Double post. Sorry.

Found this article about introverts... pretty true. It's not that I don't like to talk, just didn't see the need to :|
http://www.carlkingcreative.com/10-myth … introverts

Another recent international news:

Gadhafi era ends: What's next for Libya?

Clearly, I've been out the loop, because this is the first time I've heard about this:

http://news.yahoo.com/why-mississippis- … 09540.html

We're really in a reactionary period right now.

Giovanna wrote:

Mylene wrote:

We're really in a reactionary period right now.

We really are, but it's very creepy that this kind of stuff is going on under the nose of a Democratic president. We're going to backlash eventually and put a Rep up there, and then what will happen?

To be fair, President Obama has zero control over Mississippi's constitution.  In general -- as we saw with Prop 8 in California -- if a state's voters amend their constitution in an illegal way, it's only after that amendment that the federal courts get to step in.  Mississippi's amendment is pretty blatantly illegal under Roe v. Wade, Griswold v. Connecticut, and possibly other cases.  What is likely to happen is that a federal court will strike down the amendment as violating the U.S. Constitution, and this decision will be upheld on appeal.  The Supreme Court will probably decline to take the case.  Even if the justices are interested in revisiting Roe v. Wade, this is not the case they'd choose to do it in; there are too many complicating factors, like the birth control issue and the state's flouting of Supreme Court precedent.  So I expect that if the amendment passes tonight, it will get stricken down pretty fast without the Supreme Court getting involved.

What happened at UC Davis yesterday is absolutely appalling, and I feel that more people should know about this:

UC Davis launches investigation after pepper spray video; chancellor calls video ‘chilling’

And now someone I follow on tumblr had likened US to Venezuela. That says something.

Many ppl at UC Davis are now calling for chancellor to resign. tbh, though, I think a reorganization/resystemization of the US police force of some sort should be the priority here. We've seen police brutality happening with all the OWS movement, and now it's happening in Berkeley and Davis.

Last edited by Hiraku (11-19-2011 07:59:29 PM)

So! Facebook mentioned something to me today about Starbucks and support for gay rights and blah-di-blah, so I actually did some follow-up research.

So what the hell is going on?
Well, in January, an executive at Starbucks issued a statement that as an organization, Starbucks supports same-sex marriage and that the company would be putting forth resources to attempt to pass legislation to change the federal definition of marriage.

"We are deeply dedicated to embracing diversity and treating one another with respect and dignity, and remain committed to providing an inclusive, supportive and safe work environment for all of our partners." --Katie Holmes, Exec VP (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/2 … 72500.html)

This statement has been verified on multiple occasions by Starbucks executives and board members and the company is now backed by the HRC (Human Rights Campaign). A lot of opposition has risen to this statement by both those who oppose gay marriage and shareholders afraid of stock losing value from any resulting boycotts.

Wait, what?
A "Dump Starbucks" campaign has been active since January and currently has a small following and carries the endorsement of NOM, the National Organization for Marriage (ironic, really). This pales in comparison to the amount of support that has been piling on from gay rights advocates. An e-card has been organized to collect 300k signatures to show Starbucks execs that the people agree with their message and their decision to broadcast their message. The website has been active for less than a week.

The scoreboard:
Dump Starbucks: 22,452
Thank You, Starbucks: 284,833

What else?
The overwhelming support may not be enough. Many people have voiced valid concerns for business in other countries that are less accepting. I have some issues with both sides of this one. Starbucks is an international organization, yet they don't seem concerned about alienating other nations with differing majority opinions/beliefs. Part of this could be that they're so damn big they don't have to worry about it, and more of it could be to gather more sympathy from advocates; I might just be too skeptical of larger corporations, but the whole protest seems to have only served the purpose of focusing attention on the fact that Starbucks in fact made this statement (the first I've ever heard of it, though I am admittedly ignorant of such matters) and gathering support for the company. Especially suspicious is the fact that Starbucks has previously issued a statement that they avoid and do not associate with controversial political matters:

“It's ironic that even as Starbucks endorsed gay marriage here, its website on involvement in the Middle East claims the corporation does not, 'support any political or religious cause.' Lying to your customers is never a good business model." --Jonathan Baker, head of NOM’s Corporate Fairness Project and Starbucks stockholder (http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouth … paign.html)

NOM is taking an aggressive stance against Starbucks and has stated that they will be funding ads to run in several countries to urge customers worldwide to boycott. I don't know that a thank-you card will be enough if NOM truly has the resources to see that one through.

Regardless, it doesn't cost anything to sign the card and I for one am glad to see another corporation stand up for same-sex marriage! (Other big names include Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Nike, Google, Macys, Home Depot, JetBlue, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and etc.)I'm glad that this issue is getting attention, if only so that I don't have to see ignorant gay-bashers when I want a frappucino. Protest away, gents!



Lemme know if any of the above info is wrong; all of my sources come from googling "NOM dump starbucks" and "gay rights starbucks". Do feel free to be more informed than I am and of course if you want to sign the e-card, you can do so here: (http://sumofus.org/campaigns/thank-starbucks/). And I definitely wanna hear what you guys think about this.

I remembered years ago when we were talking about the LHC... And, at the time, there had been worries about whether or not a black hole would be made.

But now, we've gone one step further. Higgs has apparently found the God Particle: Professor Higgs wipes a tear from his eye as fellow scientists find his 'God particle' on 'momentous day for science' - 40 years after he predicted its existence

Oh my god! Why is there even a sword at a birthday party in the first place though

As a former costume designer and former journalist, I love fashion journalism with an unholy silly passion, and this article actually goes a way to explaining why: http://jezebel.com/5948750/why-are-fash … ag=fashion

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/10/31/ … t-his-own/

George Lucas takes his new billions and blows them on other people's educations. Which, is incredibly decent of him.

Hiraku, start posting here again so I don't feel I'm the only one using this thread!

Last edited by Decrescent Daytripper (11-01-2012 01:48:39 AM)

I have two articles for you today from the mysterious realm of Brain Science!

#1 is about rat telepathy.  What you do is, you put a rat in a box with two levers, and when a light comes on above one of the levers, you train the rat to hit that lever.  You repeat with another rat.  Now you put implants in their brains so that one rat's brain activity gets electronically piped to the other rat's brain.  You put the first rat in the box again, and you put the second rat in a modified box where the lights have been deactivated entirely.  The question is, can you train the second rat to hit the correct lever, based on which light comes on in the first rat's box?

The answer turns out to be that, with a great deal of patience, you can -- 70% of the time, anyway.  It works even if the first rat is in North Carolina and the second rat is in Brazil.

#2 is about the genetics of psychiatric disorders.  Researchers have found, in a large-scale study, that some of the same genes that are risk factors for major depressive disorder are also risk factors for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and autism.  Intuitively I have no trouble believing that these five disorders, even though they are classified very differently by the APA, have some piece of a root cause in common.  Fascinating stuff.  But the real story here may be the reporter's name: I guess Mr. and Mrs. Kolata decided it would be good to name their daughter Gina?

Nova wrote:

satyreyes wrote:

But the real story here may be the reporter's name: I guess Mr. and Mrs. Kolata decided it would be good to name their daughter Gina?

Gina Kolata was born in 1948, the piña colada originated in 1954.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi%C3%B1a_colada

That... actually makes it even more amazing.  The Kolatas didn't have questionable taste in names; they were actually psychic.  Like rats!

Last edited by satyreyes (02-28-2013 04:14:13 PM)