Heartbroken Afghan Girls Science Team Denied US VISAS For FIRST Global Challenge 2017

Heartbroken Afghan Girls Science Team Denied US VISAS For FIRST Global Challenge 2017

Last week the US Supreme Court temporarily approved parts of Trump's travel ban, preventing visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US without an approved family connection, employee or student status or other pre-existing relationship. The Court will issue a full ruling when it resumes its caseload in the fall. 

One of the first casualties of the new travel ban are six teenage girls -- an all-girl robotics team of young engineers from Afghanistan -- determined to participate in an international science competition scheduled for mid-July in Washington, DC.

Denied a one-week travel visa to participate in the FIRST Global Challenge, the team has already risked their lives in Afghanistan, travelling twice under the reality of truck bombings to Kabul in April. The Afghan team members are from Towhid, Malakai Jalalai and Hoze Karbas High Schools. The trip from their small town near Herat to Kabul was to complete their visa applications. Nothing about the scientific competition was easy for these young women. Other global competitors received their box of raw materials in March. When their own box was held up amid concerns about terrorism, the young engineers improvised, building their motorized machines from household materials, writes The Washington Post. 

Roya Mahboob, Afghanistan's first female tech CEO and founder of Citadel software, who brought the girls together, told Forbes that the girls "were crying all day." While the exact reason for the visa denial remains confidential, only 112 business travel visa from Afghanistan were granted in May 2017, compared to 780 business travel visas from Iraq and 4,067 from Pakistan.

London's V&A Museum Opens Amanda Levete-Designed Exhibition Road Quarter

London's V&A Museum Opens Amanda Levete-Designed Exhibition Road Quarter

London's esteemed museum of design, art, architecture and engineering, the V&A unveiled on July 1 its new public spaces. A street party extended along Exhibition Road, accompanied by floating art from Tomás Saraceno, a fashion spectacular from designer Molly Goddard, and a hybrid opera from Anat Ben-David.

Simply stated, the V&A is shaking off some dust, offering a revamped entrance affectionately dubbed the 'Millenials' Entrance' offering a zone for the museum as entertainment, an alternative to computer screens and coffee shops. 

#Pizzagate Trumpsters Track British Artist Maria Marshall At National Museum of Women in the Arts

MARIA MARSHALL, WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE A COOKER (1998). COURTESY OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.

#Pizzagate Trumpsters Track British Artist Maria Marshall At National Museum of Women in the Arts

“There are things here I cannot show you, that some of you aren’t going to be happy with,” says the narrator, whose #Pizzagate channel on YouTube has almost 8,000 subscribers. The tone of voice is scandalized, the language vaguely threatening. He suggests that a man seen in a video in which Marshall makes brownies for her family is a pedophile. I “don’t know what you’re going to do about it,” he says, with the implication that his followers should take their anger to the source. And then: “I’m going to make a video on it in hopes that the right person sees it.” (Note that the video may have been removed.)

#Pizzagate is not gone from America's national scene. The false-flag operation that targeted presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with a debunked conspiracy theory that Clinton joined John Podesta in running a human trafficking and child-sex ring out of a DC pizza restaurant has now swept British artist Maria Marshall into its garbage dump. 

In fact, Marshall's art will be considered 'evidence' of #Pizzagate truth by die-hard Trumpsters. 

Marshall is among the artists collected by Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's brother Tony who, with his ex-wife Heather, donated many of the most substantial works that appear in 'Revival', an exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The show celebrates the institution’s 30th anniversary and will be on view through September 10.

Ivanka Trump's Quiet Complicity May Be 'Complicated' But It's Deadly For Women In America

Ivanka Trump's Quiet Complicity May Be 'Complicated' But It's Deadly For Women In America

American women -- and educated women worldwide -- worldwide would respect Ivanka Trump far more if she even signaled support for core women's issues around women's health. Republican senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski have no trouble standing for Planned Parenthood. Why can't Ivanka Trump defer to her father as president -- which she must -- yet offer support to the majority of American women at the same time. President Trump is working the will of only a limited portion of the American public.  If Ivanka wants to be taken seriously in her advisory role, she must find a way to quietly signal her lack of support for certain policies in the Trump administration.

At present, the First Daughter is nothing more than dad's great enabler, a prop at her father's side quietly endorsing his every action with her profound silence. 

Solve Sundsbo Captures 'Okja' Villain Tilda Swindon For Vogue Korea July 2017

Solve Sundsbo Captures 'Okja' Villain Tilda Swindon For Vogue Korea July 2017

Actor Tilda Swindon stars in 'T is for Tilda', styled by Jerry Stafford in futuristic fashion looks. Solve Sundsbo captures Tilda for Vogue Korea July 2017./ Hair by Sam McKnight; makeup by Sam Bryant

Swindon currently stars with Bong Joon-Ho in their new Netflix film 'Okja', a story of corporate villainy in the form of a powerful, multinational bio-food company prostituting itself for $$$. Swinton plays Lucy Mirando—as well as her twin sister, Nancy. Upon taking over her nasty father’s company, Lucy announces a contest called the Super Pig Project whereby piggies are sent to farmers around the world and the best one will be crowned the winner 10 years later. Flash forward, and Okja the pig has developed a friendship with Mija (Ahn Seo Hyun), who lives with her grandfather in South Korea. But their idyllic life is disturbed when Mirando comes to reclaim Okja, inspiring Mija to risk everything to save Okja.

'Okha' opened on very limited theater distribution in South Korea this week. Exec-produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, the film did stunningly well in the ongoing dispute with Netflix over the timings of releases.  Fans can also watch the film on the big screen at the upcoming Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Asia's largest genre event, which is slated to run July 13-23 in Seoul's satellite city of Bucheon, writes The Hollywood Reporter.

Donna Karan Begins Again, Leaving DKI To Support Her Urban Zen Foundation

Donna Karan Begins Again, Leaving DKI To Support Her Urban Zen Foundation

Donna Karan in her studio upstairs from Urban Zen, with works by her husband, Stephan Weiss, who died in 2001. She sold her company to LVMH that year, but she remains the creative director at Donna Karan and DKNY. Credit Elizabeth Lippman for The New York Times

Donna Karan, the founder and chief designer of Donna Karan Internation, a LVMH Moët HennesseyLouis Vuitton  company, announced today that she will be leaving the company. There are no plans to replace her, although Karan will have a contact as a adviser to DKI. The main Donna Karan collection is suspended indefinitely, and DKI will reorganize its teams and structure to “substantially increase its focus on the DKNY brand,” the company’s more accessible line, according to the announcement, reports The New York Times

Rethinking Federal vs State & Local Governing Thru A Democratic Lens

Rethinking Federal vs State & Local Governing Thru A Democratic Lens

Futurist and urban planner Richard Florida moved his family to Toronto a decade ago. Stunned by Hillary's loss, the theorist pulled back his new book from his publisher to do some serious soul searching.

His meaty article in Politico taps into my own mindset, one that is a total reversal of previous thinking among progressives on the role of the federal govt vs state and city govt. The idea is conservative -- one that puts key decisions about our urban and rural areas more in the hands of state and local govt.

Presently in America, rural Americans in red states are running the country. While it's great that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Democrats' lawsuit about gerrymandering state districts, the decision could go against Dems. The electoral college is stacked against progressives, urban areas and Democrats generally.

The solution? It could only work if we pack up our money, the disproportionate amount of tax dollars blue states send to the federal govt.

Women Physicians Less Likely To Be Introduced As 'Doctor' At Mayo Clinic Medical Events

Women Physicians Less Likely To Be Introduced As 'Doctor' At Mayo Clinic Medical Events

A new study published in the Journal of Women's Health, examined videos of 321 speaker introductions at 124 internal medicine grand rounds from 2012 through 2014 at Mayo Clinic campuses in Arizona and Minnesota. The research was triggered when Julia Files and Anita Mayer, both physicians at the Mayo Clinic noticed a pattern in which female doctors were introduced by their first name but males as Dr. So and So. 

Sharonne Hayes, another Mayo doctor, had noticed a similar pattern. While a male colleague would be introduced as “Dr. Joe Smith,” for example, the women were often simply called “Julia,” “Anita” and “Sharonne.” In that lightbulb moment, the trio decided to quantify their observations. 

Ivanka Trump Tells FOX News That Daddy's Political Instincts Are Phenom So She Stays Out of Politics

Ms Hear-No-Evil, See No-Evil made it clear that in no way does she try to check prez daddy's 'phenomenal' political instincts. Can we all agree that Ivanka Trump's just on this ride for the money and thoughts that it would build her brand? And would progressives please stop beating up other Democratic women and turn their ire on people like Ivanka Trump. Kindly train your eyes on the real political villains in this American drama. I know it's not nearly as satisfying as eating your own, but still . . 

"“I try to stay out of politics. His political instincts are phenomenal. He did something that no one could have imagined he'd be able to accomplish,” the first daughter told Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” in response to a question about her father’s oft-controversial Twitter habit. “I feel blessed just being part of the ride from day one and before. But he did something pretty remarkable. But I don't profess to be a political savant.”

More Ivanka Trump News

Ivanka Trump Gets Approval for Branded Lingerie and Raincoats Bloomberg

Ivanka Trump's Spas Are Her Last Luxury Brand Bloomberg

Ivanka Trump struggles to move needle on paid leave Politico

Israeli Cabinet Bows To Ultra-Orthodox Demands, Nixing Western Wall Mixed Gender Plan

POLICE ESCORT ANAT HOFFMAN HOLDING A TORAH SCROLL FROM THE WESTERN WALL, ON JULY 12

Israeli Cabinet Bows To Ultra-Orthodox Demands, Nixing Western Wall Mixed Gender Plan

Sunday’s decision to cancel the new Western Wall arrangement has drawn denunciations from liberal Jews in Israel and the United States. It also appeared to threaten Netanyahu’s fragile coalition, with Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman — head of a faction that represents secular Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union — vowing to fight back.  

“It actually causes terrible harm to Jewish unity and to the alliance between the State of Israel and Diaspora Jewry,” Israeli media quoted him as saying. 

“It’s a terrible day for women in Israel when the prime minister sacrifices their rights while kowtowing to a handful of religious extremists, who want to enforce their religious customs while intentionally violating the rights of the majority of the Jewish world,” said Anat Hoffman, chair of Women of the Wall.  

Faye Cuevas Brings Higher Intelligence To Africa's War On Elephant Poaching

Faye Cuevas Brings Higher Intelligence To Africa's War On Elephant Poaching

Calling herself "the accidental conservationist," (Faye) Cuevas can pinpoint the moment she realized that she wanted to fight poaching.

"The first time that I saw an elephant in the wild was in Amboseli National Park here in Kenya two years ago," she said in Feb. 2016. "It was life-changing."

"At the current rate of elephant decline, my 6-year-old daughter won't have an opportunity to see an elephant in the wild before she's old enough to vote," she said. "Which just is unacceptable to me, because if that is the case then we have nothing to blame that on but human apathy and greed."

"The Kenya Wildlife Service and other many conservation groups are doing fantastic conservation work," Cuevas said. "However, the reality is that there are other challenges — from a cyber perspective, from a global criminal network perspective — that really necessitate security approaches integrated into conservation strategies."

Enter tenBoma -- or '10 homesteads' -- which uses technology to pull together diverse sources of information, from rangers to conservation groups. She analyzes the data to "create value in information in ways that it rises to the level of intelligence."

Bill Cosby Set To Educate Young Men About Charges Of Rape For A Simple Touch

Just read these words. Does Cosby sound like he is a member of the alt-right? Cosby is launching a full-frontal, Trump-like assault on women, suggesting that a brush of the shoulder with a woman could get you on trial for rape. This is truly disgusting.

Looking marvelously better than during his trial, disgraced comedian Bill Cosby is hitting the road, playing the role of victim.

“Mr. Cosby wants to get back to work,” Andrew Wyatt, a spokesperson for Cosby, told a local Fox affiliate in Alabama on Thursday. “We are now planning town halls.... We’re going to talk to young people, because this is bigger than Bill Cosby. This issue can affect any young person, especially young athletes of today. And they need to know what they're facing when they’re hanging out and partying, when they’re doing certan things that they should be doing. And it also affects married men.”

Renee Rabinowitz Wins Case Over Ultra-Orthodox Demand That She Be Moved On El Al

Renee Rabinowitz Wins Case Over Ultra-Orthodox Demand That She Be Moved On El Al

The most obvious erosion of women's rights in Israel centers around issues of religion and gender in public spaces. Now 83-year-old Renee Rabinowitz has won a critical court ruling, suing the strictly Orthodox male passenger who demanded that she be moved from her El Al aisle business-class seat when he boarded Flight 028 bound for Tel Aviv from Newark in December 2015. Strictly Orthodox Jewish men believe they are contaminated and tempted in the close proximity of women who are not their wives. 

Ms. Rabinowitz, who lived through traumatic days of the Nazis in Europe, moved reluctantly. But she landed in Israel determined to take action. This week a Jerusalem court ruled that gender segregation and the movement of passengers to accommodate gender discrimination was illegal on El Al. 

WSJ's Carol Lee Joins NBC News As National Political Reporter

WSJ's Carol Lee Joins NBC News As National Political Reporter

Cameron Russell's 'Model Mafia' Roars In Fashion Industry #2 Only To Oil In Polluting Mother Earth

Cameron Russell's 'Model Mafia' Roars In Fashion Industry #2 Only To Oil In Polluting Mother Earth

Top model Cameron Russell is one of the strongest voices in the fashion industry, and her 'Model Mafia' roared in May 2017, boarding a bus ride to Washington DC, to participate in the People's Climate March. The message on Russell's website is clear:

Models are uniquely poised to become fantastic activists because they are some of the few women who have very direct access to media. Especially on the issue of climate change, our voices are important and powerful. Fashion is one of the dirtiest industries in the world, but it's also one of the biggest and most influential, that's why if we can change how our industry works we have the potential to make an enormous difference and lead the way to a sustainable future. 

Fashion is the second largest industrial polluter, second only to oil, writes the 'Model Mafia', in Glamour magazine's coverage of 

 their busride from New York to DC. Who is better than models -- increasingly true global citizens coming to the industry from all over the world -- to address climate change from an intersectional perspective? 

Related: Recent Articles About Sustainability in the Fashion Industry:

Earth Day 2017: The Fashion Industry's Effect On the Environment, And the Brands That Are Taking Charge W Magazine

Fashion in new bid to be truly sustainable The Guardian

5 New Solutions For The Fashion Industry's Sustainability Problem Fast Company

Members of the Model Mafia weigh in on climate change:Cameron Russell's 'Model Mafia' Roars In Fashion Industry #2 Only To Oil In Polluting Mother Earth

Green Party's Jill Stein Says She'll Happily Testify About Her Support For Putin's Ideas

Green Party's Jill Stein Says She'll Happily Testify About Her Support For Putin's Ideas

Politico writes that the Green Party candidate has no regrets, even as she's coming into the spotlight over questions about her own presence at Putin's Mike Flynn table at the RT dinner.

Congressional Dems want to talk to her as well, and given the insidious level of lies and treachery in the 2016 Congressional election -- and the Russians' co-opting Berners on social media -- we want to know why she was celebrating RT, owned by the Russian govt. Was she paid as Flynn was?

For the Congressional investigation to be valid, all stones must be unturned. That includes Stein and anyone else involved with the Russians, no matter what party.

Related: Foreign Greens Think the US Green Party Needs to Ditch Jill Stein VICE

Texas Leads Developed World In Maternal Mortality As Handmaid Activists Bow Meekly In Ohio Statehouse

Texas Leads Developed World In Maternal Mortality As Handmaid Activists Bow Meekly In Ohio Statehouse

Powerful! This is a scene from last week's June 13 protest of Senate Bill 145, a proposed abortion ban of the most common method for second-trimester abortions, at the Ohio statehouse. 

Gone are the pink Planned Parenthood tees, as reproductive health activists now wear long red cloaks and white bonnets in a nod to Margaret Atwood's dystopian feminist classic 'The Handmaid's Tale', now playing on Hulu. 

Michael Premo, Chief of Staff for the Ohio Senate Democrats Tweeted his own photo, with the message: "Just another day at the Statehouse".

Alaska Rep Senator Lisa Murkowski Reaffirms Vote Against Any Plan That Defunds Planned Parenthood

Alaska Rep Senator Lisa Murkowski Reaffirms Vote Against Any Plan That Defunds Planned Parenthood

Alaska's Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski is one of the most important swing votes in the health care debate, making her position on Planned Parenthood potentially pivotal to the shape of the final bill. Murkowski is one of two Republican women -- joined by Maine's Sen. Susan Collins -- who are folding firm on the argument that defunding Planned Parenthood will de facto end any possibility of her supporting a Republican-sponsored healthcare alternative to Obamacare. 

Seattle Storm Women's Basketball Steps Up For Planned Parenthood In New Relationship

Seattle Storm Women's Basketball Steps Up For Planned Parenthood In New Relationship

The ownership group of the Storm, Force 10, is planning a “Stand With Planned Parenthood” rally on July 18 in KeyArena’s West Plaza, along with continuing efforts to aid fund-raising for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands. Five dollars from the sale of each ticket for the game that day between the Storm and the Chicago Sky will be donated to the chapter. The Storm, one of the few professional teams owned by women, will also host a fund-raising auction.

There will be blowback, of course, but Seattle is a progressive city and even 50% of Trump voters polled and interviewed after the inauguration said that they did not want Planned Parenthood to be defunded.

Edward Enninful Names Venetia Scott Fashion Director Of British Vogue

Incoming Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue Edward Enninful announced Wednesday that Venetia Scott will become Fashion Director of British Vogue as of July 10th.  Conde Nast writes:

Venetia began her career at British Vogue as assistant to Grace Coddington, before cementing her status as a stylist working with magazines including British Vogue,Vogue Italia, AnOther Magazine, Self Service, The Face, Arena, i-D and Nova, where she was appointed Fashion Director. In 1997, Venetia began consulting for Marc Jacobs, becoming Creative Director in 2001, responsible for directing the Marc by Marc Jacobs line and associated accessories from launch. A move into photography began in 2005, with commissions from British Vogue, American Vogue, Vogue Paris, W, Self Service, AnOther Magazine, Dazed & Confused, POP, i-D, Document Journal, and Purple.

Venetia Scott will replace Lucinda Chambers, who is leaving the magazine after 36 years with the magazine, lastly as Fashion Director.