Thursday, June 30, 2005
Chicago Police Uses the Internet to Punish and Deter Prostitution Soliciting
Les clients des prostituées de Chicago mis au pilori sur Internet - LE MONDE
I think it could be effective and serve as a model to be employed elsewhere. I hope the police are tracking the impact of the measure on a more case by case study, and not just tallying up numbers. This is why they need to act:
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Pour combattre la prostitution, la municipalité de Chicago croit avoir trouvé la solution : ne plus s'en prendre aux prostituées mais aux clients. En les humiliant, de surcroît. Le 21 juin,la police de la ville a commencé à diffuser sur son site Internet (www.chicagopolice.org) les photographies mais aussi les noms et adresses des personnes appréhendées en train de solliciter des services sexuels. [...]
Le succès de curiosité a été immédiat. Lors des deux premiers jours de l'opération, près de 90 000 visites ont été enregistrées sur le site.
I think it could be effective and serve as a model to be employed elsewhere. I hope the police are tracking the impact of the measure on a more case by case study, and not just tallying up numbers. This is why they need to act:
En 2004, la police a interpellé 3 200 prostituées, 950 clients et saisi 862 voitures. Ces chiffres sont considérés comme très insuffisants. Selon M. Daley, entre 16 000 et 25 000 femmes se prostituent chaque année dans sa ville, et la plupart sont victimes d'abus sexuels et de violence. "C'est une vie terrible. Elles sont entourées de criminels et de drogués, et vulnérables aux maladies. La société a la responsabilité d'aider ces femmes à changer de vie et d'empêcher d'autres d'entrer dans cette profession", déclare le maire.
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Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible.
Frank Gaines
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Sharp Notes about some Damsels
Nice media/society criticism - via Clayton, from Malkin.
In other words...
Tell me who/what you care about and I'll tell you some things about yourself you may not like to be aware of.
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In other words...
Tell me who/what you care about and I'll tell you some things about yourself you may not like to be aware of.
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Monday, June 27, 2005
Allstate "1984" Company's Policies - Updated June 29-2005
From WMD - worth reading the article for the details on how unethically the company acted:
Allstate terminates manager over homosexuality column
On own time, man posted anti-'gay' article insurance giant says didn't reflect its values
By Ron Strom- © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
and the "1984" Oscar in the above case goes to...
Ah, the beautiful diversity of a totalitarian, dogmatic pro-homo company. It's so diverse that if you attempt to think in a non-dogmatic way, you're out the door. That's to ensure a diverse diversity.
Heil, Allstate diversity!
updated June 29-2005
From Different River, something I had completely forgotten, but which illustrates so perfectly how unethical these pro-homo companies are:
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Allstate terminates manager over homosexuality column
On own time, man posted anti-'gay' article insurance giant says didn't reflect its values
By Ron Strom- © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Barber, a former manager with Allstate has sued the insurance giant, alleging the company, which financially supports homosexual advocacy groups, fired him solely because he wrote a column posted on several websites that was critical of same-sex marriage and espoused his Christian beliefs.
[...]
Barber says the human resources assistant vice president told him the column didn't reflect Allstate's view and that he was suspended with pay. Barber was immediately ushered off company grounds – "which was humiliating," the former employee said.
"I explained to Allstate that the article was a reflection of my personal Christian beliefs, and that I had every right to both write it and to have it published," Barber told WND. "I further explained that I had written the article while at home on my own time, that I never mentioned Allstate's name and that I neither directly nor indirectly suggested that Allstate shared my Christian beliefs or my views on same-sex marriage."
Three days later, on Feb. 3, Barber, who had worked for Allstate for five years, says he got a call informing him he was fired "for writing the article," he said. Now, with the help of the Christian Law Association and David Gibbs III, who represented Terri Schiavo's family in the final weeks of her life, Barber is challenging Allstate in federal court.
[...]
Barber says he hopes consumers who hold traditional values will stop patronizing Allstate.
Addressing those who do, Barber said, "You are helping to support an organization that brazenly and illegally discriminates against religious employees who do not blindly and silently toe the extremist, liberal line on official company policy – policy that is not just overtly pro-homosexual, but is demonstrably anti-family."
Gibbs is the lead attorney on the case.
"To have Fortune 100 companies like Allstate firing people for expressing their sincerely held religious beliefs and even their personal viewpoints on their own time demonstrates just how out of kilter things have gotten," Gibbs told WND.
"Allstate aggressively pushes and promotes the homosexual agenda in the name of tolerance, but the minute someone speaks up with what would be considered the traditional moral-values viewpoint, the tolerance disappears and it results in a termination."
and the "1984" Oscar in the above case goes to...
On Jan. 31 Barber was called into a meeting with two human resources officials, one of whom Barber says "slapped down" a printed copy of the column in front of him and asked if he had written it.
Recognizing the piece, Barber confirmed he had written it on his own time, at his home and on his own computer. Barber claims he was told, "Here at Allstate we have a very diverse community."
Then he was fired.
Ah, the beautiful diversity of a totalitarian, dogmatic pro-homo company. It's so diverse that if you attempt to think in a non-dogmatic way, you're out the door. That's to ensure a diverse diversity.
Heil, Allstate diversity!
updated June 29-2005
From Different River, something I had completely forgotten, but which illustrates so perfectly how unethical these pro-homo companies are:
In the 19th century, it was considered acceptable to fire employees for “not voting right.” In the 20th century, this became unacceptable. In the second half of the 20th century it also became unacceptable to fire employees, or discriminate in hiring, because of their race, gender, or religious or politicl beliefs.
It seems they are turning back the clock – it is becoming acceptable, even mandatory, for companies to discriminate on the basis of religious or political beliefs.
Only now, discrimination is called “tolerance” and “diversity.”
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Sunday, June 26, 2005
Skype - Talking for Free on the Phone thru the Internet
I had heard about this before, but for some "who knows what" reason, didn't try it. After seeing an interview with Skype's inventor yesterday, I am dying to try it, specially for overseas calls... imagine, chatting for hours and hours for free...
:-)
I'll post how it goes later.
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:-)
I'll post how it goes later.
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Saturday, June 25, 2005
Mega Corruption in Africa
From the Telegraph - By David Blair in Abuja
Although dictators and rulers who do this stuff deserve to be hanged, there is no way such vasts amounts of money can be "stollen" without full knowledge and complicity from donor agencies/govts/banks. The system is all corrupt.
Why can't humans manage to be something other than such pests?
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The scale of the task facing Tony Blair in his drive to help Africa was laid bare yesterday when it emerged that Nigeria's past rulers stole or misused £220 billion.
That is as much as all the western aid given to Africa in almost four decades. The looting of Africa's most populous country amounted to a sum equivalent to 300 years of British aid for the continent.
Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, has spoken of a new Marshall Plan for Africa. But Nigeria's rulers have already pocketed the equivalent of six Marshall Plans. After that mass theft, two thirds of the country's 130 million people - one in seven of the total African population - live in abject poverty, a third is illiterate and 40 per cent have no safe water supply.
[...]
Former leader Gen Sani Abacha stole between £1bn and £3bn.
Although dictators and rulers who do this stuff deserve to be hanged, there is no way such vasts amounts of money can be "stollen" without full knowledge and complicity from donor agencies/govts/banks. The system is all corrupt.
Why can't humans manage to be something other than such pests?
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Friday, June 24, 2005
It looks... Fast.
Although the background prevents any grand illusions, this photographic angle makes it look like a sci-fi vehicle, not like something real of our world.
Le Figaro
-Le Japon dans la course au train le plus rapide du monde:
La compagnie ferroviaire japonaise JR East a présenté ce matin le prototype d'un nouveau Shinkansen (train à grande vitesse) qui, si les essais s'avèrent concluants, sera le train le plus rapide du monde avec une vitesse de 360 km/h en régime d'exploitation commerciale.
A means of transportation we need more of everywhere.
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Temper is one thing you can't get rid of by losing it.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Simple Joys of Life
from L'Impartial
It must be a gorgeous sight. And, of course, it couldn't be all complete without your new age guzzlers...
They probably went there by mistake, having misread "Stonedhenge" in their tourist guidebook...
;-)
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Plus de 20 000 personnes à Stonehenge pour le solstice d'été
LONDRES - Plus de 20 000 personnes se sont rassemblées devant les pierres levées de Stonehenge, en Angleterre, pour contempler le lever du soleil du jour le plus long de l'année. Acclamations et cris ont accueilli l'apparition de l'astre à 04h58 (05h58 suisse).
Au son de tambours qui avaient rythmé les festivités de la nuit, des druides, hippies, adeptes du New Age ou de simples touristes ont célébré le solstice d'été, comme le veut désormais la tradition sur ce site de l'ère pré-chrétienne.
It must be a gorgeous sight. And, of course, it couldn't be all complete without your new age guzzlers...
Selon la police locale, la fête qui avait été organisée pendant la nuit s'est déroulée sans incident majeur, et seules six personnes ont été arrêtées, la plupart pour excès de consommation d'alcool.
They probably went there by mistake, having misread "Stonedhenge" in their tourist guidebook...
;-)
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Monday, June 20, 2005
Volcano Beauty
Forgot...
to play the lottery today. Ugh. I hate when this happens...
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Like Mother, Like...
By Mary Parkinson:
Weren't older generations more schooled into doing these things for each other? (for the couples that had a loving marriage, that is). I wonder if 50 years from now we will see couples doing something like this...
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ON THE WAY to our wedding reception, I said tenderly to my brand-new husband, "It's really special the way your mom and dad love each other so much after all their years of marriage. The thing I think is especially thoughtful is that each morning he brings a cup of steaming-hot coffee to her in bed. Is that an inherited quality?"
"You bet it is!" my husband said. "I take after my mother."
Weren't older generations more schooled into doing these things for each other? (for the couples that had a loving marriage, that is). I wonder if 50 years from now we will see couples doing something like this...
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Saturday, June 18, 2005
New Study on Down Lows - Weird Numbers
From the Advocate:
These are very weird numbers, or the article, being in a pro-homo publication, lacks important information. Are these 328 men of some particular demographic subgroup? Are they implying that if we generally take any 10 black men, 4 of them have sex with other men? 4 out of ten? almost half?! Sounds odd and off. And what about the 26% Latino down-lows? 26% is a lot of people.
And since I don't know much about down-lows, what I haven't seen anyone explain is what is it with black men that they are so emotionally diseased compared to other groups that they have to have secret sex with other men? Why do they do it in much higher numbers than other ethnicities?
Oh, and why don't the detestable homo scientists spend millions of your taxpayer dollars to discover a down-low gene? It's discriminatory to look just for a moronic gay gene.
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The media has reported extensively during the past two years on the so-called down low phenomenon, in which African-American men who do not identify as being gay and who have sexual relationships with women also secretly have sex with men. But a study presented this week at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2005 National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta shows that the practice is common among all races.
Researchers surveyed 328 men in 12 cities who have sex with men and found that 43% of African-American men, 26% of Latino men, and 7% of white men reported having sex with both men and women but did not tell their female sex partners that they had sex with men. Only one third of all the men said they considered themselves to be gay, and 13% had a steady girlfriend or wife.
These are very weird numbers, or the article, being in a pro-homo publication, lacks important information. Are these 328 men of some particular demographic subgroup? Are they implying that if we generally take any 10 black men, 4 of them have sex with other men? 4 out of ten? almost half?! Sounds odd and off. And what about the 26% Latino down-lows? 26% is a lot of people.
And since I don't know much about down-lows, what I haven't seen anyone explain is what is it with black men that they are so emotionally diseased compared to other groups that they have to have secret sex with other men? Why do they do it in much higher numbers than other ethnicities?
Oh, and why don't the detestable homo scientists spend millions of your taxpayer dollars to discover a down-low gene? It's discriminatory to look just for a moronic gay gene.
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Global Syphilis Spread - Skyrocketing Increase
From LeMonde:
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Enfin, si la fréquence des infections sexuellement transmissibles (IST) diminue globalement, certaines sont en hausse. En 2004, 9 % des répondants signalaient avoir eu une IST au cours des douze mois écoulés, contre 13 % en 1997 et 16 % en 2000. Une diminution essentiellement due à la forte baisse des déclarations d'herpès génital. En revanche, les gonococcies (35 % des IST citées en 2004) sont deux fois plus citées qu'il y a sept ans, et la syphilis monte en flèche : de 1 % des IST en 1997, elle passe à 20 % en 2004.
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Tuesday, June 14, 2005
The Lifeguard - A Blog Involved in Protecting Children Online
Ace has discovered a blog that orients parents to protect children regarding Internet porn and sexual predators.
My comment:
The problem with the model of "manuals for parents to protect their children on the Internet" is that the children that are usually most at risk do not have parents to protect them, or they have parents, but the parents are not the protecting kind (with or without safety manuals/software). And society is unwilling to put the priority of these children's wellbeing over the million of stupid porn consumers/sexual predators.
Anyone taking a look at the range of porn today can see how mentally diseased modern society is regarding sexuality.
In light of this verdict, I link to this, just to remind one and all, that, while our commentary is wonderful, there are others pro-actively involved in the fight in many other ways.
I give you The Lifeguard--one of the most welcome additions to my blogroll, ever.
My comment:
The problem with the model of "manuals for parents to protect their children on the Internet" is that the children that are usually most at risk do not have parents to protect them, or they have parents, but the parents are not the protecting kind (with or without safety manuals/software). And society is unwilling to put the priority of these children's wellbeing over the million of stupid porn consumers/sexual predators.
Anyone taking a look at the range of porn today can see how mentally diseased modern society is regarding sexuality.
More Than One Million Americans Infected with AIDS in 2003 - Stats Released
From the Mail & Guardian:
And that's all because bisexuals and homos have so little mental and character problems. And pro-homos have so little denial problems about it all.
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More than a million Americans were infected with HIV/Aids at the end of 2003, with black, homosexual and bisexual men making up the largest group among them, says a government statistics report made public on Monday.
African-Americans made up about 47% of this group, whites 34%, and Hispanics 17%, according to a report by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released at a conference on HIV/Aids being held in Atlanta, Georgia, June 12-15.
Asian-Americans, Indians and native residents of Alaska make up only one percent of this group.
Men accounted for 74% of those infected by the Aids virus.
Homosexual men represented the largest group (45%), followed by those infected through high-risk heterosexual relations (27%) and drug addicts using syringes (22%).
The CDC also warned that demographic tendencies could soon change because heterosexual African-Americans, women and other individuals infected with the Aids virus following high-risk sexual relations now represented a larger group of those carrying the virus than those who already have Aids.
And that's all because bisexuals and homos have so little mental and character problems. And pro-homos have so little denial problems about it all.
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Friday, June 10, 2005
Nice Marketing Idea - Just For Good Guys
Business Wire -- The creator of SMART WOMEN(R) products, Girl Babies Inc., introduces a companion product line today for GOOD GUYS(R). This product line has similar design and wit that attracts consumers looking for positive messages and amusing gifts.
According to writer Sean Elder's article "The Emperor's New Woes" in Psychology Today Magazine, the expectations for guys used to be simple, "provide, protect and maybe trim the hedges now and then." With the bar raised in an age of growing gender-equality, these GOOD GUYS(R) now open their beer with a "GOOD GUYS(R) are open-minded" bottle-opener (made in the US).
GOOD GUYS(R) line of products:
-- "GOOD GUYS(R) Keep Their Cool" Koozie (cup insulator); suggested retail $4.50
-- "GOOD GUYS(R) Take the High Road" Stainless Steel Travel Mug; suggested retail $15.00
-- "GOOD GUYS(R) Make Great Role Models" Modeling Clay; suggested retail $6.00
-- "GOOD GUYS(R) are open-minded" bottle-opener; suggested retail $4.00
Founder of Girl Babies Inc., Julie Hellwich, knew the SMART WOMEN(R) concept would also work for GOOD GUYS(R). "Since starting the company in 2000, my customers have been requesting products for husbands, brothers, fathers, sons and guy friends that have the same witty and positive appeal. The fun designs paired with practical and functional items are being made in response to these requests, and as a way to recognize all the GOOD GUYS(R) out there."
Cute idea.
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According to writer Sean Elder's article "The Emperor's New Woes" in Psychology Today Magazine, the expectations for guys used to be simple, "provide, protect and maybe trim the hedges now and then." With the bar raised in an age of growing gender-equality, these GOOD GUYS(R) now open their beer with a "GOOD GUYS(R) are open-minded" bottle-opener (made in the US).
GOOD GUYS(R) line of products:
-- "GOOD GUYS(R) Keep Their Cool" Koozie (cup insulator); suggested retail $4.50
-- "GOOD GUYS(R) Take the High Road" Stainless Steel Travel Mug; suggested retail $15.00
-- "GOOD GUYS(R) Make Great Role Models" Modeling Clay; suggested retail $6.00
-- "GOOD GUYS(R) are open-minded" bottle-opener; suggested retail $4.00
Founder of Girl Babies Inc., Julie Hellwich, knew the SMART WOMEN(R) concept would also work for GOOD GUYS(R). "Since starting the company in 2000, my customers have been requesting products for husbands, brothers, fathers, sons and guy friends that have the same witty and positive appeal. The fun designs paired with practical and functional items are being made in response to these requests, and as a way to recognize all the GOOD GUYS(R) out there."
Cute idea.
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Tuesday, June 07, 2005
No Shortness of Mental Illnesses... in the US or Abroad
Chinaview reports that:
I'm sorry, this is just shoddy journalism from the Post/Chinaview. Again. There are no comprehensive global studies about mental illness, and anyone who works with mental illness on an international level knows that the state of the world as a whole is horrible. The US may be one of the developed countries with highest percentage of mental illness, not all countries are alike, but there is a lot of mental illness in developing countries as well. Most of it is never studied, tallied, or diagnosed. This is just yellow journalism hyperbole.
Another issue is that so many people may not fall into the mentally ill category, but they still do so much harm in the world. I think we need to revise these categories. One thing is how an illness can affect your functioning, another is how much harm you do to others even when you are "functioning a lot." What would such a study show us about the state of the world?
That's sad. And when you think about how much money gets squandered in the world on luxury or inane pursuits, and the real important issues are not prioritized or addressed.
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The United States leads in mental illness globally with 46 percent of Americans suffering mental disorders ranging from anxiety, depression to substance abuse in their lifetime, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
I'm sorry, this is just shoddy journalism from the Post/Chinaview. Again. There are no comprehensive global studies about mental illness, and anyone who works with mental illness on an international level knows that the state of the world as a whole is horrible. The US may be one of the developed countries with highest percentage of mental illness, not all countries are alike, but there is a lot of mental illness in developing countries as well. Most of it is never studied, tallied, or diagnosed. This is just yellow journalism hyperbole.
Within the past year, about 25 percent of all Americans met the criteria for having a mental illness, and fully 25 percent of those had a "serious" disorder that significantly disrupted their ability to function day to day, according to a one-year-and-a-half survey of the country's mental health, conducted by the University of Michigan.
Another issue is that so many people may not fall into the mentally ill category, but they still do so much harm in the world. I think we need to revise these categories. One thing is how an illness can affect your functioning, another is how much harm you do to others even when you are "functioning a lot." What would such a study show us about the state of the world?
The survey is by far the largest and most detai
led of its kind in the United States, during which nearly 300 trained interviewers visited 9,282 households selected at random in 34 states.
It focused on four major categories of mental illness. They are anxiety disorders, such as panic and post-traumatic stress disorders; mood disorders, such as major depression and bipolar disease; impulse control disorders, such as hyperactivity; and alcohol or drug abuse.
Those Americans with mental disorders will mostly seek treatment after delays of years or often more than a decade, if ever, the survey found, adding that it is much so among younger sufferers.
Half of those who will ever be diagnosed with a mental disorder show signs of the disease by the age of 14, and three-quarters by 24.
One third of people in need of treatment rely solely on nonprofessional sources such as Internet support groups and spiritual advisers despite the availability of effective treatments for many mental illnesses, said the newspaper.
The survey, published in the June issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, attributed the low treatment rate to factors including inattention to early warning signs, inadequate health insurance and the lingering stigma that surrounds mental illness.
That's sad. And when you think about how much money gets squandered in the world on luxury or inane pursuits, and the real important issues are not prioritized or addressed.
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Monday, June 06, 2005
Call for Toilet Papers
You know why I get angry when reading about such professors? It's not that thinking about gender or privacy is an unworthy issue. It's the spin they put on it (see the second part quoted from the article below), and the fact that there are so many more crucial questions to deal with in the world (questions of violence, take a look at the child porn links on the left, for example). Shouldn't university departments have priorities?
From Dr. Adams:
and
Maybe I should send my great blog post on the subject. Who knows, I may be awarded an honorary PhD...
Or these comments that liberals refuse to address about problems with non-gendered bathrooms/homos in bathrooms/trans-gendered "rights" (they were made in a thread to this post):
I think there is a real privacy issue with going into--and even more, sending one's daughters into--a bathroom when a strange man would be using the next stall. It's actually quite important--for safety reasons, reasons of privacy, and reasons of cleanliness (men's rooms are generally much dirtier than ladies' rooms) that women have a separate public restroom. I cannot imagine taking my little girl into a public bathroom and talking her through the process of going potty with a strange guy washing his hands right outside or in the next stall. I cannot imagine telling my 12-year-old at Barnes & Noble or at the library (as I would now) to go and use the restroom by herself if I knew that strange men were using the same restroom.
Removing the urinals does _not_ address the massive problems here.
Again, if "discomfort" is what it's all about, the discomfort of all the rest of us ought to be an issue. But that is not a matter of concern to the avant garde.
Posted by Lydia at March 5, 2005 11:55 AM
================================
This is what happens with homos in locker rooms and public bathrooms with adults, not to mention towards youngsters. The cases of sexual harassment from homos against straights in such bathroom places are very common (schools, gyms, universities, public facitilites). Reports about such problems in private facilities (such as a gym) are usually confidential and not made public.
Pro-homos are too lacking in character to address this issue. The only way not to have sexual harassment in such places is to have straight one-gender-only facilities. The rest can all go another bathroom where they won't bother the rest of us and won't trample on our rights to a sex-harassment free environment.
The gym I go to is one stinking place in this respect. I would change gyms tomorrow if there was one that was bi/homo-harassment free.
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From Dr. Adams:
When I graduated from college, one of my old high school friends said that a B.S. degree stood for "B.S." When I got my M.S. degree, he said it stood for "More S...". When I got my PhD, he said that stood for "Piled Higher and Deeper." At the time, I just thought he was just jealous. But recent events in higher education have caused me to rethink my position.
For example, I learned this week that Olga Gershenson, a professor of Judaic and Near Eastern studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Barbara Penner, a professor of architecture at University College London, have issued a "call for papers" about public restrooms.
and
In Gershenson and Penner's call for papers, the phrase "Any subject is appropriate" really sums it up. "Glory holes" used to facilitate anonymous sex in university restrooms and profane poems on the walls of bathrooms are no longer a source of embarrassment for professors and administrators. There is no longer a need to cover them up with putty and spray paint. Now, they are just another form of diversity to be celebrated. Break out the rainbow flags!
To say that "toilet humor" is now a form of art is to insult the architects of the diversity movement. To them, "toilet humor" is more than art. It is the subject of scholarly inquiry and serious academic discourse.
And now, untenured professors will be able to write about such subjects in publications they can use to get tenure at a public university near you. And once they do, there will be no way to flush them out of the academy (sorry).
Maybe I should send my great blog post on the subject. Who knows, I may be awarded an honorary PhD...
Or these comments that liberals refuse to address about problems with non-gendered bathrooms/homos in bathrooms/trans-gendered "rights" (they were made in a thread to this post):
I think there is a real privacy issue with going into--and even more, sending one's daughters into--a bathroom when a strange man would be using the next stall. It's actually quite important--for safety reasons, reasons of privacy, and reasons of cleanliness (men's rooms are generally much dirtier than ladies' rooms) that women have a separate public restroom. I cannot imagine taking my little girl into a public bathroom and talking her through the process of going potty with a strange guy washing his hands right outside or in the next stall. I cannot imagine telling my 12-year-old at Barnes & Noble or at the library (as I would now) to go and use the restroom by herself if I knew that strange men were using the same restroom.
Removing the urinals does _not_ address the massive problems here.
Again, if "discomfort" is what it's all about, the discomfort of all the rest of us ought to be an issue. But that is not a matter of concern to the avant garde.
Posted by Lydia at March 5, 2005 11:55 AM
================================
This is what happens with homos in locker rooms and public bathrooms with adults, not to mention towards youngsters. The cases of sexual harassment from homos against straights in such bathroom places are very common (schools, gyms, universities, public facitilites). Reports about such problems in private facilities (such as a gym) are usually confidential and not made public.
Pro-homos are too lacking in character to address this issue. The only way not to have sexual harassment in such places is to have straight one-gender-only facilities. The rest can all go another bathroom where they won't bother the rest of us and won't trample on our rights to a sex-harassment free environment.
The gym I go to is one stinking place in this respect. I would change gyms tomorrow if there was one that was bi/homo-harassment free.
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The Power of Positive vs. Negative Thinking and a Very Cool Exercise
Very nice article by By Michelle Cleere, Sports Psychology Consultant:
Not every counselor that deals with negative thinking problems ensures that the person think of positive things that actually make sense to that particular person. It's no use saying, "Just think positive!" if the positive ideas are completely unrealistic and impossible in a particular context. Which is not the same as someone thinking something possible is impossible as a consequence of their negative thinking.
And look what a cool exercise to help people become aware of their negative thinking:
You know what I just thought? For people who are already aware of their negative thinking issues, you can do a variation on the above: keep count of every positive thought and every negative thought for a day. Tally up the score and see which side is winning. Hopefully, the positive, by a landslide. :-) Even if not, it can give you a measure to set up goals.
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One of the female triathlete's I was working with for a period of time was dealing with several challenging issues, but the most difficult issue for this athlete, as is true for many athletes, was her "negative self talk". Negative self talk is concerned with all the negative things we say to ourselves, the thoughts we have about ourselves and what we say to others about our performance.
Back to my athlete: after becoming aware that a negative thought process was an issue for this athlete, we decided it might be a good idea for her to keep a journal of her thoughts so she could become more aware, more conscious of how she was talking to herself about her training and how her body responded to that.
The following week she brought her journal in and we went through it together. There were numerous negative thoughts going on for this athlete that she was not at all aware of and was actually a bit surprised by. As we continued to talk I asked her to do an exercise with me. How about instead of saying [for example], running is hard and I hate it (because she was going to run regardless), how about saying something more positive like, a) running can make me healthy and I feel better as a healthy person b) running allows me to have time for myself and I need time to myself c) running is freeing or d) running is fun if…
So, I asked her to make a list of some of the negative things in her journal and we worked together to come up with a complimentary list of positive thoughts that make sense and are personal to her. She came up with some very good thoughts, but as we talked about the exercise and replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts, she wasn't sure she could actually do it.
Not every counselor that deals with negative thinking problems ensures that the person think of positive things that actually make sense to that particular person. It's no use saying, "Just think positive!" if the positive ideas are completely unrealistic and impossible in a particular context. Which is not the same as someone thinking something possible is impossible as a consequence of their negative thinking.
And look what a cool exercise to help people become aware of their negative thinking:
For one full day, take a handful of paperclips and put them in your left pocket. Every time you say something negative you are going to take a paperclip from your left pocket and place it in your right pocket. At the end of the day count the paperclips in your right pocket. Why? First, you are going to be aware of the paperclips throughout the day which will make you more conscious of your thoughts. Second, this exercise will help you to become aware of how much negative thinking you are using. Third, thinking about how many paperclips were transferred from left to right will give you a rare opportunity for growth and reflection.
You know what I just thought? For people who are already aware of their negative thinking issues, you can do a variation on the above: keep count of every positive thought and every negative thought for a day. Tally up the score and see which side is winning. Hopefully, the positive, by a landslide. :-) Even if not, it can give you a measure to set up goals.
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Sunday, June 05, 2005
I Have Managed to...
Completely turn my sleeping hours upside down. It happened totally inadvertedly this week. I was working on something, and was so deeply into it, that when I realized it, the time was 5am. So then I slept real late and, obviously, the next night I was wide awake until 5:30 am again. Then I had a 10am interview the day after and I managed to get out of bed at the last minute possible, get to the appointed place at exactly 10am and they left me waiting an hour. Ugh. But then, given that I only took a short nap in the evening, my hopes were up that I would return to fall asleep at normal hours. No such luck. Today, another replay. The only good thing is that I was able to watch some really good stuff on tv that I would normally never be able to hold my lids up to watch.
For example, I saw this movie called, "Replacing Dad," 1999, directed by Joyce Chopra, and it's just a gorgeous divorce drama based in the South. There was this other cute movie about a 16th century prince that gets turned into a frog and lives 500 years until our days when he is turned back into a man, in Manhattan, no less. And Walt Disney's "Fun and Fancy Free." I also got to watch a whole 5 minutes of Jennifer Lopez in The Wedding Planner because I couldn't stomach any more. How can she not have any carisma at all on screen? She is so bland and insipid, it's awful. And to think she can do so much on stage, singing... not that I have ever seen any of it. :-)
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For example, I saw this movie called, "Replacing Dad," 1999, directed by Joyce Chopra, and it's just a gorgeous divorce drama based in the South. There was this other cute movie about a 16th century prince that gets turned into a frog and lives 500 years until our days when he is turned back into a man, in Manhattan, no less. And Walt Disney's "Fun and Fancy Free." I also got to watch a whole 5 minutes of Jennifer Lopez in The Wedding Planner because I couldn't stomach any more. How can she not have any carisma at all on screen? She is so bland and insipid, it's awful. And to think she can do so much on stage, singing... not that I have ever seen any of it. :-)
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Movie - Sahara - Fun!
Just got back from watching Sahara. In three words, it's goofy, gorgeous, and fun! Would have been a notch more fun if they had shortened down the fight scenes and substituted for more interesting action (I closed my eyes several times, just waiting for the punching crap to move onto another bit of interesting story).
But Sahara is one big eye-candy, all the places are made to look very pretty or exotic, it's absurdly 007, with a tad of Indiana Jones, but, in one way, entirely better than these two because... Cruz' role is an active, intelligent, good woman, and not some bimbo or moronic victim waiting to be rescued by Mr. The-Only-One-With-Brains-Strong-Hero, or some parasitical viper out to get him.
It was really surprising and wonderful to see this aspect of the script.
And that reminded me of the question that came up awhile ago in a thread - what has the women's movement achieved that remained today?
Well, this is one and it is highly significant and important.
And Matthew McConaughey will never look better in his life. Tan, with gorgeous upper arm muscles, which they make sure he shows off constantly ;-), and lots of shots to make his green/blue eyes sparkle...
An inspiration to diet, that's what I told myself. You see, guys like McConaughey only go out with women with Cruz' weight, so diet! All of which lasted about 2 hours after I got home, because I was dying for a late night snack. Which turned into two a couple hours after the first one. So much for McConaughey... he has been disregarded for a cheese sandwich.
;-)
rottentomatoes, as usual, has lots of delightful reviews of the movie, such as:
How seriously can you take a movie in which Penelope Cruz, wearing a bucket of eye make-up, plays a World Health Organization physician who investigates plagues?"
-- Boo Allen, DENTON RECORD CHRONICLE (TX)
In one spit-take-inducing moment, our heroes convert a wrecked prop plane into a desert sailboat, which they race across the sand to the strains of 'Magic Carpet Ride.'"
-- John Beifuss, COMMERCIAL APPEAL (MEMPHIS, TN)
"Whatever it lacks in substance it makes up for in gloss, humor and thrills, and a good time should be had by all."
-- Paul Clinton (CNN), CNN
"A big, goofy, entirely disposable, tons-o-fun Hollywood Action Flick."
-- Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Small spoiler below - it's about a detail, but you may not want to read it if you haven't seen the movie:
And when the duo discovered the desert plant and they sneak in and gaze ultra wide-eyed at the inside of the huge installation, what do you hear?? There is this slick, smooth voice of a woman speaking over the plant's loudspeaker, and it's not meant to be funny, but I just couldn't stop laughing because it was so 007... it was exactly the same type of voice you hear in every 007 movie every time he sneaks in the bad guy's secret lab to destroy the world... there 's always this woman with an ultra pretty, but very serious voice, saying something about security or some procedure... as if that happens in real life!! You walk into a plant and there's this professional female narrator talking over the loudspeakers every 5 seconds.
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But Sahara is one big eye-candy, all the places are made to look very pretty or exotic, it's absurdly 007, with a tad of Indiana Jones, but, in one way, entirely better than these two because... Cruz' role is an active, intelligent, good woman, and not some bimbo or moronic victim waiting to be rescued by Mr. The-Only-One-With-Brains-Strong-Hero, or some parasitical viper out to get him.
It was really surprising and wonderful to see this aspect of the script.
And that reminded me of the question that came up awhile ago in a thread - what has the women's movement achieved that remained today?
Well, this is one and it is highly significant and important.
And Matthew McConaughey will never look better in his life. Tan, with gorgeous upper arm muscles, which they make sure he shows off constantly ;-), and lots of shots to make his green/blue eyes sparkle...
An inspiration to diet, that's what I told myself. You see, guys like McConaughey only go out with women with Cruz' weight, so diet! All of which lasted about 2 hours after I got home, because I was dying for a late night snack. Which turned into two a couple hours after the first one. So much for McConaughey... he has been disregarded for a cheese sandwich.
;-)
rottentomatoes, as usual, has lots of delightful reviews of the movie, such as:
How seriously can you take a movie in which Penelope Cruz, wearing a bucket of eye make-up, plays a World Health Organization physician who investigates plagues?"
-- Boo Allen, DENTON RECORD CHRONICLE (TX)
In one spit-take-inducing moment, our heroes convert a wrecked prop plane into a desert sailboat, which they race across the sand to the strains of 'Magic Carpet Ride.'"
-- John Beifuss, COMMERCIAL APPEAL (MEMPHIS, TN)
"Whatever it lacks in substance it makes up for in gloss, humor and thrills, and a good time should be had by all."
-- Paul Clinton (CNN), CNN
"A big, goofy, entirely disposable, tons-o-fun Hollywood Action Flick."
-- Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Small spoiler below - it's about a detail, but you may not want to read it if you haven't seen the movie:
And when the duo discovered the desert plant and they sneak in and gaze ultra wide-eyed at the inside of the huge installation, what do you hear?? There is this slick, smooth voice of a woman speaking over the plant's loudspeaker, and it's not meant to be funny, but I just couldn't stop laughing because it was so 007... it was exactly the same type of voice you hear in every 007 movie every time he sneaks in the bad guy's secret lab to destroy the world... there 's always this woman with an ultra pretty, but very serious voice, saying something about security or some procedure... as if that happens in real life!! You walk into a plant and there's this professional female narrator talking over the loudspeakers every 5 seconds.
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Saturday, June 04, 2005
How Homosexual Fanaticism Destroys Other People with Mental Health Problems
Clayton has a very nice post about a man who is going to turn into a woman (physically, that is). And how obsessive our culture is to normalize this procedure as a way solve a problem instead of recognizing this is a way to flee from addressing head-on much more complex and grievous internal, psychological problems. This is the same thrust of the pro-homosexual movement: legitimize instead of correcting/treating.
Related previous posts: And in the Mental Health War News... the fight for the right to change and to know that people can change from homosexuality to heterosexuality; this very tragic story.
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Many years ago, my wife and I attended a one-day seminar on recognizing child sexual abuse and legal reporting requirements. Most of the other students were health professionals. Over lunch, we talked with a young woman whose husband had decided to get a sex change. Her husband was the only child of a very macho Marine and a woman who desperately wanted a daughter--and so she had dressed her little boy in girl's clothes until he was ten years old, painting his nails, applying makeup, etc. As you might expect, especially back then, the father's reaction to his son was quite negative. This isn't normally what we think of as child sexual abuse, but in terms of creating a very gender-confused young man, it worked.
Okay, adults screw up. They damage kids. The problem was that when this confused guy tried to get help with his problem, both a psychiatrist and his pastor recommended a sex change--rather than admit that perhaps his gender confusion had something to do with Mom's playing dress-up with a living doll, and Dad's extremely negative reaction.
What a screwed up world this is.
UPDATE: I just remembered that I had linked to an article couple of years ago about people that keep changing sex--and are never happy with the results.
[read more...]
Related previous posts: And in the Mental Health War News... the fight for the right to change and to know that people can change from homosexuality to heterosexuality; this very tragic story.
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The Obsessive Pro-Homos Think They've Discovered the Homo Gene - For the Dozenth Time... And Failed
I don't have time to blast this article (and the respective research) from a scientific perspective, but it's one more example of "people will only see what they want to see" and "people will not ask questions that will undermine their dogmas, even when their dogmas are extremely faulty."
Scrappleface did a take on this NYTimes article,
And here were the comments I posted on Scrappleface. I have a lot of other questions about how this research was done, but I'm sure other researchers will address them in the near future.
from the Times article:
"What it tells us is that instinctive behaviors can be specified by genetic programs, just like the morphologic development of an organ or a nose."
Since when didn't scientists know that instinctive behavior was:
Also, the NYTimes article didn't mention if there exists flies that are naturally born defectively homosexual? Or does this so-called fly homosexuality only occur when the scientists tamper with the genes of the flies? And if there aren't any homo flies, what does this show us?
Or does fruit fly homosexuality just happen in a Frankenstein type scientific experiment?
Above were my immediate questions after reading the article. But then another very important hypothesis came to mind - actually the way the scientists framed this as homosexuality could be totally wrong.
Anyways, this is one more example of how selective and desperate the cognition of pro-homos are. Any thing that they can remotely use to represent a genetical foundation to homosexuality will be concocted and publicized.
The sad part is that this type of disingenuous propaganda does influence little educated masses of people. The equating of "fruit flies to humans" is easily accepted by ignorant people or fanatical pro-homos.
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Scrappleface did a take on this NYTimes article,
Experiments on fruit flies have revealed conclusive evidence that homosexuality is caused by scientists, according a report in the journal Cell.
And here were the comments I posted on Scrappleface. I have a lot of other questions about how this research was done, but I'm sure other researchers will address them in the near future.
from the Times article:
"What it tells us is that instinctive behaviors can be specified by genetic programs, just like the morphologic development of an organ or a nose."
Since when didn't scientists know that instinctive behavior was:
a) programmed (that's exactly the definition of instinctive vs. cultural)
b) transmitted by genes - how else did these fruit fly pseudo-scientists think flies transmit their genetic programming? Before this research did they think the flies wrote a little manual on the forest tree bark that they showed to members of newer generations?
Also, the NYTimes article didn't mention if there exists flies that are naturally born defectively homosexual? Or does this so-called fly homosexuality only occur when the scientists tamper with the genes of the flies? And if there aren't any homo flies, what does this show us?
Or does fruit fly homosexuality just happen in a Frankenstein type scientific experiment?
Above were my immediate questions after reading the article. But then another very important hypothesis came to mind - actually the way the scientists framed this as homosexuality could be totally wrong.
It seems to me that this experience doesn't prove homosexuality, it's more like a brain transplant experiment.
If fruit flies are so simple in their brains and you take a part of it and put it in another fly, I wouldn't be surprised if the female fly that got the male fly gene thinks it's a male fly (and not some lesbiun turd of a fly). That's why this altered fly goes after a female fly. It's not homosexuality, but the loss of knowing that it is physically a female fly, since the brain is telling the fly it is male and processing the programming for male flies to go after females.
Anyways, this is one more example of how selective and desperate the cognition of pro-homos are. Any thing that they can remotely use to represent a genetical foundation to homosexuality will be concocted and publicized.
The sad part is that this type of disingenuous propaganda does influence little educated masses of people. The equating of "fruit flies to humans" is easily accepted by ignorant people or fanatical pro-homos.
.