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bintshaqra

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hubskier for: 4135 days

recent comments, posts, and shares:
bintshaqra  ·  4131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ask Hubski: What is your new years resolution for 2013?

To take better care of myself. Physically to complete the New Rules of Lifting for Women, which shouldn't be too taxing-I'm a gym rat anyway. Mentally to make sure my last semester at my university is fulfilling, and that I actually try to attend some of the great events offered. Emotionally to learn to appreciate myself, and figure out some self-care. I'm in a position where I have to act as a rock for a lot of people, and it gets taxing.

bintshaqra  ·  4131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Dan White: The economic return of Iceland has proved that the joke was on us

Though it is the business of Greece to keep its populace solvent, which according to some ideologues means its businesses.

I do agree with you , in part. There is a higher up-front cost to doing what Iceland did, but arguably a better long term. But can the same thing happen when you're a part of an economic union like the EU? Greece's decisions, for better or worse (most likely worse), have to happen in the context of the EU. Reforming the EU would be an entirely different discussion, though.

bintshaqra  ·  4131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Experiment: What's YOUR most controversial opinion, Hubski?

I do, usually because it's directed at me in a way to emphasize that the person telling me it thinks that I'm mouthy, stuck-up, and really only valuable for what my vagina has to offer. Hate that word. Ruins my day.

bintshaqra  ·  4131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Experiment: What's YOUR most controversial opinion, Hubski?

"Cis" came into use because when people tried to talk about trans* verses non-trans* people tended to use things like "normal people" which is hurtful and implies trans* people are abnormal, inherently, rather than it being apart of their identity. It's just nomenclature to make discussions more open, and easier.

bintshaqra  ·  4131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Experiment: What's YOUR most controversial opinion, Hubski?

I think capitalism was entirely appropriate, and a great idea in it's historical, socio-political environment. With changing ideas about divine right to rule, etc, etc, I think capitalism was a great way for humanity to push itself into its next age. However, I don't think capitalism is the end-all-be-all and ends up disenfranchising lots of people. I'm interested to see what next economic and political ideologies emerge in the next 100 years or so (or as many as I get to see).

bintshaqra  ·  4131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: ‘US, Russia plunging into new Cold War’

RT.com is a biased source, to be noted, though bias does not mean it can be discounted out of hand. And although I agree that the recent adoption ban is an indication of "colder" relations, it is no cold war. There is no arms race, no fear of militant reprisal.

bintshaqra  ·  4131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski at the Museum: Portraiture

Gustav Klimt! Late 1800s to early 1900s.

Most known for "The Kiss"...

My personal favorite is "Tree of Life" http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UZ2PjTGp_E8/TgIgw1R7eQI/AAAAAAAABA...

bintshaqra  ·  4131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Joshua Lewis: Rethinking the value of Scrabble tiles

My brother is destroying me in WordsWithFriends because I cannot, for the life of me, remember the two letter words. This would be a welcome change.

bintshaqra  ·  4131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What Makes You Happy?

Start with squares (scarves, dish rags, etc), work into circles (hats), and then into squares plus circles (gloves, socks). Get a book that does a good progression into those kinds of projects. Best way to find what you want would be to go into that knitting shop and browse! It's not hard, just a steep learning curve, and an ability to be okay with everything looking cruddy the first time, and better the next :-)

bintshaqra  ·  4131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What Makes You Happy?

The only image I have of my handknits is my current project. () ...Meaning I did it today haha. I'm speeding through a basic set of dishrags for my ma while I'm home for the holidays. I just "bind off" this one, and will finish it (sew in the ends) soon. I plan to have a pile of them soon. Only takes a few hours to do one.

bintshaqra  ·  4131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What Makes You Happy?

Haha I am not one to believe in fate, but an excellent coincidence. Yarn shops sometimes have knitting circles or workshops too. Good luck with it!

I really enjoyed this. I would agree with other posters, saying it was more of a documentary than an article. It did get a little too broad for me, though, and I felt like the point got lost in all of the information. Also, what about the value of imagination that is so vital and enriching about reading!

When I first read Extremely Loud and Incredible Close, I was shocked that you could do that with a book. Definitely enriching, and changed the experience of reading. I can see this being a huge addition to the informational experience.

Edit: I had to turn off ghostery to see it. Boo.

bintshaqra  ·  4131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What are your top 5 books?

100%. His ability to write perspectives and characters in that book, besides an incredibly evolving plot, wowed me.

bintshaqra  ·  4131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What Makes You Happy?

Do it! There is an incredible wealth of resources online. I like Knitting Help for the basics. Lots of good books too. [Ravelry](www.ravelry.com) is the go-to for patterns.

If you search for male knitters on google you'll find plenty of sites and communities for the dudefolk too.

Happy knitting!

bintshaqra  ·  4133 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What are your top 5 books?

All of these books have some kind of a magical realism, or post-modernism element. So if you're not into it I would skip over this list. 1) As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner 2) The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien 3) The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy 4) The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie 5) One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

bintshaqra  ·  4133 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What Makes You Happy?

Haha not at all! I like "Stitch 4 Life," which is a partnership between knitting circles and area hospitals, but I don't think that extends beyond where I am. You can always check in with your local hospital, though. Lion brand yarn also has a way to find charities in your area.

bintshaqra  ·  4133 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What Makes You Happy?

Well, my hobbies do tend to be things I do selfishly, like working out. I do that just for me, and my own well-being. I do love volunteering though, or happen to incorporate my hobbies into giving back. I said I liked knitting, right? Well there are some excellent charities that ask knitters to make hats for cancer patients that I like to donate to occasionally.

bintshaqra  ·  4133 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How do you discover new music?

8tracks.com is my go-to.

bintshaqra  ·  4133 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What Makes You Happy?

Hey, I'm also en route to join the Peace Corps! Go us!

I have personally struggled with depression for 13 years, and am known for not dealing with it in the best ways, unfortunately. My best solution is to do things for the people around me and to feel useful. I'm an RA at my school for first-year women...and it's nuts! It's really draining to be honest, but is so rewarding. I really love helping others, and giving myself a purpose.

I also lift...a lot. And knit. I like hobbies :-)

bintshaqra  ·  4134 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Determinism and Responsibility: Should we be responsible for choices we don't make?

I think the end of the article roots for the "holding individuals accountable" argument. From my perspective, as someone interested in utilitarianism, there's a through experiment that challenges it that is similar in nature to this argument. Utilitarianism, at its most basic, is a moral philosophy that says any decision made should cause the greatest happiness possible. I would highly suggest reading up on it- I could not do the full argument justice.

One challenge to utilitarianism is this one: Well, if we are trying to create the most happiness, think about organ doners. If one person can save seven lives with their bodies, shouldn't we be harvesting that one person to save seven people? Their happiness (and those of their loved ones) will exceed that of the one!

The response is that, well, if we're going around harvesting people, it will create mass panic, and will actually create widespread fear and terror.

This article references the experiment that people would cheat more when faced with the idea of determinism. Although you cannot try to expand this to the entire population...you kind of have to haha. Without repercussions there was cheating. What would this mean for all of society? In the thought experiment harvesting organs first seems like the "greater good," but it causes terror. This may not seem similar to some people, and I'm happy to hear better (much better) analogies than I can come up with, but it seems similar to me. We need some kind of repercussions to avoid chaos, at least for the short term. I'm not sure what the long term affects of not holding people accountable would be...but I know I would not want to be around for the short term.

bintshaqra  ·  4134 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Where are/did you going to college?

Awesome! Make sure you check out the Aresty research center. They have great year-long research opportunities for psych students to apply for.

bintshaqra  ·  4134 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What are your most trusted and least trusted news sources?

I love NPR, Al Jazeera English, BBC, NYTimes, and Politico for my daily news binge. Stuff like Foreign Policy for longer articles and more depth.

I really, actually, like reading things like RT or even press.ir. You can't interpret a lot of it as the same level as BBC or NYT, but works as a great way to see what certain government's policies are, how they are relating it to their citizens, and sometimes will show you things you wouldn't see otherwise. Al Jazeera sometimes falls prey to being silent on Saudi indiscretions (via it's Qatari roots), so press.ir was showing much more footage from Bahrain's uprisings last year. I do not check them often, or would ever quote them, but it's usefully to look at them from time to time.

bintshaqra  ·  4134 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Where are/did you going to college?

Rutgers! Finishing up my last semester as a PoliSci/African Area Studies/Arabic major. Love it here.