[Nekko Fox]'s diary

37337 Link to this entry
Written about Monday 2014-08-25
Written: (3891 days ago)

"Any epiphanies about gender politics were a projection of your feminine insecurity."

Best quote of Rick and Morty.

37336 Link to this entry
Written about Sunday 2014-08-24
Written: (3892 days ago)

Psychedelic philosopher Alan Watts may have been right when he wrote that we “cannot be more sensitive to pleasure without being more sensitive to pain.” Prescriptions for SSRIs and MAOIs increased more than 400% over a 20 year interval, all with the aim of boosting serotonin levels to promote happiness and reduce anxiety. Yet millions of years of evolution have witnessed a menagerie of venomous animals independently leveraging serotonin for a contradictory effect: the infliction of excruciating pain.

Ninety percent of our serotonin keeps the gastrointestinal system running properly. In the central nervous system, serotonin is responsible for mediating a wide range of feelings including pleasure, contentedness and even appetite and sleep. Antidepressants work by extend the life of serotonin either by blocking enzymes that normally clear it from circulation (MAOIs) or by preventing its reuptake from synapses in the brain (SSRIs). The result is usually a dramatic improvement in one’s sense of well-being.

It’s ironic that an agent of such happiness is equally responsible for so much misery. Subcutaneous injection of even minuscule quantities of serotonin will cause pain sensing neurons called nociceptors to fire wildly. The resulting dump of prostaglandins, bradykinin and substance P results in a state of hyperalgesia; Greek for “above pain.”

No wonder then that so many animals have deployed serotonin in their own defense. The searing pain of a hornet sting is caused in large part by the presence of serotonin in its complex venomous cocktail. So too is the agony inflicted by some sea urchin stings.

Amazingly, the deployment of serotonin in the chemical arsenal of venom cuts a wide swath across invertebrates and even some vertebrates detailed in a new book “Poison: Sinister Species with Deadly Consequences” by Dr. Mark Siddall of the American Museum of Natural History in New York city.

The deathstalker scorpion (Leiurus quinquestriatus) ranges from North Africa to Pakistan. in addition to serotonin, the deathstalker’s venom includes a lethal mix of agitoxins, charybdotoxin, chlorotoxin, and scyllatoxin.

Species of Phoenuetria, including the wandering spiders and banana spiders are feared for their aggressive behaviour. And rightly-so. A huge dose of serotonin allows them to inflict some of the most painful spider bites. Another venom compound, PhTx3, can result in painful priapism.

A lot of the lasting damage caused by the venom-soaked foot-long serrated barb of a blue spotted stingray (Neotrygon kuhlii) is due to flesh liquefying enzymes combined with some serotonin just to make sure it’s painful.

The tenacious bites of Gila monsters (Heloderma suspectum) squeeze venom along grooved lower teeth - which is made only more painful by the presence of serotonin. Other venom components include hypothermia inducing helothermine, and exendin-4 a synthetic version of which is now a blockbuster drug for controlling type-2 diabetes.

The flashing iridescent patterns on each of three species of Hapalochlaena belie a dangerous beauty. A blue-ringed octopus bite comprises a dizzying neuroactive cocktail of serotonin, tryptamine, octopamine, tyramine, and acetylcholine along with a deadly dose of tetrodotoxin.

37333 Link to this entry
Written about Saturday 2014-08-23
Written: (3893 days ago)

From a distance, the city was obscured by a looming wall of churning black clouds, it's underside lit with the fires of industry below. From within the inky depths of the roiling clouds came the occasional flash of lightning burning arcs through the smog while thunder echoed across the empty plains. Surrounding the city were titanic walls, monolithic slabs of riveted steel and concrete, bleeding rust as the incessant rain from the ever-present clouds dripped onto the grinding, clanking metalworks below. Every surface was stained with rust, ash, or the oily residue of rainfall that bit and stung flesh exposed to the elements.

The people, sulking, shifty individuals carted into the labyrinthine halls of the city by monorail carts from wherever the shadowy Corporation pulled them from; prisoners, desperate families, war-criminals, workers looking to duck past the surveyers long enough to obtain work pass. Given a rubber slicker and their work doctrines, they dispersed into the bowels of the city to fulfill whatever obligations they had been assigned.

With the thick clouds, day and night blended together into a continuous blur of grinding machinery and the hiss of pistons. Sleep came in short snippets for the workers, usually at the stations where the workers were assigned, always under the implacable, blank gaze of the gas-masked security forces employed by the Corporation to maintain order and put down and civil 'unrest' that may occur. The heavy thud of their boots on the metal grating and the glint from their rifles was more than enough to cow any dissidents with thoughts of stepping out of line.

37331 Link to this entry
Written about Friday 2014-08-22
Written: (3894 days ago)

"Whose users are more stupid 4chan or tumblr (not that all users of 4chan and tumblr are dumb)" ~Tumblr Question

"Honestly? Tumblr.

A lot of the people on 4chan will act like unapologetic assholes, but at least they're not self-righteous about it. And, if shown legitimate proof of somethings, (based on what I've seen) they'll usually accept it, whereas Tumblr prefers to pass around bogus statistics, and cling to emotional pleas, rather than logic.

4chan often behaves like idiots, but they're aware that they're behaving like idiots. That's the whole point. People go there to be anonymous assholes or purpose. Meanwhile, tumblr is filled with bullies and rejects that think they're doing the world a goddamn favor by acting like snide, entitled little shit mongers.

4chan will call you a 'faggot' regardless of gender identity, which appears to be generally understood to the point where no one gives a shit anymore.

Tumblr becomes irrationally outraged when you somehow don't already magically know the 'preferred pronouns' of someone you hadn't even heard of before, even when there 'pronouns' are complete crocks of shit like "bunself", or "princeself". They then become indignant if you don't fall to your knees and cater to every last one of their demented little demands, and treat them like the extra special little snowflake that they think they are.

4chan fields obvious inflammatory comments with relative ease, simply by dismissing them as stupid, humoring them for a laugh, or ignoring them from the start. When vitriol does happen, at least it's most reserved to two morons having a witless tennis match of words while everyone else goads them on for the sake of entertainment.

Tumblr takes every goddamn thing as though it's deadly fucking serious, to the point where people are afraid to voice their opinions on their favorite cookies, lest it somehow 'offends' someone.

4chan will bust your nuts until you can probe a claim you've made.

Tumblr will gladly make viral "news" that the sky has suddenly turned neon green, and is raining Nickelodeon Gak- if there's enough of an emotional, impassioned plea to do so. Especially if their claim their "child" or "younger sibling" saw (and was upset by) this "incident".

If you like something, and express it, 4chan will tell you it's terrible just to piss you off.

Do this on Tumblr, and someone will claim you're "oppressing them" simply because they don't happen to like it. Then, through emotional manipulation, they try and spread the mindset that you're somehow 'scum' just for enjoying something they don't.

While I wouldn't recommend it as a place to go to "have fun", 4chan has actually become more welcoming than tumblr at this point.

And that's just fucking sad." ~Tumblr response.

~4chan's response to the tumblr response

37319 Link to this entry
Written about Sunday 2014-08-17
Written: (3899 days ago)

Myth: The "Greatest Generation" of World War II Was Better Than Later Generations

As Tom Brokaw will gladly tell you for the low, low price of $16.95, the Americans who fought in World War II were "the Greatest Generation." The men of that era were, quite simply, special. After all, a man doesn't grow up during the Great Depression and breaststroke across the Atlantic to crotch-punch the Nazi hordes into submission just to wind up some shiftless pot smoking hippie, like their ungrateful kids.

Why It's Bullshit:

The Greatest Generation was just like you, had you been forced to serve in a monstrously destructive war. In other words, they were scared shitless and miserable.

Big emphasis on "forced," because no matter how many times we're told that the Greatest Generation went to war because it was "the right thing to do," it doesn't change the fact that two-thirds of the U.S. servicemen were drafted. But we're told that the Greatest Generation was different from those who've come since, and in a way that's true -- because two-thirds of the men who fought in Vietnam volunteered.

Only partly because 'Nam's such an awesome vacation destination.

World War II's draft dodging numbers dwarf both Vietnam's and World War I's. Desertion rates between World War II and Vietnam were pretty much neck and neck. And when they weren't dodging or deserting, the Greatest Generation was doing the third best thing: getting completely shitfaced. Soldiers in Vietnam took a lot of heat for drug abuse, but the Greatest Generation was dying of alcohol poisoning so fast that the U.S. Army started putting up warning billboards displaying the "Deaths from Poison Liquor to Date" (G.I.s weren't picky about their booze and often drank methanol -- aka antifreeze). Not to be outdone, creative sailors sometimes swilled the alcohol that fueled torpedoes. When the U.S. Navy caught on and started putting additives in the "torpedo juice" to make the soldiers sick if they drank it, the submariners one-upped them and learned the art of distillation via torpedo engine.

The lesson here is: Never underestimate the resourcefulness of a conscripted serviceman looking to drink away his misery. Drunk finds a way. Drunk ... finds a way.

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_21091_5-bullshit-facts-everyone-believes-about-wwii_p2.html#ixzz3AbwSN0mc

37304 Link to this entry
Written about Saturday 2014-08-09
Written: (3907 days ago)

37303 Link to this entry
Written about Saturday 2014-08-09
Written: (3907 days ago)

Next in thread: 37306

If Tumblr Were Reality

Be tumblrfarian
Privilege alarm rings at 10:10
Check it
Proceed to roll out of bed and into bathroom
Stand on scale, 341 lbs
Perfect healthy weight for a womyn my size
Boot up FEEDMASTR
Cake appears right in front of me
Through bites of cake I recite the Pledge of tumbllegiance
I pledge tumbllegiance, to all forms, of genderqueerophobia...
Can't continue hunger is too strong
Finish cake
Look back at tumblr
Decide to pray to #feminism
First post is of transpangendhomoasexual womyn
She punched a passerby man in honor of feminism
Cry and pray for her to get womyn judge
Scroll to second post
OH NO CAKE ON THE FLOOR FROSTING EVERYWHERE
Broken cake is one of my triggers
Can't bear the thought of uneaten cake on the floor
Thoughts and flashbacks of cake on the floor come into my head
Can't stop these images
...
Wake up in hospital
Thin privileged doctor eye raping me as I wake up
He says, "Miss, you've had a stro-"
Cut him off for not checking is privilege
Given electric scooter and exit hospital
Two tall white muscular males approach me as I roll by
They violently assert all of their privileges at me at once
Another one of my triggers
I start visualizing cake, but the only images that I can fathom are those of destroyed cake
Get double triggered
Try checking my privilege
Cannot get past the double triggered PTSD
Think about triggers
Triggers are my third trigger
I get triple cake privilege assertion trigger triggered
The world starts to fade
Blink slowly
See Hilary Clinton
She says it will all be alright in tumblrfaria
Also says she'll install privilege checking stations once she's president
I feel myself drift away
Goodbye Hilary

37302 Link to this entry
Written about Saturday 2014-08-09
Written: (3907 days ago)

Next in thread: 37307

Huh, finally someone explained it.

"'cis' is a Latin prefix, and was traditionally used in chemistry. It means 'here' or 'on the same side of'

'trans' is a prefix which means 'across' or 'on the other side'

so a cisgendered person would be someone whose sex and gender match. Whereas a trans person would not."

37301 Link to this entry
Written about Saturday 2014-08-09
Written: (3907 days ago)

Next in thread: 37309

<img:stuff/aj/1005/1407553443.jpg>

37293 Link to this entry
Written about Thursday 2014-08-07
Written: (3909 days ago)

"Every year, I try to do at least two things with my students at least once. First, I make a point of addressing them as “philosophers” – a bit cheesy, but hopefully it encourages active learning.

Secondly, I say something like this: “I’m sure you’ve heard the expression ‘everyone is entitled to their opinion.’ Perhaps you’ve even said it yourself, maybe to head off an argument or bring one to a close. Well, as soon as you walk into this room, it’s no longer true. You are not entitled to your opinion. You are only entitled to what you can argue for.”

A bit harsh? Perhaps, but philosophy teachers owe it to our students to teach them how to construct and defend an argument – and to recognize when a belief has become indefensible.

The problem with “I’m entitled to my opinion” is that, all too often, it’s used to shelter beliefs that should have been abandoned. It becomes shorthand for “I can say or think whatever I like” – and by extension, continuing to argue is somehow disrespectful. And this attitude feeds, I suggest, into the false equivalence between experts and non-experts that is an increasingly pernicious feature of our public discourse.

The Conversation
Firstly, what’s an opinion?

Plato distinguished between opinion or common belief (doxa) and certain knowledge, and that’s still a workable distinction today: unlike “1+1=2” or “there are no square circles,” an opinion has a degree of subjectivity and uncertainty to it. But “opinion” ranges from tastes or preferences, through views about questions that concern most people such as prudence or politics, to views grounded in technical expertise, such as legal or scientific opinions.

You can’t really argue about the first kind of opinion. I’d be silly to insist that you’re wrong to think strawberry ice cream is better than chocolate. The problem is that sometimes we implicitly seem to take opinions of the second and even the third sort to be unarguable in the way questions of taste are. Perhaps that’s one reason (no doubt there are others) why enthusiastic amateurs think they’re entitled to disagree with climate scientists and immunologists and have their views “respected.”

Meryl Dorey is the leader of the Australian Vaccination Network, which despite the name is vehemently anti-vaccine. Ms. Dorey has no medical qualifications, but argues that if Bob Brown is allowed to comment on nuclear power despite not being a scientist, she should be allowed to comment on vaccines. But no-one assumes Dr. Brown is an authority on the physics of nuclear fission; his job is to comment on the policy responses to the science, not the science itself.

So what does it mean to be “entitled” to an opinion?

If “Everyone’s entitled to their opinion” just means no-one has the right to stop people thinking and saying whatever they want, then the statement is true, but fairly trivial. No one can stop you saying that vaccines cause autism, no matter how many times that claim has been disproven.

But if ‘entitled to an opinion’ means ‘entitled to have your views treated as serious candidates for the truth’ then it’s pretty clearly false. And this too is a distinction that tends to get blurred.

On Monday, the ABC’s Mediawatch program took WIN-TV Wollongong to task for running a story on a measles outbreak which included comment from – you guessed it – Meryl Dorey. In a response to a viewer complaint, WIN said that the story was “accurate, fair and balanced and presented the views of the medical practitioners and of the choice groups.” But this implies an equal right to be heard on a matter in which only one of the two parties has the relevant expertise. Again, if this was about policy responses to science, this would be reasonable. But the so-called “debate” here is about the science itself, and the “choice groups” simply don’t have a claim on air time if that’s where the disagreement is supposed to lie.

Mediawatch host Jonathan Holmes was considerably more blunt: “there’s evidence, and there’s bulldust,” and it’s no part of a reporter’s job to give bulldust equal time with serious expertise.

The response from anti-vaccination voices was predictable. On the Mediawatch site, Ms. Dorey accused the ABC of “openly calling for censorship of a scientific debate.” This response confuses not having your views taken seriously with not being allowed to hold or express those views at all – or to borrow a phrase from Andrew Brown, it “confuses losing an argument with losing the right to argue.” Again, two senses of “entitlement” to an opinion are being conflated here.

So next time you hear someone declare they’re entitled to their opinion, ask them why they think that. Chances are, if nothing else, you’ll end up having a more enjoyable conversation that way."

37292 Link to this entry
Written about Thursday 2014-08-07
Written: (3909 days ago)

Next in thread: 37298

Have you ever wondered what might happen to your body in space without a spacesuit? Is it really as dramatic as the movies make it out to be? Would you literally EXPLODE? Could you survive?

On Earth, we live a pretty cozy existence thanks to our protective atmosphere. It shields us from the Sun’s harmful UV rays, regulates temperatures and also maintains a nice atmospheric pressure. The vacuum of space, however, is much more hostile. Without this lovely thick atmospheric blanket, you’re exposed to all sorts of things.

The most serious dangers of exposure to outer space are a lack of oxygen and ebullism. Ebullism is the formation of bubbles in body fluids due to a reduction in ambient pressure. The pressure in the vacuum of space is so low that the boiling point of the fluids in your body decreases below the body’s normal temperature (37oC), which results in the formation of gas bubbles in your fluids that can really mess you up. You’ll swell up pretty bad, perhaps even up to twice your normal size, but you won’t explode as your skin is very stretchy. Your blood will also not boil. You will, of course, be in an immense amount of pain and your blood circulation will be impeded.

As mentioned, the other serious danger is a lack of oxygen. After around 15 seconds, your body would have used up all of the oxygen in your body and you’d lose consciousness. Some of you may be thinking “But I can hold my breath for minutes!” The situation in space is a little different than here on Earth due to the lack of outside pressure, and if you held your breath in space without a suit you’d be in a big trouble. This is because any remaining air would rapidly expand, rupturing the lungs.

After losing consciousness, you’ll probably last a couple of minutes maximum before you die. Of course, there’s all that nasty UV from the Sun which is going to give you horrific sunburn. UV and other high energy photons (X-rays and gamma radiation) would also damage the heck out of your DNA, leading to mutations that would likely cause cancer (if you survived). It’s also typically extremely cold, but you wouldn’t instantly freeze as the vacuum would cause heat to transfer away from the body very slowly.

In sum- you’d swell up, burn, mutate, pass out and your lungs might explode. Lovely. But don’t worry, if you’re ever in this sticky situation, you’ve probably got a solid minute or two to be rescued before you die, so chin up.

37291 Link to this entry
Written about Thursday 2014-08-07
Written: (3909 days ago)

Next in thread: 37297

There is now a new hashtag, goes by '#ifiwereaboy', that's plastered on signs by women.

It's essentially a variation to the 'I need feminism because' theme. Funny, because when women spun around and posted 'I DON'T need feminism' sign pictures, they were heckled and told they were being juvenile for writing messages on signs. So, now they are doing it again, but it's different now!

Except it's the same.

And it's the same exact bullshit.

'#ifiwereaboy I wouldn't give people PTSD because of gender' (which is insulting and crude to compare whiny-hurt feelings with PTSD)

'#ifiwereaboy I'd put the seat down' (Men put it up, women put it down, but I guess that back and forth can be ignored)

'#ifiwereaboy I'd educate myself about feminism' (Although everything we learn about feminism we learn from feminists)

'#ifiwereaboy I'd treat women as people who deserve to be respected' (First off, respect is earned, second off, not all men treat women like garbage.)

'#ifiwereaboy I'd take the time to have a conversation' (Because no men take the time to have conversations)

It's just another wave of ludicrous radical nonsense and it makes me grind my teeth.

37262 Link to this entry
Written about Monday 2014-08-04
Written: (3912 days ago)

"The Second Law of Thermodynamics says that systems must become more disordered over time. Living cells therefore could not have evolved from inanimate chemicals, and multicellular life could not have evolved from protozoa.
This argument derives from a misunderstanding of the Second Law. If it were valid, mineral crystals and snowflakes would also be impossible, because they, too, are complex structures that form spontaneously from disordered parts."

Fuck Creationists who use this bullshit line.

The Second Law actually states that the total entropy of a closed system (one that no energy or matter leaves or enters) cannot decrease. Entropy is a physical concept often casually described as disorder, but it differs significantly from the conversational use of the word.

More important, however, the Second Law permits parts of a system to decrease in entropy as long as other parts experience an offsetting increase. Thus, our planet as a whole can grow more complex because the sun pours heat and light onto it, and the greater entropy associated with the sun's nuclear fusion more than rebalances the scales. Simple organisms can fuel their rise toward complexity by consuming other forms of life and nonliving materials.

37260 Link to this entry
Written about Friday 2014-08-01
Written: (3915 days ago)

<img:stuff/aj/1005/1406920197.png>

"Why should I deign to acknowledge you, a former lackey of a shrivelled corpse who comes begging to my master because of some pathetic tantrum? No, you are nothing to me, as insignificant as a raindrop in a storm."

-Prince Darcentile VI, Paragon of Slaanesh

37254 Link to this entry
Written about Sunday 2014-07-27
Written: (3919 days ago)

The headless horseman rides tonight
through stark and starless skies.
Shattering the silence
with his otherworldly cries,
he races through the darkness
on his alabaster steed.
The headless horseman rides tonight where the fates would lead.

The headless horseman rides tonight
begarbed in robes of black
to bear a being from the earth
never to bring him back.
He is evil’s foul embodiment,
with laughter on his breath.
The headless horseman rides tonight,
The minister of death.

The headless horseman rides tonight,
he rides the wind alone.
Beneath his arm he tightly tucks his head of gleaming bone.
His voice is harsh and hollow,
it is horrible to hear.
The headless horseman rides tonight
to fill the earth with fear.

The headless horseman rides tonight
upon his fateful trip.
With silvery scythe of steely death
held fast in bony grip,
he sweeps it swiftly forth and back
as over the earth he glides.
And none in the world is safe tonight
for the headless horseman rides.

—from The Headless Horseman Rides Tonight - More Poems to Trouble Your Sleep by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Arnold Lobel

37253 Link to this entry
Written about Saturday 2014-07-26
Written: (3921 days ago)

"Shut up. Shut the fuck up. Take stock of your fucks, Byron, and be sure to shut them immediately, because I swear to God there's a storm coming, you hear me? There's a god damn typhoon bearing down on you right now with a righteous fucking fury. So you batten down those fucks, okay? You keep 'em closed up real tight, and you just be as quiet as you can be. You concentrate on getting me back where I can see as fast as you can, without bashing my fucking shin-bones to pudding in the process. Or else I swear to Christ, as soon as I can see again, I will hold your prissy head underwater so long it'll make a giant batch of asshole tea out of the entire fucking reservoir."

37250 Link to this entry
Written about Thursday 2014-07-24
Written: (3923 days ago)

"But religion doesn't do anything bad!"

Well...yeah, apparently it does.

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/religious-children-struggle-separate-fact-fiction

37234 Link to this entry
Written about Wednesday 2014-07-23
Written: (3924 days ago)

Next in thread: 37236

Internet activism -- particularly with the weird culture that seems to pervade Tumblr -- isn't about making a difference, or even raising awareness; it's just about proving how superior the writer is to his or her audience. Tumbloggers (or whatever you call them) with blogs like Shutthefuckupsexists.tumblr.com or IWillLiterallyMurderYouIfYouMakeARapeJoke.tumblr.com aren't actually trying to spread awareness or insights. They're just trying to outdo each other, to win this weird competition that has nothing to do with anything but their own egos. They all want to find the new, more nuanced, more complicated social problem ("adult privilege" refers to the injustice that teenage voices aren't valued, and "tall privilege" refers to fuck knows what) that no one else has heard of. They're treating social issues the way hipsters treat bands: using the advantage of knowledge to make it painfully, irrefutably obvious that they are better than you.

37233 Link to this entry
Written about Wednesday 2014-07-23
Written: (3924 days ago)

According to Tor Wager, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at CU-Boulder and probable Star Wars character: "Right now, there's no clinically acceptable way to measure pain and other emotions other than to ask a person how they feel."

37228 Link to this entry
Written about Saturday 2014-07-19
Written: (3928 days ago)

http://philpapers.org/archive/SHATVO-2.pdf

The logged in version