---SPSmith
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
John Gray on Critiques of Utopia and Apocalypse | FiveBooks | The Browser
http://thebrowser.com/interviews/john-gray-on-critiques-utopia-and-apocalypse?page=3
He is able to demonstrate that although the belief systems were
different – in the case of Leninism and Stalinism it was grounded in
dialectical materialism, in the case of Nazism in a pseudo-science
founded on racism – and different from the belief systems that
animated the medieval and early modern millenarians, the categories of
thinking were strikingly similar. For instance, the idea of history as
moving towards a cataclysmic conflict between dark and good forces
which would shake the foundations of the world. That is just one
example of the type of thinking that was preserved and reproduced in
20th century totalitarianism
---SPSmith
Check out: 'The Supreme Court’s Dark Vision of Freedom' on Slate
I thought you might find this Slate article interesting:
The Supreme Court's Dark Vision of Freedom
By Dahlia Lithwick
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/supreme_court_dispatches/2012/03/supreme_court_and_obamacare_why_the_conservatives_are_skeptical_of_the_affordable_care_act_.html?wpisrc=sl_ipad
---SPSmith
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Book Review: The Righteous Mind - WSJ.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304692804577281311514282028.html
These moral foundations fall under six broad headings: care, fairness,
liberty, loyalty, authority and sanctity.
These moral foundations fall under six broad headings: care, fairness,
liberty, loyalty, authority and sanctity.
---SPSmith
Monday, March 26, 2012
Anti-science legislation offers prospect of a new Scopes trial | The Tennessean | tennessean.com
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120326/OPINION03/303260004/Anti-science-legislation-offers-prospect-new-Scopes-trial
What high-tech employer will want to open up shop in a state that
allows ideology and prejudice to trump science education? Reacting to
such bills in 2006, the president of the Biotechnology Institute
warned, "we are greatly diminishing our chances for future scientific
breakthroughs and technological innovations, and are endangering our
health, safety and economic well-being as individuals and as a
nation."
---SPSmith
Adam Savage at the Reason Rally
Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDyBZwwZWYk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
---SPSmith
Adam Savage on Reason | TsuKata's Org*
http://tsukata.org/2012/03/25/adam-savage-on-reason/
And finally, I have concluded through careful empirical analysis and
much thought that somebody is looking out for me, keeping track of
what I think about things, forgiving me when I do less than I ought,
giving me strength to shoot for more than I think I am capable of. I
believe they know everything I do and think and they still love me and
I've concluded, after careful consideration, that this person keeping
score…is me.
And finally, I have concluded through careful empirical analysis and
much thought that somebody is looking out for me, keeping track of
what I think about things, forgiving me when I do less than I ought,
giving me strength to shoot for more than I think I am capable of. I
believe they know everything I do and think and they still love me and
I've concluded, after careful consideration, that this person keeping
score…is me.
---SPSmith
Sunday Morning: Stanza I Summary, Wallace Stevens
Sunday Morning: Stanza I Summary:
"Complacencies of the peignoir, and late
Coffee and oranges in a sunny chair,
And the green freedom of a cockatoo
Upon a rug mingle to dissipate
The holy hush of ancient sacrifice."
'via Blog this'
"Complacencies of the peignoir, and late
Coffee and oranges in a sunny chair,
And the green freedom of a cockatoo
Upon a rug mingle to dissipate
The holy hush of ancient sacrifice."
'via Blog this'
Check out: '“ Patriotic Gore is Not Really Much Like Any Other Book by Anyone”' on Slate
I thought you might find this Slate article interesting:
"
Patriotic Gore is Not Really Much Like Any Other Book by Anyone"
By David Blight
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/history/2012/03/edmund_wilson_s_patriotic_gore_one_of_the_most_important_and_confounding_books_ever_written_about_the_civil_war_.html?wpisrc=sl_ipad
---SPSmith
Sunday, March 25, 2012
@ebertchicago, 3/25/12 7:42 PM
 Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago)3/25/12 7:42 PM Mother Jones' review of "The Hunger Games" has a nice opening sentence. bit.ly/GQFbkl |
You know the feeling you get when you wrap a waist belt around your femoral artery and tauten it until you start to experience fatigue, discomfort, and extreme frustration? Such is the sensation derived from viewing the lavishly praised and mega-hyped adaptation of The Hunger Games.
---SPSmith
---SPSmith
Never let the facts get in the way of a good conspiracy tale | The Atheist Experience
People with a certain mindset often feel frustrated about the fact that they don't have a lot of power in their own lives. The idea that the entire world is controlled by a group of elite people with a deliberate and terrifying agenda is appealing on multiple levels. First, it is makes them feel like it's not their fault that they aren't more empowered themselves. Since the malevolent forces are running everything, Ican't become as rich or famous or self-actualized as I'd like, because they don't want me to.
---SPSmith
---SPSmith
Check out: 'Everything Was a Problem and We Did Not Understand a Thing' on Slate
I thought you might find this Slate article interesting:
Everything Was a Problem and We Did Not Understand a Thing
By Graham Lawton
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2012/03/noam_chomsky_on_linguistics_and_climate_change_.html?wpisrc=sl_ipad
---SPSmith
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Article: Climbing Film Screening | Climbing | OutsideOnline.com
Climbing Film Screening | Climbing | OutsideOnline.com
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/climbing/Sender-Films-Screening.html
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Check out: '“He Was Scum.”' on Slate
I thought you might find this Slate article interesting:
"He Was Scum."
By Elon Green
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/longform/2012/03/richard_nixon_idi_amin_and_elizabeth_taylor_a_collection_of_the_best_obituaries_ever_written_.html?wpisrc=sl_ipad
---SPSmith
Friday, March 23, 2012
The Joan Baez Web Pages - Lyrics
http://www.joanbaez.com/Lyrics/lovesong.html
How long since I've spent a whole night in a twin bed with a stranger
How long since I've spent a whole night in a twin bed with a stranger
---SPSmit
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
why human morality is a tricky calculus… » weird things
why human morality is a tricky calculus… » weird things: "We’ve already seen the scope-severity paradox, the tendency of humans to lose track of the heinousness of a crime when the numbers of those affected by it are high enough, which explains why millions are outraged when a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain shoots and kills a harmless teenager in his zeal, while a continuing genocide in Sudan wasn’t mentioned in the news until Clooney’s arrest. Basically, when a million people are affected by systematic crime, we start tuning out because we can’t visualize the scale of what they experience and muster up the appropriate empathy. "
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Article: Stand Your Ground, Racism, and the Second Amendment | The X Blog
Stand Your Ground, Racism, and the Second Amendment | The X Blog
http://freethoughtblogs.com/xblog/2012/03/19/stand-your-ground-racism-and-the-second-amendment/
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Dylan's debut album 50 years on: the birth of an enigma | Music | The Observer
Dylan's debut album 50 years on: the birth of an enigma | Music | The Observer: "How Bob Dylan, music's great enigma first revealed his talent to the world 50 years ago
Released on 19 March 1962, Bob Dylan's debut remains a landmark of popular culture"
'via Blog this'
Released on 19 March 1962, Bob Dylan's debut remains a landmark of popular culture"
'via Blog this'
Check out: 'Torturing Bin Laden' on Slate
I thought you might find this Slate article interesting:
Torturing Bin Laden
By William Saletan
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame_game/2012/03/war_against_islam_bin_laden_s_documents_show_obama_was_right_and_gingrich_and_santorum_were_wrong_.html?wpisrc=sl_ipad
---SPSmith
Is A Baby Conceived After Dad's Death A 'Survivor'?
I found the following story on the NPR iPad App:
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/19/148453252/is-a-baby-conceived-after-dads-death-a-survivor?sc=ipad&f=1001
by Nina Totenberg and Steven Chen
NPR - March 19, 2012
Two eras clash on Monday at the U.S. Supreme Court, when a law written in 1939 is applied to in vitro fertilization. At issue is whether children conceived through in vitro fertilization after the death of a parent are eligible for Social Security survivors benefits.
At least 100 such cases are pending before the Social Security Administration.
This test case was brought by a mother whose twins were denied benefits because they were conceived after their father died. Karen and Robert Capato were married for only a few months before Robert was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2000. Fearing that his chemotherapy treatment might leave him sterile, Robert deposited sperm at a fertility clinic before his treatment began.
Although he initially appeared to recover, by Thanksgiving of 2001 his condition had begun to deteriorate. Because the couple wanted siblings for their son, they made plans for Karen to use the frozen sperm to conceive a child after Robert's death.
Less than four months later, Robert died at the age of 44. Karen then resumed the couple's attempt to have another child. And in 2003, after a successful round of in vitro fertilization using her husband's sperm, she gave birth to twins.
As she had with her other child, she immediately applied for survivors benefits for the twins, based on Robert's earnings under the Social Security system. But the agency denied the claim.
The government concedes the twins are Robert's biological children. But the Social Security Administration says that it determines eligibility based on the inheritance laws of each state, and in Florida, where the couple lived, children conceived after the death of a parent cannot inherit property, unless specifically provided for in a will.
Karen Capato counters that under the 1939 Social Security Act, survivors benefits go to any child of a covered individual, and the word child is "plainly defined" as the biological offspring of a married couple. She contends that the section of the law dealing with state inheritance statutes only kicks in when the "biological parentage is disputed."
Last year, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia agreed with Capato, saying that "undisputed biological children of a deceased wage earner and his widow [are] 'children' " under the meaning of the Social Security law. The court noted that this was a case "where medical-scientific technology has advanced faster than the regulatory process."
The Obama administration appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, contending that the lower court had ignored more than 70 years of government policy dictating how to determine the eligibility of survivor benefits for children.
In its brief setting out its arguments, the government maintains that posthumously conceived children fall outside the class of children entitled to survivors benefits because "they were brought into being by a surviving parent with the knowledge that the deceased biological parent will not be able to contribute wages for their support."
The administration also makes a states' rights argument, contending that "child-parent relationships are generally determined by state law" and that nothing in the Social Security Act "suggests that Congress intended to depart from that approach."
Lawyers for Karen Capato reply that the Social Security Act is a federal program conferring federal benefits. They accuse the government of making an argument that "makes no sense at all" and indeed is "perverse."
Under the government's reading of the statute, say the Capato lawyers, a posthumously conceived biological child of a married couple is not entitled to survivors benefits, based on state inheritance law, but those state laws do not disqualify adopted children, stepchildren, grandchildren or even step-grandchildren. [Copyright 2012 National Public Radio]
To learn more about the NPR iPad app, go to http://ipad.npr.org/recommendnprforipad
---SPSmith
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Trailer by Chard DeNiord : The Poetry Foundation
wool, and rayon, chewing the future
inside their heads, slicing the air
---SPSmith
“National Defense Resources Preparedness” executive order: Power grab or mere update? « Hot Air
http://hotair.com/archives/2012/03/18/national-defense-resources-preparedness-executive-order-power-grab-or-update/
It all sounds pretty scary, and it wasn't long before the usual
suspects were citing this as evidence of some kind of plan for martial
law, just as there were people on the left and far-right in asserting
that George Bush was going to declare martial law and cancel the
elections in 2004 and 2008. Considering who it was who was spreading
the meme that this was some kind of power grab by the Obama
Administration, I wasn't inclined to believe it to begin with.
However, once you actually look at the facts (yes, I know, how dare I
muddle up a good conspiracy theory with actual facts) it becomes
pretty clear that not only is the reaction to this wildly over the top
in some corners, but the Executive Order itself is nothing more than a
restatement of policy that has been in place in decades and grants no
authority to the President or the Cabinet that they don't already have
under existing law. …
---SPSmith
I'm starting to think that the Left might actually be right - Telegraph
I'm starting to think that the Left might actually be right - Telegraph: "is the Left right after all? You see, one of the great arguments of the Left is that what the Right calls “the free market” is actually a set-up.
The rich run a global system that allows them to accumulate capital and pay the lowest possible price for labour. The freedom that results applies only to them. The many simply have to work harder, in conditions that grow ever more insecure, to enrich the few. Democratic politics, which purports to enrich the many, is actually in the pocket of those bankers, media barons and other moguls who run and own everything."
The rich run a global system that allows them to accumulate capital and pay the lowest possible price for labour. The freedom that results applies only to them. The many simply have to work harder, in conditions that grow ever more insecure, to enrich the few. Democratic politics, which purports to enrich the many, is actually in the pocket of those bankers, media barons and other moguls who run and own everything."
The Neuroscience of Your Brain On Fiction - NYTimes.com
The Neuroscience of Your Brain On Fiction - NYTimes.com: "Reading great literature, it has long been averred, enlarges and improves us as human beings. Brain science shows this claim is truer than we imagined."
The Story of Lawrence v. Texas, by Dale Carpenter - NYTimes.com
The Story of Lawrence v. Texas, by Dale Carpenter - NYTimes.com:
The result is a book that turns conventional wisdom about Lawrence on its head. Indeed, the readers most likely to be surprised by “Flagrant Conduct” are those who think they already know the basic outlines of the case....almost no one familiar with the incident believed the police report. The judge handling the case suspected that Quinn had either made up or embellished the sex charge, and the county’s top prosecutor seemed personally reluctant to pursue it.
What kept the case alive, Carpenter shrewdly explains, was relentless pressure from opposite sides of the political spectrum: Republicans seeking a “family values” issue, on one end; gay rights activists handed a good “test case,” on the other....
For Smith and Lambda Legal, the case against sodomy laws hung on the “twin pillars” of “equal protection and the due process right to privacy.” But Smith went further in his argument to the court. As Carpenter notes, he “articulated the substantive idea that sexual intimacy among gay Americans was a good thing, not merely a tolerable thing.” Gay partnerships strengthened the fabric of society, a perception Americans increasingly grasped and accepted. In recognizing this, Smith declared, the court would not be leading a reluctant nation to a moral precipice, but rather catching up with realities of modern life.
Arguing for Texas was Chuck Rosenthal, the flamboyant, if woefully unprepared, Harris County district attorney. His brief was simple: the Supreme Court had rightly decided this issue in Bowers, and there was no reason to reverse. Sodomy laws reflected the people’s wisdom channeled through their elected representatives. When such laws become archaic, they should be discarded by the legislatures, not tossed out by the courts — in short, judicial restraint.
The result is a book that turns conventional wisdom about Lawrence on its head. Indeed, the readers most likely to be surprised by “Flagrant Conduct” are those who think they already know the basic outlines of the case....almost no one familiar with the incident believed the police report. The judge handling the case suspected that Quinn had either made up or embellished the sex charge, and the county’s top prosecutor seemed personally reluctant to pursue it.
What kept the case alive, Carpenter shrewdly explains, was relentless pressure from opposite sides of the political spectrum: Republicans seeking a “family values” issue, on one end; gay rights activists handed a good “test case,” on the other....
For Smith and Lambda Legal, the case against sodomy laws hung on the “twin pillars” of “equal protection and the due process right to privacy.” But Smith went further in his argument to the court. As Carpenter notes, he “articulated the substantive idea that sexual intimacy among gay Americans was a good thing, not merely a tolerable thing.” Gay partnerships strengthened the fabric of society, a perception Americans increasingly grasped and accepted. In recognizing this, Smith declared, the court would not be leading a reluctant nation to a moral precipice, but rather catching up with realities of modern life.
Arguing for Texas was Chuck Rosenthal, the flamboyant, if woefully unprepared, Harris County district attorney. His brief was simple: the Supreme Court had rightly decided this issue in Bowers, and there was no reason to reverse. Sodomy laws reflected the people’s wisdom channeled through their elected representatives. When such laws become archaic, they should be discarded by the legislatures, not tossed out by the courts — in short, judicial restraint.
‘Cosmic Constitutional Theory,’ by J. Harvie Wilkinson III - NYTimes.com
‘Cosmic Constitutional Theory,’ by J. Harvie Wilkinson III - NYTimes.com: " this modest book is an invaluable reminder of the lost virtues of bipartisan judicial restraint. For law students and citizens who are frustrated with the way that all the constitutional methodologies fail, in practice, to deliver on their promise of helping judges separate their political views and judicial decisions, Wilkinson’s primer offers a diagnosis of the problem and a self-effacing solution. As he suggests, the great proponents of restraint in the past, like Holmes and Brandeis, embodied a spirit of humility rather than a grand theory; they displayed “modesty” about their own views “and respect for the opinions and judgments of others.” "
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
How the Fundamentalist Mind Compels Conservative Christians to Force Their Beliefs on You | Belief | AlterNet
Religion has a set of superpowers—ways it shapes or controls human thinking and behavior. Chief among these is the fact that religions take charge of our moral reasoning and emotions, giving divine sanction to some behaviors and forbidding others. Because there are many kinds of "good," all of us make moral decisions by weighing values against each other. For example, most parents place a value on not hurting their children and yet get them immunized because long-term health trumps short-term pain. Religion can alter the way we stack those competing values, adding emotional weight to some, removing it from others.
---SPSmith
Women troll ‘Rick Perry for President’ page over State Rape bill, hilarity ensues – FreakOutNation
Women troll ‘Rick Perry for President’ page over State Rape bill, hilarity ensues – FreakOutNation: "Women are taking the piss out of Governor Perry (Tx-Big R) trolling his ‘Rick Perry for President‘ page (feel free to add a comment) over his signing of the State sponsored rape bill. Rape by the State has taken effect solely in Republican controlled states. After the stuffy, all male hearing on reproductive rights, an uproar ensued. Since these overbearing, self righteous men know more about vaginal concerns, the trolling was on.
It must be comforting to have a Governor whose knowledge of the female body surpasses that of a gynecologist.
Don’t ever say women don’t have a sense of humor. Some women asked Dr. Rick what type of tampons they should use, one asks about menopausal effects, another requests a referral to a doctor and another asks if her husband should be put to death for leaving his ‘seed’ on the sheets."
'via Blog this'
It must be comforting to have a Governor whose knowledge of the female body surpasses that of a gynecologist.
Don’t ever say women don’t have a sense of humor. Some women asked Dr. Rick what type of tampons they should use, one asks about menopausal effects, another requests a referral to a doctor and another asks if her husband should be put to death for leaving his ‘seed’ on the sheets."
'via Blog this'
Article: The Reason Rally ought to have some standards : Pharyngula
The Reason Rally ought to have some standards : Pharyngula
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/03/the_reason_rally_ought_to_have.php#commentsArea
affiliated with a patriarchal, hierarchical, medieval institution that oppresses women, celebrates poverty, wallows in its own wealth and privilege, and has actively disseminated pedophiles into communities all around the world…and has worked hard to protect and defend these child rapists. This is an organization that is currently fighting for the right to refuse life-saving care to women, that even opposes making contraception available to men and women, that endorses discrimination against gay couples.
---SPSmith
---SPSmith
Conspiracy, Again - The Editors - National Review Online
|
---SPSmith
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Fox News viewers less informed than those who don’t watch news at all: study - New York Daily News
A poll released by Fairleigh Dickinson University on Monday found that people who get their news from Fox News know significantly less about news both in the U.S. and the world than people who watch no news at all.
In a survey of 612 New Jersey natives, Fox News fans flunked questions about Egypt and Syria when compared with people who don't watch the news. Fox viewers were 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians toppled their government and 6 points less likely to be aware that Syrians have not yet overthrown theirs.
---SPSmith
Totalitarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Karl Popper, in The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945) and The Poverty of Historicism (1961), articulated an influential critique of totalitarianism: in both works, he contrasted the "open society" of liberal democracy with totalitarianism, and argued that the latter is grounded in the belief that history moves toward an immutable future in accordance with knowable laws.
In The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt argued that Nazi and State communist regimes were new forms of government, and not merely updated versions of the old tyrannies. According to Arendt, the source of the mass appeal of totalitarian regimes is their ideology, which provides a comforting, single answer to the mysteries of the past, present, and future. For Nazism, all history is the history of race struggle; and, for Marxism, all history is the history of class struggle. Once that premise is accepted, all actions of the state can be justified by appeal to Nature or the Law of History, justifying their establishment of authoritarian state apparatus.[14]
---SPSmithIsrael: The Knesset vs. Democracy by Dimi Reider | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/mar/15/israel-knesset-democracy/
sustained assault on such fundamental democratic principles as the
right to asylum, the right to free association, the right to freedom
of speech, and the right to an independent judiciary
---SPSmith
Benefits of Male Circumcision—Reply, February 1, 2012, Tobian and Gray 307 (5): 457 — JAMA
We agree with Dr Masem that medical recommendations should be "based on the effective treatment of disease." It was not possible in a Commentary to review all studies of male circumcision, so we focused on the randomized trials, the criterion standard of evidence-based medicine. All 3 circumcision trials demonstrated remarkable consistency in the efficacy of male circumcision to reduce STIs, similar to that reported in numerous observational studies and meta-analyses.1,2 In addition, the majority of observational studies demonstrate that neonatal male circumcision reduces urinary tract infections and penile inflammatory disorders, such as meatitis, balanitis, and phimosis, as mentioned by Drs Klausner and Morris
---SPSmith
---SPSmith
Fetal Awareness - Review of Research and Recommendations for Practice | Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
http://www.rcog.org.uk/fetal-awareness-review-research-and-recommendations-practice
In reviewing the neuroanatomical and physiological evidence in the
fetus, it was apparent that connections from the periphery to the
cortex are not intact before 24 weeks of gestation and, as most
neuroscientists believe that the cortex is necessary for pain
perception, it can be concluded that the fetus cannot experience pain
in any sense prior to this gestation. After 24 weeks there is
continuing development and elaboration of intracortical networks such
that noxious stimuli in newborn preterm infants produce cortical
responses. Such connections to the cortex are necessary for pain
experience but not sufficient, as experience of external stimuli
requires consciousness. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that
the fetus never experiences a state of true wakefulness in utero and
is kept, by the presence of its chemical environment, in a continuous
sleep-like unconsciousness or sedation. This state can suppress higher
cortical activation in the presence of intrusive external stimuli.
This observation highlights the important differences between fetal
and neonatal life and the difficulties of extrapolating from
observations made in newborn preterm infants to the fetus.
---SPSmith
Arizona abortion bill stirs debate on fetal pain
"In the 1980s, we saved 26-weekers. Now, that's nothing," he said. "We're pushing into 24, 23 and 22 weeks. Even 20 weeks is not unreasonable."
Other physicians, however, say the 1987 article includes no conclusive evidence of fetal pain at 20 weeks. They instead point to a March 2010 article from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and a 2005 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"Connections from the periphery to the cortex are not intact before 24 weeks of gestation and, as most neuroscientists believe that the cortex is necessary for pain perception, it can be concluded that the fetus cannot experience pain in any sense prior to this gestation," the Royal College article states.
"Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that the fetus never experiences a state of true wakefulness in utero and is kept, by the presence of its chemical environment, in a continuous sleeplike unconsciousness or sedation."
Dr. David Grimes, a clinical professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine who has done his own research in the area of abortions and contraception during his 39 years as an obstetrician, said he believes nerves don't reach the brain until the 26th week of pregnancy.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2012/03/09/20120309arizona-abortion-bill-stirs-debate-fetal-pain.html#ixzz1pOBeNzkn
---SPSmith
Article: Legislation Is Violence, Too
Legislation Is Violence, Too
http://open.salon.com/blog/odetteroulette/2012/03/17/legislation_is_violence_too
It is evil to subjugate other people, to make them practice your religion and not freely practice their own. It is evil to force other people to live in manner not consistent with liberty. It is evil to force women to have a long, large electronic dildo forcibly shoved up their vaginas, to try to frighten and intimidate them into compliance with your religious beliefs. In fact, once upon a time, not so long ago, pushing an object into someone's vagina against her will, in this country, was considered rape, wasn't it?
---SPSmith
Friday, March 16, 2012
TEDxPeachtree - Frans de Waal - Morality without Religion
Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le-74R9C6Bc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
---SPSmith
Morals Without God? - NYTimes.com
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/morals-without-god/
Perhaps it is just me, but I am wary of anyone whose belief system is
the only thing standing between them and repulsive behavior
Perhaps it is just me, but I am wary of anyone whose belief system is
the only thing standing between them and repulsive behavior
---SPSmith
New Statesman - The Joy of Secularism: 11 Essays for How We Live Now
Societies become truly secular not when they dispense with religion but when they are no longer greatly agitated by it. It is when religious faith ceases to be a vital part of the public sphere, not just when church attendance drops or Roman Catholics mysteriously become childless, that secularisation proper sets in. Like art and sexuality, religion is taken out of public ownership and gradually privatised. It dwindles to a kind of personal pastime, like breeding gerbils or collecting porcelain. As the cynic remarked, it is when religion starts to interfere with your everyday life that it is time to give it up. In this respect, it has a curious affinity with alcohol: it, too, can drive you mad.
---SPSmith
New Secularism: James Woods on George Levine’s “The Joys of Secularism” · Habitus
http://habitusmag.com/2011/08/3891/new-secularism-james-woods-on-george-levines-the-joys-of-secularism/
the fact that we can no longer look outside of our phenomenal world
for answers makes it hard to experience spiritual "fulfillment" in the
same way that our ancestors did. Our increasingly reductionist world
is making it easier and easier to explain away notions like altruism
in a neuroscientific language that fails to account for its nobility.
the fact that we can no longer look outside of our phenomenal world
for answers makes it hard to experience spiritual "fulfillment" in the
same way that our ancestors did. Our increasingly reductionist world
is making it easier and easier to explain away notions like altruism
in a neuroscientific language that fails to account for its nobility.
---SPSmith
Article: Soraya Chemaly: 10 Reasons the Rest of the World Thinks the U.S. Is Nuts
Soraya Chemaly: 10 Reasons the Rest of the World Thinks the U.S. Is Nuts
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/womens-reproductive-rights_b_1345214.html
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Adam Winkler: 'Unprecedented' health care mandates actually have plenty of precedents - San Jose Mercury News
|
Do C.D.O.'s Have Social Value? - NYTimes.com
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/do-c-d-o-s-have-social-value/
The main lesson here is that financial innovation is dangerous and
often of no social value. This lesson might seem new, but it's not.
The main lesson here is that financial innovation is dangerous and
often of no social value. This lesson might seem new, but it's not.
---SPSmith
How can we justify science?: Sokal and Lynch debate epistemology « Why Evolution Is True
Here Lynch is getting near my solution: we justify science rather than faith as a way of finding out stuff not on the basis of first principles, but on the basis of which method actually gives us reliable information about the universe. And by "reliable," I mean "methods that help us make verified predictions that advance our understanding of the world and produce practical consequences that aren't possible with other methods". Take a disease like smallpox. It was once regarded as manifestations of God's will or displeasure. Indeed, inoculation was once opposed on religious grounds: that to immunize people was to thwart God's will. You can't cure smallpox with such an attitude, or by praying for its disappearance. The disease was cured by scientific methods—the invention and testing of inoculations—and completely eradicated on this planet by the use of epidemiological methods. Science gets us to the Moon; religion can do no such thing.
Scientific understanding advances with time; religious "ways of knowing," even by the admission of theologians, don't bring us any closer to the "truth" about God. We know not one iota more about the nature or character of God than we did in 1300, nor are we any closer to proving that a god exists! In what sense, then, has religious epistemology brought us any closer to truth?
---SPSmithArticle: When Did the Catholic Church Endow Sperm With Inalienable Rights? | Digg Science
When Did the Catholic Church Endow Sperm With Inalienable Rights? | Digg Science
http://digg.com/newsbar/Science/when_did_the_catholic_church_endow_sperm_with_inalienable_rights
---SPSmith
Judea Pearl Wins ACM A.M. Turing Award for Contributions that Transformed Artificial Intelligence — Association for Computing Machinery
Judea Pearl Wins ACM A.M. Turing Award for Contributions that Transformed Artificial Intelligence — Association for Computing Machinery: "Developed Novel Framework for Reasoning under Uncertainty that Changed How Scientists Approach Real World Problems"
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
The NSA Is Building the Country's Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say) | Threat Level | Wired.com
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/all/1
The breakthrough was enormous, says the former official, and soon
afterward the agency pulled the shade down tight on the project, even
within the intelligence community and Congress. "Only the chairman and
vice chairman and the two staff directors of each intelligence
committee were told about it," he says. The reason? "They were
thinking that this computing breakthrough was going to give them the
ability to crack current public encryption."
The breakthrough was enormous, says the former official, and soon
afterward the agency pulled the shade down tight on the project, even
within the intelligence community and Congress. "Only the chairman and
vice chairman and the two staff directors of each intelligence
committee were told about it," he says. The reason? "They were
thinking that this computing breakthrough was going to give them the
ability to crack current public encryption."
---SPSmith
Check out: 'Hemingway' on Slate
I thought you might find this Slate article interesting:
Hemingway
By Nathan Heller
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/assessment/2012/03/ernest_hemingway_how_the_great_american_novelist_became_the_literary_equivalent_of_the_nike_swoosh_.html?wpisrc=sl_ipad
---SPSmith
Thursday, March 15, 2012
California's dark legacy of forced sterilizations
Hey, check this out from CNN:
California's dark legacy of forced sterilizations
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/15/health/california-forced-sterilizations/index.html
California's dark legacy of forced sterilizations
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/15/health/california-forced-sterilizations/index.html
---SPSmith
Christopher Hitchens, Romantic - Reason Magazine
Christopher Hitchens, Romantic - Reason Magazine: " “On examination, and to my own surprise and pleasure, it turned out be exhilaration. Here was the most frightful enemy—theocratic barbarism—in plain view.” The passage virtually replicated a section in Evelyn Waugh’s novel Officers and Gentlemen, in which the main character, Guy Crouchback, an anti-communist Catholic, reacts with elation to news of the Soviet-German Pact of 1939."
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Lawrence M. Krauss: Does Conservatism Have to Be Synonymous With Ignorance?
But it is Mr. Santorum whose vehement opposition involves not only emerging reproductive technology but also almost any form of medical intervention in reproduction, positive or negative. It would be tempting to chalk up Mr. Santorum's medieval views to a devout Catholic fundamentalism, but that is unfair to Catholicism. Mr. Santorum instead represents the very epitome of many among the modern breed of conservative Republicans: Ignorant and proud of it.
Mr. Santorum has steadfastly maintained throughout his career an almost perfect record of opposing the well-known evidence of empirical reality. When he was a political footnote this fact was at best amusing. Now that he has managed to win so many primaries, the more general question of why Republicans are so willing to take a giant step backward in the face of modern science to support such ignorance is of more concern.
Santorum has argued that evolution, the basis of modern biology, has no firm basis in fact. He has arguedthat climate change is a conspiracy among scientists who want to either ensure that government quashes free enterprise, or else who elevate, in his words "the Earth above Man." It is hard to know how to interpret this language in any way but to suggest that we do not need to develop new technologies to deal with emerging global challenges, and that somehow things are 'destined' to turn out OK.
Even these remarkably ignorant statements about the natural world pale when compared to his utterances regarding women's reproductive health, however. In 2005 he demonstrated confusion regarding the stages of human fetal development, describing the 50-ish cell microscopic blastocysts from which embryonic stem cells can be extracted for therapeutic purposes as a "person."
---SPSmith
The Fiscal Conservative's Case for Spending More Money on Birth Control - Max Fisher - Business - The Atlantic
Spending just $235 million to expand access to Medicaid family planning services would save $1.32 billion, Brookings projects. That's an amazing rate of return: 560%. And that's just the spending on a government health care subsidy. Paying your private health care premium is an even more efficient way to invest in female contraception because there's no new government bureaucracy to set up; the framework is already there. It's a private-sector solution that grows the economy and makes us all wealthier. It reduces the abortion rate and cuts down on the number of unmarried mothers. If that's not a conservative-friendly idea, what is?
---SPSmith
Bathtubs for Beginners | The Baseline Scenario
"They will have no realistic proposal to reduce the debt or sustain the welfare state. Even if you tax away 50 percent of the income of those making between $1 million and $10 million, you only reduce the national debt by 1 percent, according to the Tax Foundation. If you confiscate all the income of those making more than $10 million, you reduce the debt by 2 percent. You would still be nibbling only meekly around the edges."
This is incoherent to begin with. Tax policy directly affects flows, not stocks, so its impact on the national debt (a stock) is indeterminate unless you specify a length of time for the policy to be in place.
If you look at the Tax Foundation report, it says that those two policies would increase taxes by $306 billion. The Tax Foundation doesn't even say in what year that would happen, but they link to a series that ends in 2009, so let's say they're using 2009 data. In 2009, GDP was $14.1 trillion, so $306 billion is 2.2 percent of GDP.
Now let's apply that to the CBO baseline. Right now, my updated CBO-style baseline shows national debt at 61 percent of GDP in 2021 and 59 percent in 2035. If you add 2.2 percent of GDP to revenues in every year beginning in 2012, those numbers fall to 44 percent in 2021 and 5 percent in 2035 (a reduction in the debt of 54 percentage points, or 92 percent). In other words, the entire long-term deficit problem goes away.
---SPSmithTuesday, March 13, 2012
Article: 98 major advertisers say no to Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and other right wing radio shows
98 major advertisers say no to Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and other right wing radio shows
http://boingboing.net/2012/03/10/98-major-advertisers-say-no-to.html
---SPSmith
Article: Rush Almost stands Alone: 140 companies Jump ship, Syndicate suspends his show | Digg Politics
Rush Almost stands Alone: 140 companies Jump ship, Syndicate suspends his show | Digg Politics
http://digg.com/newsbar/Politics/rush_almost_stands_alone_140_companies_jump_ship_syndicate_suspends_his_show
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Monday, March 12, 2012
Alabama gets basic facts wrong...
Ah, Alabama...
Q22 Do you think Barack Obama is a Christian or a
Muslim, or are you not sure?
Christian 14%
..........................................................
Muslim 45%
............................................................
Not sure 41%
..........................................................
Q23 Do you believe in evolution, or not?
Believe in evolution 26%
.........................................
Do not
60%
.............................................................
Not sure 13%
Q22 Do you think Barack Obama is a Christian or a
Muslim, or are you not sure?
Christian 14%
..........................................................
Muslim 45%
............................................................
Not sure 41%
..........................................................
Q23 Do you believe in evolution, or not?
Believe in evolution 26%
.........................................
Do not
60%
.............................................................
Not sure 13%
Nothing in Their Heads | Psychology Today
Nothing in Their Heads | Psychology Today: "The stereotype priming of behavior effect has been widely replicated already and is also consistent with other established findings in psychology and neuroscience. As for the stereotype priming effect itself, there should be no doubt by this point. It is well established in a variety of research domains. Stereotype priming effects are the cause of the well-established "stereotype threat" effect (see, for example, Notes 5 & 6) in which activating a person's racial or ethnic or gender group identity has deleterious effects on that person's subsequent academic or athletic performance. Stereotype threat effects have been documented, disturbingly, even in 5 year old children; when Nalini Ambady and colleagues (Note 7) primed preschool girls (in a Harvard day care center) with their female identity they do worse on math tests than they would if that identity (which contains the stereotypic belief that "girls can't do math") was not primed. Priming effects on behavior, as in the elderly-priming study, have now been demonstrated in infants as young as 18 months old (Note 8)."
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
‘Doonesbury’ creator Garry Trudeau discusses divisive strips about abortion - The Washington Post
Texas's HB-15 [bill] isn't hard to explain: The bill says that in order for a woman to obtain a perfectly legal medical procedure, she is first compelled by law to endure a vaginal probe with a hard, plastic 10-inch wand. The World Health Organization defines rape as "physically forced or otherwise coerced penetration — even if slight — of the vulva or anus, using a penis, other body parts or an object." You tell me the difference.
---SPSmith
Article: The Weekend Interview with Michio Kaku: Captain Michio and the World of Tomorrow - WSJ.com
The Weekend Interview with Michio Kaku: Captain Michio and the World of Tomorrow - WSJ.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203960804577239852155894014.html
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Article: Pandaemonium
Pandaemonium
http://kenanmalik.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/abortion-infanticide-humanity-free-speech/
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Ohio Bill Would Require Men Submit Affidavit From Sex Partner Confirming Impotence Before Receiving Viagra | ThinkProgress
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/03/11/442208/affidavit-confirming-impotence-viagra/
Erectile dysfunction is Gods gift to remove from the gene pool old men
who should not procreate. Why does Rush have Viagra?
---SPSmith
Article: Bill Maher on Rush Limbaugh, Freedom of Speech, and Misogyny
Bill Maher on Rush Limbaugh, Freedom of Speech, and Misogyny
http://freethoughtblogs.com/camelswithhammers/2012/03/11/bill-maher-on-rush-limbaugh-freedom-of-speech-and-misogyny/
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Article: Defending Science: An Exchange
Defending Science: An Exchange
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/defending-science-an-exchange/
solipsism and radical skepticism [2] are irrefutable, as far as I can see, but that does not mean there is any reason to take them seriously. In practice no human being does — even philosophers stop being solipsists or radical skeptics when they are shopping for dinner
---SPSmith
Article: Defending Science: An Exchange
Defending Science: An Exchange
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/defending-science-an-exchange/
MICHAEL LYNCH: There are some things we have in common — including some principles — just because we are human. As the Scottish philosopher David Hume pointed out, you can doubt induction or observation all day long, but you'll still end up trusting them later that night. As he put it, it is just part of our "natural instincts" to trust our senses most of the time. That is how we are built.
---SPSmith
Migration Blog » Blog Archive » An Underappreciated Email Pioneer: Einar Stefferud, 1930-2011
Migration Blog » Blog Archive » An Underappreciated Email Pioneer: Einar Stefferud, 1930-2011: "inar Stefferud was a brilliant, insightful, and warm human being whose virtues were sometimes hidden behind a somewhat argumentative exterior. But he deserves to be remembered as one of the fathers of the Internet, and perhaps its leading contrarian thinker. And he will be greatly missed."
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Walking through MIME fields: Snubbing Steve Jobs to Star Trek tech • The Register
Walking through MIME fields: Snubbing Steve Jobs to Star Trek tech • The Register: "It was through Andrew that Borenstein met email pioneer Einar Stefferud, active in internet standards and credited with inventing the first internet mailing list, at a conference where X.400 - rival to SMTP email - had dominated discussions.
Stefferud was impressed by Borenstein and hooked him up with the person who was to become his MIME collaborator, Ned Freed. Borenstein's interest was in the exchange of multimedia content while Freed's interest lay in building a gateway between different email systems. By the time MIME went to the Internet Engineering Taskforce (IETF) for discussion, people had piled onto MIME's third aspect - sending non-English without it becoming gibberish.
"I was the only person with a paper not on X.400. I ran into these people who believed email can't do what I've already made it do [with Andrew]," Borenstein said of the X.400-heavy event. "Einar made a beeline for me."
Getting MIME accepted internationally at the IETF was a matter of politics"
'via Blog this'
Stefferud was impressed by Borenstein and hooked him up with the person who was to become his MIME collaborator, Ned Freed. Borenstein's interest was in the exchange of multimedia content while Freed's interest lay in building a gateway between different email systems. By the time MIME went to the Internet Engineering Taskforce (IETF) for discussion, people had piled onto MIME's third aspect - sending non-English without it becoming gibberish.
"I was the only person with a paper not on X.400. I ran into these people who believed email can't do what I've already made it do [with Andrew]," Borenstein said of the X.400-heavy event. "Einar made a beeline for me."
Getting MIME accepted internationally at the IETF was a matter of politics"
'via Blog this'
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Article: Requiem for Rush
Requiem for Rush
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/sns-201203081330--tms--bpresstt--m-a20120308mar08,0,3042985.column
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Friday, March 09, 2012
Papers move, scrap "Doonesbury" abortion law strip - CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57394699/papers-move-scrap-doonesbury-abortion-law-strip/
The comic strips feature a woman who goes to an abortion clinic and is
confronted by several people who suggest she should be ashamed. Among
them is a doctor who reads a script on behalf of Texas Gov. Rick Perry
welcoming her to a "compulsory transvaginal exam," and a middle-aged
legislator who calls her a "slut."
---SPSmith
Article: Dangerous Minds | Farewell, Dear Friend: Peter Bergman (1939-2012)
Dangerous Minds | Farewell, Dear Friend: Peter Bergman (1939-2012)
http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/farewell_dear_friend_peter_bergman_1939_2012
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Goodreads | Eric_W Welch (Forreston, IL)'s review of The University: An Owner's Manual
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/135016618?utm_medium=email&utm_source=updates
Rosovsky delivers an impassioned plea for a liberal education as
opposed to merely training for a task. "General education means the
whole development of the individual, apart from his occupational
training. It includes the civilizing of his life purposes, the
refining of his emotional reactions, and the maturing of his
understanding about the nature of things according to the best
knowledge of our time." This liberal education should be enable the
student to:
1. Think and write clearly; to communicate with precision and force.
2. Develop a critical appreciation for the manner in which we gain
knowledge. This means teaching historical and quantitative techniques
of analysis.
3. View personal experience within a wider, multicultural context.
4. Gain experience ín thinking about ethical and moral dilemmas.
5. Achieve some depth of knowledge in a particular field (i.e. the "major".)
Rosovsky delivers an impassioned plea for a liberal education as
opposed to merely training for a task. "General education means the
whole development of the individual, apart from his occupational
training. It includes the civilizing of his life purposes, the
refining of his emotional reactions, and the maturing of his
understanding about the nature of things according to the best
knowledge of our time." This liberal education should be enable the
student to:
1. Think and write clearly; to communicate with precision and force.
2. Develop a critical appreciation for the manner in which we gain
knowledge. This means teaching historical and quantitative techniques
of analysis.
3. View personal experience within a wider, multicultural context.
4. Gain experience ín thinking about ethical and moral dilemmas.
5. Achieve some depth of knowledge in a particular field (i.e. the "major".)
---SPSmith
The Unchained Woman - WSJ.com
Brooklyn Must Smell Even Worse Than We Remember
"Last month, after immersing myself in Brooklyn's artisanal-food scene, I felt the need that many in my home borough have these days: to get out on a farm and smell the manure."--Adam Davidson, New York Times magazine, March 11 issue
Check out: 'The Aspirin Strategy' on Slate
I thought you might find this Slate article interesting:
The Aspirin Strategy
By William Saletan
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_nature/2012/03/rush_limbaugh_sandra_fluke_and_college_sex_does_contraceptive_insurance_change_sexual_behavior_.html?wpisrc=sl_ipad
---SPSmith
Thursday, March 08, 2012
James Hansen on TED.com
Check out this amazing TED Talk:
James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change
http://www.ted.com/talks/james_hansen_why_i_must_speak_out_about_climate_change.html
Sent from TED iPad app
http://itunes.com/apps/tedconferences/ted
---SPSmith
Right's claim that Rush is losing freedom of speech
Do you actually think that the mendacious prattle of your posts actually "makes your case"?
If so, then your scrofulous mind really can assert the reality-bending proposition that Rush is both intelligent and witty . Since you need facts stretched out into propaganda to have them pass your ideological filter, how about this:
As usual the Right is wrong. In this case you have misinterpreted the meaning and history of the phrase "freedom of speech."
The porcine junkie sex-tourist Rush Limbaugh continues to get fisted by the invisible hand of capitalism as advertisers flee his show based on their customer's disgust.
However, taxpayers still pay the tab as his excrement slimes our military broadcast network. So, sign the petition to remove public funding for Rush's sick commentary http://bit.ly/Rush-Petition
Nothing more clearly describes the impact on society of Rush, and the other media celebrity gods you so unthinkingly worship, than Gore Vidal's send up of Bill Buckley:
"This mingling of opinion and fiction has undone a media never devoted to truth. Hence, the ease with which the Republican smear-machine goes into action when they realize that yet again the party’s permanent unpopularity with the American people will cause them defeat unless they smear individually those who question the junk that the media has put into so many heads. Anyone who says “We gotta fight ‘em over there or we’re gonna have to fight ‘em over here.” This absurdity has been pronounced by every Republican seeking high office. The habit of lying is now a national style that started with “news” magazines that was further developed by pathological liars that proved to be “good” Entertainment on TV. But a diet of poison that has done none of us any good...no society so marinated in falsity can long survive in a real world."
If so, then your scrofulous mind really can assert the reality-bending proposition that Rush is both intelligent and witty . Since you need facts stretched out into propaganda to have them pass your ideological filter, how about this:
As usual the Right is wrong. In this case you have misinterpreted the meaning and history of the phrase "freedom of speech."
The porcine junkie sex-tourist Rush Limbaugh continues to get fisted by the invisible hand of capitalism as advertisers flee his show based on their customer's disgust.
However, taxpayers still pay the tab as his excrement slimes our military broadcast network. So, sign the petition to remove public funding for Rush's sick commentary http://bit.ly/Rush-Petition
Nothing more clearly describes the impact on society of Rush, and the other media celebrity gods you so unthinkingly worship, than Gore Vidal's send up of Bill Buckley:
"This mingling of opinion and fiction has undone a media never devoted to truth. Hence, the ease with which the Republican smear-machine goes into action when they realize that yet again the party’s permanent unpopularity with the American people will cause them defeat unless they smear individually those who question the junk that the media has put into so many heads. Anyone who says “We gotta fight ‘em over there or we’re gonna have to fight ‘em over here.” This absurdity has been pronounced by every Republican seeking high office. The habit of lying is now a national style that started with “news” magazines that was further developed by pathological liars that proved to be “good” Entertainment on TV. But a diet of poison that has done none of us any good...no society so marinated in falsity can long survive in a real world."
Hate Map | Southern Poverty Law Center
All hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.
---SPSmith
Article: Moral beliefs don’t motivate much | The Uncredible Hallq
Moral beliefs don't motivate much | The Uncredible Hallq
http://freethoughtblogs.com/hallq/2012/02/08/moral-beliefs-dont-motivate-much/
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Article: Don’t donate to Kony 2012, donate to GiveWell’s top charities instead
Don't donate to Kony 2012, donate to GiveWell's top charities instead
http://freethoughtblogs.com/hallq/2012/03/08/dont-donate-to-kony-2012-donate-to-givewells-top-charities-instead/
(Sent from Flipboard)
---SPSmith
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
The Scorched-Earth Politics of America’s Four Fundamentalisms - Truthdig
http://www.truthdig.com/report/page2/the_scorched-earth_politics_of_americas_four_fundamentalisms_20120307/
A number of powerful anti-democratic tendencies now threaten American
democracy and at least four of these are guaranteed to entail grave
social and economic consequences. The first is a market fundamentalism
that not only trivializes democratic values and public concerns, but
also enshrines a rabid individualism, an all-embracing quest for
profits and a social Darwinism in which misfortune is seen as a
weakness, and a Hobbesian "war of all against all" replaces any
vestige of shared responsibilities or compassion for others.
Free-market fundamentalists now wage a full-fledged attack on the
social contract, the welfare state, any notion of the common good and
those public spheres not yet defined by commercial interests. Within
neoliberal ideology, the market becomes the template for organizing
the rest of society. Everybody is now a customer or client, and every
relationship is ultimately judged in bottom-line, cost-effective
terms. Freedom is no longer about equality, social justice or the
public welfare, but about the trade in goods, financial capital and
commodities.
---SPSmith
Gore Vidal: Gore Vidal Speaks Seriously Ill of the Dead - Gore Vidal's Essays - Truthdig
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080320_gore_vidal_speaks_seriously_ill_of_the_dead/
The unique mess that our republic is in can be, in part, attributed to
a corrupt press whose roots are in mendacious news (sic) magazines
like Time and Newsweek, aided by tabloids that manufacture fictional
stories about actual people. This mingling of opinion and fiction has
undone a media never devoted to truth. Hence, the ease with which the
Republican smear-machine goes into action when they realize that yet
again the party's permanent unpopularity with the American people will
cause them defeat unless they smear individually those who question
the junk that the media has put into so many heads. Anyone who says
"We gotta fight 'em over there or we're gonna have to fight 'em over
here." This absurdity has been pronounced by every Republican seeking
high office. The habit of lying is now a national style that started
with "news" magazines that was further developed by pathological liars
that proved to be "good" Entertainment on TV. But a diet of poison
that has done none of us any good.
---SPSmith
The Most Astounding Fact (Neil DeGrasse Tyson)
Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D05ej8u-gU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
---SPSmith
Remove Rush from Armed Forces Network. He is a slut on public funds.
Remove public funding for the broadcasting of Rush's sick commentary
http://bit.ly/Rush-Petition
http://bit.ly/Rush-Petition
---SPSmith
Adultery Dating Website Wants To Buy Rush Limbaugh's Abandoned Ad Space
Rush Limbaugh is one of the greatest examples of the modern day Sugar Daddy," said CEO Brandon Wade, in a statement. "We wouldn't feel right if we didn't come forward and support him in his time of need."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/pro-adultery-dating-website-wants-to-buy-rush-limbaughs-abandoned-ad-space-2012-3#ixzz1oUEswou5
---SPSmith
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/pro-adultery-dating-website-wants-to-buy-rush-limbaughs-abandoned-ad-space-2012-3#ixzz1oUEswou5
---SPSmith
Adam Gopnik on Favourite Essay Collections | FiveBooks | The Browser
There are no absolute lines in this. But there does seem to me a real difference between the things Empson – who is an absolutely wonderful writer and an amazing companion – is trying to do in his critical articles and the things Jarrell is trying to do in his. Jarrell conceives of criticism poetically. That is, that it should have some of the surprise and delight of personal revelation: "I felt this then, and I passed through the prism of a work of writing" rather than "this is a general truth of literature".
With essayists, we feel we're reading their first names rather than their honorifics. We're reading Clive and Virginia and Randall rather than James and Woolf and Jarrell, in a way we never feel we're reading William and Wystan rather than Empson and Auden.
You have written that the essay has an implicit politics to it, and that the job of the essay is "to drain the melodrama from overwrought debate and replace it with common sense and comedy".
---SPSmithRush Limbaugh Advertiser Exodus Continues as 22 Companies Pull Ads - ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/the-rush-limbaugh-advertiser-exodus-continues-as-22-companies-pull-ads/
But while dozens of companies are trying to distance themselves from
Limbaugh's incendiary comments, one company has flocker to the
conservative commentator. The online dating website
SeekingArrangement.com, whose mission is to match subscribers with
wealthy "Sugar Daddies," said Tuesday that it has made a new ad buy
specifically during Limbaugh's program.
But while dozens of companies are trying to distance themselves from
Limbaugh's incendiary comments, one company has flocker to the
conservative commentator. The online dating website
SeekingArrangement.com, whose mission is to match subscribers with
wealthy "Sugar Daddies," said Tuesday that it has made a new ad buy
specifically during Limbaugh's program.
---SPSmith
Dead Boy - Poem by John Crowe Ransom
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/john_crowe_ransom/poems/21159
The little cousin is dead, by foul subtraction,
A green bough from Virginia's aged tree,
And none of the county kin like the transaction,
Nor some of the world of outer dark, like me.
---SPSmith
Exercise and life expectancy : The Lancet
Exercise and life expectancy : The Lancet:
'via Blog this'
he risk of mortality is an absolute. The risk can be postponed, but it cannot be reduced, as Wen and colleagues claim, and nor can it be eliminated. In other words you can run faster, but you arrive later....
We contend, therefore, that the risk of mortality for everyone—prophets included—is 1·0
'via Blog this'
he risk of mortality is an absolute. The risk can be postponed, but it cannot be reduced, as Wen and colleagues claim, and nor can it be eliminated. In other words you can run faster, but you arrive later....
We contend, therefore, that the risk of mortality for everyone—prophets included—is 1·0
Uncensored John Simon
But what about its interference with our rights? To consensual sex, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, freely available contraceptives and, above all, abortion. The chances of forced parenthood benefiting an unwanted child are slim, and even adoption by the right people is an iffy proposition. Whatever doesn't harm other people, not mere embryos, should be allowed.
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