conuly

Many Hands Make Fractals Tactile

http://nyti.ms/XWkCac

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How High Could the Tide Go?

http://nyti.ms/10zYreh

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Generation LGBTQIA

http://nyti.ms/RGv4TA

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For Space Station, a Pod That Folds Like a Shirt and Inflates Like a Balloon

http://nyti.ms/UusiiZ

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So, here we are, elsewhere on the internet, up for a rousing discussion on gay marriage. (Side note - check out this super sweet commercial on marriage equality! Aw!)

And by "rousing discussion" I mean "we're totally right, and trouncing the opposition, but they're too stupid to realize that", of course :P

So anyway, one of them pulls out ye olde etymological fallacy. I don't define marriage, the dictionary does, so take it up with Webster, he says.

And he even provides a link to Merriam-Webster's page for "marriage".

Important rule when talking to people: Just because they cite something doesn't mean they actually cited anything. It's easy to forget this and assume that nobody would be dishonest enough to claim a source says something it doesn't - but yes, Virginia, there are people like that.

I am all ready to go off on my pre-defined tangent about how dictionaries are at the service of speakers and NOT the other way around, and how our language choices are pre-eminent. I point out that the OED's definition of marriage, in its very FIRST sense, states that the word is "The term is now sometimes used with reference to long-term relationships between partners of the same sex." (Indeed, definition 1a from the OED doesn't preclude same-sex marriages at all. It says "the state of being a husband OR a wife" not "the state of being one of a mixed-sex pair of husband AND wife".)

And then after I'm done with the comment, it occurs to me that it's a little strange that Webster is so far behind the times. I mean, get with the 21st century already! So, I clicked the link. (I'd forgotten the rule. This rule is even more important than the rule about "don't read the comments", which I obviously was already breaking.)

1
a (1) : the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2) : the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage

Read it and weep. Or rejoice, rather.

And you know, the fallacy at first seemed just inane. But linking to the dictionary which goes ahead and says outright that you're wrong? That goes past "inane" and even "ignorant" straight into "willful ignorance", and that is a thing I cannot abide*. HONESTLY!

*That and hypocrisy, although I still find it funny when these guys get caught with gay hookers. It's the twofer of "gay" plus "hooker" that really makes me giggle. I shouldn't find it as amusing as I do.

I'm reading an article on same sex marriages in NYS. (We haven't fallen into the sea yet, and the only rain we've had today was a rain of rain, helped cool things down a bit.)

And then, because it's Yahoo news, I clicked on the comments so I could vote down the lot of 'em. It's strangely cathartic.

Here's a gem:

danielL, NO YOU DO NOT understand the Constitution !! Where in the Constitution of the USA does it state; equality for all, regardless of race, creed, religion, color, etc.???? THIS IS NOT A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE NO MATTER HOW PERVERTED YOU TRY TO MAKE IT !!!!

Um, maybe in the 14th Amendment? I'm just guessing, it's been a while since that high school civics course, but....

I'd laugh, but that comment is too pathetic. Maybe it's parody? It's so hard to tell sometimes!

Now, let's see if the remaining bigots in the armed forces are really going to decide to act like petulant children instead of professionals.

Firstly, somebody just yesterday said they really like the articles I post. :) This is prompting me to make my own confession - I really like the articles I find here. In fact, I rarely crosspost any of them because then I'd have to crosspost all of them and then I might as well just link to the entry itself and too much of that is a little weird.

Here's an article on the criminalization of gay marriage. I don't understand what happened to the whole state's rights concept. Isn't one of the rights of the states to be able to deal with marriages?

Scary wage data - and it is scary!

Some judges chastise banks over foreclosures. All the bank people quoted in the article are going "boo-hoo-hoo, this is very bad, very bad indeed, it's not good for judges to do this!" but if the issue at hand is that they didn't bother to do paperwork or do it correctly - or even if they did it fraudulently, whom do they have to blame but themselves?

So, this is scary. Some Muslims heading to Mecca had their passports seized by Customs for... who knows? They missed their flight, because, you know, Muslims making their pilgrimage is something you totally can't predict will happen *every year* and it's *scary*. Or something.

I had no idea the citizenship laws were so... arcane.

On Jewish vampires
And just FYI, vampires don't eat Hindus :)

Automation Insurance: Robots Are Replacing Middle Class Jobs

How much can you make collecting cans and bottles?

And fully 1000% more awesome than the next guy... especially when the next guy is a hateful illiterate ass.

And the majority response was "yeah, whatever, I don't care".

I'm having "fun" downvoting comments (what IS it with yahoo news?) but I had to share this one:

It is not the right time to overturn DADT. It is irrelevant that our troops are ready to accept open gays in the ranks. They don't get a say anyway, just like they didn't with minority troops or women. It will, however, merely harden fundamentalist religious resistance and help them recruit more people to fight the Great Satan. Get out of Wahabistan, then do it.

1. Oh, it's never "the right time" to do the right thing, is it?

2. However - LOL! Al Qaeda et al. don't care about whether or not we allow gays in our military. How unbelievably self-centered can you get? They don't care about our freedoms or any of that nonsense. Nobody kills and dies because in some other country, there are a few gay folks.

Recalling Green Book, Guide for Black Travelers

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Proposed Muslim Center Draws Opposing Protests

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The Littlest Redshirts Sit Out Kindergarten

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Amid Furor on Islamic Center, Pleas for Orthodox Church Nearby

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Immigrants are less likely to change their names nowadays

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(BTW - if you go to read that article on their website, don't click to read the comments. Apparently, not changing your name is akin to destroying the very fabric of society, and heaven forbid you mispronounce REAL names!)

At West Point, Hidden Gay Cadets Put in Spotlight

This is another one where you want to be careful with those comments. One thing, though - a lot of people in the comments are saying she "tricked" her way in. Isn't the whole dubious point of Don't Ask, Don't Tell that being gay isn't against the rules, so long as nobody talks about it?

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When an Arab Enclave Thrived Downtown

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Pastor's Plan to Burn Koran Adds to Tensions

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In a Hoarder’s Home, Going All Out to Find the Floor

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Or one male prostitute, anyway.

His claim is as follows: He has a bad back, so he hired this guy to help him move his luggage around.

Also, apparently, this was a real WWJD? situation. After thinking it over, he decided that Jesus would hire a male prostitute for this job so as to kill two birds with one stone - first, the luggage gets moved, and secondly you get to preach to the sinner!

Yeah, you know, I can see that. All I have to say to that is this:

If I were a prostitute (of any sort), and I showed up and found out I wasn't supposed to fuck this guy but to move luggage around and also that this dude expected to preach to me?

Yeah. I'd need to charge double, maybe triple for that sort of service. Sex is cheap. Listening to somebody go on and on and on? Not so much.

And also - if there's anybody Jesus hates, I'm not so sure it's the gay folks. He had some harsh words to say about hypocrites, though. Now, it's not my religion and it's not my holy book, and I suppose if it's yours you can interpret it in any way that makes sense to you. All I'm thinking, though, is that if you're so dedicated to helping others get right with God you should sit down periodically and make sure you're not a big old hypocrite. (Isn't there something in the Bible about that, anyway? Motes and beams and eyes and whatever? Gosh, it can't be one of those well-known quotes, can it?)

And when you're caught? Some friendly advice here? Just 'fess up already! It's bound to be less embarrassing!

I made the mistake of reading the comments (some of them, anyway) where I first picked up this link.

Let's just say they were appalling and leave it at that. Two things, though.

1. While the school's actions may not be censorship in the strictest definition, they were acting as an arm of the government to specially restrict where, when, and to whom this one child could share her knowledge. This sends a clear message about Harvey Milk in particular and gay people in general, and let's not talk about what it says about the pursuit of knowledge! (And don't give me that "sex" line. If you think you have to talk about this guy's sex life in order to talk about him, I suggest you get your mind out of the gutter. I know some of our politicians lack any sense of discretion, but seriously, we don't *have* to talk about it.)

2. I am so *sick* of reading about how "OMG, the ACLU only ever attacks Christians and Christian values and hates Christianity and is ebil!!!!!111" Aside from the exceedingly narrow view of who can be Christian, it's just flat-out wrong. Unless of course I'm imagining their defense of....

A Christian prisoner's right to preach (at least twice!)

A Christian church's desire to put their money where their mouth is and uphold their Christian morals by housing the homeless

The right of a Christian man to protest Wal-Mart for "supporting gay lifestyles and marriage". (I don't agree with his statement, but I sure do agree with his right to say it!)

The right of a second-grader to sing a religious song at a school talent show

I'll grant you, most of the ACLU's press releases on their work related to religious freedom is about non-Christians, usually being pressured by Christians. This, however, is not because the ACLU wishes to silence Christians, or because society oppresses Christians so much that very few of them can even make cases. What nerve! It's because Christians are the majority and often casually (and usually unintentionally) do things which harm other's religious rights! Well, of course. It's much easier for the majority to do things which harm the minority than the other way around, how could it be otherwise? Christians certainly aren't being persecuted as a group in the US. What an idea! And attempts to take away the special rights Christians often have really aren't the same as attempts to remove their/your religious freedom. No, really.

So, if any of you were interested in spouting that old ACLU canard about how they hate Christianity and traditional values (what is more traditional in this country than the first Amendment, I ask you!), please - educate yourself.

One on an anonymous donor who has given nearly $70 million to colleges.

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One on a Conservative argument for gay marriage

One on the differing moral compasses of conservatives and liberals, which I'm not sure what I think about. It comes with a nifty link.

( Isn't it sweet? )

On the other hand, you have the bad news. I won't say what I'm thinking about that. It's not very nice.

But it really is a nifty video :)

Taken from homasse, along with this link.

And she said that she doesn't want to get married.

Well, I told her she's not old enough to get married anyway, so it's a moot point. But no - she doesn't want to get married because she "likes Deniz best".

Which set off a discussion about how it's totally okay to marry girls - no, you're right Ana, two girls can't get married, but two grown-up women can if you want to - but how, really, she's too young and it's a moot point. (Okay, so it's not legal in NYS at the moment. Ana won't be old enough to think about this for several years now.)

She wasn't sure she believed me, Ana. She was sure there was a trick here. (I should never have told her and Deniz that cherry pits grow in your stomach, now they don't believe any word from my mouth!)

Gay Couples Find Marriage is a Mixed Bag

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