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Tag Archives | Diversity

Performing Live Tonight: ‘Abominations’ of the Sexual Spectrum

By on April 20, 2014 in News 28


The word abomination seems to have come up several times recently on this site. First, in several comments from a fellow disinfonaught, then again in this article. So I find it particularly ironic/amusing that I would then stumble upon this most glorious discovery, courtesy of The Huffington Post:

Scientists say they’ve discovered four species of Brazilian cave insects with sex-reversed genitalia. The females possess a penis-like organ, the males a vagina-like organ. This is the first documented example of animals with sex-reversed genitalia.

Sex-role reversal has been observed previously in animals — such as in African antelopes. But the “female penis” seen in the four species, all of which are in the genus Neotrogla, is a “completely novel structure,” Kazunori Yoshizawa, an associate professor at Hokkaido University and one of the scientists behind the new finding, told The Verge.

How do these insects have sex? During copulation, the female Neotrogla inserts a “highly elaborate” penis-like organ, dubbed the “gynosome,” into the male’s vagina-like opening.

… Read the rest
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We Are Legion

By on August 28, 2013 in News 15

LeviathanAny experienced manager will tell you that the single most challenging part of his or her job is not to be found within the mass of technical details that run through a given project’s design, but keeping their workers productively occupied during the inevitable yet unpredictable lulls and logjams that force their way through at inopportune moments.  Power outages, equipment failures, traffic jams, sudden, urgent changes in customer specs, etc., etc., will all, at one point or another, intrude upon the orderly execution of any significant project, totally f*ckin’ up your sh*t unless you can convincingly improvise on short notice.

Time is money, and labor is only borrowed, not owned, so you sitting there on your hands is usually not an option.  Unless you do something about it now now NOW you’re gonna be up sh*t creek, mon frere.  The consequences don’t bear thinking about.

And to add insult to injury, your team, just as inevitably as these interruptions will occur, will view them as opportunity to prove the old adage “idle hands are the Devil’s workshop”.  Sure, the odd individual here or there may prove to have some initiative of their own, seizing some previously unidentified flexibility within their own assignments.  But that flexibility will always be limited.  And frankly, despite the pseudo-folksy drivel of communistic America-haters like Garrison Keillor, it is simply mathematically impossible for ALL the children to be “above average”.… Read the rest

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See It: Andrew Breitbart’s So-Called Controversial Obama Footage (Video)

By on March 7, 2012 in News 40
Here's a followup to wild, ungrounded speculation from Zach Lisabeth on Opposing Views (video from BuzzFeed):
Before his unexpected death, conservative firebrand Andrew Breitbart was chomping at the bit to release a supposedly "explosive" video of President Obama filmed during the president's time at Harvard Law School. The video was purported to show a young Obama making racially charged comments that Breitbart hoped might damage the president's 2012 reelection bid ...
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Icelanders Avoid Inbreeding Through Online Incest Database

By on February 10, 2012 in News 12

Ingólfr ArnarsonSo says Samantha Grossman in TIME:

Nowadays, some light Internet stalking is as common a pre-date ritual as showering or putting on a clean shirt. But for Icelanders, that online screening process can include running a date’s name through an incest database.

Sound ridiculous? Consider this: when you live in an isolated nation with a population roughly the size of Pittsburgh, accidentally lusting after a cousin is an all-too-real possibility. But a search engine called Íslendingabók (the Book of Icelanders) allows users to plug in their own name alongside that of a prospective mate, determining any familial overlap. The site claims to track 1,200 years of genealogical information about the island’s inhabitants. Anyone with an Icelandic ID number — that is, citizens and legal residents — is accounted for, the New York Daily News reports.

Not only can the site rule out courtships that might be a bit too close for comfort, but also it helps users determine if they share family ties with any famous Icelanders.

… Read the rest
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Racial Identity Tied to Happiness, Study Finds

By on March 8, 2011 in News 130
Oprah Winfrey. Photo: vargas2040 (CC)

Photo: vargas2040 (CC)

ScienceDaily reports:

African American people who identify more strongly with their racial identity are generally happier, according to a study led by psychology researchers at Michigan State University.The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, appears in the current issue of Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, a research journal published by the American Psychological Association.

“This is the first empirical study we know of that shows a relationship between racial identity and happiness,” said Stevie C.Y. Yap, doctoral candidate in psychology at MSU and lead researcher on the project.

Previous research has found a relationship between racial identity and favorable outcomes such as self-esteem, Yap said, but none has made the link with happiness.

For the study, the researchers surveyed black adults in Michigan. The results suggest the more the participants identified with being black — or the more being black was an important part of who they are — the more happy they were with life as a whole, Yap said.

… Read the rest
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