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theKed
theKed's Journal
theKed's Journal
October 24, 2013
Russell Brand on Revolution [New Statesman Magazine]
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/10/russell-brand-on-revolutionLike most of the superficially decent things I do in life, my motivation was to impress women more than to aid the suffering. “A couple of days in Africa,” I thought, “and a lifetime cashing in on pics of me with thin babies, speculate to accumulate,” I assured my anxious inner womaniser.
After visiting the slums of Kibera, where a city built from mud and run on fear festers on the suburbs of Nairobi, I was sufficiently schooled by Live Aid and Michael Buerk to maintain an emotional distance. It was only when our crew visited a nearby rubbish dump that the comforting buoyancy of visual clichés rinsed away by the deluge of a previously inconceivable reality. This rubbish dump was not like some tip off the M25 where you might dump a fridge freezer or a smashed-in mattress. This was a nation made of waste with no end in sight. Domestic waste, medical waste, industrial waste formed their own perverse geography. Stinking rivers sluiced through banks of putrid trash, mountains, valleys, peaks and troughs all formed from discarded filth. An ecology based on our indifference and ignorance in the “cradle of civilisation” where our species is said to have originated. Here amid the pestilence I saw Armageddon. Here the end of the world is not a prophecy but a condition. A demented herd chewed polystyrene cud. Sows fed their piglets in the bilge. Gloomy shadows split the sun as marabou storks, five foot in span with ragged labial throats, swooped down. My mate Nik said he had to revise his vision of hell to include what he’d seen. Here and there, picking through this unending slander, children foraged for bottle tops, which had some value, where all is worthless.
...
To have such suffering adjacent to such excess is akin to marvelling at an incomparable beauty, whose face is the radiant epitome of celestial symmetry, and ignoring, half a yard lower down, her abdomen, cancerous, weeping and carbuncled. “Keep looking at the face, put a handbag over those tumours. Strike a pose. Come on, Vogue.”
After visiting the slums of Kibera, where a city built from mud and run on fear festers on the suburbs of Nairobi, I was sufficiently schooled by Live Aid and Michael Buerk to maintain an emotional distance. It was only when our crew visited a nearby rubbish dump that the comforting buoyancy of visual clichés rinsed away by the deluge of a previously inconceivable reality. This rubbish dump was not like some tip off the M25 where you might dump a fridge freezer or a smashed-in mattress. This was a nation made of waste with no end in sight. Domestic waste, medical waste, industrial waste formed their own perverse geography. Stinking rivers sluiced through banks of putrid trash, mountains, valleys, peaks and troughs all formed from discarded filth. An ecology based on our indifference and ignorance in the “cradle of civilisation” where our species is said to have originated. Here amid the pestilence I saw Armageddon. Here the end of the world is not a prophecy but a condition. A demented herd chewed polystyrene cud. Sows fed their piglets in the bilge. Gloomy shadows split the sun as marabou storks, five foot in span with ragged labial throats, swooped down. My mate Nik said he had to revise his vision of hell to include what he’d seen. Here and there, picking through this unending slander, children foraged for bottle tops, which had some value, where all is worthless.
...
To have such suffering adjacent to such excess is akin to marvelling at an incomparable beauty, whose face is the radiant epitome of celestial symmetry, and ignoring, half a yard lower down, her abdomen, cancerous, weeping and carbuncled. “Keep looking at the face, put a handbag over those tumours. Strike a pose. Come on, Vogue.”
October 10, 2013
The Perfect Metaphor for the Shutdown - Not a Game: The Government Shutdown Home Game
I don't know if this clip's been put up here. From the Colbert Report - sums up the situation nicely.
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/429570/october-07-2013/government-shutdown-s-one-week-anniversary
EDIT to add YouTube video clip embedding.
April 18, 2013
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/all-about-sex/200904/does-pornography-cause-social-harm
Psychology Today - Does Pornography Cause Social Harm?
The Internet became a major force in everyday life in the late 1990s. Before then, porn was available in adult stores, through X-rated video rentals, and on some newsstands. But with the arrival of the Internet, porn availability exploded. It was just a click away 24-7 for free in tens of millions of homes and offices. In 1997, 16 percent of American adults used the Internet regularly. By 2005, the figure had quadrupled to 65 percent. The Internet has also made porn much more available to impressionable kids. How many kids, ages 10 to 17, have viewed Internet porn? According to a recent report in the journal Pediatrics, 42 percent.
If porn is a significant contributor to social harm, we would expect to see substantial increases in sexual irresponsibility, divorce, and rape since the late 1990s when the Internet suddenly made X-rated material much more available to those who might instigate sexual mayhem, overwhelmingly men.
Guess what. Since the arrival of Internet porn:
* Sexual irresponsibility has declined.
* Teen sex has declined.
* Divorce has declined.
* Rape has declined.
Why would social ills decline as porn becomes more widely available? No one knows. But the one thing porn really causes is masturbation. Internet porn keeps men at home one-handing it. As a result, they're not out in the world acting irresponsibly-or criminally.
I'm not arguing that porn is utterly harmless. Some men consume it so compulsively that it interferes with their lives. They need therapy. Some women become distraught when they discover that the men in their lives enjoy porn. They might benefit from couple therapy. And to the extent that porn is a sex educator, it teaches lovemaking all wrong. More about this in a future post.
If porn is a significant contributor to social harm, we would expect to see substantial increases in sexual irresponsibility, divorce, and rape since the late 1990s when the Internet suddenly made X-rated material much more available to those who might instigate sexual mayhem, overwhelmingly men.
Guess what. Since the arrival of Internet porn:
* Sexual irresponsibility has declined.
* Teen sex has declined.
* Divorce has declined.
* Rape has declined.
Why would social ills decline as porn becomes more widely available? No one knows. But the one thing porn really causes is masturbation. Internet porn keeps men at home one-handing it. As a result, they're not out in the world acting irresponsibly-or criminally.
I'm not arguing that porn is utterly harmless. Some men consume it so compulsively that it interferes with their lives. They need therapy. Some women become distraught when they discover that the men in their lives enjoy porn. They might benefit from couple therapy. And to the extent that porn is a sex educator, it teaches lovemaking all wrong. More about this in a future post.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/all-about-sex/200904/does-pornography-cause-social-harm
April 8, 2013
So I was wandering through some of the DU Groups, this morning, that I check out from time to time (Cooking & Baking, Science Fiction, and, yes, History of Feminism) and reading a few threads. This one, "When Men on the Left Refuse to See Their Sexism" was new, so I read through it. Somebody named 'sigmasix' posts this:
Strange. Kind of like he didn't realise the article was quoted from elsewhere. Of course, that's because there's no cues that it is: no quotation marks, no excerpt tags, no by-line, nor link, until the very bottom. Not that this is a big problem, but it's clearly confused some people as to the author of the writing. So I posted. The first time I'd ever posted in that group (and, might I add, trying hard to be diplomatic):
Cool. I didn't mention anything about the body of the article, for or against. Inoffensive as I could make it, I thought.
Well, that seemed oddly belligerent. Did seabeyond misunderstand me? Is it some sort of massive affront to suggest a quotation mark at the start of the article, standard procedure when, you know, quoting? So I responded, diplomatically, again, I might add:
Clarifying that it really wasn't my problem, that I was trying to help make it clear that the quote was a quote, and that I didn't think she should alter the text. So what's next?
Ad hominem attacks, obviously. Suggesting a quotation mark at the start of a quote is sexist, somehow. Remember, of course, that I was purposefully avoiding discussing the actual article in question since, well, I don't think my opinion is really valued on such topics 'round there. So...yeah. I was going to respond with this:
But...apparently I have been blocked on, I don't know, orthographical grounds?
Frankly such a blocking is a wild abuse of power, and utterly baseless.
Was this really necessary?
Automated Message: You have been blocked from a group
You have been blocked from posting in the History of Feminism group by boston bean. If you believe this is an error, you may contact boston bean for more information.
You have been blocked from posting in the History of Feminism group by boston bean. If you believe this is an error, you may contact boston bean for more information.
So I was wandering through some of the DU Groups, this morning, that I check out from time to time (Cooking & Baking, Science Fiction, and, yes, History of Feminism) and reading a few threads. This one, "When Men on the Left Refuse to See Their Sexism" was new, so I read through it. Somebody named 'sigmasix' posts this:
I think you probably should edit your post so that it reads "some men" or even "a large number of men"- the way this OP is worded can be taken to mean that all men are this way. I'm sure that isn't what you meant to indicate though.
Strange. Kind of like he didn't realise the article was quoted from elsewhere. Of course, that's because there's no cues that it is: no quotation marks, no excerpt tags, no by-line, nor link, until the very bottom. Not that this is a big problem, but it's clearly confused some people as to the author of the writing. So I posted. The first time I'd ever posted in that group (and, might I add, trying hard to be diplomatic):
theKed
It may help
if you make it more apparent from the outset that you're quoting an article.
I was a good 2 or 3 paragraphs in before I scrolled down to see it there was a link. If you put it in quotations, or even dropped a by-line at the top, it would go a long way to clearing that up. (I would say 'excerpt' tags, but you have them throughout the quote and I honestly don't know if DU does nested excerpts like that).
It may help
if you make it more apparent from the outset that you're quoting an article.
I was a good 2 or 3 paragraphs in before I scrolled down to see it there was a link. If you put it in quotations, or even dropped a by-line at the top, it would go a long way to clearing that up. (I would say 'excerpt' tags, but you have them throughout the quote and I honestly don't know if DU does nested excerpts like that).
Cool. I didn't mention anything about the body of the article, for or against. Inoffensive as I could make it, I thought.
seabeyond
no. i am not playing this stupid ass game. again...
thank you for the suggestion AND no.
no. i am not playing this stupid ass game. again...
thank you for the suggestion AND no.
Well, that seemed oddly belligerent. Did seabeyond misunderstand me? Is it some sort of massive affront to suggest a quotation mark at the start of the article, standard procedure when, you know, quoting? So I responded, diplomatically, again, I might add:
theKed
What game?
I'm entirely earnest and honest. It's not readily apparent that you're quoting somebody, and that might be contributing to at least 2 people not realising and asking you to alter the text.
What game?
I'm entirely earnest and honest. It's not readily apparent that you're quoting somebody, and that might be contributing to at least 2 people not realising and asking you to alter the text.
Clarifying that it really wasn't my problem, that I was trying to help make it clear that the quote was a quote, and that I didn't think she should alter the text. So what's next?
seabeyond
first... this is the way OP after OP is created. title. then article in body
of text.
if you are confused over this ONE piece, you might ask yourself why.
secondly, another form of derailing men use when women speak up... ok, SOME men use when SOME women speak up is having to clarify with a some, many, vast, few, handful, before we can say anything.
the reality and simplicity is, if it does not apply to you (which i would suggest it does apply to you reading your posts) then do not take it as being one of the MEN that the article refers to.
first... this is the way OP after OP is created. title. then article in body
of text.
if you are confused over this ONE piece, you might ask yourself why.
secondly, another form of derailing men use when women speak up... ok, SOME men use when SOME women speak up is having to clarify with a some, many, vast, few, handful, before we can say anything.
the reality and simplicity is, if it does not apply to you (which i would suggest it does apply to you reading your posts) then do not take it as being one of the MEN that the article refers to.
Ad hominem attacks, obviously. Suggesting a quotation mark at the start of a quote is sexist, somehow. Remember, of course, that I was purposefully avoiding discussing the actual article in question since, well, I don't think my opinion is really valued on such topics 'round there. So...yeah. I was going to respond with this:
I really didn't come here looking for a fight
I read the article and, as I said, sorted out that it was an outside article eventually. And I noticed other people maybe not realising it was a quoted article, and offered a suggestion to make that more apparent. It's not a "game" and it's not intended to "derail" anything. It's a " at the start and end of it, to clear up any confusion. If it were anyone else's post and I saw people not getting that it was quoted, I would do the same thing.
I don't want to continue this debate, because it has no bearing on the article in question.
I read the article and, as I said, sorted out that it was an outside article eventually. And I noticed other people maybe not realising it was a quoted article, and offered a suggestion to make that more apparent. It's not a "game" and it's not intended to "derail" anything. It's a " at the start and end of it, to clear up any confusion. If it were anyone else's post and I saw people not getting that it was quoted, I would do the same thing.
I don't want to continue this debate, because it has no bearing on the article in question.
But...apparently I have been blocked on, I don't know, orthographical grounds?
Frankly such a blocking is a wild abuse of power, and utterly baseless.
April 2, 2013
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/01/foolish-not-to-go-with-justin-trudeau
Somebody Check the Thermometer in Hell - Toronto Sun Endorses Justin Trudeau
Put aside everything we have said before.
Reality speaks volumes, and Sun Media, more than any other news organization in this great country, is not afraid to face reality when it starts to stare us down.
In reviewing Justin Trudeau's run for the Liberal leadership, we have come to realize that he cannot be simply dismissed as a Shiny Pony and, although somewhat vacuous in both policy and substance, scientists tell us that all a vacuum needs to break out of its nothingness is a bit of air.
Let's give Trudeau that air, for the time has come to forgive the sins of the infamous father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and realize that some genetic apples do fall far enough away from the tree to not be equally rotten.
Reality speaks volumes, and Sun Media, more than any other news organization in this great country, is not afraid to face reality when it starts to stare us down.
In reviewing Justin Trudeau's run for the Liberal leadership, we have come to realize that he cannot be simply dismissed as a Shiny Pony and, although somewhat vacuous in both policy and substance, scientists tell us that all a vacuum needs to break out of its nothingness is a bit of air.
Let's give Trudeau that air, for the time has come to forgive the sins of the infamous father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and realize that some genetic apples do fall far enough away from the tree to not be equally rotten.
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/01/foolish-not-to-go-with-justin-trudeau
March 25, 2013
http://www.cbc.ca/tapestry/weekly/2012/06/03/im-right-youre-wrong/#
Main page for Tapestry
http://www.cbc.ca/tapestry/episode/2013/03/22/im-right-youre-wrong-1/
Jonathon Haidt's website where you can take morality surveys and compare against others
http://www.yourmorals.org/
Cross-posted from GD - Recommended Listening
Today I was listening to CBC Radio (That would be the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, for those not in the know) and author Jonathon Haidt was on talking about his book "The Righteous Mind". The half hour discussion on the topic - the first half of the linked audio below - was fascinating and enlightening, a must-hear for denizens of a polarized political board. This was, I believe, first recorded last summer.
"Governments change, economies tumble and soar, and headlines trumpet the scandal of the day. All the while, Tapestry deals with the more subtle news of life -- a thoughtful consideration of what it means to be human.
Tune in for an engaging, provocative and unexpected hour of radio: an hour in which rabbis and poets get equal time on the topic of faith, science-fiction writers and physicist-priests ponder the great creation myths, athletes explore the hero's journey as a spiritual metaphor, and architects examine the idea of space for the soul."
"Jonathan Haidt's latest book is called The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. He is at the forefront of research into why the brain craves us-versus-them thinking. He and Mary talk about what has to change for people to start hearing one another instead of screaming over one another. "
Tune in for an engaging, provocative and unexpected hour of radio: an hour in which rabbis and poets get equal time on the topic of faith, science-fiction writers and physicist-priests ponder the great creation myths, athletes explore the hero's journey as a spiritual metaphor, and architects examine the idea of space for the soul."
"Jonathan Haidt's latest book is called The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. He is at the forefront of research into why the brain craves us-versus-them thinking. He and Mary talk about what has to change for people to start hearing one another instead of screaming over one another. "
http://www.cbc.ca/tapestry/weekly/2012/06/03/im-right-youre-wrong/#
Main page for Tapestry
http://www.cbc.ca/tapestry/episode/2013/03/22/im-right-youre-wrong-1/
Jonathon Haidt's website where you can take morality surveys and compare against others
http://www.yourmorals.org/
March 25, 2013
http://www.cbc.ca/tapestry/weekly/2012/06/03/im-right-youre-wrong/#
Main page for Tapestry
http://www.cbc.ca/tapestry/episode/2013/03/22/im-right-youre-wrong-1/
Jonathon Haidt's website where you can take morality surveys and compare against others
http://www.yourmorals.org/
DU Recommended Listening
Today I was listening to CBC Radio (That would be the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, for those not in the know) and author Jonathon Haidt was on talking about his book "The Righteous Mind". The half hour discussion on the topic - the first half of the linked audio below - was fascinating and enlightening, a must-hear for denizens of a polarized political board. This was, I believe, first recorded last summer.
"Governments change, economies tumble and soar, and headlines trumpet the scandal of the day. All the while, Tapestry deals with the more subtle news of life -- a thoughtful consideration of what it means to be human.
Tune in for an engaging, provocative and unexpected hour of radio: an hour in which rabbis and poets get equal time on the topic of faith, science-fiction writers and physicist-priests ponder the great creation myths, athletes explore the hero's journey as a spiritual metaphor, and architects examine the idea of space for the soul."
"Jonathan Haidt's latest book is called The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. He is at the forefront of research into why the brain craves us-versus-them thinking. He and Mary talk about what has to change for people to start hearing one another instead of screaming over one another. "
Tune in for an engaging, provocative and unexpected hour of radio: an hour in which rabbis and poets get equal time on the topic of faith, science-fiction writers and physicist-priests ponder the great creation myths, athletes explore the hero's journey as a spiritual metaphor, and architects examine the idea of space for the soul."
"Jonathan Haidt's latest book is called The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. He is at the forefront of research into why the brain craves us-versus-them thinking. He and Mary talk about what has to change for people to start hearing one another instead of screaming over one another. "
http://www.cbc.ca/tapestry/weekly/2012/06/03/im-right-youre-wrong/#
Main page for Tapestry
http://www.cbc.ca/tapestry/episode/2013/03/22/im-right-youre-wrong-1/
Jonathon Haidt's website where you can take morality surveys and compare against others
http://www.yourmorals.org/
March 16, 2013
Not a Great Day for Apple...
First the Galaxy S4, now this...
In a case of David vs. Goliath, the Mexican Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that iFone, a small IT company in Mexico City, is the rightful owner of the iPhone name in that country.
The company registered the name in 2003, four years before Apple rolled out the smartphone it dubbed the iPhone, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The case goes back to 2009, when Apple tried to register the phone brand name in Mexico and the Mexican Industrial Property Institute said it was already taken. Apple tried to take the name by suing, arguing that it had expired for iFone.
...
Gallastegui didn't say how much iFone is claiming, but he said the law would allow iFone to go after at least 40% of the iPhone sales in Mexico, according to the Wall Street Journal.
http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-apple-iphone-mexico-ifone-20130315,0,4802470.story
The company registered the name in 2003, four years before Apple rolled out the smartphone it dubbed the iPhone, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The case goes back to 2009, when Apple tried to register the phone brand name in Mexico and the Mexican Industrial Property Institute said it was already taken. Apple tried to take the name by suing, arguing that it had expired for iFone.
...
Gallastegui didn't say how much iFone is claiming, but he said the law would allow iFone to go after at least 40% of the iPhone sales in Mexico, according to the Wall Street Journal.
http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-apple-iphone-mexico-ifone-20130315,0,4802470.story
March 15, 2013
French Wind Power Turbine Condenses Fresh Water
gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/environment/tapping-water-from-the-sky-1.1152633
Dubai: Something is in the wind at Ghantoot nature
reserve.
And it promises to put Dubai on the global stage once
again as host to revolutionary sustainable eco-
technology that can provide fresh water and electricity
to even the most remote driest corners of the planet.
A new French-built wind turbine that condenses desert
air into 1,000 litres of water daily solely using wind
and solar power is under installation at the wildlife
area — the 30-metre tall, 12-tonne marvel should be
completed by late March to provide all water and
electrical needs of host Emirates Marine Environmental
Group (EMEG).
...
Early tests indicated the turbine was producing on
average, 62 litres of fresh water an hour but with the
turbine’s installation nearer to the Gulf shoreline, it is
expected to produce larger quantities of water given
higher humidity levels at seaside.
(more at link)
This technology has potential to be a great boon for under-hydrated regions and developing places.
March 15, 2013
Korea's Samsung turned to song and dance on
Thursday as it took a shot at ousting Apple as
king of the smartphone.
In a packed Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan,
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S4, the latest
iteration of its best-selling smartphone, and set
out its challenge to Apple on the US giant's own
turf.
In a widely anticipated move, the company
unveiled the most eye-catching feature of the
new phone. It has pioneered the "smart scroll
and smart pause" feature. The facing camera on
the handset monitors users' eye movements and
behaves accordingly. Tilting the phone while
looking at it will scroll web pages and it can even
pause a video if a user looks away.
After weeks of teasing, Samsung unveiled a
phone it is promoting as "moving beyond touch".
With a simple wave of the hand, Minority
Report-style, the phone will move a web page or
a photograph....
http://m.guardiannews.com/technology/2013/mar/15/galaxy-s4-launched-samsung-tracking
Apple Announces New Phone
Korea's Samsung turned to song and dance on
Thursday as it took a shot at ousting Apple as
king of the smartphone.
In a packed Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan,
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S4, the latest
iteration of its best-selling smartphone, and set
out its challenge to Apple on the US giant's own
turf.
In a widely anticipated move, the company
unveiled the most eye-catching feature of the
new phone. It has pioneered the "smart scroll
and smart pause" feature. The facing camera on
the handset monitors users' eye movements and
behaves accordingly. Tilting the phone while
looking at it will scroll web pages and it can even
pause a video if a user looks away.
After weeks of teasing, Samsung unveiled a
phone it is promoting as "moving beyond touch".
With a simple wave of the hand, Minority
Report-style, the phone will move a web page or
a photograph....
http://m.guardiannews.com/technology/2013/mar/15/galaxy-s4-launched-samsung-tracking
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