Disce aut Discede

China’s Brutal One-Child Policy

Thu, 23 May 2013 02:28:36 -0400

In China, the rich can pay a fine and have a second child. The poor face menstrual monitoring and state-mandated abortions…

“…a 1979 law that stipulates every couple may have just one child (or two for ethnic minorities and for rural couples whose first child is a girl). The truth is: for the rich, the law is a paper tiger, easily circumvented by paying a “social compensation fee” — a fine of 3 to 10 times a household’s annual income, set by each province’s family planning bureau, or by traveling to Hong Kong, Singapore or even America to give birth.

For the poor, however, the policy is a flesh-and-blood tiger with claws and fangs. In the countryside, where the need for extra hands to help in the fields and the deeply entrenched patriarchal desire for a male heir have created strong resistance to population control measures, the tiger has been merciless.

Village family-planning officers vigilantly chart the menstrual cycle and pelvic-exam results of every woman of childbearing age in their area. If a woman gets pregnant without permission and is unable to pay the often exorbitant fine for violating the policy, she risks being subjected to a forced abortion.”

Syrian Refugees Struggle at Zaatari Camp

Wed, 22 May 2013 05:18:07 -0400

Syrian Refugees Struggle at Zaatari Camp:

I know that people may be starting to get news fatigue about the conflict in Syria, but this profile of a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan really shines a light on the tragedy of human experience that’s going on.

Isle Royale Wolves: Predator and Prey, a Delicate Dance - New York Times

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:03:17 -0400

Isle Royale Wolves: Predator and Prey, a Delicate Dance - New York Times:

“The principle of nonintervention touches on fundamental conservation wisdom. But we find ourselves in a world where the welfare of humans and the biosphere faces considerable threats — climate change, invasive species and altered biogeochemical cycles, to name a few. Where no place on the planet is untouched by humans, faith in nonintervention makes little sense. We have already altered nature’s course everywhere. Our future relationship with nature will be more complicated. Stepping in will sometimes be wise, but not always. Navigating that complexity without hubris will be a great challenge.”

“Country songs and sporting events” -via This is...

Wed, 08 May 2013 04:02:33 -0400

“Country songs and sporting events”

-via This is Indexed

"Identity Illness" and the Problems with Mental Health Treatment

Sat, 04 May 2013 11:51:07 -0400

"Identity Illness" and the Problems with Mental Health Treatment:

Over the years, I’ve talked to clinicians about why the self is rarely mentioned in treating patients who suffer from mental illnesses that damage their sense of who they are. If anything, it seems that psychiatry is moving away from a model in which the self could be discussed. For many psychiatrists, mental disorders are medical problems to be treated with medications, and a patient’s crisis of self is not very likely to come up in a 15-minute session with a psychopharmacologist.

Timothy Egan: House of Un-Representatives

Sat, 04 May 2013 11:34:11 -0400

Timothy Egan: House of Un-Representatives:

Much has been said about how the great gerrymander of the people’s House — part of a brilliant, $30 million Republican action plan at the state level — has now produced a clot of retrograde politicians who are comically out of step with a majority of Americans. It’s not just that they oppose things like immigration reform and simple gun background checks for violent felons, while huge majorities support them…

But just look at how different this Republican House is from the country they are supposed to represent. It’s almost like a parallel government, sitting in for some fantasy nation created in talk-radio land.

As a whole, Congress has never been more diverse, except the House majority. There are 41 black members of the House, but all of them are Democrats. There are 10 Asian-Americans, but all of them are Democrats. There are 34 Latinos, a record — and all but 7 are Democrats. There are 7 openly gay, lesbian or bisexual members, all of them Democrats.

Only 63 percent of the United States population is white. But in the House Republican majority, it’s 96 percent white. Women are 51 percent of the nation, but among the ruling members of the House, they make up just 8 percent. (It’s 30 percent on the Democratic side.)

TRYING TO UNDERSTAND MY OLD SPREADSHEETS

Sat, 04 May 2013 05:04:44 -0400

whatshouldwecallgradschool:

credit: Capecodnative

OBAMA BACKS PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN POLITICAL FIGHT

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 03:06:08 -0400

OBAMA BACKS PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN POLITICAL FIGHT:

“When politicians try to turn Planned Parenthood into a punching bag, they’re not just talking about you,” Obama said, becoming the first sitting president to address the abortion-rights group in person. “They’re talking about the millions of women who you serve.”

Obama asserted that “an assault on women’s rights” is underway across the country, with bills introduced in more than 40 states to limit or ban abortion or restrict access to birth control or other services.

“The fact is, after decades of progress, there’s still those who want to turn back the clock to policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century,” he said. “And they’ve been involved in an orchestrated and historic effort to roll back basic rights when it comes to women’s health.”

Mark Zuckerberg’s New Political Group Spending Big On Ads Supporting Keystone XL And Oil Drilling

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 10:43:50 -0400

Mark Zuckerberg’s New Political Group Spending Big On Ads Supporting Keystone XL And Oil Drilling

jtotheizzoe: Like A Bee Sees By now you’ve probably all watched...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 02:52:00 -0400

jtotheizzoe:

Like A Bee Sees

By now you’ve probably all watched the latest It’s Okay To Be Smart video about the amaaaaazing ways that bees are able to sense flowers. (actually I know a few of you haven’t so go do that, mmkay? Thanks!)

Beyond the electric field sensing part (which is cool in its own right), it’s the fact that bees see into the “invisible” that just blows my mind. Bees (and butterflies too, actually) have photoreceptors that respond to wavelengths down in the UV range (see chart above). They use that vision to zoom right in on the important part of the flower: the sweet, sugary nectar pot.

Spoiler alert: As much as we love flowers, they don’t really give a crap about us. But they do love bees. In return for giving the bees the sugary yum-yums, flowers get pollinated. And in the name of the evolutionary game, that’s the most important thing. To help get the gene-passing-on done, flowers have evolved certain pigments near the center of the flower that absorb UV light. That paints a big, fat bulls-eye for the bee to land on, right where the flower needs them (next to all the flower-sex bits). To us, the whole flower may look yellow or orange. To a bee. BIG “land here” spot in the middle.

THAT IS AMAZING!!! Nature, you are just too cool.

Thanks to camera technology, we can take UV filtered photos of flowers and see those patterns pop out. It’s a pretty advanced technique, but some of my favorites are above. Check out those photographers’ galleries at the links below:

UV floral photography by Klaus Schmitt and Bjørn Rørslett. Click to subscribe to IOTBS on YouTube.

Is It Time for Off-the-Shelf Birth-Control Pills? - New York Times

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:15:34 -0400

Is It Time for Off-the-Shelf Birth-Control Pills? - New York Times:

“For most women, the absolute risk of taking the pill is far less than the risks incurred in pregnancy.”

A Senate in the Gun Lobby’s Grip - OpEd by Gabby Giffords

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:25:48 -0400

A Senate in the Gun Lobby’s Grip - OpEd by Gabby Giffords:

SENATORS say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets. The fear that those children who survived the massacre must feel every time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering that they loved them, so that love would be the last thing the students heard if the gunman found them.

On Wednesday, a minority of senators gave into fear and blocked common-sense legislation that would have made it harder for criminals and people with dangerous mental illnesses to get hold of deadly firearms.

Why Dove's "Real Beauty Sketches" Video Makes Me Uncomfortable... and Kind of Makes Me Angry

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 02:50:56 -0400

jazzylittledrops:

So this video started going around my facebook today, with about a dozen of my female friends sharing the link with comments like, and “Everyone needs to see this”, and “All girls should watch this,” and “This made me cry.” And I’m not trying to shame those girls! I definitely understand why they would do so. And I don’t want to be a killjoy. But as I clicked the link and started watching the video, I started to feel a slight sense of discomfort. I couldn’t put my finger on why that was, exactly, but it continued throughout the whole thing. After watching the video several more times, I have some thoughts…

Read More

Restoring Iraq's Garden of Eden

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:16:55 -0400

Restoring Iraq's Garden of Eden:

Azzam Alwash, who this week received the Goldman Environmental Prize, is focused on reviving the massive oasis in the desert that biblical scholars say may have been the Garden of Eden.

Great infographic about flu viruses, via Information is...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:15:04 -0400

Great infographic about flu viruses, via Information is Beautiful.

Proposed Lion-Meat Ban Shines Light on Wild-Animal Meat

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 05:28:39 -0400

Proposed Lion-Meat Ban Shines Light on Wild-Animal Meat

Can Hospital Chains Improve the Medical Industry? : The New...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 23:20:47 -0500

Can Hospital Chains Improve the Medical Industry? : The New Yorker

samaralex: Olga Gladysheva

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:05:44 -0500

samaralex:

Olga Gladysheva

Welcome to the End of Barnes & Noble as You Knew It - Business - The Atlantic Wire

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:02:14 -0500

Welcome to the End of Barnes & Noble as You Knew It - Business - The Atlantic Wire:

Readers who loyally buy print books from hundreds of Barnes & Noble stores may soon have to settle for the Nook. According to a top executive, as much as a third of their stores will be closed over the next 10 years.

Jihadists’ Surge in North Africa Reveals Grim Side of Arab Spring

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 13:40:48 -0500

Jihadists’ Surge in North Africa Reveals Grim Side of Arab Spring:

In a sense, both the hostage crisis in Algeria and the battle raging in Mali are consequences of the fall of Colonel Qaddafi in 2011. Like other strongmen in the region, Colonel Qaddafi had mostly kept in check his country’s various ethnic and tribal factions, either by brutally suppressing them or by co-opting them to fight for his government. He acted as a lid, keeping volatile elements repressed. Once that lid was removed, and the borders that had been enforced by powerful governments became more porous, there was greater freedom for various groups — whether rebels, jihadists or criminals — to join up and make common cause…

Yet Colonel Qaddafi’s fall was only the tipping point, some analysts say, in a region where chaos has been on the rise for years, and men who fight under the banner of jihad have built up enormous reserves of cash through smuggling and other criminal activities. If the rhetoric of the Islamic militants now fighting across North Africa is about holy war, the reality is often closer to a battle among competing gangsters in a region where government authority has long been paper-thin.