Advice:: Play Politics – NYTimes.com

Nice list on what to do in college, read the whole thing!
I fancy myself as still young, but I also believe that if it’s anybody’s time it’s our generation’s time now! LET US SPEAK UP! LET US BE INVOLVED!

5. Do not fear political activism. I was once at an event where a student asked Jimmy Carter how he, formerly the guardian of American law, felt years earlier when his freshman daughter was arrested at a protest against apartheid. He answered: “I cannot tell you how proud I was. If you young people cannot express your conscience now, when will you? Later you will have duties, jobs, families that make that harder. You will never be freer than now.” Also, among the activists, you are more likely to meet the intellectually adventurous people mentioned in the last item.
via Op-Ed Contributor – Play Politics – NYTimes.com.

November 13, 2009

AOTD:: Go the Wrong Way – NYTimes.com

Loved this advice. As the title suggest we sometimes need to “Go The Wrong way”. The thing is lives have a tendency to follow patterns, worst comes to worst you’re going to for an ordinary life. There is nothing wrong with an ordinary life, but some people would like a life less ordinary (I loved that movie, I’m just a sucker for a romantic comedy).

Go the Wrong Way
Article Tools Sponsored By
By MARTHA NUSSBAUM
Published: September 5, 2009
It’s easy to think that college classes are mainly about preparing you for a job. But remember: this may be the one time in your life when you have a chance to think about the whole of your life, not just your job. Courses in the humanities, in particular, often seem impractical, but they are vital, because they stretch your imagination and challenge your mind to become more responsive, more critical, bigger. You need resources to prevent your mind from becoming narrower and more routinized in later life. This is your chance to get them.
via Op-Ed Contributor – Go the Wrong Way – NYTimes.com.

November 13, 2009

rePost::In Defense of a Good Night's Sleep

This has been the 3rd week of having between 3 and 4 hours of sleep a day.
Yikes this is scary.

In Defense of a Good Night's Sleep
Disrupt your sleep, disrupt your body and brain.
It's so tempting to cut back on sleep when you can't figure out how to make it all fit. Many of us have an irregular sleep cycle, staying up and sleeping in some days, and trying to rise before the first respectable glimmer of dawn the next day.
But a new study presented at the 2009 meeting of the Society for Neuroscience shows how disrupting your sleep cycle can interfere with your health and cognitive function. (1) Researchers from Rockefeller University disrupted the circadian rhythms of mice by exposing them to 10 hours of light followed by 10 hours of darkness. After two months of this, the mice were in need of more than a little nap. They had difficulty learning. They were more impulsive. And they got fat, thanks in part to changes in appetite hormones and metabolism.
via In Defense of a Good Night’s Sleep | Psychology Today.

November 13, 2009

QOTD:: In admiration of Iverson

But if they are what they do is the test, then Iverson passes it handsomely this year. In a nation where too many people have what is now called attitude without talent, or attitude without passion, he has, it seems to me, all three, and ironically the more passion he displays, miraculously the less attitude we see — as if he has forgotten that in addition to playing so hard he also has to stick his finger in the world’s eye.
via ESPN.com – Page2 – In admiration of Iverson.

November 13, 2009

Stupidity:: Gay Rights or the Homeless? You Choose DC.

Someone please explain to me how the hell does preventing people to unite in something marriage like is offensive enough to prevent people from helping other people? Please I really want to understand the thinking behind this.

Gay Rights or the Homeless? You Choose DC.
From The Los Angeles Times:
The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it would be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District of Columbia if the city refused to change a proposed same-sex marriage law.
The threat could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and healthcare.
Under the legislation, which the City Council is expected to pass next month, religious organizations would not be required to perform or make space available for same-sex weddings. But they would have to obey laws prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians.
via Experimental Theology: Gay Rights or the Homeless? You Choose DC..

November 13, 2009

Elink Picture: XKCD Iphone vs Droid

Creation is its own reward. I hope we can all try to gift the world with our time and creativity. Stufs/Gadgets do not a life make (channeling my inner yoda). I loved the undertones of this xkcd. Create people! Create!
from here:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/iphone_or_droid.png

from xkcd

November 13, 2009

rePost::To the anonymous gay teen who asked for help in a Boing Boing comment thread – Boing Boing

The advice from xeni jardin can be read at boing boing! 5 years may be long but somethings you have to face and just be done with it!

A few weeks ago, I blogged a funny video created by a Canadian high-school student titled “Hiding Your Sexual Orientation From Your Parents 101.” One of the many people who commented on that post was an anonymous commenter who wrote:
Ok, my parents found out i was gay by myspace (which i regret for putting my sexual orientation) and my parents will never accept cause my parents are really realigous for our christianity. They are so realigous, that i'm now homeschooled and going to a private school. Also i have no internet unless for emergencies, no friends houses, no phone, no boy friends til i'm 18. The only times i can get out is to christian youth groups so i have no life for the next 5 years ( cause i'm 13). Oh and my parents think all the wrong things in the world about gays, they even use the gay f word. I need help and i'm typing this from my PS3 cause they don't know it has internet. HELP!!! =O
via To the anonymous gay teen who asked for help in a Boing Boing comment thread – Boing Boing.

November 13, 2009

Charter for Compassion (post 2)

from http://charterforcompassion.org/

A call to bring the world together…
The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.
It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.
We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.
We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

November 13, 2009

Stupidity::Comelec says gay party 'immoral'

as I stated previously, as Abraham Lincoln said: If this isn’t wrong, nothing is wrong.
I refuse to discriminate anyone on the basis of who or what gender they choose to love. This is wrong.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/11/12/09/comelec-says-gay-party-immoral

Comelec says gay party ‘immoral’
________________________________
by Kristine Servando, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 11/12/2009 8:56 PM
Comelec Rules that Ang Ladlad poses ‘risks’ to Pinoy youth
Ang Ladlad to appeal decision
Danton Remoto: Comelec’s ideas on homosexuals are ‘obsolete
MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday rejected Ang Ladlad for party-list accreditation on the grounds that the party advocates “sexual immorality” and “immoral doctrines.”
Ang Ladlad is an organization of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT).
In a ruling dated November 11, the Comelec said that although the party presented proper documents and evidence for their accreditation, their petition is “dismissable on moral grounds.”
Page 5 of the ruling states that Ang Ladlad’s definition of the LGBT sector as a marginalized sector who are disadvantaged because of their sexual orientation “makes it crystal clear that the petitioner tolerates immorality which offends religious beliefs.”
The document quotes passages from both the Bible and the Koran (taken from internet site www.bible.org) that describe homosexuality as “unseemly” or “transgressive.”
The Comelec goes on to state that accrediting Ang Ladlad would pose risks for Filipino youth.

November 13, 2009

rePost::AMA Advocates Change in Marijuana Classification

If perchance there is a randomized trial here in Manila please text me I’m volunteering.

AMA Advocates Change in Marijuana Classification
Category: Obama Administration • drug war • drugs • health policy • marijuana • medicine
Posted on: November 11, 2009 12:37 PM, by Nick Anthis
Yesterday, the influential AMA (American Medical Association) announced that it would cease its opposition to the concept of medical marijuana and instead advocate for a change in federal classification of the drug. From the LA Times:
The American Medical Assn. on Tuesday urged the federal government to reconsider its classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use, a significant shift that puts the prestigious group behind calls for more research.
The nation’s largest physicians organization, with about 250,000 member doctors, the AMA has maintained since 1997 that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance, the most restrictive category, which also includes heroin and LSD.
In changing its policy, the group said its goal was to clear the way to conduct clinical research, develop cannabis-based medicines and devise alternative ways to deliver the drug.
“Despite more than 30 years of clinical research, only a small number of randomized, controlled trials have been conducted on smoked cannabis,” said Dr. Edward Langston, an AMA board member, noting that the limited number of studies was “insufficient to satisfy the current standards for a prescription drug product.”
via AMA Advocates Change in Marijuana Classification : The Scientific Activist.