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Stuck in a time loop - 12 April 2010
Apr. 14th, 2010 09:17 amGood day, cheery people and bringers of light and darkness. Read well about Gordon "Red" Berenson, coach of the University of Michigan men's ice hockey team, and his attempts to develop not only excellent hockey players, but people who excel in their lives outside of sports, since most of his students (and most student-athletes) either never make it to the professional leagues or lack a backup plan in case their hockey careers are cut short or don't pan out in the NHL. Red knows the path of college before professional hockey - he walked it, and he's immensely better for it.
Because we are part of the profession, and thus interested in shamelessly promoting it, 13 April was National Library Worker's Day - a day to celebrate the people who underpin a large part of the fabric of society, by providing the one commodity that everyone needs - information. (And a lot of entertainment, too.) It's also part of National Libraries Week, (go check out the awesome library pictures and even more awesome library photos!) and coincides with National Pay Equity Day, where we continue to point out that for peopel with similar qualifications in similar work and with similar responsibilities, women are worth approximately 77% of men, based on pay across the board. (And yes, even in libraries there's a pay gap with men earning a bit more than women.)
We'll start with twenty-two (for now) stereotypes about the inhabitants who make up the Goth scene, from mopeys to perkies and the rest, and go into weirder places than that, given half a chance.
Places where people call the emergency line because the prostitute they hired didn't want to go as far as they did.
Or the place in someone's mind where the priest abuse scandal is now a "Zionist conspiracy" desptie having made the comparison to anti-Semitism not too long before. And the place where Catholic bishops oppose removing the statute of limitations on child abuse cases because they think they will get hitwith frivolous abuse cases. Considering how many cases have turned out to be not frivolous, you wonder whether they're more worried that even more suits and awards and abuse stories will come to light, backed by evidence.
Or worse, the place in the American Family Association where halting immigration of Muslims and then deporting all immigrated Muslims back to their native countries is seen as a compassionate act, because all Muslims want to impose their theocracy on us, refuse to integrate into Western society, and "chafe against the freedom, liberty and civil rights we cherish in the West". Stupid, stupid rat creature. But one with a pack, as the fantasy where all Muslims hate America/the West, want to subject it to their totalitarian theocracy, are diametrically opposed to things like freedom and liberty, and are zOMG RIGHT THERE IN YOUR COUNTRY PLOTTING YOUR DOOM, SMILING WHILE THEY KNIFE YOU IN THE BACK!, while your government is ignorant of them or actively assisting them in their goals, is shared by more than just isolated persons. (And they always seem to be totally okay with it if it's Christians at the helm instead of Muslims, because Christians Are Right and Muslims are The Other.)
We're not all bad, though. Famous people like Cyndi Lauper will open shelters specifically for LGBT youth who are homeless. I suspect such a thing is needed because coming out or being outed to one's parents still results in the possibility of being kicked out of the house and practically disowned by the family (sometimes with the caveat that pretending to not be who you are will get you let back in). According to the release, being LGBT can also result in violence or other bad effects in normal shelters (because kids are just as bad about things as adults are, if not worse).
In the United States, but with worldwide impact, the promised summit on nuclear terrorism hosted by President Obama begins today, with the main focus on securing material that could be used to make weapons and bombs, instead of an alternative that would focus on limiting the production of nuclear material. It's the difference between saying "take care of your toys" and "no toys for you", and I suspect the former is a much easier sell than the latter.
Domestic news begins with a Pentagon probe and briefing on whether or not CIA operatives were compromised and their lives put at risk when lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainees showed photographs of suspected agents to the detainees. My odds say the investigation will conclude the operatives were endangered and the John Adams Project endangered national security with their recklessness in showing detainees the people that might have worked to arrest them.
In technology, a can of soda that rotates with the scroll bar, made entirely of images manipulated by CSS, psychedelics are back in the labs after a long time away, because they can actually help people, when taken properly and under supervision. Also, it's not just humans that can get out of control in their mating dances, and MIT has managed biologically-based solar-powered water-splitting, and is now working on refining the process for extra efficiency.
And opinions, where we begin with Mr. Meacham talking about the place where Confederacy supporters go - where the Civil War wasn't about slaves or about resistance to integration, but about states's rights and big versus small government - and the impossibility of getting there because it denies a fundamental aspect of the conflict. Which, I'm sure, brings Mr. Barbour's defense of the omission of slavery from the Virginia proclamation that much more into the light. Mr. Barbour says it was not a mistake because it was self-evident that slavery was bad. Good, Mr. Barbour, but slavery is also an essential part of the heritage of the Confederacy, and if one wants to provide a complete and accurate picture, instead of the nostalgic and nonexistent Gone With the Wind place, one must provide the warts as well as the smooth parts.
Past that point, Bill'O presents his argument for why the mainstream media, excepting Fox News, of course, has gone corrupt, based on how they've treated the Tea Party people as racists, homophobes, and gun nuts, when they're clearly only about the perils of big government (never mind the large amounts of photographs, video, and audio of tea party attendees and speakers where they basically say they're racist, homophobes, islamophobes, birthers, and gun nuts to the point of advocating violence against elected officials), and the accusation that the mainstream media fawned over Barack Obama and didn't give him any tough coverage (except Fox News, of course). Bill wants to channel Ghandi on the Tea Party - "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.", but I think his effective radius is a bit more limited - tea partiers are concerned about big government, but I'm guessing only a small portion of them are concerned about big government because they've done a sober assessment of things
Ms. Noonan asks if we could have some more plain speech and a little bit more explanation for the common person in hearings about the financial bust. One, so we know just how things went down, and two, so we can stick the blame where it deserves to be, government that was hostile to regulation and devious people taking advantage of impenetrable language and ineffable complexity alike.
The Washington Times is perturbed by the National Science Foundation's practice of not naming names when it comes to their plagarism investigations, citing privacy reasons, and would like to see scientists trotted out before the public ire a bit more. And it also happens to fit in with the idea, conservative and teabagger-style, that Science Is Not To Be Trusted, They're All Corrupt Or Cheaters, which I'm sure has nothing at all to do with why the editorial writer would promote such things. Truthfully, they might just want more discolsure so as to know who does original work and who copies and pastes. Also, I thought some part of the scientific process was that replication of an experiment and achieving the same results was a good thing. So there might have to be a little bit of copypasta involved, or making requests to fund similar experiments. So now I'm curious as to what counts as plagarism - just lacking sources or something more serious?
And last out, Mr. Ajami manages to contort what would be a piece about how Afghanistan has no real interest beyond keeping troops in the country intoa condemnation of the Obama administration for not having a big-picture strategy that results in victory (whatever the hell that means) in Afghanistan, and that will only embolden the rogues and Iran to be braver and more influential and anti-American in the region.
Last for tonight, it is possible to use old manga to grow new plants. There's a recycling task for all your old collection.
At the very end, Bert and Ernie were the winners of the Muppetcast Muppet Madness Tournament, with Kermit the Frog taking second and Wild Card Whatever Gonzo earning a third place finish.
Because we are part of the profession, and thus interested in shamelessly promoting it, 13 April was National Library Worker's Day - a day to celebrate the people who underpin a large part of the fabric of society, by providing the one commodity that everyone needs - information. (And a lot of entertainment, too.) It's also part of National Libraries Week, (go check out the awesome library pictures and even more awesome library photos!) and coincides with National Pay Equity Day, where we continue to point out that for peopel with similar qualifications in similar work and with similar responsibilities, women are worth approximately 77% of men, based on pay across the board. (And yes, even in libraries there's a pay gap with men earning a bit more than women.)
We'll start with twenty-two (for now) stereotypes about the inhabitants who make up the Goth scene, from mopeys to perkies and the rest, and go into weirder places than that, given half a chance.
Places where people call the emergency line because the prostitute they hired didn't want to go as far as they did.
Or the place in someone's mind where the priest abuse scandal is now a "Zionist conspiracy" desptie having made the comparison to anti-Semitism not too long before. And the place where Catholic bishops oppose removing the statute of limitations on child abuse cases because they think they will get hitwith frivolous abuse cases. Considering how many cases have turned out to be not frivolous, you wonder whether they're more worried that even more suits and awards and abuse stories will come to light, backed by evidence.
Or worse, the place in the American Family Association where halting immigration of Muslims and then deporting all immigrated Muslims back to their native countries is seen as a compassionate act, because all Muslims want to impose their theocracy on us, refuse to integrate into Western society, and "chafe against the freedom, liberty and civil rights we cherish in the West". Stupid, stupid rat creature. But one with a pack, as the fantasy where all Muslims hate America/the West, want to subject it to their totalitarian theocracy, are diametrically opposed to things like freedom and liberty, and are zOMG RIGHT THERE IN YOUR COUNTRY PLOTTING YOUR DOOM, SMILING WHILE THEY KNIFE YOU IN THE BACK!, while your government is ignorant of them or actively assisting them in their goals, is shared by more than just isolated persons. (And they always seem to be totally okay with it if it's Christians at the helm instead of Muslims, because Christians Are Right and Muslims are The Other.)
We're not all bad, though. Famous people like Cyndi Lauper will open shelters specifically for LGBT youth who are homeless. I suspect such a thing is needed because coming out or being outed to one's parents still results in the possibility of being kicked out of the house and practically disowned by the family (sometimes with the caveat that pretending to not be who you are will get you let back in). According to the release, being LGBT can also result in violence or other bad effects in normal shelters (because kids are just as bad about things as adults are, if not worse).
In the United States, but with worldwide impact, the promised summit on nuclear terrorism hosted by President Obama begins today, with the main focus on securing material that could be used to make weapons and bombs, instead of an alternative that would focus on limiting the production of nuclear material. It's the difference between saying "take care of your toys" and "no toys for you", and I suspect the former is a much easier sell than the latter.
Domestic news begins with a Pentagon probe and briefing on whether or not CIA operatives were compromised and their lives put at risk when lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainees showed photographs of suspected agents to the detainees. My odds say the investigation will conclude the operatives were endangered and the John Adams Project endangered national security with their recklessness in showing detainees the people that might have worked to arrest them.
In technology, a can of soda that rotates with the scroll bar, made entirely of images manipulated by CSS, psychedelics are back in the labs after a long time away, because they can actually help people, when taken properly and under supervision. Also, it's not just humans that can get out of control in their mating dances, and MIT has managed biologically-based solar-powered water-splitting, and is now working on refining the process for extra efficiency.
And opinions, where we begin with Mr. Meacham talking about the place where Confederacy supporters go - where the Civil War wasn't about slaves or about resistance to integration, but about states's rights and big versus small government - and the impossibility of getting there because it denies a fundamental aspect of the conflict. Which, I'm sure, brings Mr. Barbour's defense of the omission of slavery from the Virginia proclamation that much more into the light. Mr. Barbour says it was not a mistake because it was self-evident that slavery was bad. Good, Mr. Barbour, but slavery is also an essential part of the heritage of the Confederacy, and if one wants to provide a complete and accurate picture, instead of the nostalgic and nonexistent Gone With the Wind place, one must provide the warts as well as the smooth parts.
Past that point, Bill'O presents his argument for why the mainstream media, excepting Fox News, of course, has gone corrupt, based on how they've treated the Tea Party people as racists, homophobes, and gun nuts, when they're clearly only about the perils of big government (never mind the large amounts of photographs, video, and audio of tea party attendees and speakers where they basically say they're racist, homophobes, islamophobes, birthers, and gun nuts to the point of advocating violence against elected officials), and the accusation that the mainstream media fawned over Barack Obama and didn't give him any tough coverage (except Fox News, of course). Bill wants to channel Ghandi on the Tea Party - "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.", but I think his effective radius is a bit more limited - tea partiers are concerned about big government, but I'm guessing only a small portion of them are concerned about big government because they've done a sober assessment of things
Ms. Noonan asks if we could have some more plain speech and a little bit more explanation for the common person in hearings about the financial bust. One, so we know just how things went down, and two, so we can stick the blame where it deserves to be, government that was hostile to regulation and devious people taking advantage of impenetrable language and ineffable complexity alike.
The Washington Times is perturbed by the National Science Foundation's practice of not naming names when it comes to their plagarism investigations, citing privacy reasons, and would like to see scientists trotted out before the public ire a bit more. And it also happens to fit in with the idea, conservative and teabagger-style, that Science Is Not To Be Trusted, They're All Corrupt Or Cheaters, which I'm sure has nothing at all to do with why the editorial writer would promote such things. Truthfully, they might just want more discolsure so as to know who does original work and who copies and pastes. Also, I thought some part of the scientific process was that replication of an experiment and achieving the same results was a good thing. So there might have to be a little bit of copypasta involved, or making requests to fund similar experiments. So now I'm curious as to what counts as plagarism - just lacking sources or something more serious?
And last out, Mr. Ajami manages to contort what would be a piece about how Afghanistan has no real interest beyond keeping troops in the country intoa condemnation of the Obama administration for not having a big-picture strategy that results in victory (whatever the hell that means) in Afghanistan, and that will only embolden the rogues and Iran to be braver and more influential and anti-American in the region.
Last for tonight, it is possible to use old manga to grow new plants. There's a recycling task for all your old collection.
At the very end, Bert and Ernie were the winners of the Muppetcast Muppet Madness Tournament, with Kermit the Frog taking second and Wild Card Whatever Gonzo earning a third place finish.
