Censorship's Trial Balloons - What happens when wartime news gets censored? By Liam Callanan
During World War II, over 1,000 hydrogen filled balloons reached the US mainland, carrying assorted explosive charges. The balloons floated so far inland that some of them reached Suburban Detroit.
Due to US Military censorship of the press, only one story about this was published, and even today most Americans never knew it happened. As a matter of fact the History textbook I used in high school stated that Japanese forces and bombs never reached US soil.
One reason this is troubling is the fact that one of the bombs killed a group of children.
May 5, [1945] the Rev. Archie Mitchell and his pregnant wife, Elsie, took a group of children from his church on an outing to Oregon's Gearhart Mountain. Mitchell let the kids out of the car before he went off to park. His wife got out, too, to supervise. Mitchell found a spot up the road and pulled over. As he was getting out, he saw his charges clustered around a large white object on the forest floor. One of the kids tugged at it.
The bomb exploded, killing all the children and Mrs. Mitchell. They were the only fatalities on the U.S. mainland due to enemy action during World War II
In other words, had these people known about the bombs, they would have known to avoid them. Not knowing what it was resulted in one foolish woman letting a group of children (and herself) get blown to bits.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Friday, June 4, 2004
Study Links Homophobia with Homosexual Arousal
New Study Links Homophobia with Homosexual Arousal
And all this time I've been saying the study was done at the U of M. My bad.
New Study Links Homophobia with Homosexual Arousal
August 1996 Press Release
WASHINGTON -- Psychoanalytic theory holds that homophobia -- the fear, anxiety, anger, discomfort and aversion that some ostensibly heterosexual people hold for gay individuals -- is the result of repressed homosexual urges that the person is either unaware of or denies. A study appearing in the August 1996 issue of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA), provides new empirical evidence that is consistent with that theory.
Researchers at the University of Georgia conducted an experiment involving 35 homophobic men and 29 nonhomophobic men as measured by the Index of Homophobia scale. All the participants selected for the study described themselves as exclusively heterosexual both in terms of sexual arousal and experience.
Each participant was exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual and lesbian videotapes (but not necessarily in that order). Their degree of sexual arousal was measured by penile plethysmography, which precisely measures and records male tumescence.
Men in both groups were aroused by about the same degree by the video depicting heterosexual sexual behavior and by the video showing two women engaged in sexual behavior. The only significant difference in degree of arousal between the two groups occurred when they viewed the video depicting male homosexual sex: 'The homophobic men showed a significant increase in penile circumference to the male homosexual video, but the control [nonhomophobic] men did not.'
Broken down further, the measurements showed that while 66% of the nonhomophobic group showed no significant tumescence while watching the male homosexual video, only 20% of the homophobic men showed little or no evidence of arousal. Similarly, while 24% of the nonhomophobic men showed definite tumescence while watching the homosexual video, 54% of the homophobic men did.
When asked to give their own subjective assessment of the degree to which they were aroused by watching each of the three videos, men in both groups gave answers that tracked fairly closely with the results of the objective physiological measurement, with one exception: the homophobic men significantly underestimated their degree of arousal by the male homosexual video.
Do these findings mean, then, that homophobia in men is a reaction to repressed homosexual urges, as psychoanalysis theorizes? While their findings are consistent with that theory, the authors note that there is another, competing theoretical explanation: anxiety. According to this theory, viewing the male homosexual videotape may have caused negative emotions (such as anxiety) in the homophobic men, but not in the nonhomophobic men. As the authors note, 'anxiety has been shown to enhance arousal and erection,' and so it is also possible that 'a response to homosexual stimuli [in these men] is a function of the threat condition rather than sexual arousal per se. These competing notions can and should be evaluated by future research.'
Article: 'Is Homophobia Associated With Homosexual Arousal?' by Henry E. Adams, Ph.D., Lester W. Wright, Jr., Ph.D. and Bethany A. Lohr, University of Georgia, in Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. 105, No. 3, pp 440-445.
The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington,DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 142,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 49 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 58 state and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare.
And all this time I've been saying the study was done at the U of M. My bad.
New Study Links Homophobia with Homosexual Arousal
August 1996 Press Release
WASHINGTON -- Psychoanalytic theory holds that homophobia -- the fear, anxiety, anger, discomfort and aversion that some ostensibly heterosexual people hold for gay individuals -- is the result of repressed homosexual urges that the person is either unaware of or denies. A study appearing in the August 1996 issue of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA), provides new empirical evidence that is consistent with that theory.
Researchers at the University of Georgia conducted an experiment involving 35 homophobic men and 29 nonhomophobic men as measured by the Index of Homophobia scale. All the participants selected for the study described themselves as exclusively heterosexual both in terms of sexual arousal and experience.
Each participant was exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual and lesbian videotapes (but not necessarily in that order). Their degree of sexual arousal was measured by penile plethysmography, which precisely measures and records male tumescence.
Men in both groups were aroused by about the same degree by the video depicting heterosexual sexual behavior and by the video showing two women engaged in sexual behavior. The only significant difference in degree of arousal between the two groups occurred when they viewed the video depicting male homosexual sex: 'The homophobic men showed a significant increase in penile circumference to the male homosexual video, but the control [nonhomophobic] men did not.'
Broken down further, the measurements showed that while 66% of the nonhomophobic group showed no significant tumescence while watching the male homosexual video, only 20% of the homophobic men showed little or no evidence of arousal. Similarly, while 24% of the nonhomophobic men showed definite tumescence while watching the homosexual video, 54% of the homophobic men did.
When asked to give their own subjective assessment of the degree to which they were aroused by watching each of the three videos, men in both groups gave answers that tracked fairly closely with the results of the objective physiological measurement, with one exception: the homophobic men significantly underestimated their degree of arousal by the male homosexual video.
Do these findings mean, then, that homophobia in men is a reaction to repressed homosexual urges, as psychoanalysis theorizes? While their findings are consistent with that theory, the authors note that there is another, competing theoretical explanation: anxiety. According to this theory, viewing the male homosexual videotape may have caused negative emotions (such as anxiety) in the homophobic men, but not in the nonhomophobic men. As the authors note, 'anxiety has been shown to enhance arousal and erection,' and so it is also possible that 'a response to homosexual stimuli [in these men] is a function of the threat condition rather than sexual arousal per se. These competing notions can and should be evaluated by future research.'
Article: 'Is Homophobia Associated With Homosexual Arousal?' by Henry E. Adams, Ph.D., Lester W. Wright, Jr., Ph.D. and Bethany A. Lohr, University of Georgia, in Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. 105, No. 3, pp 440-445.
The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington,DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 142,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 49 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 58 state and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare.
Wednesday, June 2, 2004
Baby Spam
I think it's crass.
I arrived at work this morning and opened my e-mail. As usual, there was some random clap-trap from corporate. Corporate is a couple thousand miles away, and they still see fit to e-mail us emergency exit maps and other site specific details that no one here gives a damn about.
Today was a little different.
Today we received a SPAM from one of the corporate sales drones asking for help in adopting a child. In addition to the e-mail, she sent an attached Word Document, both of which I've included below.
Notice that I've edited out the personal details. I'm including this for entertainment purposes. I'm pissed off that people I don't know are, for all intents and purposes, SPAMing me for help in adopting a child.
This smacks of desperation, and while I respect the frustration of those who want children and can't conceive on their own, it's inappropriate to SPAM people. Company e-mail is not a venue for baby hunting.
I see nothing wrong with asking your friends and family to help. The material below would be appropriate for a blog, newspaper ad or any other of a number of outlets. The search itself is not the issue, it's sending it to a bunch of people you don't know that pisses me off.
By the way, I've cropped the photos and resized them. The original Word Doc had all the scanned photos in the full 8.5x14 size stright from the wife's scanner, at an obscene resolution.
The E-Mail:
Hello my friends at <CompanyName>, I am reaching out to you after hours in order to minimize the disruption of your day. The reason for this email is personal, but I need your help. My husband, <HusbandName>, and I would like to adopt an infant and we are embarking on a search. We ask you to read the attached letter and keep us in mind if you know of a woman/girl with the desire to give up her, soon to be born, child, for adoption.
If you know of someone, please give her our letter. We also ask that you forward our letter to your U.S. based family and friends as well as churches, schools, doctors and anyone else you think my know of a mother giving up her newborn child, and ask them to, in turn, send this out to their network. And so on.... If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us or respond to this email.
We greatly appreciate your assistance in spreading our story.
Warm regards,
<AttachmentName>
<BrideName>
<CompanyName> - Senior Account Manager
<Second Line of Title>
xxx-xxx-xxxx (office)
xxx-xxx-xxxx (cell)
<e-mail>
<Corporate URL>
The Attachment
Dear Birthmother,
We are XXXXX and XXXXX. We would like to offer a baby a warm and loving home however we are unable to conceive a child of our own. We would love to adopt a baby to start a family and to have the wonderful experience of parenting because we have a great deal of love to share. We have been married for over three years now but have been in a loving relationship for over 10 years. We are both successful career people with Michel working as an investment banker for a financial organization and Laura working in sales for an education organization.
We both come from a very close family environment with each of us having four siblings. We know the value of family so we look forward to raising our child/children in the company of caring aunts and uncles and the fun of 11 cousins. We also continue to enjoy the company of loving parents who are looking forward to the day that we bring a new child into our growing family.
Our home is a four bedroom home and already contains a child’s room complete with murals on the walls and hand painted furniture. Our home is located on a nature preserve so we see an abundance of wildlife through our many windows. You can actually see our home, inside and out, at the following link: http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
We have a very fun neighborhood consisting of 39 families which we are happy to call friends. Our neighborhood is a wonderful place to raise children in that we have over 30 children under the age of 6 living in our neighborhood with more on the way. We live on a cul-de-sac so there is very little traffic. To make this place even better, we are also part of one of the best school districts in the state of Wisconsin.
Vacations are a part of our life including the time share we own in Florida which we look forward to sharing as a family. We also enjoy a great deal of activities together such as Hiking, Kayaking, Traveling, reading, fishing, gardening and cooking…actually Michel does most of the cooking and Laura helps. In addition, Michel also enjoys long distance biking, teaching Spinning classes at the YMCA and watching all types of sporting events and Laura enjoys Yoga and serves as Volunteer Director for various Wisconsin Special Olympics events.
We plan to raise our child in the Christian faith. Since we are both from large families, we hope to eventually bring more than one child into our lives so that our children can feel the happiness and support that siblings can bring into a life.
This is not an easy decision for you and we respect your choice. We know that adoption can be an incredible experience for all involved. Please contact us if you want to talk and thank you for listening.
Medical and legal expenses paid. Please call us anytime at xxx-xxx-xxxx or email us at xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.com.
Warm regards,
xxxxxx & xxxxxx
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