"Its major importance would appear to be financial support of the surgical profession." - Alfred Sherwood Romer and Thomas S. Parsons on the appendix
***
My favourite misanthrope sent me a Salon.com article on Real Dolls.
Some men treat them as the male equivalent of a romance novel. Others use them purely to enact their sexual fantasies. Still others pretend that they're getting some through the use of them.
Just like a woman
Thousands of men are shelling out $6,500 for hyper-realistic dolls that answer all their needs -- and don't talk back.
"Go ahead. Flinch at the notion of a man having sex with an imitation woman and classify him: lonely loser. Pathological creep. Misogynist. Potential rapist. Sicko. True enough, some men who have sex with Real Dolls are creepy, the kind of guys you wouldn't want to be alone with. But not all. Many are simply lonely -- some tragically so. Others are disfigured or infirm. Some are oddly sweet, like Davecat, for whom a Real Doll is a "teddy bear with benefits." And others proclaim their normalcy and defend their Real Dolls as no different than a 3-D version of a Playboy centerfold.
Many doll lovers -- or "iDollators," as some of them call themselves -- participate in a confusing online subculture where the lines between art and pornography, the ludicrous and the tender, and fantasy and fetishism blur like watercolors. Spend time talking to Real Doll aficionados as I have over the past year, and you come to understand that behind every Real Doll is a man with a reason."
My Favourite Misanthrope: so it's not just something that screwed up people would like?
as in, it could be a generic solution for 'loneliness', instead of simply satisfying perverts?
Me: of course.
well the guy on page 1 sounds a bit deluded
"People who are allergic to roses can enjoy artificial roses," he says. "In the same way, artificial women serve the same purpose for men who are, in whatever way, allergic to real women."
haha
what if real women are allergic to him?
MFM: I think all men are allergic to real women to some extent
Me: and the reverse?
MFM: I don't think women are AS allergic to men
men are less interfering
women are more meddlesome
and demanding
L'origine de Bert
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Shingo; Rolling Bomber Special
This is quite screwy:
*Masked characters clad in spandex run towards the camera and confront our protagonist*
*Protagonist drops a can of "Popsi"*
Red Fresh: We finally found you, Katori!
Green Fresh (presumably): Stop right there!
Blue Fresh: There's no escape!
All 5 Freshmen: Katori Shintaro!
Katori: Who are you?
Freshmen: We are the Earth Defender Freshmen!
...
Blue Fresh: Do you wish for world peace?
Yellow Fresh: You don't, do you?
Katori: Huh?
Blue Fresh: See? You are clearly intent on destroying the Earth!
*Red Fresh launches a flying kick, but is way off the mark and lands in a heap of garbage bags*
This is quite screwy:
*Masked characters clad in spandex run towards the camera and confront our protagonist*
*Protagonist drops a can of "Popsi"*
Red Fresh: We finally found you, Katori!
Green Fresh (presumably): Stop right there!
Blue Fresh: There's no escape!
All 5 Freshmen: Katori Shintaro!
Katori: Who are you?
Freshmen: We are the Earth Defender Freshmen!
...
Blue Fresh: Do you wish for world peace?
Yellow Fresh: You don't, do you?
Katori: Huh?
Blue Fresh: See? You are clearly intent on destroying the Earth!
*Red Fresh launches a flying kick, but is way off the mark and lands in a heap of garbage bags*
Post ID: 112965117197077384
"Life's too short to watch French films"
As either my sister or brother in law put it, in American movies, people do things. In European movies, things happen to people, then at the end of the movie nothing has changed. One might as well watch grass grow, or paint peel.
It's like the difference between active and passive tense, and we all know what we were told to use in our school compositions, since one was boring and one was more exciting.
Teacher: When you watch an action film, you want to watch the hero doing things. You don't want to see things being done to the hero.
Student (to another): Braveheart
***
The Apple Polishers - Explaining the press corps' crush on Steve Jobs and company.
"Apple manipulates several narratives to continue to make its products interesting fodder for journalists. One is the never-ending story of mad genius Steve Jobs, who would be great copy if he were only the night manager of a Domino's pizza joint. The next is Apple's perpetual role as scrappy underdog—reporters love cheerleading for the underdog without ever pausing to explore why it isn't the overdog. (This is why the Brooklyn Dodgers will always rate higher in the minds of writers than the superior New York Yankees.) Apple incites fanaticism about its products via ad campaigns and evangelist outreach programs designed to make its customers feel as though they're part of a privileged and enlightened elite. One unnamed loser at Slate says today's V-iPod news made her want to rush out and buy one, even though she already owns two iPods, one of which she bought three weeks ago...
If the press corps possessed any institutional memory, it would recall the introduction of the Apple III+, the Lisa, the Macintosh Portable, the Mac TV, the Newton, the Apple G4 Cube, and eWorld. All were greeted with great press fanfare before falling off the edge of the world. Hell, all the press corps really needs to put Apple products in perspective is a few short-term memory neurons focused on the fanfare visited upon recent, mediocre iPod releases. Only a year ago the company received excited press notices when it introduced the iPod Photo, now acknowledged to be a failed product. I searched Nexis to find a mention of the iPod Photo in the hundreds of V-iPod newspaper stories from today and found only one. Of the wildly heralded but totally average iPod Shuffle, released in January 2005, I found only two."
The reporter alleges that this is aimed only at press coverage, yet his criticisms of the press are equally applicable to Mac whores.
***
I've done so many interviews and surveys on blogging that I've long ago lost count. I will probably be publishing an FAQ soon which I will send to all who request that I fill out an interview.
Though actually the majority of such requests so far have come from friends doing modules on blogging. Boo hoo.
Next year I should take one of these modules and interview myself.
Someone: "an excellent decision
at the start of the module just declare to the whole LT
'Hi I am agagooga. Approach me for interview and you will get slimed all over my blog.'"
Someone was talking about how, if you did badly in your midterm, you should be consistent in your work so you can do better for the final. I don't understand why consistency is supposed to be good, for you can be consistently bad in your work as well.
As either my sister or brother in law put it, in American movies, people do things. In European movies, things happen to people, then at the end of the movie nothing has changed. One might as well watch grass grow, or paint peel.
It's like the difference between active and passive tense, and we all know what we were told to use in our school compositions, since one was boring and one was more exciting.
Teacher: When you watch an action film, you want to watch the hero doing things. You don't want to see things being done to the hero.
Student (to another): Braveheart
***
The Apple Polishers - Explaining the press corps' crush on Steve Jobs and company.
"Apple manipulates several narratives to continue to make its products interesting fodder for journalists. One is the never-ending story of mad genius Steve Jobs, who would be great copy if he were only the night manager of a Domino's pizza joint. The next is Apple's perpetual role as scrappy underdog—reporters love cheerleading for the underdog without ever pausing to explore why it isn't the overdog. (This is why the Brooklyn Dodgers will always rate higher in the minds of writers than the superior New York Yankees.) Apple incites fanaticism about its products via ad campaigns and evangelist outreach programs designed to make its customers feel as though they're part of a privileged and enlightened elite. One unnamed loser at Slate says today's V-iPod news made her want to rush out and buy one, even though she already owns two iPods, one of which she bought three weeks ago...
If the press corps possessed any institutional memory, it would recall the introduction of the Apple III+, the Lisa, the Macintosh Portable, the Mac TV, the Newton, the Apple G4 Cube, and eWorld. All were greeted with great press fanfare before falling off the edge of the world. Hell, all the press corps really needs to put Apple products in perspective is a few short-term memory neurons focused on the fanfare visited upon recent, mediocre iPod releases. Only a year ago the company received excited press notices when it introduced the iPod Photo, now acknowledged to be a failed product. I searched Nexis to find a mention of the iPod Photo in the hundreds of V-iPod newspaper stories from today and found only one. Of the wildly heralded but totally average iPod Shuffle, released in January 2005, I found only two."
The reporter alleges that this is aimed only at press coverage, yet his criticisms of the press are equally applicable to Mac whores.
***
I've done so many interviews and surveys on blogging that I've long ago lost count. I will probably be publishing an FAQ soon which I will send to all who request that I fill out an interview.
Though actually the majority of such requests so far have come from friends doing modules on blogging. Boo hoo.
Next year I should take one of these modules and interview myself.
Someone: "an excellent decision
at the start of the module just declare to the whole LT
'Hi I am agagooga. Approach me for interview and you will get slimed all over my blog.'"
Someone was talking about how, if you did badly in your midterm, you should be consistent in your work so you can do better for the final. I don't understand why consistency is supposed to be good, for you can be consistently bad in your work as well.
Post ID: 112964579238272738
And now a risque joke (ie not an anecdote) since I've handed up my second (and last) term paper. I couldn't find the phrasing in which I first heard it, so I have taken the liberty of reconstructing it as best I remember:
I went over to my sister and asked her,
"Would you wear gloves if you had no hands?"
"No, why do you ask?"
"So why do you wear a bra?"
I ducked for cover as a cushion flew at my head.
I went over to my sister and asked her,
"Would you wear gloves if you had no hands?"
"No, why do you ask?"
"So why do you wear a bra?"
I ducked for cover as a cushion flew at my head.
Post ID: 112962929248528307
Monday, October 17, 2005
Bennett et al, Genetic Counseling and Screening of Consanguineous Couples and Their Offspring: Recommendations of the National Society of Genetic Counselors
"Few studies document the actual risks to the offspring of consanguineous unions. The risks quoted for birth defects and mental retardation are often based on studies of non-Western populations where consanguineous unions are common, and they may not be applicable to consanguineous unions in the United States and Canada (Al-Abdulkareem and Balal, 1998; Al-Awadi et al., 1985; Al-Gazali et al., 1997; Bittles, 1998, 2001; Bittles et al., 1991; Bittles and Neel, 1994; Harper, 1998; Jaber et al., 1997, 1998; Kaku and Freire-Maia, 1992; Madhaven and Narayan, 1991; Schull and Neel, 1965; Shami et al., 1991; Vogel and Motulsky, 1996). Furthermore, in all such studies, the criteria for what is considered a significant medical problem in offspring are not standardized. Studies using excess mortality to measure the adverse effects of inbreeding often did not account for the effects of sociodemographic variables such as maternal age, birth interval, socioeconomic status, and maternal education, thereby exaggerating the adverse effect of consanguinity (Bittles, 1998; Kaku and Freire-Maia, 1992). The risk of adverse medical outcomes for the offspring of consanguineous unions, as compared to a baseline risk for the general population, is reviewed under Baseline Risk for the Offspring of Consanguineous Unions Compared to Those From Nonconsanguineous Unions.
... Given the almost universal cross-cultural stigma, social disapproval, and legal sanctions to incestuous unions, there is a paucity of data regarding adverse medical outcomes in the offspring of incestuous unions. Published studies are fraught with significant ascertainment biases. These biases, such as lack of paternity documentation, young maternal age, possible parental disease and/or intellectual impairment, parental socioeconomic status (or lack of report of this variable), and complications of unsuccessful attempted pregnancy termination (Bittles, in press). Table IV summarizes the four most comprehensive published studies of incest (Adams and Neel, 1967; Baird and McGillivray, 1982; Carter, 1967; Seemanova, 1971). Three of these studies were retrospective, and the controls for matched nonincestuous pregnancies were highly variable (Baird and McGillivray, 1982; Carter, 1967; Seemanova, 1971). These studies are also limited in the number of years that the incestuous progeny were followed. Although the highest risk for morbidity and mortality would be expected in the first year of life, moderate medical problems and mental retardation would not be evident until later."
"Few studies document the actual risks to the offspring of consanguineous unions. The risks quoted for birth defects and mental retardation are often based on studies of non-Western populations where consanguineous unions are common, and they may not be applicable to consanguineous unions in the United States and Canada (Al-Abdulkareem and Balal, 1998; Al-Awadi et al., 1985; Al-Gazali et al., 1997; Bittles, 1998, 2001; Bittles et al., 1991; Bittles and Neel, 1994; Harper, 1998; Jaber et al., 1997, 1998; Kaku and Freire-Maia, 1992; Madhaven and Narayan, 1991; Schull and Neel, 1965; Shami et al., 1991; Vogel and Motulsky, 1996). Furthermore, in all such studies, the criteria for what is considered a significant medical problem in offspring are not standardized. Studies using excess mortality to measure the adverse effects of inbreeding often did not account for the effects of sociodemographic variables such as maternal age, birth interval, socioeconomic status, and maternal education, thereby exaggerating the adverse effect of consanguinity (Bittles, 1998; Kaku and Freire-Maia, 1992). The risk of adverse medical outcomes for the offspring of consanguineous unions, as compared to a baseline risk for the general population, is reviewed under Baseline Risk for the Offspring of Consanguineous Unions Compared to Those From Nonconsanguineous Unions.
... Given the almost universal cross-cultural stigma, social disapproval, and legal sanctions to incestuous unions, there is a paucity of data regarding adverse medical outcomes in the offspring of incestuous unions. Published studies are fraught with significant ascertainment biases. These biases, such as lack of paternity documentation, young maternal age, possible parental disease and/or intellectual impairment, parental socioeconomic status (or lack of report of this variable), and complications of unsuccessful attempted pregnancy termination (Bittles, in press). Table IV summarizes the four most comprehensive published studies of incest (Adams and Neel, 1967; Baird and McGillivray, 1982; Carter, 1967; Seemanova, 1971). Three of these studies were retrospective, and the controls for matched nonincestuous pregnancies were highly variable (Baird and McGillivray, 1982; Carter, 1967; Seemanova, 1971). These studies are also limited in the number of years that the incestuous progeny were followed. Although the highest risk for morbidity and mortality would be expected in the first year of life, moderate medical problems and mental retardation would not be evident until later."
Post ID: 112954153775213481
"There's no inspiration like desperation"
Unfortunately, this semester my muses seem to be deserting me.
Today it can probably be attributed to an series of unfortunate events, but the origin of last week's drought was a mystery.
No matter. After Tuesday I will be free... to catch up on my other modules.
Unfortunately, this semester my muses seem to be deserting me.
Today it can probably be attributed to an series of unfortunate events, but the origin of last week's drought was a mystery.
No matter. After Tuesday I will be free... to catch up on my other modules.
Post ID: 112948026477737279
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Get this: For the last two days i've been posing outside the venue of a dance concert wearing a nametag that reads "USHER" and looking uber-cool. Okay, so maybe i lied about the "uber-cool" part.
-andrew
-andrew
Post ID: 112947102713482893
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Someone asked how long my hair was, so since I went to do an estimate I might as well post it here:
Fringe: When dropped down, it goes just past the chin
Side: When I pull it down and across my chin, it just goes beyond the vertical axis of my face
Back: It's hard to measure, but it goes some way beyond the collar. I've a short neck though, so compensating for that maybe it'd touch my collar if I'd a normal neck.
***
Almost all my female friends don't know what a jack rabbit is. I'm disappointed.
Someone: "I think I gave *** the wrong impression. OH NO
I can't remember whether it was her or ***. Anyway I was with one of them when I said that you told me that your friend received a jack rabbit and we were discussing how wild rabbits can be imported into singapore.......
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
*head desk*
well I always wanted a kitten so I assumed the girl genuinely wanted a real rabbit!
to hug and love!"
***
My favourite engineer suggested to me what the bust pillow was for, and to confirm her suggestion I did a Google translation of the company's page:
"Bust pillow
The う crush to sleep, the favorite to the hatchet
The face pillow we would like you to use by all means together, this Bust pillow. When the う crush having done to sleep, agony of the chest harmony
And others the げ, supporting softly, it invites feeling good sleep.
Shape recovery force of the rubber and unites the flowability of the ジェル the new material body which It disperses pressure, fits to the software. The う crush sleeping Lee Lax doing, please taste slowly."
Given how the woman is sleeping, I suppose she's right. Definitely on the Christmas want list of all the Jap AV stars. Though I am skeptical how much better support-wise this is than a normal pillow.
***
Meet A Tosser seems to have disappeared and been replaced by a blog by "leopold" from Munich, Bavaria, Germany. I don't know what's happened, but I think the last post I saw before it vanished was about A*STAR.
Sonic alarm. - "Simply pull the pin, yell an emphatic “fire in the hole” and lob the grenade into the sleeper’s room. After ten seconds a very annoying and piercingly loud noise (there are three volume settings) will blast out from the alarm."
Kit Makes Motorcycle Fly - "A new $19,800 product called the Flite Bike kit transforms a Honda Reflex scooter into a flying motorcycle."
Fringe: When dropped down, it goes just past the chin
Side: When I pull it down and across my chin, it just goes beyond the vertical axis of my face
Back: It's hard to measure, but it goes some way beyond the collar. I've a short neck though, so compensating for that maybe it'd touch my collar if I'd a normal neck.
***
Almost all my female friends don't know what a jack rabbit is. I'm disappointed.
Someone: "I think I gave *** the wrong impression. OH NO
I can't remember whether it was her or ***. Anyway I was with one of them when I said that you told me that your friend received a jack rabbit and we were discussing how wild rabbits can be imported into singapore.......
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
*head desk*
well I always wanted a kitten so I assumed the girl genuinely wanted a real rabbit!
to hug and love!"
***
My favourite engineer suggested to me what the bust pillow was for, and to confirm her suggestion I did a Google translation of the company's page:
"Bust pillow
The う crush to sleep, the favorite to the hatchet
The face pillow we would like you to use by all means together, this Bust pillow. When the う crush having done to sleep, agony of the chest harmony
And others the げ, supporting softly, it invites feeling good sleep.
Shape recovery force of the rubber and unites the flowability of the ジェル the new material body which It disperses pressure, fits to the software. The う crush sleeping Lee Lax doing, please taste slowly."
Given how the woman is sleeping, I suppose she's right. Definitely on the Christmas want list of all the Jap AV stars. Though I am skeptical how much better support-wise this is than a normal pillow.
***
Meet A Tosser seems to have disappeared and been replaced by a blog by "leopold" from Munich, Bavaria, Germany. I don't know what's happened, but I think the last post I saw before it vanished was about A*STAR.
Sonic alarm. - "Simply pull the pin, yell an emphatic “fire in the hole” and lob the grenade into the sleeper’s room. After ten seconds a very annoying and piercingly loud noise (there are three volume settings) will blast out from the alarm."
Kit Makes Motorcycle Fly - "A new $19,800 product called the Flite Bike kit transforms a Honda Reflex scooter into a flying motorcycle."
Post ID: 112938841653044673
Event Title: Kotex Campaign Week
Organizer: The KOTEXERS, finalist of Kimberly-Clark Young Marketer’s Award
Description:
If you are a female:
- aged 18-24
- confident
- aspired to be successful
Do you want to have a chance to get $100 cash in less than 5 minutes? Come down to our booth in front of LT26 Science Faculty
I guess using Kotex products robbed these girls of their aspirations to success. Or maybe it was studying in NUS that did the trick.
Couldn't they have come up with a better name?! I bet this is an all-girls team.
Organizer: The KOTEXERS, finalist of Kimberly-Clark Young Marketer’s Award
Description:
If you are a female:
- aged 18-24
- confident
- aspired to be successful
Do you want to have a chance to get $100 cash in less than 5 minutes? Come down to our booth in front of LT26 Science Faculty
I guess using Kotex products robbed these girls of their aspirations to success. Or maybe it was studying in NUS that did the trick.
Couldn't they have come up with a better name?! I bet this is an all-girls team.
Post ID: 112937788214200246
Someone: my friends saw you that time
wondered, who was that gay guy you were talking to?
i said, wtf, why you say he is gay??
then they tell me a lot of things
then they say, if not gay confirm metrosexual
then I say, why??
I say, he is not
basiclaly, i told them, you know agagooga
the blog name, balderdash
then they say, oh yah!!! that was him??!
see, you are famous
anyways
it was a number of things
1. the way you were flicking your hair -- I even pointed this out to you as you were doing it -- while you were talking to me. My friends said it's the sort of gesture GIRLS make to, well, attract guys they're interested in. And they should know. Because they are girls
This is so tragic.
***
The most useless useful (ie not deliberately designed to be useless but still so) Firefox extension I've ever seen:
censored
censored 2005.09.22, by Toronto, released on September 22, 2005
Censors words in webpages. Not for everyone.
First release, so enjoy with caution.
Someone's comment:
"My Analysis.
If you've downloaded this, you've already seen the problem. The title of this review is not a curse word. Now I can't read "I ran over a speedbump in the car." "I broke up with my girlfriend yesterday." "Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun." Frankly, it's rediculous. Please, make this more customizable. Allow the individual to decide what they want to censor and what they don't. I think something that could make this extension *great* would be to allow users to choose what the censored words turn into. Then I could censor certain things such as "lol" into more intelligent language. That would make me able to at least pretend that I wasn't talking to some idiot. But, as is, I can't even *tell* the idiot that he's an idiot."
***
A: My Comparative Politics textbook has a reading by Stanford Professor Larry Diamond under the "Authoritarianism" chapter. And Dr Diamond classifies Singapore's government as "Hegemonic Electoral Authoritarian". In the same category as us: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Cambodia and Pakistan.
B: Ooh I like Larry Diamond. His books on democratisation are good. And yeah his category 'hegemonic electoral authoritarianism' comes under his wider category of hybrid regimes (i.e. non-democratic regimes with certain democratic elements or vice versa) which I think is a useful idea. Perhaps democratic/non-democratic is too dichotomous.
Thanks for pointing that out
wondered, who was that gay guy you were talking to?
i said, wtf, why you say he is gay??
then they tell me a lot of things
then they say, if not gay confirm metrosexual
then I say, why??
I say, he is not
basiclaly, i told them, you know agagooga
the blog name, balderdash
then they say, oh yah!!! that was him??!
see, you are famous
anyways
it was a number of things
1. the way you were flicking your hair -- I even pointed this out to you as you were doing it -- while you were talking to me. My friends said it's the sort of gesture GIRLS make to, well, attract guys they're interested in. And they should know. Because they are girls
This is so tragic.
***
The most useless useful (ie not deliberately designed to be useless but still so) Firefox extension I've ever seen:
censored
censored 2005.09.22, by Toronto, released on September 22, 2005
Censors words in webpages. Not for everyone.
First release, so enjoy with caution.
Someone's comment:
"My Analysis.
If you've downloaded this, you've already seen the problem. The title of this review is not a curse word. Now I can't read "I ran over a speedbump in the car." "I broke up with my girlfriend yesterday." "Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun." Frankly, it's rediculous. Please, make this more customizable. Allow the individual to decide what they want to censor and what they don't. I think something that could make this extension *great* would be to allow users to choose what the censored words turn into. Then I could censor certain things such as "lol" into more intelligent language. That would make me able to at least pretend that I wasn't talking to some idiot. But, as is, I can't even *tell* the idiot that he's an idiot."
***
A: My Comparative Politics textbook has a reading by Stanford Professor Larry Diamond under the "Authoritarianism" chapter. And Dr Diamond classifies Singapore's government as "Hegemonic Electoral Authoritarian". In the same category as us: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Cambodia and Pakistan.
B: Ooh I like Larry Diamond. His books on democratisation are good. And yeah his category 'hegemonic electoral authoritarianism' comes under his wider category of hybrid regimes (i.e. non-democratic regimes with certain democratic elements or vice versa) which I think is a useful idea. Perhaps democratic/non-democratic is too dichotomous.
Thanks for pointing that out
Post ID: 112936287598402095
A hoax most cruel
"Summers, 51, conceded later that she had never known Ogborn to do a thing dishonest. But she nonetheless led Ogborn to the restaurant's small office, locked the door, and -- following the caller's instructions -- ordered her to remove one item of clothing at a time, until she was naked.
"She was crying," recalled Kim Dockery, 40, another assistant manager, who stood by watching. "A little young girl standing there naked wasn't a pretty sight."
Summers said later that "Officer Scott," who stayed on the telephone, giving his orders, sounded authentic. He said he had "McDonald's corporate" on the line, as well as the store manager, whom he mentioned by name. And she thought she could hear police radios in the background."
In the US examples 1/3 refused to follow the instructions of the callers. Since we're so compliant in the face of authority here, I figure it'd be more like 1/5.
***
Tongue-eating bug found in fish - "A gross creature which gobbles up a fish's tongue and then replaces it with its own body has been found in Britain for the first time."
Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power. - "This thought-provoking collection of magical texts from ancient Egypt shows the exotic rituals, esoteric healing practices, and incantatory and supernatural dimensions that flowered in early Christianity. These remarkable Christian magical texts include curses, spells of protection from "headless powers" and evil spirits, spells invoking thunderous powers, descriptions of fire baptism, and even recipes from a magical "cookbook." Virtually all the texts are by Coptic Christians, and they date from about the 1st-12th centuries of the common era, with the majority from late antiquity. By placing these rarely seen texts in historical context and discussing their significance, the authors explore the place of healing, prayer, miracles, and magic in the early Christian experience, and expand our understanding of Christianity and Gnosticism as a vital folk religion."
This is available in the NUS library.
A post on Singapore Adventure about the tudung/butt crack exposure fashion dilemma led me to an article on the Plumber's Crack and thence to one on breast cleavage on Wikipedia. There're actually categories of breast cleavage: Cleavage Décolleté, Cleavage Centros, Cleavage Côté, Cleavage Underside and Cleavage Cleavy. You learn something new everyday.
Choose Your Own Adventure: The Abominable Snowman (2005) (V) - They're actually making a video!
I don't get the point of the Bust Pillow. Is it a pillow for the bust? Is it a pillow in the shape of a bust (so why is a woman lying on it?) All I can say: damn Japs!
"Summers, 51, conceded later that she had never known Ogborn to do a thing dishonest. But she nonetheless led Ogborn to the restaurant's small office, locked the door, and -- following the caller's instructions -- ordered her to remove one item of clothing at a time, until she was naked.
"She was crying," recalled Kim Dockery, 40, another assistant manager, who stood by watching. "A little young girl standing there naked wasn't a pretty sight."
Summers said later that "Officer Scott," who stayed on the telephone, giving his orders, sounded authentic. He said he had "McDonald's corporate" on the line, as well as the store manager, whom he mentioned by name. And she thought she could hear police radios in the background."
In the US examples 1/3 refused to follow the instructions of the callers. Since we're so compliant in the face of authority here, I figure it'd be more like 1/5.
***
Tongue-eating bug found in fish - "A gross creature which gobbles up a fish's tongue and then replaces it with its own body has been found in Britain for the first time."
Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power. - "This thought-provoking collection of magical texts from ancient Egypt shows the exotic rituals, esoteric healing practices, and incantatory and supernatural dimensions that flowered in early Christianity. These remarkable Christian magical texts include curses, spells of protection from "headless powers" and evil spirits, spells invoking thunderous powers, descriptions of fire baptism, and even recipes from a magical "cookbook." Virtually all the texts are by Coptic Christians, and they date from about the 1st-12th centuries of the common era, with the majority from late antiquity. By placing these rarely seen texts in historical context and discussing their significance, the authors explore the place of healing, prayer, miracles, and magic in the early Christian experience, and expand our understanding of Christianity and Gnosticism as a vital folk religion."
This is available in the NUS library.
A post on Singapore Adventure about the tudung/butt crack exposure fashion dilemma led me to an article on the Plumber's Crack and thence to one on breast cleavage on Wikipedia. There're actually categories of breast cleavage: Cleavage Décolleté, Cleavage Centros, Cleavage Côté, Cleavage Underside and Cleavage Cleavy. You learn something new everyday.
Choose Your Own Adventure: The Abominable Snowman (2005) (V) - They're actually making a video!
I don't get the point of the Bust Pillow. Is it a pillow for the bust? Is it a pillow in the shape of a bust (so why is a woman lying on it?) All I can say: damn Japs!
Post ID: 112931057538483060
Friday, October 14, 2005
"People who work sitting down get paid more than people who work standing up." - Ogden Nash
***
My most quiet lecture group is at 8am. I think everyone is still asleep.
I found myself saying, for the second time in 8 days after a test, "the curve will pull me up". Gah.
I suspect some people deliberately leave their phones on, or on silent mode, during exams, and then place them with only the fabric of their bags separating them from the floor (so the vibrations will have maximum effect). They then either set a reminder to sound during the exam or ask people to call them repeatedly. This distracts other students who do not anticipate this noise.
You always hear of some people who like to ask other people for assignment answers, or consult with them when they are unclear, but in turn refuse to share any of their own knowledge or answers, usually providing lame answers to mask their selfishness. An effective strategy in dealing with such people is to provide a carefully calibrated set of specious answers to mislead them.
I am freaked out. On October 6 I blogged about a sign with bad grammar in the NUS Central Library, peripheral to bemoaning the floodgates of decadence academic privileges in watching uncensored productions were opening. On Wednesday morning, I noticed it had been reprinted, the grammar mistake had been corrected and the sign had been moved forward so it was now prominently displayed on the counter. If I complain about my modules being too hard, maybe they will be toned down in difficulty too.
Photocopying prices have risen to 3 cents at the Central Library. Since paper is a non-negligible cost, they should implement a 0.5 cent rebate for each double-sided sheet printed. So instead of 6 cents, a double-sided sheet would cost 5.5 cents. If nothing else, this would save some trees.
For one of my modules this semester, we get to bring in a 2-sided cheat sheet for the exams. I've always fantasised about bringing in a magnifying glass during such an exam, so I went to buy this huge (and rather ugly, I might add) magnifying glass from the NUS co-op. Unfortunately, I didn't get down to using it since, even though I squeezed everything into less than 1 page, I could read my handwriting. And since the test was so devilishly hard, I didn't get to twirl it around for fun. In any case, proof of concept has been demonstrated.
Apparently for some modules in Science where cheat sheets (A4-sized pieces of paper on which you can write anything you want - midway between an open-book exam and a closed-book one) are allowed, some smart people shrink A3 sheets to A4 size with photocopiers. And, catching on, some modules ban doing that.
***
My most quiet lecture group is at 8am. I think everyone is still asleep.
I found myself saying, for the second time in 8 days after a test, "the curve will pull me up". Gah.
I suspect some people deliberately leave their phones on, or on silent mode, during exams, and then place them with only the fabric of their bags separating them from the floor (so the vibrations will have maximum effect). They then either set a reminder to sound during the exam or ask people to call them repeatedly. This distracts other students who do not anticipate this noise.
You always hear of some people who like to ask other people for assignment answers, or consult with them when they are unclear, but in turn refuse to share any of their own knowledge or answers, usually providing lame answers to mask their selfishness. An effective strategy in dealing with such people is to provide a carefully calibrated set of specious answers to mislead them.
I am freaked out. On October 6 I blogged about a sign with bad grammar in the NUS Central Library, peripheral to bemoaning the floodgates of decadence academic privileges in watching uncensored productions were opening. On Wednesday morning, I noticed it had been reprinted, the grammar mistake had been corrected and the sign had been moved forward so it was now prominently displayed on the counter. If I complain about my modules being too hard, maybe they will be toned down in difficulty too.
Photocopying prices have risen to 3 cents at the Central Library. Since paper is a non-negligible cost, they should implement a 0.5 cent rebate for each double-sided sheet printed. So instead of 6 cents, a double-sided sheet would cost 5.5 cents. If nothing else, this would save some trees.
For one of my modules this semester, we get to bring in a 2-sided cheat sheet for the exams. I've always fantasised about bringing in a magnifying glass during such an exam, so I went to buy this huge (and rather ugly, I might add) magnifying glass from the NUS co-op. Unfortunately, I didn't get down to using it since, even though I squeezed everything into less than 1 page, I could read my handwriting. And since the test was so devilishly hard, I didn't get to twirl it around for fun. In any case, proof of concept has been demonstrated.
Apparently for some modules in Science where cheat sheets (A4-sized pieces of paper on which you can write anything you want - midway between an open-book exam and a closed-book one) are allowed, some smart people shrink A3 sheets to A4 size with photocopiers. And, catching on, some modules ban doing that.
Post ID: 112922615235500657
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Tossing out the changeling with the bath water
the truth is rarely pure and never simple at No Concept of Liberty reminds us of the delightful tale retold in Judges 19:
(Graphic depiction courtesy of The Brick Testament)
He concludes:
Some might argue that the passage ends with the words: "Everyone who saw it said, 'Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Think about it! Consider it! Tell us what to do!'" (NIV), which is hardly approving of the deed. Yet, the mere fact that the conclusion of this sordid tale is absent of any trace of moral condemnation at all is a deafening indictment, considering how verbose the Old Testament is about condemning sin or what JHVH finds distasteful.
The problem, then, is deciding which bits of scripture to keep, and which to dump. For if everyone starts dumping the bits of the bible that they dislike or find repulsive, different people will have different views about which parts are veracious, and no one will have any idea who is right. In the final analysis, what's to stop you from throwing the whole thing out of the window?
Which is one of the main reasons why fundies decide to keep everything, and explain it away with intellectual suicide.
Far better, I think, to toss out the changeling with the bath water and find a real human.
(Cross-posted to Recovering Christians)
the truth is rarely pure and never simple at No Concept of Liberty reminds us of the delightful tale retold in Judges 19:
the first guy pushes his concubine out of the house and the mob gang-rape her through the night. By the time morning comes, the concubine is one the verge of death. She collapses on the floor outside the house, with one hand on the threshold. When her husband discovers her in this state, and when she does not give any response when he tells her to get up, he loads her onto his donkey and heads home. Thereafter, he cuts her body up into twelve pieces and sends one piece to each tribe of Israel.
(Graphic depiction courtesy of The Brick Testament)
He concludes:
So really the correct response when reading these things is not to try to argue them away by explaining how they are really about showing hospitality or whatever. The correct response is to regard them as the rabid tales of some barbaric ancient tribe and then toss them out of the window.
Some might argue that the passage ends with the words: "Everyone who saw it said, 'Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Think about it! Consider it! Tell us what to do!'" (NIV), which is hardly approving of the deed. Yet, the mere fact that the conclusion of this sordid tale is absent of any trace of moral condemnation at all is a deafening indictment, considering how verbose the Old Testament is about condemning sin or what JHVH finds distasteful.
The problem, then, is deciding which bits of scripture to keep, and which to dump. For if everyone starts dumping the bits of the bible that they dislike or find repulsive, different people will have different views about which parts are veracious, and no one will have any idea who is right. In the final analysis, what's to stop you from throwing the whole thing out of the window?
Which is one of the main reasons why fundies decide to keep everything, and explain it away with intellectual suicide.
Far better, I think, to toss out the changeling with the bath water and find a real human.
(Cross-posted to Recovering Christians)
Post ID: 112919961934474852
Prophets and prophecies of doom abound, but the world still hasn't ended.
***
Apparently in secondary school NCC camps, one way girls fob off guys who are trying to buaya them is, when asked for their phone numbers, is to give them the number of Singapore Casket.
Much has been said about the benefits of a legal education, but for some reason I find that many lawyers are trapped in a legalistic mindset - if it is legal, it must be right; if it is illegal, it must be wrong.
One very sneaky way in which to express angsty sentiments in a cathartic fashion is to use song lyrics. Then, if people ask if you're okay, or what's troubling you, and you have no desire to reveal what is really bothering you, you can just say that "oh, it's just a song".
Very interesting sentence: "The florist sent the flowers was very pleased". I thought there was something wrong with it when I first read it. Sneaky.
Motivational emails and spiel always talk about how you should live your life so that if you die suddenly, it will be with no regrets. But then, if you have no regrets about dying, doesn't it mean that you've already done what you want to do in/with life? The corollary of all this being that if you would die with no regrets at any moment in time, since you wouldn't mind dying, you weren't really living for anything in the first place.
***
Apparently in secondary school NCC camps, one way girls fob off guys who are trying to buaya them is, when asked for their phone numbers, is to give them the number of Singapore Casket.
Much has been said about the benefits of a legal education, but for some reason I find that many lawyers are trapped in a legalistic mindset - if it is legal, it must be right; if it is illegal, it must be wrong.
One very sneaky way in which to express angsty sentiments in a cathartic fashion is to use song lyrics. Then, if people ask if you're okay, or what's troubling you, and you have no desire to reveal what is really bothering you, you can just say that "oh, it's just a song".
Very interesting sentence: "The florist sent the flowers was very pleased". I thought there was something wrong with it when I first read it. Sneaky.
Motivational emails and spiel always talk about how you should live your life so that if you die suddenly, it will be with no regrets. But then, if you have no regrets about dying, doesn't it mean that you've already done what you want to do in/with life? The corollary of all this being that if you would die with no regrets at any moment in time, since you wouldn't mind dying, you weren't really living for anything in the first place.
Post ID: 112917975069851051
I checked my NUS email just now and saw that there was a "Library Circulation Notice" from the NUS Libraries. Scrolling to the bottom, I saw that an RBR book (Reserve Books/Readings - these can be checked out for only 2 hours) was overdue.
Now, since these books are loaned out for only 2 hours, the fine for overdue books is commensurately steep - $1/hr. So when I logged in to my library account, I saw that I had a fine of $25 on my tab.
Currently there is a monitor placed beside the RBR book returning area which will display your name if the book has been detected as returned, and removed from your account. In my case, the problem might have been that, at the early hour I was there, no one else had returned RBR books in the 15 mins or so since I had returned a previous RBR book (since I had returned a book 15 mins before, my name was still displayed on the screen). So maybe the monitor should be tweaked to display the name of the book that has just been returned (it now displays only some cryptic serial number), as well as your name.
I called up the library, and the woman was very nice and helpful about it (they found the book in the end), but she asked me to check my account next time to verify that the book had been returned. Which would make having the monitor there quite redundant.
Now, since these books are loaned out for only 2 hours, the fine for overdue books is commensurately steep - $1/hr. So when I logged in to my library account, I saw that I had a fine of $25 on my tab.
Currently there is a monitor placed beside the RBR book returning area which will display your name if the book has been detected as returned, and removed from your account. In my case, the problem might have been that, at the early hour I was there, no one else had returned RBR books in the 15 mins or so since I had returned a previous RBR book (since I had returned a book 15 mins before, my name was still displayed on the screen). So maybe the monitor should be tweaked to display the name of the book that has just been returned (it now displays only some cryptic serial number), as well as your name.
I called up the library, and the woman was very nice and helpful about it (they found the book in the end), but she asked me to check my account next time to verify that the book had been returned. Which would make having the monitor there quite redundant.
Post ID: 112917824342005790
One day, a psychiatric examination revealed that a man was depressed; a psychiatrist sat and watched him for several hours as he cried, moaned and bewailed his fate. Then, he seemed to stop his palpitations. It appeared he had calmed down.
So the psychiatrist decided, after having consumed too much material encouraging self-indulgent emotional masturbation in a vacuum, decided to help the man: by sorting through his problems on his own, he would become a more emotionally stable person. The man then excused himself and went to the bathroom, and the psychiatrist congratulated himself on not inculcating in the man a crutch mentality.
The psychiatrist continued to wait because he expected that, at any moment, the man would come out from the bathroom.
Nothing happened!
In fact, the man had gone into the bathroom and slashed his wrists, ending his misery. He died.
What the psychiatrist, in the self-congratulatory mood brought on by consuming too much motivational and self-help material, did not understand was that struggle is not always good, and that some people are bested by it, giving up in exhaustion, defeat and despair, and that imputing teleological meaning from his god's plan into explaining every facet of the world would obviate his profession (and indeed, most of human free will, at least in relation to fellow humans).
Often, struggle is exactly what we don't need in our life, since life sucks as much as it does already.
If your god made you go through your life with your path strewn with obstacles, he would b a sadist. You would not be as happy as you could have been. Maybe even killed yourself.
I asked for Strength ...and my god gave me difficulties which I couldn't overcome, breaking my spirit.
I asked for Wisdom...and my god gave me problems I couldn't solve, making me feel stupid and worthless.
I asked for Prosperity...and my god caused the stock market to crash, hoping to make me work harder. Instead I threw myself off the nearest skycraper.
I asked for Courage….and my god beset me with so many obstacles, I eventually stumbled and lost my nerve and confidence.
I asked for Love...and my god gave me so many troubled people to help that I cracked and started hating them all.
I asked for Favors...and my god gave me opportunities which could not be realised.
I received nothing I wanted...And I received everything I didn't need.
Live life full of fear, face as many obstacles as possible and know that any mortal would falter and wilt.
Send this message to those of your enemies who have a pathological inability to resist such bullshit, and watch them lap it up unthinkingly. Send it to anybody that you consider an ENEMY, even if you yourself are gullible enough to believe in all this rubbish. If this message returns to you, you can be sure that your circle of friendship is made out of idiots who take disingenuous chain mails at face value.
"What does not destroy me only leaves me crippled for life" - Conan the Tribal Shaman (A retired barbarian with slipped discs, chondromalacia patellae and a dislocated shoulder)
(Original version of this chain mail)
Now maybe, just like the last time, the original author will emerge from the wilderness of the Internet to contact me and scold me.
So the psychiatrist decided, after having consumed too much material encouraging self-indulgent emotional masturbation in a vacuum, decided to help the man: by sorting through his problems on his own, he would become a more emotionally stable person. The man then excused himself and went to the bathroom, and the psychiatrist congratulated himself on not inculcating in the man a crutch mentality.
The psychiatrist continued to wait because he expected that, at any moment, the man would come out from the bathroom.
Nothing happened!
In fact, the man had gone into the bathroom and slashed his wrists, ending his misery. He died.
What the psychiatrist, in the self-congratulatory mood brought on by consuming too much motivational and self-help material, did not understand was that struggle is not always good, and that some people are bested by it, giving up in exhaustion, defeat and despair, and that imputing teleological meaning from his god's plan into explaining every facet of the world would obviate his profession (and indeed, most of human free will, at least in relation to fellow humans).
Often, struggle is exactly what we don't need in our life, since life sucks as much as it does already.
If your god made you go through your life with your path strewn with obstacles, he would b a sadist. You would not be as happy as you could have been. Maybe even killed yourself.
I asked for Strength ...and my god gave me difficulties which I couldn't overcome, breaking my spirit.
I asked for Wisdom...and my god gave me problems I couldn't solve, making me feel stupid and worthless.
I asked for Prosperity...and my god caused the stock market to crash, hoping to make me work harder. Instead I threw myself off the nearest skycraper.
I asked for Courage….and my god beset me with so many obstacles, I eventually stumbled and lost my nerve and confidence.
I asked for Love...and my god gave me so many troubled people to help that I cracked and started hating them all.
I asked for Favors...and my god gave me opportunities which could not be realised.
I received nothing I wanted...And I received everything I didn't need.
Live life full of fear, face as many obstacles as possible and know that any mortal would falter and wilt.
Send this message to those of your enemies who have a pathological inability to resist such bullshit, and watch them lap it up unthinkingly. Send it to anybody that you consider an ENEMY, even if you yourself are gullible enough to believe in all this rubbish. If this message returns to you, you can be sure that your circle of friendship is made out of idiots who take disingenuous chain mails at face value.
"What does not destroy me only leaves me crippled for life" - Conan the Tribal Shaman (A retired barbarian with slipped discs, chondromalacia patellae and a dislocated shoulder)
(Original version of this chain mail)
Now maybe, just like the last time, the original author will emerge from the wilderness of the Internet to contact me and scold me.
Post ID: 112914986656534361
"The saying "Getting there is half the fun" became obsolete with the advent of commercial airlines." - Henry J. Tillman
Random Playlist Song: Hasse - Cleofide 2-07 Aria GANDARTE Voi che adorate i
***
Someone on why doing group work with girls is bad: when ur in it you always gotta take the initiative
most of em expect to be fed data and intructions on a platter and some some think youre being bossy when you do that
some insist on their way even when youve done it before and know that their way is going to run intotrouble
and when treouble comes they sart in pms mode and shoot everything off the ceiling
thats the gist
most of em are likethat. there are some gems though
I wonder what the girls think about doing group work with boys.
***
I hope this is a subtle parody by some bored NUS student of the attitudes of the Moral Majority:
"Rock concert is negative
Most Rock Concert is teachign negative falues, which are geenrally unfruitful & potentially destructive for a normal society life, i.e.: values of ahtred, violende, vengeance, masochist/sadist, body piercing, sex-deviation, etc. Activities related to these kinf od groups shoudl not be condoned, yet refrained,a nd banned as necessary. I belive that A country (i.e.: Singapore) would be much better of without these kidn of negative influences. A thorough study by the school/experts from/of social/psychology might need to be done to suport this cause..
Regards:
Michael"
***
Managing civil disobedience - "Its calibrated approach to coercion may be one of the least appreciated of the PAP's many skills. Indeed, stating it this way will probably provoke some incredulity. After all, even some of the PAP's most ardent supporters think it is guilty of occasional overkill. PAP leaders themselves are not coy about their macho side. Mr Lee Kuan Yew talks of knuckledusters and nation-building with equal aplomb. If the PAP were to develop and market a computer game, it would be a cross between SimCity and Street Fighter."
Archived here
Archived Diary of a Chinese High Boy
Smurfs used as shock treatment in UNICEF's fundraising drive - "Cartoon characters' village bombed in anti-war TV commercial"
Hogwarts Dancers - "A dance team dancing out a Harry Potter skit."
This is very screwy.
Big Music Sues Schoolgirl, Mainstream Media Doesn't Care - "People are paying attention online, but mainstream reporters aren't covering the Britanny Chan outrage. Nor are they showing any interest in the stories about the three American mothers -- Patricia Santangelo, Dawnell Leadbetter and Tanya Andersen -- who, by refusing to cave in to the RIAA's spurious "settlement" offfers, have started a protest which could spread around the world."
Over here they would have caved in, scolded their children and apologised profusely to the RIAS. Oh well.
I pity the staff at the Feedback Unit, for some of the postings on the forums are really painful to read.
***
Big Brother Awards International
"watching the watchmen worldwide
Government agencies and private companies are increasingly violating the privacy of people everywhere. Enormous amounts of personal data are being collected, stored and processed - often illegally - in the pursuit of more efficient marketing, greater social control, and more powerful mechanisms for monitoring of the citizen.
Fighting crime by committing one appears to be the future solution for law enforcement agencies in the information society of the 21 century. But - who watches the watchmen?
Every year Privacy International and a growing number of affiliate human rights groups present the Big Brother Awards to government agencies, private companies and individuals who have excelled in the violation of our privacy.
The juries worldwide consist of lawyers, academics, consultants, journalists, civil right activists..."
Random Playlist Song: Hasse - Cleofide 2-07 Aria GANDARTE Voi che adorate i
***
Someone on why doing group work with girls is bad: when ur in it you always gotta take the initiative
most of em expect to be fed data and intructions on a platter and some some think youre being bossy when you do that
some insist on their way even when youve done it before and know that their way is going to run intotrouble
and when treouble comes they sart in pms mode and shoot everything off the ceiling
thats the gist
most of em are likethat. there are some gems though
I wonder what the girls think about doing group work with boys.
***
I hope this is a subtle parody by some bored NUS student of the attitudes of the Moral Majority:
"Rock concert is negative
Most Rock Concert is teachign negative falues, which are geenrally unfruitful & potentially destructive for a normal society life, i.e.: values of ahtred, violende, vengeance, masochist/sadist, body piercing, sex-deviation, etc. Activities related to these kinf od groups shoudl not be condoned, yet refrained,a nd banned as necessary. I belive that A country (i.e.: Singapore) would be much better of without these kidn of negative influences. A thorough study by the school/experts from/of social/psychology might need to be done to suport this cause..
Regards:
Michael"
***
Managing civil disobedience - "Its calibrated approach to coercion may be one of the least appreciated of the PAP's many skills. Indeed, stating it this way will probably provoke some incredulity. After all, even some of the PAP's most ardent supporters think it is guilty of occasional overkill. PAP leaders themselves are not coy about their macho side. Mr Lee Kuan Yew talks of knuckledusters and nation-building with equal aplomb. If the PAP were to develop and market a computer game, it would be a cross between SimCity and Street Fighter."
Archived here
Archived Diary of a Chinese High Boy
Smurfs used as shock treatment in UNICEF's fundraising drive - "Cartoon characters' village bombed in anti-war TV commercial"
Hogwarts Dancers - "A dance team dancing out a Harry Potter skit."
This is very screwy.
Big Music Sues Schoolgirl, Mainstream Media Doesn't Care - "People are paying attention online, but mainstream reporters aren't covering the Britanny Chan outrage. Nor are they showing any interest in the stories about the three American mothers -- Patricia Santangelo, Dawnell Leadbetter and Tanya Andersen -- who, by refusing to cave in to the RIAA's spurious "settlement" offfers, have started a protest which could spread around the world."
Over here they would have caved in, scolded their children and apologised profusely to the RIAS. Oh well.
I pity the staff at the Feedback Unit, for some of the postings on the forums are really painful to read.
***
Big Brother Awards International
"watching the watchmen worldwide
Government agencies and private companies are increasingly violating the privacy of people everywhere. Enormous amounts of personal data are being collected, stored and processed - often illegally - in the pursuit of more efficient marketing, greater social control, and more powerful mechanisms for monitoring of the citizen.
Fighting crime by committing one appears to be the future solution for law enforcement agencies in the information society of the 21 century. But - who watches the watchmen?
Every year Privacy International and a growing number of affiliate human rights groups present the Big Brother Awards to government agencies, private companies and individuals who have excelled in the violation of our privacy.
The juries worldwide consist of lawyers, academics, consultants, journalists, civil right activists..."
Post ID: 112913899611115274
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
"On average, men get paid more money than women. Most people think this is unfair, but let's look at it another way. Given a choice, most people would rather spend money than earn money. And who is doing all the spending?
If you don't believe that women spend most of the money, just walk into any Sears store and see what they're selling. If you're a male, you see maybe two things you might want-a second cordless drill (so you have a spare in the car) and a trickle charger, because you like how the look in the garage. That's all you want in the whole store. But SOMEONE is buying all that other stuff in there or sears wouldn't be in business. Someone is buying those fuzzy toilet seat covers. Someone is buying decorative covers for tissue boxes. Someone is buying place mats.
Who could it be?
Kids don't have money. Pets aren't allowed in Sears. By the process of elimination, we can conclude that women must be buying all that other stuff. Women are spending most of the money.
If you were from another planet, say Switzerland, and you only knew these two facts-1) Men earn most of the money, and 2) Women spend most of the money-what would you assume about who is holding whom by the whatchamacallits and swinging the person who owns the watchamacallits around in the air while yelling, "I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROAR!?"
It's a rhetorical question."
- Scott Adams, the Dilbert Future
I'd always quoted this section as: "Men may earn more, but women spend more. Which would you rather?"
A lot more pithy and rememberable, I think.
If you don't believe that women spend most of the money, just walk into any Sears store and see what they're selling. If you're a male, you see maybe two things you might want-a second cordless drill (so you have a spare in the car) and a trickle charger, because you like how the look in the garage. That's all you want in the whole store. But SOMEONE is buying all that other stuff in there or sears wouldn't be in business. Someone is buying those fuzzy toilet seat covers. Someone is buying decorative covers for tissue boxes. Someone is buying place mats.
Who could it be?
Kids don't have money. Pets aren't allowed in Sears. By the process of elimination, we can conclude that women must be buying all that other stuff. Women are spending most of the money.
If you were from another planet, say Switzerland, and you only knew these two facts-1) Men earn most of the money, and 2) Women spend most of the money-what would you assume about who is holding whom by the whatchamacallits and swinging the person who owns the watchamacallits around in the air while yelling, "I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROAR!?"
It's a rhetorical question."
- Scott Adams, the Dilbert Future
I'd always quoted this section as: "Men may earn more, but women spend more. Which would you rather?"
A lot more pithy and rememberable, I think.
Post ID: 112904574681783218
I think only Brit organisations (eg Schools, companies, municipal councils etc) are so ridiculously anxious about avoiding offence that they'll do things like try to ban the English flag.
It might be a compensatory mechanism, just like how they found that Southerners in the USA were more polite than Northerners, yet more ready to resort to violence.
New blog header pic:
Joe Camel would be proud
Post ID: 112900258689699819
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