A Collage of Citations

angelashetler:

A new Starbucks in Seattle (via Intermission: A Coffee Shop Made Out of Shipping Crates - Design - GOOD)

I was reminded of this passage today:

BORRADORI: One last question: What are your ideas on heroism?

HABERMAS: The courage, discipline, and selflessness demonstrated by the New York firemen who on September 11 spontaneously put their lives on the line to save others is admirable. But why do they need to be called “heroes”? Perhaps this word has different connotations in American English than it does in German. It seems to me that whenever “heroes” are honored the question arises as to who needs them and why. Even in this looser sense of the term one can understand Bertolt Brecht’s warning: “Pity the land that needs heroes.” (43)

From Philosophy in a Time of Terror

sixpacktrending:

Anonymous says it will take down Facebook on January 28th. Facebook does not ‘like’ this.

Edit: CNet includes an update quoting a Tweet from AnonOps that this video is not associated with Anonymous.

Cynthia Nixon recently gave a speech and then a follow-up interview about being gay as being a choice. She’s onto something that the gay mainstream doesn’t seem to get. She explains (Huffington Post):

“Why can’t it be a choice? Why is that any less legitimate? It seems we’re just ceding this point to bigots who are demanding it, and I don’t think that they should define the terms of the debate. I also feel like people think I was walking around in a cloud and didn’t realize I was gay, which I find really offensive. I find it offensive to me, but I also find it offensive to all the men I’ve been out with.”

The logic of homophobia demands a closet, demands a psychological or biological etiology for queerness, and mainstream gay activism falls right into this logic (e.g., “born this way”). Instead, we need to fight for autonomy, and the ability to make choices about one’s life.

“Research Paper WIN” (via Research Paper WIN - Funny Facebook Status Messages and Facebook Fails). From the FB comment in the image: “I once chose a research topic that I could later find no support for. So I created a bunch of fake websites with fake authors, and filled them with content that supported my hypothesis. I then cited them in my bibliography, and got an A. The next research paper I did was on verifying things on the internet. My example was my first paper. Luckily, the professor thought it was hilarious.”