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Heh, I like the idea, it's at least cool that they are doing it.

The kids may have it a little rougher when they do start socialising more, but I'm sure they'll get through it, be a little smarter for having realized conforming is optional, and turn out to be some what more interesting and self-comfortable/confident than most people on this planet. It's just a guess, but I don't imagine they'll be going to their first day of middle school in a dress, or refusing to tell their gender too long. Fucking with peoples assumptions is fun, but it is also a lot of effort and I don't know how much I'd have appreciated it at that age, because I never thought about it until I cut my hair short around 15.

Plus, having just had a long discussion about female infanticide + social constructs/social stigma in India,

e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13264301

it's nice to see someone drawing attention to the fact that the gender might not be the most important thing to know about a child.

Also, you gotta think, there's a lot of tom boys around these days, and they don't really draw that much attention. But it's worse to think about isn't it, the stigma a boy dressing as a girl would face...?

I'm just waiting for the first good outbreak of hacking such phones to hit the news...

Nice   

Does kinda make one wonder how we ignore all the nastiness around us and support the bubble of our lives. Overexposure and conditioning, extreme distraction, masking? All of the above... more?

maybe our knowledge of what is out there is just centered on our own size category.

Nice clips, RSA always makes one think.

The part showing the increase of ADHD across the nation as you move from west to east was great. A previous co-worker of mine got started as a minor drug dealer by pawning off the Ritalin he didn't actually need to his study-oriented friends in high school. Hope the docs are proud... probably are actually, making more money that way.

But yeah, of course we need to get out and look. Face the pain, give up the blissful ignorance, start biting off chunks of the problem and trying to solve them. But then, (some) people actually do this quite a lot.

Real quick, I just want to say that I really don't claim to have any more answers than anyone else, and this is just a rant.

Awww darn, answers are always such a nice, elusive thought...

Some philosopher once said something about human action being prevented by ignorance. I forget this guys name, his elegant wording, and what else he came up with (I may not have been too fond of my single phil class), but I've never managed to forget this point. In the other words, if you don't know what to do, you do nothing, or that which is easiest, you vote for the other party... maybe it'll work this time. And here we do owe a cheers to insanity.

But yeah, props, the logical reaction is certainly to step out of the car and see what is wrong with it and how you can fix it. But what if you don't know shit about cars, wouldn't it just be easier to call AAA, or a buddy to come pick you up?

Also, let's face it, the US isn't broken down on the side of the road. We're driving a bit too fast, with one headlight out, low brake fluid, and a serious drift in the steering. Sure we could stop and take a look at it, but then we'd be late to work, wouldn't know how to fix it anyways, maybe tomorrow...

So, we have:
Those who want to do something don't know what to do (and you can say 'change your beliefs' or 'revolution' all you want but that's not a specific enough answer to help here)
+ they really want to keep a roof over their head and their bellies full
+ yeah ok, they have it good, they are living off of the exploitation of others. But it's indirect, it's not their fault, it's hard to imagine giving up. (Maybe just buy fair trade coffee, that'll help.)
= jack shit gets done. And then they bitch about it.

The ailing car stays on the road as long as it can. Because the mechanic doesn't know what the fuck to do with it either.

This is not a rationalization and I'm not trying to defend the action of my homeland or myself.
It's clearly wrong, it's clearly stupid, but it is pretty much in line with human nature (notably including an inclination towards self-preservation and short-term planning), so far as I can tell.

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Awesome!

And an intriguing idea to let bounce around one's head as well.

Because everything happens for a reason, all the babies infected with AIDS in africa, surely something good will come of it eventually. God -certainly my God- wouldnt allow it to happen in vain. We're all just too caught up in the moment, too blind to his ways, to see what his bigger plan is.

Besides i can think of a reason for most things things that happen in my own, sheltered bubble, those children are so far away (maybe their not even real?). Cleary everthing happens for a reason.

Maybe God is just busy, Johnny.  Maybe a God's existence is even more hectic or dangerous than our own.

Or maybe he just eats our souls when we die, and isn't too concerned with how ripe they are.

mmmm, souls, probably would be yummy, don't know that I blame him.

Yesterday morning I enjoyed the privilege of some quality flying lessons. The sort of flying lessons that result from the collision of a car and a bike. The sort that leave me standing, more or less unharmed, but maybe a little more appreciative of being alive than I was a moment ago. More appreciative of breathing the mostly-fresh air, the freaked out but surprisingly kindly strangers, the friends and coworkers who I could talk to, etc...

Good things certainly came from this crash; I'm buying a bike helmet now (well, as soon as I buy a new bike, that is); I'll never assume a car sees me again; I may well live longer. However, one "upside" I hadn't considered was the view of a christian missionary type who I accidentally ended up talking to on my way home.

"God works in mysterious ways. If you hadn't been hit by that car this morning you wouldn't have gotten this book on the Gospel of John."

Really? Do they seriously think they saved my soul... by giving me a book, which went directly to the recycle bin? I'd been blatantly hinting they were wasting their time. Did they think using such a cliche saying was going to make me believe? Surely they must know what they are striving for is obnoxious, but sometimes playing along is just easier than trying to explain how you think they are delusional and aggressively stupid...?

I guess if they can believe my receiving their book was worth getting in an accident, they probably have the skills to believe whatever they want... I guess that would explain a few things.

But then, is there really a point to what I do? How many people do I honestly ever think will read my thesis ~four years from now, let alone find it useful? Because really, that moment, where I was flying, or should I say falling, and didn't know if I'd be walking away, or hospitalized, or dead, but couldn't think about any of this, only react. That moment was a bit more worth living than most.

Idk, maybe im reading too much into it, but, is the target audience of the article just British? American? Both? Seems like Teaparty fuel for the "OMG THE OLD AND THE SICK ARE LEECHES AND SHOULD DIE".

It makes sense for the ants, as such colony species will have many of their number dying on any given night. Worker honey bees for instance (which I know much more about) live about 30 days, meaning that on any given night roughly 3% of a hive of thousands will die of old age, so if a few can continue to be useful that last night, as with the ants, then all the better.

That said, the emphasis of this article and continuing parallels to humans is a bit creepy. I think scrubbing dead skin off or trimming finger nails would have been a much better analogy than killing a few old humans for the benefit of society.

  Not sure I entirely get it, but I am pretty sure it's a insult to bees ants and other naturally hive minded critters to be compared to humans acting mindlessly. Nice.

Thanks guys and sorry for the slow reply. This thing called work does get in the way internet time.

Fujikoma - 1st, glad you're still with us! 2nd, thanks, being suicidal is definitely something that's hard for me to understand, because luckily enough it's not somewhere I've ever been, but that does leave me a little clueless, so your testaments really helps (entirely coherent or not, no prob).

Mistress Freeky - yeah, I was more referring to the depressing topic, but thanks for the encouragement. It is nice to have a place to talk about sad shit without everyone raising eyebrows/freaking out.

Jenne- it's ok, not my sister. She was an amazing person, good friend and teammate, but we were out of touch, both off to different colleges. (as I said, I can claim no exception to the shallow communication, part of the reason I'm kicking myself so hard). Definitely beyond sad. Anyhow, I might just look into some of that research...

I don't believe that was the only suicide note, but it is creepy, how facebook can take over so many aspects of one's life, whether it is the need to say a blanket good bye in a public space that every one can read, the public tribute that everyone turns around and makes, the help in organizing so very many get togethers, facilitating relationships, encouraging people to "catch up", spreading the word someone got married... idk. For some purposes it's great, others it might be about the worst possible medium. For instance, I gotta feel sorry for the poor people who found out over facebook. It does make me worry about time spent on a computer vs time spent in person, but also hard to deny the utility. Gah.

Facebook status: "[SQ]  loves her mommy - and all the spring wildflowers at home."
...
SG is, well was, one of the seemingly happiest, most carefree most selfless people I have ever known. It'd been a while though, since we talked in any way besides facebook. Had I not heard through the grapevine first I'd have been among those who liked this post on fb. I had no idea she wanted to die at times... although I certainly knew she was smart enough to get it right the first time.

But that's not what this is about, tears and stories were shared with friends and family, and that's all about as well as it can be.

I struggle, however, with the fb page (and I am just as guilty of this as the next person). I've never seen so many posts with meaning -- you know, more than "Happy Birthday! Hope you have a fun night!"-- Posts saying how she brightened everyone lives, how they treasured the time they could spend with her, how they wish her the best in whatever lies beyond, and more and more and more.

There were also the clueless:

"Hey [SQ], facebook says we need to catch up"
"que tal?"

And the slightly less clueless:

"S, I love you... I'm just reading this, now someone please tell me what happened!!!"

But yeah, I guess what I am getting at, why all this attention, all this love shared, when it is too late too help? Why not before?

Why could we all find time to express ourselves for a paragraph if we knew she was dead, but only a quick "what's up?" or * like * if we didn't?

How are we all so out of touch, despite being so technically speaking "in touch"?

Sorry, this is a shitty noob post... I think I'd rather be obnoxious or clueless... and I don't suppose there are really answers, but oh well, I asked anyways.

Even though I really want to/feel the need to "catch up" with people now, I don't even know where to start.

Don't forget the part where forgetting meaningless details allows for the recall of important ones without having to flip through our heads like an extremely overstuffed filing cabinet.