that it could shake its head when a gas was detected. It was easier to observe. Pheromones and molecules with quite similar molecule structure produced clearly distinguishable reaction, with higher accuracy than other biological or human-made sensors. As the research group said, the detection sensitivity of the odor sensor is several tens of parts per billion (ppb), and it is as high as the sensitivity of an existing odor sensor that uses an oxide semiconductor. The distinctive feature of the new sensor is its capability to selectively detect some odorous substances, rather than its sensitivity. Very few false positives were possible due to the biological mechanism involved.

At normal temperature, the sensor lifetime is about 12 hours, which can be extended by putting it into a refrigerator before first use.

Shoji Takeuchi says has a great hope for research use in future, since the frog eggs are very practical for genetic engineering, and can be conveniently used to develop smell sensors for a wide range of gases. He said, “The X. laevis oocyte has high versatility for the development of chemical sensors for various odorants. We believe that a shared ability to smell might open a new relationship between man and robot. .. The research will have wide implications… If the sensor is embedded in a nursing robot, it will be able to identify certain mouth odors or body odors. Also, it can be used for detecting CO₂, air pollution, water pollution and food. It’s very important for the environment.”

Monday, June 12, 2006

The Lower Saxony, Germany tax authority is migrating 12,000 desktops to use SuSE Linux with KDE as the desktop environment. The systems are being migrated from Sun’s Solaris x86 version 8, which has been in use at the organization since 2002.

According to Eva Brucherseifer, president of the KDE community in Germany and managing director of basysKom, the migration process in its “peak phase” and is porting 300 systems every day. The company basysKom is configuring the desktops.

Brucherseifer said “The decision made by the Regional Tax Office in Lower Saxony represents an important step towards increased flexibility, enhanced usability and — last but not least — reduced training and support costs.”

German cities using or planning to use open source software include Schwäbisch Hall, Mannheim, Treuchtlingen, Leonberg and Isernhagen. Mannheim is planning to deploy Linux on 110 servers and 3,700 desktops.