July 2010
Priest Drowns Baby During Baptism →
news.ninemsn.com.au
Hey, look on the bright side. At least he didn’t fuck it.
Another one bites the dust. Thanks religion!
“Some married women in Nigeria reported to INCRESE researchers that if they expressed pleasure during sex, their husbands considered this to be like a prostitute and sometimes responded violently. In contrast, non-married women were expected to enjoy sex with their boyfriends. Some men mistakenly believed they were giving great pleasure to their lovers, and had not discovered the truth due to lack of communication.”
—Contestations / Dialogues on Women’s Empowerment (via clingtomymouth)
“In a sense, and as in melodrama, killing yourself amounts to confessing. It is confessing that life is too much for you or that you do not understand it. Let’s not go too far in such analogies, however, but rather return to everyday words. It is merely confessing that that “is not worth the trouble.”
Living, naturally, is never easy. You continue making the gestures commanded by existence for many reasons, the first of which is habit. Dying voluntarily implies that you have recognized, even instinctively, the ridiculous character of that habit, the absence of any profound reason for living, the insane character of that daily agitation, and the uselessness of suffering.What, then, is that incalculable feeling that deprives the mind of the sleep necessary to life?
A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and this life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity. All healthy men having thought of their own suicide, it can be seen, without further explanation, that there is a direct connection between this feeling and the longing for death.” —Albert Camus, “The Myth of Sisyphus” (via fuckyeahexistentialism)
Living, naturally, is never easy. You continue making the gestures commanded by existence for many reasons, the first of which is habit. Dying voluntarily implies that you have recognized, even instinctively, the ridiculous character of that habit, the absence of any profound reason for living, the insane character of that daily agitation, and the uselessness of suffering.What, then, is that incalculable feeling that deprives the mind of the sleep necessary to life?
A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and this life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity. All healthy men having thought of their own suicide, it can be seen, without further explanation, that there is a direct connection between this feeling and the longing for death.” —Albert Camus, “The Myth of Sisyphus” (via fuckyeahexistentialism)
Absence
… makes the heart grow fonder, hopefully! I won’t be on Tumblr for the next few days because I’m flying up to NYC tomorrow and leaving my laptop at home. I’ve been chained to it for a while (addictive personality, holla) so I’m gonna take this week off to chill without it. My queue will probably keep posting for a good 24 hours and I update my Twitter account daily! Happy trails!
An interview with lesbian Stonewall veteran Stormé DeLarverie | AfterEllen →
afterellen.com
“…What does the future hold for DeLarverie? Cannistraci told me that she is currently in the process of petitioning for legal guardianship of DeLarverie and hopes to move her into a brighter, more modern nursing home with a larger staff and activities for the residents – and one where a friend of DeLarverie’s already resides. “She was a protector of the community, and [her situation] is heartbreaking,” she said.
In the New York Timesarticle about DeLarverie, Cannistraci voiced her frustrations at the gay community’s apathy regarding DeLarverie’s plight.
“I feel like the gay community could have really rallied, but they didn’t,” said Lisa Cannistraci, a longtime friend of Ms. DeLarverie’s who is the owner of the lesbian bar Henrietta Hudson, where Ms. DeLarverie worked as a bouncer.
“The young gays and lesbians today have never heard of her,” Ms. Cannistraci said, “and most of our activists are young. They’re in their 20s and early 30s. The community that’s familiar with her is dwindling.”DeLarverie’s situation is, unfortunately, not unique, and it highlights some of the issues faced by LGBT seniors. It is unclear whether DeLarverie has no surviving family members or whether she has surviving family members but simply lost touch with them over the years. Many LGBT elders become isolated from their families, either because of family disapproval or because they moved away from their families to a big city with a large LGBT population, thereby becoming out of sight and out of mind. If they do end up in a retirement home or nursing home, there is also the issue of whether other residents will have a problem with their sexual orientation. Furthermore, in many states, same sex partners cannot be legally bound, and if there is no next of kin, one can end up being a ward of the state. If the Rosa Parks of the gay community can end up in a nursing home among strangers like other forgotten elderly men and women, it is certainly a wake up call.
As it was time for Farrell and me to leave, DeLarverie offered to escort us to the door, and struggled a bit to stand. We protested. “No, no, we’re fine!” She was having none of that, as she steadied herself and made a beeline for the door. Old age and a spill earlier in the week would not get in the way of good manners and chivalry. Farrell took her right hand, and I took the left, and we all walked towards the door together. She kissed us both on the cheek and bid us farewell. “Take care, babies,” she said.”
I cried while reading most of this article. People like her are the reason every gay person needs to come out of the closet. If she could do it back then, we can all certainly do it today. It’s so sad that someone so important to LGBT history has been nearly forgotten—being open and honest is least we can do for people like her.
My presence made the Swede's team win their volleyball match today!
But I seem to be the only one who attributes the win to my presence.
You are a symbol of good luck! Oh volleyball girls, how I love thine long legs and lean asses.
“A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.”
—Albert Einstein (via sixtyforty)
“Excuse me, let me tell you something: When America opened up the floodgates and let all us Italians in, what do you think they were doing it for? ‘Cause they were trying to save us from poverty? No, they did it because they needed us. They needed us to build their cities and dig their subways—to make them richer. The Carnegies and The Rockerfellers: they needed worker bees and there we were. But some of us didn’t want to swarm around their hive and lose who we were. We wanted to stay Italian and preserve the things that meant something to us: honor and family and loyalty—and some of us wanted a piece of the action. Now we weren’t educated like the Americans but we had the BALLS to take what we wanted! And those other folks, those JP Morgans, they were crooks and killers, too, but that was the business, right? The American Way.”
—
Tony Soprano (via early-onset-of-night)
Love this show forever.
(via gadgetry)
“According to his mother, Betsy, Franco has been this way since he was born. In kindergarten, he wouldn’t just build regular little block towers—he’d build structures that used every single block in the playroom. At night, he would organize his Star Wars toys before he slept. When Franco was 4 years old, a friend of the family died. Betsy gave him the standard Mortality Talk: no longer with us, just a part of life—yes, but hopefully not for a very long time. Little James burst into tears. He was inconsolable. Eventually, he managed to choke out, between sobs, “But I don’t want to die! I have so much to do!”
—I don’t know why this is so endearing. (via privatesnafu)
Class Action Against U.S. Military On Behalf Of Sexual Assault Survivors →
feministe.us
The DC firm, Burke PLLC, is preparing to file a class action suit on behalf of those harmed by the military’s failures to address military sexual trauma. They are interested in speaking with anyone who has been assaulted or raped while in the military or by a member of the military. They plan on filing in the near future so if you know any victims/survivors who may be potentially interested in participating in this lawsuit, please have them contact Susan Sajadi at ssajadi at burkepllc dot com.
92 Republicans vote against bill that will help prevent rape of Native American women →
littlegreenfootballs.com
Akin
Austria
Bachmann
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett
Barton (TX)
Biggert
Bishop (UT)
Blunt
Boehner
Boustany
Broun (GA)
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Burgess
Buyer
Campbell
Cantor
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman (CO)
Conaway
Culberson
Davis (KY)
Dreier
Duncan
Flake
Fleming
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Garrett (NJ)
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Hall (TX)
Harper
Hastings (WA)
Heller
Hensarling
Herger
Hunter
Inglis
Johnson, Sam
Jordan (OH)
King (IA)
Kingston
Lamborn
Lance
Latta
Lee (NY)
Linder
LoBiondo
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Manzullo
Marchant
McCotter
McMorris Rodgers
Mica
Miller, Gary
Neugebauer
Olson
Paul
Pence
Petri
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Price (GA)
Radanovich
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rooney
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Scalise
Schmidt
Schock
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shuster
Smith (NE)
Smith (TX)
Stearns
Thompson (PA)
Tiberi
WestmorelandWell, I can say I’m disgusted, but I can’t say I’m shocked.
Over 20 children affiliated with an Oregon church that believes in faith-healing have died in the past 30 years of treatable illnesses →
oregonlive.com
Clackamas County officials have removed a baby girl from her parents after they chose to attempt to faith-heal a tennis-ball-sized hemangioma that has covered one eye and is pushing it in and down into her skull. Warning: the photo will make you cry.
How fucking stupid can people be?
Age of Reason: Higher intelligence associated with liberalism, atheism →
theageofreason.org
More intelligent people are significantly more likely to exhibit social values and religious and political preferences that are novel to the human species in evolutionary history. Specifically, liberalism and atheism, and for men (but not women), preference for sexual exclusivity correlate…
… BUT INTELLIGENT PEOPLE AREN’T REAL AMERICANS™!
Serotonin cell discoveries mean rethink of depression (New Scientist) →
newscientist.com
If you thought depression was caused by low serotonin levels, think again. It looks as if the brain chemistry of a depressed person is much more complex, with mounting evidence suggesting that too much serotonin in some brain regions is to blame.
If correct, it might explain some of the negative side-effects associated with selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antidepressants like Prozac which increase the amount of the neurotransmitter serotonin in some parts of the brain.
The traditional view of depression was largely based on the observation that SSRIs boost mood- although why they do so is unknown. “Because antidepressants increase serotonin in some parts of the brain, people assumed that depression must be the result of low serotonin levels,” says Christopher Lowry of the University of Boulder in Colorado. But the discovery of multiple types of serotonin-releasing neurons in the brain, along with high levels of serotonin recorded in people with depression, is prompting a rethink.
“What’s more likely is that there are subgroups of serotonin neurons that are overactive in depressed patients, rather than underactive as we have all been assuming,” says Lowry.
One of the first clues that something might be amiss with the traditional theory came three years ago, when Murray Esler at the Baker Heart Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues found that the level of serotonin in the brains of people with panic disorder was four times higher than in healthy volunteers (Stress, DOI: 10.1080/10253890701300904), and in depressed people who were not receiving treatment it was two times higher than in volunteers (Archives of General Psychiatry, vol 65, p 38). They also showed that long-term use of SSRIs in people with depression and panic disorder seemed to decrease serotonin levels through an as yet unidentified mechanism.
Now, in studies of rats and mice, Lowry has found that there are multiple types of serotonin neurons that can be independently regulated. He presented his results at the Forum of European Neuroscience in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, last week.
This fits well with findings from other groups that there are two types of serotonin receptor in the amygdala, a brain region linked to emotion and anxiety: 5-HT2A receptors that inhibit anxiety, and 5-HT2C receptors that promote it. The roles of the receptors were identified by injecting drugs that either stimulated or inhibited each receptor and observing the animals’ behavioural response.
Together, the findings might mean that while high levels of serotonin in some brain regions like the prefrontal cortex can lead to improved mood, high serotonin in other regions could have negative effects.
Evidence for this idea comes from Gina Forster at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion and colleagues, who injected a stress-related molecule into the brains of rats and found that it triggered two phases of serotonin release. An initial wave of serotonin appeared to increase fear-like behaviour in the rats, while a second wave decreased this behaviour, possibly because it activated a brain region called the medial prefrontal cortex, which is associated with calming of fears (Neuroscience, vol 141, p 1047).
The new findings have implications for how SSRI drugs work. In the long-term, SSRIs do tend to have a calming effect, although more research is needed to understand how they do this.
However, in the short-term some people taking SSRIs report feeling increased anxiety. This is “almost certainly due to the activation of one of these groups of serotonin neurons”, says Lowry. The suicidal thoughts some people taking SSRIs claim to experience may also be linked to boosting serotonin, as suicide is thought to be associated with increased impulsivity. “It may be that certain types of SSRI are affecting these impulsivity circuits in the brain,” says Lowry.
Learning more about these different groups of serotonin neurons could lead to better treatments for depression and anxiety disorders. “It might be possible to design very specific drugs that can turn on or off specific groups of neurons that are deregulated in anxiety or depression,” says Lowry.
This is relevant to my interests!
I highly doubt that the kid who plays little kid Dick Whitman grew up to look like adult Don Draper.
Even that bowl cut isn’t enough to distract from the recessed chin.
I’m glad someone else noticed this discrepancy. Little kid Dick Whitman’s homeliness and adult Don Draper’s resulting good looks give me hope that I, too, may grow up to be a strikingly handsome, successful businessman.
When I’m a mother, I think that before I do anything rash, I’m going to think to myself, What would Betty Draper do? and then do the opposite.
I’m pretty sure this is the best short-hand for being a decent human being I’ve read thus far.
“The clitoris is pure in purpose. It is the only organ in the body designed purely for pleasure. The clitoris is simply a bundle of nerves: 8,000 nerve fibers, to be precise. That’s a higher concentration of nerve fibers than is found anywhere else in the body, including the fingertips, lips, and tongue, and it is twice… twice… twice the number in the penis. Who needs a handgun when you’ve got a semiautomatic.”
—Natalie Angier, Woman: An Intimate Geography
idoitcounterclockwise replied to your photo: (generate your own tumblrcloud)
“seriously white hate fucking” Interesting!
I enjoyed that too! This tumblrcloud is misleading because I enjoy all types of hate-fucking, not just the Caucasian kind!
going to NYC for a while, see you later.
Have fun in the Big Apple, my Norwegian princess!
gabbytron replied to your post: I haven’t been getting my Like notifications.
yeahhh, no one has…tumblr is still revamping them somehow…or either they have revamped them so that you only get a like notification if a) it’s an original post of yours and/or b) the like is from a person you don’t follow. :(
Thanks! I’m always the last to know when Tumblr is renovating!
I haven't been getting my Like notifications.
You know, when you’re on your dashboard and Tumblr says, “[Username] liked your quote” or whatever. Because I was creeping someone’s Liked posts recently and saw three posts of mine that I never got notifications for. It’s no big deal but I enjoy those notifications. They’re positive affirmation!
