Well, fine, as long as you never need any help whatsoever... Geez! (Seriously, the clerks have a better memory than you, and better sorting skills than Google. Otherwise, find a different bookstore.)
I'll point out again that anything "indy" you order off Amazon is going to cost you more, if they actually carry it.
Amazon gives you a list of great books? *boggle*
Yeah, they have "lists", but that's not the same thing. I find their book-chosing skills leave something to be desired. That's one thing store help can give much more accurately. "Oh, you liked X? You'll like Y." You hated P? You'll also hate Q." Or maybe you just like wasting your time reading through Amazon reviews?
I used the aerobics book as an example of something odd you might have wanted that you wouldn't have known existed otherwise. If you don't like it, fine, substitute the latest "raw foods" cookbook or something else.
Oh, and congratulations on having such an excellent social life that you don't need any other community institutions.
Just don't come whining to me when the book you want isn't being carried by mega-stores because someone decided you shouldn't read it. Oh, but wait, censorship never happens in America! You can always trust $$$ and the government to know what you should be reading!
It should be obvious that isn't compeletely true. Unless you live somewhere that isn't graced by an independant bookstore, making your bookstore *-mart or your grocery store, let me tell you what makes your local bookstore better:
* Service "I want that book with the upside-down dog on the cover." Can you search for that on Amazon? I know people who have worked in the book biz for a while, and the things they can pull out of a badly-remembered-bookname can make your head spin. "I think it had a green cover and was published in the 80s." Can't do that on Amazon.
* Selection. Are you serious here? There's a small bookstore down the street (Valencia Street Books) that I'm associated with. The owner has hand-picked all the books herself. No stupid diet books or books on "how to snag a guy in 10 days". Just books that don't suck. Do you really want to have to wade through all the stupid books out there just to find things like Punk Rock Aerobics"?
Sure she doesn't have much of a tech section, but only specialty bookstores do. Ditto for math/science type stuff. But this being San Francisco, all of those exist.
* Convenience? I can walk two blocks, cruise the "new releases" section and "books we like" section, plonk down some cash and walk out. No wait time for shipping, etc.
* Romantic idea? Sure! Where else to cruise for hot babes? Perfect for geeks!
* Price? Well, yes and no. For the latest thriller, sure. For something from an independant publisher though, you'll pay more than if you'd special ordered it through a local bookstore. Plus there's always shipping.
Note: In corporate bookstores, publishers pay to have their books carried and displayed. In independant bookstores, they can't do that. Now do you want corporations to choose what you read? Take Wal-mart and their refusal to carry "indecent" books like America (because of photoshopped/gimpped naked Supreme Court Judges). Independants will always have wacky things like the SF-local Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man and not give a fuck about offending someone, while still carrying their favorite classic kid's books (Ferdinand, This is San Francisco).
And does it really need saying that the workers are cuter? (Chalk it up to those lax dress codes!) Or maybe you prefer the old ladys of Wal-mart? I suppose if you're asocial than Amazon is for you, but honestly, you might as well practice those social skills and ask the lovely lady at the counter out. She'll turn you down nicely.
"I'm arriving on train #230386 at 16:00."
Damn useful in Europe.
(Now can I convince my European friends to SMS/me/? They don't seem to know what an international one would cost to send...)
I never saw any quotas for tenure-granting in the hard sciences at my school. After all, there's only so many women out there to hire in the first place! Its a little hard to have "quotas" when you have such a small sample size. It was more like "token".
Unless it was a 1.5% quota! I can't see anyone complaining about that. Especially not some guy who can barely write English.
There's some islands that people like to vacation to that aren't much above sea level. If the ocean rises a little bit, they are out of a place to live. And their way of life, everything.
It is a simple cold fact - repeat after me: women are not as proficient in many kinds of abstract thinking. Just like males are not proficient in any other kind thinking.
I'd love to see your cites for this.
And cites on quotas actually existing and being used to deny a male tenure. I have a hard time believing either.
Oh, he can say it, he'd just be very careful how. The fact that he's refusing to release transcripts of what he actually did say makes me rather disinclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Heh, I'm even less charitable towards him after seeing the Harvard tenure stats. (Anyone care to provide a cite?) I figure tenure granting is more subjective in the humanities.
Great! Now I'm a "moaning bitch"! How about next time you see one of your female scientist friends, try asking them if they can truly say they've never run into any subtle or overt discouragement in the science world.
Except for Harvard presidents, much of it is subtle. (Some is logistics: the tenure vs. children problem.) And a lot of it takes place early on in high school or before. You get to deal with different shit in college. Its not/that/ bad, granted. But apparently it gets worse later on, whee! (Try tenure fights!)
Yes! I second AC's response of BBC & Al-J. You'll at least read different viewpoints and can do that thinking thing where you put the pieces together.
If you have a country you like, go looking for one of their big newspapers and then see if they have it in translation. You can learn a lot about their culture that way, plus your own as you see how they view you.
For example, Der Spiegel (The Mirror) is a German newsmagazine, but they have an English website and daily email service. Note that I didn't link to their main page, but to what I found to be some interesting commentary...
Indymedia is another source for underreported and off-beat items.
Well, you were the one claiming to be pissed that she couldn't do pullups. Well, now she has the means to do so! That is quite different from saying "women never/shouldn't/aren't-able-to do pullups/math" vs. "they can" or at least "can try".
Discouragement is the real issue here. And that is where the sexism comes in. Whether it is at work (promotions) or at home (Who does the housework?).
There's this book,High and Mighty
Here's one synopsis and review.
Which includes information like:
SUV buyers tend to be "insecure and vain. They are frequently nervous about their marriages and uncomfortable about parenthood. They often lack confidence in their driving skills. Above all, they are apt to be self-centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors and communities."
Why should anyone care? Well, because if you own a car, you get shafted. Traditionally car owners pay more in insurance premiums.
"He also proposes that the insurance industry stop shifting the high costs of the SUV dangers onto car owners by raising premium prices for SUVs to reflect the amount of damage they cause."
That isn't true in the USA. At least where I went, once you went through the first year shake-out, women were more likely to stick with math or science as their major. Granted, there was NOWHERE near 50/50 M/F ratio. It was more like 1 female for every 10 men.
How many went to grad school? I don't know. I doubt that if you went through all that work that they'd be willing to completely dump a postdoc, though. Downgrade, yes. Quit? Ouch.
I can tell you that I'm less likely to apply to Harvard for grad school now!
What an/interesting/ idea. Let's see: My senior year of physics, the men were too stupid to ask questions. Let's rephrase: when something wasn't clear, it usually was one of the few women who would actually speak up and get it clarified. Which was rather important, because these weren't easy classes and not everything in the textbooks.
I'm pretty sure most of the women that year were also near the top of the class. Interestingly enough, they also tended to be flamboyant femmes. At least much more so than past years.
Although any of them, from any year, would kick your ass if you criticized them just for the hell of it. I never saw any "crying temper tantrums". They'd also kick your ass if you told them "sexism doesn't exist". Wanna come over here so I can kick your ass?
Nope, because I don't have a bush/kerry sign in my yard. Frankly I do not understand how anyone who is even halfway informed can actually support either of these two.
Let's see, next prez will probably pick half the Supreme Court. Yeah, that might have some effect on your life if you live in the USA.
Even moreso: Their appeleate judge picks (they hear more cases and also have seats for life)
If you read the news, you'd know that Bush's picks were so bad, the Democrats have had to fillibuster. Pretty impressive considering how much they've rolled over and played dead for much of the last four years.
Carrying a baby to term involves all sorts of stuff. You have to watch what you eat, your health, not smoke, or drink, etc. Easy enough so far. Except you also might have to go off antidepressants or some other medication to decrease risk of birth defects. And if you don't get enough folic acid in those first few weeks, bad things happen. Suddenly you have to worry more about lead in your fish, and other enviromental poisioning.
"Just have the kid." It sounds so simple, but has so much responsibility. And if you mess up, you mess up big.
If you want to adopt, go grab one of the unwanted kids from one of the orphanages in any 3rd world country. Don't ask me to have a baby for you. Geez. And if you feel that strongly about it, maybe you should donate money to hunger relief.
Slashdot Mirror
I'll point out again that anything "indy" you order off Amazon is going to cost you more, if they actually carry it.
Amazon gives you a list of great books? *boggle*
Yeah, they have "lists", but that's not the same thing. I find their book-chosing skills leave something to be desired. That's one thing store help can give much more accurately. "Oh, you liked X? You'll like Y." You hated P? You'll also hate Q." Or maybe you just like wasting your time reading through Amazon reviews?
I used the aerobics book as an example of something odd you might have wanted that you wouldn't have known existed otherwise. If you don't like it, fine, substitute the latest "raw foods" cookbook or something else.
Oh, and congratulations on having such an excellent social life that you don't need any other community institutions.
Just don't come whining to me when the book you want isn't being carried by mega-stores because someone decided you shouldn't read it. Oh, but wait, censorship never happens in America! You can always trust $$$ and the government to know what you should be reading!
Yeah, why bother to exercise it? Veal eaters will be thrilled.
p.s. I'm semi-vegetarian for ecological reasons. (Health reasons cause me to eat organic meat when I indulge.)
* Service "I want that book with the upside-down dog on the cover." Can you search for that on Amazon? I know people who have worked in the book biz for a while, and the things they can pull out of a badly-remembered-bookname can make your head spin. "I think it had a green cover and was published in the 80s." Can't do that on Amazon.
* Selection. Are you serious here? There's a small bookstore down the street (Valencia Street Books) that I'm associated with. The owner has hand-picked all the books herself. No stupid diet books or books on "how to snag a guy in 10 days". Just books that don't suck. Do you really want to have to wade through all the stupid books out there just to find things like Punk Rock Aerobics"?
Sure she doesn't have much of a tech section, but only specialty bookstores do. Ditto for math/science type stuff. But this being San Francisco, all of those exist. * Convenience? I can walk two blocks, cruise the "new releases" section and "books we like" section, plonk down some cash and walk out. No wait time for shipping, etc.
* Romantic idea? Sure! Where else to cruise for hot babes? Perfect for geeks!
* Price? Well, yes and no. For the latest thriller, sure. For something from an independant publisher though, you'll pay more than if you'd special ordered it through a local bookstore. Plus there's always shipping.
Note: In corporate bookstores, publishers pay to have their books carried and displayed. In independant bookstores, they can't do that. Now do you want corporations to choose what you read? Take Wal-mart and their refusal to carry "indecent" books like America (because of photoshopped/gimpped naked Supreme Court Judges). Independants will always have wacky things like the SF-local Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man and not give a fuck about offending someone, while still carrying their favorite classic kid's books (Ferdinand, This is San Francisco).
And does it really need saying that the workers are cuter? (Chalk it up to those lax dress codes!) Or maybe you prefer the old ladys of Wal-mart? I suppose if you're asocial than Amazon is for you, but honestly, you might as well practice those social skills and ask the lovely lady at the counter out. She'll turn you down nicely.
"I'm arriving on train #230386 at 16:00." Damn useful in Europe. (Now can I convince my European friends to SMS /me/? They don't seem to know what an international one would cost to send...)
I've often thought that Harvey Mudd and University of Chicago ought to prank each other.
Yeah, there are shooting ranges that advertise in San Francisco papers. So you drive to the valley, no problem!
I never saw any quotas for tenure-granting in the hard sciences at my school. After all, there's only so many women out there to hire in the first place! Its a little hard to have "quotas" when you have such a small sample size. It was more like "token".
Unless it was a 1.5% quota! I can't see anyone complaining about that. Especially not some guy who can barely write English.
It all depends on where you live...
There's some islands that people like to vacation to that aren't much above sea level. If the ocean rises a little bit, they are out of a place to live. And their way of life, everything.
Opps.
Naw, just a chair-bound geek. :>
I'd love to see your cites for this.
And cites on quotas actually existing and being used to deny a male tenure. I have a hard time believing either.
Oh, he can say it, he'd just be very careful how. The fact that he's refusing to release transcripts of what he actually did say makes me rather disinclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Heh, I'm even less charitable towards him after seeing the Harvard tenure stats. (Anyone care to provide a cite?) I figure tenure granting is more subjective in the humanities.
Wow, if that isn't flamebait, I don't know what is.
Great! Now I'm a "moaning bitch"! How about next time you see one of your female scientist friends, try asking them if they can truly say they've never run into any subtle or overt discouragement in the science world.
/that/ bad, granted. But apparently it gets worse later on, whee! (Try tenure fights!)
Except for Harvard presidents, much of it is subtle. (Some is logistics: the tenure vs. children problem.) And a lot of it takes place early on in high school or before. You get to deal with different shit in college. Its not
If you have a country you like, go looking for one of their big newspapers and then see if they have it in translation. You can learn a lot about their culture that way, plus your own as you see how they view you.
For example, Der Spiegel (The Mirror) is a German newsmagazine, but they have an English website and daily email service. Note that I didn't link to their main page, but to what I found to be some interesting commentary...
Indymedia is another source for underreported and off-beat items.
Well, you were the one claiming to be pissed that she couldn't do pullups. Well, now she has the means to do so! That is quite different from saying "women never/shouldn't/aren't-able-to do pullups/math" vs. "they can" or at least "can try".
Discouragement is the real issue here. And that is where the sexism comes in. Whether it is at work (promotions) or at home (Who does the housework?).
Why should anyone care? Well, because if you own a car, you get shafted. Traditionally car owners pay more in insurance premiums.
"He also proposes that the insurance industry stop shifting the high costs of the SUV dangers onto car owners by raising premium prices for SUVs to reflect the amount of damage they cause."
Still, it isn't normal (or rather, shouldn't be) to use those differences as justification for discriminatory policies.
/. thread: "Women suck because they don't do math/science."
Which, sadly, it is. Just look at this whole
Gee, I wonder why not? Thanks for the encouragement, guys.
It is harder, but not impossible. I find this quote interesting: "women seem to have an advantage in dry heat."
That isn't true in the USA. At least where I went, once you went through the first year shake-out, women were more likely to stick with math or science as their major. Granted, there was NOWHERE near 50/50 M/F ratio. It was more like 1 female for every 10 men.
How many went to grad school? I don't know. I doubt that if you went through all that work that they'd be willing to completely dump a postdoc, though. Downgrade, yes. Quit? Ouch.
I can tell you that I'm less likely to apply to Harvard for grad school now!
Well hell! So are you cute?
What an /interesting/ idea. Let's see:
My senior year of physics, the men were too stupid to ask questions. Let's rephrase: when something wasn't clear, it usually was one of the few women who would actually speak up and get it clarified. Which was rather important, because these weren't easy classes and not everything in the textbooks.
I'm pretty sure most of the women that year were also near the top of the class. Interestingly enough, they also tended to be flamboyant femmes. At least much more so than past years.
Although any of them, from any year, would kick your ass if you criticized them just for the hell of it. I never saw any "crying temper tantrums". They'd also kick your ass if you told them "sexism doesn't exist". Wanna come over here so I can kick your ass?
Texas already has 5 lane highways. I never noticed an abnormal number of accidents. I don't remember rest stops. Maybe I never stopped?
Is that election incident map for this election? And live?
Do you have a version of it normed for incidents per population? Otherwise, I would expect the populus states to have the most incidents...
Let's see, next prez will probably pick half the Supreme Court. Yeah, that might have some effect on your life if you live in the USA.
Even moreso: Their appeleate judge picks (they hear more cases and also have seats for life)
If you read the news, you'd know that Bush's picks were so bad, the Democrats have had to fillibuster. Pretty impressive considering how much they've rolled over and played dead for much of the last four years.
You must be male?
Carrying a baby to term involves all sorts of stuff. You have to watch what you eat, your health, not smoke, or drink, etc. Easy enough so far. Except you also might have to go off antidepressants or some other medication to decrease risk of birth defects. And if you don't get enough folic acid in those first few weeks, bad things happen. Suddenly you have to worry more about lead in your fish, and other enviromental poisioning.
"Just have the kid." It sounds so simple, but has so much responsibility. And if you mess up, you mess up big.
If you want to adopt, go grab one of the unwanted kids from one of the orphanages in any 3rd world country. Don't ask me to have a baby for you. Geez. And if you feel that strongly about it, maybe you should donate money to hunger relief.