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Douglas Carpenter
Douglas Carpenter's Journal
Douglas Carpenter's Journal
December 27, 2014
Find the furthest city on earth from your place or anywhere else.
Have you ever wondered what cities are furthest away? What Country really is on the opposite side of the world to you? Use Furthest City to search any world city with a population of over 100k.
http://furthestcity.com/
December 19, 2014
Fixing Autism Research by John Elder Robison
Autism researchers have published thousands of papers in recent years. With those numbers, you’d think we’d all be rejoicing over great progress. Yet many people—especially autistic adults—are frustrated by how little benefit has actually materialized. Why?
The simple answer is, we’re studying the wrong things. We’re sinking millions into the search for a “cure,” even though we now know that autism is not a disease but rather a neurological difference, one that cripples some of us while bringing a few others extraordinary gifts. Most of us live with a mix of exceptionality and disability. I know I do.
We can remediate the crippling conditions that accompany autism. Anxiety, depression, seizure disorders, sleep disorders, and intestinal distress are the big ones, but there are more..
We can offer engineering solutions to the things autistic people can’t do naturally. Some formerly nonverbal autistics talk through handheld tablets, and make friends with computer assistants like Siri. We’re now seeing machines that read expressions even when we can’t. Computers can improve anyone’s quality of life, but we stand to benefit more than most from applied technology.
So how might this change in research direction come about? For one thing, we can put autistic people in charge. The fact is, researchers have treated autism as a childhood disability, when in fact it’s a lifelong difference. If childhood is a quarter of the life span, then three-quarters of the autistic population are adults. Doesn’t it make sense that some of us would want to take a role in shaping the course of research that affects us?
If you’re a researcher with an interest in autism—and you want to really make a difference—open a dialogue with autistic people. Ask what they want and need, and listen.
John Elder Robison is a professor at the College of William & Mary and the author of Look Me in the Eye.
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/533366/fixing-autism-research/
The simple answer is, we’re studying the wrong things. We’re sinking millions into the search for a “cure,” even though we now know that autism is not a disease but rather a neurological difference, one that cripples some of us while bringing a few others extraordinary gifts. Most of us live with a mix of exceptionality and disability. I know I do.
We can remediate the crippling conditions that accompany autism. Anxiety, depression, seizure disorders, sleep disorders, and intestinal distress are the big ones, but there are more..
We can offer engineering solutions to the things autistic people can’t do naturally. Some formerly nonverbal autistics talk through handheld tablets, and make friends with computer assistants like Siri. We’re now seeing machines that read expressions even when we can’t. Computers can improve anyone’s quality of life, but we stand to benefit more than most from applied technology.
So how might this change in research direction come about? For one thing, we can put autistic people in charge. The fact is, researchers have treated autism as a childhood disability, when in fact it’s a lifelong difference. If childhood is a quarter of the life span, then three-quarters of the autistic population are adults. Doesn’t it make sense that some of us would want to take a role in shaping the course of research that affects us?
If you’re a researcher with an interest in autism—and you want to really make a difference—open a dialogue with autistic people. Ask what they want and need, and listen.
John Elder Robison is a professor at the College of William & Mary and the author of Look Me in the Eye.
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/533366/fixing-autism-research/
December 17, 2014
Sanders and Warren won't sign letter opposing Palestinians taking unilateral action at the U.N.
The Senate is warning Palestinians against undertaking any “negative” unilateral actions re Israel at the United Nations, and look who isn’t signing on to the letter that AIPAC has endorsed: Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Folks have been pressing Warren and her staffers not to sign this letter – and she didn’t. Neither did Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Maybe the national publicity and pressure on these progressives over their Israel-Palestine positions moved them? Maybe they’re tacking ahead of 2016? Here are the 12 non-signers, from both parties:
Bernard Sanders (I), Bob Corker (R), Elizabeth Warren (D), Harry Reid*, Jeff Sessions (R), John D. Rockefeller IV*, Lisa Murkowski (R), Patrick J. Leahy* (D), Rand Paul (R), Tammy Baldwin (D), Tom Coburn (R), Tom Harkin* (D).
- See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2014/09/elizabeth-sanders-bandwagon#sthash.sSuyxGiF.dpuf
Bernard Sanders (I), Bob Corker (R), Elizabeth Warren (D), Harry Reid*, Jeff Sessions (R), John D. Rockefeller IV*, Lisa Murkowski (R), Patrick J. Leahy* (D), Rand Paul (R), Tammy Baldwin (D), Tom Coburn (R), Tom Harkin* (D).
- See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2014/09/elizabeth-sanders-bandwagon#sthash.sSuyxGiF.dpuf
December 17, 2014
http://www.salon.com/2014/12/17/bill_oreillys_new_boogeywoman_the_blowhards_demented_attack_on_elizabeth_warren/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
Bill O'Reilly: If Warren ever gains the White House, she’d make Barack Obama look like Ronald Reagan
http://www.salon.com/2014/12/17/bill_oreillys_new_boogeywoman_the_blowhards_demented_attack_on_elizabeth_warren/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflowWhile Warren insists she’s “not running for president,” she hasn’t definitively ruled out a White House bid, and that’s enough to convince groups like MoveOn.org, Democracy for America, and the Ready for Warren super PAC that it’s worth the effort to convince the senator to enter the 2016 contest. Naturally, O’Reilly felt compelled to weigh in on the Warren for President boomlet, and to hear him tell it, she’s nothing short of a dangerous radical.
“Ms. Warren despises Wall Street and big banks, saying they have rigged the capitalistic system,” O’Reilly said during the “Talking Points Commentary” segment of last night’s “The O’Reilly Factor.” The host didn’t dwell on the possibility that Warren’s anti-Wall Street message has caught fire because Americans harbor deep distrust toward banks and believe that the financial system is indeed rigged against them.
“She believes that the social contract should allow punitive taxation on corporations and wealthy individuals in order to provide for those who do not have very much. Such taxation would cripple the consumer-driven marketplace, as we have seen under President Obama,” he continued. The marketplace appears to have missed that memo; job growth continues to pick up steam, nearly two years after Obama let George W. Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire in 2013, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has increased 115 percent on the radical Marxist Kenyan’s watch.
“It is clear that the liberal policies of President Obama have weakened this nation abroad, created a stagnant economy and a staggering national debt,” he said. “But if Sen. Warren ever gains the White House, she’d make Barack Obama look like Ronald Reagan.”
Watch O’Reilly’s unhinged attack on the senator at FoxNews.com.
http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/12/16/oreilly-president-elizabeth-warren-would-make-obama-look-reagan
http://www.salon.com/2014/12/17/bill_oreillys_new_boogeywoman_the_blowhards_demented_attack_on_elizabeth_warren/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
December 16, 2014
Fox Business host Melissa Francis (Fox News/screen grab)
“And I can tell you from talking to people in the financial industry, in banking, on Wall Street, they think she is actually the devil,” the Fox Business host continued. “I mean, without question, Elizabeth Warren is the devil. So, they’re going to put any money they have behind Hillary Clinton, which should be a help.”
Andrea Tantaros argued that Warren’s populist message was a “political winner.”
“We all hate the banks because of what they did a few years ago,” guest host Bernard McGuirk remarked.
“No, we don’t!” Francis shot back. “Speak for yourself!”
But in the end, McGuirk opined that Warren was a “radical leftist” who couldn’t win.
“So was President Obama,” Tantaros sighed. “They drudged up all that info, but the media hid it.”
full article and video and link:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/fox-host-without-question-elizabeth-warren-is-the-devil-and-wall-street-will-defeat-her/
Fox host: ‘Without question, Elizabeth Warren is the devil’ and Wall Street will defeat her
Fox Business host Melissa Francis (Fox News/screen grab)
“And I can tell you from talking to people in the financial industry, in banking, on Wall Street, they think she is actually the devil,” the Fox Business host continued. “I mean, without question, Elizabeth Warren is the devil. So, they’re going to put any money they have behind Hillary Clinton, which should be a help.”
Andrea Tantaros argued that Warren’s populist message was a “political winner.”
“We all hate the banks because of what they did a few years ago,” guest host Bernard McGuirk remarked.
“No, we don’t!” Francis shot back. “Speak for yourself!”
But in the end, McGuirk opined that Warren was a “radical leftist” who couldn’t win.
“So was President Obama,” Tantaros sighed. “They drudged up all that info, but the media hid it.”
full article and video and link:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/fox-host-without-question-elizabeth-warren-is-the-devil-and-wall-street-will-defeat-her/
December 8, 2014
QuinPaperwasp3
LMAO. this is so funny. he just killed himself over a video. this teen is pathetic. what a coward. i hope he's burnt. +10 votes.
skillcoiler2
If the parents get a single dime from the school I will stop paying taxes fuck these parents. They should have taught their kid not to wank it in a public place if getting caught was going to make him so crybaby he would kill himself over it.+12 votes.
Sonny DaGuy
We live in a generation of sensitivity and we can't hurt the next person's feelings. This is what our government is teaching today's generation. So we as parents should teach our kids to be a little tougher ,to stand up and take a stand against the sensitivity bullshit they're teaching our kids in school. it's really sad what happen to the boy, we should understand that whatever we do nowadays will be recorded by some type of cell phone or video tape and will be posted online. If you don't want it to be online don't do it out in public. R.I.P. KID
Ever notice all the sociopathic scum that posts on Youtube?
I've notice countless times when the cruelest of comments are made - even in response to tragedies.
In this particular case that is actually not at all that uncommon - there was news story about a 14 year-old-boy who
committed suicide after being bullied following the release on a social network sight of a hidden video that went viral that
reportedly showed him masturbating in a restroom stall.
What kind of monsters is our society creating? Here are some of the most popular comments in response to this youtube
video news story:
QuinPaperwasp3
LMAO. this is so funny. he just killed himself over a video. this teen is pathetic. what a coward. i hope he's burnt. +10 votes.
skillcoiler2
If the parents get a single dime from the school I will stop paying taxes fuck these parents. They should have taught their kid not to wank it in a public place if getting caught was going to make him so crybaby he would kill himself over it.+12 votes.
Sonny DaGuy
We live in a generation of sensitivity and we can't hurt the next person's feelings. This is what our government is teaching today's generation. So we as parents should teach our kids to be a little tougher ,to stand up and take a stand against the sensitivity bullshit they're teaching our kids in school. it's really sad what happen to the boy, we should understand that whatever we do nowadays will be recorded by some type of cell phone or video tape and will be posted online. If you don't want it to be online don't do it out in public. R.I.P. KID
December 6, 2014
Little 12 year-old boy commits suicide after years of bullying
December 6, 2014
This is truly a chilling article. I should mention the boy in this story who was sent to this UCLA program committed suicide in his at the age of 38.
Did you know that in the 1970's UCLA ran "The Feminine Boy project" An aversion therapy and
behaviorist program to change effeminate boys into masculine boys with the belief that it would prevent homosexuality?
Therapy to change 'feminine' boy created a troubled man, family says
By Scott Bronstein and Jessi Joseph, CNN
Wanting a 'normal life'
The study, later published in an academic journal, concludes that after therapy, "Kraig's" feminine behavior was gone and he became "indistinguishable from any other boy."
At one table Kirk could choose between what were considered masculine toys like plastic guns and handcuffs, and what were meant to be feminine toys like dolls and a play crib. At the other table, Kirk could choose between boys' clothing and a toy electric razor or items like dress-up jewelry and a wig.
According to the case study, Kaytee Murphy was told to ignore her son when he played with feminine toys and compliment him when he played with masculine toys.
"They pretty much told him he wasn't right the way that he was, but they never really explained it to him what the issue was. They did it through play," Maris said.
At home, the punishment for feminine behavior would become more severe. The therapists instructed Kirk's parents to use poker chips as a system of rewards and punishments.
According to Rekers' case study, blue chips were given for masculine behavior and would bring rewards, such as candy. But the red chips, given for effeminate behavior, resulted in "physical punishment by spanking from the father."
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/06/07/sissy.boy.experiment/
By Scott Bronstein and Jessi Joseph, CNN
Wanting a 'normal life'
The study, later published in an academic journal, concludes that after therapy, "Kraig's" feminine behavior was gone and he became "indistinguishable from any other boy."
At one table Kirk could choose between what were considered masculine toys like plastic guns and handcuffs, and what were meant to be feminine toys like dolls and a play crib. At the other table, Kirk could choose between boys' clothing and a toy electric razor or items like dress-up jewelry and a wig.
According to the case study, Kaytee Murphy was told to ignore her son when he played with feminine toys and compliment him when he played with masculine toys.
"They pretty much told him he wasn't right the way that he was, but they never really explained it to him what the issue was. They did it through play," Maris said.
At home, the punishment for feminine behavior would become more severe. The therapists instructed Kirk's parents to use poker chips as a system of rewards and punishments.
According to Rekers' case study, blue chips were given for masculine behavior and would bring rewards, such as candy. But the red chips, given for effeminate behavior, resulted in "physical punishment by spanking from the father."
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/06/07/sissy.boy.experiment/
This is truly a chilling article. I should mention the boy in this story who was sent to this UCLA program committed suicide in his at the age of 38.
December 5, 2014
STATEMENT BY FORMER NEW REPUBLIC EDITORS AND WRITERS
Published on Robert Reich's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/RBReich?fref=nf
As former editors and writers for The New Republic, we write to express our dismay and sorrow at its destruction in all but name.
From its founding in 1914, The New Republic has been the flagship and forum of American liberalism. Its reporting and commentary on politics, society, and arts and letters have nurtured a broad liberal spirit in our national life.
The magazine’s present owner and managers claim they are giving it new relevance while remaining true to its century-old mission. Instead, they seem determined to strip it of the intellectual, literary, and political commitments that have been its essence and meaning. Their pronouncements suggest that they hold those commitments in contempt.
The New Republic cannot be merely a “brand.” It has never been and cannot be a “media company” that markets “content.” Its essays, criticism, reportage, and poetry are not “product.” It is not, or not primarily, a business. It is a voice, even a cause. It has lasted through numerous transformations of the “media landscape”—transformations that, far from rendering its work obsolete, have made that work ever more valuable.
The New Republic is a kind of public trust. That is something all its previous owners and publishers understood and respected. The legacy has now been trashed, the trust violated.
It is a sad irony that at this perilous moment, with a reactionary variant of conservatism in the ascendancy, liberalism’s central journal should be scuttled with flagrant and frivolous abandon. The promise of American life has been dealt a lamentable blow.
Peter Beinart (Editor)
Sidney Blumenthal (Senior editor)
Jonathan Chait (Senior editor)
David Grann (Senior editor)
David Greenberg (Acting editor)
Hendrik Hertzberg (Editor)
Ann Hulbert (Senior editor)
Robert Kuttner (Economics editor)
Robert B. Reich (Contributing editor)
Jeffrey Rosen (Legal editor)
Peter Scoblic (Executive editor)
Evan Smith (Deputy editor)
Joan Stapleton Tooley (Publisher)
Paul Starr (Contributing editor)
Ronald Steel (Contributing editor)
Andrew Sullivan (Editor)
Margaret Talbot (Deputy editor)
Dorothy Wickenden (Executive editor)
Sean Wilentz (Contributing editor)
STATEMENT BY FORMER NEW REPUBLIC EDITORS AND WRITERS
STATEMENT BY FORMER NEW REPUBLIC EDITORS AND WRITERS
Published on Robert Reich's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/RBReich?fref=nf
As former editors and writers for The New Republic, we write to express our dismay and sorrow at its destruction in all but name.
From its founding in 1914, The New Republic has been the flagship and forum of American liberalism. Its reporting and commentary on politics, society, and arts and letters have nurtured a broad liberal spirit in our national life.
The magazine’s present owner and managers claim they are giving it new relevance while remaining true to its century-old mission. Instead, they seem determined to strip it of the intellectual, literary, and political commitments that have been its essence and meaning. Their pronouncements suggest that they hold those commitments in contempt.
The New Republic cannot be merely a “brand.” It has never been and cannot be a “media company” that markets “content.” Its essays, criticism, reportage, and poetry are not “product.” It is not, or not primarily, a business. It is a voice, even a cause. It has lasted through numerous transformations of the “media landscape”—transformations that, far from rendering its work obsolete, have made that work ever more valuable.
The New Republic is a kind of public trust. That is something all its previous owners and publishers understood and respected. The legacy has now been trashed, the trust violated.
It is a sad irony that at this perilous moment, with a reactionary variant of conservatism in the ascendancy, liberalism’s central journal should be scuttled with flagrant and frivolous abandon. The promise of American life has been dealt a lamentable blow.
Peter Beinart (Editor)
Sidney Blumenthal (Senior editor)
Jonathan Chait (Senior editor)
David Grann (Senior editor)
David Greenberg (Acting editor)
Hendrik Hertzberg (Editor)
Ann Hulbert (Senior editor)
Robert Kuttner (Economics editor)
Robert B. Reich (Contributing editor)
Jeffrey Rosen (Legal editor)
Peter Scoblic (Executive editor)
Evan Smith (Deputy editor)
Joan Stapleton Tooley (Publisher)
Paul Starr (Contributing editor)
Ronald Steel (Contributing editor)
Andrew Sullivan (Editor)
Margaret Talbot (Deputy editor)
Dorothy Wickenden (Executive editor)
Sean Wilentz (Contributing editor)
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Corry (Erie County), Pennsylvania 16407
Home country: USA
Current location: Saipan, U.S. Commonweath of the Northern Mariana Islands
Member since: Wed Jun 1, 2005, 08:56 PM
Number of posts: 20,226
