Other people's content

[sabotabby]

Personally, I would never assign my students 15 pages of homework and then tell them: "By the way, there's a test tomorrow on everything we've done so far."

In the meantime, have some links:

I was going to debunk all of the stupid in this article on the "economy of sex" but I don't have time, so maybe you guys can have at it. I'll say only that I'm pretty certain that the people writing this sort of article are actually getting less sex than I am.

You can chase that with a neat article on Chicago Afro-Futurism.

Here is another reason why high-stakes standardized testing is stupid. Teachers and principals will cheat.

For corwin77, in hopes that it will bring a much-needed smile to your face: zombie bikinis.

Finally, via pwrdfblog, "I want to be an aid worker":

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[mistersmearcase.livejournal.com]

I gotta say, the more I watch of these xtranormal videos, the more it seems to me the theme of them is generally "I am frustrated with my job so I will take it out on everyone who is so much dumber than me." They're usually incredibly cynical (and for me to say this...) and they kind of leave a bad taste in my mouth.

[sabotabby]

I haven't seen many, but I liked this one because it makes fun of the sorts of people I regularly want to punch in the face. Sometimes my sense of humour is very basic that way.

[mistersmearcase.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I was kind of in a mood yesterday. I don't love these but it was irritating to piss on it when you'd clearly found it funny/worthwhile enough to post.

[db-en.livejournal.com]

First you say you're not sure Israel is evil. Then this. What kind of leftie are you anyway? And what's next? Claiming that the sexonomics article isn't actually all that bad? You're on a slippery slope, pal.

[mistersmearcase.livejournal.com]

Sometimes among my friends and blogfolk I hardly feel like a leftie at all :) Which is disorienting, since in real life I feel like a bomb-throwing crazy.

[lokilokust.livejournal.com]

1) that article is bullshit.
2) that article is fucking great and it's always awesome to see people seriously talking about afro-futurism.
3) the idea of competitive education is just... horrific and counter productive.
4) i got nothin.'
5) i encounter way too many people like this.

[sabotabby]

All of these.

[lokilokust.livejournal.com]

afro-futurism is one of those things i get in roughly 8532 billion arguments a week over, because so many jazz fans are incredibly fucking racist and think that culture should have stopped moving forward in 1955.

[sabotabby]

Seriously? This is the first I've heard about it to be honest.

[lokilokust.livejournal.com]

to the point where even bringing up the names sun ra, afrika bambaataa, or yusef lateef is enough to create page upon page of arguing.
you should read more about it, i think a lot of the concepts would resonate with you.

[lokilokust.livejournal.com]

also! my only real response to that video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lv1nRmaeoU

[sabotabby]

<3 PIL.

[lokilokust.livejournal.com]

seriously.

[terry-terrible.livejournal.com]

This post was both empowering and sustainable.

My favorite is this one:

http://youtu.be/obTNwPJvOI8

"I'm going to write smart things about death in literature."

[sabotabby]

...that is just depressing.

[terry-terrible.livejournal.com]

sorry, I thought the cynicism was funny :(

[sabotabby]

Oh, it is. I just think the state of academia is sad.

[corwin77.livejournal.com]

You know I'd be more cheered up if you were modelling said bikini. ;)

[sabotabby]

Me and bikinis: Not a combination that will ever happen.

Not even for zombie bikinis.

[corwin77.livejournal.com]

What if it was my right eye's last request?
PS. I am feeling a little better now, if you can't tell by the joking and my attempts to sex you up.

[sabotabby]

I don't think the last thing your eye wants to see is the horror of me in a bikini.

I'm glad you're feeling a bit better, though.

[corwin77.livejournal.com]

Aw baby there MUST be something wrong with my eyes 'cause they see nothing but hotness when they look at you!

[misslynx.livejournal.com]

I second this. And my eyes are basically OK, except for the astigmatism, myopia and presbyopia. And the contacts fix all that. Mostly. :-)

[laughingimp.livejournal.com]

[sabotabby]

That is horrifying. Also the main problem is that my body is not like her body and would not fit into that at all.

[laughingimp.livejournal.com]

I was actually going for horrifying, so that worked out well.

As for the rest, yeah I get it, though I think you're lovely nonetheless.

[sabotabby]

I get self-conscious about my figure but I don't think it's entirely awful. This said, a bikini like that would not cover or support my boobs in any way and would look terrible.

[laughingimp.livejournal.com]

The "economy of sex" article makes my head asplode. As an unmarried, polyamorous, gay ally, I don't even know where to start. The heteronormative marriage-as-socially-correct-finish-line argument is squicky, to say nothing of the sex-as-currency logic.

Honestly, this all smells like The Rules to me, and if a potential partner started talking like this, I think that would be the end of it.

[sabotabby]

I...just don't understand. I admit that I often take a dark view of human nature, but I'm positively Pollyannaish in comparison to this line of thinking.

[(Anonymous)]

LOL Washington Times. The article forgot to include the economics of moonie mass weddings officiated by God himself, aka the owner of Washington Times.

And is it just me, or was that a whole article about research by economists and there was no mention of how economics might have something to do with the subject matter?

Come to think of it, there really wasn't any sex in it, either.

[smhwpf.livejournal.com]

The first article is such a brilliant (as in -ly awful) example of how (Neoclassical) economists think. They say:

"Sex. How can we understand it economically? Well, it seems all very complicated, so we need some simplifying assumptions. So, what are the 'stylized facts' about sex? 1) Men want lots of it, and don't want commitment 2) Women have some desire for it but much less, and they do want commitment. Of course, these are oversimplifications, but it should make for a nice, efficient, elegant model. Throw in the assumption of rationality for all parties, and we're done!"

[sabotabby]

Exhibit A in Why Neoclassical Economists Never Get Laid.

[smhwpf.livejournal.com]

Remarkably they do. I guess they just write that shit while they're at work 'cos that's the job, and then leave it aside when they go home.

Now anyone who actually tried to apply Neoclassical economics to their life would definitely never get laid. Or have any sort of healthy human interaction of any kind.

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

Isn't compartmentalization awesome?

[cupric-acetate.livejournal.com]

I think I read a version of that economy of sex article on the spearhead once.

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

So let's have some fun with economics, shall we?

Why are these economists treating sex as a binary? Do they honestly believe that all sex is created equal? This despite acknowledging the importance of branding and positive reviews by satisfied customers in other areas of production.

...OK, I can't keep this up. The article starts with the underlying basic assumption that women get nothing at all out of sex. It doesn't even begin to examine the question of *why* men desire sex (other than the implicit "they wantssss it!").

Next time I run into a neoclassical economist, I'll ask them to chart the value exchange dynamics in an orgy and watch their little brain explode.

[sabotabby]

Please do this. And document it.

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

I refrained from even mentioning the idea of non-heteronormative sexual "exchanges," because I suspect mentioning the idea to these worthy academics would result in blank looks and nothing more.

[laughingimp.livejournal.com]

What's Neoclassical-speak for, "we left that out because it's icky"?

[ironed_orchid]

I love that video.

I get so many people asking how they can volunteer, and then when I say they can work in the shop or stuff envelopes in the office, they say they mean overseas volunteering... which just, no. So I give them a website of a govt. program which is overseas holidays with a volunteering aspect.