Sunday, November 2, 2008
Russian boys singing to Sarah Palin
Friday, October 10, 2008
Vote for Fear
Vote Your Fears
People who react strongly to bumps in the night, spiders, or the sight of a victims are more likely to support more defense spending, more government resources for fighting terrorism, and tighter immigration controls. This according to a new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln published in the current issue of Science.
The study was funded by the National Science Foundation and tested 46 people who identified themselves as having strong political opinions. The subjects were shown threatening visual images—pictures of a spider on a person's eyeball, a dazed person with a bloody face, an open wound with maggots in it. The subjects' skin was monitored for electrical conductivity—an indicator of emotion, arousal, and attention. As a separate physiological measure, the subjects were surprised by a sudden, jarring noise, while measurements were taken of their blink reflex.
Those with the strongest eye or skin reactions to unexpected noises or threatening pictures tended to endorse political positions emphasizing protecting society over preserving individual privacy. These people were found to be more willing to sacrifice their privacy in return for what they perceived as government protection. Conversely, the subjects who reacted less strongly were more likely to favor policies that protect privacy and encourage gun control. . . It's all in the biology. Even for disbelievers of biology.
Julia Whitty is Mother Jones' environmental correspondent, lecturer, and 2008 winner of the Kiriyama Prize and the John Burroughs Medal Award.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sarah Palin the Hunter
In the meantime, as I work to evolve, I watch this video. I watch it with gratitude that there are people who I have never even met, who reside in all aspects of our society, who add art and cogent, emotive dialogue to the fray.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
God Bless Dan Savage
I mean, Sarah Pale Eyes is kind of glam, but I think it just might be her deep-rooted Creationism that keeps the party from ever getting fun enough to attract the gay love.
Fortunately, there are plenty of gays auditioning right now (yes right now!) to become Bible Spice's token gay friend. Monsieur Dan Savage, witty and talented sex columnist of Savage Love fame, started this video lineage; his video is below.
(You may also remember Dan Savage's 2003, reader invoked, contest to name a sex act "the Santorum" after Rick Santorum's famous comments equating gay sex to "man on dog" after the Texas Sodomy Laws were revoked. Dan's apparent intention with the contest was to, "...memorialize the Santorum scandal...by attaching his name to a sex act that would make his big, white teeth fall out of his big, empty head.")