society

"Today I saw a bumper sticker that said, ‘Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the..."

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:35:43 -0400

“Today I saw a bumper sticker that said, ‘Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.’ I think that’s right, but it’s also only part of the story. I think that the judicial system is also what keeps the poor from murdering the rich. And the police. And what we are taught in school keeps the poor from murdering the rich. The stories we are taught at home from infancy are what keeps the poor from murdering the rich. The belief that it is acceptable to be rich is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich. The desire to be like them keeps the poor from murdering the rich. None of this, of course, keeps the rich from murdering the poor.”

- Derrick Jensen, The Culture of Make Believe

Photo

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:02:42 -0500

touristfashion: section9: jacobjoaquin: laughwhileyoucanmonkey...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:14:07 -0500

touristfashion:

section9:

jacobjoaquin:

laughwhileyoucanmonkey:

Stop! You’re describing Romney Accurately!

1) Not a photoshop. 2) How did my brain not see this before?

#facepalm

I want his head.

Republican Senator says White People should have their own day.

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:51:53 -0500

Republican Senator says White People should have their own day.:

This makes me think of a child asking their parents, “If there’s a mother’s/father’s day, why isn’t there a child’s day?” Because every day is child’s day you selfish prick.

Photo

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:13:38 -0500

stfuconservatives: stfuhatemongers: belgianbollocks: panasonic...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:26:44 -0500

stfuconservatives:

stfuhatemongers:

belgianbollocks:

panasonicyouth:

Mark Educates #2: Homelessness

[Image description: A screenshot from FB. Someone posts: “I believe that if you have half the brain in your head you should be able to make money. So I don’t really feel sorry for that “homeless” dude standing on the side of the freeway asking for money. Come on people- this is America. People flock here from different countries to find work and a better life. There should be no excuse for someone to bum it-None whatsoever.” I reply with: Mental illness, the lack of support for veterans after soldiers return from wars that rich white men create and profit from, the recent wave of vicious foreclosures, the constant erosion of work opportunities by a corporate environment that seeks to increase its bottom line through outsourcing, the ever-increasing decline in any sort of public assistance, the lack of affordable housing, lack of affordable health care, mental illness, domestic violence, sexual abuse, violent transphobia, homophobia, a culture and system of racism, addiction disorders and the public stigma that follows them, and the unbelievably complicated set of circumstances that might lead a person to have to choose between eating food, having a roof over their head, and meeting their basic needs as a human being. Oh, sorry, what’s that? You weren’t using half the brain in your head to figure this shit out? There really should be no excuse for that. None whatsoever. PS: I was homeless once in my life because I ran away from home to escape abuse. So I don’t tolerate this bullshit from anyone.]

Yes, I said mental illness twice.

Here’s an easy one: Don’t ever do this.

jfc

This belongs on my blog. Love this reply.

Perfection.

highsee: politicalprof: A quick comparison. Poverty tends to...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:26:20 -0500

highsee:

politicalprof:

A quick comparison. Poverty tends to be concentrated in more conservative states. This is by no means the whole story: rural-urban, big cities-no major cities demographic variables and other dynamics matter. But so does ideology. Don’t kid yourself. States in which conservatives make up a substantial part of the population tend to have much higher poverty rates than do states with low percentages of conservatives.

Something to think about, this New Hampshire primary day!

Under education + religious fundamentalism = a vote for the GOP, every time.

Who Rules America: Wealth, Income, and Power

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 09:47:28 -0500

Who Rules America: Wealth, Income, and Power

Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% | Society | Vanity Fair

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 09:45:09 -0500

Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% | Society | Vanity Fair

thedailywhat: This Is Just Great of the Day: Appearing in the...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:21:16 -0500

thedailywhat:

This Is Just Great of the Day: Appearing in the latest Target circular is 6-year-old Ryan: A happy, gregarious, photogenic rising star in the world of child modeling — who happens to have Down syndrome.

Ryan has also appeared in a recent Nordstrom catalog among other clothing ads.

On the Daddyblog of a father whose child also has Down syndrome, Ryan’s mother writes:

The whole process of modeling is an extreme confidance booster for him. He received so much warmth and caring from the Nordstrom crew that he thought they were there just for him! We are honored that Ryan is making the Down syndrome community proud. He is a beautiful boy inside and out. He makes us better parents, and a better family.

[noahsdad / adweek.]

thedailywhat: What The Hell of the Day: How does a 14-year-old...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:50:20 -0500

thedailywhat:

What The Hell of the Day: How does a 14-year-old African-American girl who speaks not one word of Spanish end up being deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Colombia? That’s what they would like to know.

ICE Director of Public Affairs Brian Hale said the department has opened an investigation into the circumstances leading to the deportation of a Texas teen named Jakadrien, who was arrested and sent to Colombia last year despite never having been there in her life.

According to Jakadrien’s grandmother, who managed to track down her granddaughter with the help of Dallas Police and Facebook, the then-14-year-old ran away from home in 2010 after her grandfather died and her parents divorced.

News 8 says Jakadrien ended up on the streets of Houston, where she was arrested by police for theft. Alone and scared, the young girl gave officers a fake name, which, by sheer misfortune, happened to belong to a 22-year-old illegal immigrant from Colombia.

Without verification, ICE collected Jakadrien’s fingerprints and deported her to the South American republic, where she was given a work card and released. In Facebook posts, Jakadrien reportedly complained of being tired from having to work all day cleaning a big house.

Though the U.S. Embassy has been notified of her whereabouts, this sad story isn’t over yet: The Colombian government has since seized Jakadrien, and is holding her in a detention facility for reasons unknown.

Her grandmother, however, is far from giving up: “I feel like she will come home,” she says. “I just need help and prayer.”

[wfaa.]

aveviva: shortformblog: Pepsi Co.’s revolting legal defense in...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:48:40 -0500

aveviva:

shortformblog:

Pepsi Co.’s revolting legal defense in Mountain Dew case

Don’t do the Dew: An Illinois man is presently suing the Pepsi Company, claiming that as he was enjoying (as much as one is able) some Mountain Dew soda, he spat out a mouthful to reveal a dead mouse. In an effort to acquit themselves of this charge, Pepsi seems to be conceding a reality that strikes us, frankly, as a great deal grosser and more concerning than a mouse happening to get shuffled into the bottling process: they’re saying the mouse would have dissolved in the time it took for the soda to go from bottling to consumption. More specifically, they’re claiming it would have been reduced to a “jelly-like substance.” There are no words. (Photo courtesy of Repoort) source

Follow ShortFormBlog

Oh. My. God.

littleslippi: boatfriend: thedailywhat: Historical Homecoming...

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:12:42 -0500

littleslippi:

boatfriend:

thedailywhat:

Historical Homecoming Kiss of the Day: For the first time in Navy history, a lesbian salior was picked to plant the traditional homecoming kiss on her significant other.

Through a raffle held onboard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta won the right to be the first off the ship when Oak Hill docked in Virginia Beach after several months at sea. As part of a time-honored tradition, the first off the ship gets to share the first kiss with a loved one.

23-year-old Gaeta was greeted by her girlfriend of two years, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell, 22, and the two locked lips while the crowd gathered around them cheered.

“It’s something new, that’s for sure,” Gaeta said after the historical smooch. “It’s nice to be able to be myself. It’s been a long time coming.”

Watch the two talk about their special moment below:

[virginian-pilot.]

<33333333333

OH LOOK, ITS THE CUTEST THING.

Photo

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:15:59 -0500

Video game where Jews and Atheists must be killed or converted due for Christmas

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:57:16 -0500

Video game where Jews and Atheists must be killed or converted due for Christmas

thedailywhat: One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others of the...

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:47:38 -0500

thedailywhat:

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others of the Day: Hint: It’s the one with the cover story about how it’s completely okay, if not beneficial, to feel unease about future uncertainties, as opposed to, say, riot in the streets until sh*t gets done.

Sadly, this is a fairly common occurrence.

[@ggreenwald.]

nyrthak: 1to3ate9: thedailywhat: Instantly Iconic Photo of...

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 01:04:42 -0500

nyrthak:

1to3ate9:

thedailywhat:

Instantly Iconic Photo of the Day: 84-year-old former school teacher Dorli Rainey is helped away from the scene of an Occupy Seattle protest at Westlake Park after being doused with pepper spray.

Rainey was among dozens of protesters hit with the “less-than-lethal agent” after refusing to move from the intersection of 5th Avenue and Pine Street following a march of solidarity with Occupy Wall Street.

Rainey, a longtime presence in local politics, wrote The Stranger an email afterward, saying she stopped by the protest on her way to a public meeting on a transportation issue.

“Knowing that the problems of New York would certainly precipitate action by Occupy Seattle, I thought I better check it out,” she wrote, “especially since only yesterday the City Government made a grandiose gesture to protect free speech.”

Her email continues:

Well free speech does have its limits as I found out as the cops shoved their bicycles into the crowd and simultaneously pepper sprayed the so captured protesters.

She credits an Iraq vet with saving her from being trampled. “In the women’s movement,” she concludes, “there were signs which said: ‘Screw us and we multiply.”

Video of the incident below:

[seattlepi / slog.]

seriously messed up…

What the fuck!? These cops have no shame! How can they treat people like this all over the country?

"Moloch! Moloch! Robot apartments! invisible suburbs! skeleton treasuries! blind capitals! demonic..."

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:06:51 -0500

““Moloch! Moloch! Robot apartments! invisible suburbs! skeleton treasuries! blind capitals! demonic industries! spectral nations! invincible madhouses! granite cocks! monstrous bombs!””

- Allen Ginsberg, Howl

Be sure to read the fine print.

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 12:26:27 -0500

Be sure to read the fine print.

Top US foreclosure law firm threw Halloween party where staff dressed as homeless, foreclosed-upon Americans

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 18:20:56 -0400

Top US foreclosure law firm threw Halloween party where staff dressed as homeless, foreclosed-upon Americans :

junkyard-bodhisattva:

On Friday, the law firm of Steven J. Baum threw a Halloween party. The firm, which is located near Buffalo, is what is commonly referred to as a “foreclosure mill” firm, meaning it represents banks and mortgage servicers as they attempt to foreclose on homeowners and evict them from their homes. Steven J. Baum is, in fact, the largest such firm in New York; it represents virtually all the giant mortgage lenders, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

The party is the firm’s big annual bash. Employees wear Halloween costumes to the office, where they party until around noon, and then return to work, still in costume. I can’t tell you how people dressed for this year’s party, but I can tell you about last year’s.

That’s because a former employee of Steven J. Baum recently sent me snapshots of last year’s party. In an e-mail, she said that she wanted me to see them because they showed an appalling lack of compassion toward the homeowners — invariably poor and down on their luck — that the Baum firm had brought foreclosure proceedings against.