Delicious LiveJournal Links for 7-16-2009

[andrewducker]

• Killings are lowest in 20 years
  Overall crime is down by 5% and violent crime has fallen by 6%, and gun crime has seen a 17% fall. Rape is up, as is burglary and mugging/picking pockets.
  (tags: crime UK)
• Ireland outlaws blasphemy
  Gah!
  (tags: ireland law religion blasphemy)
• Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
  From the people that brought you Pride And Prejudice and Zombies...
  (tags: funny book JaneAusten)
• When people complain about needing a criminal records check before being allowed to work with children
  Get them to read this...
  (tags: Child_abuse children law UK crime)
• X-Men Universe Relationship Map
  Dashed line indicates one of the parties is from an Alternate Universe
  (tags: comics relationships funny comic xmen visualization)
• Just what is a big salary?
  Which tells me the figures on my poll are for people who are paid normal salaries - and doesn't include self-employed people (i.e. contractors and the like). Read the comments - and feel your brain melt!
  (tags: money statistics)
• Researchers use light to move physical objects
  A team of Yale University researchers has discovered a repulsive light force that can be used to control components on silicon microchips, meaning future nanodevices could be controlled by light rather than electricity.
  (tags: light physics science)
• The myth of the chemical cure
  A mental health expert talks about psychiatric drugs and what they really do. Hint - they don't fix you, they put you in an altered state that you may prefer to your natural one.
  (tags: depression bbc psychology drugs serotonin health)

Comments

[bracknellexile.livejournal.com]

I have no real problems with the CRB checks (apart from the sheer number of errors in the database - ~12,000 complaints upheld in the 5 years to the end of 2008). I'd be more worried about the Enhanced-CRB which includes "soft intelligence". Basically if a kid steps up and says, "Sir touched me!", that teacher's career could be over, no matter how unsubstantiated or unproven the allegation.

That's fundamentally flawed IMHO, as per the case of John Pinnington from August 2008.

The myth of chemical cure.

[endless-psych.livejournal.com]

While I believe that drug treatment for many, many mental illnesses is sometimes a lottery, prescription being more of an art then a science, and also have much love for the social model of mental illness... I was gonna use the magic bullet analogy but I see it is used in the article!

I have to say the altered state thing grates a little, its reliant on the "diamond mind" metaphor - I.E. that the brain/personality/whatever is somehow rigid and has a baseline state of sorts. Not that it's subject to frequent change (on a biological level at least, although I would argue that conciousness possibly exists to create certain perceptual illusions that make us believe in a constant "us" - although I have nothing to back that up whatsoever so it's probably just be a random flight of fancy) at least in terms of emotional states.

To try and make the point I'm waffling around everytime we experience an emotion it's an "altered state", everytime we learn something new it pushes something old out of our heads it's an "altered state". To make the arbitary point that drugs alter brain chemistry thus produce an altered state is to my mind, if not an example of, bordering on the naturalistic fallacy.

Although that said I agree with the need for articles like this, despite quibbling over what probably appears to most people to be the minutae, if only to try and address the notion held by the public of mental illness.

[joexnz.livejournal.com]

wait, wolverines the loner and Ironman is the play boy, in theory, though this map throws that toatally on its head
-smirk-

seriously though, i should actually sit down and work my through the x-men universe, though i don't suppose there is a box set

[d-c-m.livejournal.com]

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
From the people that brought you Pride And Prejudice and Zombies...

I can't wait to read it!! Though I did like PPZ because the Bennett daughters kicked so much backside. So I'll be disappointed if this new book doesn't have the heroine doing something fun with a pistol.