I just about peed myself when I read about this study...
"...conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements."
The Irony of Satire: Political Ideology and the Motivation to See What You Want to See in The Colbert Report
Heather L. LaMarre
The Ohio State University
Kristen D. Landreville
The Ohio State University
Michael A. Beam
The Ohio State University
Abstract
This study investigated biased message processing of political satire in The Colbert Report and the influence of political ideology on perceptions of Stephen Colbert. Results indicate that political ideology influences biased processing of ambiguous political messages and source in late-night comedy. Using data from an experiment (N = 332), we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism. Finally, a post hoc analysis revealed that perceptions of Colbert's political opinions fully mediated the relationship between political ideology and individual-level opinion.
Here's the full article
30 April 2009
26 April 2009
Taming of the beast
Annie is a cutiepie and a generally good dog, however, she has some serious issues that were never addressed. First, she never got accustomed to strangers, since we never really had many people over (because she'd go nuts, thus making it worse because then she never got used to having people over). She also has some aggression towards other dogs. Well, living by myself and not willing to forgo having company over, and also knowing that now that I am the only person, that there's nothing to (ahem) derail the training (i.e. trying to teach a dog not to beg while the other person refuses to stop feeding her from his plate doesn't work).
Also, since some of my neighbors have dogs and I want Annie to have puppy friends, I decided to look into getting a trainer. Well, most trainers who come to your home are far to expensive and I wanted to deal with her issues at home. It just so happens that a friend of a friend is a semi-professional dog trainer (she trained both her dogs and does agility training with one of them) and she lives in my neighborhood. So she is helping me train Annie (I am paying her, of course, but a fraction of what it would cost a "professional" to do housecalls). I am already seeing progress after only 2 weeks.
Both the professional trainer who did an evaluation of Annie back in February and this woman I am working with now said the same thing: Annie is not being aggressive, she's actually quite insecure because she's always been coddled instead of led. She wants to be shown what to do - and when she's anxious about something, the absolute worst thing to do (which is what John and I always did) is to try and "soothe" her.
The first thing that she changed was the walking habits. We had Annie on one of those harnesses that goes around the chest. As it turns out (and this makes perfect sense when I think about it), those harnesses actually ENCOURAGE pulling because they act like a yoke. Those are what sled dogs wear to encourage the pulling behavior. I now have Annie walking on a training (choke) chain. It sounds mean, but I assure you it is not. It's not like I'm actually choking her. It's just a means to keep control of her head - where the head goes, the body follows. And it's not like it's constantly tight - on the contrary - it stays loose unless she needs a correction and then she gets a quick, light tug, and then it goes loose again. She's already learned to walk in the HEEL position (at my side, head by my knees) - something she NEVER did before.
Today, we passed by two anxious dogs - something that would have thrown her into a tizzy a few weeks ago - and I confidently walked right on by, giving a slight jerk to the chain when she went to lunge toward them - she stopped and kept walking while the OTHER dogs kept going nuts. I was in awe of how well she did with that - given that it's been 7 years of exasperation over how to get her to stop lunging after other dogs. We also walked right through a crowd of 5-6 people, something I would have avoided before, and she didn't flinch. One of the guys said "wow, that is one well behaved dog!" and I said "If you only knew!"
We then worked on stranger-danger and doorbells to help desensitize her to the doorbell and get her to see strangers as good things rather than things to be afraid of. From now on, everyone who comes over gets a few small treats to give her and some special instructions on how to act.
It won't be long before she's a much more well behaved and confident doggie.
Also, since some of my neighbors have dogs and I want Annie to have puppy friends, I decided to look into getting a trainer. Well, most trainers who come to your home are far to expensive and I wanted to deal with her issues at home. It just so happens that a friend of a friend is a semi-professional dog trainer (she trained both her dogs and does agility training with one of them) and she lives in my neighborhood. So she is helping me train Annie (I am paying her, of course, but a fraction of what it would cost a "professional" to do housecalls). I am already seeing progress after only 2 weeks.
Both the professional trainer who did an evaluation of Annie back in February and this woman I am working with now said the same thing: Annie is not being aggressive, she's actually quite insecure because she's always been coddled instead of led. She wants to be shown what to do - and when she's anxious about something, the absolute worst thing to do (which is what John and I always did) is to try and "soothe" her.
The first thing that she changed was the walking habits. We had Annie on one of those harnesses that goes around the chest. As it turns out (and this makes perfect sense when I think about it), those harnesses actually ENCOURAGE pulling because they act like a yoke. Those are what sled dogs wear to encourage the pulling behavior. I now have Annie walking on a training (choke) chain. It sounds mean, but I assure you it is not. It's not like I'm actually choking her. It's just a means to keep control of her head - where the head goes, the body follows. And it's not like it's constantly tight - on the contrary - it stays loose unless she needs a correction and then she gets a quick, light tug, and then it goes loose again. She's already learned to walk in the HEEL position (at my side, head by my knees) - something she NEVER did before.
Today, we passed by two anxious dogs - something that would have thrown her into a tizzy a few weeks ago - and I confidently walked right on by, giving a slight jerk to the chain when she went to lunge toward them - she stopped and kept walking while the OTHER dogs kept going nuts. I was in awe of how well she did with that - given that it's been 7 years of exasperation over how to get her to stop lunging after other dogs. We also walked right through a crowd of 5-6 people, something I would have avoided before, and she didn't flinch. One of the guys said "wow, that is one well behaved dog!" and I said "If you only knew!"
We then worked on stranger-danger and doorbells to help desensitize her to the doorbell and get her to see strangers as good things rather than things to be afraid of. From now on, everyone who comes over gets a few small treats to give her and some special instructions on how to act.
It won't be long before she's a much more well behaved and confident doggie.
23 April 2009
Stewed, Screwed, and Tattooed
Today was my first tattoo appointment for my "moving on" project. A lot of people have asked me why I'm doing this now (as in, why is this a priority). It's a psychological priority for me. It is a signifier that I'm moving on with my life, and I just need to do it. Today's appointment lasted less than two hours, since it was just the outline. I'll go back in a couple weeks for the shading. That may take more than one appointment depending on how it goes, since a lot of the area this tattoo covers is very 'mobile' (it's not a stable, flat area like an arm or a leg or a shoulder blade, so it takes a lot of manipulation and small steps to get it right). So here's photos from round 1:
So what's the significance? Ravens are the Celtic bringers of death (which in Celtic terms is not death as we envision it, but a transformation. They signify an ending, but also new beginnings). The raven is standing on, and picking apart a dead, rose.
Before
Here's the stencil
Here we are about an hour into the outlining.
The sides by the ribcage sucked big donkey nuts.
The sides by the ribcage sucked big donkey nuts.
And here's the final outline
So what's the significance? Ravens are the Celtic bringers of death (which in Celtic terms is not death as we envision it, but a transformation. They signify an ending, but also new beginnings). The raven is standing on, and picking apart a dead, rose.
22 April 2009
Pushing boundaries again
So Monday night I had Ethiopian food for the first time ever. I know, I know. I live in a city with a huge African immigrant population and a dozen Ethiopian places and I've never had it. And yes, there was a boy involved. We went to this place in Uptown neighborhood and it was really good. He's a vegetarian, so we shared one of the big vegetarian platters.
I have to say, at first, it looked like an artists palate of different varieties of baby poop (below).
It comes with this spongy bread that you use to scoop up the different stews. Once you get over the consistency (I have consistency issues - but I guess after this, I'll have to give refried beans another go), it's really quite tasty. The spices and vegetables used are very good.
And no, I won't go into any details about the boy quite yet. We'll just say he could be a keeper, but we'll see.
I have to say, at first, it looked like an artists palate of different varieties of baby poop (below).
It comes with this spongy bread that you use to scoop up the different stews. Once you get over the consistency (I have consistency issues - but I guess after this, I'll have to give refried beans another go), it's really quite tasty. The spices and vegetables used are very good.
And no, I won't go into any details about the boy quite yet. We'll just say he could be a keeper, but we'll see.
18 April 2009
Photos n Stuff
So yesterday was a busy, busy day. I presented a piece of my thesis at a Social Justice conference held on my campus. Though my thesis covers a great many topics concerning Afghanistan's reconstruction, yesterday's talk focused on why it is important to include religious education in educational programs in Afghanistan. A synopsis version of the argument is as follows:
1) Islam is a HUGE part of Afghan identity and it is better to engage a population directly, from within their own cultural context, than to try and impose foreign ideas from the top down.
2) Giving Afghans the educational tools necessary to understand for themselves and determine the difference between Islam and Afghan tribal cultural norms will allow women greater freedoms.
Of course, I went into much more detail than that for a 15 minute talk.
During the lunch break I took a walk up to Millennium Park because it was a nice day and I was recently shamed by someone for never having gone there even though I work blocks away. So here's a few photos:
"Cloudgate" Affectionately known as "The Bean"
The first signs of spring in Chicago
Stone Container, Prudential and Standard Oil Building (NO I will NOT call it the Amoco Building OR the AON Center, so fuck off) reflected in "The Bean"
The rest of the conference was OK. It was a small, but well-meaning endeavor and I hope they have more of them. The quality of presentations, overall, was ok. There were some that were really interesting and some that were poorly thought out. But you get that anywhere, and I commend the professor who organized it for encouraging her undergraduate students to present their class research in a professional manner. It's very good experience.
After the keynote addresses, there was a reception. It was a day well spent, IMHO. I got home later than I normally because of the reception, so Annie was doing a full-on pee-pee dance. I took her for a walk, made some dinner, and then later that night went to go visit some friends at their new, monthly Goth/Industrial night at a place in Bucktown.
The turnout was pretty low, but we all had fun anyway. There were only 4 of us on the dancefloor at any given moment, but I didn't care. Only one picture from that - my friend's Newcastle sitting atop a pyramid of shot glasses. They were doing a promotion - free Absinthe shots. Don't worry, it was pretty weak stuff.
1) Islam is a HUGE part of Afghan identity and it is better to engage a population directly, from within their own cultural context, than to try and impose foreign ideas from the top down.
2) Giving Afghans the educational tools necessary to understand for themselves and determine the difference between Islam and Afghan tribal cultural norms will allow women greater freedoms.
Of course, I went into much more detail than that for a 15 minute talk.
During the lunch break I took a walk up to Millennium Park because it was a nice day and I was recently shamed by someone for never having gone there even though I work blocks away. So here's a few photos:
"Cloudgate" Affectionately known as "The Bean"
The first signs of spring in Chicago
Stone Container, Prudential and Standard Oil Building (NO I will NOT call it the Amoco Building OR the AON Center, so fuck off) reflected in "The Bean"
The rest of the conference was OK. It was a small, but well-meaning endeavor and I hope they have more of them. The quality of presentations, overall, was ok. There were some that were really interesting and some that were poorly thought out. But you get that anywhere, and I commend the professor who organized it for encouraging her undergraduate students to present their class research in a professional manner. It's very good experience.
After the keynote addresses, there was a reception. It was a day well spent, IMHO. I got home later than I normally because of the reception, so Annie was doing a full-on pee-pee dance. I took her for a walk, made some dinner, and then later that night went to go visit some friends at their new, monthly Goth/Industrial night at a place in Bucktown.
The turnout was pretty low, but we all had fun anyway. There were only 4 of us on the dancefloor at any given moment, but I didn't care. Only one picture from that - my friend's Newcastle sitting atop a pyramid of shot glasses. They were doing a promotion - free Absinthe shots. Don't worry, it was pretty weak stuff.
10 April 2009
Books & Contemplation
So a friend of mine lent me a book last weekend called "Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia" by Elizabeth Gilbert. I haven't finished it yet, and I'll post a full review after I do.
At first, I thought it was going to be way too 'touchy-feely' for my tastes, and while there are parts where I just roll my eyes and go "ugh," for the most part I like it - and here's why. Except for the obvious differences between the author and myself (like she has the means to travel the world for a year and "find herself"), there are a lot of similarities in our stories. When in her early thirties, she was very unhappy and realized that her marriage wasn't working (because she didn't want kids and her husband did). One thing struck me about her realizations about children (contemplations that I had with myself several years ago when I finalized my decision that I did not want kids) that I'd like to share in an excerpt here because they are so eerily similar to the thoughts I had - which were, themselves, an attempt to reconcile social pressures/expectations/assumptions vs. what I really wanted for myself. Also, her experience of divorce (though hers the typical contended, bitter rivalry and mine totally not) have their similarities as well:
Those last two lines especially resonate with me. Because, let's face it, I didn't expect to be where I am right now 10 or even 2 years ago - but here I am. The best I can do is live my own life as best I can, and be true to myself.
At first, I thought it was going to be way too 'touchy-feely' for my tastes, and while there are parts where I just roll my eyes and go "ugh," for the most part I like it - and here's why. Except for the obvious differences between the author and myself (like she has the means to travel the world for a year and "find herself"), there are a lot of similarities in our stories. When in her early thirties, she was very unhappy and realized that her marriage wasn't working (because she didn't want kids and her husband did). One thing struck me about her realizations about children (contemplations that I had with myself several years ago when I finalized my decision that I did not want kids) that I'd like to share in an excerpt here because they are so eerily similar to the thoughts I had - which were, themselves, an attempt to reconcile social pressures/expectations/assumptions vs. what I really wanted for myself. Also, her experience of divorce (though hers the typical contended, bitter rivalry and mine totally not) have their similarities as well:
Getting out of a marriage is rough, though, and not just for the legal/financial complications or the massive lifestyle upheaval (As my friend Deborah once advised me wisely: "Nobody ever died from splitting up furniture.") It's the emotional recoil that kills you, the shock of stepping off the track of a conventional lifestyle and losing all the embracing comforts that keep so many people on that track forever. To create a family with a spouse is one of the most fundamental ways a person can find continuity and meaning in American (or any) society. I rediscover this truth every time I go to a big reunion of my mother's family in Minnesota and I see how everyone is held so reassuringly to their positions over the years. First you are the child, then you are a teenager, then you are a young married person, then you are a parent, then you are retired, then you are a grandparent - at every stage you know who you are, you know what your duty is and you know where to sit at the reunion. You sit with the other children, or teenagers, or young parents, or retirees. Until at last you are sitting with the ninety-year-olds in the shade, watching over your progeny with satisfaction. Who are you? No problem - you're the person who created all this. The satisfaction of this knowledge is immediate, and moreover, it's universally recognized. How many people have I heard claim their children as their greatest accomplishment and comfort of their lives? It's the thing they can always lean on during a metaphysical crisis, or a moment of doubt about their relevancy - If I have done nothing else in this life, then at least I have raised my children well.
But what if, either by choice or by reluctant necessity, you end up not participating in this comforting cycle of family and continuity? What if you step out? Where do you sit at the reunion? How do you mark time's passage without the fear that you've just frittered away your time on earth without being relevant? You'll need to find another purpose, another measure by which to judge whether or not you have been a successful human being. I love children, but what if I don't have any? What kind of person does that make me?
Virginia Woolf wrote, "Across the broad continent of a woman's life falls the shadow of a sword." On one side of that sword, she said, there lies convention and tradition and order, where "all is correct." But on the other side of that sword, if you're crazy enough to cross it and choose a life that does not follow convention, "all is confusion. Nothing follows a regular course." Her argument was that the crossing of the shadow of that sword may bring a far more interesting existence to a woman, but you can bet it will also be more perilous.
I'm lucky that at least I have my writing. This is something people can understand. Ah, she left her marriage in order to preserve her art. That's sort of true, though not completely so. A lot of writers have families. Toni Morrison, just to name one example, didn't let the raising of her son stop her from winning a little trinket we call the Nobel Prize. But Toni Morrison made her own path, and I must take mine. The Bhagvad Gita - that ancient Indian Yogic text - says that it is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection. So now I have starting living my own life. Imperfect and clumsy as it may look, it is resembling me now, thoroughly.
Those last two lines especially resonate with me. Because, let's face it, I didn't expect to be where I am right now 10 or even 2 years ago - but here I am. The best I can do is live my own life as best I can, and be true to myself.
08 April 2009
Voter apathy
So Rahm Emmanuel's successor will be chosen by a handful of dedicated voters. I served as an election judge in the 45th precinct of the 47th ward again. From the pollwatchers and investigators that stopped by our precinct throughout the day, we learned that voter turnout was low everywhere. I'm glad that Quigley won. Often with low turnout, the crazies (of which his opponent is one) can tend to grab seats if they can get out a handful of their dedicated fans.
Here's an account of my day as an election judge.
1) Really annoying lady who never shuts up served with us in the primary and the special election. Lucky us, we got to hear the SAME stories we heard last month, over, and over and over and over. It doesn't help that her voice is a cross between Mike Meyer's Coffee Talk character and Fran Drescher. Seriously - I wanted earplugs.
On the upside, the Alderman takes care of us, has his volunteers bring us coffee and lunch, and I brought my ipod dock, so at least we had some music.
2) voter turnout. It was so low, I was able to log everyone who came in here's the play by play
5 am arrive & set up
6am open. Voters
1-6:04am (me)
2-6:50am
(note that in between these seemingly endless chasms of dead time, annoying lady kept YAPPING - about anything because GODS forbid we have a moment of quiet.
3-7:28am
4-8:02am
5:8:05am
6-8:18
8-8:20
9/10-8:33
11 (missed time)
12-9:30
13-9:40
14-9:52
15/16-9:55
17-9:58
18-10:02
19-10:03
20-10:50
21-11:30
22-missed
23-12:13 pm
24-missed
25-12:55
26-missed
27-1:20
28/9-missed
30-1:45
31-2:20
32-2:30
33-3:14
34/5-3:25
36-3:38
37-3:41
38-3:43
39-3:44
40-4:11
41/2-4:35
43-4:39
44/5-5:05
46-5:09
47-5:17
48-5:17
49-5:24
50-5:26
51-5:31
52-5:32
53-5:35
54/5-5:36
56-5:40
57-5:41
58-5:50
59-5:52
60/1-5:57
62-6:07
63-6:20
64-6:37
65-6:45
66-6:46
67-6:47
To make matters even stranger, one of the other judges who has had a crush on me since the November general election gave me his phone number... In November he would make little flirty comments to me that I would actively ignore. He did the same thing last month in the special primary, and again yesterday. I guess he's harmless, but TOTALLY not my type at all.
Here's an account of my day as an election judge.
1) Really annoying lady who never shuts up served with us in the primary and the special election. Lucky us, we got to hear the SAME stories we heard last month, over, and over and over and over. It doesn't help that her voice is a cross between Mike Meyer's Coffee Talk character and Fran Drescher. Seriously - I wanted earplugs.
On the upside, the Alderman takes care of us, has his volunteers bring us coffee and lunch, and I brought my ipod dock, so at least we had some music.
2) voter turnout. It was so low, I was able to log everyone who came in here's the play by play
5 am arrive & set up
6am open. Voters
1-6:04am (me)
2-6:50am
(note that in between these seemingly endless chasms of dead time, annoying lady kept YAPPING - about anything because GODS forbid we have a moment of quiet.
3-7:28am
4-8:02am
5:8:05am
6-8:18
8-8:20
9/10-8:33
11 (missed time)
12-9:30
13-9:40
14-9:52
15/16-9:55
17-9:58
18-10:02
19-10:03
20-10:50
21-11:30
22-missed
23-12:13 pm
24-missed
25-12:55
26-missed
27-1:20
28/9-missed
30-1:45
31-2:20
32-2:30
33-3:14
34/5-3:25
36-3:38
37-3:41
38-3:43
39-3:44
40-4:11
41/2-4:35
43-4:39
44/5-5:05
46-5:09
47-5:17
48-5:17
49-5:24
50-5:26
51-5:31
52-5:32
53-5:35
54/5-5:36
56-5:40
57-5:41
58-5:50
59-5:52
60/1-5:57
62-6:07
63-6:20
64-6:37
65-6:45
66-6:46
67-6:47
To make matters even stranger, one of the other judges who has had a crush on me since the November general election gave me his phone number... In November he would make little flirty comments to me that I would actively ignore. He did the same thing last month in the special primary, and again yesterday. I guess he's harmless, but TOTALLY not my type at all.
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