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njtosd
Participant[quote=outtamojo][quote=njtosd][quote=spdrun]If Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, West Indians, Chinese, Irish, Italians can have their own parades, why not gay pride?
As far as flaunting it, would you be offended by a straight couple hugging and kissing in public?[/quote]
I don’t understand the concept of pride in something that just is. I don’t see being heterosexual or homosexual (or having two ears or a spleen) as being a source of pride (or shame). One can have pride in overcoming prejudice or battling unfair treatment, but that is different. It seems that too many attempts to fix problems caused by discrimination just results in lines being drawn in new places.[/quote]
You may not see these things as a source of shame, but sadly, many segments of society do. In a world of emotional humans, nothing is ever something that just is. The pride message I believe is just other like humans trying to help those who have been beaten down and ridiculed join society and be comfortable with who they are.[/quote]
The problem with the word pride and the current usage is that it is only acceptable when used by those who have been the target of discrimination. Most would not think it would be appropriate for people to say I’m proud to be white and of northern European descent. In fact, although gay pride is seen in a positive light, white pride is a term popular with imprisoned neo-nazis*. To me, this sort of takes the meaning out of the word – it seems like something people use to convey whatever they want (like “Smurf”). I guess I wish people would stop relying on popular buzzwords (“critical mass” is gone, “reach out” sounds a little creepy to me, apparently “amplify” is enjoying current popularity) and just use words that communicate a thought. I had this discussion with scaredy in another thread – I think educators should be prohibited from using the word amazing, and maybe phenomenal.
*In a similar way I find it sad that the four leaf clover is now the symbol of both a decadent breakfast cereal and the Aryan Brotherhood
Participant[quote=zk]I’d like to think that this jackass is actually not gay (but still extremely homophobic), and he’s in muslim hell, looking up and seeing everybody saying that he’s gay, and he can’t respond. That would be nice.[/quote]
He was just crazy (although that doesn’t make the situation any less tragic). This post makes me think of someone wanting revenge on a wild animal. Why does everyone think these lunatics make rational choices about their fixations? Lots of people are jackasses (sometimes). This, like Newton and Aurora, is the result of a deranged mind.
He seems to have a genetic predisposition. His father (according to CBS News):
has often appeared wearing a military uniform and declaring himself the leader of a “transitional revolutionary government” of Afghanistan. He claims to have his own intelligence agency and close ties to the U.S. Congress — assets he says he will use to subvert Pakistani influence and take control of Afghanistan.
After watching his videos — none of which were recorded in English — CBS News’ Ahmad Mukhtar said it seemed possible that Seddique Mateen is delusional. “He thinks he runs a government in exile and will soon take the power in Kabul in a revolution,” notes Mukhtar.”
Participant[quote=spdrun]If Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, West Indians, Chinese, Irish, Italians can have their own parades, why not gay pride?
As far as flaunting it, would you be offended by a straight couple hugging and kissing in public?[/quote]
I don’t understand the concept of pride in something that just is. I don’t see being heterosexual or homosexual (or having two ears or a spleen) as being a source of pride (or shame). One can have pride in overcoming prejudice or battling unfair treatment, but that is different. It seems that too many attempts to fix problems caused by discrimination just results in lines being drawn in new places.
Participant[quote=scaredyclassic][quote=The-Shoveler]I think I remember the HS Grad speech,
It was something like
You’er not special, you’er most likely just cogs in the machine.
Welcome to the machine.Yep I think that was the gist of it
But then again that was in the 70’s and things were a little fuzzy.[/quote]
Funny isn’t it? all those 70s kids could easily get into the machine and work. today the principal at the graduation I attended used the word amazing 10 times to describe the class who will likely be 50 Perc unemployed and avg. 100k in debt in just 4 years.[/quote]
I propose a moratorium on the use of the word “amazing” by those employed by school districts. It has become a throwaway word to use when they can’t think of anything specific to say. There are a lot of wonderful adjectives out there that never get used. I hear a lot of “phenomenal” and “fantastic”. How about honest, responsible, ambitious, curious, persistent, resilient, etc. etc.
My husband has to be out of town for work and may have to miss a middle school “promotion”. I had to stop myself from saying that it wasn’t a big deal because the ceremony is a bit of a farce. Actually, my daughter is playing in the jazz band – which, in my opinion, is good enough to do weddings. Frankly, I think they should do it so that we can cut down the fund raising.
Speaking of jazz, scaredy, are under 21 people permitted at the Temecula jazz performances you were mentioning a few weeks ago?
Participant[quote=moneymaker]I think it is interesting that the cure for polio was found 64 years ago, a very specific disease, where the cure involved stimulating the immune system. Now today they are talking about stimulating the immune system in a more general way to fight cancer. It has taken science way too long to appreciate the immune system we each have within us. Have no idea what Theranos claims but since they are talking about a drop of blood or less I will guess it involves nano technology, which I hear is very hot in upstate New York.[/quote]
Modifying the activity of the immune system is a common strategy that has been extensively studied for a long time. Millstein and Kohler won the Nobel prize in the 1984 for discovering a method of making pure samples of antibodies. They fused antibody producing cells (which produce only one kind of antibody but do not divide) with cancerous cells (which provide the machinery for endless division). These were called hybridomas and they make “monoclonal” or pure samples of antibodies. Interferon, interleukins, all of the drugs that you see on TV that look like “Adilumimab” are all immune modulators. All of it has to do with activating (or deactivating) cellular processes by interacting with cell surface proteins. I hate to say this, but “new to you” isn’t necessarily new.
The problem with Theranos (to analogize) is that they hypothesized that because there are sharks in the ocean, you will find a shark in every gallon of ocean water you sample. Of course, that’s not the case. You need a lot of water to find one shark. And you need a lot of blood to get even a few molecules of certain proteins. More to get a statistically reliable reading.
Participant[quote=scaredyclassic][quote=spdrun]Because suitable for you might not be suitable/attractive for them, depending on the criteria. Unless your criteria are extremely broad, like “not a thief or axe murderer.”[/quote]
Parents,pretty much know what’s best for you. And,all women are basically the same. You’ll learn to love each other.[/quote]
Do you believe that all men are basically the same? My parents (especially my mother) had no clue about who was best for me.
FYI – women are not all the same. There are some seriously crazy ones. Especially if their fathers were jerks.
Participant[quote=La Jolla Renter]
Not quite the same.A white father that prefers (not demands) their daughter marry in their race is a racists. But the Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, ect. fathers that demand it, are not.[/quote]
Of course it’s the same. Why would it be different?
Participant[quote=scaredyclassic]I laughed so loud I woke up my youngest child.
Maybe it hit me close to home. I have the same parents, Except they’re jewish not indian.[/quote]
I liked the father. Frankly, I got a little tired of Ravi. His parents are right – he needed to stop whining and make a decision. Not sure but I don’t think his mom would make the Mother in Law of the year. His sister seemed interesting – I”m curious why there wasn’t more discussion of her dating travails.
So so so different from my parents. They never asked me who I was dating. Never pressured me. But, when I told them I was engaged my mother said “Now I can die happy”. She’s still alive . . .
Participant[quote=bewildering][quote=HLS]
And now, a federal appeals court is siding with the bank. The appeals panel says that the government didn’t prove that the bank had intended to commit fraud when it sold packages of home loans to investors.[/quote]The bank say they did not intend to commit fraud. That means they admit they were incompetent, rather than malicious. Presumably they will still be punished.[/quote]
It’s a little more complicated than that. This could just be an example a very poor lawyering. The court said that the Government did not prove that the bank intended to commit fraud. Sometimes lawyers get so wound up in believing that they are right that they forget to lay out all of the pieces of the puzzle .
ParticipantThe thing that surprises me is that Theranos filed patent applications on it’s (theoretical) developments. Applications that go beyond a provisional application are published at the 18 month mark. So why did they keep saying that it was all so super secret? Most of their so called technology has been available to the public for a while now. Perhaps they were trying to suggest that they had something better than what was in their patent applications….? According to the PTO database, there are 109 applications that have published (so far) that have been assigned to Theranos.
I think the business world was looking for a female Steve Jobs. It didn’t hurt that she was young and blonde. I think she’s at least a little Aspergers and probably could not let go of the idea that she had something great. The money lost is a tax on those who have forgotten the idea that if it seems to good to be true, it probably is.
May 18, 2016 at 9:54 PM in reply to: The dire climate of CA public university admissions for freshmen #797737Participant[quote=bearishgurl]
I have a question for you, though. Did you ever get your student loans paid off? And if so, at what age were you when you finally paid them off?[/quote]
BG – here’s what I don’t get. We’re all about the same age. My brother in law went to a big 10 school, did great and worked a combination of three jobs to pay for college. Never took a loan and got a great job. When we were in school it was cheaper and many people worked their way through school. Heck, there’s a girl who paid for UVA as an out of state student (final cost was about 40,000 a year after scholarships) selling jewelry on Etsy. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247609
I think your fixation on loans and such, especially for those our age who didn’t have very high tuition costs (and lived in a house with 13 other people 😉 is a little off. I know a lot of people who’s parents didn’t pay for school but didn’t end up with much (or any) student debt.
People need to be willing to work harder than they are. One of my coworkers was saddled with loans, some of which had been used for his weekly massages. I never got massages in college. . . . but I did get help from my parents.
Participant[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=njtosd][quote=FlyerInHi]
Now is the 50th anniversary of China’s cultural revolution. I was reading that, at the time, people were starving and had nothing. The period since then has been the greatest creation of wealth in the history of capitalism.[/quote]
Maybe because the assets of 60-80 million people (wealthy in particular) thought to have died as a result of the revolution were redistributed to the remaining population.[/quote]
I streamed the program on my drive to Vegas. 60 to 80 million deaths is rather higher even is you include the Revoltion of 1949, and the following famines.
There was wealth destruction followed by amazing wealth creation in a few short decades.
http://www.npr.org/2016/05/05/476873854/newly-released-documents-detail-traumas-of-chinas-cultural-revolution
DAVIES: Do we know how many people died?DIKOTTER: Overall? The entire cultural revolution? Probably if you take 1966 to 1976 – in other words a good decade – until the very moment that Chairman Mao dies, you can probably count about 1.5 to 2 million people who were hounded to their deaths.
But the point must be that in comparison to “Mao’s Great Famine” which took place earlier from ’58 to ’62, that appears to be a rather low figure. But the point is that it is not so much death which characterized the Cultural Revolution, it was trauma.
It was the way in which people were pitted against each other, were obliged to denounce family members, colleagues, friends. It was about loss, loss of trust, loss of friendship, loss of faith in other human beings, loss of predictability in social relationships. And that really is the mark that the Cultural Revolution left behind.[/quote]
Ok – tomato tomahto. According to Dikotter it was 45 million between 58 and 62.
I realize that was before – maybe I should just say Chairman Mao. After the black plague in Europe the remaining people did very well temporarily. I saw statistics saying that 82% of the land that was “vacated” was claimed by others (usually younger people who survived the plague better) within a year. Fewer people, more land and more resources per person. Not a great way to achieve that result.Participant[quote=FlyerInHi]
Now is the 50th anniversary of China’s cultural revolution. I was reading that, at the time, people were starving and had nothing. The period since then has been the greatest creation of wealth in the history of capitalism.[/quote]
Maybe because the assets of 60-80 million people (wealthy in particular) thought to have died as a result of the revolution were redistributed to the remaining population.
May 16, 2016 at 1:32 AM in reply to: The dire climate of CA public university admissions for freshmen #797593Participant[quote=bobby]
yes. creativity is important. more so than rote memorization of formulas.
I think most people going into “creative majors” means that they want to have fun in such thing as French renaissance poetry. sure, it’s creative but it has little use in the real world.
being creative doesn’t mean not productive but that’s the euphemism for that word nowadays.[/quote]Reading French Renaissance poetry isn’t any more creative than reading Go Dog Go. WRITING GOOD poetry is creative. The root of the word is CREATE. What does one create when one reads poetry? People who read such things enjoy the creative works of others, just as my children enjoy the inventiveness of whoever conceived of and designed the device they have their eyes glued to. They are mere hangers on – although my children will undoubtably in the future invent something wonderful like cold fusion and/or nylons that don’t run ;).
I was interested to see in one of the articles about Prince that he received some backing when he was in high school from a guy (can’t remember who) in the music biz. This guy was impressed not only by his sound his sound but also his WORK ETHIC. There are billions of people with ideas, but relatively few who will put in the work to bring their ideas into being.
Accountability is key. Accomplishing something identifiable is required.
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