Category Archives: Post Human

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

History: In rat research, a warning for human society Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rats and mice, of course, are not perfect models of humans, he told The Washington Post in a 1971 profile. But the disaster they represent is so compelling that the world cannot wait for proof of every step in the equation. Calhoun, who died in ... and more »

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History: In rat research, a warning for human society - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Despite these reports, the joint statement released by the White House after the visit lauded Vietnam for its "ongoing efforts to refine its legal system to better protect and promote human rights for everyone." That is laughable; Vietnam has done just the opposite. While the Vietnam National Assembly made some concessions to human rights in the 2015 criminal procedure code, its revisions to the penal code that same year further curtailed free expression. Calls from citizens and civil society to repeal or amend these provisions have fallen on deaf ears, and just this week the National Assembly passed another iteration of the penal code that is even more draconian. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the Obama administration negotiated with Vietnam and other nations, would have provided an incentive to the communist regime to ease its repression. But Trump jettisoned that accord, and in failing to publicly raise these issues in May he missed another opportunity.

Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have raised concerns about Vietnam's human rights abuses, showing that the administration's heedlessness does not represent American values. The State Department should take note and speak out in support of the activists who have championed democracy at grave personal risk.

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Washington Post Editorial: A glaring lapse on human rights - Salt Lake Tribune

No, robots won't take your job -- just part of it

With robots vacuuming our floors, answering our phones, driving our cars, and detecting our cancers, you would hope that at least one of the most basic and essential of human activities that stopped us from aimlessly wandering in search of food -- that which gave birth to great civilizations along the banks of mighty rivers -- would be immune from their predations.

Yet, over the last month, a startup named Abundant Robotics has shot into prominence for doing just that: Ensuring that humanity is one step closer to seeing machines rule the world of farming.

In early May, it attracted $10 million in new investment led by Google's investment arm largely because its new, still-evolving robot is one step closer to taking over a $4 billion industry in the US that currently relies on humans to pick apples. In the fall of this year, these robots will apparently further perfect their trade in the state of Washington and become one step closer to commercialization.

According to its CEO Dan Steere, Abundant's apple-picking bots can detect apples by and large as accurately as humans can, and they're able to extract them from trees with an uncanny gentle precision.

Having a machine pick an apple out of a tree may not seem like such a big deal, but it is in fact supremely difficult to do. Bruise the fruit or drop it, and it instantly becomes destined for the trash heap and bleeds the company. Which is why the ability to detect an apple and then handle it like a newborn infant has only become recently possible because of the relatively new leaps in processing power, vision algorithms, and image processing.

Can these machines, though, be ultimately good for a human society already riddled with unemployment and vanishing jobs? Curiously, in California, a state that accounts for 60 percent of the US's fresh produce, but which has seen its labour force decline by 60 percent, the answer is a resounding "Yes." Tack on President Donald Trump's efforts to curtail immigration, and the scenario gets more dire (and the answer gets more emphatic), especially for the apple industry, which relies on the roughly 40,000 foreign work force that travels to the US during apple season.

Plus, when you consider that around 70 percent of the American population was involved in farming in the mid 1800s compared to 2 percent today, the increasing mechanization of this age-old occupation shouldn't come as such a big surprise. After all, many parts of the food chain are already comfortably mechanized. Cows regularly queue up to robotic milking machines to milk themselves. And where the work is slow and dangerous, such as spraying chemicals to kill weeds that infiltrate lettuce farms, low-cost bots have become an ideal substitute for humans with pesticide-filled backpacks.

Apparently, wine bots already navigate vineyards pruning vines, while others are in the works to monitor crops remotely for moisture, disease, and growth. Efforts are underway to grow cereal crops all the way from planting to harvesting without a human hand involved in the process.

As for apples, a major supplier to Tesco has apparently sunk close to $7 million into packing technology that has allowed it to increase the scope of its operations without adding human bodies, allowing 20 bags to be packed in a minute versus the previous rate of three -- a staggering increase in productivity, thanks to robots that bag the fruits and load them onto pallets. Of course, not all produce -- strawberries is one example -- can be brought under the dominion of machines, and doing so would require significant adaptation of both crops and bots to eliminate human intervention.

Ultimately, how quickly bots take over farming depends on makers of agricultural machinery --how keen are they to experiment and sink money into alternative, constantly evolving ways of harnessing machines to do their bidding? The answer apparently is not so much. Doing so would not just mean significant expenditure. It would also endanger their current revenue stream provided for by existing machines, which would be tantamount to biting the hand that feeds it.

Nevertheless, the fact that a burgeoning human population will require 50 percent more food by 2050 amidst a growing shortage of labour and severe climate change means that this is just the beginning of the march of machines onto your favourite cabbage patch.

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Could apple-picking robots signal the end of a human hand in agriculture? - ZDNet

Chinas jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo has been granted medical parole after being diagnosed with liver cancer, according to the Liaoning Prison Administration Bureau.

According to the brief statement on the authoritys website, Liu was diagnosed with liver cancer recently and he was approved to be treated at the First Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang. A team of eight renowned Chinese cancer experts has been assigned to treat him, and he was receiving treatment, the prison authority added.

The Nobel laureates brother Liu Xiaoxuan said earlier that Liu was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer on May 23, Lius lawyer, Mo Shaoping, confirmed to the South China Morning Post. The duration of the medical parole was not immediately clear.

Liu, who was jailed over his calls for greater democracy in China, did not plan to seek treatment overseas, Mo said.

Shang Baojun, another lawyer who represented Liu Xiaobo, 61, cited family members as saying he looked seriously ill.

The revelation, which comes just a week after Chinas annual human rights dialogue with the European Union, was a shock to many of Lius long-time friends, who said they had not heard of his health problems over the years.

Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, wrote in an emailed statement to the Post that China should give Liu full freedom.

We are happy Mr Liu has been released, but sad that the circumstances are his failing health. We expect he will be granted full freedom, including the right to travel abroad, Reiss-Andersen wrote. Liu should never have been imprisoned for exercising his right of freedom of speech.

Liu was jailed for 11 years in 2009 for inciting subversion of state power after he helped write a petition known as Charter 08 calling for sweeping political reforms in China.

The arrangement came after his request to be treated outside of prison was approved, the lawyer said. Repeated calls to the No 1 Hospital of the China Medical University in Shenyang went unanswered.

His wife, Liu Xia, remained under house arrest in Beijing and could not be reached for comment. The apartment compound where she lived was under surveillance, with security guards barring journalists entry last night.

Asked about Lius status at a daily press conference, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters: I do not understand the situation you mentioned.

A year after he was sent to prison, Liu was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.

Earlier on in his life, Liu was an activist involved in the pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989, which resulted in a bloody crackdown.

Chinese dissident voices went to social networking sites Wechat and Twitter to call for support of Liu.

He was an energetic person before he went to jail. Seven years later, who could have imagined he would be battling an incurable illness? dissident journalist Gao Yu, herself granted medical parole after being jailed for leaking state secrets, told the Post.

Exiled Tiananmen student leaders Wuer Kaixi and Wang Dan, issuing a joint statement, said: We are shocked and devastated to learn that [Liu] has been suffering from cancer in Chinas brutal prison environment.

We firmly demand immediate restoration of his normal contact with the outside world.

Amnesty International also called for Liu to be unconditionally released. Sophie Richardson, China director of Human Rights Watch, suggested the Nobel Prize Committee head to Shenyang immediately.

The Chinese authorities should immediately ensure that Liu Xiaobo receives adequate medical care, and that all he and all other imprisoned for exercising their human rights are immediately and unconditionally released, Amnesty International said in a statement following news of Lius parole.

The dissident was put behind bars in 2009 for inciting subversion of state power, after he participated in the Charter 08 manifesto.

He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.

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Authorities confirm Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo in hospital - South China Morning Post

Don't decimate human services in Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Post-Gazette They are visiting North Park near their home in McCandless and they head straight to the playground. Max and Jack Cieply bring the place to life with laughter as they race between swing set and slide. Their dad, Zach, manages to find enough energy at ...

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Don't decimate human services in Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The man who stole a toe from a Canadian bar apparently had a change of heart and returned the pilfered digit, according to a report.

The pickled human appendage was stolen Saturday from the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, where its the main ingredient for the Sourtoe Cocktail a toe floating in a shot of whisky.

You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch the toe! the hotels website states, although patrons are charged a fine for swallowing (or stealing) the toe.

The bar apparently has some backup toes, but the mummified one was donated by a man who had the toe surgically removed.

This was our new toe, and it was a really good one. We just started using it this weekend, hotel manager Geri Coulbourne said after the theft.

On Tuesday, the toe thief notified the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that he returned the digit in the mail, the CBC reported.

The man then called the Downtown Hotel and provided the same message to staff, along with a verbal apology, an RCMP news release said.

An officer was on hand to open the package, which contained both the toe and a letter of apology.

The toe was believed to be in good condition, the release said.

No charges are expected, police said.

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Thief returns human toe stolen from bar's signature cocktail - New York Post

Lying on a dining table and wearing nothing but a flesh-colored thong, Miranda Robero cant help worrying whether one of the crudits perched on her thigh might inelegantly roll off.

But the 24-year-old brunette from Bushwick keeps professional in her role as a living food platter a job she describes as performance art.

Robero, who also works as a fire juggler and gentlemens club dancer, is one of eight so-called human trays at Brooklyns latest hipster fad, Lust, an immersive erotically charged dinner party with tickets costing between $90 and $140 a pop.

I definitely feel empowered, Robero told The Post during a recent Friday night event, where more than 200 hungry souls feasted on finger food from her near-naked body. I feel like a goddess.

She was certainly a crowd-pleaser. Munching on a lettuce leaf, self-described pleasure-seeker Lisa, who withheld her last name for professional reasons, declared: Eating off another woman is very sexy, very sensual.

Lust, which began in February 2016, is the brainchild of artist and performer Abby Hertz, 33, who hosted her most recent extravaganza at a converted industrial warehouse on Bushwicks Troutman Street.

I want to teach people the idea of connecting sensually without engaging in sex, she said, adding that no actual sex takes place at Lust. One of my inspirations is the Japanese fetish tradition of nyotaimori, in which you eat sushi off the body.

Math is killing my two favorite leagues. In the NBA,...

Robero, as with all the human trays, must take a shower within an hour of assuming her place on the table, wearing just a nude thong. A food artist then skillfully adorns her with fare in this case, vegetarian nibbles, including bite-size pastries, asparagus and leafy herbs.

But cleansing isnt the only prep work thats required: Next, Robero falls into an almost meditative state as guests pluck food from her body.

My favorite part is the surrender not having to check my phone or worry about whats going on because I am, quite literally, here to serve, she said.

The crowd at Lust consisted mainly of millennials (many of whom identified themselves as bi-curious or sex positive) with a sprinkling of Gen Xers. There were burlesque shows including a rope-bondage demonstration and a human candelabra, featuring a nude woman being strategically covered in dripping wax.

Depending on the personality of the living platter, conversation with diners is either flirty or kept to a minimum to preserve the mystery, said the more introverted Robero.

She has never had a guest overstep the mark and fondle her and has trained herself not to flinch when someone plucks food from her private parts whether they use their hands or their mouth.

Posing while adorned with food pays between $200 and $400 per two-hour stint. Right now, Robero toils as a naked tray just a handful of times a year, noting that she could only make a living in the role if she did it two to three times a week and theres just not that much work out there for human dinner plates.

As Hertz pointed out, it takes a certain type of person to do this well.

What makes a good platter is [someone] with really good energy, really positive and who actually enjoys it, she said. I dont want somebody that is like, When is this going to end? but somebody who is more into tantra and meditation.

And, yes, Robero does get turned on while being a plate. All of my senses are heightened when Im lying down in this vulnerable state, she said. The sensation when people grab food off my body is very satisfying and arousing.

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I let people eat off my naked body and yes, it turns me on - New York Post

The Jerusalem Post mobile website

The Human Spirit: Take grandma to see Wonder Woman The Jerusalem Post mobile website On the first Tuesday after the Israeli opening of Wonder Woman, the day tickets are discounted for seniors, the Jerusalem movie theater is full of gray-haired Jerusalemites, even for the show that ends at midnight. Grandmas, too. Wonder Woman is the ... and more »

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The Human Spirit: Take grandma to see Wonder Woman - The Jerusalem Post mobile website

This installment of In Sights series, PHOTOGRAPHERS edit PHOTOGRAPHERS, pairs Francesco Zizola and Pep Bonet from the international photo agency NOOR. Italian photographer Zizola has selected images from Spanish photographer Bonets extensive archive of projects.

Zizola opens his selection with Bonets contribution to the NOOR series Consequences, a multiyear group project on issues related to the rise of global temperatures.

His story on Polish coal plantsisa firm point in the narrative of the entire project, Zizola wrote. Bonets images show how dirty the production of energy still is and how it damages not only the environment but also the humans who produce it, Zizola added.

Next are Bonets images from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Bonets work shows us the dramatic boundary between life and death, light and shadow, pain and joy, Zizola wrote.

In 2013, Bonet followed children at work in Bangladesh. Modern slavery is a topic that many of us have followed in recent years because of globalization, Zizola wrote. Bonets images here are sharp, precise and show us how painful innocent lives can be, he said.

Lastly, Zizola chose images related to gender and sex. One of Bonets projects included in the selection is Forced Identity, which portrays the lives of transgender people in Honduras. Again, the lens is pointed on human beings, often on their darker side, Zizola wrote, But Pep was able to skip any vulgarity and give the viewer a look into the lives of people who are forced to sell their bodies in order to survive.

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Inside one photographer's powerful catalogue of the human condition - Washington Post

PRESIDENT TRUMP met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last month to discuss trade and security issues. In their public statements about the visit, one topic got short shrift: human rights.

This was a glaring lapse. Vietnam has a long history of stifling dissent and cracking down on political activists. The State Departments Vietnam 2016 Human Rights Report called the country an authoritarian state. Freedom House gives it the lowest possible rating on political rights and classifies it as not free.

According to Human Rights Watch, the repression may have worsened in the past two years. After a brief improvement in 2014 and 2015 while Vietnam was negotiating trade agreements with the United States the number of people prosecuted and convicted for political crimes has increased. This has coincided with an uptick in violent attacks against activists and bloggers who have spoken out against the party line. Some of these assaults have reportedly taken place inside police stations or in public spaces in broad daylight. Human Rights Watch believes that the vast majority of these cases have not been investigated.

Despite these reports, the joint statement released by the White House after the visit lauded Vietnam for its ongoing efforts to refine its legal system to better protect and promote human rights for everyone. That is laughable; Vietnam has done just the opposite. While the Vietnam National Assembly made some concessions to human rights in the 2015 criminal procedure code, its revisions to the penal code that same year further curtailed free expression. Calls from citizens and civil society to repeal or amend these provisions have fallen on deaf ears, and just this week the National Assembly passed another iteration of the penal code that is even more draconian. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the Obama administration negotiated with Vietnam and other nations, would have provided an incentive to the communist regime to ease its repression. But Mr.Trump jettisoned that accord, and in failing to publicly raise these issues in May he missed another opportunity.

Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have raised concerns about Vietnams human rights abuses, showing that the administrations heedlessness does not represent American values. The State Department should take note and speak out in support of the activists who have championed democracy at grave personal risk.

See the rest here:
The Trump administration fails to call out Vietnam on its dismal human rights record - Washington Post