Wednesday, December 15, 2010

VIDEO and SLIDES: Myth & Science of Sexuality - Disordered or Just Different?

This video and the slideshow “Myth and Science of Sexuality - Disordered or Just Different?” of my presentation to the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago on October 10, 2010,  explain the development of diverse sexualities (as natural variations of the organization-activation mechanism), and show that LGBTI peoples suffer persecution due to a socio-cultural disorder resulting from the erroneous "gender binary" concept.
Now you can listen to the talk as you look at the slides. The video is in four parts.  The PowerPoint slideshow that I used for this presentation is also posted below.  Click on the PowerPoint slides to see them clearly (the slides are fuzzy in the video) as you listen to the talk.  This presentation was abbreviated more than any previous version of my presentations to fit the venue's limited timeframe.

Part 1 of 4:  The science of core sexuality in mammals is summarized.  Development of internal and external genitalia.  How many sexes are there?  Did Eve come from Adam or did Adam come from Eve?  What is a female?  Male?  Who are John Money and Milton Diamond?

Part 2 of 4:  Who was David Reimer and what does his story tell us about whether sexual identity is innate or learned?  What is intersexuality?  Androgen insensitivity syndrome?  Congenital adrenal hyperplasia?  What can we learn about sexual identity from intersex people?  What has the medical profession been doing to babies with ambiguous genitalia as a result of John Money’s theory?

Part 3 of 4:  The sexual brain.  Is sexual orientation innate or learned? Sexual identity?  Are transsexual people crazy?

Part 4 of 4:
How to explain homosexuality in Darwinian terms? Sex versus gender?  Can males be women?  Can females be men?  Medical quackery and complicity in socio-cultural persecution of LGBTI peoples!


Below is the new abbreviated version of the PowerPoint slideshow used in the above talk to the Ethical Humanists.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Good Luck!

Dear Form 5 Students,

I wish you all the best in your impending SPM examination!! Get strings of A+!!
:
In the SPM week, remember to
1. Get enough sleep/rest
2. Study smart
3. Consume healthy food
4. Leave Fb alone for a while... (if you can ^^)
5. Do your very best
6. Pray/ Hope for the best~!

After the SPM week, start to
1. Plan for your future
2. Pick up soft skills/ brush up on your language (to prepare for scholarship interviews/MUET/etc)
3. Go for driving lessons (depends on individual)
4. Search for scholarships/ important dates
5. Join Re-Com to know more about the 'future' things you're in doubt :)
6. Take good care of yourself


GOod luck :) Take care and all the best for your future undertakings!!


DO share this blog to your juniors :)




Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Dear Readers,

Some of you might have encountered some problems when you tried to download my notes from scribd. Worry not as I've already made some changes to the download settings in Scribd.

Clarifying The Problem that most of you informed me about

Scribd had placed my documents under their Archieve programme lately. It's a programme whereby readers can download the document for free if:
1. they contribute a document in return
2. they contribute some fee for the archieve programme subscription

*Now that I've cleared things up with scribd, you should not be having any problem downloading my notes. If you ever encounter any problems, do leave me a message in the chatbox ;)

For your information, my notes are distributed online for free, there's no payment needed to be made in order to download them. If you ever see any notice about paying any sort of fees just to get to download them, don't hesitate to inform me :)

Thanks for following my blog :)

Alternative download source: http://www.box.net/shared/nij8830c1j

All the best for your SPM and good luck~!!!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Biology :)

Dear readers,

Sorry for the long pause....

Biology is not to be memorised. All you need to do is understand, familiarise, practice and eventually you'll be able to remember. For this, I divided Biology into few parts, mainly, diagrams to be remembered, graphs, and essay compilation.

Diagrams to be remembered

- In biology, we must be able to remember pictures, diagrams and their position just when you read the keywords of it. This is because when you are able to have the image in your mind, it will be easier for you to understand and get it easily. Visualising plays an important role in Biology. I listed down below all the diagrams and images that we have seen in form 4 and form 5. Among these diagrams, there are some to be remembered only, while the others you must be able to draw. (Do check on those that are not mentioned in the list below during revision too) :)

>Spend some time to draw them all out in a piece of A4 paper and keep it as your notes for future revision. Take it out everyday and spend some time to look at it. By using the pictures, you'll be able to remember some points which you'd studied or taught by the teacher. So take a pencil and start practicing! As you draw, you will remember better ;)


Diagrams

1. organelles
2. Amoeba/ Paramecium
3. Meristematic tissue
4. Internal Environment
5. Phospholipid Bilayer
6. Mechanics of transports (Active Transport)
7. Cells in isotonic, hypotonic and hypertonic solution
8. Carbohydrates, Proteins, lipid (structure)
9. Enzyme (lock and key mechanism & graph of factors affecting enzyme activity)
10. Mitosis
11. Meiosis
12. Digestion Equation
13. Pathway of digestion of human, ruminants, rodents
14. Villi
15. Colon
16. Cross section of leaf
17. Respiratory Organs
18. Alveoli
19. Succession in Mangrove Swamp, pond
20. Artery, Vein, Capillary
21. The Human Heart
22. Pulmonary and Systemic circulation
23. Blood circulation path for human, fish, frog
24. Joint
25. Special characteristics of the bones
26. The arm (bending mechanism)
27. Grasshopper's Leg (movement)
28. Bird's Locomotion
29. Position of tendon and ligaments
30. The general structure of the brain
31. The spinal cord
32. The neurons (effector, interneuron and affector)
33. Synapse
34. Kidney and it's functional unit (nephron)
35. Auxin's effect towards the growth of plants
36. Sperm
37. Reproduction in plants
38. Secondary growth in plants
39. Genes and mutations
40. Inheritance (Punnett Square..etc)

Besides the diagrams, you should remember the graphs too...

Graphs

1. Factors affecting the rate of enzymatic reaction
2. Factors affecting photosynthesis
3. Graph that show the compensation point (photosynthesis vs respiration in plants)
4. Immunity (natural acquired, artificial acquired, artificial passive, etc)
5. Factors affecting transpiration
6. Growth curve of human
7. Growth curve of insect
8. Variation (continuous and discontinuous)

Other than that, you'll have to be able to explain in depth the processes involved. Don't forget to master the definitions :)

Do lots of past year questions and understand how marks are given in the answer schemes. All the best and good luck~!

For those who have not seen the biology essay compilation, do check it out :)

http://www.yvonnechoo.co.cc/2009/12/spm-biology-essays-compilation.html
http://www.yvonnechoo.co.cc/2010/01/some-useful-interesting-biology-videos.html


" You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. "
~ Rabindrana Th Tagore

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Change of URL

Dear friends :)

Kindly be informed that http://dashortsquare.blogspot.com/ has now been changed to yvonnechoo.co.cc :)

P/S: You can still use the old URL though :)

Thanks.
Read more ya~!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

"Disordered or Just Different" Presentation at Chicago's LGBT Center



It’s a pleasure to announce that my next presentation of “Disordered or Just Different” will be at the Center on Halsted, Chicago’s fabulous LGBT center. I’ve been promised the plush Hoover-Leppen Theatre, so I’m hoping for a large turnout. And I’m hoping that the audience reflects the diversity of core sexualities that the Center serves. My previous presentations have been to audiences that were comprised of either secular humanists (primarily cissexual heterosexuals) or women (primarily cissexual lesbians). This is the first presentation intended for an audience composed of the entire LGBTI community. Oh yes, there will be some conventional cis-heterosexual people attending as well. They can’t help it! They were born that way!

Unlike the biblical story that “explains” only the “Adams and Eves,” the scientific story explains everyone: gay and lesbian people, transwomen and transmen, intersex people, … and oh yes, cis-heterosexual people. Everyone has genitalia, a sexual identity, and a sexual orientation - key components of “core sexuality."  At this presentation, I will show you the evidence for the “organization-activation” mechanism responsible for the development of these core sexual components in all mammals. If you live in the Chicago area, why don’t you attend this presentation and find out how “mother nature’ has tweaked this mechanism to produce your particular core sexuality?

Here are the details:

Event Title: Disordered or Just Different? Myth, Science, and Sexuality

Location: Center on Halsted, Hoover-Leppen Theatre
3656 North Halsted Street
Chicago, IL 60613


Date: September 18th (Saturday), 2010
Time: 6 pm

Presentation Description:
What exactly is a Female? Male? Intersexual? Is intersexuality natural? How many sexes are there? Sexual Identity - innate or learned? Sexual Orientation? Sex versus Gender? Religious myth versus science! Cruel and unscientific medical treatment of gay and lesbian people, intersex people, and transsexual people! Fifty years of research on core sexual development from a physiologist’s perspective.

 Questions and discussion to follow presentation.

FREE!

Please plan to join a group of us who will be going to dinner at a nearby restaurant after this event. This will be a Saturday night you will talk about for a long time!

See the slideshow

Friday, July 30, 2010

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Checklist Chemistry ~ Score A+

This is the checklist I promised to upload during the Teknik Menjawab Soalan Kimia SPM 2010 @ SMK Cyberjaya. The first document is the checklist, the second document is my answer.
Hope it helps :) All the best!!

Spm Checklist for Chemistry

Checklist Chemistry 2009 Yvonne

Monday, July 26, 2010

PowerPoint Slideshow: "DISORDERED OR JUST DIFFERENT? MYTH, SCIENCE AND SEXUALITY."


This "Disordered or Just Different" slideshow, that I use in my live presentation of the same name, tweaks and builds on my earlier slideshow ("Science and Sexuality"). "Disordered or Just Different" covers the biology of core sexuality (genital development, sexual identity, and sexual orientation) but then builds on this foundation by distinguishing between sex and gender and adding some anthropological considerations.  This new slideshow presentation culminates with a scientific indictment of the (pseudo)medical practitioners who are too quick to classify the merely different as disordered and who continue to harm gay, lesbian, transsexual, and intersex peoples.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

MichFest Workshop Challenges Womyn-Born-Womyn Policy and Medical Practices: “Disordered or Just Different?”


I will present a workshop at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival (MichFest) on Friday, August 6th, from 12:30 to 2:30 pm in the Media Tent. This presentation is the same talk entitled “Disordered or Just Different? Myth, Science and Sexuality” that has been well-received at two other venues recently (see previous posts). The title is shortened to “Myth, Science, and Sexuality” to meet the publishing specifications for the 2010 MichFest booklet.

As in last year’s workshop, I will summarize the last fifty years of research on core sexuality in mammals (genital development, sexual identity, sexual orientation) with emphasis on the organization-activation mechanism. Intersexuality in various forms will be explained and brain work regarding sexual identity and sexual orientation will be emphasized. This year’s workshop will culminate with a sharp focus on the damage that the gender binary notion and John Money’s legacy continue to cause. The audience will be updated on the anti-scientific and barbaric policies of the pediatric profession and the psychiatric profession regarding intersex babies and transsexual people respectively.

The damage can be traced to a goofy assumption that the gender binary is natural and to a failure to distinguish between sex and gender. People who clearly refute the gender binary are treated as freaks and threats rather than as the evidence that the gender binary is incorrect. Even though these human beings who are not “Adams” or “Eves” are looking at and talking to us, the culture does not see or hear them because to do so would challenge societal structure. The culture clings to the stupid Adam and Eve notion that has been the source of so much grief for people who are naturally and innately sexually different: gay and lesbian people, transsexual people, and intersex people.

Education of the public about the established scientific facts concerning core sexuality is the best way to end this unnecessary and destructive suffering of innately sexually-different people! The MichFest audience is especially important because it is primarily a lesbian audience. I feel an obligation to educate my lesbian sisters about what I know as a physiologist regarding core sexuality generally and the “womyn-born-womyn” policy of the MichFest organizers particularly.

As I did last year, I will make sure the audience understands that all the science is against the idea of the organizers’ womyn-born-womyn policy regarding who is welcome to attend MichFest. The feeling that causes sexual identity is the result of how the brain is organized during fetal development and is not the result of genital anatomy or learning and experience! What is learned is how to navigate in the culture as the sexual being you were born as. How much trouble you run into depends on the culture.

I attended MichFest during its first year and many years thereafter when I was a much younger lesbian and when there was little hard science concerning core sexuality. I didn’t give any workshops back then because the science on sexuality was in its infancy. But now is different. This will be the 35th year for MichFest!!! A remarkable accomplishment! Also remarkable are the scientific findings on core sexuality that have accumulated over the years since the MichFest organizers conceived of their womyn-born-womyn policy. Lesbians need to be scientifically informed about innate sexuality and should be at the forefront of celebrating all the natural sexual variations of women-identified people.

Monday, June 28, 2010

“Disordered or Just Different” presentation at National Women’s Music Festival

I will give my new presentation “Disordered or Just Different?” at the National Women’s Music Festival at the Marriott Madison West in Middleton Wisconsin on July 3rd, at 10-11-30am. The salient science is summarized to address the following issues: What exactly is a Female? Male? Intersexual? Is intersexuality natural? How many sexes? Sexual identity - innate or learned? Transsexuality? Sexual orientation? Sex versus gender. Medical profession’s shameful treatment of gender-variant people!

This scientific update on human sexuality from a physiologist’s perspective culminates with an indictment of the pediatricians and psychiatrists who continue their barbaric practices and policies against intersex babies and other gender-variant people in spite of all the science that says they should stop!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

SIGN the Condemnation of the anti-LGBTI "Manhattan Declaration"

On November 20, 2009, the Manhattan Declaration -- drafted by Chuck Colson of Watergate infamy, and Robert George of the antigay National Organization for Marriage -- was released. The document was signed by Orthodox, Roman Catholic and evangelical Protestant leaders who have been outspoken in their opposition to gay rights, same-sex marriage and abortion rights for women. Seeking to replace the US Constitution with right-wing religious dogma, the declaration also tries to commandeer the legacy of Martin Luther King to serve bigotry, intolerance and discrimination.

We believe that the Manhattan Declaration is dangerous because it attempts to legitimize and enshrine bigotry and needs to be vigorously confronted and refuted. We have therefore written a counter declaration and ask you to do three things: read it, sign it, and solicit your friends to do likewise.

We make a special appeal to people of faith to speak out against hatred masked as righteousness and to come to the defense of women and Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Bisexual and Intersex people. We ask you to affirm the separation of church and state and to help reclaim the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.


" MANHATTAN DECLARATION "

CONDEMNATION AND WATCH

We the undersigned stand implacably opposed to the following: the hatred of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people; violations of the separation of church and state; discriminatory attacks upon abortion rights and upon the rights of transgender and intersex people to own and control their bodies; and attempts to hijack the legacy of Martin Luther King and other Civil Rights heroes to serve bigotry and discrimination.

OPPOSITION TO EQUAL RIGHTS IS BIGOTRY

Right-wing Christian church leaders are seeking to impose a narrow set of religious dogmas on the rest of our society.

The latest salvo in their mean-spirited crusade is the Manhattan Declaration, a call to destroy civil rights' protections for LGBT Americans and end abortion rights for women. They would impose a narrow "Judeo-Christian" bias on civil society, and they have the chutzpah to wrap themselves in the mantle of Martin Luther King, who opposed unjust laws through civil disobedience.

We the undersigned hereby adopt a counter declaration of principles, one that rejects all homophobic and transphobic intrusions into the lives of LGBT people and efforts by the state or anyone else to control our bodies. We invite our readers, if you are of like mind and no matter what your sexual affections, to sign our declaration as well.

Our nation has a diverse society that includes millions of LGBT inhabitants. We will NOT tolerate discrimination and hate masked as religious rhetoric; this is bigotry masquerading as righteousness. Just as we are not silent when bigotry and discrimination thunders from the political podium, so, unlike many LGBT "leaders," we do not shrink from condemning the same bigotry and discrimination when they hide behind stained glass windows, priestly robes, and the pulpit.

We reject the shopworn tactic of bigoted Christians employing Biblical passages to justify discrimination against LGBT people while at the same time decrying any angry opposition from its victims as an attack on their so-called "religious freedom." There is no Constitutionally-protected "freedom to discriminate" against gays any more than there is to discriminate against African Americans, women, or Jews.

Civil rights belong to everyone. Rest assured, we will meet all efforts wherever they are made to roll back LGBT civil and human rights with relentless force.

SEPARATE CHURCH AND STATE

We live in a secular society, one founded on equality and justice; all of us―gay and non-gay alike―possess the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Common sense dictates that, embedded in these rights, is the implicit right to live our lives and pursue our happiness as first-class citizens free from the onslaughts of discrimination, persecution, and bigotry.

This nation is not a theocracy. The famous "establishment clause" of the First Amendment to the Constitution built a wall to separate church from state. It is a barrier that desperately needs repairing in order to prevent religious tyranny by bands of Christian believers who seek to make their beliefs the law of the land and thereby impose on the rest of us beliefs we do not share.

It is true that this nation has an historical debt to a minority of religious believers―farsighted and brave Christians, unorthodox and often unpopular in their day―who helped play significant roles in abolishing slavery, obtaining the vote for women, fighting unjust wars, ending child labor, leading the Civil Rights movement―the list goes on. Many times those remarkable Christians met with objections from their own brothers and sisters within the Christian community who championed interpreting the Bible in ways that divided the human family and maintained a traditional, yet evil and oppressive, status quo.

It needs remembering that every system of oppression in the United States has had a religiously sanctioned pillar to uphold and defend it. Through the years, many a preacher or priest has provided that pillar by urging that, “according to the Bible,” black slaves should obey white slaveholders, husbands should have authority over their wives, and it is a sin for workers to strike. Today there are “social-conservative” Christian leaders who conveniently choose to ignore this history or even deny it.

Fortunately, our society has made progress. Slavery has ended. Women can vote. Workers can strike. But, even with the rebirth of a robust feminist movement in the 1960s and '70s, marriage is one area meeting stubborn resistance. Of course, when the Supreme Court struck down anti-miscegenation laws in 1967, it settled the matter that marriage, to quote its decision, is one of the “’basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence and survival.” However, President Obama, who as a Constitutional scholar should stand for full civil rights, cynically uses the excuse of his "spiritual beliefs" to oppose equal marriage rights for a whole group of citizens. Let's be clear: Stopping LGBT people from marrying is pure bigotry. In addition, allowing a popular vote to decide a civil rights issue affecting millions of Americans mocks everything the Constitution signifies.

But none of this bothers many Christian leaders who, worried that they may lose the vote on same-sex marriage, frighten an ill-informed public by fabricating imaginary calamities, from pedophilia in the schools to the "destruction" of heterosexual marriage. What these Christians leaders deny is that today many loving partners, heterosexuals as well as gays, have created a variety of enriching spousal arrangements that would be banned if reactionary, so-called "marriage traditionalists" have their way. They also ignore that marriage has evolved into a more just and humane institution over time. Otherwise, we might still have that type of “traditional marriage” in which a wife’s person, income, inheritance, and children were the property of her husband. (In fact, it is hard to escape the conclusion that the secret wish of these advocates of "traditional marriage" is precisely a return to a time when women and children were no better than chattel).

DEFEND ABORTION, TRANSGENDER, AND INTERSEX RIGHTS

Along with advocating a repressive brand of “traditional marriage,” these same Christian leaders wish to dictate what a woman can do with her body. They are “pro-life” on behalf of the fetus though they are conspicuously and notoriously silent about the quality of life of the mother and about that of her children (one in five of whom lives in poverty in the United States ). They deny loving homes to children in need based upon the sexual orientation of the adoptive parents. The duplicity of their "pro-life" position is also underscored when it comes to their full and open support of U.S. wars and the death penalty for "capital crimes."

We believe a woman’s body is her own. She has a right to abortion on demand. The state has no business telling her what she should do with her body; the choice is, and should be, solely hers. We also believe that transgender persons have the right to modify their bodies in any way they see fit and deserve the same full civil rights as everybody else. Further, we support the right of sexual autonomy for all intersex children―those born neither unambiguously male nor female. We oppose all non-consensual and medically unnecessary “normalization” treatments that attempt to force infants to fit into stereotypical gender categories.

In addition to opposing a woman's right to abortion on demand and pathologizing the desires of transgender people and the bodies of intersex children, all in an effort to deny them their full rights, these bigots also oppose genuine sex education in our secondary schools and the passing out of condoms there. They push "abstinence only" as the single "morally correct" response to the often overwhelming sexual urges of adolescents. This is their irresponsible substitute for sex education, and the results―amply verified wherever "abstinence only" holds sway―are an increase in the unwanted pregnancies that lead to the very abortions these Christian leaders abhor.

KING STOOD FOR EQUALITY, NOT ANTIGAY BIGOTRY

Martin Luther King was one of the greatest Americans of the last century. He took courageous stands in defense of equal housing, equal employment opportunity, equal voting rights, and equal access to public accommodations. He opposed the Vietnam War when it was very unpopular to do so. He took great risks and paid for doing so with his life. The Christian leaders who claim to appropriate King's legacy of civil disobedience against laws that discriminate are not taking any risks that will get them killed or even jeopardize their careers.

But they are on the wrong side of history. Coretta Scott King, the best interpreter of her husband’s legacy, spoke eloquently in 1998 that "[I]njustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" and that it is a part of "Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people." Those Christian leaders who are abusing King's legacy in a disgraceful effort to adorn their hate and intolerance with legitimacy are not only besmirching a great American's reputation. They are also betraying the great tradition he did so much to further: Facing down power with courage and standing with the wronged and oppressed in society.

* * * * *

The obsession that the homophobic Christian leaders who signed the Manhattan Declaration have with homosexuals and homosexuality would be laughable if it were not so dangerous. Not content to spew their bigotry in the United States and promote anti-gay violence here, these clerics have exported their hate-filled anti-gay fanaticism to Africa and elsewhere.

While death squads operate with impunity against gays in Iraq , leaders in Uganda were inspired by prominent American Christian bigots who attended a conference there in 2009, to initiate legislation that will imprison LGBT people for life and make it a crime for Ugandan citizens, including parents and teachers, to fail to report suspected gays and lesbians to the authorities. In view of the firestorm of worldwide protest, many of these Christian leaders now wish to distance themselves from the Ugandan anti-gay leaders they influenced and deny responsibility for the latter's draconian plans for LGBT people. However, if history has taught us anything, it is that once you ride the tiger of hate and discrimination against a minority, the end of the journey is the demonization of that minority and state-sanctioned torture and murder of its members.

About homosexuals and homosexuality, these cynically sanctimonious Christian leaders are fond of saying that they “love the sinner but hate the sin.” But those are just slick words used by bigots to sugar-coat their public message. (The same type of chauvinist bigots used to say things like, “We love women, as long as they stay in the kitchen.”) Make no mistake, anti-gay prejudice is as poisonous, pervasive, and ugly as racism, sexism and anti-semitism. And make no mistake, these church leaders claim to speak for all "right-thinking" Christians.

We therefore call upon leaders and congregants within Christian and other communities of faith, as well as people of conscience and goodwill everywhere, to stand up and be heard in your churches, cathedrals, temples, mosques, and elsewhere. As the leaders and congregants of the churches in Nazi Germany learned to their everlasting shame, silence is complicity. It is time to speak up and take a stand.

But the question is: Will you stand with the bigots and the haters who currently may have the majority on their side? Or will you stand and link arms with us? You must decide whether to back the forces of ignorance, discrimination, and hate, or join us in word and deed to advance equality and justice for all.

What would King have you do?

PEOPLE OF FAITH AND OTHERS NEED TO FORCEFULLY SPEAK OUT FOR LGBT, INTERSEX, AND ABORTION RIGHTS!

AND YOU NEED TO DO IT NOW!

Go to http://stopmanhattanhate.org/signup.html to add your signature to this statement.

Thank you!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Merely Tips 1

This post is my reply to Tanuja who asked me how I studied for both Chemistry and Biology.

To tell the truth, everything requires practice. The tips I used to remember the facts are not to MEMORISE. This is because, memorising will only make you rigid and unable to adapt when you are tensed. So the best way that I did was to visualise the facts and process while reading and try to at least do some 'process diagram' to show the flow and jot down some important keywords on the picture. As you read be sure to understand the facts and the flow, don't just read to memorise but read to understand. Through understanding, you'll be able to familiarise.

Take for example: Antagonistic movement of the arm. Since the arm is with you even in exams, you'll be able to cheat. Not the literal meaning of cheat but to take it as a guide. When you put your arm in a bend position (the showing muscle pose), you can feel and see that the biceps (upper muscle) is tensed. This means that it is contracted. Antagonistic movement has opposite characteristics between the two muscles involved so automatically when biceps contracts, triceps relaxes (during hand bending); during hand straightened, the biceps relaxes while the triceps contracts. See how easy it turned out to be? That's why you're given hints by your body.

If the topic is not related to your body, like plants. You have to visualise the existance of them when you are part of them. It will be much easier to remember if you are doing the thing as in you try to use more senses. The more senses you involve the more percentage the knowledge can be absorbed (research had shown). So it will be best you can read aloud as you try to understand the facts ;)

Chemistry, it's more to understanding the basic concept before applying the real thing. You'll have to be able to remember basic chemical reaction for you to be able to write the equation, apply into the experiment and the further calculation.

Let's take for example the preparation of salts. The basic concept here is that you'll have to know what are the salts to be produced. If it is a soluble salt is it a special (ammonium, sodium or potassium) salt? Or is it an ordinary salt? If it is a special salt, you'll have to use titration. Titration is the neutralisation reaction between an acid and an alkali. So you'll be able to predict what substances to be used.

Example 1: Soluble salt - Sodium Chloride
Since it is a soluble salt, and it is a special salt, titration is used. The ions involved in this case is sodium ion and chloride ion. Since an acid and an alkali is required, you can use sodium hydroxide solution and hydrochloric acid which contains the same ions as the salt you want to make.

Example 2: Soluble salt - Copper (II) sulphate
It is a soluble salt but not a special salt. From that you have to choose one between three other methods in preparing soluble salts.

1. Metal + acid -----> salt + hydrogen gas (reactive metal only)
2. Metal Oxide + acid -----> salt + water
3. Metal Carbonate + acid -----> salt, water, carbon dioxide

Note that copper ion is situated below hydrogen ion in the electrochemical series so it is not a reactive metal. Hence, method 1 cannot be used. Method 2 and 3 can be used because copper (II) oxide and copper (II) carbonate are salts that can react with acid. The product is also separatable from the solution as it contains only water or carbon dioxide which can be easily eliminated to get the salt crystals. So you can use copper (II) oxide or copper (II) carbonate with sulphuric acid to produce the salt.

Example 3: Insoluble salt - Barium Sulphate
It is insoluble so it only left the double decomposition/ precipitation reaction. That is to used two soluble salts which contains the ions needed like barium nitrate and sodium sulphate.

* You'll need to remember the salts which are soluble and insoluble. That's the thing you can't avoid.

Monday, March 15, 2010

New Presentation: “Disordered or Just Different? Myth, Science, and Sexuality”


I will be a speaker at the first annual conference of the Center for Inquiry/Chicago on Saturday, April 24th. The theme of this conference is: “Dangerous Nonsense - Exploring the Gulf between Science and its Impostors.” This theme is the perfect context for my talk entitled “Disordered or Just Different? Myth, Science, and Sexuality” that will focus on the scientific evidence on core sexuality obtained over the last fifty years and the medical profession’s treatment of intersex, homosexual, and transsexual peoples.

Here’s a conference description and schedule:

The Center For Inquiry/Chicago First Annual Spring Conference:
Dangerous Nonsense: Exploring the Gulf between
Science and its Impostors

Saturday, April 24th, 2010
8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.

111 E. Wacker Drive, Chicago 60601
26th Floor - Conference Room

Bunkum grows like a weed in American culture - whether it's climate change denial, conspiracy theories, or healing by prayer. Some ideas are not only nonsense, they are dangerous nonsense, with serious implications for our lives. In this age where misinformation can be spread more easily than ever before, understanding the role of the scientific process in human affairs is critical to our survival. This conference will present top scientists in biology, physiology, and physics, each of them gifted at explaining both the science and its impostors of their respective fields. Join us and gain valuable insight into exploring the world through science and reason.
Conference Schedule
8:30 a.m. Check-in and Registration
Optional: Set up your evening dinner reservation with a nearby restaurant
9:15 a.m. Welcome - the Center For Inquiry/Chicago Board
9:25 a.m. Dr. Massimo Pigliucci, Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York
“Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell the Difference Between Science and Bunk”
10:25 a.m. Coffee Break
Dr. Pigliucci will also be available to autograph his new book
10:45 a.m. Dr. Veronica Drantz, Professor of Physiology at DePaul University’s College of Nursing
“Disordered or Just Different? Myth, Science and Sexuality”
11:30 a.m. Dr. Michael Albrow, Nuclear Physicist at both the Tevatron (Fermilab) and the Large Hadron Collider (CERN)
“What's True and What's Untrue in Physics Today”
12:15 p.m. Announcements
12:20 p.m. Lunch on your own
(Your packet will include lunch options in the immediate vicinity)
1:40 p.m. Dr. Ron Pine, Explorer, retired biology professor, and debunker of Intelligent Design “Intelligent Design or ‘No Model’ Creationism: Why It Can't Qualify Even as Pseudo-Science”
2:25 p.m. The Mentalist “Mystopher” & Carolee
“Serving Fork-Fulls of Magic and Imagination”
3:00 p.m. Dr. Dario Maestripieri, Professor of Comparative Human Development, Neurobiology, Evolutionary Biology, and Psychiatry at the University of Chicago
“What Primatology and Evolutionary Psychology Tell Us About the Evolution of Human Behavior”
3:45 p.m. Coffee Break
Dr. Pigliucci will also be available to autograph his new book
4:05 p.m. Panel Discussion with all of our presenters
“The Future of Science and Science Education in the U.S.”
5:15 p.m. Adjourn
Post-Conference
5:30 p.m. Optional: Post-Conference discussion and drinks (cash bar) at the Hyatt Regency Hotel (directions included in your packet - it’s about a block away)
6:30 p.m. Optional: Dinner (your cost) in downtown Chicago - some of these will be “hosted” by CFI/Chicago Board members (your packet will include a selection of places and cuisines)
Late Optional: Music clubs (your cost) - some of these will be “hosted” by CFI/Chicago Board members (your packet will include a selection of places and musical styles)

Learn more about the speakers here.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE

Friday, March 5, 2010

Add Maths

Nothing is as fun as Additional Mathematics which brings away the boredom in me :)

Thanks to my additional mathematics teacher, I'd managed to complete all trial papers from 2003 till 2009 from all states, SBP and MRSM. That had made a difference ;)

Remember I'd mentioned about practice makes perfect? It is indeed true. Due to curiosity, which many might think that I'm making up stories or perhaps had nothing much to do, I'd finished studying the 10 form 5 add maths chapter within my form 4 holidays (November- December). I told myself that I need drilling to score perfectly in my adm exam, that's what kept me energised to complete the 10 whole new chapter myself. It was tough and I was afraid I don't get a thing from it at first but it became better when I attempt the questions. No, I don't need tuition to complete the 10 chapters, so do you. All we need is determination.

When my teacher began to teach the new chapters in class, I felt more confident as what I'd studied was right and that the two months of hard work was not wasted. Attending class was merely like a revision class for me so I need not spend time to understand them again like the others who had just been exposed to it. I started doing topical exercises in January followed by past year papers in February. I did not stop until the I finished my SPM in December. For the questions which has answers from books, I'd refer them to check my answers ; for those which doesn't have answers, I'd pass it up to the teacher and she had helped me marked it for months. She had helped me a lot :) From mistakes, I learned new things, I get to understand more, I'm more aware of it and will not repeat it.

If you have enough time, it will be great if you can finish all the adm exercise books available in the market ;)

When you do more practices and past year papers, you are exposed to different types of questions. When you start to have problems, flip through that chapter and study it once again. Then, re-attempt the questions ;)Don't let your momentum stop!!

In paper 2, section B and C, you'd get the chance to choose which question you would like to attempt. If you are not ready, focus more on the questions that you can get marks, however, if you are ready, try to attempt all the questions regardless of what chapter they belongs to. At least, if the questions comes out tough for the one you usually attempt, you'll have a back up for you to gain marks. But, be sure you have time to complete the standard questions and have the time to check before you start attempting the ones extra.

Overall, nothing is better when you are familiar with it. So start practicing today!! :)

Tips :)

Physics


1. Learn about the physics test format


Paper 1 (50%)

- 50 Multiple choice questions
- Total of 50 marks


Paper 2 (100%)

- Section A
> 8 structured questions
> A total of 60 marks


- Section B
> Choose 1 of 2 questions
> Total of 20 marks


- Section C
> Choose 1 of 2 questions
> Total of 20 marks


Paper 3 (40%)

- Section A
> 2 structural questions


- Section B
> Choose 1 of 2 questions


General Marks = [(P1 + P2 + P3)/190] x 100%


2. Spend some time to look through a few samples of SPM physics examination papers.


> Look at the type of questions asked in different sections in each paper.
> Look at how the marks are distributed for each questions.
> Look at the differences between the question requirement between different sections.
> Look at the diagrams or questions that require you to draw, make some notes about the type of diagrams you'll need to be familiar with.

3. Spend some time to look through the model answers of the respective papers.

> As you look at the answers for each questions and how each sentence or keyword is given marks, you'll pretty much know how you should write when this type of questions comes out.

> Try to attempt on the questions first if you are capable of, but it's still not too late if you can't. Just be patient, it will be rather tidious or merely annoying to copy or jot down the model answers and the marks distribution at first when you tried to attempt the papers. However, practice makes perfect, as you copy down the model answers, be sure to take some time to understand them as you write them down. If you encounter any problem or have any doubts, do not hesitate, just go straight and ask your teacher. Make sure that you try it out yourself first before you actually go and ask the teacher because you want to learn from it, not being spoonfed.

> If your answer is very different from the model answer, be sure to consult the teacher as the book which provides you with the model answers can make mistakes too.

> Highlight the parts you think it'll be more difficult for you and jot down the location of the area. For example, I am weak in paper 2, section C.

4. After locating the weaker areas, you wouldn't want to just let it be there. Go brush up!

> Take a few samples of test papers. Flip to the part you're weak at. Then, look through it one by one. When you get the gist of it, you start to attempt it, try it out at least. You might be giving the wrong answers now but it can be rectified so you will not repeat it in the actual SPM.
> Check the answers once you've finished them. Compare your answers to the model answers, try to understand the variation.
> After attempting few sets of that section, do go and consult your teacher. Let her comment on your weakness in general that she might have spotted in you. Jot them down. Mention to her/ him that you have some difficulties in this section. Show her your work and discuss with her regarding your correction. Consult her on the way of answering that section and how to think accordingly.
> Then, don't wait, you'll have to start drilling on that part. Go home, look at the model answers and your answered papers once more. Put them aside before you get yourself glued to a new set of paper. Then, try to apply whatever you'd learned from your mistakes and from the teacher into answering the questions.
> It might seems problematic to repeat the section over and over again until you are familiar with it and becomes confident.

*Personal Experience: When I tried to spot my weakness, I found out that I was weak in paper 2 section c. So I did lots of questions on it and at first, I suck pretty well. I kept answering the wrong things and almost gave up. But then I told myself, I want to score well in physics, I'll have to make sure that every part of the papers I'm able to answer. So I printed lots of past year trial papers from all states even from SBP and MRSM. I compiled that particular section that I'm weak into a file. I spend some time everyday to attempt at least one of the questions that I'm weak on. Since there's no sample answers to look and refer, I consult my teacher everyday. She helped me to check the questions I attempted and we discussed about the questions which I'd answered wrongly. I learn from my mistakes everyday and when I went home, I look through and try to recall what the teacher had said before I attempt a new set. This took me 2 weeks to complete as on some days when I began to feel confident with the section, I'd answered 3-4 sets daily. That's how it became on par with my other sections.

5. Notes/ Practice

> Take at least half an hour a day to recall the chapter that was covered in class on that particular day. Sometimes, you can also re-copy your notes so it might help you more.

> Take at least 15 minutes to look at chapters that the teacher is about to teach, read in advance and try to understand it. By the time you enter the class, everything the teacher teaches will be familiar. It will then be like a revision section.

> Pay attention in class and ask the teacher about the subtopic or any questions in particular that is related to what they are teaching if you do not understand. You might look dumb for asking silly questions and get people laughing at your stupidity but that's just the process of learning. Just ignore the rest that doesn't care asking.

> Go home, complete your homework or assignment first. Then, do some revision before you attempt on the questions. If you have any uncertainty that suddenly arrises at any point of time, always be prepared with a notebook so you can jot it down and ask your teacher the next day. Don't wait till few days later as you might have forgotten what you wanted to ask.

*Warning: Do not be the one who only completes the extra revision and neglected doing the homework or assignments the teacher had given to you. Teachers won't favour that behavior.

*Tips: Don't dispose any notes you make during class, at home, merely scribling because when you look back next time, you might find some useful things jot down inside that you might have left out. When you write you will remember more, trust me. The more senses you use, the better you remember.

6. Preparation for test

> Re-do notes/ Re-read the notes you made.
> Don't spot any topics.
> Attempt on some questions.
> Get enough sleep.
> Don't forget your calculator!!

7. Marks

> When you get back your marks, it shall tell you how much effort you put in. Don't give up when it is not as what you expected it would be and too, don't be over glad that you got high marks and did not continue to study or attempt on the questions. There's no stop when you started. Remember the tortoise and the hare story? That's what it meant ;)

> Look through your test paper no matter how dissatisfactory you are. Ask the teacher about the questions you are wrong and try to learn and understand from that.

> Sometimes, teachers might give you correction to be done. Don't take it as a waste of time as it helps you to not make the same mistakes. Don't just copy for the sake of passing up the correction, you should copy with understanding. That way, you'll learn more.

8. Don't believe me that practice makes perfect?

> Put the thoughts in action! Try it for yourself. When you have the will to score in physics, you have the way to do so :)

*Personal Experience: I got 45 marks in physics before and now it's an A+. It is useful for me, why not try it for yourself?

*Spending some time each day might be tough at first but when you look at the paper you get back each time after the test, the marks on it will be worth sacrificed.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

"Science and Sexuality" Presentation to LBTQ Women of Chicago

I will present a highly condensed version of my "Science and Sexuality" presentation to an audience of LBTQ women at Center On Halsted, Chicago's LGBT center, on March 13th as part of its H.E.R. Day event.   Since I only have an hour and fifteen minutes for this presentation and my talk usually takes about two and a half to three hours, this presentation will be very abbreviated and will include only the highlights of the research over the last fifty or so years on mammalian and human sexual development.  This short talk entitled "Science of Gender" will be from 1:30 to 2:45 pm in room 201. 

The details of the H.E.R. Day event and my presentation are given below.  If you are a LBTQ woman in the Chicago area, here is your chance to learn many things that will improve your health and well-being.  And it's all free!


CENTER ON HALSTED
presents

H.E.R. Day
Health, Education and Recreation Day for LBTQ Women

Saturday, March 13, 2010
9am - 4:15pm
In honor of Women’s History Month (March), Center on Halsted is proud to present a day-long program for all women, featuring speakers and a wide variety of workshops all about women’s health and well-being.


Seminar Schedule
Keynote Speakers: 10:15- 11: 15
Lynn C. Todman, Ph.D.,
Dr. Todman is the director of the Institute on Social Exclusion (ISE) at the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, IL. Dr. Todman’s areas of interest include urban poverty, social exclusion, and community development. Her work is multidisciplinary, drawing on the fields of economics, political science, sociology, public health, psychology and systems' dynamics, and focuses on the ways in which social, political, and economic structures systematically marginalize urban populations.

Helena Bushong, Advocate for Chicago Women’s AIDS Project

Session One: 11:30-12:45
Room 201: Holistic Healing 101 (specific focus TBA): Pacific College of Oriental Medicine
Room 202: Bisexual Health: A Dialogue; Dr. Wendy Bostwick
Room 204: Older Women’s Health: Dr. Madga Houlberg, Rush University Senior Care
Room 205: Artificial Insemination 101: Chicago Women’s Health Center
Common Threads Kitchen: Cooking Unboring Healthy Food: Jenny Urban and Jonathan Knight
***Pre-registration needed Email women@centeronhalsted.org to register.
Hoover-Leppen Theatre: BodyGuard: DeAnna Bellamy and Margaret Buehler

Session Two: 1:30- 2:45
Room 201: The Science of Gender: Dr. Ronnie Drantz
What exactly is a Female? Male? Intersexual? Is intersexuality natural? How many sexes are there? Sex versus Gender? Sexual identity - innate or learned? Sexual orientation? A scientific update on human sexuality from the perspective of a physiologist.
Room 202: Konversational Kung Fu: Ami Moore, certified ASR Relationship Coach
Tips to Disarm, Deflect and Defend Yourself Against Every Day Verbal Assaults: This seminar will give you tips and tricks to say the right thing, the right way at the right time to help you communicate more effectively with friends, lovers, partners, clients and supervisors. These techniques will allow you to respond consciously and constructively in the moment, instead of suffering from "brain farts" and thinking of the perfect retort days later.
Room 204: Transgender Health: Lois Bates, Howard Brown Health Center
Room 205: Holistic Healing 101 (specific focus TBA): Pacific School of Oriental Medicine
Common Threads Kitchen: Cooking Unboring Healthy Food: Jenny Urban and Jonathan Knight
***Pre-registration needed. Email women@centeronhalsted.org to register.

Session Three: 3:15-4:30
Room 201: A Conversation on Women of Color
Room 202: Room Heart Saver CPR (lasts until 5:30): AED and CPR Consulting
Heart Saver CPR is designed to teach CPR and relief of foreign-body airway obstruction (FBAO). This class covers Adult (8 Years +), Child (1-7), and Infant (under 1) emergencies.
*** Pre-registration needed. Link to register is: http://www.multi-hazard.org/registration.html
Room 205: Sexual Embodiment: Chris Connelly
How many of you felt the sex education you received really spoke to you? If we received it at all, the main focus tended to be on STIs and pregnancy. I wish to approach a subject with the understanding that we are sexual beings and our sexuality is a beautiful integral part of who we are. This presentation will focus on helping people understand how to access their pleasure and become more present in and with their bodies. We will talk about the basics of the brain and anatomy as they relate to pleasure. The power of the senses and breath to enhance your sexual experience, sexual safety and communication in a way that is fun, open and interactive. The idea of this class is for participants to leave sexually validated and with the tools to communicate their sexual desires and better access their pleasure and others'.
John Baran Senior Center: Yoga

This is a FREE EVENT! Complimentary breakfast and lunch!!!

Space is limited, and RSVP is strongly encouraged. RSVP to Christine Forster at
cforster@centeronhalsted.org or call 773.472.6469 X 441.

March 13, 2010 is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

Center on Halsted 3656 N Halsted, Chicago, IL 60613
773.472.6469
www.centeronhalsted.org

Sunday, February 14, 2010

LGBT Informational Picket at Holy Name Cathedral on Valentine's Day

Members of Chicago's Gay Liberation Network were joined by PFlag members from the northern Illinois region and other LGBT folk and allies at Holy Name Cathedral on the cold Sunday/Valentine's Day morning to picket Cardinal George's hateful anti-gay activities.  Cardinal George is the most powerful enemy of LGBT people in the Chicago area.
Here's a video snippet featuring Brent Holman-Gomez and Andy Thayer of GLN as the first and third speakers respectively.



While juggling a huge gay flag with a sign I made nailed to the pole that read "BORN GAY I'm supposed to be this way," I managed to take some photos of the picketing with my Treo.  Still more here.

Some of our chants were:
Homophobia is a sin
Homophobes go to hell
Stop funding the bigots
Stop the harm, stop the hate, separate church and state
Love your gay children
I noticed that young mothers with small children were the most agitated by our demonstration.  When we shouted:  "What if your child is gay?," they got visibly upset.  Here's what I think.  For the first time, these women were confronted in their minds with a divide between their religion's edict and their mothering instinct.  The thought that bringing their kids to church could turn out to be a bad thing for the kids (if in fact the kids are gay), startled them.  Well, as someone who was a gay Catholic girl, I know the damage that the Church did to me - and that is why I was there picketing at Holy Name Cathedral.  That's the only way to get me to go to church!

Friday, February 12, 2010

Anti-Gay Catholic Hierarchy To Be Confronted by LGBT Activists on Both Sides of the Ocean

The global enemy of LGBT people is being confronted by LGBT activists on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.  Peter Tatchell and other British LGBT activists will protest against Pope Benedict during his state visit to the United Kingdom. This will occur on the same day (February 14th), as I posted earlier, that Andy Thayer and other members of Chicago’s Gay Liberation Network will picket Cardinal George who has been a major accomplice to the evil doings of the Pope.

Here is what Peter Tatchell has to say about the Vatican:
WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE VATICAN

This tiny State inhabited mainly by priests is extremely powerful and its "moral" crusades adversely affect the lives of millions of people in Europe and in the world.

Officially part of the UN, its "observer-state" status means it engages in UN debates on a variety of issues ranging from favourites, such as birth control, abortion and homosexuality, to the environment, war and global trade.

The Vatican has diplomatic relationships with almost all the Countries in the world (174 when John Paul II died) and in many EU countries they benefit from the support of Catholic politicians or in many cases of Christian political parties. Of the 27 countries of the European Union, 14 are bound to the Vatican by at least one treaty. No other religion has such a power in Europe and in the World, thus prompting the Economist to publish an investigation about the diplomatic service of the Vatican, questioning whether it deserves its special status in the UN (21/07/2007)

The Catholic Church is an extremely profitable business. They own businesses such as hotels, restaurants, shops and private schools and they DON’T pay any tax! On top of this, the Vatican receives public money in many countries: in Italy about 1000 million Euros from taxes is destined to the Vatican every year (930 millions € in 2006 ).

The Vatican wields considerable political and economic power. It uses its influence and privilege to impose an agenda on a variety of issues that affect our lives as European citizens, and limit our civil rights and our civil liberties.

THE POPE'S VIEWS ON WOMEN AND LGBT PEOPLE
The issue of women's rights and the Catholic Church goes way beyond the hierarchy of the church, where women are unable to ascend to priesthood as a result of their gender. Women who have had a divorce, women who want to have an abortion and women who are living as single parents in catholic countries are often victims of intimidation and discrimination. The Pope encourages us to view women as unequal to men, by consistently and publicly stating that the two genders are naturally different and that women are naturally inclined for domestic living. In some catholic countries, like Ireland and Poland, abortion is illegal. In others, like Italy, the right to an abortion is constantly under threat from the Vatican's pressure on the Government.

The Pope thinks being gay is an "objective disorder" and a "moral evil". In many countries in the world you can still get the death penalty for being gay. A proposal to de-criminalise homosexuality was opposed by the Vatican in the UN because it would mean that States where same-sex unions are not recognized would be discriminated against and unfairly subjected to international pressure.

WHY SHOULD IT MATTER TO PEOPLE IN THE UK
This is certainly a global issue, but it also directly affects people living in the UK. This country is regarded by many as fairly "secular" but in reality, Christianity remains strongly embedded in many British Institutions and continues to enjoy unfair religious privilege.
Although a limited right to abortion has been granted to women living in England, Scotland and Wales since 1967, in Northern Ireland it remains illegal. This anomaly is significantly due to religious influence. Christian lobbies are engaged in continual efforts to restrict a woman's right to abortion and have succeeded in reducing the time limit for an abortion in Great Britain from 28 to 24 weeks.

Religion retains undue influence and power in various ways. With increasing numbers of state funded faith schools (1 in 3 of all schools in the UK is either Catholic or Church of England), they continue to exercise a strong influence on young people.

With public opinion distracted over the proposal to refer to the Christian roots of Europe they made sure that the proposed EU Constitution – and now the approved Lisbon Treaty (article 16C) - dangerously commits the European Union to "an open, transparent and regular dialogue with Churches and religious organisations".

PROTESTING AGAINST THE STATE VISIT OF THE POPE IN THE UK

The reactionary head of the Catholic Church is to be accorded a state visit to Britain next September: Joseph Ratzinger will meet the Queen and speak in both Houses of Parliament. The whole visit will have the full panoply of a visiting head of state.

We should not forget that his 'teachings' have resulted in the banning of condoms in developing countries where HIV is decimating the populations. He encourages population growth in places where starvation is common. He persecutes homosexuals, treats women as second class citizens, has colluded in the large-scale cover up of child abuse. His Church interferes illegitimately in politics and undermines democracy. It siphons huge amounts of money out of poverty-stricken economies.

We should firmly reject honouring the head of a Church with a lavish state reception in the UK.

WE DEMAND A SECULAR EUROPE

The state should be neutral in matter of religion or belief.

The beliefs of any group may not be used to limit the rights of others.

We affirm the common values of the people of Europe as expressed in the Brussels Declaration.

We need to protect democracy and to champion human rights against those who wish to retain undemocratic influence and privilege.

This event is organized by the Central London Humanist Group in partnership with the British Humanist Association, the National Secular Society, One Law for All, the Gay And Lesbian Humanist Association, the Rationalist Association and Peter Tatchell's OutRage!

Go to http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=415005340443 to RSVP and join in the “welcoming committee” for the Pope!


Here is what Andy Thayer has to say about Cardinal George:

“In contrast to the church laity, who holds a variety of views on gays – pro-equality and anti-equality – the leadership of the Catholic Church has been unified in its opposition to equal rights.

This is not just about the equal right to marry. In Illinois, Cardinal George and his predecessors over the years have worked behind the scenes to vehemently oppose EVERY piece of equal rights legislation for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender (LGBT) people that has ever been proposed, including opposing:
-- equal employment rights
-- equal access to housing
-- equal access to public accommodations
-- equal access to adoption.
And they haven’t been above playing hardball to get their way:
* The church leadership recently threatened to torpedo support for Congressman Luis Guiterrez’s immigration law bill if it included any consideration for LGBT people
* In Washington, DC, the church leadership threatened remove support for the homeless there if the District upheld its equal marriage rights bill.

On Freedom-to-Marry Day 2010 – aka, Valentine’s Day – we will drag the Church leadership’s bigotry out into the open for all the see with a picket of Cardinal George at Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N State Street at 10:30 AM. For more information go to www.GayLiberation.net or email LGBTliberation@aol.com. Please join the Facebook Event for the action, http://www.facebook.com/event.php?invites&eid=281885059470, and invite others!”

I will be at Holy Name Cathedral with my fellow members of Gay Liberation Network picketing the evil Cardinal George on February 14th. Where will you be?

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Picket Anti-Gay Cardinal George on Freedom-to-Marry-Day!

Because bigots need to be called out, whether they wear clerical robes or not!


I cannot think of a greater enemy in the Chicago area to LGBT people than Cardinal George. While this blog has a scientific focus and never mentions the vast majority of my political activism, sometimes I regard a political happening as so important to LGBT people that it becomes a post here. Below is a statement from Chicago’s Gay Liberation Network explaining why Cardinal George needs to be confronted by LGBT people.

In opposition to the desires of millions of lay Catholics for simple justice for all, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church has long alligned itself with, and often led, the forces of hate and bigotry opposing equal rights for gays and women.

At 10:30 AM on Freedom-To-Marry-DaySunday, February 14, Valentine’s Day – the Gay Liberation Network will host an informational picket of Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State Street, to highlight the role the Church’s leadership has played in promoting inequality.

For many years the Catholic leadership has attempted to fly under the radar screen with its opposition to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. A key secret to their success has been their stealthiness, ironically often assisted by gay rights “leaders.” These leaders, not trusting rank-and-file Catholics to be fair and too worried about hurting their fundraising base with well-connected and wealthy Catholics, are too cowardly to call out Catholic leaders for promoting hate and discrimination.

As a local example, Chicago's Catholic leader Cardinal Francis George has worked tirelessly -- albeit from behind the scenes -- to block our path to full legal equality. George attempted to kill LGBT inclusion as a protected class in the Illinois Human Rights Act, which now protects us from housing and employment discrimination. He and other Catholic bishops circulated petitions in a failed effort to force an advisory referendum on "gay marriage," and George is the head of the national Conference of Catholic Bishops which spent big bucks backing Prop 8 hate in California. Back in Illinois, George is working hard today to block same sex-marriage and/or civil unions.


On Sunday, February 14th, with our picket of Holy Name Cathedral, we will make a start in dragging Francis George's bigotry out of the closet.

But Cardinal George is no lone voice in the wilderness. He is joined by almost the entire hierarchy of the Catholic Church whose record of activism against gay equality is long and sordid:

  • Speaking of the current pope, the Associated Press reported that “Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, spearheaded a Vatican campaign against same-sex unions in 2003, issuing guidelines for Catholic politicians to oppose laws granting legal rights to gay couples when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.” Associated Press, 6/6/05
  • The Portland, Maine Archdiocese gathered more than a quarter of the funds recently used to defeat marriage equality in Maine. In addition, Marc Mutty, the chair of the principal statewide organization in Maine that fueled anti-gay discrimination there, was the Portland Archdiocese’s head spokesperson until taking a leave of absence from his job to spearhead the successful effort to rob gays and lesbians of their equal marriage rights.
  • The Catholic fraternal organization Knights of Columbus bankrolled California’s anti-gay Proposition 8 to the tune of over $1 million.
  • As California’s East Bay Express noted about newly-minted Oakland Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, “What almost no one knows is that without Bishop Sal, gay men and lesbians would almost surely still be able to get married today. As an auxiliary bishop in San Diego, Cordileone played an indispensable role in conceiving, funding, organizing, and ultimately winning the campaign to pass Proposition 8. It was Bishop Sal and a small group of Catholic leaders who decided that they had to amend the state constitution. It was Bishop Sal who found the first major donor and flushed the fledgling campaign with cash. It was Bishop Sal who personally brought in the organization that took the lead on the petition drive. And it was Bishop Sal who coordinated the Catholic effort with evangelical churches around the state. Bishop Sal even helped craft the campaign's rhetorical strategy, sitting in on focus groups to hone the message of Proposition 8."
While Catholic leaders decry any attempts to label them as haters and bigots, their own scapegoating statements tell a very different story about their true feelings:

  • Former pope Karol Wotija, aka John Paul II, condemned gay foster parents for doing "violence" to children. He called us "disordered," and "against the natural law." He railed against civil marriage equality for all same-sex couples whether Catholic or not, condemning our civil marriage contract as an act "against God," and proclaimed defeating marriage equality his "primary task" for 2005.
  • In a 2005 pastoral letter read in every church in the diocese of Calgary, Alberta, Bishop Frederick Henry called on his flock to stamp out same-sex marriage. “Since homosexuality, adultery, prostitution and pornography undermine the foundations of the family, the basis of society, then the State must use its coercive power to proscribe or curtail them in the interests of the common good." (365Gay.com)
  • In an end-of year address in 2008, the current pope, George Ratzinger (aka Benedict XVI), said that the existence of gay people threatens humanity as much as the destruction of rainforests and that "blurring" genders through acceptance of transgender people would kill off the human race.
  • Beginning in 1986, Ratzinger wrote a series of church documents that branded sexually active gays as "evil," told church officials to kick Dignity chapters off church property and even warned Catholic lawmakers that voting in favor of gay-rights legislation is "gravely immoral" because "the approval or legalization of evil is something far different from the toleration of evil." (Deb Price, Detroit News)
  • Ratzinger has disparaged lesbian and gay couples as engaging in “pseudo-matrimonies by people of the same sex.”
  • Bishop Cordileone has called same-sex marriage a Satanic plot: "The ultimate attack of the Evil One is the attack on marriage.”
  • In 2007 Chicago’s Cardinal George wrote that same-sex behavior "brings people's salvation into jeopardy" in a column for the Archdiocese of Chicago newspaper.
When haters garb themselves in clerical robes, their statements and activities must be exposed.


The Gay Liberation Network encourages all people of good will, regardless of faith background, to join us at 10:30 AM, Sunday, February 14 for an informational picket of Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State Street, Chicago.

As a member of Chicago’s Gay Liberation Network, I will be in this important picketing event. If you live in the Chicago area, please RSVP and join this protest.