14-year-old viral sensation does Nicki Minaj drag better than Nicki Minaj
Uncanniness incarnate.

www.queerty.com/14-year-old-viral-sensation-nicki-minaj-drag-better-nicki-minaj-20170411?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

These Capybaras Escaped the Zoo for a Summer of Love. Now they’re Back, with Babies.

Toronto’s High Park Zoo has some new residents. The zoo’s pair of capybaras had babies. Here’s one of the new family members. Credit: Jessica Blake

They look kind of like guinea pigs — if guinea pigs grew to be a hundred pounds.

They love water and have webbed feet and short, vestigial tails.

And on Saturday, I came face-to-face — or more like microphone-to-snout, with the world’s most famous capybaras.

I visited Toronto’s High Park Zoo, where last summer two capybaras made a break for freedom.

“Bonnie and Clyde, as we named them, escaped the very first day they arrived,” explains zookeeper Sonya Dittkrist. “So they were on the lam, one was 4 weeks and one was 6 weeks.”

And during that time, there were daily sightings. Torontonians were monitoring the park’s lake area for the rodents of unusual size.

Bonnie and Clyde were returned safely to the park zoo after spending the summer swimming in the pond and grazing on grass and plants.

And Dittkrist says even though staff were concerned for the pair and wanted them back, the capybaras didn’t pose a threat to the public.

“Not unless you could actually get your hands on them. Then they can bite. They have actually really long teeth. They are about the length of your fingers … they could hurt you, but, yeah, they are just big chickens.”

The “capy-babies” don’t have names yet. The zoo is asking the public to suggest names for them. Credit: Jessica Blake

The pair’s escape sparked a citywide fascination with the capybaras.

But the rodents are indigenous to South America — mostly in Brazil — so they like a warm climate.

In recent months, the capys have been laying low and staying inside their barn. But they’ve been keeping busy.

“We’ve got three bouncing babies,” says Dittkrist. “They were born February 23rd, so they are our new edition and we love them. They are so cute.”

Capybaras love to munch on raw corn on the cob. Credit: Jessica Blake

And here’s where my zoo visit went from nice — to a dream come true. Dittkrist tells me it’s lunchtime and that I can feed the babies and Bonnie and Clyde. She fills up a bowl with corn, cantaloupe and apples. And we go to the pen where the family has collected around a mud pit.

But the sound of the gate opening brings the adults over to investigate. With a chunk of raw corn stuck onto the end of a stick, I lure Clyde over for a snack.

Little kids push their corn sticks into the pen to get the capys to come closer.

And then one of the baby capybaras gets curious and starts sniffing my feet.

The little guy was using those long pronglike teeth to chew on the end of my shoe.

A capybara baby is gnawing on reporter Andrea Crossan’s boot. Credit: Jessica Blake

After a brief taste test, the baby goes back to picking up chunks of corn.

I can’t explain why I love capybaras. Maybe it’s the soulful eyes.

Maybe it’s the cute snouts or the roly-poly bellies.

After my time in the pen, I have one last question about capybaras for the zookeeper.

Can I get one as a pet?

“You can’t have them in the city,” says Dittkrist. “But if you had a farm. It is possible, I believe, that you could have them as a pet.”

Now, I just need to get that farm.

This article first appeared on PRI The World.

The post These Capybaras Escaped the Zoo for a Summer of Love. Now they’re Back, with Babies. appeared first on Towleroad.

These Capybaras Escaped the Zoo for a Summer of Love. Now they’re Back, with Babies.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley should condemn Chechen attacks on LGBTQ men and investigate reports of possible concentration camps for LGBTQ community

www.glaad.org/blog/us-ambassador-nikki-haley-should-condemn-chechen-attacks-lgbtq-men-and-investigate-reports

Artist Ego Rodriguez Goes Snap, Crackle, Pop.

www.advocate.com/artist-spotlight/2017/4/11/artist-ego-rodriguez-goes-snap-crackle-pop

As Tillerson Heads to Russia, Putin Claims U.S. Planning Chemical Weapon Attack on Damascus to Frame Assad

As Secretary of State Rex Tillerson heads to Russia, Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the U.S. is planning chemical weapons attacks in Damascus in an attempt to frame Bashar al Assad.

The Putin remarks follow an ultimatum issued by Tillerson that Russia must choose between Assad and the U.S., the AP reports:

“We cannot let this happen again,” the secretary of state said.

“We want to relieve the suffering of the Syrian people. Russia can be a part of that future and play an important role,” Tillerson added in remarks to reporters. “Or Russia can maintain its alliance with this group, which we believe is not going to serve Russia’s interests longer term.”

Since the U.S. launched airstrikes against Assad’s forces in retaliation for a chemical attack on civilians last week, Trump administration officials have offered mixed messages about whether Washington believes Assad definitely must surrender power and when. Tillerson said it was clear the U.S. saw no role for Assad in Syria’s future, given that he had lost legitimacy.

“It is clear to all of us that the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end,” he said. “But the question of how that ends and the transition itself could be very important in our view to the durability, the stability inside of a unified Syria.”

“That’s why we are not presupposing how that occurs,” Tillerson added.

Watch a report from CBS This Morning:

The post As Tillerson Heads to Russia, Putin Claims U.S. Planning Chemical Weapon Attack on Damascus to Frame Assad appeared first on Towleroad.

As Tillerson Heads to Russia, Putin Claims U.S. Planning Chemical Weapon Attack on Damascus to Frame Assad

HRC Calls on U.S. Government to Help Stop Anti-LGBTQ Atrocities in Russia

Last week, the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that dozens of men had been rounded up on suspicion of being gay. Many have been tortured and at least three were killed while in detention.

On April 4, HRC President Chad Griffin sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, urging him to take steps to stop the mass arrests of men accused of being gay in the Russian republic of Chechnya.

The Chechen authorities have refused to stop the arrests, with one government spokesman denying that there are even LGBT people in Chechnya at all, saying, “You cannot arrest and repress those who simply aren’t in the republic.”

The Russian government likewise has also refused to intervene, telling the victims to “file official complaints and go to court,” which is unlikely to be met with any success.

In that context, Griffin sent his letter to Tillerson on April 4, urging him “to make clear to your Russian counterparts that such lawless detentions, arrests, torture and murders are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.” Secretary Tillerson will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian leaders on April 12.

Griffin added that the Chechen and Russian governments “must transparently account for those who have been detained, condemn and investigate the attacks, and ensure that those targeted can flee to safety.”

“This is a crucial moment,” Griffin said, “to make it clear that the U.S. will indeed ‘work aggressively to advance human rights for everyone,’” quoting Tillerson’s own remarks during his confirmation process.

This week, while in Moscow, Secretary Tillerson must raise this issue with the Russian government including the Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. If Tillerson is granted a meeting President Putin this must be on the agenda.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-calls-on-u.s.-government-to-help-stop-anti-lgbtq-atrocities-in-russia?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Jenny Boylan 'Transifies' the Mystery Genre in 'Long Black Veil'

The transgender author revealed how her own story is reflected in the lives — and secrets — of her first mystery novel’s characters.

www.advocate.com/books/2017/4/11/jenny-boylan-transifies-mystery-genre-long-black-veil

Bigoted Christians Are the Most Special Snowflakes

The Religious Right likes to say that LGBT people are now granted “special rights,” but they’re actually the ones getting exceptional treatment by the government.

www.advocate.com/commentary/2017/4/11/bigoted-christians-are-most-special-snowflakes