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Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.
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| Saturday, July 19th, 2008 |
ozarque
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7:39a |
Recommended link; language and paradox... Please don't miss Avram Grumer's "The 'aye' in God’s mote," over at Making Light, or its 90 comments, most of which are extremely readworthy. It starts with.... "I’ve been thinking about the paradox of the stone. You know, Could God make a rock so big he couldn’t lift it?" ... and the URL is: http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/010435.html#010435 . |
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unshelved_comic
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7:47a |
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| Friday, July 18th, 2008 |
asperger
[ jehannamama ]
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8:51p |
Autism is a racket? On his syndicated talk radio show, The Savage Nation, Michael Savage (real name: Michael Weiner, which is appropriate, because only a weiner would believe the stuff he spews), the third most listened to talk show host behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, and a bomb thrower like no other, called the disorder known as Autism, "a fraud" and "a racket." He went further. "I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot." MORE http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-Savage-Betrayal-of-Human-by-steve-young-080718-196.html Ugh.... what an incredible jerk. X-posted to my journal |
| Saturday, July 19th, 2008 |
asperger
[ stockpot ]
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12:29a |
Need resources/ essays plz Hi, I am autistic and lecture on that at Kent university. My friend there runs a course on autism and asked me if I knew of any useful writings/resources that would help explain autism to begginners who have no knowledge of us. The students are going to become the ones who "care" for us. What would you like them to know? I have compiled a list of internet sites for them to check out thusly: http://web.syr.edu/~jisincla/index.html These essays. http://www.autistics.org/library/ These essays. http://isnt.autistics.org/ This for some perspective (I don't know if they will get it though - they should try) These places for (contraversial but representative)opinion: http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/forums.php http://www.autism-hub.co.uk/ Useful links - http://www.aspergianpride.com/ Best place for research, rly good! - http://www.neurodiversity.com/main.htmlBOOK- A Real Person by Gunnilla Gerland. Do you agree? Are these good? Can you think of any specific essays/books/youtube videos/resources etc... that really explain our/your point of veiw on the nature of autism and our autistic experience to people who are in training to help us? Thanks in anticipation (I know you will have lots of ideas!) |
| Friday, July 18th, 2008 |
commodorified
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5:33p |
Far Too Torontonian It is amazing, really, how often the fact that it is an offense under the Highway Traffic Act of Ontario[1] to drag a dead horse on Yonge Street comes up in conversation ... and because I think it is perhaps the sekkrit ambition of EVERY TORONTONIAN PAST OR PRESENT to come up with a way around this... ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) benetno, Spadina has a streetcar right-of-way. commodorifiedOk, so Bathurst. benetyeah. Bathurst also goes much farther north. commodorifiedTrue. Or Jane to Black Creek? DVP also an option ... benet*throws up hands* too far west and east resp. for me to have an opinion. commodorifiedpossibly it would be best to leave the horse where it is and call for transport. *dials 1 800 DED HORS for advice* benetI'd just wait until 2 and bring it on the Vomit Comet[2]. Who'd notice? commodorifiedPOINT benetnooooobody. commodorified*hee* yeah except maybe 52 Div while you were waaaaaaaaaaaiting for the bus. [1] Though as I just noted elsewhere, dead cows on the 401 are perfectly tickety-boo. Legally speaking, at least. [2] All Night Yonge Bus. Rarely ridden sober, and a good thing, too. |
cynthia1960
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9:25a |
Birthday wishes head across a continent and the pond for frostfox! |
ravenclaw_eric
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10:57a |
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ozarque
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8:24a |
Recommended link; women and language... Recommended: "Voices Too Often Missing in Op-Ed Land: Women's," by Carol Jenkins, from the July 16, 2008 Christian Science Monitor, online at http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/16/10396/ . Sample from the article: "But the problem goes beyond the bylines. The dismal representation of women on the op-ed pages is just the tip of the iceberg. Research from the Annenberg Public Policy Institute found that just 3 percent of the 'clout' positions - the owners, publishers, and other ultimate decisionmakers - are women. The net effect of this is that almost everything we know about our world is cast through the male perspective. Women are just beginning to catch on to this fact." Women are just beginning to catch on to this fact? ??? |
ozarque
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7:47a |
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unshelved_comic
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7:12a |
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| Thursday, July 17th, 2008 |
fajrdrako
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10:31p |
Medical day... I went to my regular doctor today. This appointment was made last winter, a follow-up to check on my blood pressure. Good, good news: my blood pressure was 117/75. I was astounded, though delighted. When I think it's up, it's down. When I think it's down, it isn't. What's with that? The doctor told me I was in good health (and reassured me on a matter that I'd been worrying about). She told me to lose ten pounds - me, I'm going for twenty! As I left her office, she stared at my limp. "You've a way to go," she said sympathetically. "It's a long haul." Yeah. I took the wrong bus to get to her office: I thought the #2 was going along O'Connor, like the #7 does, to bypass the construction on Bank St. Not at all. It's using Lyon St. So I had to walk from Somerset and Lyon to MacLaren and O'Connor... which would be a piece of cake if I had two good feet. As it was: ouch. I was exhausted. But maaseru turned up in the waiting room, and we had lunch together in the cafeteria there, which was wonderful. I had a hot chicken sandwich and fries. No, not good-diet food, but delicious. Surprisingly, I ran into Tom (whom I work with) at the doctor's building. He offered to drive me back to work. But I wasn't going back - I took the rest of the afternoon off, and maaseru and I went shopping. Motor Medic, Cotton Ginny, Loblaw's, Lee Valley.... and a necessary cold drink at McDonald's. I made gazpacho for supper. What joy to be using the kitchen again. |
ndrosen
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10:18p |
The Red Queen's Race
It's the end of my workweek, since I'm taking more vacation time, and my combined amended dockets hold eleven cases. Two of these I've dealt with, but an amendment shows up in one case (that I know of) not yet on my amended docket). I'm going to have to deal with these, and also do some new cses by the end of the quarter.
My docket of rejections stands at 34, which is awfully low. Maybe I can get that higher next biweek. |
ndrosen
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10:02p |
Georgist Convention in Kansas City, Part Four
After finishing my lunch pretty quickly, I did Table Topics as the other Georgists finished theirs (some of course, ate less, or ate faster, than others). I posed three questions for discussion, the first relating to libertarians and privacy. There's certainly overlap between Georgists and libertarians; e.g., David Nolan, one of the founders of the Libertarian Party, has endorsed a land-value tax. But my question was how to we get more libertarians interested inthe privacy benefits of LVT (which have persuaded one libertarian acquaintance of mine). With a tax only on land, the government doesn't need to assess the condition of your house, and what improvements you may have made to it. The tax authorities don't need to know your income, what you spend it on, or how you arrange your affairs, and they don't need to audit you. They just need to know the size and location of your land.
The second question concerned the boom and bust cycle. We're facing a bust, and it very much involves real estate, and a speculative bubble in land, just the kind of thing Henry George wrote about over a century and a quarter ago. How do we get the world to pay attention to our analysis of the problem, and the solution?
My third question was, How do we go viral. I''ve gotten people interested in Georgism to some degree, but they haven't become hard core. How do we get more people -- graduates of teh Henry George Schools, or just people whom Georgists have talked with -- to be actively involved, contributing money, writing to their City Councilmen and State Representatives, recruiting more Georgists, and so forth?
A number of people offered answers and suggestions to these questions, and then we were ready for the afternoon. |
asperger
[ teamnoir ]
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6:06p |
We need a web site.
I'm thinking that we need a web site. Something which expresses the values and answers this group has essentially evolved - pointers to professional help for adults, pointers to descriptions for people who are self evaluating, pointers to respectable organizations supporting the cause of autistic rights, a brief, wikipedia-like description of why we're nearly unanimous in our denouncing of "autism speaks", etc.
Do we have such a thing? Or is there a group who does who is already closely allied with this LJ community? |
asperger
[ alchemia ]
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7:56p |
how would you respond to this? How would you respond to this? I am not the contact person mentioned- the contact person forwarded copies to everone on the group's list... Do you ignore this kind of stuff (if you have nothing nice to say, don't say it at all)? Or do you try to talk them out of it, or what (and not "sound" hostile, but persuasive about a subject that gets you royally pissed off))?
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:52:07 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Jxxxx Jxxxxx Autism Fundraiser
I found your email address online, as you are a contact person for the Nxxxxxxxx Autism Support group.
I am currently working as an intern for the Jxxxx Jxxxxx minor league baseball team, and as part of my internship I am organizing a fundraiser with Autism Speaks to raise money for their charity. As part of the fundraiser, I am selling tickets for the Sunday, August 3rd Jxxxx Jxxxxx game. Tickets are $10 each, and $5 of each ticket sold will go to the charity.
I was wondering if you would be interested in helping this cause. Every Jxxxx Jxxxxx game is a lot of fun, and the proceeds of this game are going to an excellent cause. Below is the game flier with more information.
Thank you very much. I hope to hear from you soon!
Thank you,
Axxxx Lxxxx
Jxxxx Jxxxxx
Promotions and Marketing Intern
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asperger
[ etherealagent ]
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2:10p |
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ozarque
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9:10a |
Recommended link; book review, on writing fiction... You might enjoy reading a review by James Wood titled "The Art of Noticing," of How Fiction Works, also by James Wood, at http://tinyurl.com/5sf85l . Presumably these two James Woods are not the same person... |
ozarque
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8:40a |
Verbal self-defense; two "hostile language" interaction questions... A while ago, in the context of a discussion of the negative communication patterns I call "hostile language" [at http://ozarque.livejournal.com/533489.html ], brynndragon commented: "I am reminded of an instance where a comment meant to be inclusive was interpreted by a friend to exclude her, which resulted in significant hurt feelings. When she told me of this I apologized profusely -- attempting to tell her she was wrong about the meaning of my comment would do nothing to change that plain fact (ETA: that her feelings were hurt) and would certainly lead to even more pain. Intentions are all well and good, but when it comes to communication sometimes you will fail to accomplish them -- that's life without telepathy for ya. My question is, what should you do when you've discovered such a failure of intention? My response was the best I could do at the time, but I'm wondering if there's a better one." And babalon_it added: "I wonder about this as well. Does it work to apologize and then ask: 'How could I have phrased it better, given my intention to be [helpful,inclusive, whatever]?' " I wasn't there for the interaction between brynndragon and the friend, which means that I have no idea about the tune the words were set to, the tone of voice, or any of the other body language. That's a problem, always, because the nonverbal communication can make a huge difference. That said, here's my opinion. The best thing to do in a case like this is to simply say, as sincerely and warmly as possible, "I'm so sorry I hurt you." Period. As brynndragon accurately points out, it's a mistake to say "That wasn't what I meant at all; you misunderstood me." For a listener already feeling under attack, that's going to carry a metamessage along the lines of, "I'm not in the wrong here, you are. You've made a mistake. You weren't capable of understanding what I said to you." The effect of that metamessage -- even if it's entirely in the listener's imagination and you mean nothing of the kind -- is to cancel your apology. Just say "I'm so sorry I hurt you" and wait for the listener's response before saying anything more. babalon_it's question was: "Does it work to apologize and then ask: 'How could I have phrased it better, given my intention to be [helpful,inclusive, whatever]?' " The first problem with this tactic is that "given my intention to be X" presupposes that the listener has misunderstood, has made a mistake, and is wrong. Like "That wasn't what I meant at all; you misunderstood me," its real-world effect is to cancel your apology. The second problem is that it puts the listener on the spot, handing the listener an unexpected responsibility for improving the wording of whatever you said that was misinterpreted. The most likely response to that question is: "For crying out loud, how am I supposed to know what you should have said, when you didn't even know that your self?" It's hard to just say "I'm so sorry I hurt you" when your personal conviction is that you're innocent, that you meant no harm, and that this person has twisted your words and distorted your meaning. But if the relationship matters to you, it's the wisest strategy. |
news
[ theljstaff ]
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7:10a |
Basic Accounts and X-Men Account Structure UpdateBack by popular demand, Basic Accounts will be available to all users again by the end of the (northern hemisphere) summer. More information on the decision-making process and proposals relating to the future of Basic Accounts are in ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) lj_2008. New ThemesTwo attractive and all-new Flexible Squares themes, " Circular" and " Circular Brown" are now available.  L to R: Circular and Brown New V-GiftsGive someone you care about the gift of enticement. With the new Chocolate Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream, Tea, Coffee, Curry and Sushi v-gifts, all the significant people in your life will be able to share in the longing for the tasty edibles below. Plus, it reminds loved ones you think they're really sweet, really savory or just plain satisfying.  L to R: Chocolate Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream, Tea, Coffee, Curry and SushiЖ-Men...but not the ones you might expect!This week LJ Russia launched Ж-Men, a new comedy series about superheroes, inspired by the LJ communities dedicated to superheros, comics and cartoons. The title's "Ж" comes from ЖЖ, the nickname for LiveJournal in Russia. Ж-Men's script is written by a group of LJ enthusiasts who also happen to be television professionals. Who knew? Following the premiere, five more episodes will be broadcast over the next two weeks. We hope you find the series fresh and enjoyable. This is, of course, an experiment for LiveJournal. As always, we'd love to hear what you think! Current Mood: awake |
bright_lilim
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10:59a |
| Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz |
| The higher of these two numbers below indicates which side of your brain has dominance in your life. Realising your right brain/left brain tendancy will help you interact with and to understand others. |
| Left Brain Dominance: |  (6) | | Right Brain Dominance: | (7) |
| Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz |
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unshelved_comic
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7:39a |
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| Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 |
ndrosen
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11:38p |
Georgist Convention in Kansas City, Part Three Later Thursday morning, we had concurrent sessions. I skipped the one on "The Economic Bust of 2010," to attend "Assessment Revaluations: Frequency, Methodology, and Implementation." Brett Mandel, from Philadelphia, talked about ways to help homeowners; Ted Gwartney talked about the need for frequent revaluations. Lindy Davies said that 8% of the land in Ney York City is vacant, and more is grossly underutilized. Marion Johnson Immediate past president of the International Association of Assessing Officers and Chief Appraiser of Douglas County, Kansas, talked about CAMA software, Computer-Aided Mass Appraisals. He also said that most literature says to establish land value first, and attribute the residual price of a property to the building, but it is probably not the official position of the IAAO that assessors should do this. That's called the "building residual method." An alternative is to assess the building first, and attribute the remaining value to the land, the "land residual method." This is what was done in Allegheny County in 2000, leading to gross mis-assessments of land. |
ndrosen
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10:32p |
Georgist Convention in Kansas City, Part Two
On the morning of Thursday, July 10, our first session was about "The Politics of Assessment." Dan Sullivan talked about Pittsburgh in particular, about how the 83rd least senior civil servant involved in assessment was a thorn in the side of the Allegheny County politicians, so they laid off 85 people to be rid of her, and hired a firm called Sabresystems to do the reassessment. They utterly botched it, with lots next to each other having enormously different assessments, among other problems, so Pittsburgh dropped its decades-old system of taxing land more than buildings, and went back to taxing them at the same rates. A fiscal crisis followed. Oh, and he made the point that in Pennslyvania, assessors are by law not allowed to set foot on the real estate their assessing.
Things are done somewhat differently in different jurisdictions. Frank Peddle talked about property in Ontario. Ted Gwartney, the chief Assessor for Greenwich, Connecticut, talked about dealing with complaints. Joshua Vincent made the points that assessments matter, and that they are often way off. Steve Gardner, who's in Public Policy Research at the University of Missouri, talked about the interaction of legislatures, state Tax Commissions, and the public. |
asperger
[ novanglus ]
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9:35p |
Those aspie Vulcans
So I just watched a rerun of one of the episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, the "Wild West" episode. Every Star Trek series seems to do one of this type, with horse ridin', six-gun shootin', tobacco chewin', sheriff fightin', whiskey drinkin', and all the rest.
But the Vulcans, being aspies, can't get the pragmatics of the language quite right.
T'Pol and Tucker, in disguise, have transported to the dusty western town and they need a horse to get around. So they go to a horse trader and try to buy one.
"What happened to your horses?" he says. "It's a long way to the next town, if that's where you came from."
T'Pol: "Our horses ... perished ... near the perimeter of this settlement."
("Wrong planet" indeed. ;-) |
fajrdrako
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3:53p |
Commuting...
Coming back from physiotherapy today, my Para Transpo driver had an 'English is not my native language' accent and a colourful way of talking. He was telling me about an accident on the Queensway: "He must be dead, the driver. The car is like Pepsi." He had opinions on everything, and a philosophical bent. He pointed out the rainbow-stripe design on a car in front of us. "That is not a normal flag. That is the gay emblem."
"I think it's great," I said. And I did - the rainbow design looks good on a shiny black car.
My physiotherapist, Robyn, said the Foot is doing very well but that my balance is terrible, partly due to flat feet. She had questions about the effects of scleroderma on my left foot; I really wasn't sure what to say about the extent of the damage. The other Foot doesn't feel as if it's doing well - sore, limping at only a fraction of my former speed. But I ran into Hildegarde on the street at lunchtime and she said I was walking very well. I suppose it depends on your perspective; she probably expected me to still be on crutches.
So Robyn gave me some horrendous balance and foot-strengthening exercises, and another appointment for next week.
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grumpy
