An outstanding political speech that clearly lays out a libertarian philosophy that he will bring to the US senate. The MSNBC panelists sound a bit afraid! One is afraid that Rand Paul alone will cause a world-wide depression. One of my favorite quotes, "He's not beholden to anybody....this guy is the lead dog in the Tea Party....He came out and almost dictated this how it's going to be!"
Friday, November 5, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Drug Decriminalization in Portugal (Updated Dec. 29/10)
Glenn Greenwald is a civil rights attorney, a blogger for Salon, and the author of a new Cato Institute policy study called “Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Policies.” The paper examines Portugal’s experiment with decriminalizing possession of drugs for personal use, which began in 2001. Nick Gillespie, editor of reason.com and reason.tv, sat down with Greenwald in April [2009].
Greenwald's policy study can be downloaded at the Cato Institute website:
Drug Decriminalization in Portugal:
Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies
Update (Dec 29, 2010)
The Washington Post is carrying a series of Associated Press stories on the USA's war on drugs. This one examines Portugal's success with decriminalizing drugs.
"By BARRY HATTON and MARTHA MENDOZA
The Associated Press
Monday, December 27, 2010; 12:01 AM
LISBON, Portugal -- These days, Casal Ventoso is an ordinary blue-collar community - mothers push baby strollers, men smoke outside cafes, buses chug up and down the cobbled main street.
Ten years ago, the Lisbon neighborhood was a hellhole, a "drug supermarket" where some 5,000 users lined up every day to buy heroin and sneaked into a hillside honeycomb of derelict housing to shoot up. In dark, stinking corners, addicts - some with maggots squirming under track marks - staggered between the occasional corpse, scavenging used, bloody needles.
At that time, Portugal, like the junkies of Casal Ventoso, had hit rock bottom: An estimated 100,000 people - an astonishing 1 percent of the population - were addicted to illegal drugs. So, like anyone with little to lose, the Portuguese took a risky leap: They decriminalized the use of all drugs in a groundbreaking law in 2000.
Now, the United States, which has waged a 40-year, $1 trillion war on drugs, is looking for answers in tiny Portugal, which is reaping the benefits of what once looked like a dangerous gamble. White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske visited Portugal in September to learn about its drug reforms, and other countries - including Norway, Denmark, Australia and Peru - have taken interest, too"
(Link to the full article) Portugal's drug policy pays off; US eyes lessons
Greenwald's policy study can be downloaded at the Cato Institute website:
Drug Decriminalization in Portugal:
Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies
Update (Dec 29, 2010)
The Washington Post is carrying a series of Associated Press stories on the USA's war on drugs. This one examines Portugal's success with decriminalizing drugs.
"By BARRY HATTON and MARTHA MENDOZA
The Associated Press
Monday, December 27, 2010; 12:01 AM
LISBON, Portugal -- These days, Casal Ventoso is an ordinary blue-collar community - mothers push baby strollers, men smoke outside cafes, buses chug up and down the cobbled main street.
Ten years ago, the Lisbon neighborhood was a hellhole, a "drug supermarket" where some 5,000 users lined up every day to buy heroin and sneaked into a hillside honeycomb of derelict housing to shoot up. In dark, stinking corners, addicts - some with maggots squirming under track marks - staggered between the occasional corpse, scavenging used, bloody needles.
At that time, Portugal, like the junkies of Casal Ventoso, had hit rock bottom: An estimated 100,000 people - an astonishing 1 percent of the population - were addicted to illegal drugs. So, like anyone with little to lose, the Portuguese took a risky leap: They decriminalized the use of all drugs in a groundbreaking law in 2000.
Now, the United States, which has waged a 40-year, $1 trillion war on drugs, is looking for answers in tiny Portugal, which is reaping the benefits of what once looked like a dangerous gamble. White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske visited Portugal in September to learn about its drug reforms, and other countries - including Norway, Denmark, Australia and Peru - have taken interest, too"
(Link to the full article) Portugal's drug policy pays off; US eyes lessons
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Being true to yourself: Research on authenticity and virtue
Below is an interesting set of studies that attempts to empirically demonstrate what "being true to yourself" means. Although the researcher, Fleeson, doesn't state this explicitly, the results suggest to me that acting in accordance with one's virtues leads to feeling your behaviour is "true to yourself." In Fleeson's studies, the virtues the participants adhere to are assertiveness, conscientiousness, and civility. -- WFF
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Being true to yourself: Psychologist publishes new research on being authentic
October 13, 2010
By Cheryl Walker
(PhysOrg.com) -- Staying true to yourself and not changing your personality to fit different situations is highly valued in Western culture. Shakespeare’s famous line "to thine own self be true," has been echoed across the centuries by parents, pop singers and motivational speakers.
But, in a new study published in the Journal of Personality, Wake Forest University psychologist William Fleeson found “being true to yourself” often means acting counter to your own personality traits.
Fleeson discovered that introverts feel more true to themselves or “authentic” when they are acting extroverted. For example, if a shy person attends a party and acts like a social butterfly, he is likely to report that he feels like he is showing his true self at that time in that situation.
Acting out of character in this way, some would say, suggests people are faking it. Fleeson says the study, co-authored by former Wake Forest graduate student Joshua Wilt, shows that is not the case.
“Authenticity is consistently associated with acting highly extraverted, even for those who characterize themselves as introverts,” he says. “Despite the cultural assumption that consistency with one’s traits would predict authenticity, it did not.”
He also found that people who think of themselves as disagreeable and rude feel more true to themselves when they are agreeable, considerate, polite and kind. And, people who consider themselves careless feel more true to themselves when they are conscientious.
In addition, his research showed that authenticity or feeling like you are being the real you, is consistently associated with acting emotionally stable and intellectual, regardless of the actor’s traits.
“Being flexible with who you are is okay,” Fleeson says. “It is not denying or disrespecting who you are. People are often too rigid about how they are and stick with the comfortable and familiar. Adapting to a situation can make you more true to yourself in some circumstances.”
This research can help people see they have so many options and choices for how they behave, he says.
Because authenticity predicts a variety of positive psychological outcomes, Fleeson says one implication of these findings is that “it might be possible for individuals to improve their mental health by acting against their personality traits.”
The multi-part study involved several groups of college-aged students. One hundred-forty three participated in multiple 50-minute sessions in a laboratory setting where they engaged in different activities, such as playing Twister and discussing medical ethics. Researchers recorded observations. The participants evaluated their own behavior and made judgments about whether their current actions expressed their true selves. The researchers then tested their findings with a sample of adults ranging in age from 18 to 51. The participants also filled out questionnaires assessing personality traits.
Link: Being True to Yourself
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Being true to yourself: Psychologist publishes new research on being authentic
October 13, 2010
By Cheryl Walker
(PhysOrg.com) -- Staying true to yourself and not changing your personality to fit different situations is highly valued in Western culture. Shakespeare’s famous line "to thine own self be true," has been echoed across the centuries by parents, pop singers and motivational speakers.
But, in a new study published in the Journal of Personality, Wake Forest University psychologist William Fleeson found “being true to yourself” often means acting counter to your own personality traits.
Fleeson discovered that introverts feel more true to themselves or “authentic” when they are acting extroverted. For example, if a shy person attends a party and acts like a social butterfly, he is likely to report that he feels like he is showing his true self at that time in that situation.
Acting out of character in this way, some would say, suggests people are faking it. Fleeson says the study, co-authored by former Wake Forest graduate student Joshua Wilt, shows that is not the case.
“Authenticity is consistently associated with acting highly extraverted, even for those who characterize themselves as introverts,” he says. “Despite the cultural assumption that consistency with one’s traits would predict authenticity, it did not.”
He also found that people who think of themselves as disagreeable and rude feel more true to themselves when they are agreeable, considerate, polite and kind. And, people who consider themselves careless feel more true to themselves when they are conscientious.
In addition, his research showed that authenticity or feeling like you are being the real you, is consistently associated with acting emotionally stable and intellectual, regardless of the actor’s traits.
“Being flexible with who you are is okay,” Fleeson says. “It is not denying or disrespecting who you are. People are often too rigid about how they are and stick with the comfortable and familiar. Adapting to a situation can make you more true to yourself in some circumstances.”
This research can help people see they have so many options and choices for how they behave, he says.
Because authenticity predicts a variety of positive psychological outcomes, Fleeson says one implication of these findings is that “it might be possible for individuals to improve their mental health by acting against their personality traits.”
The multi-part study involved several groups of college-aged students. One hundred-forty three participated in multiple 50-minute sessions in a laboratory setting where they engaged in different activities, such as playing Twister and discussing medical ethics. Researchers recorded observations. The participants evaluated their own behavior and made judgments about whether their current actions expressed their true selves. The researchers then tested their findings with a sample of adults ranging in age from 18 to 51. The participants also filled out questionnaires assessing personality traits.
Link: Being True to Yourself
Monday, September 6, 2010
An Objectivist Individualist: September 2 is Atlas Shrugged Day!
An Objectivist Individualist: September 2 is Atlas Shrugged Day!
[From Charles Anderson's blog:]
- In the opening scene of the novel, a bum asking Eddie Willers for a handout, asks "Who is John Galt?" This and the way it was asked bother Eddie. As he walks through NYC he is also bothered by the gigantic calendar hanging from a public tower and announcing the date as September 2.
- On that date, Hank Readen and Dagny Taggart decide to take a vacation together. On that vacation they discover an abandoned motor that should have revolutionized the use of energy in the world.
- Francisco D'Anconia makes his speech on money on September 2. He proclaims money to be the tool of free trade and the result of noble effort, not the root of evil. Those who call money evil choose to replace its use with the force of the gun.
- D'Anconia Copper is nationalized on 2 September, but the date on the calendar is replaced by "Brother, you asked for it!"
Monday, August 16, 2010
Intransition - Then & Now (Updated Aug. 31, 2011)
Link to Intransition's website, where you can find lyrics and stuff about the band. The entire album can be downloaded here Intransition for only $2.50 CDN. Individual songs are also available at iTunes. The music ranges from folk-pop (Tidal Wave), to country-pop (Hideaway, Don't Believe We've Met), to pop-rock (Betting to Hold, Mind in Motion), to rock (How's it Going to be) to blues-rock (Liar). Fan favourites tend to be Tidal Wave, How's it Going to be, & Hideaway.
Where is the band now? Our singer, Jennifer Bryan-Ahmed is an emergency room resident doctor in Toronto. Our creative lead guitarist, Scott Crockford, is in Toronto; never quite knew what he did, except that it was computer-related. Our jazzy bassist, Graham Hearn, has finally returned to Canada after years of travel & work in the middle East. He is studying aviation technology. I'm nearly done my doctoral program in clinical psychology. On August 30, 2010, I completed my one-year residency with Alberta Health Services in Edmonton. I learned a lot. At this point, I'm ABD: all-but-defended. In fact, I should be working on my dissertation instead of blogging. ;-)
In terms of new songs, there's a few older ones I've been re-arranging with different chord structures & slight melodic adjustments. These are basically ready to record. I just need singers and musicians! Musicians can now record using their own computer, which I've experimented with in the past. This works fine for sample songs, but it still requires a lot of time. When I have "good enough" recordings of these re-vamped songs, I'll post them.
Where is the band now? Our singer, Jennifer Bryan-Ahmed is an emergency room resident doctor in Toronto. Our creative lead guitarist, Scott Crockford, is in Toronto; never quite knew what he did, except that it was computer-related. Our jazzy bassist, Graham Hearn, has finally returned to Canada after years of travel & work in the middle East. He is studying aviation technology. I'm nearly done my doctoral program in clinical psychology. On August 30, 2010, I completed my one-year residency with Alberta Health Services in Edmonton. I learned a lot. At this point, I'm ABD: all-but-defended. In fact, I should be working on my dissertation instead of blogging. ;-)
In terms of new songs, there's a few older ones I've been re-arranging with different chord structures & slight melodic adjustments. These are basically ready to record. I just need singers and musicians! Musicians can now record using their own computer, which I've experimented with in the past. This works fine for sample songs, but it still requires a lot of time. When I have "good enough" recordings of these re-vamped songs, I'll post them.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
No Laughing Matter
Apparently, there is a rule you need to post on your blog regularly or you should shut it down. So from now on I'm going to post random nonsense on a regular basis so as to uphold this rule. Is quantity over quality valued in blog culture?
Anyway, one thing I've been thinking about writing (when life isn't getting in the way) is a post on laughter; my laughter in particular. I think we can agree that each person has a characteristic laugh; it's a unique mannerism which we can use to identify that person. This means a person's laughter is constant over time. There may be variations in their laughter, depending on how hard they are laughing, for example, but even the variations are consistent.
One thing I have noticed about myself, though, is that my laughter has changed over time. Every so often I adopt a particular style of laugh and try it on for size over a few years. For instance, in my late 20s, snorting became of my laughter. This fell away in my early 30s (thankfully). The last noticeable change in my laughter happened this past Christmas. I have adopted a "heh heh" kind of laugh and it's still going strong 4 months later.
What's with that? Why is my laugh changing? What ~is~ my characteristic laugh, or did I ever have one? What does this mean about me and my identity? So many questions. My question for anyone reading this blog: Has your laugh ever changed over time? If so, can you identify why this has happened to you?
Anyway, one thing I've been thinking about writing (when life isn't getting in the way) is a post on laughter; my laughter in particular. I think we can agree that each person has a characteristic laugh; it's a unique mannerism which we can use to identify that person. This means a person's laughter is constant over time. There may be variations in their laughter, depending on how hard they are laughing, for example, but even the variations are consistent.
One thing I have noticed about myself, though, is that my laughter has changed over time. Every so often I adopt a particular style of laugh and try it on for size over a few years. For instance, in my late 20s, snorting became of my laughter. This fell away in my early 30s (thankfully). The last noticeable change in my laughter happened this past Christmas. I have adopted a "heh heh" kind of laugh and it's still going strong 4 months later.
What's with that? Why is my laugh changing? What ~is~ my characteristic laugh, or did I ever have one? What does this mean about me and my identity? So many questions. My question for anyone reading this blog: Has your laugh ever changed over time? If so, can you identify why this has happened to you?
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Oscar
I'm about to watch the Oscars tonight. Just watched a Barbara Walters' interview with Jennifer Hudson (nominated for an Oscar for her role in Dream Girls). As a build up to the interview, they showed a key singing scene from the movie in which Hudson was absolutely amazing. During the interview, Barbara asked her to sing, to which she belted out this beautiful, soulful song. I was expecting a soft, pretty song, but she sang like she was auditioning for American Idol and had to give it her everything. She surprised Barbara and probably most viewers. Ironically, Hudson was a top 12 finalist for American Idol and Simon Cowell had criticized her as "lacking depth." Who's laughing now? She sounded really down to earth. Haven't seen Dream Girls, but I plan to now.
For best movie, I have seen "Babel" and "The Departed." They were both very good movies, although the ending for "The Departed was disappointing. Not sure what will win, but I am betting that Helen Mirren will win for "The Queen." She's been winning awards and accolades everywhere else and she has been around for decades, so I'm thinking she's due. (I haven't seen "The Queen," but I plan to watch this as well.)
I hope this satisfies my "fans" who have been complaining I don't blog enough! I'll do my best to prevent blog rot.
For best movie, I have seen "Babel" and "The Departed." They were both very good movies, although the ending for "The Departed was disappointing. Not sure what will win, but I am betting that Helen Mirren will win for "The Queen." She's been winning awards and accolades everywhere else and she has been around for decades, so I'm thinking she's due. (I haven't seen "The Queen," but I plan to watch this as well.)
I hope this satisfies my "fans" who have been complaining I don't blog enough! I'll do my best to prevent blog rot.
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