Books&Bourbon

yoisthisracist: jbandgin asked: Yo, anti-vaccination/anti-fluoridation/anti-science types in...

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:24:19 -0700

jbandgin asked: Yo, anti-vaccination/anti-fluoridation/anti-science types in general - as bad or worse than racists?

I don’t know, they’re all damaging society and actively hurting people with their stupid-ass ideas.

thetreesareenergy: clock510: 夜間走行時、路面の凹凸をエンハンスする格子型ランプ「Lumigrid...

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:56:00 -0700

thetreesareenergy:

clock510:

夜間走行時、路面の凹凸をエンハンスする格子型ランプ「Lumigrids」

http://www.yankodesign.com/2013/05/21/lumigrids-while-cycling/

that is incredibly smart.

whoa! What!

okcgoldmine: yep this is a thing you put on a dating website

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:52:22 -0700

okcgoldmine:

yep this is a thing you put on a dating website

Photo

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:42:12 -0700

EXTREME CLOSE UP OF CUPCAKE SPRINKLES

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:41:49 -0700

EXTREME CLOSE UP OF CUPCAKE SPRINKLES

Who wants to play, I now have 25 open spots.

Wed, 22 May 2013 16:42:08 -0700

Who wants to play, I now have 25 open spots.

powells: “In a sense, one can never read the book that the author originally wrote, and one can...

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:41:27 -0700

powells:

“In a sense, one can never read the book that the author originally wrote, and one can never read the same book twice.” ― Edmund Wilson

Hey, you! Did you know that we're fighting about fluoride in Portland?

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:22:00 -0700

Since only, like, three people that follow me on Tumblr are fellow Portlanders, I thought I would inform the rest of you guys, because maybe you weren’t aware:

Did you know that we’re fighting about fluoride in Portland?

That’s right! And today is election day! After today this issue will be resolved, and we will never fight this fight again (or we will, for like the fifth time). We can all go back to our normal lives of being healthy, beautiful, intelligent people, hopefully with stronger teeth. Right?

I’ve already voted (we have mail-in ballots here in Oregon), and thus have spent the last week or so being more and more frustrated by the argument that continues to unfold, like one of those baseball games where they go into the eleventh inning, 0-0 because neither team is playing well at all, it’s all errors and foul balls and you just want to go somewhere and drink cheaper beer but you paid $75 for these tickets, dammit.

So what the eff is going on?

Basically, last summer, news got out that a coalition at city hall was trying to quietly approve of fluoridation of the city’s water supply. Rage was Provoked amongst the Public, and 43,000 signatures were swiftly collected by a group of crusaders who were just livid that fluoridation would happen without the Consent of the People.

The past year has been crazy: I’ve heard everything ridiculous about fluoride: how it will dissolve my bones, lower the IQs of children, discolor teeth, discriminate against people of color, kill entire populations of, I dunno, pick a species, allow us to be mind-controlled slaves of Big Government. Pro-fluoride groups are sign-stealing elitists! On the other side, anti-fluoride activists are called hippies/libertarians (finally, something to bring the two together!) who believe in pseudoscience instead of logic, who would rather deprive children of their teeth than allow the government to do what every other city government has done in the United States, because How Dare They Force Us To Drink Chemicals.

So it’s been a lot of ad hominem attacks from either side, which has made this issue about a tiny amount of a naturally occurring chemical into a reservoir as dirty as the 2008 presidential campaign (I’m surprised that there wasn’t any accusation of Healthy Kids Healthy Portland palling around with terrorists), and just as exhausting. Worse, anyone I’ve talked to about this issue, regardless of which line they tow, has been an intelligent and eloquent person. Despite all the perceived mud slinging/sign stealing, I don’t think that either side contains a legion of crackpot conspiracy theorists or pro-government mind-control lobbyists. And, in any case, this isn’t a fight between personalities and groups and campaign contribution sources at all: this is a simple, scientific question, one which has been answered already by cities all over the country: is a small dose of fluoride (in this case, 0.7 parts per million) a harmless, beneficial supplement to our natural water supply?

I shouldn’t have to explain why I’m voting for fluoride. I’ve had to, over and over, sitting in countless living rooms, bars, and coffee shops. It shouldn’t even be a topic that I have an emotional reaction to (like, say, my thoughts on gun control or education), and yet I am watching so much passion being spewed over something that seems as logical as Spock. I’m at the point where I just shrug and sigh and rub my temples and go “Dude…”

Anyway, if you want a less rambling version of the situation, Slate put out a pretty well-researched article yesterday, on the eve of the election. Of course, Gawker put out a response to it that is written in typical snark. I prefer the Mercury’s argument for endorsing the measure. For some reason, Tumblr is not letting me insert those links, so Google away!

If this doesn’t pass, it’ll be a shame. Fear mongering should never be policy, especially here in Liberal Eden. I was walking to dinner with my mom the other day, and she told me about a bumper sticker that said “Weird Isn’t Working.” (a reference, of course, to the Keep Portland Weird slogan). Weird is pretty great, for the most part. I am all about weird. But if us being weird means us defying logic, it is not working very well.

Powell's Books: There's a book for that

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:14:58 -0700

Powell's Books: There's a book for that:

artemiswinter:

powells:

marigold1900:

How to Talk Yourself Out of …

plastic surgery: The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells

tattoos: In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka

haircuts: Sweeney Todd (multiple authors)

Oooh, let’s make this a thing…

prep school: The…

This is inspiring me to become a therapist who prescribes books instead of drugs.

allthewaykate: booksbourbon replied to your post: booksbourbon replied to your post: so new… MAYBE...

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:57:58 -0700

allthewaykate:

booksbourbon replied to your post: booksbourbon replied to your post: so new…

MAYBE IT COULD BE MY DAD BUT I DUNNO

I DUNNO MEG I DUNNO

if he has some extra stuff? how would that work? I don’t know what size I am in anything because the nearest gear shop is almost 3 hours from here.

btw I hope his boys make the Knights look silly up in Saskatoon tonight.

I’ll have to ask him when he gets back from the memorial cup. Also my mom told me about the time that your dad first met my dad and your dad had never heard of the Red Wings

yoisthisracist: anonymous asked: Yo, I had a professor tell me a while ago that if you could fill a...

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:27:06 -0700

yoisthisracist:

anonymous asked: Yo, I had a professor tell me a while ago that if you could fill a 5-gallon bucket with human DNA, the amount that would differ from different races would fill up a thimble.

Plus, as a bonus, big ole bucket of human DNA.