Stonehead

Talking about habits... lZHUmyrwOXI

Watch this. Brain Warehouse

Huashan Mountain, Shaaxi Province, China? http://photos.jongo.com/?action=manage&attribute=sets_view&order=uploadtime&id=3393&userid=64 http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/asia/huashan.shtml http://www.sacredsites.com/asia/china/sacred_mountains.html

Yes, a lot is about differences in the denotated meaning of words being contaminated by connotations. Most of the objections stated in responses above are considered in their methodology and interpretation of the study. See the Background Information page and check out their FAQs page at the IAT site. The questions and issues surrounding measurement of attitudes, racism vs. prejudice, stereotypes, etc. are answered in some detail. For example, they describe the different between ‘implicit’ and ‘explicit’ attitudes. Especially look at question 13: ‘When will my implicit attitudes agree with explicit attitudes. With regard to methodology, they state the distinction between unwilling and unable. In their words: The unwilling-unable distinction is like the difference between purposely hiding something from others and unconsciously hiding something from yourself. The Implicit Association Test makes it possible to penetrate both of these types of hiding. The IAT measures implicit attitudes and beliefs that people are either unwilling or unable to report. (from IAT website) I think the conclusion one is likely to reach is that preference is determined by deep-seated cultural factors. For instance, one surprising revelation is that the statement, children are inherently unbiased (question 10 refers to this commonly held but unsubstantiated belief, in their words: The notion that children are born without preferences toward groups and acquire them as a result of being in a prejudice culture is naïve.). This belief reinforced by promoters of socially liberal attitudes is not borne out by the data. Of course, this isn’t to say that we’re doomed to be racists or prejudiced towards others, it just means that more effort is required to correct these socially reinforced attitudes. How we get there and if we really should, I don’t know. Incidently, one of the researchers is tenured as faculty at UW, Dept of Psychology.

We're all racists, unconsciously. Headline from Los Angeles Times article (http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition...1&cset=true. Bypass registration using BugMeNot(www.bugmenot.com) & Firefox. Seems we all have an unconscious racial bias. Take a test here https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

Ok, so Rushdie isn’t, in anyone’s wildest imaginations, a nihilist but he’s also to be contrasted against the religious absolutist, which he finds that the radical Islamists represent. There are aspects of the Left that he finds disconcerting, in particular, the tacit approval of cultural relativism. He takes the trouble to distinguish between multiculturalism, which he says is present day reality, and cultural relativism, which is a mindset that accepts all cultures at face value and gives all a free rein. The problem is that in acceptance of all cultures also means acceptance of elements such as genital mutilation, the wearing of veils, etc., all of which he lumps together as unacceptable practices contrary to certain Western values such as liberty. I take it that the failure to see phantom tigers in the tree is not the problem; rather it’s the failure to see the very real threat of actual tigers that may cause the end of us. Although I would think that subjugation from without (invasion, occupation) makes the problem worse, rather is should be reform from within. http://www.ismaili.net/timeline/2006/20061012agakhan-interview.html Gotta run...

The Democratic 25-point manifesto! http://www.rightwasright.us

Oooo ooowww. Don't let your children see this:

Yeah, Burroughs and Brion Gysin pioneered the cut-up technique from which I'd wager this generator evolved. Today, the mashup is popular. Mashups merge different media to produce striking results. Talking about mashups, can't help but relink this: (in memory of Leo Strauss, right or wrong) http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/user/d/r/dryfoo/www/Funny-pages/republic-dogs.html.

Nah, it's actually like one of those classic horror stories where the parasites find a new host to inhabit. The Bush Administration is getting set up to take the blame (see Monday's news). They'll start searching for a Scoop Jackson Democrat to replace Bush.

In the event that you don't have a run-of-the-mill problem then perhaps try RootkitRevealer (http://www.sysinternals.com/utilities/rootkitrevealer.html and F-Secure Blacklight (http://www.f-secure.com/blacklight/. Also, maybe a network intrusion prevention and detection system such as Snort http://www.snort.org/ or Wireshark (http://www.wireshark.org/faq.html#q1.1. Maybe this is too advanced and/or overkill. I don't have the expertise to help you out here with these tools but someone else may have further advice. Actually, forget all that and try this: http://safety.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm.

I luv all my brothas and sistas, but especially the sistas.

remember that after the elections Yes, I'm not sure that the trajectory this country is taking would have been much difference under Democratic leadership. But then again, how objective is my perception of what's going on?

In the absence of information, I'd have to go with my gut instinct and say 'never'. He'll ride it out. ...with Bush, Cheney and company into the sunset.

Meet the new boss Same as the old boss

Listen to John. http://youtube.com/watch?v=F0OSdHVTQmA Ya, don't go mixin' politics with music. "You read my file."

Interesting article, JayB. Although I wouldn’t describe Leftists in the general terms that this article seems to imply, that is, Leftists see more enemies within rather than without. There is truth in what Rushdie says, bits and pieces, but isn’t that characteristic of relatively good writers? I imagine that Rushdie as an atheist or secular humanist is seen by true believers as a medium of evil in that he disparages, mocks and casts doubt on their faith. Rushdie seems to want to set himself up in opposition to make his persona appear larger than he actually is. With that, it seems that the tides of time are going against him. He will be relegated to a footnote in history. But I did like the story about one of his favorite quotes from Sam Bellow’s novel The Dean's December, a scene which involves the barking of dog and the character therein imagining that the dog is raging against his limitations of experience. “For God’s sake,” the dog is saying, “open the universe a little more!” Now, what is this really saying about God and the Universe? I wouldn’t have been more surprised if Rushdie had repeated a quote reputedly uttered by Hassain-i Sabbah, “Nothing is true, everything is permitted.” This quote, in itself, taken with today’s worldview represents the atheistic attitude that the fundamentalists rail against. Then again, if it didn’t represent the atheistic spirit would it take on an occult meaning, one that diverges from a world ordered by traditional laws and orthodox authority? Doesn’t Rushdie appear more in alliance with the latter? He fancies himself a potential reformer or revolutionary? A voice crying in the wilderness? For historical reference, there actually was a Hassain-i Sabbah http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan-i_Sabbah. He was a practitioner of the Nizari sect of Ismailism. http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/islam/shia/ismal.html http://www.ismaili.net/timeline/2006/20061012agakhan-interview.html A successor, Iman Hassain II proclaimed, “The Chains of the Law have been Broken.” This announcement referred to the abrogation of Shari’a and the ending of the doctrine of Concealment (Taqiyya, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taqiyya). I don’t make a claim that this is what Rushdie thinks. But his message is perceived to represent a particular threat (or it did), i.e., the threat of secularism fueled by technological and scientific change which is anathema to religion, really to conservatism in general. Maybe all this talk about the ‘clash of civilizations’ and reactionary religion won’t make an ounce of difference. Maybe the real attitude to have is summed up thus: "Because we do not know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. And yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you cannot conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four, or five times more? Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless..." --source: http://unusualdeath.blogspot.com/2006/09/brandon-lee-son-of-bruce-lee-was_01.html Live your life.

Sadly, I don't have any illusions that this will make a real difference. I would suggest something subversive such as encouraging others especially Chinese to use Torpark,an anonymous, fully portable Web browser based on Mozilla Firefox (http://www.hacktivismo.com/). The Great Firewall of China can't keep out exposure to and engagement with the world via the Internet. Perhaps, if change is gonna happen, it's gonna happen from within.

Immigration http://www.reason.com/0608/bagge.shtml Education http://www.documentaries.ws/1/news.php

and others called "bullshit" on you; each has received according to their need. You,you,you, marxist commie!

Rummy's North Korea Connection What did Donald Rumsfeld know about ABB's deal to build nuclear reactors there? And why won't he talk about it? http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/05/12/342316/index.htm

October surprise

Hmm... http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/HJ06Dg01.html

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/10/125_40.php

What exactly is President Bush's job?