Progress: Verb

mudwerks: (via Golden Age Comic Book Stories) M. C. Escher

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:24:32 -0400

(via Golden Age Comic Book Stories)

M. C. Escher

"One day, I spoke about gender with a group of executives-in-training at the Boeing Leadership Center..."

Thu, 31 May 2012 14:29:55 -0400

“One day, I spoke about gender with a group of executives-in-training at the Boeing Leadership Center in St. Louis. After showing some of Larry Cahill’s data about gist and detail, I said, “Sometimes women are accused of being more emotional than men, from the home to the workplace. I think that women might not be any more emotional than anyone else.” I explained that because women perceive their emotional landscape with more data points (that’s the detail) and see it in greater resolution, women may simply have more information to which they are capable of reacting. If men perceived the same number of data points, they might have the same number of reactions. Two women in the back began crying softly. After the lecture, I asked them about their reactions, fearing I may have offended them. What they said instead blew me away. “It was the first time in my professional life,” one of them said, “that I didn’t feel like I had to apologize for who I was.””

- John Medina, on gender. (via nutritiousanddelicious)

"If there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them."

Thu, 31 May 2012 10:18:11 -0400

“If there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them.”

- Mr Spock, Star Trek

Banned by the Bible: 76 things banned in Leviticus

Tue, 29 May 2012 14:27:49 -0400

Banned by the Bible: 76 things banned in Leviticus:

leviticusbans:

Here’s chapter and verse on a more-or-less comprehensive list of things banned in the Leviticus book of the bible. A decent number of them are punishable by death.

Unless you’ve never done any of them (and 54 to 56 are particularly tricky), perhaps it’s time to lay off quoting 18:22 for a…

Science, you win this round (and every round)

Mon, 28 May 2012 14:23:29 -0400

Science, you win this round (and every round)

"I don’t think it’s terribly controversial to note that women, from a young age, are required to..."

Sun, 27 May 2012 14:27:39 -0400

“I don’t think it’s terribly controversial to note that women, from a young age, are required to consider the reality of the opposite gender’s consciousness in a way that men aren’t. This isn’t to say that women don’t often misunderstand, mistreat, and stereotype men, both in literature and in life. But on a basic level, functioning in society requires that women register that men are fully conscious; it is not really possible for a woman to throw up her hands and write men off as eternally unknowable space aliens — and even if she says she has, she cannot really behave as though she has. Every element of her life — from reading books about boys and men to writing papers about the motivations of male characters to being attentive to her own safety to navigating most any institutional or professional or economic sphere — demands an ironclad familiarity with, and belief in, the idea that men really are fully human entities. And no matter how many men come to the same conclusions about women, the structure of society simply does not demand so strenuously that they do so. If you didn’t really deep down believe that women were, in general, exactly as conscious as you, you could probably still get by in life. You could probably still get a book deal. You could probably still get elected to office.”

- Jennifer duBois, Writing Across Gender (via florida-uterati)

"In America the Possible, our dominant culture will have shifted, from today to tomorrow, in the..."

Sat, 26 May 2012 14:23:21 -0400

“In America the Possible, our dominant culture will have shifted, from today to tomorrow, in the following ways:
• from seeing humanity as something apart from nature, transcending and dominating it, to seeing ourselves as part of nature, offspring of its evolutionary process, close kin to wild things, and wholly dependent on its vitality and the finite services it provides;
• from seeing nature in strictly utilitarian terms—humanity’s resource to exploit as it sees fit for economic and other purposes—to seeing the natural world as having intrinsic value independent of people and having rights that create the duty of ecological stewardship;
• from discounting the future, focusing severely on the near term, to taking the long view and recognizing duties to future generations;
• from today’s hyperindividualism and narcissism, and the resulting social isolation, to a powerful sense of community and social solidarity reaching from the local to the cosmopolitan;
• from the glorification of violence, the acceptance of war, and the spreading of hate and invidious divisions to the total abhorrence of these things;
• from materialism and consumerism to the prioritization of personal and family relationships, learning, experiencing nature, spirituality, service, and living within limits;
• from tolerating gross economic, social, and political inequality to demanding a high measure of equality in all these spheres.”

- James Gustave Speth, for Orion: http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6810

(via utnereader)

Terrible Statistic of the Day:

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:23:03 -0400

Terrible Statistic of the Day::

thepoliticalnotebook:

The Justice Department statistics report that 1 in 3 Native American women have been raped or have experienced an attempted rape, a number more than twice the national average.

Incidentally, House Republicans are against a bipartisan-supported provision in the Senate’s version of the Violence Against Women Act which would grant tribal courts greater authority to prosecute who are not Native American for abusing their Native American spouses and domestic partners. They have not included it in the House version of the bill and consider it a unacceptable expansion of tribal authority.

The US government has taken a very “hands off” approach with Natives and reservations in the last couple decades. On one side of the argument, it’s obvious that US government intervention with native peoples has historically not worked out well. On the other, tribes and reservations rarely have the structures or means in place to govern and provide for their peoples sufficiently and effectively.

It’s a lose-lose situation, for native peoples.

"Houston Station — it looks like we got us a Dragon by the tail."

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:49:31 -0400

“Houston Station — it looks like we got us a Dragon by the tail.”

- CREWMEMBER ABOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, upon the successful docking of the SpaceX Dragon craft with the I.S.S.

Excellent.

(via inothernews)

moneyisnotimportant: See the difference?

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:23:53 -0400

moneyisnotimportant:

See the difference?

Kansas Health Insurance

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:16:00 -0400

Last evening I passed my KS Life & Health Insurance Producer licensing exam.

One of the things I noted while studying was that while women’s pre- and post-natal care is not required in KS health insurance programs and is, in fact, rarely ever included in group or individual health policies (except at exorbitant cost), infants are covered under well-baby provisions included in individual, family and group policies from the moment they are birthed.

In addition, contraception and birth control options are given minimal coverage under prescription and health plans. Women are allowed to purchase just one month of birth control at a time. Generic birth control is usually about $30 per month and name brand birth control is typically $50 per month at a minimum with a prescription plan.

So while the statutes regarding birth control make such prescriptions more difficult and expensive to obtain, women’s maternal wellness during pregnancy, birthing and post-birth are not covered by insurance. Infants born to these women, however, are covered from the moment they emerge from the woman’s body.

What this says to me is, the state doesn’t want women to prevent pregnancy but while the women are pregnant they are on their own and the financial burden of maternal care and birthing is on the mother. The baby itself, though, is completely covered by insurance provisions.

Kansas women (myself included), to the state you are nothing but a baby-maker. Of course, it’s up to you to procure and pay for standard and necessary care while pregnant and giving birth, but that baby of yours, once it pops out, is totally covered. Women of Kansas, your baby is more important than you.

Paralyzed woman uses thoughts to move robotic arm

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:28:37 -0400

Paralyzed woman uses thoughts to move robotic arm :

(Reuters) - Using just her thoughts, a 58-year-old paralyzed woman instructed a robotic arm to grasp a cup of coffee and guide it to her mouth where she sipped from a straw, the first drink she has been able to serve herself in 15 years.

"The redefinition of traditional marriage began about 250 years ago, when Westerners began to allow..."

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:12:11 -0400

“The redefinition of traditional marriage began about 250 years ago, when Westerners began to allow young people to choose their partners on the basis of love rather than having their marriages arranged to suit the interests of their parents. Then, just 100 years ago, courts and public opinion began to extend that right even to marriages that parents and society disapproved.”

- Read more about how straight marriage’s evolution led to Obama’s shift on gay marriage.

(via cheatsheet)

"Policing for Profit" in Tennessee

Tue, 22 May 2012 09:54:41 -0400

"Policing for Profit" in Tennessee :

[Officer] Bates is part of a system that, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has discovered, gives Tennessee police agencies the incentive to take cash off of out-of-state drivers. If they don’t come back to fight for their money, the agency gets to keep it all.

In Tennessee, the police will confiscate any large amount of cash carried by a driver whether or not the driver is being charged with a crime. In fact, despite being able to prove legitimate income and a reason for carrying a large sum of cash (like buying a car or some other high dollar item), the police don’t have to give you your money back. You don’t even get to speak at the hearing held to determine what is to be done by the police department with the confiscated cash.

Highway robbery, pure and simple.

"Many adults are put off when youngsters pose scientific questions. Children ask why the sun is..."

Mon, 21 May 2012 14:29:00 -0400

“Many adults are put off when youngsters pose scientific questions. Children ask why the sun is yellow, or what a dream is, or how deep you can dig a hole, or when is the world’s birthday, or why we have toes. Too many teachers and parents answer with irritation or ridicule, or quickly move on to something else. Why adults should pretend to omniscience before a five-year-old, I can’t for the life of me understand. What’s wrong with admitting that you don’t know? Children soon recognize that somehow this kind of question annoys many adults. A few more experiences like this, and another child has been lost to science. There are many better responses. If we have an idea of the answer, we could try to explain. If we don’t, we could go to the encyclopedia or the library. Or we might say to the child: ‘I don’t know the answer. Maybe no one knows. Maybe when you grow up, you’ll be the first to find out.’”

- Carl Sagan (via yellowsparkleonionrings)

Soldiers Who Desecrate the Dead See Themselves as Hunters

Mon, 21 May 2012 11:45:17 -0400

Soldiers Who Desecrate the Dead See Themselves as Hunters:

ScienceDaily (May 20, 2012) — Modern day soldiers who mutilate enemy corpses or take body-parts as trophies are usually thought to be suffering from the extreme stresses of battle. But, research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) shows that this sort of misconduct has most often been carried out by fighters who viewed the enemy as racially different from themselves and used images of the hunt to describe their actions.

Interesting study comparing “head hunting”, desecration of the dead and the taking of physical trophies from enemies killed in combat to wartime hate crimes. Soldiers who engage in these behaviors see the enemy as racially different to the point of being animals. The instances of desecration increase in areas where the enemy combatants appear physically different such as by skin color or facial features.

As stated by Albert Einstein

Fri, 18 May 2012 14:29:26 -0400

As stated by Albert Einstein

"The industrial countries have a choice. They can act as if all is well except that their consumers..."

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:26:23 -0400

“The industrial countries have a choice. They can act as if all is well except that their consumers are in a funk and so what John Maynard Keynes called “animal spirits” must be revived through stimulus measures. Or they can treat the crisis as a wake-up call and move to fix all that has been papered over in the last few decades and thus put themselves in a better position to take advantage of coming opportunities. For better or worse, the narrative that persuades these countries’ governments and publics will determine their futures—and that of the global economy.”

- Raghu Rajan nails it — Marginal Revolution (via abbyjean)

"It is astounding how significantly one idea can shape a society and its policies. Consider this..."

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:52:43 -0400

“

It is astounding how significantly one idea can shape a society and its policies. Consider this one.

If taxes on the rich go up, job creation will go down.

This idea is an article of faith for Republicans and seldom challenged by Democrats and has shaped much of today’s economic landscape.

But sometimes the ideas that we know to be true are dead wrong. For thousands of years people were sure that earth was at the center of the universe. It’s not, and an astronomer who still believed that it was, would do some lousy astronomy.

In the same way, a policy maker who believed that the rich and businesses are “job creators” and therefore should not be taxed, would make equally bad policy.

I have started or helped start, dozens of businesses and initially hired lots of people. But if no one could have afforded to buy what we had to sell, my businesses would all have failed and all those jobs would have evaporated.

That’s why I can say with confidence that rich people don’t create jobs, nor do businesses, large or small. What does lead to more employment is a “circle of life” like feedback loop between customers and businesses. And only consumers can set in motion this virtuous cycle of increasing demand and hiring. In this sense, an ordinary middle-class consumer is far more of a job creator than a capitalist like me.

”

- Nick Hanauer, a venture capitalist whose TED talk about inequality was deemed “too political controversial” to publish. (via theatlantic)

Traditional Marriage: One Man, Many Women, Some Girls, Some Slaves

Wed, 16 May 2012 22:54:46 -0400

Traditional Marriage: One Man, Many Women, Some Girls, Some Slaves:

Of course, it’s easy to say that marriage as an institution evolves—but then, if we admit that, we have to admit that sanctioning loving, same-sex unions is just another step in that evolution.

Marriage evolves with culture and society.

Progress: Verb

mudwerks: (via Golden Age Comic Book Stories) M. C. Escher

"One day, I spoke about gender with a group of executives-in-training at the Boeing Leadership Center..."

"If there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them."

Banned by the Bible: 76 things banned in Leviticus

Science, you win this round (and every round)

"I don’t think it’s terribly controversial to note that women, from a young age, are required to..."

"In America the Possible, our dominant culture will have shifted, from today to tomorrow, in the..."

James Gustave Speth, for Orion: http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6810

Terrible Statistic of the Day:

"Houston Station — it looks like we got us a Dragon by the tail."

moneyisnotimportant: See the difference?

Kansas Health Insurance

Paralyzed woman uses thoughts to move robotic arm

"The redefinition of traditional marriage began about 250 years ago, when Westerners began to allow..."

"Policing for Profit" in Tennessee

"Many adults are put off when youngsters pose scientific questions. Children ask why the sun is..."

Soldiers Who Desecrate the Dead See Themselves as Hunters

As stated by Albert Einstein

"The industrial countries have a choice. They can act as if all is well except that their consumers..."

"It is astounding how significantly one idea can shape a society and its policies. Consider this..."

Traditional Marriage: One Man, Many Women, Some Girls, Some Slaves