Day: December 12, 2013

During a kindergarten holiday concert, Claire Koch, 5, enthusiastically signed the words to a Christmas song to the tune of the folk song “Bingo” (aka “Bingo was his name-o”) so that her deaf mother Lori Putney Koch could understand.

The mom, whose husband is also deaf, told Yahoo News, “ASL is the first language in our home, so our daughter has been exposed to it since birth.”

A controversial Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday morning that reinstated an archaic colonial law criminalizing homosexuality incited outrage among activists and gay-rights supporters in India. Hundreds gathered at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi’s popular protest hub, to protest the ruling. A truly mixed crowd, many of the protesters were not from the LGBT community. They came in hordes from universities and colleges to champion civil liberties. “This is not about homosexuality but about democratic rights,” said Samita Raj, a 19-year-old student at the protest. “And the right to be.”

The mood at Jantar Mantar resembled a different moment last year, when the youth of India had congregated to demand justice for the gang rape and murder of a young medical intern. It was a comforting sign that from a fringe issue, India’s gay movement has become the subject of mainstream debate and mass support. “Today when I speak to young…

A national organization raising awareness for the Affordable Care Act wants young Americans to “Sign Up ‘Cause It’s Hot.”

The group, Get Covered, has enlisted Obama impersonator Iman Crosson as “B-Rock O’Beezy”  in a parody rap of the Snoop Dog (Snoop Lion) hit “Drop It Like It’s Hot” to promote the law during the sign-up period for the healthcare exchanges.

Among the lyrics:

“When I’m in the Oval Office call me President Barack, President Barack President Barack / When my critics get an attitude I tell ’em to stop, I tell ’em to stop, I tell ’em to stop / And if you need that new healthcare sign up ’cause it’s hot, sign up ’cause it’s hot, sign up ’cause it’s hot”

“I’ve got my wife posted up on my left side / V.P. on my right side, yeah that’s how we ride”

“Pres and I’m the man, been Pres since ‘Yes We Can’ /…

Amanda sits curled up on the sofa watching cartoons on television. She will soon turn 14, but her youth belies her past. The young girl has suffered two abortions already, the result of exchanging unprotected, adolescent sex for a pack of cigarettes or a couple of dollars. “My life was complicated. I was on the streets and taking drugs,” she says.

Poverty in the favelas of the northern Brazilian city of Recife was the main driver for a life in prostitution. “I lived with my grandmother because my mom couldn’t provide for me. My grandmother also looked after my other siblings. She made me go out and sell gum on the streets, to help her provide for us all.” This was around the age of five. “I was in so much danger, exposed to so much, all because of money.”

(MORE: Five Reasons to Get Excited About Brazil’s…