Twilight and Abusive Relationships
I don’t much much to say on the subject, other than that I find Twilight and its fans to be pretty horrifying, but this is a great post about how violence is not love:
http://kar3ning.livejournal.com/545639.html
Girls need to stop lusting over Edward Cullen and get a reality check.
Cloning from the grave
IT’S ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!
Okay, let me explain. This is my first reaction to reading about how scientists have made several clones of a mouse that had been frozen for 16 years. That’s right, scientists were able to clone an animal that had been dead for sixteen years.
Now, let’s look at this reasonably: out of over 1,100 attempts, only 7 clones came to fruition. It’s still impressive that this was at all possible, however.
My own thoughts are that this is amazing, and yet I’m a bit scared for our future. While a clone may be an exact genetic copy, it isn’t the same as the original as far as personality and thought go–they may have the same biological makeup, but they have different experiences who shape who they are. While I don’t want to get into a debate about nature vs. nurture, we cannot expect a clone to be exactly the same as its original. Both nature and nurture have an impact on how a person becomes who they are–certain people may be more susceptible to conditions such as depression from their genetic makeup, but this doesn’t necessarily mean they will be depressed.
Overall, this brings me to my personal stance on cloning: it is an amazing thing that scientists can do, but we really shouldn’t be trying to make cloning something accessible to everyone. I also think of what a human clone would have to go through, living their life under the metaphorical microscope of the scientific community. Come on, people–hasn’t science fiction taught us that creating a sentient being for the purpose of studying it always ends tragically?
At a certain point, I have to wonder when we are considered “playing God” in an extreme form. While modern medicine is a form of “playing God,” modern medicine merely preserves life, while cloning creates it. Where do you draw the line, and what is considered “too far”? In the end it comes down to personal taste, which is something that differs from person to person.
I’m reminded of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, where Victor Frankenstein plays God and creates a “monster” from dead flesh. The monster is viewed with disgust (almost reminiscent of the uncanny valley hypothesis), and is cast out from society. The monster ultimately rebels, and the question is raised: even though we can, should we? The people treated Frankenstein’s monster with loathing, and as a result it grew to dislike humanity. Is this a realistic possibility that may result from cloning?
As I stated before, I believe cloning is amazing but should be limited to scientific research only. I can only hope I never live to see a day when we are so afraid of death, the most natural occurrence, that we clone ourselves to live forever.
Coral eats jellyfish
I found this article pretty interesting. Not much else to comment on, just sharing. Enjoy!
Gorillas!
I suppose between the last two posts, first with a post with a comic about having sex with a partially shaved gorilla, and my last post involving bonobos, this was ultimately going to end up here.
Yes, it’s almost two years old, but still fascinating!
The first video was captured of two gorillas mating face to face. Yes, both gorillas AND bonobos are fond of the missionary position. Does this mean it’s considered less holy now?
By the way, speaking of partially shaved gorillas…
Bonobos!
One of the first things I learned in Anthropology is that there are five great apes:
-Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)
-Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla — original, I know)
-Humans (Homo sapiens
-Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
-Bonobos (Pan paniscus)
When you tell most people this, they’re good up until the bonobo. “What the hell is a bonobo?!” they often ask. Bonobos are the only other extant members of the Pan genus. In lay terms: they’re closely related to chimpanzees. With chimpanzees, they’re the closest extant species to humans.
Originally called the pygmy chimp, the bonobo, like all other great apes, is endangered. Like all the great apes except the orangutan (who only live on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra) come from Africa, and the bonobo’s home region is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Unlike the other great apes, however, bonobo society is run by females.
The one thing about bonobos that a lot of people seem to enjoy is the fact that they practice intercourse face to face. Yes, there are great apes who do it missionary style. Bonobos are very sexual creatures–they solve many problems by having sex and have no problem practicing frotteurism with members of the same sex. Strangely enough, this sex-driven, female run society is one of the most peaceful among the great apes.
Bonobos, like the other great apes, have considerable intelligence as well. They tend to be slightly less hyper and distraction prone than chimpanzees, which means working with them can often produce better results. Sue Savage Rumbaugh has spent many years researching intelligence in the great apes, and she’s a leading authority on bonobos.
One of my favorite online videos is about bonobos and their considerable mental capabilities. Because I am an insane nerd, I have watched this video at least five times and have shown it to many people I know. Now I am sharing it with you, internet! It’s a fifteen minute video, but when you have the time or are severely bored at work, sit down and check it out.
TED talk — Sue Savage Rumbaugh
A bonobo community peacefully existing together, possibly due to the fact that their leadership don’t feel it necessary to fight over who has the largest genitals.
A Funny Webcomic That ISN’T XKCD
I’m not gonna lie to you, readership–once or twice I have chortled at an XKCD comic. But on the whole, I find them to be overly pompous, attempting desperately to seem sophisticated, and overall just trying too hard. Not gonna lie–one of the reasons I realized my boyfriend was a keeper was because we both find XKCD (and its readership) to be horribly unfunny, annoying, and trying too hard. The comics remind me of that guy at a party who’s in the corner telling jokes while everyone is rolling their eyes and flashing embarrassed smiles as he sits there oblivious to the fact that everyone around him thinks he’s a jackass. The problem with XKCD? People actually find this stuff funny.
But fear not, my readership! I do have one webcomic that I do tend to enjoy quite a bit. Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal is pretty awesome in my opinion. While it still appeals to the nerd base, it isn’t trying incredibly hard to be sophisticated and douchey. It retains that certain sense of immaturity, like a bad pickup line, that I love oh so much.
So go read and enjoy.
PS, if anyone wants an idea on what to give your favorite misanthropic anthropologist for Christmas: Wooo!!
My two personal favorites.
WAT.
Well, here’s a quote I never thought I’d see:
“There’s just no excuse for using aborted babies in skin-care products.”
Well, besides the fact that I’m endlessly amused that a pro-lifer compared using aborted fetuses in skin products to the plot of Soylent Green, I’m a bit torn on this. First of all, I’m pro-choice, so the fact that an abortion happened doesn’t bother me. It’s the fact that they’re using the product of the abortion for skin care products.
Now, maybe I’d understand more if it were a serious medical breakthrough like a way to grow new body parts–but anti-aging creams? I mean, yeah, I guess you can’t get much younger than a fetus, but it seems like it crossed a moral line somewhere. I suppose that if you want to put aborted fetuses on your skin, you should be able to. But I feel like that piece of fetal skin could have been better spent in a laboratory doing research on medical breakthroughs that could save lives, not on the faces of vain, leathery middle aged women who want to attract guys with huge credit card limits or guys half their age.
I also have to point out just how creepy it is that the company was “inspired by fetal skin’s unique properties.” Maybe I’m missing something, but how do they know what fetal skin feels like? Is there some county fair petting zoo exhibit where you get to touch fetuses that I’ve never heard of?
Overall, the pro-choice viewpoint has received some blows recently, such as the abortion addicted woman who is publishing her life story, which includes 15 abortions in 17 years. I mean, how do you respond to that? I think it’s unfortunate that this happened to her, but even more unfortunate that she’s sharing her story so it can be used by right wing evangelical pro-lifers who are screaming about how God hates abortions and fags in an attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade and save the fetuses (but not the whales).
The Beatles Never Broke Up
I’ll let this guy’s website, The Beatles Never Broke Up speak for itself. Whether or not you believe him, the music’s still pretty fun. Someone on the forum I got this from said it’s a bunch of mashups. Either way, I enjoy it.
But yeah, this dude’s probably a nut job. Hearing “all I had heard about parallel worlds before…” tipped me off–dude’s nuts and already into this stuff. I’m not saying parallel worlds exist–hell, I’m always open to the possibility of being wrong!–but I highly doubt this guy went to a parallel world and grabbed an album The Beatles never put out on this world.
Claiming money
I’ll be the first to admit that when I found out I had to take Texas State & Local Government, I was pretty pissed. It seemed like such a stupid class to be forced to take, and even worse that I needed it to graduate from an institution in Texas. Pretty lame, right?
Okay, so now I’m totally eating those words. I really enjoy that class–not just because my teacher is awesome, but also because I’m learning a lot of practical things about Texas Government that can come in handy.
This is one of those things. Did you know that if you check out the Comptroller’s website, you can go and look for unclaimed property? Yes, this means money. Some people are luckier than others and are owed $600+ by the government, and some end up with nothing. But it’s still fun to do. Turns out the Comptroller’s office owes my mom $37.99. The beauty of this is that no one knows to go look at the website, and after 10 years it becomes the state’s money. Genius.
Another fun thing you can do is go and search through a buttload of bills in the Texas legislature. It’s pretty fun. Did you know in the last legislative session, someone proposed to make the tarpon the official salt water fish of Texas? Like most proposed bills, it died in committee.
Money man wants you to get your unclaimed property.
Music Video
I had to chuckle at this one.
Well, at least someone thinks white people are cool.
