Interesting Stuff Thread

Genghiz Cohen

Bannasidhe wrote: »

if a woman has no breasts she isn't a real woman.

Wut?

kylith

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

Wut?

After Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy the internet filled up with idiots lamenting the loss of her breasts and pitying Brad Pitt for their loss. The not so subtle undertone being that she was somehow less of a woman without breasts, that her husband will stray, and that she should have kept the potential timebombs to keep her femininity, sex appeal, and husband.

Because that's all women are to some men; breasts and a vagina.

Genghiz Cohen

kylith wrote: »

After Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy the internet filled up with idiots lamenting the loss of her breasts and pitying Brad Pitt for their loss. The not so subtle undertone being that she was somehow less of a woman without breasts, that her husband will stray, and that she should have kept the potential timebombs to keep her femininity, sex appeal, and husband.

Because that's all women are to some men; breasts and a vagina.

0_o

kylith

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

0_o

I'm not even kidding.






Apparently the fact that she hadn't developed cancer yet means that she might not have, so she shouldn't have had them removed even if she was really, really, really worried about it. Because men have to have something to look at and play with to keep them in a relationship. Apparently.

Genghiz Cohen

kylith

Makes you want to weep, doesn't it?

Bannasidhe

kylith wrote: »

Makes you want to weep, doesn't it?

My cancer Councillor was non plussed to say the least with my blasé attitude towards the possibility that I may loose my breasts. I was all like 'yeah, grand. No problem. Cut 'em off.' While she was insisting that most women feel that this negatively impacts on their femininity and suffer depression at no longer being a 'real' woman and it was perfectly natural that I would feel the same. No matter how much I stated my identity as a woman is not dependent on my possession of breasts in any way whatsoever. That, in fact, I was female for many many years before I grew breasts she kept going on and on and on about it. 'well when you change your mind and realise you are depressed...' 'Not going to happen, but I will have to buy lots of new shirts .' If I had spontaneously grown another head she couldn't have looked more surprised. I asked for a different Councillor....

Since than I have a few friends with the same 'if it will save my life off with 'em' attitude who have been through it so hopefully the Councillors in Cork's 'centre of excellence' are getting the message.

Gbear

Bannasidhe wrote: »

My cancer Councillor was non plussed to say the least with my blasé attitude towards the possibility that I may loose my breasts. I was all like 'yeah, grand. No problem. Cut 'em off.' While she was insisting that most women feel that this negatively impacts on their femininity and suffer depression at no longer being a 'real' woman and it was perfectly natural that I would feel the same. No matter how much I stated my identity as a woman is not dependent on my possession of breasts in any way whatsoever. That, in fact, I was female for many many years before I grew breasts she kept going on and on and on about it. 'well when you change your mind and realise you are depressed...' 'Not going to happen, but I will have to buy lots of new shirts .' If I had spontaneously grown another head she couldn't have looked more surprised. I asked for a different Councillor....

Since than I have a few friends with the same 'if it will save my life off with 'em' attitude who have been through it so hopefully the Councillors in Cork's 'centre of excellence' are getting the message.

A bit puzzling to me. I'd be rather miffed if any part of me was lopped off, regardless of any gender-related issues.

Obliq

Gbear wrote: »

A bit puzzling to me. I'd be rather miffed if any part of me was lopped off, regardless of any gender-related issues.

Eh? Even if it was a part that was going to kill you, if left in place? Puzzled myself....

Bannasidhe

Gbear wrote: »

A bit puzzling to me. I'd be rather miffed if any part of me was lopped off, regardless of any gender-related issues.

Obliq wrote: »

Eh? Even if it was a part that was going to kill you, if left in place? Puzzled myself....

What Obliq says - I was told a situation may arise where I may need a mastectomy. I said 'grand, if that is what needs to happen I'm ok with that. Now moving on...'. But nooooo - no 'moving on'. Instead discussion as to why I was not hysterical at the thought that I might loose my boobs.

Do I need my boobs to live? Nope.
Do they really serve a vital purpose? Nope.
Does my whole identity as a woman revolve around my possession of boobs? Nope... in fact, *snort*.
I managed to be female for the first 11 years of my life when I had no boobs at all and was perfectly happy thank you.
Most men (:p) don't have boobs yet their bodies function quite well.

Why on Earth would I choose to run the risk of death just to keep two mostly fat with some lactating function physical accouterments that I don't actually need?

As a diabetic there is a possibility that at some point I may experience problems with my lower limbs which may require amputation. Should that time come will I say 'I'd rather die than loose my leg.'? Feck that. Just call me hopalong Bann or Stumpy Sidhe as if the leg has to go - the leg is going... And I need my legs far far more than I need my boobs.

kylith

Bannasidhe wrote: »

What Obliq says - I was told a situation may arise where I may need a mastectomy. I said 'grand, if that is what needs to happen I'm ok with that. Now moving on...'. But nooooo - no 'moving on'. Instead discussion as to why I was not hysterical at the thought that I might loose my boobs.

Do I need my boobs to live? Nope.
Do they really serve a vital purpose? Nope.
Does my whole identity as a woman revolve around my possession of boobs? Nope... in fact, *snort*.
I managed to be female for the first 11 years of my life when I had no boobs at all and was perfectly happy thank you.
Most men (:p) don't have boobs yet their bodies function quite well.

Why on Earth would I choose to run the risk of death just to keep two mostly fat with some lactating function physical accouterments that I don't actually need?

As a diabetic there is a possibility that at some point I may experience problems with my lower limbs which may require amputation. Should that time come will I say 'I'd rather die than loose my leg.'? Feck that. Just call me hopalong Bann or Stumpy Sidhe as if the leg has to go - the leg is going... And I need my legs far far more than I need my boobs.

Bann, do you think it might be something to do with your orientation? My OH is fair obsessed with my boobies and while I'm certain that he wouldn't have a problem with me getting them removed if need be (and damn sure that if he did have a problem with it he'd find himself on the curb so fast his head span) I'm aware that he'd miss them. Possibly as a straight woman I've picked up on a 'need boobs to get men' subliminal message. Might it be that lesbians just aren't as obsessed with them since they have them themselves, and therefore ye can take a saner approach to chest furniture?


ETA: from now on I will be referring to my breasts as chest furniture. Or devil's dumplings. I haven't decided which yet.

PopePalpatine

Obliq wrote: »

Eh? Even if it was a part that was going to kill you, if left in place? Puzzled myself....

Well, that's the "natural order of things". :rolleyes:

Obliq

kylith wrote: »

Bann, do you think it might be something to do with your orientation? My OH is fair obsessed with my boobies and while I'm certain that he wouldn't have a problem with me getting them removed if need be (and damn sure that if he did have a problem with it he'd find himself on the curb so fast his head span) I'm aware that he'd miss them. Possibly as a straight woman I've picked up on a 'need boobs to get men' subliminal message. Might it be that lesbians just aren't as obsessed with them since they have them themselves, and therefore ye can take a saner approach to chest furniture?

Was about to say something similar about the (general - don't shoot me!) male obsession with what makes a woman womanly and how we wimmins react to that. Some with immediately going out to get bigger boobies, others with whipping out a magnifying glass and scales to similarly assess size/weight of male package in minute detail. Others may say "feck it, I'm done with fellas. Have their uses, but self-esteem ain't one of em."

This is an area that I find hugely challenging and confrontational on a personal level. The notion of the "male gaze" and our reaction to it is responsible for so much of my ambiguity and outright disapproval of how women attract a man, and how men are attracted to women. I actually have huge resentment for women who proclaim they are "empowered" by the addition of silicon and the men who think it's great and thoroughly approve. I'm working on a sculpture at the mo in fact, exploring the way my sexuality is affected by my pre-conceived notions of the female body....more as I get it

Loving "chest furniture"! *Approval smilie*

Bannasidhe

kylith wrote: »

Bann, do you think it might be something to do with your orientation? My OH is fair obsessed with my boobies and while I'm certain that he wouldn't have a problem with me getting them removed if need be (and damn sure that if he did have a problem with it he'd find himself on the curb so fast his head span) I'm aware that he'd miss them. Possibly as a straight woman I've picked up on a 'need boobs to get men' subliminal message. Might it be that lesbians just aren't as obsessed with them since they have them themselves, and therefore ye can take a saner approach to chest furniture?


ETA: from now on I will be referring to my breasts as chest furniture. Or devil's dumplings. I haven't decided which yet.

I would be wary of saying due to my sexual orientation I think x way but I would say that personally my identity as female was never dependent on or informed by what men do or do not like. But that isn't the same for all lesbians hence my reservation.

I do know lesbian couples where one has decided on a breast reduction for health reasons only to have their OH strongly object despite the very rel possibility of a future in a wheel chair due to chronic back strain.

Perhaps it's more that I would be more on the butch end of the wide lesbian spectrum...

Or that I'm a bit of an odd ovary (:D) about such things...

Or fond memories of a cousin of my mother's who had a mastectomy and used her 'falsie' as a pin cushion and the hilarious moments that regularly caused when she opened the door to the postman with a tit full of pins or forgot which one was 'false'. She dealt with it with humour and we never saw her as less than the woman she had been when she had a pair of chest ornamants. ..

Gbear

Bannasidhe wrote: »

As a diabetic there is a possibility that at some point I may experience problems with my lower limbs which may require amputation. Should that time come will I say 'I'd rather die than loose my leg.'? Feck that. Just call me hopalong Bann or Stumpy Sidhe as if the leg has to go - the leg is going... And I need my legs far far more than I need my boobs.

Ultimately you'd make the rational choice, but I'd still be bummed about it. I like my various appendages.

kylith

Bannasidhe wrote: »

I would be wary of saying due to my sexual orientation I think x way but I would say that personally my identity as female was never dependent on or informed by what men do or do not like. But that isn't the same for all lesbians hence my reservation.

I do know lesbian couples where one has decided on a breast reduction for health reasons only to have their OH strongly object despite the very rel possibility of a future in a wheel chair due to chronic back strain.

Perhaps it's more that I would be more on the butch end of the wide lesbian spectrum...

Or that I'm a bit of an odd ovary (:D) about such things...

Or fond memories of a cousin of my mother's who had a mastectomy and used her 'falsie' as a pin cushion and the hilarious moments that regularly caused when she opened the door to the postman with a tit full of pins or forgot which one was 'false'. She dealt with it with humour and we never saw her as less than the woman she had been when she had a pair of chest ornamants. ..

Thanks for answering, thinking about it I should have realised that being gay wouldn't automatically mean that all lesbians do/think/like X, I guess that I may have thought that the demystification of boobs that comes with having them might lessen the idea that they are necessary for a woman to be 'complete', so to speak.

Please excuse me if I'm being unthinkingly offensive. I don't talk to people much.

Bannasidhe

kylith wrote: »

Thanks for answering, thinking about it I should have realised that being gay wouldn't automatically mean that all lesbians do/think/like X, I guess that I may have thought that the demystification of boobs that comes with having them might lessen the idea that they are necessary for a woman to be 'complete', so to speak.

Please excuse me if I'm being unthinkingly offensive. I don't talk to people much.

Not at all. It is an interesting question.

I couldn't really answer as fully as I would have liked as life interrupted via a vomiting dog and I was trying to make toffee and the grand kids arrived with one of them having vomited in my car ...

*sigh* - this Ghey Lifestyle yoke isn't all sequins and disco balls unfortunately.

robindch

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Since than I have a few friends with the same 'if it will save my life off with 'em' attitude who have been through it so hopefully the Councillors in Cork's 'centre of excellence' are getting the message.

I hope you left a copy of Barbara Ehrenreich's "Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World" in their waiting room:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/10/smile-or-die-barbara-ehrenreich

Sulla Felix

Gbear wrote: »

Ultimately you'd make the rational choice, but I'd still be bummed about it. I like my various appendages.

I can't find a link, but I'm sure I read something about a correlation between being male and a general revulsion toward disfigurement. Think tryptophobia was thrown in for good measure. I don't recall that there was a reason posited, just the correlation noted.

Edit: and now I'm presuming your male, but damn it, the Oompas all were!

robindch

Misunderstanding the Prisoners' Dilemma:

https://plus.google.com/107475727645912993113/posts/3BVKXUhqSrV

Aleatha Parker-Wood wrote:

A lot of fundamental social problems can be modeled as a disconnection between people who believe (correctly or incorrectly) that they are playing a non-iterated game (in the game theory sense of the word), and people who believe that (correctly or incorrectly) that they are playing an iterated game.

For instance, mechanisms such as reputation mechanisms, ostracism, shaming, etc., are all predicated on the idea that the person you're shaming will reappear and have further interactions with the group. Legal punishment is only useful if you can catch the person, and if the cost of the punishment is more than the benefit of the crime.

If it is possible to act as if the game you are playing is a one-shot game (for instance, you have a very large population to hide in, you don't need to ever interact with people again, or you can be anonymous), your optimal strategies are going to be different than if you will have to play the game many times, and live with the legal or social consequences of your actions. If you can make enough money as CEO to retire immediately, you may choose to do so, even if you're so terrible at running the company that no one will ever hire you again.

Social cohesion can be thought of as a manifestation of how "iterated" people feel their interactions are, how likely they are to interact with the same people again and again and have to deal with long term consequences of locally optimal choices, or whether they feel they can "opt out" of consequences of interacting with some set of people in a poor way.

Dave!

Paul Offit on Newstalk about alt-med at the mo!

joseph brand

Dave! wrote: »

Paul Offit on Newstalk about alt-med at the mo!

I caught a bit of that earlier. Wife talked through it, so only caught bits and pieces. Offit talked about the dangers of taking 8 - 10 times the RDA of vitamins. (I think he said that they can cause cancer, as opposed to curing it)

Alternative medicine isn't medicine, otherwise it would simply be called medicine.

Personally, I think James Randi does great work hauling these shysters and charlatans out from under their magic carpets, by the scruff of the neck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Z7KeNCi7g

For a funnier and more concise view of homeopathy, Mitchell and Webb nail it. (can't resist an opportunity to post this clip)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0

robindch

The UK Girl Guides abandon god:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22959997

robindch

...and on 19th July, Cassini will attempt a photo of Earth from beyond Saturn.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22963237

Carolyn Porco wrote:

People can celebrate it and join in. This will be like an interplanetary cosmic photo session [...] People can enjoy the fact that we have a robot out there, a billion miles away, taking our picture. How cool is that?

Cool, indeed

b318isp

^ "The illuminated parts of the Earth and the Moon will each be no more than one pixel across in the final image."

Another Pale Blue Dot moment, methinks.

magicbastarder

that's assuming the earth is not between the probe and the sun - it'd be a lot further away if we needed to get a shot of the fully illuminated disk.

ShooterSF

robindch wrote: »

...and on 19th July, Cassini will attempt a photo of Earth from beyond Saturn.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22963237

Cool, indeed

I demand to have my face blurred in it!

robindch

14 Cakes Inspired By Scientific Concepts

http://mentalfloss.com/article/51207/14-cakes-inspired-scientific-concepts

Including the schrodinger's cat cake, the cell and failed abdominal surgery.

Bannasidhe

ShooterSF wrote: »

I demand to have my face blurred in it!

I plan to moon it.

recedite

robindch wrote: »

14 Cakes Inspired By Scientific Concepts

http://mentalfloss.com/article/51207/14-cakes-inspired-scientific-concepts

I can't decide between the dead sheep cake and the dog's testicle cake. I'll have to order both.

Bannasidhe wrote: »

I plan to moon it.

They already have a shot of Uranus.

Bannasidhe

recedite wrote: »

They already have a shot of Uranus.

Oh thank goodness, I was afraid the Sunday People had that. There's a load off.

Hotblack Desiato

Bannasidhe wrote: »

I plan to moon it.

Careful now.

'Naked rambler' Stephen Gough jailed for flouting Asbo

Bannasidhe

ninja900 wrote: »

Careful now.

'Naked rambler' Stephen Gough jailed for flouting Asbo

I was intending to moon it from the comfort of my enclosed back garden rather than Glasgow so I should be ok...

Gbear

There seems to a be a lot of crazy in Australia but there's little interesting nuggets that come out of that part of the world every now and again:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-20/nsw-passes-controversial-vaccination-laws/4769002

From next January, a childcare centre can refuse to enrol a child whose parents or guardians cannot show proof of vaccination or provide an approved exemption.

Sulla Felix

Gbear wrote: »

There seems to a be a lot of crazy in Australia but there's little interesting nuggets that come out of that part of the world every now and again:

http://Iwww.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-20/nsw-passes-controversial-vaccination-laws/4769002

I don't mind that at all. Unfortunately people are going to listen to jim carey before a qualified epedemiologist. The only answer to wilful ignorance on the issue is a nice big stick.

Anyway, what I came to post:
The Greeks who worship the ancient gods http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22972610

I particularly like the part where other religions have to get permission from the orthodox church to build a temple/church.

recedite

President Obama criticizes religious segregation of kids inherent in church owned schools. Lots of people get upset.
Good old JFK would never have said anything like that. Now he was a true Irishman. If only we could have him back again.

joseph brand

Microbiome of the upper troposphere: (Earth is surrounded by a bubble of bacteria, 33,000 feet above)

Also here:

Earth’s upper atmosphere—below freezing, nearly without oxygen, flooded by UV radiation—is no place to live. But last winter, scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology discovered that billions of bacteria actually thrive up there. Expecting only a smattering of microorganisms, the researchers flew six miles above Earth’s surface in a NASA jet plane. There, they pumped outside air through a filter to collect particles. Back on the ground, they tallied the organisms, and the count was staggering: 20 percent of what they had assumed to be just dust or other particles was alive. Earth, it seems, is surrounded by a bubble of bacteria

Hotblack Desiato

Maybe Mars isn't as inhospitable for life as we thought!

Sulla Felix

ninja900 wrote: »

Maybe Mars isn't as inhospitable for life as we thought!

I've never gotten a straight answer to this but it probably goes in my "Things I believe without any evidence" list, I think life on Earth probably started in relatively easy places, and only colonized the extremes of the atmosphere, places like sulphuric acid baths, deep ice and so on, in increments.

I'd love to be shown otherwise though.

Hotblack Desiato

Still though, it's colonised places not thought possible until recently, e.g. black smokers.

Sarky

Aye, hydrothermal vents and the isolated ecosystems that grow around them are incredible. Beautiful, colourful life thriving at huge pressure and temperature, in pitch darkness the sun could never reach. Amazing stuff.

Was it Douglas Adams who said it (or something like it)? "life flourishes everywhere it possibly can; where it can't, it just takes a little longer."

Hotblack Desiato

I was told as a kid that all life on earth depended on sunlight. WRONG!!!!! :pac:

kiffer

Sarky wrote: »

Aye, hydrothermal vents and the isolated ecosystems that grow around them are incredible. Beautiful, colourful life thriving at huge pressure and temperature, in pitch darkness the sun could never reach. Amazing stuff.

Was it Douglas Adams who said it (or something like it)? "life flourishes everywhere it possibly can; where it can't, it just takes a little longer."

Think that was Terry Pratchett...
There's also a lovely line where he describes a volcanic vent on the ocean floor, how no light reaches and none of the animals even have eyes, but for some reason the worm living there is a beautiful shade of red.

ninja900 wrote: »

I was told as a kid that all life on earth depended on sunlight. WRONG!!!!! :pac:

In fairness it takes a while for these things to trickle down...



http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10336-gold-mine-holds-life-untouched-by-the-sun.html#.UcQCVSXhTFo

legspin

http://www.upworthy.com/long-shot-doctors-inject-fatal-virus-into-dying-girl-this-100-true-story-will-amaze-you?g=2&c=ufb1

I hope this is true.

Hotblack Desiato

Did they dilute it a million million million times first?

kiffer

ninja900 wrote: »

Did they dilute it a million million million times first?

The "this is 100% true" in the url sets off my quack alarm but it's true...

Sarky

ninja900 wrote: »

I was told as a kid that all life on earth depended on sunlight. WRONG!!!!! :pac:

To be fair, hydrothermal vent life does depend at least indirectly on sunlight. A lot of the nutrients come from the vent, but a solid chunk of it comes from dead animals that DID depend on the sun eventually settling to the depths. We've only known about the vents for a few decades (seriously, it's hard to find anything 3km below sea level), so we still know awfully little about them.

Genomics and sequencing technology have really blossomed in the last ten years though, and with industries so keen to find proteins and enzymes that can withstand extreme pressure and temperature while doing their jobs, obscure ecosystems are among the first to be put through the bioinformatics wringer. Expect a whole lot of interesting stuff to come out of them.

Genghiz Cohen

Sarky wrote: »

To be fair, hydrothermal vent life does depend at least indirectly on sunlight. A lot of the nutrients come from the vent, but a solid chunk of it comes from dead animals that DID depend on the sun eventually settling to the depths. We've only known about the vents for a few decades (seriously, it's hard to find anything 3km below sea level), so we still know awfully little about them.

Genomics and sequencing technology have really blossomed in the last ten years though, and with industries so keen to find proteins and enzymes that can withstand extreme pressure and temperature while doing their jobs, obscure ecosystems are among the first to be put through the bioinformatics wringer. Expect a whole lot of interesting stuff to come out of them.

YOU TAKE YOUR SEMANTICS AND YOU GET OUT! GET OUT RIGHT NOW!

Liamario

4min 45secs to be precise.

What the actual ****.

endacl

legspin wrote: »

http://www.upworthy.com/long-shot-doctors-inject-fatal-virus-into-dying-girl-this-100-true-story-will-amaze-you?g=2&c=ufb1

I hope this is true.

Again. Absolutely in awe of clever people and the ideas they have.