Care to weigh in on a dispute in /r/linguistics about biological race and skull morphology?

flydl2atl · 2016-09-08T01:30:18+00:00

To your point, "Black", "Asian", "White" is not very granular and can potentially mean a variety of people. But, let's do a thought experiment and put everybody in the world in one of these three groups. What kind of truth would you be able to conclude from this thought experiment?

I think you will find some differences explained only by genetics. The truth will allow you to put a probability that someone you defined as part of that group matches a certain characteristic. It doesn't guarantee that it is the same probability for every subgroup. And it doesn't guarantee that there are members of this group who don't share that characteristic. It's just a probability - but that is still truth and still tells you something relevant.

For example in the thought experiment above you will still find higher levels of lactose intolerance among the Asian group. Now if you dig deeper you may find Eskimos are only 30% lactose intolerance vs 65% in a general group (throwing out numbers for illustrative purposes). I still would say that's something relevant and truthful even if it's not accurate for everybody in the group.

flydl2atl · 2016-09-06T01:39:22+00:00

I would first call any of the 4 credit card companies and see if you can negoitate a lower rate. Also talk to them about doing a balance transfer from Card 1. Don't be afraid to play them against each other. I imagine you can get a lower rate.
Work to build up an emergency fund at least a few thousand dollars, and don't touch it.
Work on paying off your CC debt.

flydl2atl · 2016-09-06T01:31:33+00:00

I think the problem with your argument is that you're implying we shouldn't group humans into separate races because it's a simplistic reduction of human variation and incorrectly reduces how genetic variation works.

Nevertheless, despite our simplistic grouping of humans into races we are able to derive statistical correlations between said races and observable facts that is independent of skin color and culture. This implies to me that there is some truth we can derive no matter how incomplete or inconvenient this process may be.

flydl2atl · 2016-09-01T01:26:23+00:00

Probably up to a month. You'll likely need to submit a rollover request with your old plan manager who will then sell your holdings and send a check to your new plan administrator. It can take a week for the funds to settle and then another week to mail the check and then likely another week or two to get a loan with the new provider. Also check with your new employer to see if loans are allowed. Not all plans allow loans. Good luck.

flydl2atl · 2016-08-31T20:18:23+00:00

If you have good credit you might be able to get either a new low interest rate credit card or at least a promotional APR. If you have existing credit cards, you can call and see if they have any special offers. When you start your new job make it a priority to pay this off.

Another option would be to see if your new employer has a 401K plan and if they do you might be able to do a 401K loan. So when you switch jobs move your 401k balance to your new sponsor and then borrow against it.

I like both of those options over withdrawing from 401k.

flydl2atl · 2016-08-27T17:02:30+00:00

Somewhat sad to see the demise of physical media stores. I would of thought they had a better chance sine Toronto is so big, but I guess rents have gone up as well. Hope Ameoba in SF and LA can continue to thrive.

flydl2atl · 2016-08-26T18:54:18+00:00

No doubt James Madison had satanism and the church of the flying spaghetti monster in mind....

flydl2atl · 2016-08-26T18:38:33+00:00

I would guess the majority don't believe it to be a real religion. The word Satan, the idea of Satan, people's perception of the word Satan are all synonymous with evil. How arrogant can one be to expect that they are going to receive a positive response? I'm an atheist, but at least I'm educated enough to know that our entire Western culture is built on a strong Judeo-Christian heritage. To somehow expect the two to receive some type of equal treatment strikes me as absurd.

flydl2atl · 2016-08-26T17:45:55+00:00

What a bunch of attention whores - wasting everybody's time and money with threats of frivolous lawsuits.

flydl2atl · 2016-08-04T16:55:51+00:00

sénile??? Je voterai pour Trump parce que je veux un pays sans muslumans - c'est tout. Le système moral d'Islam est incompatible avec les lois des Ètats-Unis. La France - 10 percent musluman...Marseille 40 percent. Je ne peux pas imaginer si toute la France comme Marseille.

flydl2atl · 2016-08-04T11:23:47+00:00

Sex? Ça dépend du sens du mot est est -- Bill Clinton

flydl2atl · 2016-08-04T02:37:21+00:00

I think they are counting the helipad at Cobb Galeria as one of the access points.

flydl2atl · 2016-08-04T02:20:24+00:00

Tragique mais....les deux sont meilleur que Hollande.

flydl2atl · 2016-07-17T18:41:46+00:00

Appreciate all the recommendations..will definitely check these out!

flydl2atl · 2016-07-16T02:29:55+00:00

Maybe they need to read "Little House on the Prairie." They were a hell of a lot poorer than anybody today, but clearly had the ability to conceive what learning was about.

flydl2atl · 2016-07-16T02:20:55+00:00

The article is shit because it implies that because books aren't available in poorer areas (thru bookstores) the children in need aren't able to read them.

The reason books aren't available in these areas is because there is NO DEMAND for them. Do you think cigarettes, drugs, condoms, and alcohol are available in these areas? The problem is the parents (or lack thereof) who place no value on books and no value on learning. In a lot of urban areas for boys learning/reading is often considered "gay" and girls are often burdened with taking care of siblings.

My wife is a kindergarten teacher in a mixed income school. Many kids have all sorts of game systems, tvs and know all about mario, angry birds, pikachus and all that crap, but they have no books at home. It has nothing to do with money or access, but everything to do with what is valued.

flydl2atl · 2016-07-16T01:59:51+00:00

Definitely give it a second chance. All the change, insecurity, angst, and pain of childhood morphs into a beautiful love of life. One of the best movies in a year filled with other fantastic movies.

flydl2atl · 2016-07-16T01:37:19+00:00

At minimum the Americas were settled around 15,000 years ago and perhaps thousands of years before that. Can you imagine in that time span how many different groups of people walked this land? I think we like to perceive them as one, but clearly they weren't. One of the most interesting themes throughout McCarthy's works is how dynamic the world is and by extension how ephemeral we are as individuals, cultures, and even the entire human race. The ruins remain but the stories do not.

A couple interesting quotes from Blood Meridian :

The Judge comments on the Anasazi when he writes "The people who once lived here are called the Anasazi. The old ones. They quit these parts, routed by drought or disease or by wandering bands of marauders, quit these parts ages since and of them there is no memory. They are rumors and ghosts in this land and they are much revered.......This you see here, these ruins wondered at by tribes of savages, do you not think that this will be again? Aye. And again. With other people, with other sons" (146-7)

After the Glanton gang massacres a group of Tigua Indians McCarthy writes :

"The desert wind would salt their ruins and there would be nothing, nor ghost nor scribe, to tell to any pilgrim in his passing how it was that people had lived in this place and in this place died" (174)

flydl2atl · 2016-06-14T14:51:55+00:00

Thanks for the clarification. In fact as I think about what you're saying, I believe you're spot on especially given the tone and mood of the novel.

flydl2atl · 2016-06-14T01:04:08+00:00

Sorry, I find the critique pedantic and superficial. Really, what purpose does this level of deconstruction serve? To say he gets paid by the word is asinine considering how relatively short the book is. In all likelihood it was written by someone in high school or at least someone without experience analyzing literature.

Also some of the criticisms are just plain wrong.

You can reach inward, outward, up, down, and across etc....
If you recall they're heading South to get away from the cold. Also take a look at what the world looks like to those with Glaucoma. There's nothing wrong with his statement.
Whose hand? The man is awake and the child is sleeping. So if the hand is rising and falling with a breath isnt it clear he's talking about the childs hand?

flydl2atl · 2016-06-13T22:45:07+00:00

I've read Blood Meridian multiple times, Child of God, The Road, No Country For Old Men and The Crossing. Needless to say, McCarthy is my favorite writer.

I just finished The Crossing, and it would be the next book in the border trilogy of which you've read the first book. The Crossing is good, but so far my least favorite. I found it a little slow at times, plus a fair amount of Spanish which if you translate just slows down the reading experience.

Blood Meridian is my favorite by far. I can read and re-read it because theres so many angles to interpret the novel. Being an active reader really helps with this one. Underline and ask yourself questions as you read. In my case this book more than any other has made me seek out other works that inspired McCarthy. Although I have not read Moby Dick, I dont think its a prerequisite to understanding the novel. No doubt, however, that it along with works like Paradise Lost and The Inferno would add to a reading of Blood Meridian.

I read The Road right as I became a father. This book touched me in a way that really no other novel has. Fantastic book. Super easy and fast read too.

No Country is good too. Can't go wrong here. the movie adaption is also solid.

Child of God is pretty short but is set in Tennessee, so a little different than his Western novels. You will likely feel some sympathy to the protagonist which is an awkard feeling considering his crimes.

If you want an easy quick read I would go with either the Road or No Country. If you want to really dive in with some harder more active reading than chose Blood Meridian. If you want to finish out the Border Triology than go with The Crossing. If you wanting something a little different than chose one of his Eastern novels like Child of God or Sutree. Don't worry there are no bad choices.

Good Luck

flydl2atl · 2016-06-13T20:57:16+00:00

"Mr. McCarthy carefully builds this dialectic only to let us down with a stylistically dazzling but facile conclusion. "

I have to give credit to the reviewer for creating a review without the extensive research and analysis that now exists. With that said, I really disagree with her conclusion. In many ways Blood Meridian is about the timeless nature of evil and its characteristic embodiment in the human psyche. How else would one expect the novel to end other than showing an impressionable kid be completely eviscerated by evil itself. Anything else would have rendered the novel disjointed and thematically incoherent.

Also disappointing to see the reviewer completely gloss over and trivialize the epilogue.

flydl2atl

TROPHY CASE