GiantEvil

According to this study; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22998852 It would appear that nature has not declared an exclusivity between intelligence and happiness. I seem to remember that some previous studies had implied an inverse correlation between intelligence and happiness. As for the context of this thread, a senseless happiness is currently a tempting thing to me. A situation I should probably attempt to remedy.

The traditional general Western funeral does tend to be somber. That is it's nature. But then there is also sometimes an after party, in certain cultures called a wake. Wakes are never somber. I knew someone who committed suicide, they never received any official service of any kind. Then there is a whole another end. The US is rife with examples of a callous disregard to tragic loss. Fred Phelps and his Westboro Satanist church. The day after Sandy Hook someone had posted an image of assault rifles and some asinine liberty comment on FB. I turned off that feed. Heck, any NRA propaganda is in callous disregard of human life.

While I was looking for other stuff I found this; http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24533-doctors-given-duty-to-report-female-genital-mutilation.html#.Un746nVDvZg Kinda interesting to see how specific social issues reach a critical mass of awareness. It is good to see measures being taken that involve the civilized practice of justice, which is preferable to paroxysms of violence. Under most circumstances violence is abhorable. However, it is a mere set of circumstance that separates any of us from being the victims of some injustice, and being to weak or poor or uneducated to fight for ourselves. We should be helping each other and not hurting each other, and if somebody can't seem to understand that, well then I'm willing to try beating it into them.

The tragic death of a loved one is an event that will draw a line in the sands of time for an individuals lifetime. Barring death and mental disability, it is an event that is never forgotten. Then there is the passing of the elderly, which is still sad but not tragic. My grandmother had not provided a living will, and was unconscious and of deteriorating condition in the hospital. It was a relatively easy and unanimous decision by the family to request that extensive life extending means not be employed. From personal experience I recognize a significant difference between passing (of the elderly) and tragic death. I would say that the inability to distinguish between the two is possibly a psychological abnormality.

It appears that I need to be a UK citizen to sign the petition. Is there an appropriate e-mail address where I might send some letter of support? This is a basic human rights issue and not limited by geography. FGM amounts to no less than torture, and is absolutely morally reprehensible in any context outside of an informed and uncoerced consent (under which conditions it would probably never occur). It is an act so reprehensible that I think violence is a justifiable response. While there is little equivalency between FGM and male circumcision as far as consequence, male circumcision is still generally performed before any age of consent and contains religious connotations, it pisses me off too. Unnecessary non consensual surgical alterations should be illegal world wide, and if it takes a war for this, I am in. Of course, any solution not involving war would be preferred.

Sorry DevilSolution, I think you have misread the OP's intent. But I assumed the same thing by the title until I read the post.

Astrologers and other such ilk deserve death, except in cases where extended pain and suffering can be efficiently and economically applied.

It's Professor Robert Sapolsky speaking about T. Gondii. There is also a growing body of research around T. Gondii and human suicide. Fascinating and scary stuff.

The female scientist archtype has lately been more prevalent in pop culture, Bones, CSI, Lisa Randall, etc... And, fortunately, it would seem that this archtype doesn't come with a dyke label attached. Not that there is anything wrong with being a dyke, but it should be considered a human quality, not a career quality. I celebrate any dilution of social stratification.

Interestingly, Baxter's software is open source; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_Operating_System. And he only costs $22,000. Can we apply Moore's Law to robotics? Soon they may be as ubiquitous as any personal device. Let's add an open source 3D Printer project; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RepRap_Project. And we've given the power of small scale manufacturing to the individual. Our world is going to change, soon.

Yea, I've got the green button. No red button. Run PC. I'm logged in. Maybe I need more posts? Not that concerned though, the only post I've felt compelled to down vote had already been done so by a couple others.

Here is an article on the matter of olfactory sense and memory; http://chemse.oxfordjournals.org/content/25/1/111.long The article seems to concentrate primarily on olfactory triggering of autobiographical memory. Here is another article which deals primarily with rosemary; http://www.sci-news.com/medicine/article01000.html Apparently rosemary does contain a compound which has been implicated in memory formation.

I don't have a "rep down" button?

According to The Wiki; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper's_ligaments I recognize and applaud the legitimacy of corrective cosmetic surgery. Unnecessary breast augmentation is just silly. The fierce avowal of an abstract humanity is beautiful.

If this is supposed to be a perpetual motion or over unity machine, then well, that's just silly and we can stop now. New developments in internal combustion engines will be interesting as historical footnotes only, in a few short years. Other heat exchange type engines would be interesting if they are primarily solid state. That all being said, what do you mean by "harness the power of the cyclone"?

Neither link listed would play in my region (Pacific Northwest of the United States), but I found the Series re-uploaded on a channel of YouTube called "Manuel Villasana". After seeing just the intro I can see why it's not available through "official" channels in America. Going back to watching now.

Imagine an incident where a national monument has been vandalized through being festooned with feces. Fair and balanced news report; Last night some person, maybe as an attempted good deed gone awry, has spread whole organic fertilizer on and around a certain national monument. At least the grass around the monument should grow quite well for some time. True reporting; Last night some miscreant festooned national monument x with feces. A pound can't be balanced with a ton, neither can true be balanced with false. In the context of an unambiguous reality, there is a right and a wrong and they are neither equivalent nor equally balanced, but one is right and one is wrong.

Don't feel too bad. Jakedog1967 appears to be the instigating necromancer.

There is one Republican incumbent I voted for in Washington State. Sam Reed; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Reed Despite his party affiliation, Mr Reed was instrumental in creating an open primary system in Washington State. We also have Vote by Mail and a distinct lack of voter restriction.

IMO, in the contemporary political arena an Eisenhower could only run as an independent because the leadership of both parties would view him as too liberal. I would certainly vote for an Eisenhower today, tomorrow, or yesterday.

Well, the ACA will lower the premium average, and improve access to health care for almost everyone. This should take some subsidy burden off employers, and healthier workers will increase productivity. Of course none of theses savings will reach consumers or the workers, they will be absorbed as corporate profits. If the republicans actually bother to note this, then they might be inclined to properly administer the ACA. Of course they (the republicans) will find a way to eliminate certain social classes from the program roles.

YAVW. There are several links in the story to the "Thunderbolts" website. And the story itself mentions;

Sorry Ed, not picking on you, I'm sure it's a mistake. But the story linked to above contains links in it to an "Electric Universe" site. Here is a link to an actual reliable source on the story; http://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2012/07/09/researchers-create-mri-of-the-suns-interior-motions.html It would appear that the center of the Sun is as big a mystery as ever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FMRI There you go, measuring thoughts.

I've been known to say, in situations where blatant profanity would be inappropriate, "Mother is only half a word." Generally in a calm voice though. I used to do that at work, a lot.