Grinning Cat's definitions
A term that, while an attempt to be inclusive of various winter holidays and "festivals of light", also displays ignorance that Ramadan has no connection with the seasons of the solar year. Ramadan (a month of major religious observances within the Islamic lunar calendar) moves backwards through the solar calendar about eleven days every year.
In some years Ramadan gains visibility as it is coincidentally observed near the winter "holiday season", but it actually keeps cycling through the seasons.
In some years Ramadan gains visibility as it is coincidentally observed near the winter "holiday season", but it actually keeps cycling through the seasons.
In 2010 Ramadan spanned parts of August and September.
In 2011 Ramadan will fall approximately between August 1 and August 29 or 30.
This demonstrates that "Christmahannukwanzadan" illogically groups Ramadan with winter holidays.
In 2011 Ramadan will fall approximately between August 1 and August 29 or 30.
This demonstrates that "Christmahannukwanzadan" illogically groups Ramadan with winter holidays.
by Grinning Cat December 27, 2010
Get the Christmahannukwanzadanmug. The rules for "acting like a man"; the mentality, behaviors and restrictions that many men and boys are socialized to conform to. These tenets of the "cult of masculinity" are both symptoms and enablers of Dominator Culture. They can be so pervasive as to be almost invisible; yet they lead men to disrespect, mistreat, and abuse women and each other.
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THE MAN BOX
Demonstrate power/control (especially over women)
Aggression - Dominance - yell - intimidate
Do not cry openly or express emotions (except for anger)
Do not express weakness or fear - "take it"
Don't back down - don't make mistakes
Do not be "like a woman"
Heterosexual
Have lots of sex with women - "conquests"
Do not be "like a gay man"
Tough/Athletic/Competitive/Strength/Courage
Make Decisions - Never ask for help
Women viewed as property/objects (especially sexual objects)
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(Based largely on Tony Porter's TED talk "A Call to Men")
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THE MAN BOX
Demonstrate power/control (especially over women)
Aggression - Dominance - yell - intimidate
Do not cry openly or express emotions (except for anger)
Do not express weakness or fear - "take it"
Don't back down - don't make mistakes
Do not be "like a woman"
Heterosexual
Have lots of sex with women - "conquests"
Do not be "like a gay man"
Tough/Athletic/Competitive/Strength/Courage
Make Decisions - Never ask for help
Women viewed as property/objects (especially sexual objects)
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(Based largely on Tony Porter's TED talk "A Call to Men")
This is the love of my life, my daughter Jay. The world I envision for her -- how do I want men to be acting and behaving? ... I need you working with me and me working with you on how we raise our sons and teach them to be men -- that it's okay to not be dominating, that it's okay to have feelings and emotions, that it's okay to promote equality, that it's okay to have women who are just friends and that's it, that it's okay to be whole, that my liberation as a man is tied to your liberation as a woman.
I remember asking a nine-year-old boy ... "What would life be like for you, if you didn't have to adhere to this man box?" He said to me, "I would be free."
I remember asking a nine-year-old boy ... "What would life be like for you, if you didn't have to adhere to this man box?" He said to me, "I would be free."
by Grinning Cat March 28, 2013
Get the man boxmug. The proportion of irrelevant, off-topic, inflammatory, nonsensical, spammy, screaming, content-free, trolling, or otherwise useless statements to actual useful, worthwhile communication.
From the informal sense of signal to noise ratio, but inverted to emphasize the "noise".
From the informal sense of signal to noise ratio, but inverted to emphasize the "noise".
"That discussion board used to be a great place to talk about politics, but now the noise-to-signal ratio is through the roof!"
"Typically, a demagogue actually benefits from nonsensical, contradictory and inflammatory statements and agendas. Ironically, the higher the noise-to-signal ratio, the more effective they become since any useful information would actually rein them in."
(adapted from Raul and JonG)
"Typically, a demagogue actually benefits from nonsensical, contradictory and inflammatory statements and agendas. Ironically, the higher the noise-to-signal ratio, the more effective they become since any useful information would actually rein them in."
(adapted from Raul and JonG)
by Grinning Cat October 10, 2012
Get the noise-to-signal ratiomug. A book of the Bible, as chiseled into the wall of the home of Ben Carson, a Bible thumping failed U.S. Presidential candidate of 2016.
by Grinning Cat June 29, 2016
Get the poverbsmug. Voting for fewer candidates than the number of open positions. Electronic voting machines usually highlight undervotes to remind the voter that they can choose to vote for more people.
There were ten people running for five City Council at-large seats, but I only cared about electing two. Because this was an undervote, the voting machine kept flashing a red light in that section of the ballot, but I didn't choose any more names.
by Grinning Cat April 18, 2008
Get the undervotemug. A device that records the choices of voters in an election. It can take several forms:
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1. A mechanical device, where the voter flips small levers next to the candidates' names to indicate their choices, then pulls a big lever to record the votes. Considered very difficult to hack.
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2. A direct-recording electronic (DRE) machine. May print vote totals on paper, but there is no way for a voter to verify that his/her votes were accurately recorded. Unlike mechanical voting machines, DRE machines are extremely vulnerable to fraud and malware that can steal a percentage of votes, reassigning them to the rigged candidate.
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3. An electronic machine that lets the voter make choices, then PRINTS AN ACTUAL FILLED-OUT PAPER BALLOT, which the voter can review and either discard (and start over) or cast. THE PAPER BALLOT IS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE VOTE.
Ballots can be quickly counted by optical scanning technology. (Voters could also choose to fill in a blank ballot by hand.) Importantly, ballots can be RECOUNTED, by hand if necessary.
Counts from the voting machines need not be trusted as anything more than quick estimates or "exit polls". This scheme makes it difficult to commit the large-scale fraud so easy to do invisibly with paperless DRE machines.
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1. A mechanical device, where the voter flips small levers next to the candidates' names to indicate their choices, then pulls a big lever to record the votes. Considered very difficult to hack.
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2. A direct-recording electronic (DRE) machine. May print vote totals on paper, but there is no way for a voter to verify that his/her votes were accurately recorded. Unlike mechanical voting machines, DRE machines are extremely vulnerable to fraud and malware that can steal a percentage of votes, reassigning them to the rigged candidate.
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3. An electronic machine that lets the voter make choices, then PRINTS AN ACTUAL FILLED-OUT PAPER BALLOT, which the voter can review and either discard (and start over) or cast. THE PAPER BALLOT IS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE VOTE.
Ballots can be quickly counted by optical scanning technology. (Voters could also choose to fill in a blank ballot by hand.) Importantly, ballots can be RECOUNTED, by hand if necessary.
Counts from the voting machines need not be trusted as anything more than quick estimates or "exit polls". This scheme makes it difficult to commit the large-scale fraud so easy to do invisibly with paperless DRE machines.
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A number of Diebold electronic voting machines have been in the news, first for criminally incompetent software and database design, leaving vote records wide open to undetectable tampering, more recently for vulnerability to "computer virus" style malware that can spread from machine to machine through the data cards used to collect voting data.
Making such electronic voting machines widespread is the perfect way to lay the groundwork for large-scale, invisible voter fraud.
There's plenty of information on this on the Web. A good place to start: the Coalition for Voting Integrity, www.coalitionforvotingintegrity.org .
Making such electronic voting machines widespread is the perfect way to lay the groundwork for large-scale, invisible voter fraud.
There's plenty of information on this on the Web. A good place to start: the Coalition for Voting Integrity, www.coalitionforvotingintegrity.org .
by Grinning Cat April 18, 2008
Get the voting machinemug. The custom or practice of eating only one type of cereal at a time. Cereal monogamists view the casual alternation of cereals, or, worse, mixing different cereals in the same bowl, to be simply wrong.
Not to be confused with serial monogamy.
Not to be confused with serial monogamy.
"I eat Cheerios for breakfast. I eat only Cheerios; no other cereals. Cheerios are the greatest thing since sliced bananas! Wait-- I'm out of Cheerios... time to get some more cereal... I eat Frosted Flakes for breakfast. No other cereals; just Frosted Flakes."
That's an example of cereal monogamy.
That's an example of cereal monogamy.
by Grinning Cat January 18, 2015
Get the cereal monogamymug.