Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Challenging the Inexplicability of the Transgendered

Challenging the Inexplicability of the Transgendered: "

Amanda brought our attention to a photo project that is designed to draw our attention to how the kinds of questions we ask transgendered people makes them feel like inexplicable Others. From a description of the project:


The subjects, self-identified people of transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, gender-variant, or gender non-conforming experience, hold signs depicting questions that each has had posed to them personally — some by strangers, others by loved ones, friends, or colleagues. Presented on white wooden boards, the questions are turned on the viewer, shifting the dynamics under which they were originally asked, and prompting the viewer to cast a reflective, self-critical eye upon him or herself, revealing how invasive this frame of reference can be.


In other words, these questions get asked not only because transgendered people break the rules, they get asked because the rest of us can be so inflexible, utterly confounded when other around us challenge our assumptions about the world.


The photographs:



(View original at http://contexts.org/socimages)



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Thursday, April 15, 2010

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Truckers Take to Knitting and Quilting

Truckers Take to Knitting and Quilting: "

trucker_knitting.jpg



My friend, Niku, passed this story on to me from the Wall Street Journal about truckers who have taken to knitting and quilting during their downtime on the road. It's a beautiful piece about defying expectations and appreciating the work and art of creating with your hands. One of the truckers talks of daydreaming about quilt patterns during long drives, and another shares that he has a stash of yarn in his cab to make 'really cute slippers.' Here are a couple of my favorite quotes from the story:



'The fact that you can take strands of thread and basically make something out of it, that's awesome I think,' he said. 'It's pretty cool stuff, man.'


and



Quilting, he said, 'gives you a little bit of ownership. You've actually accomplished something with your time off.'


The story is rich with imagery and wonderful anecdotes of crafting from unlikely characters, and is well worth the read. I also posted the link up on our Facebook page, and there is already great conversation going on over there about it. Join in!


Read this article | Comment on this article"

The Letter “Z” Will Be Removed from the English Alphabet

The Letter “Z” Will Be Removed from the English Alphabet: "

Surprising as it sounds, it looks like the English alphabet will be losing one of its letters on June 1st. The announcement came from the English Language Central Commission (ELCC).


Here is a quote from the press release:


After carefully considering and debating the matter for over two years, the ELCC came to the conclusion that the letter “Z” should be removed from the English alphabet. The main objective of this change is to simplify the phonetic aspect of the language, and to unify the American and British spellings.


What will happen to the words that have the letter “z” in them? It depends on the word. According to the ELCC, words that started with a “z” will now start with an “x”. Examples include:



  • zero becomes xero

  • zoo becomes xoo

  • zone becomes xone

  • zodiac becomes xodiac


Words that featured a “z” with the “s” sound, on the other hand, will now be officially written with the “s” (i.e., unifying the American and British spelling). Examples include:



  • visualize becomes visualise

  • analyze becomes analyse

  • materialize becomes materialise


What do you think about this change? Will it really simplify the English language, or will it make things more confusing?




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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Brain Scan Shows Vegetative Patient Responding To Yes-or-No Questions

Brain Scan Shows Vegetative Patient Responding To Yes-or-No Questions: "

When a conscious person answers a yes or no question, certain parts of the brain become active. A new medical study revealed that people thought to be in a vegetative state demonstrate the same brain response, even if they can’t express themselves:


In the current experiment, the researchers found that three other patients identified as vegetative showed similar responses. To open a channel of communication, they instructed one of them, the 29-year-old man, to associate thoughts about tennis with “yes” and thoughts about being in his house with “no.”


They then asked questions, repeating the procedure numerous times, switching the associations — tennis with yes, then with no — to make sure the patient was in fact making conscious choices. The researchers had previously tested the technique in healthy volunteers.


“We asked basic biographical questions, like ‘Is your father’s name Thomas?’ and ‘Have you ever been to the United States?’ ” said Adrian M. Owen, a neuroscientist at the Medical Research Council in Cambridge, England, who developed the method and was a co-author of the paper. “We then checked whether the answers were correct. They were.”


Video at the link.


Link via Popular Science | Image: New York Times

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Friday, January 15, 2010

I read this article today. And all I want is answers

10 More Enigmas That Defy Explanation: "


What is it about the bizarre and mysterious that piques our curiosity? It entertains our sense of wonder and excites our imagination, for sure. Luckily for us, history is marked with strange, logic-defying occurrences to amuse us. Here is a list comprised of 10 more unexplainable and interesting phenomenon and incidents that we crave so much. This list is made up of a mixture of two submissions to the Christmas competition which shared some items, so it seemed a good idea to combine the two to give us ten things never before shown on the site. Also note, this list is in the newly created category “Mystery” and all of our lists involving mysteries can now be found under that category in the archives or on the mystery category page.



10
Ice Woman



Female Frozen Body


Nature performs many astonishing feats, yet it is a different matter altogether when we human beings push past the boundaries of normal. It was a viciously cold morning in Lengby, Minnesota, when a man discovered his 19-year old neighbor, Jean Hilliard, lying in the snow. Her whole body was frozen solid from the night before, when temperatures dropped twenty-five degrees below zero. Apparently, Jean was trying desperately to reach her neighbor for help when her car skidded off the road. When her body was discovered she was immediately sent to the local hospital, where her condition stunned the doctors. One of the nurses said that Jean was “so cold, it was like reaching into a freezer” and that “her face was absolutely white, just this ashen, death look.” Jean was also seriously frostbitten, and none of her limbs would bend or move.


The hospital staff did everything possible, yet the situation was dire. Even if Jean were to regain consciousness, she would more than likely have severe brain damage, and she was frostbitten to the degree that both her legs would have to be amputated. Her family gathered in prayer, hoping for a miracle. 2 hours later, Jean went into violent convulsions, and regained consciousness. She was perfectly fine, mentally and physically, although a bit confused. Even the frostbite was slowly disappearing from her legs to the doctors’ amazement. She was released 49 days later without losing a single finger, and sporting only minor scars.



9
Iron Pillar of Delhi



Iron-Pillar


Iron, the king of metal, is used for just about everything from the skeleton of your house to the chains on your bike. Unfortunately, iron can never escape its destiny to slowly transform into rust – with the exception of this phenomenal structure: meet the Iron Pillar of Delhi! Standing in at 7 meters tall and weighing more than six tons, this iron giant has managed to defeat corrosion for over 1600 years! But how can something that is 98 percent iron withstand decaying for over a millennia? Scientists have found the answer to that question, but how ancient ironsmiths discovered the fact so long before us still amazes archeologists today.



8
Carroll A. Deering



Screen Shot 2010-01-14 At 12.50.47 Pm


Approximately 50 years after the mysterious disappearance of the crew of the Mary Celeste, a similar event occurred when the schooner Carroll A. Deering was spotted around the coast of North Carolina on January 31, 1921. When rescue ships finally reached her, they discovered, to their shock that the Deering’s entire crew was missing. Though evidence in the galley suggested that food was being prepared for the following day, nothing else was found of the crew. Eerily enough, no personal effects, no ship logs, no traces were left behind, much like the case of the Mary Celeste. Theories have pointed to paranormal activity, due to the fact that the Carroll A. Deering was in the region that is today known as the Bermuda Triangle. Others have concluded it was the work of pirates, or of Russians attempting to steal their cargo.



7
Hutchison Effect



Hutchison Effect 350


The Hutchison Effect refers to the number of eerie phenomena that occurred when inventor John Hutchison attempted to replicate a few of inventor Nickola Tesla’s experiments. Some of the strange events witnessed include levitation, fusion of objects completely different in matter (such as wood and metal), and disappearances of some smaller objects. Even stranger is that after his experiment, Hutchison was unable to repeat the project again with the same results. This experiment was so popular it even sparked the interest of NASA and the Military, both whom have failed to produce the Hutchison Effect.



6
Faces Of Belmez



Belmez-Faces


Is it just me or doest that stain on the wall look like a person staring at you? Yup, its one of the many faces of Belmez that the Pereira family home is used to having. For over twenty years, the faces that appear can resemble males or females. They also arrive with different expressions every time. Strangely, the faces only stop at the house for a quick visit before disappearing. Investigations have been preformed upon the house to discover what was causing the faces to spontaneously pop up. One investigation exhumed and removed a human body from under the house, but that still didn’t stop the faces from making round trips. Several hypotheses have been formed to help explain this strange reoccurring phenomenon, but overall, no conclusions have been come to.




5
Disappearing Lake



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On May 2007, a lake in Patagonia, Chile, literally disappeared, leaving behind a 30 meter deep pit, icebergs and dry soil. However, this wasn’t a small lake or pond – it was an astonishing 5 miles long! The last time geologists saw the lake in March 2007, they detected nothing strange about it. However, something happened during the 2 month span that not only caused the lake to vanish, but reduced a river that flowed from the lake to a tiny stream. Geologists were puzzled as to why a lake of that size would simply cease to exist. Perhaps, they suggested, an earthquake drained the lake, yet there were no reports of any quakes in that particular area during spring. Meanwhile, UFO enthusiasts concluded that a spaceship drained the lake. The mystery is unsolved to this day.



4
Raining Blobs



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The townspeople of Oakville, Washington, were in for a surprise on August 7, 1994. Instead of their usual downpour of rain, the inhabitants of the small town witnessed countless gelatinous blobs falling from the sky. Once the globs fell, almost everyone in Oakville started to develop severe, flu-like symptoms that lasted anywhere from 7 weeks to 3 months. Finally, after exposure to the goo caused his mother to fall ill, one resident sent a sample of the blobs for testing. What the technicians discovered was shocking – the globs contained human white blood cells. The substance was then brought to the State Department of Health of Washington for further analysis. With another startling reveal, they discovered that the gelatinous blobs had two types of bacteria, one of which is found in the human digestive system. However, no one could successfully identify the blob, and how they were connected to the mysterious sickness that plagued the town.



3
The Black Helicopter



Black Helicopter-779486


In May 7, 1994, a black helicopter chased a teenage boy for forty-five minutes in Harrahan, Louisiana. Unable to run any further, the terrified boy explained that the occupants descended from the vehicle and pointed weapons at him. To this day, the boy has no idea why he was targeted by the helicopter, or why, mysteriously, they let him go. One week later, people traveling in a car near Washington had a similar experience when they too were pursued by the helicopter. Unable to escape, they witnessed men in black uniforms coming down from a rope ladder bearing weapons. However, the drivers were let off free, much to their confusion. Black helicopters feature much in UFO-lore and while there are simple explanations for some appearances, others (such as the two above) remain unsolved.



2
Animals within Stone



Toad


There are several documented cases where frogs, toads, and other small animals are found concealed within solid stone – alive. There are other instances too, where workers would cut down trees, and find hoards of frogs within the interior. Weirder still, people have found creatures within not just natural formations such as rocks and trees, but manmade establishments. In 1976, a Texas construction crew was breaking up concrete they set over a year ago. To their disbelief, the crew found a live green turtle within the concrete, in an air pocket that matched the shape of the small reptile. If, somehow, it got in when the concrete was poured a year earlier, how did it manage to survive during that time? After all, there were no signs of holes or cracks in the concrete through which the turtle could have entered.



1
Donnie Decker



Screen Shot 2010-01-14 At 12.56.13 Pm


Dubbed the Rain Boy in 1983, Donnie Decker was visiting his friend’s house when he abruptly went into a trance-like state. Immediately after, the ceiling began to drip water and a mist filled the room. His friends immediately called on the landlord who was alarmed by what he was seeing. Some time later, Donnie was at a restaurant with other companions when rain started pouring down their heads. The restaurant owner immediately forced him out. Years later, due to a petty crime, Donnie was put into jail where he caused chaos when rain started to pour down in his cell. After angry inmates complained, Donnie explained that he could make it rain when he wanted to, and proved his point by dumping rain on the jailor on duty. Eventually, he was released from jail and found a job as a cook at a local restaurant. His present whereabouts is unknown – as is the cause of the mysterious rain.

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