Clipmarks | Myth Clips

Maine, Detroit, & The Closet

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:50:26 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

When I was a “fag” on the junior high playground, getting punched hurt even when I saw it coming. So too with Maine this past week.

And the opposition’s central message—that gays want to influence schoolchildren—remains as effective as it is sinister.

The message conjures up the image of gays as child molesters—a myth debunked but never fully extinguished.

A slightly less sinister (but still false) version portrays us as anti-family and anti-morality. Still another falsehood is that we’re trying to “recruit.”

And that’s surely one lesson of this loss: the closet is still powerful, and our opponents use it to their advantage.

But we will not go back in the closet again.

We will keep telling our stories. We will keep showing our faces. We will keep getting married, even if—for now—Maine doesn’t legally recognize our relationships. We will not go back in the closet again.

And though we’ve lost this particular battle, we will continue to win the war.

VEE Day

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:51:09 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: in Alameda, California, we practiced duck-and-cover as well as earthquake drills. Nothing quaint or or historic about it then.

Here’s Reagan speechwriter Anthony R. Dolan at the Wall Street Journal on the power of “Four Little Words” … you remember them: “Tear down that wall” … and the earth-shaking ideas they represented as well as the action that backed them.

The popular myth is that the wall kind of toppled over by itself, with a little push from people power. That of course ignores not only the prior 44 years of Cold War … interspersed with several hot ones that cost us tens of thousands of American lives … it also ignores the massive military buildup of the 1980s, the encouragement of liberation movements behind the Iron Curtain, the tough engagement with old-school Soviet leaders and, not least, the cordial engagement with a Soviet leader who realized it was time to throw in the towel. An atmosphere was finally created in which people felt like they could

Clip Source: www.julescrittenden.com

It’s Victory in Eastern Europe Day. Though I kind of like the sound of “VUSSR Day.” In Ivan’s face. PO Putin a little … for a change.

Obama of course couldn’t make it to the festivities. It’s an awkward one for him, given the recent retreat in the face of neo-Stalinism, and the fact that he’d have to give credit to one of his predecessors, or maybe sit and listen while others do … it will be interesting, to see if Ronald Reagan does get any official nods.

Twenty years ago today, the Berlin wall came down. It was a fact of the first three decades of my life. I was just one year old when they started slapping down the mortar and laying out the minefields. I even knew about it as a child, this horrible scar across Europe, beyond which basic freedom ended and the nightmare began. It was the very real bogeyman of our time, horrible totalitarianism, 1984 made manifest several decades ahead of schedule, and the threat of nuclear annihilation that was a part of it, such that, in the first grade

Tags: berlin wall, chancellor angela merkel and soviet mikhail gorbac, president reagan, russia

LOOKS AND SMELLS GOOD

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:19:57 GMT

clipped by: censusguyZ
clipper's remarks: BUT ITS STILL DISHWATER

Clip Source: buzz.yahoo.com

Please tell me why you would oppose the following provision in the heath care reform bill:

1. Creates a government-run plan, or "public option," to offer insurance coverage to compete with private sector insurance companies.

2. Sets up health insurance "exchanges," or marketplaces, where consumers can easily compare coverage and rates.

3. Ends blanket exemption for insurers from anti-trust laws.

4. Provides federal financial help for lower and middle income consumers so they can obtain coverage.

5. Bars insurers from denying or limiting coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

6. Bars insurers from imposing lifetime limits on coverage.

7. Expands Medicaid coverage to more people.

How are these provisions anything but beneficial to The Average Working American Family?

Tags: hcr myth/vs/perception

Go Republicans Go!

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:25:54 GMT

clipped by: kinokonoko
clipper's remarks: ... the sound of a movement exhausting itself...

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Some critics of the party see the party's failure as a good thing, but I think it's not going to be good for anyone. I'd much prefer to see a rational, functioning Republican party than today's embarrassing irrelevancy.

The Republican party has a favorable rating of 23% and an unfavorable rating of 66%. (Democrats are at 42%-50%). Republicans in Congress have favorable-unfavorable ratings of 15% and 70% (Democrats are at 40-53). If this is a resurgent party that has captured the national mood, I'm Herbert Hoover.

It's no coincidence that voters give Republicans such abysmal ratings. The Republican party stands for absolutely nothing other than the pursuit of power. For 30 years, the Republicans have claimed to stand for 3 things: (1) small government (2) family values and (3) strong national defense. They don't actually stand for any of these things, and it's not clear that they ever did.

The small government myth

Family values-just a slogan

Republican bungling of national defense

Tags: republican party demise extinction

PICTURES: 2012 Doomsday Myths Debunked

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:45:01 GMT

clipped by: clip-on-tie
clipper's remarks: People actually believe this nonsense? Whatever.....

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

MYTH: Space Phenomena Will Send Continents Spinning

November 6, 2009--The end of the world is near--December 21, 2012, to be exact--according to theories based on a purported ancient Maya prediction and fanned by the marketing machine behind the soon-to-be-released 2012 movie.

In some 2012 doomsday prophecies, the Earth becomes a deathtrap as it undergoes a "pole shift," courtesy of an asteroid impact (illustrated above), a rare alignment with the center of the Milky Way, and/or massive solar radiation destabilizing the inner Earth by heating it.

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

MYTH: Planet X Is on a Collision Course With Earth

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

MYTH: Galactic Alignment Spells Doom

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

MYTH: Maya Predicted End of the World in 2012

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

MYTH: Solar Storms to Savage Earth

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

MYTH: Maya Had Clear Predictions for 2012

The Maya did pass down a graphic--though undated--end-of-the-world scenario, described on the final page of a circa-1100 text known as the Dresden Codex (detail above).

Tags: dumb

MYTH BUSTED: Internet Use Doesn’t Lead to Isolation

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:59:22 GMT

clipped by: spherepet

Clip Source: mashable.com

MYTH BUSTED: Internet Use Doesn’t Lead to Isolation

November 5th, 2009 | by Stan Schroeder

Imagine this: once a happy child with a lot of friends, little Jack has started spending many hours per day on social networking sites such as Facebook, which has turned him into a pale asocial freak. Oh, if only he’d never touched that cursed box we call the computer, he’d be a healthy young man now!

a study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, it’s simply not true.

“Social media activities are associated with several beneficial social activities, including having discussion networks that are more likely to contain people from different backgrounds. For instance, frequent internet users, and those who maintain a blog are much more likely to confide in someone who is of another race. Those who share photos online are more likely to report that they discuss important matters with someone who is a member of another political party.”

Tags: myth, isolation, internet

UNHEALTHY AMERICA

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:57:28 GMT

clipped by: ellington
clipper's remarks: HEALTH CARE

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Unhealthy America

The moment of truth for health care is at hand, and the distortion that perhaps gets the most traction is this:

We have the greatest health care system in the world. Sure, it has flaws, but it saves lives in ways that other countries can only dream of. Abroad, people sit on waiting lists for months, so why should we squander billions of dollars to mess with a system that is the envy of the world? As Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama puts it, President Obama’s plans amount to “the first step in destroying the best health care system the world has ever known.”

That self-aggrandizing delusion may be the single greatest myth in the health care debate. In fact, America’s health care system is worse than Slov—er, oops, more on that later.

For example, in the United States, 90 percent of hernia surgery is performed on an outpatient basis. In Britain, only 40 percent is, according to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute.

Tags: health, care, america, canada

Has the original Labyrinth been found?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:53:52 GMT

clipped by: vinitjain
clipper's remarks: A disused stone quarry on the Greek island of Crete which is riddled with an elaborate network of underground tunnels could be the original site of the ancient Labyrinth, the mythical maze that housed the half-bull, half-man Minotaur of Greek legend.

Clip Source: theunexplainedmysteries.com

Has the original Labyrinth been found?

A disused stone quarry on the Greek island of Crete which is riddled with an elaborate network of underground tunnels could be the original site of the ancient Labyrinth, the mythical maze that housed the half-bull, half-man Minotaur of Greek legend.

An Anglo-Greek team of scholars who undertook an expedition to the quarry this summer believes that the site, near the town of Gortyn in the south of the island, has just as much claim to be the place of the Labyrinth as the Minoan palace at Knossos 20 miles away, which has been synonymous with the Minotaur myth since its excavation a century ago.

Tags: labyrinth, maze, mysteries

Claude Levi-Strauss, Scientist Who Saw Human Doom, Dies at 100

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:59:20 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.bloomberg.com

Claude Levi-Strauss, the French social anthropologist who influenced generations of intellectuals with his ideas on culture and said the human species would become extinct, has died. He was 100.

Levi-Strauss’s method, known as structuralism, reduced mythology and rituals to their basic components to find an underlying pattern. His theories on primitive societies held that the characteristics of the native mind are equal to those in Western civilization and that all communities function using folklore based on opposites.

“I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men’s minds without their being aware of the fact,” he said.

The Marxist social scientist who dedicated more than three decades examining the behavior of Amazonian and American Indian tribes applied the structural approach employed in linguistics to discover a common form in myth.

Tags: science, human, anthropology, culture, myths

atch Free Ninja Assassin (2009) Movie Online

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:31:28 GMT

clipped by: wena87
clipper's remarks: "Ninja Assassin" features Raizo (Rain), one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Raizo was taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth.

Clip Source: www.myetceteraforyou.info

My Et Cetera for You

Tags: watch free ninja assassin movie online, watch ninja assassin movie, ninja assassin

http://www.FreeTVChannels.org

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:19:03 GMT

clipped by: suresh7952
clipper's remarks: Free tv used to be a myth. With the knowledge at this resource site you will be able to tune in free tv channels and record them, when you want. I was shocked when I tuned in HBO and other pricey channels.

Clip Source: www.freetvchannels.org

Satellite TV For PC Review

Tags: free tv channels, free tv, free satellite tv

I Reject Your Reality and Substitue My Own

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:07:02 GMT

clipped by: dpuckett
clipper's remarks: One of the coolest sayings from Myth Busters Now on a T-Shirt.

Clip Source: dpgadgets.com

I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own – TShirt

Tags: i reject your reality and substitue my own, tshirt, gift, myth busters

Bats, Owls and Spiders - Oh My!

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:42:05 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.enature.com

One trait these creatures share is a preference for darkness. They're active mainly at night, which runs counter to our own diurnal tendencies. As a result, people tend to regard night animals as demonic.

experts trace it to an ancient Asian myth involving night spirits that feed upon the blood of sleeping victims

the Barn Owl, with its ghostly appearance and blood-curdling shriek, is considered a bad omen in cultures throughout the world. Several African cultures depict owls as spirits of the dead and as omens that foretell the death of anyone who sees them.

One notable exception is the Inuit belief that the Snowy Owl is a good omen. Perhaps the reason for this unusually positive view of an owl is that the Snowy Owl is a daytime creature.

Perhaps the reason spiders inspire such negative responses is that they tend to be most numerous in the dark recesses of places like caves and old buildings.

"The World Will Not End on Dec. 21, 2012"

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:05:44 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Morrison said he tries to reassure people that their fears are groundless, but has received so many inquiries that he has posted a list of 10 questions and answers on the website of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (www.astrosociety.org).

Titled "Doomsday 2012, the Planet Nibiru and Cosmophobia," the article breaks down the sources of the hysteria and assures people that the ancients didn't actually know more about the cosmos than we do.

"The world will not come to an end on Dec. 21, 2012," E.C. Krupp, director of Los Angeles' Griffith Observatory, declared in a statement released Thursday by the observatory and Sky & Telescope magazine. Krupp debunks the 2012 doomsday idea in the cover story of the magazine's November issue.

Morrison said he attributes the excitement to the conflation of several items into one mega-myth. One is the persistent Internet rumor that a planet called Nibiru or Planet X is going to crash into the Earth. . .

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

If you scan the Internet or believe the marketing campaign behind the movie "2012," scheduled for release in November, you might be forgiven for thinking so. Dozens of books and fake science websites are prophesying the arrival of doomsday that year, by means of a rogue planet colliding with the Earth or some other cataclysmic event.

Normally, scientists regard Internet hysteria with nothing more than a raised eyebrow and a shake of the head. But a few scientists have become so concerned at the level of fear they are seeing that they decided not to remain on the sidelines this time.

"Two years ago, I got a question a week about it," said NASA scientist David Morrison, who hosts a website called Ask an Astrobiologist. "Now I'm getting a dozen a day. Two teenagers said they didn't want to see the end of the world so they were thinking of ending their lives."

Tags: mayan calendar ends in 2012, nasa scientist david morrison, nibiru or planet x to crash into earth, the movie doomsday 2012

Agincourt actually an even scrap, historians claim

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:16:23 GMT

clipped by: Jacob173
clipper's remarks: Before it is all over the French will have been said to have won the Franco-Prussian war.

Clip Source: www.theregister.co.uk

Agincourt actually an even scrap, historians claim

Revisionist historians from both sides of the Channel have come to the disagreeable conclusion that Henry V's forces at Agincourt were not actually outnumbered four to one by the opposing French.

According to the Telegraph, "painstaking research of military and tax records" has revealed Henry actually boasted "at least 8,700 troops" who administered a severe pasting to no more than 12,000 Frenchmen on 25 October, 1415.

One of the researchers, professor Anne Curry of Southampton University, said of the “we few, we happy few” legend: “It’s just a myth, but it’s a myth that’s part of the British psyche."

And if that hasn't got you lot choking on your beef and oyster pie of Merry Olde England, it turns out that the lone authority coming to the defence of Shakespeare's Band of Brothers is an American - one professor Clifford Rogers of the US Military Academy at West Point.