May 2012
April 2012
“Many adults are put off when youngsters pose scientific questions. Children ask why the sun is yellow, or what a dream is, or how deep you can dig a hole, or when is the world’s birthday, or why we have toes. Too many teachers and parents answer with irritation or ridicule, or quickly move on to something else. Why adults should pretend to omniscience before a five-year-old, I can’t for the life of me understand. What’s wrong with admitting that you don’t know? Children soon recognize that somehow this kind of question annoys many adults. A few more experiences like this, and another child has been lost to science. There are many better responses. If we have an idea of the answer, we could try to explain. If we don’t, we could go to the encyclopedia or the library. Or we might say to the child: “I don’t know the answer. Maybe no one knows. Maybe when you grow up, you’ll be the first to find out.”
—
Carl Sagan
Absolutely. This.
(via creatingaquietmind)
10 of Thomas Friedman's Dumbest "Big Ideas"
Oh, this was a treat.
While conducting research for my book about Thomas Friedman, I had the pleasure of reading 17 years’ worth of biweekly dispatches from the three-time Pulitzer recipient. For the benefit of those who may lead more fulfilling lives, I’ve composed a brief list of lesser-known Friedmanian insights and policy prescriptions.
1. The Clinton administration should have dedicated itself to illegally manufacturing Iraqi currency.
2. The Cali cartel would have been a valuable partner in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
3. Thanks to NAFTA, Mexico has improved its selection of baby names.
5. Saudi Arabia suffers from an excess of democracy.
6. Massacres of Muslims are a sign of freedom. (You have to read this for yourself.)
7. The fall of the Soviet Union was propitious for Russian wardrobes.
9. Karl Marx knew the world was flat. (No kidding.)
10. In addition to being part of a neocon strategy and anti-liberal, the Iraq war was the most radical-liberal revolutionary war the U.S. has ever launched. It had nothing, a little bit and everything to do with oil.
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Filed under: Not surprised. Also filed under: Reasons why Friedman should never be consulted for opinion on the Middle East or South Asia, let alone matters of the Muslim world.
“Motherhood is an act of defiance in the midst of colonization.”
—Dana Erekat, Four Generations in Resistance, in Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology (via thecurvature)
Hey Ace Friends
Have any of you ever experienced what I call, “asexual heat”?
For me it means, usually during summer, I have a sex drive and want to have casual sex.
It’s a very strange feeling I’m not use to and was hoping some other ace people had a similar experience?
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone