Monday, January 31, 2011

monday!

There's actually a lot of coded sexism inherent in this Rush Limbaugh rant against vegetables (See also: the Salad episode of Seinfeld). It hit me, while contemplating how vegetables/vegetarianism are coded feminine and meat is coded male (presumably this is a "caveman" narrative, with the men hunting and the women gathering roots and berries....?), that the very meditation I was in the midst of is a perfect example of why Feminism is dysfunctional, or at least, why it's so difficult to fight what we're up against.

To wit: in order to assume a Feminist worldview, you must accept the fundamental premise that a patriarchy/patriarchal culture exists, and that both men and women are complicit in sustaining it. With me so far? (If not, please please please argue with me on this one, I like where this argument is going and I want to develop it further.) But here's the problem: when you accept the fundamental premise of the patriarchy and you actually start viewing the world through a Feminist lens, you start seeing how deeply ingrained patriarchal values, misogyny and so forth are in our culture, and when you try to talk to someone who's not the same page with you yet about how Rush Limbaugh is heteronormatively biased against salads, you're generally regarded as a wild-eyed conspiracy theorist.

It reminded me of the scene from last season's Mad Men where Peggy is talking to the beatnik journalist about civil rights vs. womens' rights, and he laughs off the notion that people would show up for a Feminist civil rights march--in a sense, it IS laughable to contemplate a march or rally in support of women. We are more than half the population, literally the majority! There are so many of us, how could we possibly allow ourselves to be oppressed? Don't you see women everywhere doing all kinds of things? Etc.

/sermon

***
Some related bonus linkage on the connection between abortion and buttsecks, omg! Also: THIS

We are so fzcking stupid. More here.

What exactly the fzck is going on in Egypt: one, two, three, four

The awesome state of Arizona's Medicaid program. More here.

The #DearJohn Twitter initiative gears up.

Dan Lipinski is a Blue Dog piece of sh1t.

Sinister...?

Here's my new wallpaper. And related.

***
This needs to be a real thing.

Games! I really like the Chiromagica one.

I'm going to make one of these for Tom.

I can only assume by your negative attitude that you have yet to partake in the wonderment that is the StarCrunch.

Watching this was like reliving some of Guthrie's finer kitten moments.

I want to give this kid one million hugs.

Joe Biden continues to be my homeboy.

Friday, January 28, 2011

happy friday!

AWESOME: this Subway is blocks from Tom's office and he eats there at least once a week.

***
Holy sh1t: "For the second year in a row, the U.S. military has lost more troops to suicide than it has to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan."

/headdesk

More follow up on the ACORNing of Planned Parenthood.

Things in England are Strange: one, two

Radical idiots.

No, it really doesn't, but I like it anyway.
 
The Minimalist is retiring! His greatest hits.

The delicate balance between transparency and conspiracy.

Down with this sort of thing.

***
The everything bagel is a bunch of bullsh1t.

I want the Samurai Jack one SO BAD.

Stunning. So freaking pretty and cool.

omg save me!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

thursday!

Interesting. I'm mostly in favor of the residency rule. It's certainly a form of protectionism; apparently the original intention was to prevent middle class (mostly white) suburban flight, which is bad because that's kinda racist but good mainly because a vibrant middle class necessarily creates demand for a thriving school system. That said, it is contrary to a merit-based system, mainly regarding teachers (e.g., we should want the best and brightest teachers irrespective of their residence), but c'mon, if we were really worried about recruiting and keeping good teachers we wouldn't be demonizing unions and making all kinds of noise about charter schools. I do think it's a positive and appropriate function of government to incentivize residents to work within their communities, particularly with the police force--when you know the cops and they live in your neighborhood it really reduces the Us vs. Them mentality, and the last thing the CPD needs right now is to widen that divide. Huge sections of the general population distrust law enforcement (often for good reason, because stuff like this is straight up bullsh1t) and that's unhealthy for society. Frankly if I were running for mayor I'd be calling for a return to having beat cops doing foot patrols in more (low to moderate crime level) neighborhoods.

***

"Sometimes I feel like America is just in a holding pattern.  We're basically waiting for all the people who are still bitter about modernity to pass away in large enough numbers that those of us willing to move into the future can actually capture the electorate."

If this works, awesome. I am skeptical.

Paul Broun, d0uche of the day.

Hey, this is fzcked up: one, two

This Chris Matthews clip is hilarious. Calling Michele Bachmann a "balloonhead" warms my heart.

Understatement of the Day. And a runner up.

***
Crap, I need to snuggle a puppy right NOW.

Extreme Elmo-based cuteness. Srsly.

Oooh, I hate the crap outta that guy.

EPIC

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

wednesday!

WTF (I kinda covered this already but I can't emphasize it enough)

Related: some sweet synthesis between this piece and this one. (Also this and this)

It's 2011 Georgia, we don't burn gay people to death any more. Do I really have to say that?

DAMN this is disappointing.

(insert action movie joke here)

Filthy hypocrites: one, two, three, four, five

File Under: Art, ROI

***

Seriously considering trying to meditate using this.

Wait For It of the Day. (We watched this at least three times)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

tuesday!

DO NOT WANT

The GOP wants to seriously fzck up healthcare reform.

The middle class needs an advocate organization, full stop. Unions do that. Which is why they're under attack.

On competition.

Smart, quality thoughts on the fzcked economy. (More economic idiocy here and here)

We are torturing our own.

Michelle Bachmann is a big fat liar.

Hey, fzck you, Mark Kirk.

Yes. Needless to say, I am hugely opposed.

Gross.

/despondent

In light of the forthcoming fetal personhood onslaught, I thought these were helpful.

YAY PAT QUINN

Word of the Day.

***

If you missed the debut of Roger Ebert's new show over the weekend, it's available here. Werner Herzog reads Ebert's review of My Dog Tulip!

Bunny food!

Earth and Space.

Monday, January 24, 2011

monday!

So this is appropriate, I guess, since we just had that tragedy where women ran around flinging fetuses at people in Tucson. OH WAIT....

I think he means another Lost Decade, but otherwise, yeah.

THIS, sweet jesus.

Basically Haiti is a giant fzcking mess.

YUP

NO, and if you do, you're a bad person. Kitties are for petting.

Fzck.


hatehatehate

***

This is a really compelling idea but I can't imagine how you'd keep them from freezing up in winter.

WOLVES

Awesome.

Five solid minutes of an adorable tiny cat snuggling with a golden lab puppy. Deal with it!

Friday, January 21, 2011

happy friday!

All these threats to Social Security are starting to seriously piss me off. We keep proposing to do the exact opposite of the things that would actually improve our problems. Even the grown ups are off the deep end at this point, I don't know what we're supposed to do.

50 Most Loathsome Americans of 2010. Yep.

Fzck that guy, I'll give him some preexisting conditions.

Al still loves us.

"Get off my lawn!" "Respectfully, your Honor, the courtroom does not have a lawn." "You're in contempt!"

Rush Limbaugh, racist idiot.

DAMMIT, you guys. And DAMMIT harder. These things are NOT OKAY.

Perspective. And further perspective. And still more!

Well, obviously. What are *you* going to do about it?

Weiner!

***
These are beautiful and that guy is...something.

Just when you thought American Apparel couldn't get any grosser. (nsfw, naked Real Dolls instead of ladies)

Surreal.

BENNY

nomnomnom

WANT

Thursday, January 20, 2011

thursday!

YAAAAAAAAAAAY Parks and Rec is back! (lots of cursing in video link)

***
I don't see how this is supposed to work. He can't run as a Democrat unless the Democratic Party lets him, and they won't. Also, fzck that guy.

Wikileaks are bad, not so bad. I am so disappointed in our government.

Ah, a future Tea Party leader. If that kid's a junior in high school and he already hates women that much his father must be delightful.

Holy crap, you can't BUY poll numbers like these.

File Under: Gross, Modern Caligulas

Yeah, this guy's a pretentious jerk.

No more tax exempt status for you. (Ideally, anyway.)

A fair point.

Okay, I'm good and unsettled now.

File Under: Letters from Crackpots, Idiocracy

Yay for Costco jobs, they're consistently highly rated as a desirable employer.

***
Can we get some scientists over here that are this awesome (video contains lots of cursing; headphones!)? Neil De Grasse Tyson is great and all but not nearly so animated.

So...how 'bout that?

I love street art SO MUCH.

fzck yeah baby!

WHAT

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

wednesday!

Morning Music!

"Mike Rosen, an executive with a media agency, explains that ads that mimic shows viewers really like help transfer the positive feelings people have about those shows to the products being advertised on them." NO. The opposite of this. Nothing made me stabbier than those damn faux Mad Men commercials. The old advertising philosophy was specifically NOT to do this because it interrupted suspension of disbelief and therefore the enjoyment to be had from watching a TV show, especially in soap operas, because so many low-level soap actors supplement their income with commercials and it was assumed that placing those commercials within the soap hour would "confuse" housewives. But it's not like this is a new thing, I'm pretty sure the Evangeline Lilly hair product ads ran during the last two seasons of LOST, or at least the final one. Bravo also does that tricksy sh1t where they insert a 15 second video clip from the show (they do it with Top Chef every week) in the middle of the half hour double commercial break. TV people: you are killing yourselves with this nonsense. All commercials should be delightful and whimsical, like the instant classic Pink Batts ad.

***

I say we offer up Rod Blagojevich vs. a drunken cheesemonger of the governor's choosing for an MMA cage match. That way EVERYBODY wins.

I've been asking the same thing for a while now, Bob.

/headdesk

What the fzck? Isn't this unconstitutional?

Okay, seriously, what the FZCK?

Sh1t, I sort of agree with David Brooks. Still, I can't help but think that he simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to sh1t on an intelligent, accomplished woman.

I don't totally agree with this proposed 28th amendment, but it's a good starting point.

Fzck Florida.

Ooh, this is going to start a thing. Read up on your correlation vs. causation, people.

Acorn does not equal oak tree.

Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes? Why so many drunken, hedonistic snakes? (Sorry, my funny tank needs a refill)

***
wee squee!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

tuesday!

MLK mini round up: one, two

Obviously.

For fzcks' sake, can we get SOMETHING over here? Sorta related: DUH.

Classy.

Overall, then, this data suggests that decriminalization has produced more experimentation but not a lot more long-term drug use.

Sh1t.

Five Emotions Invented By the Internet (Genius).

Nononono

What?

***
Dance Break! Everybody do The Old Guy!

Puppers is sleepy.

This is gorgeous. "The sober certainty of waking bliss" is so much better than religion.

Dude, fzcking roll your windows shut and stay in the car.

The incident prompted a warning from police that blow-up sex toys are "not recognised flotation devices''.

Bill Maher is still awesome.

Monday, January 17, 2011

monday!

It's all well and good for David Frum to chide epistemic closure when he's not directly contributing to it. I will not welcome deathbed conversions from the foot soldiers of tyranny.

Hey, this is racist and horrible!

Fzcking with health care.

And related: while we're demonizing public employees and union workers for their sweet, sweet pay and benefits, could we start going after rich fzck doctors, too? If we're going to hate on the middle-to-upper-middle class, let's at least be consistent. Because they are a-holes.

Charming. And II.

Grover Norquist is up to something.

SAD

Language: one, two

Conspiracy! (or accidental truth)

Bloomberg Businessweek is obviously drunk.

***
Awesome: MegaPython vs. Gatoroid sounds sweet, but Humanoids from the Deep is unparalleled.

Do not mess with a man's meatball sandwich.

Kanye West eclipses himself, your argument is invalid.

Gorgeous public art.

Not sure this even looks totally real, but still: CUTE

Puppers! Or possibly a gremlin, I had no idea that bulldogs make devil noises.

SCIENCE

Friday, January 14, 2011

happy friday!

*Really*, Mitch Daniels? You wanna play that game?

Stochastic Terrorism. Interesting.

/speechless

The point about the 2007 candidates is an interesting one.

1. The Koch Brothers are unspeakably evil fzcks, and 2. This is why voting in local elections is so important. The dark side is working top down AND bottom up. Related here, hoo boy.

Trend: Girls getting plastic surgery after being bullied. FZCK, I'm going back to bed.

Oh good. We probably didn't need one of those anyway. And we certainly don't need a minimum wage, right?

Pfft, you want everybody to hold hands too, hippie?
 

WTF

Help blow the whistle on the Senate.

omg so many babies...

Language: one, two, three, four

***
Should you work for free?

Hippies be crazy.

CAVE

Okay seriously, how did this never get worked into LOST somehow? It's called the freaking Shepard Scale.

Be happy. Be very happy.

Kitties!!: one, two, three (Maru loves Pocky!)

Thursday, January 13, 2011

thursday!

Hey, I don't want any guns within a thousand feet of me either, you elitist idiot.

All things considered, I am looking forward to some serious discussion about the state of mental health care in this country.

The most depressing thing you'll read about honey buns today.

On bloody shirts.

Yay IL!

Fun with Statistics: 400%, 45%, double volume (we are SO fzcked). And graphs!

Fzcked up.

Filthy Opportunism: one, two, three

And other filthy things.

Oh good.

***
Warm crack. (SFW)

Therapsids are funny lookin'.

Batman's sweet ride.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

wednesday!

"If the era of the union is over, as it seems to be, what other countervailing force will work to preserve the value of labor?" My gods, I don't know. It's like the libertarian/stupid argument for dissolving public schools. You can't just get rid of public schools and replace them with nothing, you HAVE to create a new institution to fill the void. The only real options for any sort of organized workers rights are unions, government regulation, or public shaming (which I guess is the "free market" solution?).

Related here. And here.

WHAT THE FZCK

There are so many more people at risk beyond our elected officials.

Clarence Dupnik, BAMF.

The big fat hypocrises of Glenn and Newt.

There are simply not enough horrible diseases to inflict one person simultaneously...

What, is the mayoral election just some clown, here to amuse you? (w00t Driftglass!)

This is a few months old, but relevant.

Sklarpower. (Link does not contain any Jason or Randy Sklar but is still pretty awesome)

Good news, everyone!

The fact that this program continued until 1969 and there are very likely still "practice babies" walking around today blows my mind.

THIS is your free market. I need to lie down.

***
Science from Spaaaaaaaaaace: one, two, three

Someone needs to do a wellcheck on Howard Hesseman, doesn't seem like he's getting out much these days and it's making him a little weird.

Via Roger Ebert's Twitter feed: Mary Poppins, scrubbed.

Major Wordnerdery

Hey, maybe don't do that.

Gorgeous.

I never would've made the connection, that is kinda cool.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

tuesday!

I ended up here trying to figure out a crossword puzzle clue (needed a break from my Twitter feed). Has anyone ever played advanced chess that used any of the fairy pieces? My new imaginary band is Superqueen and the Bug-Eyed Monster, btw.

Wikileaks mini: one, two, three, four

The Fzcked Economy mini: one, two, three, four

What the royal fzck?

Rick Perry, moron.

Holy sh1t this is horrifying.

FZCK. Ladyhulking to commence shortly.

Rand Paul continues to be a piece of sh1t.

Little attention here, please?

THIS (and this...related here).

Further thoughts on Ted Williams.

The new CoS is a POS.

I do not care for this at all. More here.

Fzcking with the unions.

Wow.

The reporter in this segment and everyone at that local affiliate need to be punched in the cznt. I am embarrassed that we are the same species, since they obviously believe that the homeless are not.

***
We are *this close* to bringing Bedazzling back, folks. Let's tread lightly.

Space stuff.

Don Hertzfeldt yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay...

Awkward...

I love this guy.

Damn, that IS genius.

More pizza delivery excellence.

Gorgeous and eerie.

Monday, January 10, 2011

monday 2

Fzck yeah, I needed some baby pandas like whoa.

Bonus bear cuddlies.

jump!

Good dog!!!

Yay!

The Sartorialist in seven minutes.

Up With This Sort of Thing.

Cute kids play with old technology.

Mmm, meatshower.

(Jaws theme)

monday.

Today's a collection of news and editorial gathered over the course of Saturday and Sunday. I know there's a lot, but some are just screen grabs and others are video or longer commentary. The clickthrough in sixteen, with the list of violent incidents since summer 2008 when Obama got the nomination, is terrifying. All the links are taken from my Twitter stream, which also includes a bunch of other links and comments I couldn't include here. Read as much as you can handle. A second daily round up with cute and happy things is pending.

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven,
twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen,
nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four,
twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty

Sunday night add ons:

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve

Friday, January 7, 2011

happy friday!

What the fzck. How is that even supposed to work? I assume they're going by sales records, but that only gives you who purchased the gift card, not who they gave it to, and that's who you'd have to go after to claim the remainder. I don't know if that makes me more or less angry than Illinois trying to retroactively collect sales taxes on internet purchases. If states want to debate about doing things differently going forward, fine, but changing the rules after the fact is straight up Orwellian bullsh1t.

***
This should be in 200 point font on the front page of the fzcking NY Times.

Or we could just NOT kill people, like other civilized countries.

This is infuriating. If that guy works for Luna I hope he doesn't get in trouble for talking to the news, lots of companies have bans on that sort of thing in their employee handbooks.

Fzcked Economy: one, two

Fun!

/headdesk

Wow.

Conspiracy! Everything is a lie!

This is straight up genius webgazing.

wooooooooooooooo....

What the hell is wrong with people?

***
Weird!

I think I'm finally ready to mess around with sous vide with this method.

When I'm in charge of stuff I'm appointing NPH as one of my Ministers of Awesomeness.

Belarusian Blues.

This guy is awesome, o-m-g. Very very yummy!

I gotta get me one these sweet owl shirts.

Fishy fishy fishy!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

thursday!

Pretty divided about this. On one hand there's artistic purity, integrity, and historical context to consider, and I find myself more in this camp (and this one; fzck yeah Ishmael Reed) that asks that Americans engage with, rather than ignore (or celebrate), our frequently ugly history. But on the other hand, I'm not a teacher and I'll never have to have an extensive conservation with a group of kids about the text (John, this is where you can earn some sorely needed participation points). I'm curious if there's any sort of precedent or other comparable case for this sort of major revisionism (other than the Bible, lol) and what the response was. Tangent--I asked Tom if he thought, given the growing dominance of the Kindle and other e-book readers, and how they can be effed with remotely, if we should keep ALL my dad's history books irrespective of our personal interest so our kids can read "real" history once Texas has completely decimated the textbook industry. I'm pretty sure he declared me "delightfully paranoid."

***

OKAY SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL

She's a ringer, right? She's gotta be.

HURK

This is extremely disappointing. End of life planning is really important if you want to spare your family a lot of pain.

Emphasis on the wankery.

Fresh Air! Thanks, Jamie!

Further thoughts on Scalia.

CRAP

Srsly: CRAP

Literacy: one, two

Worst Meme Ever, really (or at least top 10).

***

If you missed it yesterday: what the hell is going on inside my walls?

I wish I lived there too, man.

Going to this. Anyone want to make it a field trip?

Dude!

Effin' puppies!

Catzoars: one, two, three

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Things I Should Probably Find Unsurprising At This Point

So I'm doing a more extensive cleaning and sorting of Things in the Basement, because there's still a lot of my dad's crap down there that needs to vamoose prior to Spring when we'll hopefully get the areas waterproofed that leak when it rains. Today I happened to open up the utility cabinet where the gas meter lives, and as has already happened numerous times in the course of settling into the house, immediately said "What the hell?" Findings:


Various illustrations. Since they extend beyond the exposed areas, they must predate the paneling, which was already in the house when my Dad bought it in '87 from the original owners.

I am way intrigued by the close proximity of the swastika to the Burma Shave sign.

Rise up and abandon what? I cannot wait to pull this paneling down.

All that's legible here is "Challence/Challenge" and "we face"

U are a table. Obviously.

wednesday!

They have taken the bridge and the second hall. We have barred the gates but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes, drums... drums in the deep. We cannot get out. A shadow lurks in the dark. We can not get out... they are coming.

***

Jerry Brown is embracing Crash-the-Cart politics and I don't know how to feel about it. However, fzck Texas!!

And also fzck the Susan G. Komen people. They have sucked for years.

Filthy fzcking hypocrites. Demon lovers!

What sort of person *do* you find murdered in a landfill, then? At least Vince Foster was dumped in a nice park.

Seriously, let's just not do it, then.

Seconded.

***

Brian Williams: kind of a wh0re.

FOOM

Stupid copyright law.

Elmo: Marxist Menace!

This will make Justin and Maggie want to run away to California.

This will make Erik want to run home and play with Syd.

And this makes me want to run like hell toward the nearest puppy.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

tuesday!

I need some suggestions for non-political/non-hard-news sites I can visit today, because my usual rounds bummed me the hell out yesterday and I can't do that to myself two days in a row. Help!

***

Miguel Del Valle is my guy: one, two. He'll lose, but here's to hoping he'll be the election's Edwards and push the discourse left.

Meet the Morons Ruining Your Lives.

The Fzcked Economy: one, two, three

I think I'm just going to go ahead and start calling the House majority "the clown car" for this Legislative session. Apropos. (more here)

Yeah, my initial read was that he thought, "Y'know, The Handmaid's Tale has a lot of good ideas." What a flaming sexist d0uchebag.

And some additional mindblowingly sick misogyny.

Okay, the Internets are obviously conspiring to make me Hulk the fzck out lady-style, because SMASH.
 
TeeVee President (I went back and checked and I totally called this on 12/2/10).

THIS. I totally thought about that when I saw the Consumerist item last month about the 100 year old Walmart greeter.

Holy crap. We are so, so doomed.

I shriek my piercingest Hicksian laughter at you, brother. You are so very small.

***

RIOT

File Under: Totally Normal Ladythings

Weird....

Monday, January 3, 2011

Resolute

I have not traditionally been a New Years' Resolution kind of person, and I don't intend to start. But I've got a lot of good things going right now that I hope are good omens for the upcoming year, and it's a little....inspiring. If I can get a little momentum going this might be awesome.

monday!

Must Click of the Day. I'm mulling a longer written piece on a particular bit of cognitive dissonance practiced by the Right that's been bothering me, but it's not fully formed yet. But my basic thesis is that corporate personhood is inconsistent with the conservative fetish for Rugged Individualism. If you want to embrace an Individualist philosophy because you like paying lower taxes that's cool, but then you should also be working to undo corporate personhood so individuals who fzck up are held responsible accordingly, yes? Right now what they want, and what they mostly get, from our stupid legal system, is most of the benefits and none of the drawbacks of Individualism/Populism/Whathaveyou. All I'm asking is a little consistency in the douchitude.

***

I am disappointed that Chris Farley isn't still around to play this guy on SNL. (more here) I totally thought about Bilandic too.

This sounds ominous as hell. Apparently the collapse of the US empire will pay homage to the Romans and the Greeks.

That whole "don't look back, move forward" thing is working really great, huh?

Has anyone here read Nixonland? I think I need to.

Child Abuse Revisionism.

File Under: Bad Ideas, Possibly Worse Ideas

Our cultural attitudes toward sex are ridiculous. Related: If I am an "elegant machine", you are the biggest tool in the universe.

***

2011 is awesome already: Pie is the New Cupcake!!!

Click through for verbal gorgeousness.