hey lucky,
we were just discussing this in the lounge and i was asked to run it past you:
there are quite a few talented artists on the sift.... so we were thinking about some kind of gallery days for vs artists to display their arts for all of sift-kind to marvel at and feel inspired by and maybe purchase if both parties felt like making the transaction. like.. some kind of virtual gallery party?
i don't know the best way to go about this, because while i'm certainly a nerd on a computer, i'm not the computery kind of nerd. i'm not sure if it's even possible. but the lounge is in favor of it at the moment. and it sounds neato.

let us know what you think,
xoxoxo
bea

yes, they would be. lots of other people would too. people with weaker immune systems, people with psoriasis, people with bad teeth and lazy eyes and bone spurs. i'm short and i run slow. but we are a civilized society and do not need to write anyone off as human refuse. and how self righteous of someone to think that their specific path from creation to enlightenment is the only thing keeping "less desirables" from becoming total human refuse. that some large male diety in the sky is the only thing blessing the freaks with the ability to behave "nobly" and that without HIM these "burdens on society" would just need to be left in a landfill somewhere.

oh and also, every successful adaption started off as a MUTATION. not that i think fragile X or angelman's syndromes are the future of the human race or anything. i just resent absolutism and self righteousness. and every statement he makes at me stinks of both.

i totally understand that he doesnt mean to come off like a complete dick and doubt that he is actually a complete dick, but every interaction i have with him.... he comes off as a complete dick.
In reply to this comment by JiggaJonson:
Although I largely disagree with shinyblurry, I will concede that if we were not a civilized society, people with either physical or mental disabilities would be at a much greater risk of death. MOST new genetic mutations are deleterious, that is to say, they cause harm to their respective owners. And while I fully understand that Darwin didn't coin the phrase, it doesn't change the idea that some people are vexed by their genes in one way or another.

However, I DO agree that writing said people off as "genetic baggage," as he put it, is callus and unkind. We could just as easily say that "love" is simply a chemical reaction in the brain, and can be written off as such. But it's the value we place on those feelings, the choices we make to assign it meaning, much like the choices we make to care for one another, that give our own lives meaning and purpose.

In reply to this comment by peggedbea:
you don't know what i do for a living, so i'll skip the part where i yell at you passionately kids with downs/people with disabilities/kids with syndromes.
furthermore, survival of the fittest was not a phrase coined by darwin. and did not originally apply to the evolution of organisms. applying it to people with genetic disorders further offends me.

shit! it's this saturday?? i was planning on being raptured.
In reply to this comment by GeeSussFreeK:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/158194 For the Doug Stanhope event!

while i derive sincere joy from many many things in my life, space monsters playing metal always makes me smile.
In reply to this comment by xxovercastxx:
>> ^peggedbea:

really????
do you ever feel happy?????
>> ^xxovercastxx:
Never understood the fascination with these clowns.



Most of the time, as of late, but never because of a bunch of flabby naked guys in Halloween masks. I laughed when I saw the title, because the thought of GWAR going carolling is certainly amusing, but the video was boring and predictable for me.

well sir, my vagina is always pleased to bring pain and joy to your many, many orifices.
In reply to this comment by GeeSussFreeK:
I actually choked on my drink and nearly did a nasal take on that, lol.

In reply to this comment by peggedbea:
i pretty much exclusively let only nerds into my vagina. but i've never wanted to put so many nerds in my vagina at once. i want to put anonymous in my vagina. i want them to live there and take it all down from inside me. then i want to give birth to the revolt. but they won't have to wear those stupid guy fawkes masks when they come out, they will wear their beautiful beautiful faces.

yes, potentially harmful.

but not my number 1 issue at the moment. i'm waffling around with which issue is number 1.

oops sorry, didnt mean to to make this a profile reply.
In reply to this comment by nock:
So we're saying the same thing...? That these are potentially harmful?

>> ^peggedbea:

you're right. the kvp of a scout film is certainly higher than these images. these images will not penetrate as deeply into the body, but scout films aren't (usually) directed at the entire body. also, at a smaller kvp you get a greater amount of backscatter because the dose isn't strong enough to penetrate the body. backscatter is the reason radiology techs stand behind lead walls, wear lead aprons, and wear dosimeters. and the reason radiology techs who have had cancer are generally taken off the floor and become managers.

>> ^nock:
These scans are different from scout films for CT scanners. Scout films are basically chest xrays. They use Xrays with keV that penetrate tissues. My understanding of these scanners is that the total body radiation may be less, but the amount of surface (read: skin/eyes/testicles) radiation is increased because of the simple fact that the keV is smaller, which explains the UCSF letter regarding concerns for AIDS/cancer patients and the elderly/young. Medical physicists and radiologists are taught very early on that with regard to ionizing radiation, there is no level of exposure at which the risk of harmful biological effects is zero. Until peer-reviewed evidence is provided to suggest otherwise, these scanners should be considered potentially harmful.

28 years of experience.
In reply to this comment by ForgedReality:
>> ^peggedbea:

congratulations on being a protofacist dick bag and thinking if your dick bag comment was not enjoyed, the other person must just not "get it".
also for the rest of you, oh hahaha, this mentally ill mans hypermanic dysphoric/psychotic episode is soooooo fucking funny! i bet his kids are just laughing their fucking ass off right now. other peoples person tragedies and fucking hysterical, but they're wasting too many resources. we really should shoot them all and be done with it. you fucking assholes.
>> ^ForgedReality:
>> ^thinker247:
Yeah, let's just kill all the mentally ill. It's not like they need our help. They're just living high off all the great care we already give them.>> ^ForgedReality:
Oh good! I'm glad to know my taxes are paying for his hospital stay. Just shoot him with fucking bullets. End the cycle. Good lord. Seriously, we're not harsh enough on criminals. At all.


Congratulations on missing the point entirely.



First of all, what makes you guys think he's got a mental disorder? For all you know, he just thinks he's a gangsta thug, stickin it to The Man. Although, temporary insanity will probably be his excuse and he'll get let off during his trial. Then he'll be free to just go off and do some other horrible shit to people. Some of those people cheering him on are probably his homies, knowing full well he's not insane.

hmmmm, i realize it's a geographic phenomenon and an example of a very vocal minority. but this phenomenon is having an impact on everything else (see the recent texas state board of education decisions), and i believe, a detrimental one at that.

and sure the only exposure to the media i have is through the internet, but it's also very sporadic and i'm generally pretty good at realizing hyped up bullshit when i see it.

let me clarify this last bit. i don't think they're misguided because they fear, hate, distrust the government. honestly, i think most of the time not trusting politicians is warranted and wise. BUT the trust they put in sources that intentionally misguide them("they" being the dozens of people that claim tea party affiliation that i have every day exposure to) is what i think is "misguided fear and distrust".
and yes, "authority" was just a device to emphasize that i speak to dozens of people with tea party affiliation every day, my family get-togethers are dominated by political conversations with tea baggers weekly, i hear loads of first hand "tea bagging nonsense" daily. i'm very curious, very friendly, and work a job where i go into peoples homes and a side effect is forging relatively intimate relationships with the whole household, so when my families are having these discussions (daily), i listen, and ask questions respectfully and try to seem unbiased. my experience is not from sensational news sources, but from the mouths of a movement i find misguided and threatening. my friends and family and neighbors and clients are scared. they tell me they're scared. and they're being scared by sources they trust and shouldn't and that makes me sad.

i think the most damning evidence that this far right, very vocal minority, is actually something to worry about is the texas state board of education. it was slowly infiltrated over the last decade or so by young earth creationists and the christian right. they planned it this way intentionally. the sources that fund the political campaigns of far right christian groups intentionally set their sites on the texas board of education because of the impact decisions in texas have on the rest of the country. the board of education votes every 10 years on new textbooks and new curriculum standards. because of how huge texas is, textbook publishers usually just sell whatever books texas orders to most of the other states in the country. this year the vote came up and and extreme far right political/religious agenda won. now, they have dictated the educational standards of an entire generation, very nearly nation wide.

also, another thing that makes me shudder is my city recently did a multimillion dollar renovation to the science museum. millions of those dollars came directly from oil and gas companies (that also silently fund the tea party movement). we now have a science museum in a major city that is largely dedicated to energy with zero mention of conservation, pollution or climate change. and almost zero mention of alternative sources of energy production in the future.

so my overall points being that, 1. i know,literally, dozens of people that claim tea party affiliation and i don't think any of them stupid or crazy. (but i think the movement as a whole is very stupid and very crazy and very deceptively steered, not individual people) 2. i don't think just because nationwide news outlets sensationalize things, that we can discount the very very real impact this extremely far right, mostly religious, and extremely loud minority is having.

but.. i ramble too.

aren't you a pretty kitty.
we lurve the banjo.

In reply to this comment by schmawy:

no problem dude, glad you got it all straightened out.
i was trying to figure out if you were actually one of thinker247's sock puppets that escaped the last sweep.

In reply to this comment by Xax:
Hi bea, no idea why I got banned, but lucky unbanned me. Thanks for mentioning it; I'm not sure anyone would've noticed otherwise.

thanks schwamy cat
that issue is very close to my heart, i'm glad to see it get some attention.

In reply to this comment by schmawy:
*promote

1. hobbling someone with a silver star is like slapping the wrist of a paraplegic.
2. this hobbling in itself is totally an abusive privileges

oh my god, let's make a baby!

In reply to this comment by qualm:
@blankfist: Fuck, you're stupid.

no no, a side of rainbows!

and no, no puppy for you.

In reply to this comment by schmawy:
You will eat sunshine with a side of SOULS maybe? Funny you should mention it, I could use 25 lbs of fresh puppy for an upcoming, uh, party.

In reply to this comment by peggedbea:
schamwy,
on day, i will run a puppy farm. with a unicorn parade, where money grows on trees, and i eat sunshine for breakfast every morning.

schamwy,
one day, i will run a puppy farm. with a unicorn parade, where money grows on trees, and i eat sunshine for breakfast every morning.