I have been an atheist all my life but was always too busy running the rat race (kids, house, two jobs...) to notice anything of what was going on in the world. One conversation I had with a fundamental evangelical creationist two years ago changed all that. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that there were still people out there who believed that God planted fossils 6.000 years ago to test people's faith... I started reading... Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris, Dennett, Schermer, etc.; I also watched hours and hours of debates,documentaries and yes, also video's of religious speeches, on youtube, my jaw dropping further all the time. I don't consider myself a militant atheist, but I do have a serious problem whith religious people who seem to have a need to put the world back into the dark ages and calling me a bad person in the process just  because I don't believe in bronze age fairy tales and prefer to live my life based on on truth, reason and common sense. I think it is fantastic and of the utmost importance that today's young people have access to all the information they need to make an informed decision about how they want to live their lives. I see too many young people here on Tumblr who seem to be lost, trapped in a religious prison, thinking about running away or even suicide... WTF!!!  I'm also a humanist, a vegan (since 1992), musician (guitar and harmonica), pro choice and against any form of discrimination based on skin color, sexual preference or whatever they come up with next to discriminate people. Whatever I post is against RELIGION, not against the people who were unfortunate enough to have been indoctrinated by it...
You may have seen that the Curiosity rover is back in the news lately! This is because the NASA has released some fantastic (as usual) new images from the rover. Curiosity is still busy exploring the base of Mt. Sharp on the rim of Gale crater. The rover sent us beautiful views of layered sandstone that has been chiseled away by Martian winds.
The bottom picture is Curiosityâs most recent self portrait at what NASA is calling the Okoruso drill site, where theyâre studying the make-up of the land.
The above images are for the most part, true-color, meaning this is what Mars would look like if you were there in person - dark, dusty, and rusty.
If youâd like to stay updated on Curiosity or view more images from the rover, visit NASAâs website dedicate to Curiosity by clicking here
For a while now, scientists have known that fish are ingesting small pieces of plastic. But it wasnât clear how much of that was reaching our dinner plate. Ecologist Chelsea Rochman wanted to find out.Â
Rochman, whoâs speaking at the @montereybayaquarium Sustainable Foods Institute, sampled fish from markets in California and Indonesia.
âWe found plastic and fibers from textiles (e.g., clothing, carpet, fishing nets) in about 1 out of every 4 seafood items sampled,â she told the @huffingtonpost
The study, which Rochman conducted while at UC Davis, was one of the first to directly link plastic in the oceans to the fish on our dinner plates.
So how concerned should we be?
âWe know much more about how plastic debris is harmful to fish and much less about how plastic debris in our fish is harmful to our health,â Rochman explains.
Lab studies have demonstrated that plastic can get stuck in the guts of fish and make them feel full. This changes their feeding behavior. Previous research from Rochman demonstrates that small plastic debris can transfer harmful chemicals to fish. This causes stress on the liver and changes the activity of genes related to reproduction.Â
âStudies have shown plastic debris in shellfish, fish and even sea salt. So, yes, we need more research to answer questions about how plastic debris may impact food security (i.e. fish stocks) and food safety.â
This is what Rochman plans to study next.
âSeafood is very healthy. It has essential fatty acids. I would never want to scare anybody away from eating seafood,â She said. âWe need to see if we need a toxic threshold for plastic in fish.â
What can the rest of us do?
The recent ban on microbeads was a major victory. But microbeads in products like toothpaste and face wash are just one part of the problem. Single-use plastic items â bottles, bags, plates, straws and utensils â are also big contributors to the microplastic problem. The less we use, the better.Â
On another note about the sex industry, it is not even remotely valid to compare a standard customer service job (or really any job) with being coerced into sex or sex acts for money. Sure, customers are rude to workers in any job and yes, they can dehumanize you regardless of what you do, but there is an otherworldly difference in the interactions between you and clients when youâre in the sex industry.
When a customer is rude to you at a normal job, they may disrespect you and make you feel terrible, but you arenât forced to sexually service them and give them an orgasm afterwards. Your job isnât to expose your naked body to them while theyâre disrespecting you and smile through it and say thank you. When youâre in the sex industry, not only do your clients regularly act rude to you, but they disrespect you on levels beyond comprehension of average workers. They call you slurs like a whore or a slut and tell you youâre worthless, they tell you how pathetic you are, but then despite this itâs your âjobâ to give them a fucking orgasm while being fully aware of how they see you. If youâre in an in-person encounter, it requires being physically intimate with them and having them touch you and/or penetrate you. If itâs online, your âjobâ is to let them look at your naked body and perform sex acts that theyâre getting off to while viewing you as less than dirt. The mental humiliation and anguish that comes along with that is unfathomable.
Not only that, but payment in the sex industry is almost always tip-based or at the customerâs discretion of payment. That means youâre often forced to put up with this behavior or you wonât get tipped or paid or you worry about a bad reputation and less future clients. A rare few may have the luxury of cutting off abusive clients, but most donât. That is NOT anywhere close to selling someone grapes over a cash register while someone gives you attitude about working at a grocery store.
Donât ever tell me that being in a position where youâre forced to have sex with someone or make them orgasm or get naked for someone for money is on par with having to sell someone french fries while theyâre rude to you. In other âjobs,â it is not -your body- that is the product to be consumed by clients, and thatâs a monumental distinction. The level of dissociation required, the dehumanization, and the amount of psychological as well as physical pain and risk youâre exposed to in the sex industry doesnât even compare. Not in a million years.
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