Monthly Archives: August 2012

The Lady Manes

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A self-portrait series by Rhiannon Schneiderman

From Rhiannon Schneiderman's photography blog:

The Lady Manes is a series of eight self-portraits. In each image I’m standing in your typical feminine pose in an outfit or article of clothing, and I’ve accessorized each outfit with its own unique, stylized ‘Lady Mane.’ A ‘Lady Mane’ is just a somewhat empowering pseudonym for a bunch of pubes, a “bush,” your “hair down there”… And that’s what the series was about for me: empowerment. I can’t really pinpoint any one source of inspiration for the project because it really was a culmination of so many things going on at the time; I’d moved to and lived in Daytona Beach, the armpit of Florida and possibly all of civilization, for almost two years (for school) during which time I’d witnessed and been subject to some pretty amazingly sexist ordeals. I was moving more into my hardcore feminist phase, which I think every lesbian in their 20’s goes through, and just so happened to have a hardcore feminist, fine-arts-major professor who had been giving me a semester of the most intense and life-altering class critiques I’d ever experienced. I’d been introduced to Cass Bird’s “Rewilding”, an amazing body of work that continues to influence me. All of these things, and maybe a few Lady Gaga songs, were inspiration enough to create a series that kind of laughed at conventional gender norms. I wanted to tell people that they were ridiculous, makethem uncomfortable for a change. I wanted to challenge femininity and the objectification of women that is still so incredibly prevalent in society. I guess it was my way of saying, “Fuck you. Enough is enough.”

… read more 

Rhetological Fallacies

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I would be extremely ecstatic if everyone who came to any of my blogs/pages to argue with me would read this first!!

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Click here or on image to see larger picture: Rhetological Fallacies.

Rhetological Fallacies - Rhetorical & Logical Fallacies - InformationisBeautiful

   

What If All Sports Were Shot Like Beach Volleyball

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Although this Olympics required some extra covering up, beach volleyball is one of those sports that not everyone watches for the game. Nate Jones, over at the Metro, had the insight to ask the question, “What if every Olympic sport was photographed like beach volleyball?” The results he found on getty images were entirely amusing. I guess it really takes a trained eye to take sports shots that look this good.

 Basketball

Diving

Gymnastics

Swimming

Track and Field

Wrestling

[Via Metro]

The Crying of the Elephants

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By: Florencia Arrechea @ —> An Inquisitive Mind

The process of grieving is different for all of us; it can be based on our culture, religion or family traditions. But one thing is certain, in doing so we rend homage to loved ones and pass the knowledge of their life down generations, so they will always be remembered.

We have discover this emotional “goodbye” is found within the animal kingdom, certain species share this ceremony and even have their own grieving process, albeit displaying it differently and sometimes contradictory to what we expect.

Anthony Lawrence, also known as “the elephant whisperer” passed away March 2nd, 2012. The following days, after approximately 12 hours of travel, two herds of wild South African elephants in a “funerary procession” gathered at his house; paid their respects for two days and left. Some people say this surpasses human logic; but we are not talking about logic, being human or elephant, we are taking of emotions; perhaps humans and animals are not so different after all. The history behind this tale is unfortunately…

Anthony Lawrence; international conservationist, environmentalist, explorer and bestselling author; had been known for his work in trying to save the wild life in the planes of Africa and surrounding countries, as well as having his own animal reserve, Thula Thula, in the heart of the Zululand, part of the KwaZulu-Natal province. And in 1999 he was asked by the Elephant Managers and Owners Association (EMOA); a private association located in South Africa that caress for the welfare of the oversized pachyderms; to take on a herd that had been dubbed “troublesome” for their hostility towards people and because the herd’s matriarch was a well accomplished escape artist. The elephants had two weeks to find another home; otherwise they would all be shot. Lawrence, with plenty of doubts, said yes. Now is when our story borders the amazing…

The elephants were relocated to ThulaThula but not everything went smoothly. A mother and her daughter were shot and killed in the moving process, making the aggression of the animals towards humans reach a violent nature. After arriving, the matriarch Nana, guided the herd around the perimeter of the electrical barrier, touching the wire with her trunk, testing the fence. That same night, her and her sister Frankie, worked together to push a tree onto the electric generator of the fence and made their escape. Lawrence had to fight for the elephants to not be killed, once out of the reservation they were fair game for poachers, local villagers and hunters who would shoot them on sight.

That morning after managing to capture them; Lawrence had to face the full anger of an infuriated and trapped animal, one who could withstand and snap the 8,000 volts of electric wire standing between them. He recounts in his book, The Elephant Whisperer:

“It was 4:45 a.m. and I was standing in front of Nana, an enraged wild elephant, pleading with her in desperation. Both our lives depended on it. […] “Nana, the matriarch of her herd, tensed her enormous frame and flared her ears. -Don’t do it, Nana- I said, as calmly as I could. She stood there, motionless but tense. The rest of the herd froze. -This is your home now- I continued -Please don’t do it, girl- I felt her eyes boring into me. -They’ll kill you all if you break out. This is your home now. You have no need to run anymore- Suddenly, the absurdity of the situation struck me,”

Anthony writes…

“Here I was in pitch darkness, talking to a wild female elephant with a baby, the most dangerous possible combination, as if we were having a friendly chat. But I meant every word. -You will all die if you go. Stay here. I will be here with you and it’s a good place- She took another step forward. I could see her tense up again, preparing to snap the electric wire and be out, the rest of the herd smashing after her in a flash. […] “Then something happened between Nana and me, some tiny spark of recognition, flaring for the briefest of moments. Then it was gone. Nana turned and melted into the bush. The rest of the herd followed. I couldn’t explain what had happened between us, but it gave me the first glimmer of hope since the elephants had first thundered into my life.”

Anthony Lawrence connecting with Elephants

After this Lawrence made a life changing decision, he went to live with the elephants. In his book he recounts the pains and obstacles he went through to reach his goal: the trust and friendship of the herd and ultimately their love and respect. He and his wife became so close with the elephants, than when his first grandchild was born, he went down to show the child to the herd, earning a lengthy silent treatment from his daughter in law.

The herds had been away for one and a half years, till that fateful Sunday, when they came marching back. How did they know that their human friend was gone so suddenly? Did they develop a connection so strong they felt the emptiness of his parting, like the ripples in a pond? No one can answer for sure, all we can be sure is that amid the turmoil of their fear, they found a friend who would listen and protect them. Lawrence said they taught him how to understand, through whispers in the air; perhaps this visit was to whisper a last goodbye.

Sources:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9131585/Lawrence-Anthony.html

http://delightmakers.com/news-bleat/wild-elephants-gather-inexplicably-mourn-death-of-elephant-whisperer/

“The Elephant Whisperer: Learning about Life, Loyalty and Freedom from a remarkable herd of elephants” by Anthony Lawrence and Spence Graham.

The Crying of the Elephants. – reblogged from TabooJive

The Best Birth Control In The World Is For Men

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So, why don’t women know about this? Who benefits from women continuing to carry the primary burden of birth control (or lack of it), even at the cost of their health?

The Best Birth Control In The World Is For Men

Posted by . March 26, 2012, 11:25 AM CDT                                                         Reblogged

If I were going to describe the perfect contraceptive, it would go something like this: no babies, no latex, no daily pill to remember, no hormones to interfere with mood or sex drive, no negative health effects whatsoever, and 100 percent effectiveness. The funny thing is, something like that currently exists.

The procedure called RISUG in India (reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance) takes about 15 minutes with a doctor, is effective after about three days, and lasts for 10 or more years. A doctor applies some local anesthetic, makes a small pinhole in the base of the scrotum, reaches in with a pair of very thin forceps, and pulls out the small white vas deferens tube. Then, the doctor injects the polymer gel (called Vasalgel here in the US), pushes the vas deferens back inside, repeats the process for the other vas deferens, puts a Band-Aid over the small hole, and the man is on his way. If this all sounds incredibly simple and inexpensive, that’s because it is. The chemicals themselves cost less than the syringe used to administer them. But the science of what happens next is the really fascinating part.

The two common chemicals — styrene maleic anhydride and dimethyl sulfoxide — form a polymer that thickens over the next 72 hours, much like a pliable epoxy, but the purpose of these chemicals isn’t to harden and block the vas deferens. Instead, the polymer lines the wall of the vas deferens and allows sperm to flow freely down the middle (this prevents any pressure buildup),  and because of the polymer’s pattern of negative/positive polarization, the sperm are torn apart through the polyelectrolytic effect. On a molecular level, it’s what supervillains envision will happen when they stick the good guy between two huge magnets and flip the switch.

With one little injection, this non-toxic jelly will sit there for 10+ years without you having to do anything else to not have babies. Set it and forget it. Oh, and when you do decide you want those babies, it only takes one other injection of water and baking soda to flush out the gel, and within two to three months, you’ve got all your healthy sperm again.

The trouble is, most people don’t even know this exists. And if men only need one super-cheap shot every 10 years or more, that’s not something that gets big pharmaceutical companies all fired up, because they’ll make zero money on it (even if it might have the side benefit of, you know, destroying HIV).

If this sounds awesome for you or your loved one, get the word out. Share this article. Or link. Or this link. Or this one. Or this one. Sign this petition. Do something! A revolutionary contraceptive like this needs all the support it can get.

UPDATE: A lot of people are asking to be kept in the loop. So here’s the clinical trial/mailing list sign-up from the Parsemus Foundation to get further information about this procedure’s development. And again, please fill out the short non-spam petition to get the procedure funded and keep buzz going.