Monthly Archives: July 2009

Visit Lovely Capri, somewhere in Italy …

Europeans laughing at each other:

A Swedish couple in search of the isle of Capri drove to Carpi, an industrial town in northern Italy, because they misspelt the name in their car’s GPS.

Italian officials say the couple asked at Carpi’s tourist office where they could find Capri’s famous Blue Grotto.

“Capri is an island. They did not even wonder why they didn’t cross any bridge or take any boat,” said a bemused tourism official in Carpi.

bbc

Earth Warrior Saves Canada from Geologists!

Hi everyone; this morning at 8:00am, July 14/09, I proceeded to the Denny Island aerodrome, located on Denny Island in the midst of the BC Central Coast archipelago, aka “The Great Bear Rainforest” where I broke open the welded steel cover and dismantled and destroyed a large seismic shot which was slated for blasting in the early morning hours of July 17th, 2009. I took this action alone, without the participation or knowledge of any other person, association or organization. I accept full and sole responsibilty for my action and look forward to the consequences.

And so reads the on line confession of Ingmar Lee, a self professed Earth Warrior operating in Canada. In disarming this explosive device, Lee carried out an act of unmitigated bravery, as well as an act of utter stupidity.
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The Natural Basis for Inequality of the Sexes

Is the Natural World a valid source of guidance for our behavior, morals, ethics, and other more mundane areas of thought such as how to build an airplane and what to eat for breakfast?1 When it comes to airplanes, you’d better be a servant to the rules of nature (such as gravity) or the airplane will go splat. When it comes to breakfast, it has been shown that knowing about our evolutionary history can be a more efficacious guide to good nutrition than the research employed by the FDA, but you can live without this approach and following FDA guidelines will not do you in. A naturalistic approach can work when it comes to behavior too, but there are consequences. You or someone you love would probably not like the consequences.
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Reading Human Nature

“Human nature” is an interesting topic. People will argue over the definition of human nature, but regardless of what people think or say, it is reasonable to assume that all humans share a psychological and developmental framework to the extent that any two people raised in the same background will ‘turn out’ similar with respect to several behavioral traits or tendencies. Also, a pair of twins separated at birth and raised up in very different cultures are likely to exhibit more differences than similarities owing to the different cultures but perhaps some set of seemingly uncanny similarities owing to their parentage.
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Help Facebook To Not Abuse You

Carl Zimmer tells us:

Facebook lets 3rd party advertisers use your posted photos without your permission. To opt out: Click on SETTINGS (located on top of page in blue bar, next to logout); Select PRIVACY SETTINGS; Select NEWS FEEDS and WALL; Select the TAB that reads Facebook Ads. There will be a drop down box; Select NO ONE. Save your changes & then pass this on. [Thanks to Virginia Postrel]


ADDED: You may need to turn off ad blocking to make this w
ork.

Harry Potter Museum Exhibit to Open in October

This fall, Harry Potter fans will get the chance to step inside the famous wizard’s magical world through Harry Potter: The Exhibition, which opens at the Museum of Science, Boston on October 25, 2009, at 9 a.m. Tickets are now available online at mos.org or by calling 617-723-2500, 617-589-0417 (TTY). Visitors will be able to experience dramatic displays inspired…

The Exhibition made its highly successful global premiere at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry last April and will run there through September 27, 2009,

details from BMS

Gov. Crist Pwned by White Supremacist using Hate Film

Jud Sü� is a 1940 Nazi anti-Semetic propaganda film that was widely loved in much of Europe, especially Germany (and also vilified and banned in various places). The production and showing of this film was a significant moment in the development of the widespread German hate of the Jewish People that facilitated a nearly successful attempt at their utter extermination.

In other words, Jud Sü� played a measurable role in the development of mid 20th century racism to the ultimate conclusion which racism, unfettered, always leads: Holocaust.

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Cambridge Police: A matter of black and white

UPDATED (based on feedback from commenters, new information, and some other data)

Is racial bias ever a factor in police work? Was racial bias a factor in GatesGate, the recent incident in Cambridge Massachusetts involving Harvard scholar Skip Gates and the Cambridge Police? Here, I want to relate an incident in which I was involved in which a very strong racial bias clearly occurred, in which the police tried to arrest a black man principally because he was black even though he was totally innocent, and at the same time, gave undue sway to a white man. First a little context, then the parable.

As the facts emerge it becomes clear that Skip Gates was unlawfully arrested by the Cambridge Police, and that while this may not have exactly been a hate crime, there is a reasonably good chance that racial bias was involved. I have a feeling that Skip Gates himself would be the first to point out that this is not the worst thing that has ever happened to anyone, there are much worse cases where racia bias ultimately victimizes a person of color. I assure you that on the same evening dozens, nay, hundreds, of equally black men very much in their own homes were also busted by racist white police officers at various locations across this country, and they didn’t do anything either.

Why was the arrest unlawful? Well, technically, it was not, but he was arrested under a widely used type of statute that is designed to keep the peace but is in fact used by the police to directly punish people who give them lip.

Clearly, race is a factor in this case, which is in part why we are talking about it here. The very validity of the concept of race itself can and should be questioned, and despite modest efforts of educating the public (like this exhibit), a questionable social model of biological race persists in Western society. (See this and this.) Racism is at the root of well known horrific historical events and singular murderous acts. Racial bias affects people’s jobs, people’s health, and increased a person’s chance of being in prison if their skin is not white. Racialized thinking and racism can be very bad for the health of those with subaltern status (usually that means “non white”). Racialized thinking and racial bias can lead to unabashedly bald faced blaming, to absurd fear-based bias amongst members of the same, upper class, to outrageous acts of senseless violence, and to deeply insulting political decisions. Despite a lack of research, there is evidence that race plays a role in policing from the police (staffing) end of things. Driving while black, shopping while black, and apparently being in your house while black, are representitive outcomes of a racialized society. Racial profile and policing can go hand in hand.

This will all get sorted out and there are already strong indications from Cambridge that the ultimate outcome of Gatesgate will be a positive and forward moving learning experience for all. So, while that is happening, let me tell you my story about black and white and the Cambridge Police.
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