Sunday, October 31, 2010


Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1999 Dec;77(6):1121-34.
Kruger J, Dunning D.
Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-7601, USA. jkruger@s.psych.uiuc.edu


Abstract
People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error. Paradoxically, improving the skills of participants, and thus increasing their metacognitive competence, helped them recognize the limitations of their abilities.

Maturity Mountain

Saturday, October 30, 2010


Fear is a joke. Sanity restored!

Sunday, October 24, 2010


Analysis: Basque history

By Daniel Schweimler
Madrid 1999/12/06 13:16:31 GMT
--bbc.co.uk--


The Basques have been fighting to protect their language and culture for thousands of years. They are fiercely proud of their history.
They have been occupying their corner of Europe with its lush, green valleys and rugged coastline, since well before Roman times.

No-one knows where they came from. Their language, known as Euskera, has no clear links with any other known language and was spoken long before all of the Indo-European languages in the rest of Europe.
The protection and promotion of Euskera has always been at the heart of the Basque struggle.

Since the return of democracy in Spain following General Franco's death in 1975, Euskera has been thriving.

About 30% of the 2.5 million Basque people speak it and more than 90% of Basque children are now enrolled in Euskera schools.

Radio and television stations broadcast in the language. There are Basque newspapers and a growing number of internationally renowned writers, such as Bernardo Atxaga, whose works have been translated into Castillian Spanish, English, German and French.

Throughout history, Basques have developed a reputation as fierce defenders of their territory - against Romans, Vikings, Visigoths, Muslims and others.

Many invaders have chosen to by-pass the region. When they have managed to put down roots, the Basques have negotiated and learned from them, but have never mixed too much or risked becoming integrated.

From the Middle Ages onwards, they developed a reputation as formidable fishermen and have built boats which have taken them great distances in search of whales and cod.

Sailed with Columbus

There is some evidence that Basques landed in North America hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus.

It was Basque sailors who made up the bulk of Columbus's crew.

Basque men wear their large berets with pride. It is a hat which was first worn in the Basque region and then exported to France and beyond.

They are are also recognised as the best cooks in Spain for their simple fish dishes and interesting cakes.

In the heart of the Basque country, there are 75 gastronomic societies in the city of San Sebastian alone.

They hold feasts and sometimes march through the streets. These occasions are so important that the mayor is expected to eat at all of them at least once a year.

There is also a rich vein of Basque music and storytelling. Public storytelling sessions are still held in many rural towns and villages.

Loyola - a famous Basque

Basques have always been known as a fiercely religious people. So it is no surprise that one of the most radical and disciplined religious orders, the Jesuits, was founded by a Basque, Ignatius Loyola, in 1534.

Originally a solider, while recovering from a serious war wound he began reflecting on his life and reading about the saints.

He studied in Paris where he founded the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits.

It had originally been intended as a missionary order. Instead, it went on to spearhead the Counter-Reformation, inspiring respect for its missionary work but fear for its often ruthless defence of its disciplined beliefs.

Fought against Franco

The Basques had been some of the fiercest opponents of Franco's Nationalist troops during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.

One of Franco's most hated opponents, Dolores Ibárruri - known as La Pasionaria or the Passionate One for her inspiring speeches - came from a working-class family in Bilbao.

Picasso immortalised the bombing of the Basque town, Guernika, by Franco's German allies. The painting now hangs in a museum in Madrid.

During Franco's 40-year rule, he punished the region for its opposition. He declared two provinces "traitor provinces."

Franco believed in one, unified Spain and opposed any kind of regional diversification.

He banned the speaking of Euskera in public and ensured that there was little economic investment in the region.

ETA is born

Franco, like many before him, had found it difficult to suppress this proud nation and the movement for an independent Basque homeland began in the late 1950s.

The separatist group, ETA, began its violent campaign 10 years later.

While support for an independent homeland remains strong, it is by no means overwhelming. Many Basques are happy with the large degree of autonomy they have been granted by the central government in Madrid.

While still a long way from reaching any kind of long term political solution and establishing a permanent peace, it is clear that the Basque language and culture are enjoying a resurgence and that the Basque nation is as strong and vibrant now as it has ever been.

Sunday, October 17, 2010


The best of man is like water,
Which benefits all things, and does not contend with them,
Which flows in places that others disdain,
Where it is in harmony with the Way.

So the sage:
Lives within nature,
Thinks within the deep,
Gives within impartiality,
Speaks within trust,
Governs within order,
Crafts within ability,
Acts within opportunity.

He does not contend, and none contend against him.

-- TaoTeChing.org--

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Friday, October 15, 2010



A company hired by the state of Pennsylvania has spied on left-wing, antiwar and student groups.
Brian Lenzo Last Modified: 12 Oct 2010 14:25 GMT --aljazeera--



The US peace group "Peace of the Action" has discovered documents showing that it and many other organisations have been under surveillance for many months by a private agency called the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response (ITRR).

Founded by antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan, Peace of the Action has focused on opposing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by pressuring legislators and organising demonstrations and civil disobedience actions at visible places around Washington DC.
(cont...)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Monday, October 11, 2010




Is homophobia associated with homosexual arousal?
Adams HE, Wright LW Jr, Lohr BA.
Abnorm Psychol. 1996 Aug;105(3):440-5.


Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens 30602-3013, USA.
Abstract
The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men who admitted negative affect toward homosexual individuals. Participants consisted of a group of homophobic men (n = 35) and a group of nonhomophobic men (n = 29); they were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores on the Index of Homophobia (W. W. Hudson & W. A. Ricketts, 1980). The men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored. They also completed an Aggression Questionnaire (A. H. Buss & M. Perry, 1992). Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.

PMID: 8772014 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (cont...)

static : pulse from Samuel Cockedey on Vimeo.

inter // states from Samuel Cockedey on Vimeo.


Kyrgyz head for coalition rule
With 90 per cent of ballots counted, the nationalist Ata Zhurt party leads, but has just 8.7 per cent of the total vote. --aljazeera.com--
Last Modified: 11 Oct 2010 11:56 GMT



Five parties have passed the threshold to win seats in Kyrgyzstan's new parliament after an election aimed at shifting the strategic Central Asian nation away from authoritarian rule.

Holding a narrow lead with 93 per cent of the votes counted is Ata Zhurt, whose members include former colleagues of Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the ousted president. The Central Election Commission on Monday emphasized that the results are not final.

But with just 8.69 per cent of the share of the vote, the nationalist party would be unable to govern on their own as Kyrgyzstan attempts to form Central Asia's first parliamentary democracy.

The Social Democratic Party, which supports the interim government, was close behind Ata Zhurt on 8.09 per cent, while the pro-Moscow Ar-Namys party of ex-prime minister Felix Kulov was third on 7.48 per cent.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the capital Bishkek, said the election results were "going to be very close" and as a result a "coalition will be formed".

"The preliminary results show that five parties all have a projection of between 20 and 28 seats in the new parliament." (cont...)

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Wednesday, October 6, 2010


Ecuador President Correa Says U.S. `Extreme Right' May Be Behind Protests
By Nathan Gill - Oct 6, 2010
--bloomberg.com--


The “extreme right” in the U.S. may be behind recent protests in Ecuador and may have provided financial support to opposition political parties trying to destabilize the government, President Rafael Correa said.

The Obama administration, which supported Correa and called for an end to violence during a Sept. 30 police uprising, had nothing to do with the protests, Correa told reporters today at the presidential palace in Quito. The government has no evidence of ties between the protesters and U.S. groups and hasn’t accused any specific organization of involvement, Correa said.

Ecuador, South America’s seventh-biggest economy, remains under a state of emergency after police demonstrating against wage cuts trapped the president in a hospital for several hours as they demanded changes to a new public service law. Correa, who said he was the target of a coup attempt, accused former President Lucio Gutierrez and his brother Gilmar’s January 21 Patriotic Society Party, known as PSP, of fomenting the unrest that left eight people dead and 274 injured.

“The Patriotic Society and Gutierrezes are clearly behind this,” Correa told foreign journalists. Non-governmental organizations representing the “extreme right” in the U.S. may be financing opposition political parties and may have been involved in the protests, he said.

Chavez Accusations

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in his Oct. 3 weekly column “The Lines of Chavez,” said the U.S. was behind the failed uprising in Ecuador and that the U.S. administration is supporting coups against an alliance of Latin American left-wing countries, known as the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, or ALBA, which was formed by Chavez to counter U.S. influence in the region.

Gilmar Gutierrez, brother of Lucio Gutierrez and head of the PSP in congress, denied Correa’s accusations, saying the president was trying to eliminate his strongest political opponents.

“The accusations against us are absurd and ridiculous,” Gutierrez said today in a telephone interview from Quito. “They are pursuing innocent people. There wasn’t an attempted coup, this was a simple protest by police.”

No formal charges have been filed against either of the Gutierrez brothers, Gilmar Gutierrez said.

Correa said he will use the “victory” over the opposition to push political and economic reforms in the Andean nation, pledging today to “deepen and radicalize the citizen’s revolution.”

Saturday, October 2, 2010



The Heart Sutra.
Translation by Edward Conze


Homage to the Perfection of Wisdom, the Lovely, the Holy!

Avalokita, The Holy Lord and Bodhisattva, was moving in the deep course of the Wisdom which has gone beyond. He looked down from on high, He beheld but five heaps, and he saw that in their own-being they were empty.

Here, Sariputra, form is emptiness and the very emptiness is form; emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ from emptiness; whatever is form, that is emptiness, whatever is emptiness, that is form, the same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses and consciousness.

Here, Sariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness; they are not produced or stopped, not defiled or immaculate, not deficient or complete.

Therefore, Sariputra, in emptiness there is no form, nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness; No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; No forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or objects of mind; No sight-organ element, and so forth, until we come to: No mind-consciousness element; There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, and so forth, until we come to: there is no decay and death, no extinction of decay and death. There is no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path. There is no cognition, no attainment and non-attainment.

Therefore, Sariputra, it is because of his non-attainment that a Bodhisattva, through having relied on the Perfection of Wisdom, dwells without thought-coverings. In the absence of thought-coverings he has not been made to tremble, he has overcome what can upset, and in the end he attains to Nirvana.

All those who appear as Buddhas in the three periods of time fully awake to the utmost, right and perfect Enlightenment because they have relied on the Perfection of Wisdom.Therefore one should know the prajnaparamita as the great spell, the spell of great knowledge, the utmost spell, the unequalled spell, allayer of all suffering, in truth - for what could go wrong? By the prajnaparamita has this spell been delivered. It runs like this:

Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, O what an awakening, all-hail!