Clipmarks | ljsdesign's clips

1st Civil unions performed in NH

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:30:13 GMT

clipped by: ljsdesign

Dozens of gay and lesbian couples celebrated the arrival of civil unions in New Hampshire in the early moments of New Year's Day Tuesday, bundling up against below-freezing temperatures for a group ceremony as soon as the unions became legal after midnight.

Organizers said they checked in 37 couples for the outdoor ceremony on the plaza of the New Hampshire Statehouse -- the building where the law was voted in and signed in 2007.

"We've been together 20 years, we've been waiting for this moment for 20 years, finally the state will recognize us as we are," said Julie Bernier,

We really didn't believe that we'd be able to see this accomplished within one year but it has happened," Portsmouth state Rep. Jim Splaine, a sponsor of the civl unions bill, told the cheering crowd of about 200.

One thing we have to keep in mind is that there is much more to do. We have to continue the journey to make sure that we have marriage equality, full marriage equality -- with the word marriage -- soon."

video comic strip

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:58:31 GMT

clipped by: ljsdesign
clipper's remarks: drink your coffee first

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

haha, got to remember this one - Dunning-Kruger effect

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:48:03 GMT

clipped by: Lawl78

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Dunning-Kruger effect

The Dunning-Kruger effect is the phenomenon wherein people who have little knowledge think that they know more than others who have much more knowledge.

Incompetent individuals tend to overestimate their own level of skill.

Incompetent individuals fail to recognize genuine skill in others.

Incompetent individuals fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy.

If they can be trained to substantially improve their own skill level, these individuals can recognize and acknowledge their own previous lack of skill.

Dunning and Kruger won the 2000 Ig Nobel prize for their work.^[4]

Your eyes don't lie

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 22:40:21 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: There are more examples on the page. There are people knowing these behaviours, who try and use the common impression to their advantage. For example the people who are dishonest, who have trained themselves, to maintain eye contact, and so inspire unfounded confidence. This tactic can be defeated sometimes by remembering the principle, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
I thought it was interesting that eyes up right was visualizing an image, while up left was remembering a sound. Sounds reasonable the way the brain is divided right/left, but I wonder if it is the same for left handers. Or somebody that is ambidextrous

Clip Source: hypnosiscontrol.com

The eyes have this habit of positioning themselves according to the thoughts that are in your head, and other people can often understand what you are thinking about just by watching your eyes.

Being able to read other people’s eyes is a very useful skill. It will let you know if someone is lying, how interested someone is with what you are saying, and the type of thought that a person is having.

Like most behavior your eyes follow predictable patterns, so here is the rundown.

Eye contact. Consistent eye contact is a sign that the person is interested in the conversation

Eyes looking straight up. Rolling the eyes upward is a gesture that often indicates contempt, sarcasm, boredom, or annoyance.

Eyes to the Upper Right. Someone who you see looking up-right

is visualizing a remembered image

Eyes to the Upper Left. When you see someones eyes move quickly up-left

they are constructing images in their head

Eyes to the Right. When someone moves their eyes to the right

they are recalling sounds

Tags: eyes, mind, thought, read, behavior

South Korea, Where Boys Were Kings, Revalues Its Girls

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 22:36:03 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Girls now have a fighting chance in South Korea as the preference for boys recedes.

In South Korea, once one of Asia’s most rigidly patriarchal societies, a centuries-old preference for baby boys is fast receding. And that has led to what seems to be a decrease in the number of abortions performed after ultrasounds that reveal the sex of a fetus.

According to a study released by the World Bank in October, South Korea is the first of several Asian countries with large sex imbalances at birth to reverse the trend, moving toward greater parity between the sexes

The most important factor in changing attitudes toward girls was the radical shift in the country’s economy that opened the doors to women in the work force as never before and dismantled long-held traditions, which so devalued daughters that mothers would often apologize for giving birth to a girl.

China and India are closely studying South Korea as a trendsetter in Asia

Giuliani Is Simply Incapable of Being Truthful

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 22:00:12 GMT

clipped by: zasel
clipper's remarks: I hope many of you will take the time to read this entire article. Giuliani, the more he is interviewed, the more unstable he appears. His constant laughter when questions are asked of him, belies his strong, tough, stage persona, and reveals someone who is so uncomfortable facing the facts of who he really is and what he sincerely believes that it is actually painful to watch. His excuses for the radios is sadder than it is anger provoking.

Clip Source: www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com

Giuliani pressed, dissembles on faulty 9/11 radios

In October, Brave New Films released a devastating six-minute clip about one of Rudy Giuliani’s most serious 9/11 failures: his decision to ignore (and lie about) concerns over the FDNY’s radio equipment, which ultimately cost so many lives on 9/11. (The issue is now under investigation by city officials.)

The video explains that Giuliani was told the firefighters didn’t have a functioning communications system after the original WTC attack in 1993, but for seven years, Giuliani ignored the problem. When he eventually ordered new radios, he gave Motorola a lucrative no-bid contract, and the company ended up providing untested radios that didn’t work.

On 9/11, when the order went out to the FDNY to evacuate, the firefighters never heard the order, which is why so many perished. (The NYPD, which had working radios, heard the order, vacated Ground Zero, and lost far fewer people when the towers fell.)

Trust Me

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 16:57:32 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "I do not draw attention to these facts to chastise the candidates but to chastise the public. The idea that anyone would base his or her vote on a candidate's "trustworthiness" is absurd. But the idea that fence-sitting voters would or should withhold their votes from Clinton because she is, God forbid, not trustworthy implies that this is somehow an aberrant characteristic for a presidential candidate. Of all the things I have read about this never-ending campaign, this is by far the most hilarious. If you can't stand the sight of Hillary Clinton because she's too liberal, too rich, too haughty, went to Wellesley or simply because she's a woman, at least be man enough to come out and admit it. Don't hide behind some bogus "trustworthiness" rationalization."

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Several years ago, I wrote a story for GQ magazine in which I admitted that there were certain public figures I disliked because I could not stand looking at their faces. The smirking Pat Robertson, Jimmy Carter and his paste-on grin and the perennially pouting Boston Celtics guard Danny Ainge (now the team's general manager) all fell into this category, as did the truculent scamp Pete Rose and the smarmy Paul McCartney.

Despite its juvenile premise, the article had a serious subtext. It was a plea for the public to stop pretending that they disliked public figures because of their values or attitudes and admit that, in many cases, they simply couldn't stand the sight of them. For example, the reason so many young people view John Tesh as an emissary of Satan is not because of his appalling New Age music. It's because he looks like Prince Charming, the lantern-jawed ninny in "Shrek."

Tags: on, this

Evangelist Video Shot at Air Force Academy Exposed

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 16:11:35 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

A video made by a Christian ministry group shows Air Force Academy cadets being pressured to become “government paid missionaries when they leave” the academy, according to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), which released the video this week.

“This is absolutely out of control. You cannot engage the U.S. government to propel your religion,” said Weinstein.
The video features former Academy Campus Crusade for Christ director Scot Blum saying, “They’re government paid missionaries when they leave here,” referring to graduates of the academy.

“Our purpose for Campus Crusade for Christ at the Air Force Academy is to make Jesus Christ the issue at the Air Force Academy and around the world,” said Blum on the video.

Watch the Campus Crusade for Christ video here.

Tags: religion, military, video, christian, government, constitution

Floridians See the Light?

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 15:24:18 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: I just clipped another article concerning this topic and then came across this article. Well, that was a short lived controversy. It seems the Florida creationists sipped from the reality cup just in time. Good news.

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Ridicule works!

The threat of an eruption of creationism in Polk County, Florida, is dying down. The school board hasn't changed, it still has a number of confident creationists on it, but they're all going to keep their religious beliefs at home and in church, and in fact, they have a "great eagerness simply to return to the day-to-day work of running a school district with 90,000 students." It's great news all around.

Creationists hold some very stupid ideas, but most of them aren't stupid people. They know deep-down that their religious beliefs are indefensible on a plane that demands evidence and results, and while they aren't going to give up those beliefs, they'd rather be spared the embarrassment of having to lay them out and explain them in scientific terms. A good loud campaign of public ridicule can be just the thing to convince them to put their heads down and buckle into the secular work they're supposed to be doing.

Tags: religion, science, creationism, evolution

Forerunner to contemporary political blogging...

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 15:20:10 GMT

clipped by: Lawl78
clipper's remarks: Click through the links to see some quite remarkable works. Prior 1939 remember.

Clip Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

In Germany before the war

The Wolfsonian in Miami has a fascinating exhibition running at the moment about John Heartfield and German photomontage before the Second World War.

Previewing the exhibition in the Miami Herald last October, Glenn Garvin wrote: "The image would be right at home on any of a thousand blogs that rip the news media, from the waspishly lefty Daily Kos to the fiercely conservative Little Green Footballs: a head swathed in pages of newspapers, sense and sensibility obliterated by the bias of the press."

Even in the age of Photoshop the works are astonishing. One image, used on the cover of this book, turns a picture of Hitler into an x-ray showing his insides filled with money from his wealthy backers.

The most interesting thing I came across was an early instance of a magazine encouraging 'citizen journalism'.

The contexts are far from comparable but the exhibition was very thought-provoking in light of the changes to contemporary media."

Tags: art, political, blogging

America's Faustian Dilemma: At What Price Hegemony?

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 15:07:50 GMT

clipped by: ouyangwulong
clipper's remarks: The author seems to think that we have no choice, that we must embrace corruption and bribery in dealing with dictators like Nazarbayev in Khazakstan in order to get the oil we crave.

But we do have a choice. We could give up being the most powerful country in the world, couldn't we?

At what point do we say that the pursuit of power isn't worth it? What values are so sacrosanct that we wouldn't compromise them for mere economic and political gain?

Why does America have to be number one anyway? All the things I love best about my country have very little to do with our incessant drive to dominate the global community.

In fact, I wouldn't mind it if we let someone else take over for a bit. I'm sick of all this chest pounding and dick measuring.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

James Giffen likes to share the wealth.

Overall, according to prosecutors in New York, Giffen gave more than $78 million to senior officials in Kazakhstan, for which he was indicted on federal bribery charges in 2003.

What truly sets Giffen apart is that he has claimed in his defense that he was an operative for the Central Intelligence Agency.

The case raises a number of questions, including this one: in an era of scarce oil, can America afford to punish anyone who cuts corners to win deals for American firms?

the American government cannot avoid the contradictions of needing oil but wanting to get it, or at least be seen to get it, in moral ways. This predicament has been evident for a long time in our dealings with dictatorships in, for instance, Saudi Arabia and Angola.

The choice is simple: Make painful but necessary changes to reduce our addiction to oil, or sink deeper into our moral sludge.

Tags: oil, hegemony, america, bush, corruption, faust, khazakstan

Universities With the Best Free Online Courses

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 13:39:47 GMT

clipped by: Djiezes

Clip Source: education-portal.com

Universities With the Best Free Online Courses

Don't You Quit

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:47:00 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: Rest, if you must...but don't quit.

Clip Song

Clip Source: www.psalm40.org

Don't You Quit

An Inspirational Poem

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit-

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a fellow turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow -

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than

It seems to a faint and faltering man;

Often the struggler has given up

Whe he might have captured the victor's cup;

And he learned too late when the night came down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -

The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It might be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Tags: quiet please

Yes Virginia

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 02:14:34 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: This makes me cry every year when I read it in our local newspaper.

Clip Source: www.newseum.org

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'

"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy

Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus.

There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.

The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever.

A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Tags: im, such, a, sap

Ancient "Salt Cured" Man Found in Iranian Mine

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Photo in the News: "Unusual" Tomb of Egyptian Courtier Found

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Frozen Inca Mummy Goes On Display

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Photo in the News: Skeleton "Valentines" Won't Be Parted

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Japan's Ancient Underwater "Pyramid" Mystifies Scholars

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Sacred Cave of Rome's Founders Found, Scientists Say

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Jesus' Tomb Found in Israel, Filmmakers Claim

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Egypt's Female Pharaoh Revealed by Chipped Tooth, Experts Say

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Stonehenge Settlement Found: Builders' Homes, "Cult Houses"

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Mass Plague Graves Found on Venice "Quarantine" Island

Tags: archaelogy

Clipmarks | ljsdesign's clips

1st Civil unions performed in NH

video comic strip

haha, got to remember this one - Dunning-Kruger effect

Your eyes don't lie

South Korea, Where Boys Were Kings, Revalues Its Girls

Giuliani Is Simply Incapable of Being Truthful

Trust Me

Evangelist Video Shot at Air Force Academy Exposed

Floridians See the Light?

Ridicule works!

Forerunner to contemporary political blogging...

In Germany before the war

America's Faustian Dilemma: At What Price Hegemony?

Universities With the Best Free Online Courses

Universities With the Best Free Online Courses

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (mit.edu)

2. Open University (open.ac.uk)

3. Carnegie Mellon University (cmu.edu)

4. Tufts University (tufts.edu)

5. Stanford (stanford.edu)

6. University of California, Berkeley (berkeley.edu)

7. Utah State University (usu.edu)

8. Kutztown University of Pennsylvania (kutztownsbdc.org)

9. University of Southern Queensland (usq.edu.au)

10. University of California, Irvine (uci.edu)

Don't You Quit

Don't You Quit

An Inspirational Poem

Yes Virginia

Top Ten Archaeology Stories of 2007

Ancient "Salt Cured" Man Found in Iranian Mine

Photo in the News: "Unusual" Tomb of Egyptian Courtier Found

Frozen Inca Mummy Goes On Display

Photo in the News: Skeleton "Valentines" Won't Be Parted

Japan's Ancient Underwater "Pyramid" Mystifies Scholars

Sacred Cave of Rome's Founders Found, Scientists Say

Jesus' Tomb Found in Israel, Filmmakers Claim

Egypt's Female Pharaoh Revealed by Chipped Tooth, Experts Say

Stonehenge Settlement Found: Builders' Homes, "Cult Houses"

Mass Plague Graves Found on Venice "Quarantine" Island