Big Gods Came After The Rise of Civilizations, Not Before, Finds Study Using Huge Historical Database

Big Gods Came After The Rise of Civilisations, Not Before, Finds Study Using Huge Historical Database

When you think of religion, you probably think of a god who rewards the good and punishes the wicked. But the idea of morally concerned gods is by no means universal. Social scientists have long known that small-scale traditional societies – the kind missionaries used to dismiss as “pagan” – envisaged a spirit world that cared little about the morality of human behaviour. Their concern was less about whether humans behaved nicely towards one another and more about whether they carried out their obligations to the spirits and displayed suitable deference to them.

Nevertheless, the world religions we know today, and their myriad variants, either demand belief in all-seeing punitive deities or at least postulate some kind of broader mechanism – such as karma – for rewarding the virtuous and punishing the wicked. In recent years, researchers have debated how and why these moralising religions came into being.

Now, thanks to our massive new database of world history, known as Seshat (named after the Egyptian goddess of record keeping), we’re starting to get some answers.

NASA Cancels First All-Female Spacewalk, Not Having Two Equipped Spacesuits In Women's Sizes

NASA Cancels First All-Female Spacewalk, Not Having Two Equipped Spacesuits In Women's Sizes

NASA has cancelled their highly-promoted two-women space walk due to not having two size medium space suits available. Earlier this month, America’s US space agency announced that astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch were set to make history this Friday, installing lithium-ion batteries at the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA doesn't have two smaller space suits for the ladies, as only big guys are astronauts. Please forgive us for being sarcastic. In fact, NASA is trying to change this image of promoting only men as astronauts, but outfits to wear floating out there in the universe weren’t on the checklist.

Koch will now exit the ISS with male colleague Nick Hague instead. She will wear the medium-size suit used by McClain on a spacewalk with Hague last week.

Damien Mander Creates Female 'Akashinga' Anti-Poaching Force In Zimbabwe's Phundundu Wildlife Park

Damien Mander Creates Female 'Akashinga' Anti-Poaching Force In Zimbabwe's Phundundu Wildlife Park

Faye Cuevas is not alone in recruiting women as wildlife rangers, responsible for patrolling and even shooting if necessary, ivory poachers. In September 2018, the BBC featured former Special Forces sniper, Australian Damien Mander, who says he found his ‘higher calling’ protecting wildlife in Africa. Knowing what key global military experts, including America’s own top military brass believes, Mander specifically focused on creating a female anti-poaching force in Zimbabwe’s Phundundu Wildlife Park nature reserve a 115 square mile former trophy hunting area that is part of a larger ecosystem home to some 11,000 elephants.

Though women rarely serve as rangers in Africa — a reality that Faye Cuevas also confronted in Kenya — Mander believes that putting the well-being of wildlife in their expertly trained hands could usher in a new way of carrying out conservation. In Mander’s vast experience, he believes that women rangers will create conservation practices that are far less violent, while empowering women and improving communities in the process.

“There’s a saying in Africa, ‘If you educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation’,” Mander says. “We’re seeing increasing evidence that empowering women is one of the greatest forces of change in the world today.”

Mander is hitting roadblocks, especially in his vision for 4,500 female rangers protecting wildlife across Africa. You can imagine the havoc he’s creating!

Kenya's US Anti-Poaching Expert Faye Cuevas Announces 'Team Lioness', 8 Young Maasai Women Rangers + Plans For Many More

Kenya's US Anti-Poaching Expert Faye Cuevas Announces 'Team Lioness', 8 Young Maasai Women Rangers + Plans For Many More

Team Lioness, a team of eight young Maasai women is one of Kenya’s first all-female ranger units — and the direct result of Faye’s consultations with the Masaii women leaders. Officially announced on March 6, 2019, Team Lioness joins the Olgulului Community Wildlife Rangers (OCWR) who protect wildlife across six bases and one mobile unit in OOGR through IFAW’s tenBoma, an innovative wildlife security initiative. Team Lioness is operating in this precious natural corridor created by Kenya and Tanzania under the majesty of Kilimanjaro.

“In the larger Amboseli region, out of almost 300 wildlife rangers, to my knowledge there was only one woman,” Faye explained, in introducing Team Lioness. “The need was apparent.”

 The women of team Lioness were selected based on their academic achievements and physical strength, as well as their demonstration of trustworthiness, discipline, and integrity. Typically, a Maasai girl leaves school around age 10 and have few opportunities to achieve a higher education.

“It’s very rare that Maasai women achieve a secondary education,” says Cuevas. “But all of team Lioness have the equivalent of a US high school education, and none of them have had a paying job before this. It’s breaking barriers.”

“As the first women joining the OCWR Rangers, each of the team Lioness recruits brings a new perspective and a different experience with wildlife than her male counterparts,” Faye continues. “They are important voices in protecting wildlife and reconnecting communities to the benefits of sharing land with the magnificent big cats and other wildlife that call OOGR home.”

Michael Steinhardt, a Leader in Jewish Philanthropy, Is Accused of a Pattern of Sexual Harassment

MICHAEL STEINHARDT SHOWING ANTI-ISRAEL, ANTI-BIRTHRIGHT PROTESTERS WHAT HE REALLY THINKS. SOURCE: TWITTER PHOTO CAPTURE. VIA JNS

Michael Steinhardt, a Leader in Jewish Philanthropy, Is Accused of a Pattern of Sexual Harassment

By Hannah Dreyfus for ProPublica and Sharon Otterman, The New York Times

Sheila Katz was a young executive at Hillel International, the Jewish college outreach organization, when she was sent to visit the philanthropist Michael H. Steinhardt, a New York billionaire. He had once been a major donor, and her goal was to persuade him to increase his support. But in their first encounter, he asked her repeatedly if she wanted to have sex with him, she said.

Deborah Mohile Goldberg worked for Birthright Israel, a nonprofit co-founded by Steinhardt, when he asked her if she and a female colleague would like to join him in a threesome, she said.

Natalie Goldfein, an officer at a small nonprofit that Steinhardt had helped establish, said he suggested in a meeting that they have babies together.

Steinhardt, 78, a retired hedge fund founder, is among an elite cadre of donors who bankroll some of the country’s most prestigious Jewish nonprofits. His foundations have given at least $127 million to charitable causes since 2003, public filings show.

But for more than two decades, that generosity has come at a price. Six women said in interviews with The New York Times and ProPublica, and one said in a lawsuit, that Steinhardt asked them to have sex with him, or made sexual requests of them, while they were relying on or seeking his support. He also regularly made comments to women about their bodies and their fertility, according to the seven women and 16 other people who said they were present when Steinhardt made such comments.

Will Burrard-Lucas + Tsavo Trust + BeetleCam Capture Kenya's Endangered, Magnificent Elephant Queens

Will Burrard-Lucas + Tsavo Trust + BeetleCam Capture Kenya's Endangered, Magnificent Elephant Queens

You are forgiven for thinking that F_MU1 is a woolly mammoth brought to life. Queen of Elephants, the name photographer Will Burrard-Lucas gave to F__MU1, was a rare “big tusker” elephant, one of perhaps only 30 left in Africa. This royal creature enjoyed a peaceful life for more than 60 years in Kenya’s Tsavo National Park.

These images of F_MU1, renamed Elephant Queen on WBL’s website, are among the last images captured of her. Over long periods of horrific, violent poaching in Kenya, Elephant Queen is a survivor, and she died a natural death shortly after Burrard-Lucas made these magnificent image captures for his new book ‘Land Of Giants.’

Burrard-Lucas embarked on the ambitious project in partnership with Tsavo Trust in August 2017, in an effort to promote worldwide support for the elephants of Tsavo.

In his own words, the photographer shares his story of meeting Elephant Queen for the first time:

A Jewelry Design Journey From Fashionable Omo Valley Arbore Women To Mario Gerth To INIVA Miami

A Jewelry Design Journey From Fashionable Omo Valley Arbore Women To Mario Gerth To INIVA Miami

Serendipity seems to be always at play at Anne of Carversville and in my GlamTribal Jewelry. Close friends think the powers are actually stronger than serendipity in my case, but let me stick with the facts here. The DNA of my GlamTribal collection lies in East Africa, in an area extending from southern Ethiopia’s Omo Valley into the Lake Turkana region, South Sudan and northern Kenya, with a final destination in Nairobi and specifically Kibera. This is not to say that there aren’t more pieces in my puzzle, but my life has wound in and around these pillars for decades.

Hans Silvester’s monumental book ‘Natural Fashion’ (2009) introduced me to the Omo Valley people in 2012, inspiring the first major turn in my vision for GlamTribal. These precious people are living in grave danger of extinction in a modern world, In particular the Gilgel Give III damn threatens their very existence. For five years Italian photographer Fausto Podavini has charted the progress of the damn and its impact on one of Africa’s most remote frontiers. National Geographic updates the story of perhaps epic change in the Omo Valley.

Tom Ford Becomes Chairman of Council of Fashion Designers of America

CURRENT CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF FASHION DESIGNERS OF AMERICA DIANE VON FURSTENBERG AND INCOMING CHAIRMAN TOM FORD.

Tom Ford Becomes Chairman of Council of Fashion Designers of America

The award-winning fashion designer, film director, screenwriter, and film producer Tom Ford will succeed current Chairwoman Diane von Furstenberg effective June 2019, writes the CFDA.

The Texas-born designer introduced a heady combination of glamour and sensual desire into American fashion.. Ford eagerly embraced smart women with sex appeal believing that women could be both.

Gemma Chan Can't Help Talking Substance, Lensed By Paola Kudacki For Allure April 2019

Gemma Chan Can't Help Talking Substance, Lensed By Paola Kudacki For Allure April 2019

Actor Gemma Chan is styled by Karen Kaiser in images by Paola Kudacki for Allure US April 2019./ Hair by Kevin Ryan; makeup by James Kaliardos. Jessica Chia conducts the interview.

Chan has dominated headlines since playing the troubled cousin Astrid in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’. Chan reminds us that political correctness works both ways, and she’s clearly still smarting from the racial pushback against her for playing Bess of Hardwick from the 2018 film ‘Mary Queen of Scots’.

Frida Kahlo Has A New York Moment With New York's Spring Style Issue + Brooklyn Museum Show

Illustrator Malika Favre’s latest project is the cover art for The New Yorker’s Spring Style Issue, and it’s a beauty. For Frida Kahlo lovers, Favre’s references are unconsciously obvious in ‘Spring to Mind’, her seventh cover for the magazine. Interviewed by Françoise Mouly, Favre explains how her minimalist style exploded into an effusion of color and floral shapes.

The inspiration was Frida Kahlo’s iconic look. I wanted to retain the energy and vibrancy of her paintings and the strength of the woman herself, hence the looser strokes and the explosion of color. This cover may be flamboyant, and it does use organic shapes, but it’s still in tune with my aesthetic approach. My work has a lot to do with colors and shapes, and this piece is another way to experiment with combining those things.

ONE OF FAVRE’S EARLY SKETCHES FOR THE COVER, AND HER SNAPSHOT OF A MARKET IN MEXICO CITY. MALIKA FAVRE

The use of Frida Kahlo inspiration for the New Yorker also relates to a new exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. The show is not a major exhibition of Kahlo’s paintings with only 11 out of more than 350 objects. Rather ‘Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving,” is a recapitulation of her life through personal possessions — her clothing, jewelry and favorite objects. The selection of the rich skirts and blouses from the Oaxacan city of Tehuantepec and her statement jewelry that were so key to Kahlo’s substantative style are intrinsically embedded in her art.

Writing for The New York Times, Jason Farago reminds us in Frida Kahlo’s Home Is Still Unlocking Secrets, 50 Years Later: “Hard to imagine she once worked in shadow; when she had her first New York exhibition, in 1938, Vogue preferred to name her “Madame Diego Rivera.”’

Burning Chillies and Dung Could Help Stop Elephants Damaging Farmers’ Crops, While We Search For Big Solutions That Work

Burning Chillies and Dung Could Help Stop Elephants Damaging Farmers’ Crops, While We Search For Big Solutions That Work

By Rocio Pozo, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling. First published on The Conversation.

Note from Anne: AOC has shared extensive research about human’s conflict with elephants in Africa. In my experience most Westerners have almost no patience, understanding or empathy around the lives of African farmers living with the elephants. Please watch the embedded video ‘Pathways to Coexistence’ documentary (2015), a SUPERBLY well-done, balanced examination of a conflict between elephants and people, conflict that will only intensify in Africa with population growth and economic expansion.

Humans — specifically African farmers — are not the bag guys in this wrenching drama around saving our precious elephants. A change in the overly-simplistic, American and European Twitter-universe, off-with-their heads attitudes towards trophy hunters (we agree) and farmers (we don’t agree) is long overdue on this complex topic.

A Week Of Karlie Kloss 'Project Runway' + 'Kode With Karlie' News Is Buried By Ivanka Tweet

A Week Of Karlie Kloss 'Project Runway' + 'Kode With Karlie' News Is Buried By Ivanka Tweet

Season 17 of ‘Project Runway’ premiered on Bravo this week. No longer on Lifetime where the show was hosted by Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, Project Runway 2019 on Bravo is hosted by Instagram hit, supermodel Karlie Kloss, who willingly gave up her Victoria’s Secret Wings and flew the coup to follow her own business-savvy and philanthropist-activist instincts. Think Kode With Klossy tech summer camps.

Alas, the media and its readers have one obsession according to Google: It’s not clear who is driving the Karlie news car, and I fear it’s media insuring Ivanka Trump’s gushing dominance of Karlie’s headlines. Yes, they are snarky, because we all feel that Ivanka never misses an opportunity to ride Karlie’s progressive coattails in the news. Get a grip, Ivanka. Karlie’s well-earned hato-effect will somehow not ruboff on you. But we could choose — indeference to Karlie Kloss — to let Ivanka’s gushing Twitter commentary go silently into the night.

Besides her ‘Project Runway’ debut, other headline that got our attention is Karlie taking to the streets of Manhattan to share the news that applications are open for her Kode With Klossy tech summer bootcamp. The snaps are priceless, and we must ask: “Seriously, can you see the other blonde in this convo running around Soho with her mobile signup stand in tow, getting the word out on her determination to teach girls to code. If you say “yes’, we say “You’re fired!” ~ Anne

NRA Puts Nancy Pelosi + Gaby Giffords Out For Target Practice. Will Sandy Hook Ruling Dampen Their Machismo?

NRA Puts Nancy Pelosi + Gaby Giffords Out For Target Practice. Will Sandy Hook Ruling Dampen Their Machismo?

The National Rifle Association left little to the imagination in their March 2019 issue of American Rifleman, citing Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and gun control advocate, former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Gifford — herself an assault rifle victim — as in the line of fire and perhaps in need of a little target practice.

There’s no doubt that these are macho men. The white nationalist assassin from Australia who Facebook livestreamed with his assault on two New Zealand mosques Friday is also a macho man. that currently leaves 50 dead and 50 hospitalized — many in critical condition.

On Thusday, March 14th, the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned a lower-court ruling, agreeng with Connecticut’s Sandy Hook families that the marketing employed by Remington Arms, a major manufacturer of deadly assault rifles and specifically the AF15, was so aggregious in appealing to men’s “killer instincts” that it transgressed against federal immunity laws that protect gun manufacturers from liability.

Connecticut law, the court wrote in the majority opinion, "does not permit advertisements that promote or encourage violent, criminal behavior." While federal law does offer protection for gun manufacturers, the majority wrote, "Congress did not intend to immunize firearms suppliers who engage in truly unethical and irresponsible marketing practices promoting criminal conduct, and given that statutes such as CUTPA are the only means available to address those types of wrongs, it falls to a jury to decide whether the promotional schemes alleged in the present case rise to the level of illegal trade practices and whether fault for the tragedy can be laid at their feet."

Read on in Salon. Sandy Hook Lawsuit Court Victory Opens Crack In Gun Maker Immunity Shield

Kylie Jenner Unseats Mark Zuckerberg As Forbes Youngest Self-Made Billionaire

Reality TV ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ star turned makeup mogul Kylie Jenner has unseated Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as Forbes Youngest Self-Made Billionaire. Her three-year-old makeup brand ‘Kylie Cosmetics’, solely owned by Jenner, is now valued at $900 million.

The expansion of ‘Kylie Cosmetics’ to a new partnership with Ulta Beauty ‘s 1000-plus stores reportedly generated $54.5 million in six weeks, making it one of the fastest-growing cosmetic brands in the world.  Kylie Cosmetics launched in 2015 with the Lip Kit and now includes 30 products including highlighters, setting powders, blushes and makeup brushes. The launch at Ulta in physical locations in all 50 states was considered a blockbuster, with inventories wiped out in hours.

“It’s the power of social media,” Jenner says. “I had such a strong reach before I was able to start anything.” Forbes writes: “Ulta and Jenner are a sensible pairing. With Ulta’s mix of pricier prestige brands, like MAC Cosmetics, and cheaper selections, such as Nyx Professional Makeup, it has a larger footprint than that of its closest competitor, the more expensive Sephora. “

Kylie, the youngest of the ubiquitous Kardashian-Jenner sisters at age 21, dethrones Mark Zuckerberg who achieved the youngest self-made billionaire at age 23. In addition to her 175 million followers on social media, Kylie Jenner has a one year old daughter Stormi with rapper and boyfriend Travis Scott.

NIKE, Pls Help Us FREE 'Fearless Girl' From State Street Global Advisors. We NEED Her Now More Than Ever

NIKE, Pls Help Us FREE 'Fearless Girl' From State Street Global Advisors. We NEED Her Now More Than Ever

Patriarchal, capitalist forces are clamping down on ‘Fearless Girl’, with her ‘owners’ State Street Global Advisors saying that Fearless cannot go worldwide, unless she flies the State Street banner. A New York federal judge issued a preliminary injunction this week, barring ‘Fearless Girl’s’ birth mother and creator, artist Kristen Visbal, from duplicating her likeness in any way.

The problem is that countries and their governments worldwide want their own ‘Fearless Girl’. She is a unifying, American vision, but her ‘owners’ State Street Global Advisors say “No Way. ‘Fearless Girl is our property.”

Simply stated, yet another female has become an unwilling advocate for big-money capitalism and the boys club. ‘Fearless Girl’s’ debut on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2017 inspired us beyond words. The small bronze goddess arrived in the dead of night, originally installed at Bowling Green in another legal battle with ‘Charging Bull’.

Anilez Silva 'Africa' by Daniel Bracci Delves Into Woman's Collective Unconscious

Anilez Silva 'Africa' by Daniel Bracci Delves Into Woman's Collective Unconscious

Originally written July 7, 2012, 3am — same time I found it again just now. Little by little, I am restoring the far-flung DNA of GlamTribal.

Looking at Daniel Bracci’s magnificent images of Anilez Silva entitled ‘Africa’, my rational mind says “don’t go there, Anne”. Our politically-correct world only sees stereotypes where you see art and connection.

After all, Anilez Silva is fiercely tribal, sensual, erotic, impenetrable, dangerous, ancestral, aboriginal and ancient. She is ferocious, native, natural, primeval and primitive; turbulent, unbroken and proud. 

My friends at Jezebel would probably hate her. We tend not to see eye-to-eye on a few issues, and this is one of them. Are Bracci’s images stereotypical? Racist? I’m not an African American — or African woman — or African Parisian woman, so I can only speak to how these images affect me personally.

When the subject is Africa, I have a visceral response that another person might have with India. Most Americans have no visceral response at all, in terms of connection with “foreign” imagery, but this is not the case for me.

New Survey Raises Concerns About Elephant Poaching in Botswana

PHOTO BY DIGITALARBYTER :) ON UNSPLASH

New Survey Raises Concerns About Elephant Poaching in Botswana

By Ross Harvey, Senior Researcher in Natural Resource Governance (Africa), South African Institute of International Affairs. First published on The Conversation

Botswana has an elephant poaching problem. The numbers far exceed previous years according to a new survey. The survey was conducted between July and October 2018 by conservation group Elephants without Borders, in collaboration with Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

The survey reported a total of 1677 observed carcasses in the survey area of northern Botswana. The surveyors visited carcasses that were of concern – reported as possibly poached – which numbered 104 out of a total of 128 “fresh” carcasses.

SIA Legal Team + If/When/How Unite As Pro-Choice Counter To Anti-Women Federalist Society

MERGER OF SIA LEGAL TEAM AND IF/WHEN/HOW REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE LAWYERS UNIT ANNOUNCED MARCH 13, 2019

SIA Legal Team + If/When/How Unite As Pro-Choice Counter To Anti-Women Federalist Society

Two powerful groups fighting for women’s reproductive rights have joined forces under the If/When/How name. Their goal? Creating a national network to push back against restrictive abortion legislation in every state, helping those ‘whose rights are being trampled.’

The merger of SIA Legal Team and If/When/How—two existing pro-choice groups that already shape policy, file lawsuits, and inform lawyers around reproductive rights issues — launched today March 13. To date, most legal work in the reproductive rights arena has focused on protecting clinics and providers. Executive director Jill Adams says the new organization will also focus on providing a network of attorneys for everyday people facing reproductive rights challenges.

Ryan Magers Madison County, Alabama

Examples of new lawsuits include that of Alabama man Ryan Magers of Madison County, Alabama, who recently filed suit on behalf of an aborted fetus, claiming that his girlfriend had a medication abortion against his wishes in February 2017. In the law suit, filed in January, Magers filed a petition to serve as the “personal representative” of the aborted fetus’ estate.

Next, Magers sued the clinic that performed the abortion, the Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives in Huntsville, on behalf of himself and “Baby Roe,” as the fetus is referred to in court documents.

On March 5, Madison County Probate Judge Frank Barger granted Magers’ petition to represent the estate in a decision his attorney, Brent Helms, said broke new legal ground.

NARAL President Ilyse Hogue called the decision a “very scary case”. “This is the logical consequence of all anti-abortion activity,” tweeted Erin Matson, founder of Reproaction. “Fetuses are treated like people and women and people who can become pregnant are not.”

Abortions Rise Worldwide When US Cuts Funding To Women’s Health Clinics, Study Finds

Abortions Rise Worldwide When US Cuts Funding To Women’s Health Clinics, Study Finds

By Yana Rodgers, Professor of Labor Studies, Rutgers University. First published on The Conversation

Fulfilling Republican efforts to “defund Planned Parenthood,” the Trump administration announced on Feb. 22 it would end federal funding to health providers that perform abortions.

This new ruling is the domestic version of the “global gag rule” that Trump imposed in 2017. It cuts U.S. global health funding from organizations abroad that perform – or even talk about – abortions, including the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

First implemented under Ronald Reagan in 1984, the global gag rule has been rescinded by every Democrat and reinstated by every Republican to occupy the Oval Office, reflecting the partisan nature of abortion.

Supporters of the global gag rule say defunding abortion providers will reduce abortions. However, researchers from Stanford University in 2011 found that this U.S. policy actually made women in sub-Saharan Africa twice as likely to have an abortion.

Eye: Lineisy Montero Is In CR Paradise For SS2019 As Carine Roitfeld Announces Changes Ahead

Eye: Lineisy Montero Is In CR Paradise For SS2019 As Carine Roitfeld Announces Changes Ahead

Model Lineisy Montero is styled by Avena Gallagher for ‘En el Paraiso’, lensed by Aeix Webb for the Spring-Summer 2019 issue of CR Fashion Book.

Founded in 2012 after Roitfeld left her position as editor-in-chief for French Vogue, Carine announced that she intends to let a new generation take the reins of her magazines CR Fashion Book and CR Men. WWD writes that Roitfeld will be doing far less styling on the shoots, although no one is replacing her as editor. “I don’t know what I now want to be called,” the French icon explained. “I don’t have a desk [at the office] either. I had one a while ago but I didn’t like it. I just sit at any table with a free chair. I don’t want a door, ‘Oh, knock before entering.’ That’s not me.”

“I’ve become another stylist in the magazine,” Roitfeld continued, referencing the grown of her CR Studio brand consultancy, which is taking on new clients besides Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld and Tom Ford. “I think it’s definitely time to open the door to a new generation. People of fashion, you know, they get bored, so we need to feed them something exciting, energetic and new.”