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Since the Ebola outbreak occurred in West Africa in 2014, researchers have feared that the virus had been able to evolve at a more rapid rate than usual. Now, an analysis of the virus reveals that it mutated at a perfectly normal rate in Sierra Leone, alleviating those fears.

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Growing up in the 80s, video games were at the start terrible graphically. We thought they looked fantastic at the time, but for the most part they were terrible and we just didn’t know any better. Fast forward several years to the Nintendo/Sega days and we had some cool 8-bit and 16-bit graphics to enjoy on several different consoles. Fans … Continue reading

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — When Matthew Shepard was beaten, tied to a fence and left for dead nearly 20 years ago, his murder became a rallying cry in the gay rights movement.

Other states adopted stricter laws against violence and discrimination, and Congress passed hate crimes legislation bearing Shepard’s name.

Matthew Shepard (Getty Images)

Yet in Wyoming, advocates have tried unsuccessfully for years statewide to pass protections for gays in housing and the workplace. They finally scored a victory Wednesday after trying a different approach: a local ordinance in the college town where Shepard was killed.

The Laramie City Council on Wednesday approved a local anti-discrimination ordinance. It voted 7-2 in favor of the measure that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, employment and access to public facilities such as restaurants.

“What a day for Wyoming, and what a day for the city that became synonymous with Matthew Shepard’s murder to now step up and do this right thing,” said Jeran Artery, head of the group Wyoming Equality, which has lobbied for anti-discrimination measures at the state Legislature.

“And I would really encourage other communities across the state to follow Laramie’s lead,” Artery said.

Local organizers focused their efforts on Laramie after the Legislature repeatedly rejected anti-discrimination bills, most recently early this year. The Laramie Nondiscrimination Task Force presented a draft ordinance to the City Council last summer.

Rep. Cathy Connolly, D-Laramie, is a lesbian and a professor in the Women’s Studies Program at the University of Wyoming. She has pushed legislation repeatedly to try to pass an anti-discrimination bill at the state level.

“I wasn’t going to get up and say anything tonight, but I decided I have to,” Connolly said at Wednesday’s meeting. “I’m so proud to be a resident of Wyoming tonight, and a member of this community.”

Laramie Mayor Dave Paulekas spoke in favor of the amendment before the council vote.

“To me, this is about treating people fairly, it’s about treating people the way I would want to be treated, the way we all expect to be treated,” Paulekas said. “And it’s nothing more than that, in my mind.”

Paulekas said that if Laramie wants to see economic development, it has to be aware that high-tech firms are going to look at how the city treats its citizens.

Councilors Joe Vitale and Bryan Shuster cast the only no-votes against the ordinance. Both said they were concerned that the ordinance would trample on city residents’ religious freedoms.

“Enactment of this ordinance will result in discrimination complaints filed against business owners who are simply trying to run their business consistent with their faith,” Vitale said. The council rejected his suggestion that it postpone action on the matter until next year to give the U.S. Supreme Court and the Wyoming Legislature more time to act on the issue.

Judy Shepard, Matt Shepard’s mother, is active in a Denver-based foundation that bears her son’s name and focuses on equality issues.

“I’m thrilled that Laramie’s doing it, at the same time sort of saddened that the state of Wyoming can’t see fit to do that as well,” Shepard told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C., Wednesday before the council vote. “Maybe the rest of Wyoming will understand this is about fellow human beings and not something that’s other than what they are.”

Shepard said some people are still under the misconception that what happened to her son is typical of what happens in Wyoming.

“But I feel like if Wyoming had done more to open the door to acceptance, that kind of reputation would have disappeared very quickly,” said Shepard, herself a Wyoming resident. “Instead of taking advantage of the moment, they just sort of turned around and ran.”

Gov. Matt Mead, a Republican, last year went to court to defend Wyoming’s gay marriage ban before federal court rulings from other states blocked the state from further action.

And a handful of Wyoming lawmakers this spring filed a brief urging the nation’s highest court to reject same-sex marriage on the grounds that forcing states to accept it would violate other citizens’ free-speech rights.

Rep. Kendell Kroeker, R-Evansville, voted against the anti-discrimination bill this year and was among those who endorsed the U.S. Supreme Court brief.

“I suppose it’s their right as a city,” Kroeker said of Laramie’s proposal. But he noted such measures grant special privileges to one group over another — an idea he doesn’t support.

Asked about his thoughts on such an ordinance passing in the city where Shepard was killed, Kroeker said: “The Matt Shepard case was a tragedy, but I don’t see how an anti-discrimination ordinance would have stopped somebody from committing that heinous crime.”

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In the pantheon of nostalgic food products, Capri Sun ranks pretty high up there with Dunkaroos and Lunchables. It’s been a lunchtime staple for millions of kids since it was introduced in 1981, so it would be understandable for anyone under the age of, say, 45, to have unreservedly positive associations with the juice and its trademark metallic pouches.

But it turns out there’s a downside to Capri Sun’s packaging, which is made of multiple layers of plastic and aluminum that are very difficult to recycle. For that reason, a coalition of environmental groups has started a campaign called “Make It, Take It” to try to get Kraft, which manufactures Capri Sun in North America, to come up with a more environmentally friendly package for the drink.

The environmental groups behind the campaign say that 1.4 billion Capri Sun packages end up in landfills every year, enough to wrap around the earth five times. According to Plastics News, Kraft encourages consumers to send used Capri Sun packages to a New Jersey company that specializes in recycling them. But Make It, Take It says that just 2 percent of Capri Sun packages actually get sent to this company.

Reached by The Huffington Post, Kraft issued a statement that affirmed the company’s interest in making its packaging more sustainable, noting that in 2012 they had redesigned the cardboard boxes in which Capri Sun pouches are sold to make them less wasteful. But the company did not commit to any specific modifications to the pouches themselves.

“At Kraft, we take a comprehensive approach to packaging -– one that aims to cut waste, conserve natural resources, promote food safety, meet the extensive packaging regulations and is satisfying to our consumers,” the statement read. “We consider the appearance, functionality, cost and environmental impact of all our packaging designs.”

This isn’t the first time Kraft has come under fire for the pouches. The coalition behind Make It, Take It pushed for reform a year ago, and one of the groups involved, Oakland-based As You Sow, got Kraft shareholders to vote on a resolution to make the packaging easier to recycle earlier this month. It failed, with just 29 percent of the vote.

Kraft has been amenable to changing the juice within the packages, though. The company bowed to consume pressure for healthier kids’ foods by announcing, in February, that it would remove high-fructose corn syrup from the recipe, reducing the number of calories in each pouch from 60 to 50.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

While defending Courtney Lee at the end of the first half of Golden State’s playoff game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, Warriors forward Harrison Barnes got tripped up by Lee’s crossover and unintentionally collapsed into a split.

A Vine of Barnes’ unplanned acrobatic move entitled “Is Harrison Barnes dead?” quickly went viral:

Major ouch.

Social media was abuzz with similar questions and comments about Barnes’ well-being.

RIP Harrison Barnes’ groin pic.twitter.com/xSAd63R7Kt

— Matt Mc (@basketballfan66) May 14, 2015

Harrison Barnes just busted a split and I hurt my groin just watching it. Ouch.

— yelley (@yelbeeez) May 14, 2015

Seriously, can we get an update on Harrison Barnes? https://t.co/FyhvOhZpw8

— Nick Wing (@nickpwing) May 14, 2015

Pray for Harrison Barnes pic.twitter.com/ERd6w0POaJ

— JerryBallOnEm (@lil_jerry) May 14, 2015

Incredibly, Barnes seemed alright after his split, playing as usual when the second half began — a feat that impressed many a netizen.

The fact that Harrison Barnes is alive and playing basketball is nothing short of a miracle

— WJ (@WMsDiary) May 14, 2015

Jean Claude Van Barnes. @hbarnes @warriors @warriorsworld pic.twitter.com/Obb63okAdh

— The チャド (@ThaChadwick) May 14, 2015

The Warriors bested the Grizzlies, 98-78. Golden State now leads the second-round playoff series 3-2.

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