What does: "casse toi pauvre con" mean in english? - Yahoo! Answers
""con" is most likely one of the trikiest words to translate from French in any other language.
Instead of trying to do such a thing about what has been said, let me just give you a few examples of how wide the implicit sense can change depending on the sentence, the adjectives used and the situation.
A "con" is literraly an "asshole". Now is the words does translate as "vagina" in slang, it's hardly ever intended to mean this. "con" is a concept by itself... it's just exists as it is, there's no real French synonym for the word.
A "jeune con" is a young fool. Someone that's young of age and has not lived enough years yet to have had life educating him.
A "petit con" is more like a "little moron". It can be a kid that keeps messins around. One will mostly use that expression when already quite pissed off. If used to refer at someone older than a young kid, it can also mean that one person considers another to be a "petit con" because that last one acted quite stupidly in reference to his age, causing trouble.
A "gros con" is the classical insult. When you treat someone on being a "gros con" it just means you consider he's a plain moron, that he lacks any kind of delicacy, politeness, education, brains... The word "gros" ("fat") just adds to the expression implying that the person is coarse and rude.
A "sale con". Well, if usually the word "con" implies the person is a bit stupid (or just acted stupid), in this expression there's no reference to any brains. A "sale con" translates better in an "evil bastard". A "sale con" is someone who acted or talked in such a way that other people got harmed for no good reason.
One would say that of someone that's been acting despicably. It's one of the worst qualifications one can put on someone else as it's not a conjonctural instul, it implies a real flaw in the personnae.
A "vieux con" is an "old fart". Most of the times it's a gently used expression that means no real harm. Of course you won't say it to the face of the elder you refer to.
Still, sometimes this can imply more than just gentleness and mean that the personn aimed it might be either a bit senile or living in the past and hanging in there despite everything.
A "pauvre con"... that one expression i finally have to treat :)
It's an extremely conjonctural expression. Depending on the atmosphere, the context and everything it can range from a buddy joke to a raw insult.
I won't translate it as it's quite hard to find the words, but when used by Sarkozy it just meant to show all the disrespect he had for that person in front of him that tried to insult him. "Pauvre con" refered there at some (supposed) incapacity of that man to use his brains correctly to come up with a better judgment.
basically, if that man hates the President, why would he stand there? He'd better spend his time someplace else than in the cheering crowd.
Now, quite often one can use the word "con" in a gentle and friendly way. To treat your friend a "con", "pauvre con", "gros con" usually means the sam kind of thing as slap on the cheeks. Just being buddies.
I'll call my best friend "cons" from time to time in the discussion just as one would say in the US something like "dude, you' re a dick" in the best possible way :)"
« J'ai sans doute les défauts de mes qualités, mais il est difficile, même quand on est président, de ne pas répondre à une insulte. Ce n'est pas parce qu'on est le président qu'on devient quelqu'un sur lequel on peut s'essuyer les pieds »
L'origine de Bert
Saturday, September 07, 2013
Friday, September 06, 2013
How Pornography is Humanising
Thea Pilarczyk's answer to Jobs: What's something that is common knowledge at your work place, but would be mind blowing to the rest of us? - Quora
"The first job I got out of college...the only job I could get...was working for a website that streamed adult videos on demand...
My job was as a "Describer"...I would watch the videos all day long, take screenshots, and then try to write the most enticing copy that I could (which often all ended up sounding the same, and used far too many exclamation points). I got pretty good at it...I used to be able to get through about 20 movies a day...
I had never seen a company so serious about avoiding sexual harassment charges...
Most smart employers (in the tech, entertainment, or advertising industries) actually value someone with adult industry experience. Adult distribution companies are far and beyond the most innovative; pioneering new advancements in media formats, payment models, and website features.
It's the adult industry that always determines the winners in the format wars. VHS vs. Betamax, Blu-Ray vs. HDDVD, and even the success of the DVD are all thanks to porn.
The company I worked for pioneered video on demand online, and created a successful digital rights management (DRM) system to avoid piracy before companies like Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, and Amazon ever even tried it. They also pioneered micro-payments before any Facebook or iOS games did.
Adult companies are flush with cash, so they can afford to take risks and try new things. So if you can get past the content, there is a ton of amazing stuff you can learn from companies like that. At least, that's what I tried to focus on during my time there, and how I spun it in future job interviews. It worked too, I don't regret my experience...
Johan Sundström: After changing jobs, did you ever do anything to resensitize and humanize your relation with sexuality (or however you would categorize the impacted part of your perceptions about things) — human awareness institute workshops, spiritual retreats or similar, and if so, what felt the most valuable to you?
... I did feel rather desensitized by it, as I said. But I wasn't dehumanized; rather, it was the opposite. I saw more humanity watching those films non-stop for eight hours a day, five days a week than I have ever seen in such a condensed timeframe since. Even some bold documentaries I've watched haven't held the same amount of raw humanity that I saw in most of those movies...
[I got to] rediscover sexuality in my own way. One good thing those films taught me is that sexuality and desire come in many forms, and that each is valuable, no matter how odd - or even gross - it may seem to me. It also taught me that there should be no shame in what you find attractive...rather, that you should celebrate it.
That sort of leads into my point about the humanity in porn...if ever there was a great equalizer, perhaps it is human sexuality. Aside from pure and unstaged violence (which I've had the fortune not to view), I can't think of anything that is more raw and basely human than people engaging in consensual, sexual acts.
This may sound ironic given the stereotype that most people think of: women with perfect hair, plastic surgery, and more makeup than skin, who were obviously hired for abilities other than acting. And of course there's the men with perfect muscles, no body hair, and faces that are cropped out of the frame so that they can be anyone...a blank canvas on which to project oneself. There doesn't seem to be much raw truth in that.
The thing is, these types of films are popular and well-known, but they make up only about 10% of the overall content at a site like the one I worked for. It may even be closer to 5%. Remember I said that we had to watch it all - amateur, alternative, and films that were "off the beaten track," so to speak. Those glossy hetero-normative films are the most well-known because they are the idea of what is normal and acceptable in this country, as far as sexuality goes. ("If you're going to do something as taboo as watch people having sex, then it should be Caucasian hetero sex between thin, perfect-looking young people with all of their limbs.") But just like most culturally acceptable things in this country, it happens to be in the minority.
I saw things that opened my eyes to parts of human nature I never even thought about. I watched films where there was no nudity, no intercourse, nothing but fully clothed women in a field, acting like waitresses for one another and having tennis matches...and yet it was strangely sensual.
I saw people of all shapes, sizes, ages (18+), races, sexual orientations, self-identities, and defects. I guarantee you that there is no other entertainment genre on Earth that is as inclusive as adult films. There is a role for anyone.
Once I saw a girl with whom I graduated high school in a starring role, which made me think about my friends, my neighbors, and my community very differently.
I began to understand other parts of the world by seeing what kind of films they produced...both what was popular and acceptable there, and what was banned but produced there anyway with great enthusiasm. I understood how Brazil views transsexuals before I ever learned that they speak Portuguese (both of which I learned at this job, by the way). I won't mention what I learned about Japan.
I learned that relationships of a different kind than my own aren't to be looked down upon. As an example, I was fairly naive about homosexuality. What I did know, based on the poorly informed opinions of my former classmates in middle and high school, was that homosexuals were deviants and perverts (as I said, stupid and naive). So naturally, I had some anxiety about watching such films, expecting them to be harsh and disturbing. But what I saw completely blew my mind: compared to the hetero films I saw, where women were routinely used as objects, the partners in gay films were far and away more loving, caring, and considerate of one another - as if they really cared. These films seemed like lovemaking, rather than carnal needs being met. The difference was striking, and completely changed my view of homosexual relationships.
I saw films that...well, I won't describe them here because this is a PG site. I've gotten too close to the line already...hopefully I haven't crossed it. (That happens sometimes after having gone through this experience - I get to talking about it, and I forget that not everyone is as comfortable with it as I've become.) But suffice it to say that I learned pornography is not always about sex - more often it's about pleasure, and the definition of pleasure covers a wide range indeed.
I'm rambling now, and have more than answered your question. But it brings me to some conclusions I wish to share. These are the worldly things that I learned while watching porn for eight hours a day, five days a week, for a year:
These are the lessons I learned which, I would like to think, have made me a better human. So I can't rightly say that I have ever wanted to "recover" from this experience, and go back to being who I was beforehand. Who I am now is too valuable."
"The first job I got out of college...the only job I could get...was working for a website that streamed adult videos on demand...
My job was as a "Describer"...I would watch the videos all day long, take screenshots, and then try to write the most enticing copy that I could (which often all ended up sounding the same, and used far too many exclamation points). I got pretty good at it...I used to be able to get through about 20 movies a day...
I had never seen a company so serious about avoiding sexual harassment charges...
Most smart employers (in the tech, entertainment, or advertising industries) actually value someone with adult industry experience. Adult distribution companies are far and beyond the most innovative; pioneering new advancements in media formats, payment models, and website features.
It's the adult industry that always determines the winners in the format wars. VHS vs. Betamax, Blu-Ray vs. HDDVD, and even the success of the DVD are all thanks to porn.
The company I worked for pioneered video on demand online, and created a successful digital rights management (DRM) system to avoid piracy before companies like Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, and Amazon ever even tried it. They also pioneered micro-payments before any Facebook or iOS games did.
Adult companies are flush with cash, so they can afford to take risks and try new things. So if you can get past the content, there is a ton of amazing stuff you can learn from companies like that. At least, that's what I tried to focus on during my time there, and how I spun it in future job interviews. It worked too, I don't regret my experience...
Johan Sundström: After changing jobs, did you ever do anything to resensitize and humanize your relation with sexuality (or however you would categorize the impacted part of your perceptions about things) — human awareness institute workshops, spiritual retreats or similar, and if so, what felt the most valuable to you?
... I did feel rather desensitized by it, as I said. But I wasn't dehumanized; rather, it was the opposite. I saw more humanity watching those films non-stop for eight hours a day, five days a week than I have ever seen in such a condensed timeframe since. Even some bold documentaries I've watched haven't held the same amount of raw humanity that I saw in most of those movies...
[I got to] rediscover sexuality in my own way. One good thing those films taught me is that sexuality and desire come in many forms, and that each is valuable, no matter how odd - or even gross - it may seem to me. It also taught me that there should be no shame in what you find attractive...rather, that you should celebrate it.
That sort of leads into my point about the humanity in porn...if ever there was a great equalizer, perhaps it is human sexuality. Aside from pure and unstaged violence (which I've had the fortune not to view), I can't think of anything that is more raw and basely human than people engaging in consensual, sexual acts.
This may sound ironic given the stereotype that most people think of: women with perfect hair, plastic surgery, and more makeup than skin, who were obviously hired for abilities other than acting. And of course there's the men with perfect muscles, no body hair, and faces that are cropped out of the frame so that they can be anyone...a blank canvas on which to project oneself. There doesn't seem to be much raw truth in that.
The thing is, these types of films are popular and well-known, but they make up only about 10% of the overall content at a site like the one I worked for. It may even be closer to 5%. Remember I said that we had to watch it all - amateur, alternative, and films that were "off the beaten track," so to speak. Those glossy hetero-normative films are the most well-known because they are the idea of what is normal and acceptable in this country, as far as sexuality goes. ("If you're going to do something as taboo as watch people having sex, then it should be Caucasian hetero sex between thin, perfect-looking young people with all of their limbs.") But just like most culturally acceptable things in this country, it happens to be in the minority.
I saw things that opened my eyes to parts of human nature I never even thought about. I watched films where there was no nudity, no intercourse, nothing but fully clothed women in a field, acting like waitresses for one another and having tennis matches...and yet it was strangely sensual.
I saw people of all shapes, sizes, ages (18+), races, sexual orientations, self-identities, and defects. I guarantee you that there is no other entertainment genre on Earth that is as inclusive as adult films. There is a role for anyone.
Once I saw a girl with whom I graduated high school in a starring role, which made me think about my friends, my neighbors, and my community very differently.
I began to understand other parts of the world by seeing what kind of films they produced...both what was popular and acceptable there, and what was banned but produced there anyway with great enthusiasm. I understood how Brazil views transsexuals before I ever learned that they speak Portuguese (both of which I learned at this job, by the way). I won't mention what I learned about Japan.
I learned that relationships of a different kind than my own aren't to be looked down upon. As an example, I was fairly naive about homosexuality. What I did know, based on the poorly informed opinions of my former classmates in middle and high school, was that homosexuals were deviants and perverts (as I said, stupid and naive). So naturally, I had some anxiety about watching such films, expecting them to be harsh and disturbing. But what I saw completely blew my mind: compared to the hetero films I saw, where women were routinely used as objects, the partners in gay films were far and away more loving, caring, and considerate of one another - as if they really cared. These films seemed like lovemaking, rather than carnal needs being met. The difference was striking, and completely changed my view of homosexual relationships.
I saw films that...well, I won't describe them here because this is a PG site. I've gotten too close to the line already...hopefully I haven't crossed it. (That happens sometimes after having gone through this experience - I get to talking about it, and I forget that not everyone is as comfortable with it as I've become.) But suffice it to say that I learned pornography is not always about sex - more often it's about pleasure, and the definition of pleasure covers a wide range indeed.
I'm rambling now, and have more than answered your question. But it brings me to some conclusions I wish to share. These are the worldly things that I learned while watching porn for eight hours a day, five days a week, for a year:
- To be tolerant of others. When you're forced to view acts that you're taught are deplorable, you begin to see the humanity in them. You begin to see the humans behind them. You learn to accept that the points of view which differ from your own are valid, even though you may still disagree with them.
- That everyone deserves a chance. It doesn't matter how old, fat, scarred, or inexperienced they are...it doesn't matter where they're from, what race they are, or what they were or were not born with. Anyone can be very talented if you just give them a chance to show it.
- That the people dominating a situation aren't necessarily the ones in control. Often the people who try to look like they're in charge are actually the ones with the least amount of influence.
- That it's possible to be feminine and womanly without sacrificing any power.
These are the lessons I learned which, I would like to think, have made me a better human. So I can't rightly say that I have ever wanted to "recover" from this experience, and go back to being who I was beforehand. Who I am now is too valuable."
Post ID: 1534397242653163517
Thursday, September 05, 2013
Peace for our time
"Libya & Syria (Obama)
Iraq & Afghanistan (George W Bush)
Panama, Iraq, Somolia (sic) (George W Bush)
Beirut & Grenada (Reagan)
Vietnam (Nixon)
Bosnia & Kosovo (Clinton)
'War becomes perpetual when it is used as a rationale for peace' - Norman Solomon"
Unfortunately, the maker of this poster forgot other important examples:
Korea (Truman)
The South (Lincoln)
Pearl Harbor (Roosevelt)
Poland (Chamberlain)
I'm not sure why people think "roll over and surrender" is a recipe for peace.
"Peace for our time", though, maybe.
Or, perhaps, the true answer is that War is only Evil when a Western Power is the 'aggressor'.
Post ID: 228009925346013711
Serina Wee Video
So apparently there's a Serina Wee Video floating around out there:
Post ID: 1274564781134268910
Tuesday, September 03, 2013
Stalkers of the World, Unite!
"She didn’t want to like him more than he liked her.
“We’ll figure it out.” He set his hand down on the book of fairy tales, seeming to notice it for the first time. “You were reading this?”
She nodded. “I was kind of surprised to find it on your bookshelf. I didn’t really read fairy tales when I was a kid. I thought they were … I don’t know, too juvenile? But they’re different than I thought. Darker. So far, I think ‘The Little Mermaid’ is my favorite.”
“You like sad endings?” he asked.
“Maybe.” Mira swallowed. She hadn’t thought of it like that, but maybe it was true. She didn’t love the romance in the story; she loved the yearning, the despair, the mermaid’s noble sacrifice. It stabbed her heart and made her feel in a way that happy endings didn’t.
Because if you could love someone, and keep loving them, without being loved back … then that love had to be real. It hurt too much to be anything else.
“Sad endings are what I know,” she said."
--- Kill Me Softly / Sarah Cross
On a non-stalking/Romantic theme:
"“What about you?” she asked, to change the subject. “What’s your favorite fairy tale?”
Grimacing, Felix stretched out on the bed. “I don’t really like fairy tales.”
“But … you have this book.” It didn’t fit with the rest of his stuff. Why would he keep it if he didn’t like it?
“It’s been in the family a while,” he said. “My dad would be annoyed if I threw it away. And I used to like them. But I guess the novelty wore off. I got sick of reading about torture and dismemberment and … happy endings that get handed out at random, to people who don’t deserve them.”"
“We’ll figure it out.” He set his hand down on the book of fairy tales, seeming to notice it for the first time. “You were reading this?”
She nodded. “I was kind of surprised to find it on your bookshelf. I didn’t really read fairy tales when I was a kid. I thought they were … I don’t know, too juvenile? But they’re different than I thought. Darker. So far, I think ‘The Little Mermaid’ is my favorite.”
“You like sad endings?” he asked.
“Maybe.” Mira swallowed. She hadn’t thought of it like that, but maybe it was true. She didn’t love the romance in the story; she loved the yearning, the despair, the mermaid’s noble sacrifice. It stabbed her heart and made her feel in a way that happy endings didn’t.
Because if you could love someone, and keep loving them, without being loved back … then that love had to be real. It hurt too much to be anything else.
“Sad endings are what I know,” she said."
--- Kill Me Softly / Sarah Cross
On a non-stalking/Romantic theme:
"“What about you?” she asked, to change the subject. “What’s your favorite fairy tale?”
Grimacing, Felix stretched out on the bed. “I don’t really like fairy tales.”
“But … you have this book.” It didn’t fit with the rest of his stuff. Why would he keep it if he didn’t like it?
“It’s been in the family a while,” he said. “My dad would be annoyed if I threw it away. And I used to like them. But I guess the novelty wore off. I got sick of reading about torture and dismemberment and … happy endings that get handed out at random, to people who don’t deserve them.”"
Post ID: 808212208419884681
Realising your dreams
"Dreams that do come true can be as unsettling as those that don't." - Brett Butler
***
Today:
US woman, 64, makes history with Cuba-Florida swim
"Diana Nyad swam into the history books Monday, completing a marathon three-day crossing from Cuba to Florida to become the first person to do so without a protective shark cage.
The 64-year-old American, who left a Havana yacht club early Saturday, arrived on a Key West beach to realize her lifetime quest after four previous attempts failed amid stormy weather and jellyfish attacks.
"I've got three messages," a visibly exhausted Nyad, her face puffy and sunburned, told cheering crowds as she walked ashore.
"One is, we should never, ever give up. Two is, you never are too old to chase your dreams."
"Three is, it looks like a solitary sport, but it's a team," Nyad added in a nod to her supporters"
In July, a month and a half ago:
Susan Taylor dies during English Channel charity swim
"Susan Taylor, 34, from Barwell, Leicestershire, died in Boulogne on Sunday after she "suddenly collapsed" on the final part of the challenge.
She was doing the 21-mile (34km) endurance test to raise money for Rainbows Hospice in Loughborough and Diabetes UK...
In the statement, the family said: "Susan was an experienced long-distance swimmer and had prepared tirelessly for the challenge...
"She was a very good swimmer; you used to see her going up and down in the fast lane at the pool and all the staff there knew her and got to know what she was doing"...
Earlier this year Ms Taylor spoke to BBC Radio Leicester about her determination to complete the challenge.
She gave up her full time job as a chartered accountant to dedicate more time to training and often swam for up to six hours a day.
The idea of first swimming the Channel came to her as a child.
She said: "A lady said to me, when I was going to a swimming gala, would you swim the Channel when you're older? I can remember looking up to the old lady and saying 'yes I would'.
"For some reason I decided I hadn't achieved that goal so I decided to charter a boat and swim the Channel."
"I'm quite a determined person so when I decided to do it I do what I say I'm going to do," she added...
Irish swimmer Paraic Casey, 45, died while attempting to swim the Channel in July 2012."
Survivorship bias: the dirty secret of motivational shit.
And in this case, it's literally survivorship bias.
***
Today:
US woman, 64, makes history with Cuba-Florida swim
"Diana Nyad swam into the history books Monday, completing a marathon three-day crossing from Cuba to Florida to become the first person to do so without a protective shark cage.
The 64-year-old American, who left a Havana yacht club early Saturday, arrived on a Key West beach to realize her lifetime quest after four previous attempts failed amid stormy weather and jellyfish attacks.
"I've got three messages," a visibly exhausted Nyad, her face puffy and sunburned, told cheering crowds as she walked ashore.
"One is, we should never, ever give up. Two is, you never are too old to chase your dreams."
"Three is, it looks like a solitary sport, but it's a team," Nyad added in a nod to her supporters"
In July, a month and a half ago:
Susan Taylor dies during English Channel charity swim
"Susan Taylor, 34, from Barwell, Leicestershire, died in Boulogne on Sunday after she "suddenly collapsed" on the final part of the challenge.
She was doing the 21-mile (34km) endurance test to raise money for Rainbows Hospice in Loughborough and Diabetes UK...
In the statement, the family said: "Susan was an experienced long-distance swimmer and had prepared tirelessly for the challenge...
"She was a very good swimmer; you used to see her going up and down in the fast lane at the pool and all the staff there knew her and got to know what she was doing"...
Earlier this year Ms Taylor spoke to BBC Radio Leicester about her determination to complete the challenge.
She gave up her full time job as a chartered accountant to dedicate more time to training and often swam for up to six hours a day.
The idea of first swimming the Channel came to her as a child.
She said: "A lady said to me, when I was going to a swimming gala, would you swim the Channel when you're older? I can remember looking up to the old lady and saying 'yes I would'.
"For some reason I decided I hadn't achieved that goal so I decided to charter a boat and swim the Channel."
"I'm quite a determined person so when I decided to do it I do what I say I'm going to do," she added...
Irish swimmer Paraic Casey, 45, died while attempting to swim the Channel in July 2012."
Survivorship bias: the dirty secret of motivational shit.
And in this case, it's literally survivorship bias.
Post ID: 320199559314003655
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Perhaps one of the most interesting words in the English language today
This is a famous passage which I first heard this in the form of a WAV file with the first movement of Spring from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons in Secondary One (in 1996):
As 13 year olds, we understandably found it funny, but listening to this still brings a smile to my face - and not just due to nostalgia.
Today, someone sent me a variant: a comedy clip with a bearded Indian man reciting a similar script (slower, with poorer delivery and with annoying laughter in the background):
(this is almost twice as long in length)
I did some research and this comes from a longer sketch where the chap is talking about how "Fuck" has replaced "God" as the most important word in the English language, thanks to Nietzsche:
The video information dates the original sketch to 1980:
"Osho used this sketch on the word fuck first in a talk in 1980 and repeated it again in this later talk. We have seen the original of this sketch being attributed to Jack Wagner, George Carlin and Monty Python - no one seems to be sure.
"When Friedrich Nietzsche declared, "God is dead," he himself became utterly helpless no consolation, no hope, no meaning. He had to go through a long process of insanity.
Nietzsche seems to me to be the most important figure that has dominated the world in this century. Without any argument his statement has infiltrated into every mind. But he was not aware of the implications. I have no problem if God is dead. There is no need to mourn his death.
The problem is that if God is dead, then you lose the most important word in your language and you will need a substitute. God was one end, one extreme, and when one extreme disappears from your mental vision, the necessary and inevitable is that you will fall to the other extreme.
And that's what has happened, Milarepa. Instead of God, `fuck' has become the most important word in our language. Even if Friedrich Nietzsche comes back, he will be surprised and he will try to resurrect somehow the dead God, because this is stupid. But you will need a whole report on it, a whole research.
One of the most interesting words in the English language today is the word `fuck'. It is a magical word. Just by its sound it can describe pain, pleasure, hate and love. In language it falls into many grammatical categories. It can be used as a verb, both transitive, "John fucked Mary," and intransitive, "Mary was fucked by John", and as a noun, "Mary is a fine fuck." It can be used as an adjective, "Mary is fucking beautiful."
As you can see, there are not many words with the versatility of fuck. Besides the sexual meaning, there are also the following uses:
Ignorance: Fucked if I know.
Trouble: I guess I am fucked now!
Fraud: I got fucked at the used car lot.
Aggression: Fuck you!
Displeasure: What the fuck is going on here?
Difficulty: I can't understand this fucking job.
Incompetence: He is a fuck-off.
Suspicion: What the fuck are you doing?
Enjoyment: I had a fucking good time.
Request: Get the fuck out of here.
Hostility: I'm going to knock your fucking head off.
Greeting: How the fuck are you?
Apathy: Who gives a fuck?
Innovation: Get a bigger fucking hammer.
Surprise: Fuck! You scared the shit out of me!
Anxiety: Today is really fucked.
And it is very healthy if every morning you do it as a transcendental meditation just when you get up, first thing, repeat the mantra "fuck you" five times; it clears your throat too!"
Who Osho was, I didn't know. The only candidate was Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, né Chandra Mohan Jain, aka Acharya Rajneesh.
I was quite skeptical given that Wikipedia positions him as a mystic/guru rather than a comedian, but it does mention his "comedic talent", and photos match up.
A slightly modified version turns up on UseNet, dated September 1984:
"It seems there is some interest in the word 'fuck', I haven't been around the NET for some time now (having changed jobs), but have started reading it lately, and thought I'd submit the following item. As Tom Cruise put it in Risky Business, once in a while you just have to say "What the fuck!"
IMPROVE YOUR SPEACH - FUCK YOU
Perhaps one of the most interesting words in the English language today is the word "FUCK". It is one of those magical words that, just by the sound, can describe pain, pleasure, hate, and love. "FUCK", as most words in the English language, takes its name from the German word "friden" which means to strike.
In language, "FUCK" falls into many grammatical categories. It can be used as a verb, both intransitive (Mary was fucked by John) and transitive (John fucked Mary). As an adverb (Mary is fucking interested in John) and as a noun (Mary is a fine fuck). It can also be used as an adjective (Mary is a fucking beautiful girl). As you can see, there are not many words with the versatility of "FUCK".
Besides the sexual meaning, there are the following uses:
Fraud.....................I got fucked at the used car lot.
Dismay....................Oh, fuck it!
Trouble...................I guess I'm fucked now.
Agression.................Fuck you!
Difficulty................I can't understand this fucking job.
Displeasure...............What the fuck is going on here?
Incompetence..............He is a "fuck-off".
Ignorance.................Fuck if I know.
Apathy....................Who gives a fuck?
Disdain...................The fuck you can.
I know you can think of many more uses. But, with all these uses how can anyone be offended when you say "FUCK"?
We can use this word more often in our daily speach. It adds to our prestige.
Say LOUD and CLEAR:............."FUCK YOU".
Since none of the other stuff was rotated, I didn't rotate this...Enjoy."
Of course, the best version is the classic with Spring:
"Perhaps one of the most interesting words in the English language today, is the word fuck. Out of all the English words that begin with the letter 'f' ...fuck is the only word referred to as 'the f word... It's the one magical word. Just by its sound can describe pain, pleasure, hate and love. Fuck, as most words in the English language is derived from German ...the word fuieken, which means to strike.
In English, fuck falls into many grammatical categories:
As a transitive verb for instance.. John fucked Shirley.
As an intransitive verb... Shirley fucks.
Its meaning is not always sexual, it can be used as...
An adjective such as... John's doing all the fucking work.
As part of an adverb... Shirley talks too fucking much.
As an adverb enhancing an adjective... Shirley is fucking beautiful.
As a noun... I don't give a fuck.
As part of a word... absofuckinglutely -or- infuckingcredible.
And as almost every word in a sentence... Fuck the fucking fuckers.
As you must realize, there aren't too many words with the versatility of fuck...such as these examples describing situations such as:
Fraud: I got fucked at the used car lot.
Dismay: ahhh fuck it.
Trouble: I guess I'm really fucked now.
Aggression: Don't fuck with me buddy.
Difficulty: I don't understand this fucking question.
Inquiry: Who the fuck was that?
Dissatisfaction: I don't like what the fuck is going on here.
Incompetence: He's a fuck-off.
Dismissal: Why don't you go outside and play hide and go fuck yourself...
I'm sure you can think of many more examples.
With all these multi-purpose applications, how can anyone be offended when you use the word. We say use this unique, flexible word more often in your daily speech.
It will identify the quality of your character immediately.
Say it loudly and proudly: FUCK YOU!"
As 13 year olds, we understandably found it funny, but listening to this still brings a smile to my face - and not just due to nostalgia.
Today, someone sent me a variant: a comedy clip with a bearded Indian man reciting a similar script (slower, with poorer delivery and with annoying laughter in the background):
(this is almost twice as long in length)
I did some research and this comes from a longer sketch where the chap is talking about how "Fuck" has replaced "God" as the most important word in the English language, thanks to Nietzsche:
The video information dates the original sketch to 1980:
"Osho used this sketch on the word fuck first in a talk in 1980 and repeated it again in this later talk. We have seen the original of this sketch being attributed to Jack Wagner, George Carlin and Monty Python - no one seems to be sure.
"When Friedrich Nietzsche declared, "God is dead," he himself became utterly helpless no consolation, no hope, no meaning. He had to go through a long process of insanity.
Nietzsche seems to me to be the most important figure that has dominated the world in this century. Without any argument his statement has infiltrated into every mind. But he was not aware of the implications. I have no problem if God is dead. There is no need to mourn his death.
The problem is that if God is dead, then you lose the most important word in your language and you will need a substitute. God was one end, one extreme, and when one extreme disappears from your mental vision, the necessary and inevitable is that you will fall to the other extreme.
And that's what has happened, Milarepa. Instead of God, `fuck' has become the most important word in our language. Even if Friedrich Nietzsche comes back, he will be surprised and he will try to resurrect somehow the dead God, because this is stupid. But you will need a whole report on it, a whole research.
One of the most interesting words in the English language today is the word `fuck'. It is a magical word. Just by its sound it can describe pain, pleasure, hate and love. In language it falls into many grammatical categories. It can be used as a verb, both transitive, "John fucked Mary," and intransitive, "Mary was fucked by John", and as a noun, "Mary is a fine fuck." It can be used as an adjective, "Mary is fucking beautiful."
As you can see, there are not many words with the versatility of fuck. Besides the sexual meaning, there are also the following uses:
Ignorance: Fucked if I know.
Trouble: I guess I am fucked now!
Fraud: I got fucked at the used car lot.
Aggression: Fuck you!
Displeasure: What the fuck is going on here?
Difficulty: I can't understand this fucking job.
Incompetence: He is a fuck-off.
Suspicion: What the fuck are you doing?
Enjoyment: I had a fucking good time.
Request: Get the fuck out of here.
Hostility: I'm going to knock your fucking head off.
Greeting: How the fuck are you?
Apathy: Who gives a fuck?
Innovation: Get a bigger fucking hammer.
Surprise: Fuck! You scared the shit out of me!
Anxiety: Today is really fucked.
And it is very healthy if every morning you do it as a transcendental meditation just when you get up, first thing, repeat the mantra "fuck you" five times; it clears your throat too!"
Who Osho was, I didn't know. The only candidate was Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, né Chandra Mohan Jain, aka Acharya Rajneesh.
I was quite skeptical given that Wikipedia positions him as a mystic/guru rather than a comedian, but it does mention his "comedic talent", and photos match up.
A slightly modified version turns up on UseNet, dated September 1984:
"It seems there is some interest in the word 'fuck', I haven't been around the NET for some time now (having changed jobs), but have started reading it lately, and thought I'd submit the following item. As Tom Cruise put it in Risky Business, once in a while you just have to say "What the fuck!"
IMPROVE YOUR SPEACH - FUCK YOU
Perhaps one of the most interesting words in the English language today is the word "FUCK". It is one of those magical words that, just by the sound, can describe pain, pleasure, hate, and love. "FUCK", as most words in the English language, takes its name from the German word "friden" which means to strike.
In language, "FUCK" falls into many grammatical categories. It can be used as a verb, both intransitive (Mary was fucked by John) and transitive (John fucked Mary). As an adverb (Mary is fucking interested in John) and as a noun (Mary is a fine fuck). It can also be used as an adjective (Mary is a fucking beautiful girl). As you can see, there are not many words with the versatility of "FUCK".
Besides the sexual meaning, there are the following uses:
Fraud.....................I got fucked at the used car lot.
Dismay....................Oh, fuck it!
Trouble...................I guess I'm fucked now.
Agression.................Fuck you!
Difficulty................I can't understand this fucking job.
Displeasure...............What the fuck is going on here?
Incompetence..............He is a "fuck-off".
Ignorance.................Fuck if I know.
Apathy....................Who gives a fuck?
Disdain...................The fuck you can.
I know you can think of many more uses. But, with all these uses how can anyone be offended when you say "FUCK"?
We can use this word more often in our daily speach. It adds to our prestige.
Say LOUD and CLEAR:............."FUCK YOU".
Since none of the other stuff was rotated, I didn't rotate this...Enjoy."
Of course, the best version is the classic with Spring:
"Perhaps one of the most interesting words in the English language today, is the word fuck. Out of all the English words that begin with the letter 'f' ...fuck is the only word referred to as 'the f word... It's the one magical word. Just by its sound can describe pain, pleasure, hate and love. Fuck, as most words in the English language is derived from German ...the word fuieken, which means to strike.
In English, fuck falls into many grammatical categories:
As a transitive verb for instance.. John fucked Shirley.
As an intransitive verb... Shirley fucks.
Its meaning is not always sexual, it can be used as...
An adjective such as... John's doing all the fucking work.
As part of an adverb... Shirley talks too fucking much.
As an adverb enhancing an adjective... Shirley is fucking beautiful.
As a noun... I don't give a fuck.
As part of a word... absofuckinglutely -or- infuckingcredible.
And as almost every word in a sentence... Fuck the fucking fuckers.
As you must realize, there aren't too many words with the versatility of fuck...such as these examples describing situations such as:
Fraud: I got fucked at the used car lot.
Dismay: ahhh fuck it.
Trouble: I guess I'm really fucked now.
Aggression: Don't fuck with me buddy.
Difficulty: I don't understand this fucking question.
Inquiry: Who the fuck was that?
Dissatisfaction: I don't like what the fuck is going on here.
Incompetence: He's a fuck-off.
Dismissal: Why don't you go outside and play hide and go fuck yourself...
I'm sure you can think of many more examples.
With all these multi-purpose applications, how can anyone be offended when you use the word. We say use this unique, flexible word more often in your daily speech.
It will identify the quality of your character immediately.
Say it loudly and proudly: FUCK YOU!"
Post ID: 5473566638637731485
Monday, August 26, 2013
Links - 26th August 2013
Women: Why do some women like to strike a pose where one leg is kicking backwards? Is there a name for this pose? - Quora - "I think the primary aesthetic reason is the enhancement of the booty curve. It also can elevate sexy-looking shoes so they're highlighted in a photo."
"the leg thing is a prerogative of very young (chronologically and emotionally) females. The sole purpose of this is to look perky since certain muscles get tensed, plus the pose adds the curves, as you can see from the referenced photo. Otherwise, it adds some romantic aura (below is the explanation from The Princess Diaries (2001 movie)"
Parisians issued advice on how to deal with Chinese tourists - ""A simple smile and a greeting in their language satisfies them completely," the guide issued by the Regional Tourism Council of the Paris Chamber of Commerce reads. "Rouanne ing gouang linne" is how it tries to explain the intricacies of saying "welcome" in Chinese... Last autumn, a Parisian hotelier caused outrage when he said his hotel would not serve Chinese tourists, because of their bad manners... Despite this, most Chinese remain enchanted with the city of lights. Almost 47 per cent of visitors from China say they wish to return to Paris within two years, according to the tourism council."
The day I asked the Home Office to help me go home – to Willesden Green - "I kept the (very polite) Home Office man on the phone for some time, all the while sounding more and more despondent at the fact there was no chance he would get me a taxi for my five-mile journey home. It wasn't the most considered form of political action I have ever engaged in. But I soon wondered if it might be the most effective. The tweets I posted summarising my conversation reached hundreds of thousands of people and trended second in the UK. Others began to text messages to the Home Office asking for help to "go home": road updates, train times and lost keys, all reported under the #racistvan hashtag, utilising both wit and disgust. People saw the humour in the mild trolling of the Home Office, and the responses demonstrated that they too recognised that this is a vicious, hateful campaign."
A form of trolling liberals would approve of
The Avengers (Power Rangers Style!) - YouTube
NeverSeconds - "One primary school pupil's daily dose of school dinners."
Is Indonesian Islam tolerant? - "Is Indonesian Islam better? In what way? If it is tolerant and inclusive because of its strong Sufi dimension, whereas some orientalists argue that Sufism is not originally Islamic, does it mean that Islam basically is intolerant and Indonesian Islam is less Islamic? How would we explain the recent increasing intolerance of Muslims in Indonesia, as reflected in the recent acts of terrorism in the name of religion, the Sampang Shiite tragedy, the rise of extremism among young Indonesian Muslims and the negative evaluation by the US Department of State in its 2011 International Religious Freedom Report? If this intolerance is seen as foreign influence, wasn’t Islam itself a foreign religion in the beginning?... In different degrees and levels of power, both the inclusive and exclusive, tolerant and intolerant Islam coexists throughout Islamic history. We cannot argue that any act of violence committed by an Indonesian Muslim is an anomaly, an exception, or due to foreign influence. That would be dishonest and would only prevent us from properly digesting and eventually overcoming the real problems."
Is Indonesia still a model of religious tolerance? - "Despite a rise in religiously-motivated violence at home, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono addressed a wealthy crowd at New York’s Pierre hotel on Thursday night and accepted an award from an interfaith group for his work promoting religious freedom and human rights... the US State Department released its annual report on religious freedom, which expresses concern about rising religious intolerance in Indonesia."
Is Will Smith Homophobic? - ""MOSCOW (AP) — Hollywood star Will Smith slapped a male television reporter who he said tried to kiss him on the lips as he walked down the red carpet for the Moscow premiere of "Men in Black III.""
If a woman slaps a man who tries to kiss her, is she misandristic?
Beautiful women 'more likely to be unfaithful' - ""Women with higher oestradiol reported a greater likelihood of flirting, kissing and having a serious affair with someone other than their primary partner and were marginally more likely to date another man." But while high-oestradiol women had significantly more long-term relationships the hormone wasn't related to the likelihood of one-night stands. "The results suggest although high-oestradiol women may not subjectively prefer long over short-term relationships they nonetheless adopt a strategy of serial monogamy""
Men prefer feminine features for a quick fling - "Studies on factors that influence human mating mostly focus on women, who have shown a similar preference for a hunkier man for a fling but a geekier one to settle down with -- possibly a more reliable bet for helping to raise children... They found that men rated women with more feminine features more highly for a fling. The preference was especially high among men who were already in a steady relationship. "When a man has secured a mate, the potential cost of being discovered may increase his choosiness regarding short-term partners relative to unpartnered men, who can better increase their short-term mating success by relaxing their standards," wrote the study authors. But in making long-term choices, men "may actually prefer less attractive/feminine women," they added. Previous research has found that attractive women are likelier to be unfaithful, particularly if their partner is unattractive. "If his partner cheats on him, a man risks raising a child which is not his own""
Marry a woman uglier than you
Psychology of infidelity: Why men and women cheat - "“Men and women view sex differently. They have different values. Women view sex more relationship-related than for procreation. Men tend to view sex more in terms of recreation, fun and even stress release”... “When the woman cheats, she’s more likely to cheat with a single male and to develop an intimate and more romantic relationship,” he said. “Women tend to cheat more along the lines of a romance novel, where they are looking for that kind of dynamic and romantic intimate attention and excitement. When a man cheats, he’s more likely to cheat in a series of one-night-stands. Men oftentimes are looking for that kind of high from a new sexual relationships from the attention of oftentimes a younger woman and to feel that kind of escape.” In his research, Dr. Ley said the one common ground amongst both sexes that cheat is a sense of psychological and biological excitement that oftentimes diminishes in long-term relationships. In fact, the aforementioned Journal of Marital and Family Therapy study showed 57 percent of men and 54 percent of women admitted to committing infidelity in any prior relationship... Openness: Those who are open to trying new things might be more likely to try infidelity as well... Dixit says men with high self-esteem and confidence are more likely to be unfaithful, while the opposite is true for women... age difference for infidelity is a bimodal distribution with men under 35 and over 60 years of age likely to cheat more. The same can be said for women in their 60s... “The more recent generations, the under 35 group, are perhaps a little less committed to the notion of marriage forever to one person just as there’s less commitment to one job for a lifetime”
Believing in TV romances could hurt your real-life relationship - "Those subjects who had a higher "belief" in romantic stories on television, as well as those who spent more time watching TV romance, were found to be less committed to their spouses and thought their alternatives to their spouse, including being single, were attractive options. They also felt that their real relationships "cost" them more in terms of personal freedoms and time spent alone -- and they were more aware of their partner's flaws."
Hung controversy draws focus from military's real importance - "Military forces around the world have not been known for their respect of human rights, nor their transparency. As organizations dedicated to the art and science of efficient eradication (or at least the incapacitation) of human beings designated as enemy, the armed forces can find themselves psychologically far-removed from the norms and rules of the civilian society they defend. Brigadier General John B. Murphy, a commanding general of Division Artillery of the U.S.' 100th Infantry Division during World War II, dismissed the idea of a democratic army as absurd, saying such a force would be an “undisciplined mob.” Many U.S. servicemen and women are probably still reminded of a similar philosophy by their boot camp sergeants: “You are here to defend democracy, not to practice it.” The significance of Taiwan's spectacular response to Hung's death is therefore twofold. First, it highlights the Taiwanese people's extraordinarily high regard for human rights. The 200,000 protesters amassing outside the Presidential Office for Hung showed the world the proudly humanistic spirit of Taiwan. It, however, also reveals the predicament of the nation's armed forces, which seem to have lost their purpose. The Taiwanese military should have built a reputation as one of the forces in the world most needed by its nation. It defends Taiwan from the world's most populous and armed (in terms of military size) nation, one which is also a major nuclear power. The mainland's People Liberation Army (PLA) has been advancing rapidly in recent years. Decades of military standoff and Taiwan's recent detente with the mainland seem to have stripped the military of its purpose and a substantial amount of respect."
Wisconsin Woman Accused of Holding Men Hostage for Sex - "Terry L. Boyd, 52, allegedly locked her roommate and another man inside a room at a residence on North Sixth Street, and refused to let them leave until one of the victims agreed to have sex with her."
Lawful Evil | Talking Philosophy - "While I am a professional philosopher, my view of ethics was significantly shaped by the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons alignment system... during WWII not all Germans were evil, but Germany acted as a rather evil nation. To be fair, most nations tend to be evil and, more specifically, lawful evil"
This charming charlie - "All images adapted from Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic series. All words adapted from Smiths lyrics written by Morrissey."
Many of these wouldn't be out of place in the original strips
Switzerland builds £1.5m drive-in sex chalets so prostitutes can service clients in privacy - "Authorities in Zurich are trying an innovative way to regulate prostitution by introducing 'sex boxes' as discreet solicitation areas... The boxes are equipped with panic alarms which can be activated if the clients or prostitutes feel in any danger. The sex workers will have to register with a health insurer and buy a 'work ticket' each night for £3.50 each night that they work. Prostitution in Zurich will be confined to the booths and two other zones after they open. This is intended to curb the large numbers of prostitutes working in residential areas and in the city centre.
Discrimination against non-motorists! There're class implications (even motorcyclists can't use them)
"the leg thing is a prerogative of very young (chronologically and emotionally) females. The sole purpose of this is to look perky since certain muscles get tensed, plus the pose adds the curves, as you can see from the referenced photo. Otherwise, it adds some romantic aura (below is the explanation from The Princess Diaries (2001 movie)"
Parisians issued advice on how to deal with Chinese tourists - ""A simple smile and a greeting in their language satisfies them completely," the guide issued by the Regional Tourism Council of the Paris Chamber of Commerce reads. "Rouanne ing gouang linne" is how it tries to explain the intricacies of saying "welcome" in Chinese... Last autumn, a Parisian hotelier caused outrage when he said his hotel would not serve Chinese tourists, because of their bad manners... Despite this, most Chinese remain enchanted with the city of lights. Almost 47 per cent of visitors from China say they wish to return to Paris within two years, according to the tourism council."
The day I asked the Home Office to help me go home – to Willesden Green - "I kept the (very polite) Home Office man on the phone for some time, all the while sounding more and more despondent at the fact there was no chance he would get me a taxi for my five-mile journey home. It wasn't the most considered form of political action I have ever engaged in. But I soon wondered if it might be the most effective. The tweets I posted summarising my conversation reached hundreds of thousands of people and trended second in the UK. Others began to text messages to the Home Office asking for help to "go home": road updates, train times and lost keys, all reported under the #racistvan hashtag, utilising both wit and disgust. People saw the humour in the mild trolling of the Home Office, and the responses demonstrated that they too recognised that this is a vicious, hateful campaign."
A form of trolling liberals would approve of
The Avengers (Power Rangers Style!) - YouTube
NeverSeconds - "One primary school pupil's daily dose of school dinners."
Is Indonesian Islam tolerant? - "Is Indonesian Islam better? In what way? If it is tolerant and inclusive because of its strong Sufi dimension, whereas some orientalists argue that Sufism is not originally Islamic, does it mean that Islam basically is intolerant and Indonesian Islam is less Islamic? How would we explain the recent increasing intolerance of Muslims in Indonesia, as reflected in the recent acts of terrorism in the name of religion, the Sampang Shiite tragedy, the rise of extremism among young Indonesian Muslims and the negative evaluation by the US Department of State in its 2011 International Religious Freedom Report? If this intolerance is seen as foreign influence, wasn’t Islam itself a foreign religion in the beginning?... In different degrees and levels of power, both the inclusive and exclusive, tolerant and intolerant Islam coexists throughout Islamic history. We cannot argue that any act of violence committed by an Indonesian Muslim is an anomaly, an exception, or due to foreign influence. That would be dishonest and would only prevent us from properly digesting and eventually overcoming the real problems."
Is Indonesia still a model of religious tolerance? - "Despite a rise in religiously-motivated violence at home, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono addressed a wealthy crowd at New York’s Pierre hotel on Thursday night and accepted an award from an interfaith group for his work promoting religious freedom and human rights... the US State Department released its annual report on religious freedom, which expresses concern about rising religious intolerance in Indonesia."
Is Will Smith Homophobic? - ""MOSCOW (AP) — Hollywood star Will Smith slapped a male television reporter who he said tried to kiss him on the lips as he walked down the red carpet for the Moscow premiere of "Men in Black III.""
If a woman slaps a man who tries to kiss her, is she misandristic?
Beautiful women 'more likely to be unfaithful' - ""Women with higher oestradiol reported a greater likelihood of flirting, kissing and having a serious affair with someone other than their primary partner and were marginally more likely to date another man." But while high-oestradiol women had significantly more long-term relationships the hormone wasn't related to the likelihood of one-night stands. "The results suggest although high-oestradiol women may not subjectively prefer long over short-term relationships they nonetheless adopt a strategy of serial monogamy""
Men prefer feminine features for a quick fling - "Studies on factors that influence human mating mostly focus on women, who have shown a similar preference for a hunkier man for a fling but a geekier one to settle down with -- possibly a more reliable bet for helping to raise children... They found that men rated women with more feminine features more highly for a fling. The preference was especially high among men who were already in a steady relationship. "When a man has secured a mate, the potential cost of being discovered may increase his choosiness regarding short-term partners relative to unpartnered men, who can better increase their short-term mating success by relaxing their standards," wrote the study authors. But in making long-term choices, men "may actually prefer less attractive/feminine women," they added. Previous research has found that attractive women are likelier to be unfaithful, particularly if their partner is unattractive. "If his partner cheats on him, a man risks raising a child which is not his own""
Marry a woman uglier than you
Psychology of infidelity: Why men and women cheat - "“Men and women view sex differently. They have different values. Women view sex more relationship-related than for procreation. Men tend to view sex more in terms of recreation, fun and even stress release”... “When the woman cheats, she’s more likely to cheat with a single male and to develop an intimate and more romantic relationship,” he said. “Women tend to cheat more along the lines of a romance novel, where they are looking for that kind of dynamic and romantic intimate attention and excitement. When a man cheats, he’s more likely to cheat in a series of one-night-stands. Men oftentimes are looking for that kind of high from a new sexual relationships from the attention of oftentimes a younger woman and to feel that kind of escape.” In his research, Dr. Ley said the one common ground amongst both sexes that cheat is a sense of psychological and biological excitement that oftentimes diminishes in long-term relationships. In fact, the aforementioned Journal of Marital and Family Therapy study showed 57 percent of men and 54 percent of women admitted to committing infidelity in any prior relationship... Openness: Those who are open to trying new things might be more likely to try infidelity as well... Dixit says men with high self-esteem and confidence are more likely to be unfaithful, while the opposite is true for women... age difference for infidelity is a bimodal distribution with men under 35 and over 60 years of age likely to cheat more. The same can be said for women in their 60s... “The more recent generations, the under 35 group, are perhaps a little less committed to the notion of marriage forever to one person just as there’s less commitment to one job for a lifetime”
Believing in TV romances could hurt your real-life relationship - "Those subjects who had a higher "belief" in romantic stories on television, as well as those who spent more time watching TV romance, were found to be less committed to their spouses and thought their alternatives to their spouse, including being single, were attractive options. They also felt that their real relationships "cost" them more in terms of personal freedoms and time spent alone -- and they were more aware of their partner's flaws."
Hung controversy draws focus from military's real importance - "Military forces around the world have not been known for their respect of human rights, nor their transparency. As organizations dedicated to the art and science of efficient eradication (or at least the incapacitation) of human beings designated as enemy, the armed forces can find themselves psychologically far-removed from the norms and rules of the civilian society they defend. Brigadier General John B. Murphy, a commanding general of Division Artillery of the U.S.' 100th Infantry Division during World War II, dismissed the idea of a democratic army as absurd, saying such a force would be an “undisciplined mob.” Many U.S. servicemen and women are probably still reminded of a similar philosophy by their boot camp sergeants: “You are here to defend democracy, not to practice it.” The significance of Taiwan's spectacular response to Hung's death is therefore twofold. First, it highlights the Taiwanese people's extraordinarily high regard for human rights. The 200,000 protesters amassing outside the Presidential Office for Hung showed the world the proudly humanistic spirit of Taiwan. It, however, also reveals the predicament of the nation's armed forces, which seem to have lost their purpose. The Taiwanese military should have built a reputation as one of the forces in the world most needed by its nation. It defends Taiwan from the world's most populous and armed (in terms of military size) nation, one which is also a major nuclear power. The mainland's People Liberation Army (PLA) has been advancing rapidly in recent years. Decades of military standoff and Taiwan's recent detente with the mainland seem to have stripped the military of its purpose and a substantial amount of respect."
Wisconsin Woman Accused of Holding Men Hostage for Sex - "Terry L. Boyd, 52, allegedly locked her roommate and another man inside a room at a residence on North Sixth Street, and refused to let them leave until one of the victims agreed to have sex with her."
Lawful Evil | Talking Philosophy - "While I am a professional philosopher, my view of ethics was significantly shaped by the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons alignment system... during WWII not all Germans were evil, but Germany acted as a rather evil nation. To be fair, most nations tend to be evil and, more specifically, lawful evil"
This charming charlie - "All images adapted from Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic series. All words adapted from Smiths lyrics written by Morrissey."
Many of these wouldn't be out of place in the original strips
Switzerland builds £1.5m drive-in sex chalets so prostitutes can service clients in privacy - "Authorities in Zurich are trying an innovative way to regulate prostitution by introducing 'sex boxes' as discreet solicitation areas... The boxes are equipped with panic alarms which can be activated if the clients or prostitutes feel in any danger. The sex workers will have to register with a health insurer and buy a 'work ticket' each night for £3.50 each night that they work. Prostitution in Zurich will be confined to the booths and two other zones after they open. This is intended to curb the large numbers of prostitutes working in residential areas and in the city centre.
Discrimination against non-motorists! There're class implications (even motorcyclists can't use them)
Post ID: 7782900173554440709
Are women more petty than men?
Gabriel Seah's answer to Gender Differences: Are women more petty than men? - Quora
"We call someone petty when she is concerned or even obsessed with things of minor importance.
In Why Women Apologize More Than Men. Gender Differences in Thresholds for Perceiving Offensive Behavior (Psychological Science, Nov 2010) Schumann and Ross found that the stereotype that women apologise more than men is true.
Digging deeper, they found that this was because women had lower offence thresholds than men. In other words, they apologised more often because they perceived that they had offended other people more often. They were also more likely than men to judge scenarios as offensive.
The corollary of this is that women are more easily offended than men and so in general women appear more petty than men. The flip side is that men appear insensitive to women since they are less likely to view scenarios (and thus their actions or words) as offensive."
"Holmes makes some provocative empirical claims, for instance asserting that in her studies “[W]omen gave 75 per cent of all apologies and received 73 per cent of them.” Holmes also concludes that while women “use significantly more apologies than men,” they also “use more to each other than to men, and they use more to each other than men do to each other.”’ According to Holmes, both genders apologize to women more frequently than they do to men, regardless of the differential in social status between the parties.’ Women apologize most often to female friends, but men apologize most often to socially distant females.’ Women’s apologies rend to “recognize the claims of the person offended and focus on the harmony of the relationship,” while men “tend more than women to use strategies which focus on the apologizer’s loss of face and the resulting status imbalance.”’ She claims that women’s “apologies are predominantly directed to light offenses, whereas men use more apologies than women for more serious offenses.” Holmes also finds that women tend to apologize for breaches in conversational etiquette, while men “pay particular attention to” offenses against another’s time and property.’ When men do apologize, they use more formal language then women. Holmes also found that men reject proportionately more apologies than women do, and women respond to an apology with a counter-apology more often than men do."
--- I Was Wrong: The Meanings of Apologies / Nick Smith
(In other words, everyone is nicer to women than men)
Why Women Apologize More Than Men. Gender Differences in Thresholds for Perceiving Offensive Behavior:
Ed: link to similar paper by one author
"The diary findings both raise doubts about the validity of the claim that men actively resist apologizing and help explain the source of this claim. In their everyday lives, people witness women apologizing more than men and presumably attribute this discrepancy to gender differences in willingness to apologize. In doing so, they perhaps fail to consider the proportion of apologies to perceived offenses, information that is essen- tial in understanding the bases of frequency differences. A ten- dency to ignore the base rates of perceived offenses when estimating the frequency of apologies is consistent with peo- ple’s general tendency to neglect base rates when forming probability judgments (Kahneman & Tversky, 1973). Also, the popular tendency to ascribe men’s lower rates of apologizing to their unwillingness to apologize might stem, in part, from a propensity to prefer dispositional explanations (e.g., fragile egos) over situational ones (e.g., evaluations of the severity of the offense; Ross, 1977)...
In a study that examined teasing within couples, women reported more negative emotions in response to being teased than men reported. This finding suggests that women might be more sensitive to being offended, even if the offense is delivered in a humorous or loving manner (Keltner, Young, Heerey, Oemig, & Monarch, 1998)...
What is the psychological basis of gender differences in perceptions of the severity and frequency of offenses? One possibility is that women might perceive more offenses because they are more focused on the experiences of other people and on maintaining harmony in their relationships (Gilligan, 1994; J.B. Miller, 1984). Consistent with this idea, previous research has demonstrated that, relative to men, women report more guilt after committing transgressions (Bybee, 1998; Lutwak & Ferrari, 1996), greater empathy for victims (Eisenberg & Lennon, 1983), and more willingness to forgive their transgressors (A.J. Miller, Worthington, & McDaniel, 2008).
A second possibility is that men have a higher threshold for both physical and social pain. MacDonald and Leary (2005) argued that physical and social pain share common physiologi- cal mechanisms. Conceivably, if men are more resilient to physical pain, they might also have a higher threshold for social forms of pain. A substantial body of research has demonstrated that men report experiencing less intense and less frequent physical pain than women report experiencing (e.g., Unruh, 1996), as well as being less emotional than women (Barrett, Robin, Pietromonaco, & Eyssell, 1998). Further, a meta-analytic review of sex differences in coping behavior revealed that women rated stressors as more severe than men in the majority of studies that assessed stressor appraisals (Tamres, Janicki, & Helgeson, 2002). None of the reviewed studies reported that women rated stressors as less severe than men did.
[Ed: In other words, men are tougher than women despite the stereotype perpetuated by female magazines that men are big crybabies]
Whatever the basis of the gender differences in judgments of the severity or even the existence of offenses, these discrep- ant perceptions might have unfortunate consequences for mixed-gender interactions. For example, if women perceive offenses that their male romantic partners do not notice, women might interpret an absence of an apology as evidence that their partners are indifferent to their well-being. Similarly, men may regard their female partners as overly sensitive and emotional. Unlike previous interpretations that emphasized a gender difference in willingness to apologize, however, our interpretation does not imply that one gender is at fault for potential disagreements about whether an apology should be offered. Rather, we suggest that men and women unwittingly disagree at an earlier stage in the process: identifying whether or not a transgression has even occurred"
"We call someone petty when she is concerned or even obsessed with things of minor importance.
In Why Women Apologize More Than Men. Gender Differences in Thresholds for Perceiving Offensive Behavior (Psychological Science, Nov 2010) Schumann and Ross found that the stereotype that women apologise more than men is true.
Digging deeper, they found that this was because women had lower offence thresholds than men. In other words, they apologised more often because they perceived that they had offended other people more often. They were also more likely than men to judge scenarios as offensive.
The corollary of this is that women are more easily offended than men and so in general women appear more petty than men. The flip side is that men appear insensitive to women since they are less likely to view scenarios (and thus their actions or words) as offensive."
"Holmes makes some provocative empirical claims, for instance asserting that in her studies “[W]omen gave 75 per cent of all apologies and received 73 per cent of them.” Holmes also concludes that while women “use significantly more apologies than men,” they also “use more to each other than to men, and they use more to each other than men do to each other.”’ According to Holmes, both genders apologize to women more frequently than they do to men, regardless of the differential in social status between the parties.’ Women apologize most often to female friends, but men apologize most often to socially distant females.’ Women’s apologies rend to “recognize the claims of the person offended and focus on the harmony of the relationship,” while men “tend more than women to use strategies which focus on the apologizer’s loss of face and the resulting status imbalance.”’ She claims that women’s “apologies are predominantly directed to light offenses, whereas men use more apologies than women for more serious offenses.” Holmes also finds that women tend to apologize for breaches in conversational etiquette, while men “pay particular attention to” offenses against another’s time and property.’ When men do apologize, they use more formal language then women. Holmes also found that men reject proportionately more apologies than women do, and women respond to an apology with a counter-apology more often than men do."
--- I Was Wrong: The Meanings of Apologies / Nick Smith
(In other words, everyone is nicer to women than men)
Why Women Apologize More Than Men. Gender Differences in Thresholds for Perceiving Offensive Behavior:
Ed: link to similar paper by one author
"The diary findings both raise doubts about the validity of the claim that men actively resist apologizing and help explain the source of this claim. In their everyday lives, people witness women apologizing more than men and presumably attribute this discrepancy to gender differences in willingness to apologize. In doing so, they perhaps fail to consider the proportion of apologies to perceived offenses, information that is essen- tial in understanding the bases of frequency differences. A ten- dency to ignore the base rates of perceived offenses when estimating the frequency of apologies is consistent with peo- ple’s general tendency to neglect base rates when forming probability judgments (Kahneman & Tversky, 1973). Also, the popular tendency to ascribe men’s lower rates of apologizing to their unwillingness to apologize might stem, in part, from a propensity to prefer dispositional explanations (e.g., fragile egos) over situational ones (e.g., evaluations of the severity of the offense; Ross, 1977)...
In a study that examined teasing within couples, women reported more negative emotions in response to being teased than men reported. This finding suggests that women might be more sensitive to being offended, even if the offense is delivered in a humorous or loving manner (Keltner, Young, Heerey, Oemig, & Monarch, 1998)...
What is the psychological basis of gender differences in perceptions of the severity and frequency of offenses? One possibility is that women might perceive more offenses because they are more focused on the experiences of other people and on maintaining harmony in their relationships (Gilligan, 1994; J.B. Miller, 1984). Consistent with this idea, previous research has demonstrated that, relative to men, women report more guilt after committing transgressions (Bybee, 1998; Lutwak & Ferrari, 1996), greater empathy for victims (Eisenberg & Lennon, 1983), and more willingness to forgive their transgressors (A.J. Miller, Worthington, & McDaniel, 2008).
A second possibility is that men have a higher threshold for both physical and social pain. MacDonald and Leary (2005) argued that physical and social pain share common physiologi- cal mechanisms. Conceivably, if men are more resilient to physical pain, they might also have a higher threshold for social forms of pain. A substantial body of research has demonstrated that men report experiencing less intense and less frequent physical pain than women report experiencing (e.g., Unruh, 1996), as well as being less emotional than women (Barrett, Robin, Pietromonaco, & Eyssell, 1998). Further, a meta-analytic review of sex differences in coping behavior revealed that women rated stressors as more severe than men in the majority of studies that assessed stressor appraisals (Tamres, Janicki, & Helgeson, 2002). None of the reviewed studies reported that women rated stressors as less severe than men did.
[Ed: In other words, men are tougher than women despite the stereotype perpetuated by female magazines that men are big crybabies]
Whatever the basis of the gender differences in judgments of the severity or even the existence of offenses, these discrep- ant perceptions might have unfortunate consequences for mixed-gender interactions. For example, if women perceive offenses that their male romantic partners do not notice, women might interpret an absence of an apology as evidence that their partners are indifferent to their well-being. Similarly, men may regard their female partners as overly sensitive and emotional. Unlike previous interpretations that emphasized a gender difference in willingness to apologize, however, our interpretation does not imply that one gender is at fault for potential disagreements about whether an apology should be offered. Rather, we suggest that men and women unwittingly disagree at an earlier stage in the process: identifying whether or not a transgression has even occurred"
Post ID: 129437676899696774
On the Pursuit of the Ideal
Isaiah Berlin's "Pursuit of the Ideal"
"There are, in my view, two factors that, above all others, have shaped human history in this century: one is the development of the natural sciences and technology, certainly the greatest success story of our time—to this, great and mounting attention has been paid from all quarters. The other, without doubt, consists in the great ideological storms that have altered the lives of virtually all mankind: the Russian Revolution and its aftermath—totalitarian tyrannies of both right and left and the explosions of nationalism, racism, and, in places, of religious bigotry, which, interestingly enough, not one among the most perceptive social thinkers of the nineteenth century had ever predicted.
When our descendants, in two or three centuries time (if mankind survives until then), come to look at our age, it is these two phenomena that will, I think, be held to be the outstanding characteristics of our century, the most demanding of explanation and analysis. But it is as well to realize that these great movements began with ideas in people's heads: ideas about what relations between men have been, are, might be, and should be; and to realize how they came to be transformed in the name of a vision of some supreme goal in the minds of the leaders, above all of the prophets with armies at their backs. Such ideas are the substance of ethics...
When I was young I read War and Peace by Tolstoy, much too early. The real impact on me of this great novel only came later, together with that of other Russian writers, both novelists and social thinkers, of the mid-nineteenth century. These writers did much to shape my outlook. It seemed to me, and still does, that the purpose of these writers was not principally to give realistic accounts of the lives and relationships to one another of individuals or social groups or classes, not psychological or social analysis for its own sake—although, of course, the best of them achieved precisely this, incomparably. Their approach seemed to me essentially moral: they were concerned most deeply with what was responsible for injustice, oppression, falsity in human relations, imprisonment whether by stone walls or conformism—unprotesting submission to man-made yokes—moral blindness, egoism, cruelty, humiliation, servility, poverty, helplessness, bitter indignation, despair, on the part of so many. In short, they were concerned with the nature of these experiences and their roots in the human condition; the condition of Russia in the first place, but, by implication, of all mankind. And conversely they wished to know what would bring about the opposite of this, a reign of truth, love, honesty, justice, security, personal relations based on the possibility of human dignity, decency, independence, freedom, spiritual fulfillment.
Some, like Tolstoy, found this in the outlook of simple people, unspoiled by civilization; like Rousseau, he wished to believe that the moral universe of peasants was not unlike that of children, not distorted by the conventions and institutions of civilization, which sprang from human vices—greed, egoism, spiritual blindness; that the world could be saved if only men saw the truth that lay at their feet; if they but looked, it was to be found in the Christian Gospels, the Sermon on the Mount. Others among these Russians put their faith in scientific rationalism, or in social and political revolution founded on a true theory of historical change. Others again looked for answers in the teachings of the Orthodox theology, or in liberal Western democracy, or in a return to ancient Slav values, obscured by the reforms of Peter the Great and his successors.
What was common to all these outlooks was the belief that solutions to the central problems existed, that one could discover them, and, with sufficient selfless effort, realize them on earth. They all believed that the essence of human beings was to be able to choose how to live: societies could be transformed in the light of true ideals believed in with enough fervor and dedication. If, like Tolstoy, they sometimes thought that man was not truly free but determined by factors outside his control, they knew well enough, as he did, that if freedom was an illusion it was one without which one could not live or think...
When I became a student at the University of Oxford, I began to read the works of the great philosophers, and found that the major figures, especially in the field of ethical and political thought, believed this too... The rationalists of the seventeenth century thought that the answers could be found by a species of metaphysical insight, a special application of the light of reason with which all men were endowed.
The empiricists of the eighteenth century, impressed by the vast new realms of knowledge opened by the natural sciences based on mathematical techniques, which had driven out so much error, superstition, dogmatic nonsense, asked themselves, like Socrates, why the same methods should not succeed in establishing similar irrefutable laws in the realm of human affairs. With the new methods discovered by natural science, order could be introduced into the social sphere as well—uniformities could be observed, hypotheses formulated, tested by experiment, laws based on them; and these laws in specific regions of experience could be seen to be entailed by wider laws; and these in turn to be entailed by still wider laws, and so on upward, until a great harmonious system, connected by unbreakable logical links and capable of being formulated in precise—that is, mathematical—terms, could be established.
The rational reorganization of society would put an end to spiritual and intellectual confusion, the reign of prejudice and superstition, blind obedience to unexamined dogmas, and the stupidities and cruelties of the oppressive regimes which such intellectual darkness bred and promoted. All that was wanted was the identification of the principal human needs and discovery of the means of satisfying them. This would create the happy, free, just, virtuous, harmonious world which Condorcet so movingly predicted in his prison cell in 1794. This view lay at the basis of all progressive thought in the nineteenth century, and was at the heart of much of the critical empiricism which I imbibed in Oxford as a student.
At some point I realized that what all these views had in common was a Platonic ideal: in the first place that, as in the sciences, all genuine questions must have one true answer and one only, all the rest being necessarily errors. In the second place, that there must be a dependable path toward the discovery of these truths. In the third place, that the true answers, when found, must necessarily be compatible with one another and form a single whole, for one truth cannot be incompatible with another—that we knew a priori. This kind of omniscience was the solution of the cosmic jigsaw puzzle. In the case of morals, we could then conceive what the perfect life must be, founded as it would be on a correct understanding of the rules that governed the universe.
True, we might never get to this condition of perfect knowledge—we may be too feeble-witted, or too weak or corrupt or sinful, to achieve this. The obstacles, both intellectual and those of external nature, may be too many. Moreover, opinions, as I said, had widely differed about the right path to pursue—some found it in churches, some in laboratories; some believed in intuition, others in experiment, or in mystical visions, or in mathematical calculation. But even if we could not ourselves reach these true answers, or indeed, the final system that interweaves them all, the answers must exist—else the questions were not real. The answers must be known to someone; perhaps Adam in Paradise knew; perhaps we shall only reach them at the end of days; if men cannot know them, perhaps the angels know; and if not the angels, then God knows. These timeless truths must in principle be knowable.
Some nineteenth-century thinkers—Hegel, Marx—thought it was not quite so simple. There were no timeless truths. There was historical development, continuous change; human horizons altered with each new step in the evolutionary ladder; history was a drama with many acts; it was moved by conflicts of forces in the realms of both ideas and reality, sometimes called dialectical, which took the form of wars, revolutions, violent upheavals of nations, classes, cultures, movements. Yet after inevitable setbacks, failures, relapses, returns to barbarism, Condorcet's dream would come true. The drama would have a happy ending—man's reason had achieved triumphs in the past, it could not be held back forever. Men would no longer be victims of nature or of their own largely irrational societies: reason would triumph: universal harmonious cooperation, true history, would at last begin.
For if this was not so, do the ideas of progress, of history, have any meaning?...
Intercommunication between cultures in time and space is only possible because what makes men human is common to them, and acts as a bridge between them. But our values are ours, and theirs are theirs. We are free to criticize the values of other cultures, to condemn them, but we cannot pretend not to understand them at all, or to regard them simply as subjective, the products of creatures in different circumstances with different tastes from our own, which do not speak to us at all...
What is clear is that values can clash—that is why civilizations are incompatible... Values may easily clash within the breast of a single individual; and it does not follow that, if they do, some must be true and others false. Justice, rigorous justice, is for some people an absolute value, but it is not compatible with what may be no less ultimate values for them—mercy, compassion, as arises in concrete cases...
The notion of the perfect whole, the ultimate solution, in which all good things coexist, seems to me to be not merely unattainable—that is a truism—but conceptually incoherent... We are doomed to choose, and every choice may entail an irreparable loss. Happy are those who live under a discipline which they accept without question, who freely obey the orders of leaders, spiritual or temporal, whose word is fully accepted as unbreakable law; or those who have, by their own methods, arrived at clear and unshakeable convictions about what to do and what to be that brook no possible doubt. I can only say that those who rest on such comfortable beds of dogma are victims of forms of self-induced myopia, blinkers that may make for contentment, but not for understanding of what it is to be human...
Any study of society shows that every solution creates a new situation which breeds its own new needs and problems, new demands. The children have obtained what their parents and grandparents longed for—greater freedom, greater material welfare, a juster society; but the old ills are forgotten, and the children face new problems, brought about by the very solutions of the old ones, and these, even if they can in turn be solved, generate new situations, and with them new requirements—and so on, forever—and unpredictably.
We cannot legislate for the unknown consequences of consequences of consequences. Marxists tell us that once the fight is won and true history has begun, the new problems that may arise will generate their own solutions, which can be peacefully realized by the united powers of harmonious, classless society. This seems to me a piece of metaphysical optimism for which there is no evidence in historical experience. In a society in which the same goals are universally accepted, problems can only be of means, all soluble by technological methods. That is a society in which the inner life of man, the moral and spiritual and aesthetic imagination no longer speak at all—is it for this that men and women should be destroyed or societies enslaved? Utopias have their value—nothing so wonderfully expands imaginative horizons of human potentialities—but as guides to conduct they can prove literally fatal. Heraclitus was right, things cannot stand still.
So I conclude that the very notion of a final solution is not only impracticable but, if I am right, and some values cannot but clash, incoherent also. The possibility of a final solution—even if we forget the terrible sense that these words acquired in Hitler's day—turns out to be an illusion; and a very dangerous one. For, if one really believes that such a solution is possible, then surely no cost would be too high to obtain it: to make mankind just and happy and creative and harmonious forever—what could be too high a price to pay for that? To make such an omelette, there is surely no limit to the number of eggs that should be broken—that was the faith of Lenin, of Trotsky, of Mao, for all I know, of Pol Pot. Since I know the only true path to the ultimate solution of the problems of society, I know which way to drive the human caravan; and since you are ignorant of what I know, you cannot be allowed to have liberty of choice even within the narrowest limits, if the goal is to be reached. You declare that a given policy will make you happier, or freer, or give you room to breathe; but I know that you are mistaken, I know what you need, what all men need; and if there is resistance based on ignorance or malevolence, then it must be broken and hundreds of thousands may have to perish to make millions happy for all time. What choice have we, who have the knowledge, but to be willing to sacrifice them all?
Some armed prophets seek to save mankind, and some only their own race because of its superior attributes, but whichever the motive, the millions slaughtered in wars or revolutions—gas chambers, gulag, genocide, all the monstrosities for which our century will be remembered—are the price men must pay for the felicity of future generations. If your desire to save mankind is serious, you must harden your heart, and not reckon the cost.
The answer to this was given more than a century ago by the Russian radical Alexander Herzen. In his essay "From the Other Shore," which is in effect an obituary notice of the revolutions of 1848, he said that a new form of human sacrifice had arisen in his time—of living human beings on the altars of abstractions—nation, church, party, class, progress, the forces of history—these have all been invoked in his day and in ours: if these demand the slaughter of living human beings, they must be satisfied...
'The one thing that we may be sure of is the reality of the sacrifice, the dying and the dead. But the ideal for the sake of which they die remains unrealized. The eggs are broken, and the habit of breaking them grows, but the omelette remains invisible. Sacrifices for short-term goals, coercion, if men's plight is desperate enough and truly requires such measures, may be justified. But holocausts for the sake of distant goals, that is a cruel mockery of all that men hold dear, now and at all times'...
Revolutions, wars, assassinations, extreme measures may in desperate situations be required. But history teaches us that their consequences are seldom what is anticipated; there is no guarantee, not even, at times, a high enough probability, that such acts will lead to improvement. We may take the risk of drastic action, in personal life or in public policy, but we must always be aware, never forget, that we may be mistaken, that certainty about the effect of such measures invariably leads to avoidable suffering of the innocent. So we must engage in what are called tradeoffs—rules, values, principles must yield to each other in varying degrees in specific situations. Utilitarian solutions are sometimes wrong but, I suspect, more often beneficent. The best that can be done, as a general rule, is to maintain a precarious equilibrium that will prevent the occurrence of desperate situations, of intolerable choices—that is the first requirement for a decent society; one that we can always strive for, in the light of the limited range of our knowledge, and even of our imperfect understanding of individuals and societies. A certain humility in these matters is very necessary...
There are, if not universal values, at any rate a minimum without which societies could scarcely survive. Few today would wish to defend slavery or ritual murder or Nazi gas chambers or the torture of human beings for the sake of pleasure or profit or even political good—or the duty of children to denounce their parents, which the French and Russian revolutions demanded, or mindless killing. There is no justification for compromise on this. But on the other hand, the search for perfection does seem to me a recipe for bloodshed, no better even if it is demanded by the sincerest of idealists, the purest of heart. No more rigorous moralist than Immanuel Kant has ever lived, but even he said, in a moment of illumination, "Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made." To force people into the neat uniforms demanded by dogmatically believed-in schemes is almost always the road to inhumanity. We can only do what we can: but that we must do, against difficulties."
"There are, in my view, two factors that, above all others, have shaped human history in this century: one is the development of the natural sciences and technology, certainly the greatest success story of our time—to this, great and mounting attention has been paid from all quarters. The other, without doubt, consists in the great ideological storms that have altered the lives of virtually all mankind: the Russian Revolution and its aftermath—totalitarian tyrannies of both right and left and the explosions of nationalism, racism, and, in places, of religious bigotry, which, interestingly enough, not one among the most perceptive social thinkers of the nineteenth century had ever predicted.
When our descendants, in two or three centuries time (if mankind survives until then), come to look at our age, it is these two phenomena that will, I think, be held to be the outstanding characteristics of our century, the most demanding of explanation and analysis. But it is as well to realize that these great movements began with ideas in people's heads: ideas about what relations between men have been, are, might be, and should be; and to realize how they came to be transformed in the name of a vision of some supreme goal in the minds of the leaders, above all of the prophets with armies at their backs. Such ideas are the substance of ethics...
When I was young I read War and Peace by Tolstoy, much too early. The real impact on me of this great novel only came later, together with that of other Russian writers, both novelists and social thinkers, of the mid-nineteenth century. These writers did much to shape my outlook. It seemed to me, and still does, that the purpose of these writers was not principally to give realistic accounts of the lives and relationships to one another of individuals or social groups or classes, not psychological or social analysis for its own sake—although, of course, the best of them achieved precisely this, incomparably. Their approach seemed to me essentially moral: they were concerned most deeply with what was responsible for injustice, oppression, falsity in human relations, imprisonment whether by stone walls or conformism—unprotesting submission to man-made yokes—moral blindness, egoism, cruelty, humiliation, servility, poverty, helplessness, bitter indignation, despair, on the part of so many. In short, they were concerned with the nature of these experiences and their roots in the human condition; the condition of Russia in the first place, but, by implication, of all mankind. And conversely they wished to know what would bring about the opposite of this, a reign of truth, love, honesty, justice, security, personal relations based on the possibility of human dignity, decency, independence, freedom, spiritual fulfillment.
Some, like Tolstoy, found this in the outlook of simple people, unspoiled by civilization; like Rousseau, he wished to believe that the moral universe of peasants was not unlike that of children, not distorted by the conventions and institutions of civilization, which sprang from human vices—greed, egoism, spiritual blindness; that the world could be saved if only men saw the truth that lay at their feet; if they but looked, it was to be found in the Christian Gospels, the Sermon on the Mount. Others among these Russians put their faith in scientific rationalism, or in social and political revolution founded on a true theory of historical change. Others again looked for answers in the teachings of the Orthodox theology, or in liberal Western democracy, or in a return to ancient Slav values, obscured by the reforms of Peter the Great and his successors.
What was common to all these outlooks was the belief that solutions to the central problems existed, that one could discover them, and, with sufficient selfless effort, realize them on earth. They all believed that the essence of human beings was to be able to choose how to live: societies could be transformed in the light of true ideals believed in with enough fervor and dedication. If, like Tolstoy, they sometimes thought that man was not truly free but determined by factors outside his control, they knew well enough, as he did, that if freedom was an illusion it was one without which one could not live or think...
When I became a student at the University of Oxford, I began to read the works of the great philosophers, and found that the major figures, especially in the field of ethical and political thought, believed this too... The rationalists of the seventeenth century thought that the answers could be found by a species of metaphysical insight, a special application of the light of reason with which all men were endowed.
The empiricists of the eighteenth century, impressed by the vast new realms of knowledge opened by the natural sciences based on mathematical techniques, which had driven out so much error, superstition, dogmatic nonsense, asked themselves, like Socrates, why the same methods should not succeed in establishing similar irrefutable laws in the realm of human affairs. With the new methods discovered by natural science, order could be introduced into the social sphere as well—uniformities could be observed, hypotheses formulated, tested by experiment, laws based on them; and these laws in specific regions of experience could be seen to be entailed by wider laws; and these in turn to be entailed by still wider laws, and so on upward, until a great harmonious system, connected by unbreakable logical links and capable of being formulated in precise—that is, mathematical—terms, could be established.
The rational reorganization of society would put an end to spiritual and intellectual confusion, the reign of prejudice and superstition, blind obedience to unexamined dogmas, and the stupidities and cruelties of the oppressive regimes which such intellectual darkness bred and promoted. All that was wanted was the identification of the principal human needs and discovery of the means of satisfying them. This would create the happy, free, just, virtuous, harmonious world which Condorcet so movingly predicted in his prison cell in 1794. This view lay at the basis of all progressive thought in the nineteenth century, and was at the heart of much of the critical empiricism which I imbibed in Oxford as a student.
At some point I realized that what all these views had in common was a Platonic ideal: in the first place that, as in the sciences, all genuine questions must have one true answer and one only, all the rest being necessarily errors. In the second place, that there must be a dependable path toward the discovery of these truths. In the third place, that the true answers, when found, must necessarily be compatible with one another and form a single whole, for one truth cannot be incompatible with another—that we knew a priori. This kind of omniscience was the solution of the cosmic jigsaw puzzle. In the case of morals, we could then conceive what the perfect life must be, founded as it would be on a correct understanding of the rules that governed the universe.
True, we might never get to this condition of perfect knowledge—we may be too feeble-witted, or too weak or corrupt or sinful, to achieve this. The obstacles, both intellectual and those of external nature, may be too many. Moreover, opinions, as I said, had widely differed about the right path to pursue—some found it in churches, some in laboratories; some believed in intuition, others in experiment, or in mystical visions, or in mathematical calculation. But even if we could not ourselves reach these true answers, or indeed, the final system that interweaves them all, the answers must exist—else the questions were not real. The answers must be known to someone; perhaps Adam in Paradise knew; perhaps we shall only reach them at the end of days; if men cannot know them, perhaps the angels know; and if not the angels, then God knows. These timeless truths must in principle be knowable.
Some nineteenth-century thinkers—Hegel, Marx—thought it was not quite so simple. There were no timeless truths. There was historical development, continuous change; human horizons altered with each new step in the evolutionary ladder; history was a drama with many acts; it was moved by conflicts of forces in the realms of both ideas and reality, sometimes called dialectical, which took the form of wars, revolutions, violent upheavals of nations, classes, cultures, movements. Yet after inevitable setbacks, failures, relapses, returns to barbarism, Condorcet's dream would come true. The drama would have a happy ending—man's reason had achieved triumphs in the past, it could not be held back forever. Men would no longer be victims of nature or of their own largely irrational societies: reason would triumph: universal harmonious cooperation, true history, would at last begin.
For if this was not so, do the ideas of progress, of history, have any meaning?...
Intercommunication between cultures in time and space is only possible because what makes men human is common to them, and acts as a bridge between them. But our values are ours, and theirs are theirs. We are free to criticize the values of other cultures, to condemn them, but we cannot pretend not to understand them at all, or to regard them simply as subjective, the products of creatures in different circumstances with different tastes from our own, which do not speak to us at all...
What is clear is that values can clash—that is why civilizations are incompatible... Values may easily clash within the breast of a single individual; and it does not follow that, if they do, some must be true and others false. Justice, rigorous justice, is for some people an absolute value, but it is not compatible with what may be no less ultimate values for them—mercy, compassion, as arises in concrete cases...
The notion of the perfect whole, the ultimate solution, in which all good things coexist, seems to me to be not merely unattainable—that is a truism—but conceptually incoherent... We are doomed to choose, and every choice may entail an irreparable loss. Happy are those who live under a discipline which they accept without question, who freely obey the orders of leaders, spiritual or temporal, whose word is fully accepted as unbreakable law; or those who have, by their own methods, arrived at clear and unshakeable convictions about what to do and what to be that brook no possible doubt. I can only say that those who rest on such comfortable beds of dogma are victims of forms of self-induced myopia, blinkers that may make for contentment, but not for understanding of what it is to be human...
Any study of society shows that every solution creates a new situation which breeds its own new needs and problems, new demands. The children have obtained what their parents and grandparents longed for—greater freedom, greater material welfare, a juster society; but the old ills are forgotten, and the children face new problems, brought about by the very solutions of the old ones, and these, even if they can in turn be solved, generate new situations, and with them new requirements—and so on, forever—and unpredictably.
We cannot legislate for the unknown consequences of consequences of consequences. Marxists tell us that once the fight is won and true history has begun, the new problems that may arise will generate their own solutions, which can be peacefully realized by the united powers of harmonious, classless society. This seems to me a piece of metaphysical optimism for which there is no evidence in historical experience. In a society in which the same goals are universally accepted, problems can only be of means, all soluble by technological methods. That is a society in which the inner life of man, the moral and spiritual and aesthetic imagination no longer speak at all—is it for this that men and women should be destroyed or societies enslaved? Utopias have their value—nothing so wonderfully expands imaginative horizons of human potentialities—but as guides to conduct they can prove literally fatal. Heraclitus was right, things cannot stand still.
So I conclude that the very notion of a final solution is not only impracticable but, if I am right, and some values cannot but clash, incoherent also. The possibility of a final solution—even if we forget the terrible sense that these words acquired in Hitler's day—turns out to be an illusion; and a very dangerous one. For, if one really believes that such a solution is possible, then surely no cost would be too high to obtain it: to make mankind just and happy and creative and harmonious forever—what could be too high a price to pay for that? To make such an omelette, there is surely no limit to the number of eggs that should be broken—that was the faith of Lenin, of Trotsky, of Mao, for all I know, of Pol Pot. Since I know the only true path to the ultimate solution of the problems of society, I know which way to drive the human caravan; and since you are ignorant of what I know, you cannot be allowed to have liberty of choice even within the narrowest limits, if the goal is to be reached. You declare that a given policy will make you happier, or freer, or give you room to breathe; but I know that you are mistaken, I know what you need, what all men need; and if there is resistance based on ignorance or malevolence, then it must be broken and hundreds of thousands may have to perish to make millions happy for all time. What choice have we, who have the knowledge, but to be willing to sacrifice them all?
Some armed prophets seek to save mankind, and some only their own race because of its superior attributes, but whichever the motive, the millions slaughtered in wars or revolutions—gas chambers, gulag, genocide, all the monstrosities for which our century will be remembered—are the price men must pay for the felicity of future generations. If your desire to save mankind is serious, you must harden your heart, and not reckon the cost.
The answer to this was given more than a century ago by the Russian radical Alexander Herzen. In his essay "From the Other Shore," which is in effect an obituary notice of the revolutions of 1848, he said that a new form of human sacrifice had arisen in his time—of living human beings on the altars of abstractions—nation, church, party, class, progress, the forces of history—these have all been invoked in his day and in ours: if these demand the slaughter of living human beings, they must be satisfied...
'The one thing that we may be sure of is the reality of the sacrifice, the dying and the dead. But the ideal for the sake of which they die remains unrealized. The eggs are broken, and the habit of breaking them grows, but the omelette remains invisible. Sacrifices for short-term goals, coercion, if men's plight is desperate enough and truly requires such measures, may be justified. But holocausts for the sake of distant goals, that is a cruel mockery of all that men hold dear, now and at all times'...
Revolutions, wars, assassinations, extreme measures may in desperate situations be required. But history teaches us that their consequences are seldom what is anticipated; there is no guarantee, not even, at times, a high enough probability, that such acts will lead to improvement. We may take the risk of drastic action, in personal life or in public policy, but we must always be aware, never forget, that we may be mistaken, that certainty about the effect of such measures invariably leads to avoidable suffering of the innocent. So we must engage in what are called tradeoffs—rules, values, principles must yield to each other in varying degrees in specific situations. Utilitarian solutions are sometimes wrong but, I suspect, more often beneficent. The best that can be done, as a general rule, is to maintain a precarious equilibrium that will prevent the occurrence of desperate situations, of intolerable choices—that is the first requirement for a decent society; one that we can always strive for, in the light of the limited range of our knowledge, and even of our imperfect understanding of individuals and societies. A certain humility in these matters is very necessary...
There are, if not universal values, at any rate a minimum without which societies could scarcely survive. Few today would wish to defend slavery or ritual murder or Nazi gas chambers or the torture of human beings for the sake of pleasure or profit or even political good—or the duty of children to denounce their parents, which the French and Russian revolutions demanded, or mindless killing. There is no justification for compromise on this. But on the other hand, the search for perfection does seem to me a recipe for bloodshed, no better even if it is demanded by the sincerest of idealists, the purest of heart. No more rigorous moralist than Immanuel Kant has ever lived, but even he said, in a moment of illumination, "Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made." To force people into the neat uniforms demanded by dogmatically believed-in schemes is almost always the road to inhumanity. We can only do what we can: but that we must do, against difficulties."
Post ID: 6073497458224680102
Friday, August 23, 2013
Polishing stones into gems
Gabriel Cheng | LinkedIn:
"Started working full-time at the young age of 16, Gabriel rise and fall in a way that people of the same age have yet or will never experience.
To date, Gabriel trained over thousands of people from varies age range and demographic.
Gabriel greatest goal he sees himself as, is someone who picks up the stone rejected by the world today, but will be a refined gem of tomorrow."
"Started working full-time at the young age of 16, Gabriel rise and fall in a way that people of the same age have yet or will never experience.
To date, Gabriel trained over thousands of people from varies age range and demographic.
Gabriel greatest goal he sees himself as, is someone who picks up the stone rejected by the world today, but will be a refined gem of tomorrow."
Post ID: 8727496355361138402
Revert
Revert - NYTimes.com
"Lynne Geyser writes: "My son and I are in disagreement concerning the use of the word revert. The only usage I find acceptable is 'to return to a previous state.' He uses it (and claims that his Bahamian/English friends use it) to mean 'to get back to someone.' That is, instead of saying, 'I will get back to you with that information or with respect to that issue,' they say, 'I will revert to you.' Can you shed some light on this?"
Revert, as the major American and British dictionaries have it, does indeed primarily refer to a return to a former condition, belief or practice. For instance, George Vecsey, a sports columnist for The New York Times, recently wrote of the woeful New Jersey Nets, "Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson reached the finals in 2002 and 2003, but the Nets have since reverted to their haunted roots."
Secondary senses of the verb include the legal one, denoting the return of something to its previous owner, as in the contractual boilerplate, "All rights revert to the author after publishing." In evolutionary biology, it can signal an atavistic throwback to an ancestral type. To someone familiar with only these traditional meanings of the word, "I will revert to you" might sound like a bizarrely personal take on either property law or genetics.
It turns out that unbeknownst to most dictionaries, revert has been leading another life in several varieties of world English, notably the kind spoken on the Indian subcontinent. The usage has finally garnered the attention of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, which amended the definition of revert for its newly published eighth edition to include the meaning "to reply." Marked in the OALD as "Indian English," the use of the word is exemplified by the sentences: "Excellent openings - kindly revert with your updated CV," and "We request you to kindly revert back if you have any further requirements."
(Sticklers who are not already up in arms about this change in meaning will surely bristle at the redundancy of the second sentence: why revert back when you can simply revert? The same criticism can be leveled at reply back, with the superfluous addition of back resulting in "pleonasm," or the use of more words than is strictly necessary.)
As Alison Waters, a lexicographer at Oxford University Press, told The Indian Express, revert in the sense of "reply" is one of eight contributions from Indian English included in the latest batch of OALD additions. It has spread beyond India, however, cropping up in the English of Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and elsewhere. In these countries, the usage has occasionally been deemed improper by language authorities. Singapore's Speak Good English Movement, for example, labels it "a mistake" that should be avoided in official correspondence.
Given the established use of revert in several Anglophone countries, often appearing in formal letter writing, it would be unfair to treat the "reply" meaning as simply erroneous. Paul Brians, an emeritus professor of English at Washington State University, previously catalogued revert in his online compendium of "Common Errors in English Usage." Alerted to its prevalence in South Asia, Brians recently revised the entry, while still recommending that "it is best to stick with 'reply' when dealing with non-South Asian correspondents." This is sound advice for now, but if Geyser's son and his friends are any indication, revert may be in the midst of a global shift from which there is no turning back."
"Lynne Geyser writes: "My son and I are in disagreement concerning the use of the word revert. The only usage I find acceptable is 'to return to a previous state.' He uses it (and claims that his Bahamian/English friends use it) to mean 'to get back to someone.' That is, instead of saying, 'I will get back to you with that information or with respect to that issue,' they say, 'I will revert to you.' Can you shed some light on this?"
Revert, as the major American and British dictionaries have it, does indeed primarily refer to a return to a former condition, belief or practice. For instance, George Vecsey, a sports columnist for The New York Times, recently wrote of the woeful New Jersey Nets, "Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson reached the finals in 2002 and 2003, but the Nets have since reverted to their haunted roots."
Secondary senses of the verb include the legal one, denoting the return of something to its previous owner, as in the contractual boilerplate, "All rights revert to the author after publishing." In evolutionary biology, it can signal an atavistic throwback to an ancestral type. To someone familiar with only these traditional meanings of the word, "I will revert to you" might sound like a bizarrely personal take on either property law or genetics.
It turns out that unbeknownst to most dictionaries, revert has been leading another life in several varieties of world English, notably the kind spoken on the Indian subcontinent. The usage has finally garnered the attention of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, which amended the definition of revert for its newly published eighth edition to include the meaning "to reply." Marked in the OALD as "Indian English," the use of the word is exemplified by the sentences: "Excellent openings - kindly revert with your updated CV," and "We request you to kindly revert back if you have any further requirements."
(Sticklers who are not already up in arms about this change in meaning will surely bristle at the redundancy of the second sentence: why revert back when you can simply revert? The same criticism can be leveled at reply back, with the superfluous addition of back resulting in "pleonasm," or the use of more words than is strictly necessary.)
As Alison Waters, a lexicographer at Oxford University Press, told The Indian Express, revert in the sense of "reply" is one of eight contributions from Indian English included in the latest batch of OALD additions. It has spread beyond India, however, cropping up in the English of Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and elsewhere. In these countries, the usage has occasionally been deemed improper by language authorities. Singapore's Speak Good English Movement, for example, labels it "a mistake" that should be avoided in official correspondence.
Given the established use of revert in several Anglophone countries, often appearing in formal letter writing, it would be unfair to treat the "reply" meaning as simply erroneous. Paul Brians, an emeritus professor of English at Washington State University, previously catalogued revert in his online compendium of "Common Errors in English Usage." Alerted to its prevalence in South Asia, Brians recently revised the entry, while still recommending that "it is best to stick with 'reply' when dealing with non-South Asian correspondents." This is sound advice for now, but if Geyser's son and his friends are any indication, revert may be in the midst of a global shift from which there is no turning back."
Post ID: 9114070281687889334
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
A Cult of Ignorance
A Cult of Ignorance
Newsweek, 21 January 1980
"It’s hard to quarrel with that ancient justification of the free press: “America’s right to know.” It seems almost cruel to ask, ingenuously, ”America’s right to know what, please? Science? Mathematics? Economics? Foreign languages?”
None of those things, of course. In fact, one might well suppose that the popular feeling is that Americans are a lot better off without any of that tripe.
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
Politicians have routinely striven to speak the language of Shakespeare and Milton as ungrammatically as possible in order to avoid offending their audiences by appearing to have gone to school. Thus, Adlai Stevenson, who incautiously allowed intelligence and learning and wit to peep out of his speeches, found the American people flocking to a Presidential candidate who invented a version of the English language that was all his own and that has been the despair of satirists ever since.
George Wallace, in his speeches, had, as one of his prime targets, the “pointy-headed professor,” and with what a roar of approval that phrase was always greeted by his pointy-headed audience.
BUZZWORDS: Now we have a new slogan on the part of the obscurantists: “Don’t trust the experts!” Ten years ago, it was “Don’t trust anyone over 30.” 8ut the shouters of that slogan found that the inevitable alchemy of the calendar converted them to the untrustworthiness of the over-30, and, apparently, they determined nevr to make that mistake again. “Don’t trust the experts!” is absolutely safe. Nothing, neither the passing of time nor exposure to information, will convert these shouters to experts in any subject that might conceivably be useful.
We have a new buzzword, too, fór anyone who admires competence, knowledge, learning and skill, and who wishes to spread it around. People like that are called “elitists." That’s the funniest buzzword ever invented because people who are not members of the intellectual elite don’t know what an “elitist” is, or how to pronounce the word. As soon as someone shouts “elitist” it becomes clear that he or she is a closet elitist who is feeling guilty about having gone to school.
All right, then, forget my ingenuous question. America’s right to know does not include knowledge of elitist subjects. America’s right to know involves something we might express vaguely as "what’s going on.” America has the right to know “what’s going on” in the courts, in Congress, in the White House, in industrial councils, in the regulatory agencies, in labor unions—in the seats of the mighty, generally.
Very good, I’m for that, too. But how are you going to let people know all that?
Grant us a free press. and a corps of independent and fearless investigative reporters, comes the cry, and we can be sure that the people will know.
Yes, provided they can read!
As it happens, reading is one of those elitist subjects I have been talking about, and the American public, by and large, in their distrust of experts and in their contempt for pointy-headed professors, can’t read and don’t read.
To be sure, the average American can sign his name more or less legibly, and can make out the sports headlines—--but how many nonelitist Americans can, without undue difficulty, read as many as a thousand consecutive words of small print, some of which may be trisyllahic?
Moreover, the situation is growing worse. Reading scores in the schools dedine steadily. The highway signs, which used to represent elementary misreading lessons (“Go Slo.” “Xroad”) arc steadily bring replaced by little pictures to make them internationally legible and incidentally to help those who know how to drive a car but, not being pointy-headed professors, can’t read.
Again, in television commercials, there are frequent printed messages. Well, keep your eyes on them and you’ll find out that no advertiser ever believes that anyone but an occasional elitist can read that print. To ensure that more than this mandarin minority gets the message, every word of it is spoken out loud by the announcer.
HONEST EFFORT: If that is so, then how have Americans got the right to know? Grant that (here are certain publications that make an honest effort to tell the public what they should know, but ask yourselves how many actually read them.
There are 200 million Americans who have inhabited schoolrooms at some time in their lives and who will admit that they know how to read (provided you promise not to use their names and shame them before their neighbors), but most decent periodicals believe they are doing amazingly well if they have circulations of half million. It may be that only 1 per cent—or less—of Americans make a stab at exercising their right to know. And if they try to do anything on that basis they are quite likely to be accused of being elitists.
I contend that the slogan “America’s right to know” is a meaningless one when we have an ignorant population, and that the function of a free press is virtually zero when hardly anyone can read.
What shall we do about it?
We might begin by asking ourselves whether ignorance is so wonderful after all, and whether it makes sense to denounce “elitism.”
I believe that every human being with a physically normal brain can learn a great deal and can be surprisingly intellectual. I believe that what we badly need is social approval of learning and social rewards for learning.
We can all be members of the intellectual elite and then, and only then, will a phrase like “America’s right to know” and, indeed, any true concept of democracy, have any meaning."
--- Isaac Asimov
Newsweek, 21 January 1980
"It’s hard to quarrel with that ancient justification of the free press: “America’s right to know.” It seems almost cruel to ask, ingenuously, ”America’s right to know what, please? Science? Mathematics? Economics? Foreign languages?”
None of those things, of course. In fact, one might well suppose that the popular feeling is that Americans are a lot better off without any of that tripe.
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
Politicians have routinely striven to speak the language of Shakespeare and Milton as ungrammatically as possible in order to avoid offending their audiences by appearing to have gone to school. Thus, Adlai Stevenson, who incautiously allowed intelligence and learning and wit to peep out of his speeches, found the American people flocking to a Presidential candidate who invented a version of the English language that was all his own and that has been the despair of satirists ever since.
George Wallace, in his speeches, had, as one of his prime targets, the “pointy-headed professor,” and with what a roar of approval that phrase was always greeted by his pointy-headed audience.
BUZZWORDS: Now we have a new slogan on the part of the obscurantists: “Don’t trust the experts!” Ten years ago, it was “Don’t trust anyone over 30.” 8ut the shouters of that slogan found that the inevitable alchemy of the calendar converted them to the untrustworthiness of the over-30, and, apparently, they determined nevr to make that mistake again. “Don’t trust the experts!” is absolutely safe. Nothing, neither the passing of time nor exposure to information, will convert these shouters to experts in any subject that might conceivably be useful.
We have a new buzzword, too, fór anyone who admires competence, knowledge, learning and skill, and who wishes to spread it around. People like that are called “elitists." That’s the funniest buzzword ever invented because people who are not members of the intellectual elite don’t know what an “elitist” is, or how to pronounce the word. As soon as someone shouts “elitist” it becomes clear that he or she is a closet elitist who is feeling guilty about having gone to school.
All right, then, forget my ingenuous question. America’s right to know does not include knowledge of elitist subjects. America’s right to know involves something we might express vaguely as "what’s going on.” America has the right to know “what’s going on” in the courts, in Congress, in the White House, in industrial councils, in the regulatory agencies, in labor unions—in the seats of the mighty, generally.
Very good, I’m for that, too. But how are you going to let people know all that?
Grant us a free press. and a corps of independent and fearless investigative reporters, comes the cry, and we can be sure that the people will know.
Yes, provided they can read!
As it happens, reading is one of those elitist subjects I have been talking about, and the American public, by and large, in their distrust of experts and in their contempt for pointy-headed professors, can’t read and don’t read.
To be sure, the average American can sign his name more or less legibly, and can make out the sports headlines—--but how many nonelitist Americans can, without undue difficulty, read as many as a thousand consecutive words of small print, some of which may be trisyllahic?
Moreover, the situation is growing worse. Reading scores in the schools dedine steadily. The highway signs, which used to represent elementary misreading lessons (“Go Slo.” “Xroad”) arc steadily bring replaced by little pictures to make them internationally legible and incidentally to help those who know how to drive a car but, not being pointy-headed professors, can’t read.
Again, in television commercials, there are frequent printed messages. Well, keep your eyes on them and you’ll find out that no advertiser ever believes that anyone but an occasional elitist can read that print. To ensure that more than this mandarin minority gets the message, every word of it is spoken out loud by the announcer.
HONEST EFFORT: If that is so, then how have Americans got the right to know? Grant that (here are certain publications that make an honest effort to tell the public what they should know, but ask yourselves how many actually read them.
There are 200 million Americans who have inhabited schoolrooms at some time in their lives and who will admit that they know how to read (provided you promise not to use their names and shame them before their neighbors), but most decent periodicals believe they are doing amazingly well if they have circulations of half million. It may be that only 1 per cent—or less—of Americans make a stab at exercising their right to know. And if they try to do anything on that basis they are quite likely to be accused of being elitists.
I contend that the slogan “America’s right to know” is a meaningless one when we have an ignorant population, and that the function of a free press is virtually zero when hardly anyone can read.
What shall we do about it?
We might begin by asking ourselves whether ignorance is so wonderful after all, and whether it makes sense to denounce “elitism.”
I believe that every human being with a physically normal brain can learn a great deal and can be surprisingly intellectual. I believe that what we badly need is social approval of learning and social rewards for learning.
We can all be members of the intellectual elite and then, and only then, will a phrase like “America’s right to know” and, indeed, any true concept of democracy, have any meaning."
--- Isaac Asimov
Post ID: 8695925071349729966
u r wt u wr - 21st August 2013
u r wt u wr:
- 'Catch me' (She was a prime candidate for catch & release)
- 'I'm a crazy fool for ♥'
- 'sick' (She looked quite guai)
- 'hug for haters'
- 'this mummy is single' (Not sure if she was British...)
- 'je suis une fille really chic' (if you're chic you won't wear that. But she was like 7)
- 'only for your eyes' (No one else would want to look)
- 'emo' (She was a teen so yes)
- 'You had me at your immaculate spelling and your flawless use of grammar'
- 'Hot girl. Celebrity'
- 'Never
Ending
Fun'
- 'Dork' (this was a welcome change from all the 'Geek' tees)
- 'love doesn't learn'
- 'Cute & Sweet' (Maybe the latter)
- 'trophy girlfriend' (She was more like a punishment)
- 'pretty women'
- 'I'm always in love'
- 'si freak si chic' (Possibly the first definitely not the latter)
- 'kiss me I'm wearing A&F'
- 'my friend likes you but I'm his favourite'
- 'fu-Chanel logo-k you' (this had a bloody font)
- '*animal sniffing the butt of another* I love you'
- 'kiss me' (I wouldn't want to)
Guys:
- 'Please turn me on *light switch*'
- 'Of course
I'm in
love with
you
darling'
u r wt u wr (Europe CNY 2012):
- 'What a pair!' (on the gloves of a little black boy. Hmm...)
u r wt u wr (BKK 2012) (note the number I got in just 3 days):
- 'I'm sorry. I wanna have party'
- 'I'm not a monkey but I love bananas'
- [Man] 'I fuck on the first date' (he was followed by a woman and children)
- [Billboard] 'Young and sexy *woman with 2 big watermelons in front of her*'
- 'Romance and pretty girl' (she was okay)
- 'falling love'
- 'so shy shy'
- [Guy] 'I know you want me. Kmutt'
- '*pictures of elephant* jolie femme *something*'
- 'Don't telling mum' (this was in an awful green-yellow highlighter colour)
- 'Don't try to like me'
- 'Catch me' (She was a prime candidate for catch & release)
- 'I'm a crazy fool for ♥'
- 'sick' (She looked quite guai)
- 'hug for haters'
- 'this mummy is single' (Not sure if she was British...)
- 'je suis une fille really chic' (if you're chic you won't wear that. But she was like 7)
- 'only for your eyes' (No one else would want to look)
- 'emo' (She was a teen so yes)
- 'You had me at your immaculate spelling and your flawless use of grammar'
- 'Hot girl. Celebrity'
- '
Ending
- 'Dork' (this was a welcome change from all the 'Geek' tees)
- 'love doesn't learn'
- 'Cute & Sweet' (Maybe the latter)
- 'trophy girlfriend' (She was more like a punishment)
- 'pretty women'
- 'I'm always in love'
- 'si freak si chic' (Possibly the first definitely not the latter)
- 'kiss me I'm wearing A&F'
- 'my friend likes you but I'm his favourite'
- 'fu-Chanel logo-k you' (this had a bloody font)
- '*animal sniffing the butt of another* I love you'
- 'kiss me' (I wouldn't want to)
Guys:
- 'Please turn me on *light switch*'
- 'Of course
I'm in
love with
you
darling'
u r wt u wr (Europe CNY 2012):
- 'What a pair!' (on the gloves of a little black boy. Hmm...)
u r wt u wr (BKK 2012) (note the number I got in just 3 days):
- 'I'm sorry. I wanna have party'
- 'I'm not a monkey but I love bananas'
- [Man] 'I fuck on the first date' (he was followed by a woman and children)
- [Billboard] 'Young and sexy *woman with 2 big watermelons in front of her*'
- 'Romance and pretty girl' (she was okay)
- 'falling love'
- 'so shy shy'
- [Guy] 'I know you want me. Kmutt'
- '*pictures of elephant* jolie femme *something*'
- 'Don't telling mum' (this was in an awful green-yellow highlighter colour)
- 'Don't try to like me'
Post ID: 3548972964439970649
Links - 21st August 2013
Kosher lube puts oral sex on the menu for Orthodox Jews - "kosher certification is only relevant to Jews who swallow a product. Really, it's only necessary for the God-fearing who intentionally swallow it – but some strict observers go further and buy kosher products if there is a risk of accidentally swallowing them."
Not Jewish but Jew-ish - "I explain that I like being a Jew, but apart from looking as if I'm playing a character role as an accountant, being unable to stop using words such as schlep and plutz and loving chopped liver, I'm so un-Jewish that I've only once in 20 years been to my local synagogue... what I really want to write about is being Jew-ish. This is a term that I wish I'd invented rather than the veteran doctor-slash-theatre-producer, Jonathan Miller, years ago. He also referred to being "an amphibious Jew – half in and half out of the water". We are those cop-out, fair-weather Jews that "real" Jews despise more than they do antisemites: the secular, cultural Jews, the amoral majority, the ones who want to have their bagel and eat it. The ones who, with their marrying out, their going to the pub on Yom Kippur and to the football on Saturdays, and – God forbid – with their ambivalent view of the Middle East, are doing Hitler's work for him and conspiring in the erosion of the already disappearing UK Jewish community – currently about 250,000 and counting, downwards."
Snake in toilet bit man's penis
Human statue punches heckler in face
Moving Around Without Losing Your Roots - ""The trouble with moving around and falling in love with new places," a colleague once shared, "is that you leave a piece of your heart in each of them." That resonated with my experience. In Italy, professionals working abroad are described as "runaway brains." My brain, however, never ran away. My heart just took it elsewhere. This is why I worry when senior executives tell aspiring leaders that membership in global elites requires sacrificing an existence grounded in one place. Framing the struggle for home as a private reckoning with loss is simplistic and dangerous. It makes global elites more isolated and disconnected, less intelligible and trustworthy. It puts them in no position to lead. "
In Taipei, Taiwan, Life in the Slow Lane - WSJ.com - "Welcome to the new Taipei. Other Asian cities might compete on building the flashiest skyscrapers or glitziest shopping center. But the Taiwanese capital, once a typical '80s Asian Tiger boomtown, is forging a different path. Since the late 1990s, the municipal government has focused on improving the quality of life in this city of 2.6 million"
In researching his new book, The East, the West, and Sex, author Richard Bernstein found that the Orientalist illusion continues to influence. "Historically, Asia provided certain sexual opportunities that would be much more difficult for Western men to have at home. But it remains a happy hunting ground for them today"... I suspect there's something else about the East that's seducing business bigwigs at this very moment: globalization. Consider that, stateside, Mandarin classes have spiked 200 percent over the past five years... It's as though these Western men are hungry for a piece of that mystical Eastern formula. As such, Asians (in addition to African orphans) are hot commodities right about now — status symbols as prized as a private Gulfstream jet or a museum wing bearing your name (neither of which goes so well with a frumpy, aging first wife)... Maybe these outsized, world-class moguls are stand-ins for emotionally repressed Asian dads (one cliché that is predominantly true). Or...are these women just glorified opportunists? What's so perverse is that while Asians have always revered their elders, sleeping with a guy old enough to be your grandfather is just creepy — in any culture."
Awkward Stock Photos
Japanese Women Short On Cash Use Smartphone Games to Lure Men Into Paying for Their Food Expenses
French bus drivers to strike over tight trousers
Where Do the Words “Mom” and “Dad” Come From? - "it’s plausible that da originated as baby babble and entered adult vocabulary from there as "dad," but it's not a sure thing."
Xbox players better in bed than Playstation and Wii rivals, study finds - "Of the respondents, 21 per cent wanted ‘more sex, less gaming’ from their partner, whereas an intriguing 11 per cent wanted ‘less sex, more gaming’."
Florida woman arrested for violently yanking ex-boyfriend’s penis
Litter fines 'cash cow' for London councils - ""Perversely, when butts become such a lucrative source of revenue, councils lose interest in persuading people not to drop them in the first place. "Few councils provide cigarette disposal bins, and smokers believe they shouldn't put their butt in an ordinary bin because it would risk fire." In Bromley the BBC twice witnessed XFor litter wardens standing out of sight before issuing fines to smokers. Neither was given a warning."
Woman Grabs Lost iPad, Takes Silly Selfies Which Then Autoload to Owner’s iPhone
Poll: Most women believe they should not be forced into combat - "Seventy-seven percent of female voters indicated that they favor the combat policy change, the poll showed. When asked about the reinstatement of the draft, only 28 percent of American voters were in support. Despite widespread favor toward women in combat, only 48 percent of females supported women being drafted, while 59 percent of men supported the idea."
This is called "male privilege"
Car bombs kill scores across Iraq - Middle East - Al Jazeera English - "At least 91 people have been killed and hundreds injured in a series of car bombs that rocked Baghdad and other Iraqi cities amid Eid al-Fitr celebrations, an interior ministry official said. The attacks were the latest in spiralling violence which authorities have failed to stem, with the worst bloodshed in five years raising worries of a return to the all-out Sunni-Shia sectarian conflict that killed tens of thousands in past years. The latest violence comes just weeks after brazen assaults, claimed by an al-Qaeda front group, on prisons near Baghdad that freed hundreds of fighters and which analysts warn could boost armed groups... The Interior Ministry has said the country faces an "open war" fuelled by Iraq's sectarian divisions and has attempted to boost security in Baghdad, closing roads and sending out frequent helicopter patrols. Our correspondent said the withdrawal of American combat troops from Iraq 18 months ago has hit security efforts and emboldened Sunni fighters to step up attacks. "People in the Iraqi security services will tell you ... that the Iraqi army is now on its own. They do not have the intelligence from the Americans that they had before. That has caused Sunni groups to go on the offensive. "Then you have Shia groups taking revenge against them, in a classic tit-for-tat situation.""
Al Jazeera must be in the pay of the US for them to make such an outrageous claim, that the withdrawal of US troops was bad for security!
Why the U.S. should get out of Iraq - "our occupation is worsening the situation in Iraq. The CIA acknowledges that our presence in Iraq is the major cause of increasing violence... The mere acknowledgement of eventual withdrawal would allow the over 40 groups of insurgents to engage with the Iraqi government and be included in building the new government Research done by Israel and Saudi Arabia has shown clearly that the occupation is fueling the insurgency. If Israel and Saudi Arabia can agree, isn't it time for us to agree as well!"
5 Reasons to Kill Christian Music - "1. Writing a “Christian” song reduces Christianity to a modifying adjective.
2. Music is already Christian.
3. “If you label me you negate me.”
4. As a label, Christianity becomes an excuse for mediocrity.
5. “Christian” music isn’t Christian."
Flippy Doodle • Agnostic Atheist, But Not Interested In White Supremacist Atheism - "women of colour don’t need arrogant and ahistorical White male spokespersons, ones who ignore their own misogyny and the impact of White male misogyny globally... The White men who claim to be our “heroes” are ALSO oppressors in this case. Most of all, it is hypocritical when these White men with abysmal misogyny towards White women claim to be “less” misogynist than men of colour. Whether they were burning witches in the past, engaging in scientific and medical exploration via racist, sexist, abusive and unethical practices and dehumanization of brown bodies, or responsible for the majority of rapes of women in the U.S. today... Men are NOT in the position to determine what is “worse” misogyny, misogynoir or transmisogyny. Only the women who experience it can discuss it in this context and even then must do so without xenophobia, racism and cultural imperialism shaping that conversation... I want to add one more thing: an assumption that privileged, white, male atheists make is that Women of Colour are powerless and brainwashed theists"
We need to send these feminists to Saudi Arabia. The misogyny there is "the same" as in the West, but at least they're not hypocrites about it there
If men cannot say anything about misogyny, female feminists cannot say anything about misandry
It is unproblematic to assume that non-feminist women are powerless and brainwashed
Open letter to South Africa from foreign media | Daily Maverick - "We very much like the idea that your ex-president was “one of a kind”, and that despite his best efforts, the current batch of idiots prove that he was an exceptional presence, sui generis, and we don’t have to worry about someone else like him coming along in Africa ever again. We enjoy your leaders’ bumbling ways, their daft non-sequiturs, the glint of their Beijing-bought Breitlings. That “Vote ANC” truck parked outside the hospital? If that doesn’t speak to moral degeneration of the first order, what does? In other words, this story would lack a tragic arc without Jacob Zuma. May he keep on keeping on... Indeed, you need to brace yourselves. We’re about to engage in the single greatest orgy of industrial-grade mourning porn the world has ever known. Your little country will forever be honoured as the site that made the Princess Diana thing look like a restrained wake for a loathed spinster who perished alone on a desert island. Oh man, this is going to be big."
"Reading [this] was like my mom walking in on me having sex - funny but uncomfortable"
"I live in South-Africa, ad I'm right in the middle of this "orgy of industrial-grade mourning porn" every day of my life. And as someone with many years ground level experience in this country all I can say to Mr. Poplak is: you have no idea how right you are LoL. They do say good comedy is usually pointing out the truth in a humorist manner, needless to say I found the article funny, yet with no contest from me at all. I'll be watching you watching the mourning porn. Carry on .. LOL"
Not Jewish but Jew-ish - "I explain that I like being a Jew, but apart from looking as if I'm playing a character role as an accountant, being unable to stop using words such as schlep and plutz and loving chopped liver, I'm so un-Jewish that I've only once in 20 years been to my local synagogue... what I really want to write about is being Jew-ish. This is a term that I wish I'd invented rather than the veteran doctor-slash-theatre-producer, Jonathan Miller, years ago. He also referred to being "an amphibious Jew – half in and half out of the water". We are those cop-out, fair-weather Jews that "real" Jews despise more than they do antisemites: the secular, cultural Jews, the amoral majority, the ones who want to have their bagel and eat it. The ones who, with their marrying out, their going to the pub on Yom Kippur and to the football on Saturdays, and – God forbid – with their ambivalent view of the Middle East, are doing Hitler's work for him and conspiring in the erosion of the already disappearing UK Jewish community – currently about 250,000 and counting, downwards."
Snake in toilet bit man's penis
Human statue punches heckler in face
Moving Around Without Losing Your Roots - ""The trouble with moving around and falling in love with new places," a colleague once shared, "is that you leave a piece of your heart in each of them." That resonated with my experience. In Italy, professionals working abroad are described as "runaway brains." My brain, however, never ran away. My heart just took it elsewhere. This is why I worry when senior executives tell aspiring leaders that membership in global elites requires sacrificing an existence grounded in one place. Framing the struggle for home as a private reckoning with loss is simplistic and dangerous. It makes global elites more isolated and disconnected, less intelligible and trustworthy. It puts them in no position to lead. "
In Taipei, Taiwan, Life in the Slow Lane - WSJ.com - "Welcome to the new Taipei. Other Asian cities might compete on building the flashiest skyscrapers or glitziest shopping center. But the Taiwanese capital, once a typical '80s Asian Tiger boomtown, is forging a different path. Since the late 1990s, the municipal government has focused on improving the quality of life in this city of 2.6 million"
In researching his new book, The East, the West, and Sex, author Richard Bernstein found that the Orientalist illusion continues to influence. "Historically, Asia provided certain sexual opportunities that would be much more difficult for Western men to have at home. But it remains a happy hunting ground for them today"... I suspect there's something else about the East that's seducing business bigwigs at this very moment: globalization. Consider that, stateside, Mandarin classes have spiked 200 percent over the past five years... It's as though these Western men are hungry for a piece of that mystical Eastern formula. As such, Asians (in addition to African orphans) are hot commodities right about now — status symbols as prized as a private Gulfstream jet or a museum wing bearing your name (neither of which goes so well with a frumpy, aging first wife)... Maybe these outsized, world-class moguls are stand-ins for emotionally repressed Asian dads (one cliché that is predominantly true). Or...are these women just glorified opportunists? What's so perverse is that while Asians have always revered their elders, sleeping with a guy old enough to be your grandfather is just creepy — in any culture."
Awkward Stock Photos
Japanese Women Short On Cash Use Smartphone Games to Lure Men Into Paying for Their Food Expenses
French bus drivers to strike over tight trousers
Where Do the Words “Mom” and “Dad” Come From? - "it’s plausible that da originated as baby babble and entered adult vocabulary from there as "dad," but it's not a sure thing."
Xbox players better in bed than Playstation and Wii rivals, study finds - "Of the respondents, 21 per cent wanted ‘more sex, less gaming’ from their partner, whereas an intriguing 11 per cent wanted ‘less sex, more gaming’."
Florida woman arrested for violently yanking ex-boyfriend’s penis
Litter fines 'cash cow' for London councils - ""Perversely, when butts become such a lucrative source of revenue, councils lose interest in persuading people not to drop them in the first place. "Few councils provide cigarette disposal bins, and smokers believe they shouldn't put their butt in an ordinary bin because it would risk fire." In Bromley the BBC twice witnessed XFor litter wardens standing out of sight before issuing fines to smokers. Neither was given a warning."
Woman Grabs Lost iPad, Takes Silly Selfies Which Then Autoload to Owner’s iPhone
Poll: Most women believe they should not be forced into combat - "Seventy-seven percent of female voters indicated that they favor the combat policy change, the poll showed. When asked about the reinstatement of the draft, only 28 percent of American voters were in support. Despite widespread favor toward women in combat, only 48 percent of females supported women being drafted, while 59 percent of men supported the idea."
This is called "male privilege"
Car bombs kill scores across Iraq - Middle East - Al Jazeera English - "At least 91 people have been killed and hundreds injured in a series of car bombs that rocked Baghdad and other Iraqi cities amid Eid al-Fitr celebrations, an interior ministry official said. The attacks were the latest in spiralling violence which authorities have failed to stem, with the worst bloodshed in five years raising worries of a return to the all-out Sunni-Shia sectarian conflict that killed tens of thousands in past years. The latest violence comes just weeks after brazen assaults, claimed by an al-Qaeda front group, on prisons near Baghdad that freed hundreds of fighters and which analysts warn could boost armed groups... The Interior Ministry has said the country faces an "open war" fuelled by Iraq's sectarian divisions and has attempted to boost security in Baghdad, closing roads and sending out frequent helicopter patrols. Our correspondent said the withdrawal of American combat troops from Iraq 18 months ago has hit security efforts and emboldened Sunni fighters to step up attacks. "People in the Iraqi security services will tell you ... that the Iraqi army is now on its own. They do not have the intelligence from the Americans that they had before. That has caused Sunni groups to go on the offensive. "Then you have Shia groups taking revenge against them, in a classic tit-for-tat situation.""
Al Jazeera must be in the pay of the US for them to make such an outrageous claim, that the withdrawal of US troops was bad for security!
Why the U.S. should get out of Iraq - "our occupation is worsening the situation in Iraq. The CIA acknowledges that our presence in Iraq is the major cause of increasing violence... The mere acknowledgement of eventual withdrawal would allow the over 40 groups of insurgents to engage with the Iraqi government and be included in building the new government Research done by Israel and Saudi Arabia has shown clearly that the occupation is fueling the insurgency. If Israel and Saudi Arabia can agree, isn't it time for us to agree as well!"
5 Reasons to Kill Christian Music - "1. Writing a “Christian” song reduces Christianity to a modifying adjective.
2. Music is already Christian.
3. “If you label me you negate me.”
4. As a label, Christianity becomes an excuse for mediocrity.
5. “Christian” music isn’t Christian."
Flippy Doodle • Agnostic Atheist, But Not Interested In White Supremacist Atheism - "women of colour don’t need arrogant and ahistorical White male spokespersons, ones who ignore their own misogyny and the impact of White male misogyny globally... The White men who claim to be our “heroes” are ALSO oppressors in this case. Most of all, it is hypocritical when these White men with abysmal misogyny towards White women claim to be “less” misogynist than men of colour. Whether they were burning witches in the past, engaging in scientific and medical exploration via racist, sexist, abusive and unethical practices and dehumanization of brown bodies, or responsible for the majority of rapes of women in the U.S. today... Men are NOT in the position to determine what is “worse” misogyny, misogynoir or transmisogyny. Only the women who experience it can discuss it in this context and even then must do so without xenophobia, racism and cultural imperialism shaping that conversation... I want to add one more thing: an assumption that privileged, white, male atheists make is that Women of Colour are powerless and brainwashed theists"
We need to send these feminists to Saudi Arabia. The misogyny there is "the same" as in the West, but at least they're not hypocrites about it there
If men cannot say anything about misogyny, female feminists cannot say anything about misandry
It is unproblematic to assume that non-feminist women are powerless and brainwashed
Open letter to South Africa from foreign media | Daily Maverick - "We very much like the idea that your ex-president was “one of a kind”, and that despite his best efforts, the current batch of idiots prove that he was an exceptional presence, sui generis, and we don’t have to worry about someone else like him coming along in Africa ever again. We enjoy your leaders’ bumbling ways, their daft non-sequiturs, the glint of their Beijing-bought Breitlings. That “Vote ANC” truck parked outside the hospital? If that doesn’t speak to moral degeneration of the first order, what does? In other words, this story would lack a tragic arc without Jacob Zuma. May he keep on keeping on... Indeed, you need to brace yourselves. We’re about to engage in the single greatest orgy of industrial-grade mourning porn the world has ever known. Your little country will forever be honoured as the site that made the Princess Diana thing look like a restrained wake for a loathed spinster who perished alone on a desert island. Oh man, this is going to be big."
"Reading [this] was like my mom walking in on me having sex - funny but uncomfortable"
"I live in South-Africa, ad I'm right in the middle of this "orgy of industrial-grade mourning porn" every day of my life. And as someone with many years ground level experience in this country all I can say to Mr. Poplak is: you have no idea how right you are LoL. They do say good comedy is usually pointing out the truth in a humorist manner, needless to say I found the article funny, yet with no contest from me at all. I'll be watching you watching the mourning porn. Carry on .. LOL"
Post ID: 7431448598654440025
Monday, August 19, 2013
Google Home View
heute show 12.03.10: Sonneborn - google home view :
(the video is in German with French subtitles, but you get the gist without them)
(the video is in German with French subtitles, but you get the gist without them)
Post ID: 2738714373646206520
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Links - 18th August 2013
Urine-cooked eggs a delicacy in China city: ‘Virgin boy eggs’ are spring tradition in Dongyang - "Vendors collect buckets of boy's urine from from local schools and homes in order to make the unusual broth... “It’s so delicious that I can eat 10 eggs a day,” a woman surnamed Liu told Shanghai Daily. “I am addicted." Wu Yunhua at Dongyang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine told the Daily that the urine “diminishes the internal heat of the human body.”"
Police: Kidnapped MoveOn.org Staffer's "Please Help" Emails Went Completely Ignored - "Over months in captivity, kidnapping victim Kat Barr sent hundreds of emails to her MoveOn mailing list only to have them immediately deleted by the recipients without being read."
Why Did So Many Muslims Seem to Celebrate 9/11? - "some of those same voices of [Islamic] moderation had occasionally expressed their approval of Islamic groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah that engage in terrorism. In the years since 9/11, scholars and experts have done little to resolve the contradictions. Often, they have merely taken them to a higher level... Bewildering as all this has been, Americans might have found it easier to negotiate if they had paid as much attention to the Arab side of the terrorists' identity as they did to the Muslim side... Kepel argues that September 11 was a last-ditch effort on the part of Islamist extremists to revive their waning movement. "In spite of what many hasty commentators concluded in its aftermath," Kepel writes, "the attack on the United States was a desperate symbol of the isolation, fragmentation, and decline of the Islamist movement, not a sign of its strength and irrepressible might." Perhaps. But even if true, Kepel's analysis offers little comfort to the victims of this desperate insurgency within Islam. And even if extremist Islamists are only a minority within Islam, no one should forget the lesson of the Russian Bolsheviks: Determined minorities sometimes win."
Should Petain Road be renamed? - "In the light of these historical facts, we must agree with the French community that it is inappropriate to continue to honour Petain by naming a road after him. The question is whether there is a precedent for changing the road's name. I think I have found a good precedent. Chulia Street was originally named Kling Street"
Gen Y more gracious than Gen X: Survey
Woman wastes 98 tons of water flushing toilet|China Scene|chinadaily.com.cn - "A 68-year-old rural woman who went to the city for the first time in her life wasted 98 tons of water over two months by flushing the toilet in her son's home... The lady, surnamed Song, flushed the toilet almost every five minutes because she found it interesting, the paper said. Song told the paper that she thought flushing the toilet was different from running water, and didn't cost any money.""
Mustache transplants on the rise in Middle East - "In 2008 the Jerusalem Post reported that Gaza militants shaved the mustache off a Fatah rival they had abducted"
Need a Mustache Transplant? Visit Turkey - WSJ.com - "Despite Turkey's emergence as a hub for facial hair transplants, the number of Turkish men wearing mustaches has declined rapidly, according to pollsters. A study by Istanbul's TNS Market Research Company found that while 77% of Turkish men had mustaches in 1993, the figure fell to 34% in 2011 and is still sliding. The number wearing beards, by contrast, has risen to 24% from 18% over the same period, a sign for some that the country has become more religious under the decadelong leadership of the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party... "Personally, I'd be suspicious of a Turk who couldn't grow a mustache""
Groucho Marx voted America’s favorite facial hair icon - "the results were particularly noteworthy since Marx's mustache was a fake for most of his career. Marx's trademark mustache was actually made of greasepaint, though he chose to grow a real mustache in later years rather than applying the makeup for performances... Of course, you might want to stay away from the mustache, and any other facial hair for that matter, if you plan on running for public office. Thomas Dewey was the last major party candidate for president of the United States to sport facial hair, losing the 1948 election to clean-shaven Harry S. Truman. A 1986 Boston Globe article even went so far as to argue that Dewey's mustache worked against him in the race."
Do Short Skirts Really Mean Better Times? - " "Fashion used to be much more of an indicator of economic trends," says Marshal Cohen, president of NPDFashionworld, a market research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y. Cohen says over the past few years, the casual look that's become so popular in U.S. workplaces has diminished fashion's importance in indicating trends."
"Printer concept trades your bulky inkjet for a Stack of paper | The Verge - "he's trading the bulk of conventional units for a compact device that sits atop a pile of paper and "eats" its way down"
How One Perfect Shot Saved Pinball From Being Illegal - "Roger had been selected for this particular task not only for his knowledge and expertise, but for his legendary hand-eye coordination. He was there to prove that this was a game of skill, not chance. He was there to overturn the ban. He was there to save the game of pinball."
China's Barking Mad Dog-Lion Zoo to Reopen with 'Correct Signs’ - "Visitors said that the lion at the zoo was actually a dog, which was made clear when it started barking. It also had two rats in the snake display area and foxes purporting to be leopards. A pet dog was also seen in the wolf enclosure. According to the Beijing Times, zoo officials issued a public apology for tricking paying customers - the zoo charged adults 14 yuan (£1.50) for a ticket."
A "Glitch" Made All the Doors in a Max. Security Prison Open at Once - "Even the guards admit that the circumstances surrounding the incident are "suspicious." Perhaps the most suspicious part is that fact that this was the second time in as many months that these doors opened without warning, leading some to suspect that the first incident was a test to see how long it would take guards to react"
New Study Questions Myth Of Left-Brained And Right-Brained Personality Traits - "no evidence exists within brain imaging that pinpoints a difference in the way humans use their brains. "
Elizabeth Loftus: Falsifying memories | Mo Costandi | Science | theguardian.com - "It is therefore perfectly plausible that memories of childhood sexual abuse could be buried for years and then recalled, and that motivated forgetting, dissociative amnesia, or some other mechanism could account for some of the allegations in cases that Loftus has testified in... Some feminists are also concerned that Loftus' involvement in these cases has altered the way in which the mass media and general public view women who make such claims. They argue that the debate has shifted the focus away from viewing those who make the claims as victims, and onto the doubts over recovered memories. The ultimate effect, they say, is to undermine the credibility of all women who make such allegations"
Dying To Get A Free Education: Indian Policeman Fakes Death To Enable Daughter To Enter Medical College
Bill O'Reilly Defends Himself, Says He Donated $25,000 To Al Sharpton's Charity - "O'Reilly made the revelation after Sharpton criticized a segment he did about food stamps. O'Reilly had said that the program was rife with abuses, and allowed some people to be "parasites" — which prompted Sharpton to accuse him of "attacking the poor"... "And here's the crusher on Sharpton," the Fox News host said, defending himself. "He's been portraying me as a racist and a brutalizer of the poor. A few years ago Sharpton told me that his charity in Harlem, New York, was out of money and that it could not provide Christmas presents and Christmas dinners to hundreds of poor people in Harlem. So I gave Sharpton a $25,000 donation to provide the gifts and the food." "I never mentioned it, because it wasn’t necessary to mention it," O'Reilly continued. "But now it is. To prove exactly what kind of person Sharpton is." Sharpton responded to Politico on Friday, saying that O'Reilly should explain why he donated to an organization run by someone who he has accused of being part of the "grievance industry.""
Apparently altruism is questionable when it's by Bill O'Reilly
Rent-a-boyfriend dispatch service: Because Japanese women get lonely too
Wife kills abusive husband in self-defense only to discover 'he' was actually a woman wearing prosthetic penis - "Throughout their seven-month relationship, Angela had never been 'bare' in the light with Elizabeth, and always insisted on having sex in the dark, according to a police report. Angelo, born Angela, actually told his wife that a previous girlfriend had gotten angry and burned his genitals."
'Creepy Cameraman' pushes limits of public surveillance — a glimpse of the future? - "an unidentified man takes a camera around Seattle and other parts of Washington state, walking up to people and recording them for no apparent reason other than to make a point: How is what he’s doing different than those stationary surveillance cameras tucked away in buildings and public places?"
Walk A Mile Toronto - "“You can’t really understand another person’s experience until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” That’s why we’re asking you to put on a pair of high heels and join the White Ribbon Campaign to Walk A Mile in Her Shoes®"
Prudhomme's Lost Cajun Kitchen Must Offer Atheists Its Church-Goer Discount, State Rules - "A Pennsylvania restaurant owner must offer her church-goer discount to diners of all denominations, even atheists"
I thought private organisations could do as they pleased
Disability history month: Was Tamerlane disabled? - "Rarely can any man, let alone an aspiring world conqueror, have overcome physical disability with such terrifying ease, as hundreds of thousands of Asians, brutally slaughtered and decapitated, discovered to their cost."
Hurrah for overturning able-ist stereotypes!
The French Don't Drink Wine Anymore, World Is Officially Over
Ludicrous sex tips that will ruin your sex life
Police: Kidnapped MoveOn.org Staffer's "Please Help" Emails Went Completely Ignored - "Over months in captivity, kidnapping victim Kat Barr sent hundreds of emails to her MoveOn mailing list only to have them immediately deleted by the recipients without being read."
Why Did So Many Muslims Seem to Celebrate 9/11? - "some of those same voices of [Islamic] moderation had occasionally expressed their approval of Islamic groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah that engage in terrorism. In the years since 9/11, scholars and experts have done little to resolve the contradictions. Often, they have merely taken them to a higher level... Bewildering as all this has been, Americans might have found it easier to negotiate if they had paid as much attention to the Arab side of the terrorists' identity as they did to the Muslim side... Kepel argues that September 11 was a last-ditch effort on the part of Islamist extremists to revive their waning movement. "In spite of what many hasty commentators concluded in its aftermath," Kepel writes, "the attack on the United States was a desperate symbol of the isolation, fragmentation, and decline of the Islamist movement, not a sign of its strength and irrepressible might." Perhaps. But even if true, Kepel's analysis offers little comfort to the victims of this desperate insurgency within Islam. And even if extremist Islamists are only a minority within Islam, no one should forget the lesson of the Russian Bolsheviks: Determined minorities sometimes win."
Should Petain Road be renamed? - "In the light of these historical facts, we must agree with the French community that it is inappropriate to continue to honour Petain by naming a road after him. The question is whether there is a precedent for changing the road's name. I think I have found a good precedent. Chulia Street was originally named Kling Street"
Gen Y more gracious than Gen X: Survey
Woman wastes 98 tons of water flushing toilet|China Scene|chinadaily.com.cn - "A 68-year-old rural woman who went to the city for the first time in her life wasted 98 tons of water over two months by flushing the toilet in her son's home... The lady, surnamed Song, flushed the toilet almost every five minutes because she found it interesting, the paper said. Song told the paper that she thought flushing the toilet was different from running water, and didn't cost any money.""
Mustache transplants on the rise in Middle East - "In 2008 the Jerusalem Post reported that Gaza militants shaved the mustache off a Fatah rival they had abducted"
Need a Mustache Transplant? Visit Turkey - WSJ.com - "Despite Turkey's emergence as a hub for facial hair transplants, the number of Turkish men wearing mustaches has declined rapidly, according to pollsters. A study by Istanbul's TNS Market Research Company found that while 77% of Turkish men had mustaches in 1993, the figure fell to 34% in 2011 and is still sliding. The number wearing beards, by contrast, has risen to 24% from 18% over the same period, a sign for some that the country has become more religious under the decadelong leadership of the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party... "Personally, I'd be suspicious of a Turk who couldn't grow a mustache""
Groucho Marx voted America’s favorite facial hair icon - "the results were particularly noteworthy since Marx's mustache was a fake for most of his career. Marx's trademark mustache was actually made of greasepaint, though he chose to grow a real mustache in later years rather than applying the makeup for performances... Of course, you might want to stay away from the mustache, and any other facial hair for that matter, if you plan on running for public office. Thomas Dewey was the last major party candidate for president of the United States to sport facial hair, losing the 1948 election to clean-shaven Harry S. Truman. A 1986 Boston Globe article even went so far as to argue that Dewey's mustache worked against him in the race."
Do Short Skirts Really Mean Better Times? - " "Fashion used to be much more of an indicator of economic trends," says Marshal Cohen, president of NPDFashionworld, a market research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y. Cohen says over the past few years, the casual look that's become so popular in U.S. workplaces has diminished fashion's importance in indicating trends."
"Printer concept trades your bulky inkjet for a Stack of paper | The Verge - "he's trading the bulk of conventional units for a compact device that sits atop a pile of paper and "eats" its way down"
How One Perfect Shot Saved Pinball From Being Illegal - "Roger had been selected for this particular task not only for his knowledge and expertise, but for his legendary hand-eye coordination. He was there to prove that this was a game of skill, not chance. He was there to overturn the ban. He was there to save the game of pinball."
China's Barking Mad Dog-Lion Zoo to Reopen with 'Correct Signs’ - "Visitors said that the lion at the zoo was actually a dog, which was made clear when it started barking. It also had two rats in the snake display area and foxes purporting to be leopards. A pet dog was also seen in the wolf enclosure. According to the Beijing Times, zoo officials issued a public apology for tricking paying customers - the zoo charged adults 14 yuan (£1.50) for a ticket."
A "Glitch" Made All the Doors in a Max. Security Prison Open at Once - "Even the guards admit that the circumstances surrounding the incident are "suspicious." Perhaps the most suspicious part is that fact that this was the second time in as many months that these doors opened without warning, leading some to suspect that the first incident was a test to see how long it would take guards to react"
New Study Questions Myth Of Left-Brained And Right-Brained Personality Traits - "no evidence exists within brain imaging that pinpoints a difference in the way humans use their brains. "
Elizabeth Loftus: Falsifying memories | Mo Costandi | Science | theguardian.com - "It is therefore perfectly plausible that memories of childhood sexual abuse could be buried for years and then recalled, and that motivated forgetting, dissociative amnesia, or some other mechanism could account for some of the allegations in cases that Loftus has testified in... Some feminists are also concerned that Loftus' involvement in these cases has altered the way in which the mass media and general public view women who make such claims. They argue that the debate has shifted the focus away from viewing those who make the claims as victims, and onto the doubts over recovered memories. The ultimate effect, they say, is to undermine the credibility of all women who make such allegations"
Dying To Get A Free Education: Indian Policeman Fakes Death To Enable Daughter To Enter Medical College
Bill O'Reilly Defends Himself, Says He Donated $25,000 To Al Sharpton's Charity - "O'Reilly made the revelation after Sharpton criticized a segment he did about food stamps. O'Reilly had said that the program was rife with abuses, and allowed some people to be "parasites" — which prompted Sharpton to accuse him of "attacking the poor"... "And here's the crusher on Sharpton," the Fox News host said, defending himself. "He's been portraying me as a racist and a brutalizer of the poor. A few years ago Sharpton told me that his charity in Harlem, New York, was out of money and that it could not provide Christmas presents and Christmas dinners to hundreds of poor people in Harlem. So I gave Sharpton a $25,000 donation to provide the gifts and the food." "I never mentioned it, because it wasn’t necessary to mention it," O'Reilly continued. "But now it is. To prove exactly what kind of person Sharpton is." Sharpton responded to Politico on Friday, saying that O'Reilly should explain why he donated to an organization run by someone who he has accused of being part of the "grievance industry.""
Apparently altruism is questionable when it's by Bill O'Reilly
Rent-a-boyfriend dispatch service: Because Japanese women get lonely too
Wife kills abusive husband in self-defense only to discover 'he' was actually a woman wearing prosthetic penis - "Throughout their seven-month relationship, Angela had never been 'bare' in the light with Elizabeth, and always insisted on having sex in the dark, according to a police report. Angelo, born Angela, actually told his wife that a previous girlfriend had gotten angry and burned his genitals."
'Creepy Cameraman' pushes limits of public surveillance — a glimpse of the future? - "an unidentified man takes a camera around Seattle and other parts of Washington state, walking up to people and recording them for no apparent reason other than to make a point: How is what he’s doing different than those stationary surveillance cameras tucked away in buildings and public places?"
Walk A Mile Toronto - "“You can’t really understand another person’s experience until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” That’s why we’re asking you to put on a pair of high heels and join the White Ribbon Campaign to Walk A Mile in Her Shoes®"
Prudhomme's Lost Cajun Kitchen Must Offer Atheists Its Church-Goer Discount, State Rules - "A Pennsylvania restaurant owner must offer her church-goer discount to diners of all denominations, even atheists"
I thought private organisations could do as they pleased
Disability history month: Was Tamerlane disabled? - "Rarely can any man, let alone an aspiring world conqueror, have overcome physical disability with such terrifying ease, as hundreds of thousands of Asians, brutally slaughtered and decapitated, discovered to their cost."
Hurrah for overturning able-ist stereotypes!
The French Don't Drink Wine Anymore, World Is Officially Over
Ludicrous sex tips that will ruin your sex life
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