Six months ago, our embassy in Benghazi was attacked, and four Americans were killed (including our ambassador to Libya). There were survivors of this attack, but we haven't heard from them, at all. Why?
Republicans are accusing the Obama administration of warning these survivors to stay silent, presumably because the story they would tell would be (highly) unfavorable to the Obama administration. So now the Republicans are proposing “whistleblower” protections be granted to these survivors, so they can tell their stories without fear of retribution.
Doesn't this just make you feel all warm and fuzzy about your government?
Gah!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Electronic Simulation...
...right in your browser. CircuitLab does schematic capture, AC and DC simulation, and schematic sharing. Currently it is free, though the site gives notice that they may charge for “premium services” down the road. A news story recently cited them as having 70,000 active accounts, with a simulation running on average every six seconds. That's a lot of electronics!
Disinhibition...
A couple weeks ago, I didn't know this word. Now, thanks to some recent family events, I do. And it got me to thinking...
Inhibitions are actually really important; some kinds, anyway. Most of us have inhibitions about murdering random strangers, sexually attacking people, stealing, etc. These inhibitions make human societies work – without them we would live short, nasty lives under constant threat.
Mostly I think we take these inhibitions for granted. I know I do. I expect people to behave in an inhibited way. Whenever someone behaves in an uninhibited way, we find that shocking.
What is especially shocking is when someone you know, possibly even someone you love, exhibits uninhibited behavior after a lifetime of normal inhibited behavior. This is the essence of “disinhibition” – when someone loses the inhibitions they once had. There are several causes for this, but the most common is dementia or Alzheimer's. These patients aren't really aware of what's happening to them, but those around them certainly are.
Anyway, this just got me to thinking about how absolutely essential these “normal” inhibitions are. I never really thought about inhibitions as a positive thing before...
Inhibitions are actually really important; some kinds, anyway. Most of us have inhibitions about murdering random strangers, sexually attacking people, stealing, etc. These inhibitions make human societies work – without them we would live short, nasty lives under constant threat.
Mostly I think we take these inhibitions for granted. I know I do. I expect people to behave in an inhibited way. Whenever someone behaves in an uninhibited way, we find that shocking.
What is especially shocking is when someone you know, possibly even someone you love, exhibits uninhibited behavior after a lifetime of normal inhibited behavior. This is the essence of “disinhibition” – when someone loses the inhibitions they once had. There are several causes for this, but the most common is dementia or Alzheimer's. These patients aren't really aware of what's happening to them, but those around them certainly are.
Anyway, this just got me to thinking about how absolutely essential these “normal” inhibitions are. I never really thought about inhibitions as a positive thing before...
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