Shared posts

24 Jun 19:58

The Most Coordinated Musicians You'll See All Day

Abrayeh

best 4:49 on this Monday...

Michael Henry and Justin Robinett simultaneously sing and play the drums and piano in their cover of Billie Jean.

Submitted by: Unknown

24 Jun 18:31

GOP Seeks Women Soldiers for War on Women

by DDM

Are you a woman who wants to take away rights from other women? The GOP is looking for you!Hey ladies. Have you been patronized today? Have national Republicans belittled your tiny mind and puny ambition yet this week? Well, they might have, but would you have even noticed between all the housework and childcare and womanly duties? Probably not, so take yourself a little break from watching The View or prettifying yourself for your man, and let this mommyblog help you out.

From Roll Call:

House Republicans are putting the first touches on what they hope will be a formal program to recruit more female candidates for the 2014 midterm elections.

Maybe you want to trade in that vacuum cleaner for a seat in the House of Representatives!  Did you even know that you were allowed to run for office, or even vote (and not necessarily the same way as your husband)? Have no fear, because Freshman Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) is here to help:

“Women need to be asked,” said Wagner, who helped create a similar recruitment program as Republican National Committee co-chairwoman in 2001. “They have to be told of the opportunity and be encouraged to run.”

Apparently you ladies need to be asked to run. Are you too busy with the hygiene products and the gossip about what Heidi was wearing on Project Runway to know that you, too, can run for Congress? Well don’t worry, because the Republicans want to tell you about this exciting opportunity! They will even encourage you, because they know you are frail and not confident like men-folks, who have no problem running for Congress and talking about things they know nothing about like masturbating fetuses or science or facts.

Conservative women often play the more traditional role as caregivers to their children, and running for and serving in Congress often prohibits them from carrying out those roles, said Angela Faulkner, a GOP direct-mail consultant.

Faulkner suggested the recruitment program should devote a significant amount of resources to help create child care options. It must also allow women to have more flexible schedules to take care of their families and the responsibilities of being an elected official.

What are you talking about, providing child care opportunities? You mean that sometimes it is difficult for working women to have a job and care for children? Is this why the GOP budgets regularly seek to cut funding for child care? Is it only conservative women who run for Congress who need this so-called “child care”? For the rest of you women out there, you are on your own. If you want child care, look into running for Congress on the GOP ticket, because then it is ok and stuff.

What about the Democrats? Aren’t they having an outreach strategy, too?

Rep. Steve Israel of New York, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said he’s never had to formally recruit women to run.

“The essential difference is that Republicans have to recruit women. All I have to do is answer the phone,” Israel said.

Women make up a much greater portion, one-third, of the House Democratic Caucus compared with the Republican Conference. Women make up 8 percent of the House GOP majority.

Apparently the demon-crat womyns know about opportunities to run for Congress, probably because they send out notices in the Gay/Lesbian Agenda Weekly. And they are bold hussies who just call Steve Israel and say, “Hey man, I wanna run for Congress, so once I get done with my high-powered job let’s go have a drink and talk about it, because I have a progressive partner at home who realizes that child care can be a shared responsibility because I don’t live in 19-fucking-50.”

One has to wonder why the Democrats have an easier time attracting candidates… let’s list a few of the possible reasons, shall we?

  • The GOP regularly tries to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides millions of women with affordable health care for things like cancer screening and contraception;
  • The GOP is all for individual liberty, except for women’s bodies, which need to be legislated to the Nth degree;
  • The GOP majority in the House has regularly voted against things like the Paycheck Fairness Act, Violence Against Women Act, and other bills that try to help and protect women;
  • The GOP led the effort to kill a bill on forced child marriage, a situation where girls as young as eight or nine are married off to men oftentimes three times their age; and
  • The GOP says that gee whiz, sometimes boys will be boys and be rapey to women in the military, what are ya gonna do?

So it really is a mystery as to why the GOP has trouble attracting women to run for office. With a track record like this, perhaps women are more content to deal with the drooling, screaming brats they have at home, rather than the drooling screaming brats in the House.

[Roll Call]

24 Jun 11:45

Are parents morally responsible for their children?

Nautilus

I didn’t choose to have a child. Not if “choosing” means something rational—weighing pros and cons, coming to a conclusion. I tried that process but ran away from it because, even though I wanted a child, it seemed to me that creating a whole new person was such an enormity that no one could rationally decide to do such a thing. There is so much at stake, and so little certainty about the outcome. A child that I conceived might be happy, but he might be miserable beyond endurance. The child might bring happiness to others, or he might ruin people’s lives. It seemed to me that creating life was an act of astonishing hubris because it made me responsible, maybe morally responsible, for huge consequences. For most of our species’ history, we were spared that decision because procreation was not (for the most part) a choice, but merely something that happened to us. It was a biological destiny. We escaped that destiny when science gave us control over our fertility. But I wasn’t equal to the freedom that science gave me. Fearful of such an immense decision amid such uncertainty, I allowed myself to drift into parenthood instead of choosing it. I let other people’s expectations, the sheer normality of having children, construct a new, sociological destiny for me to replace the biological one and protect me from what seemed an impossible choice.

Continue Reading...

    


24 Jun 11:43

Quote of the Day

by Keith Humphreys

No written law has ever been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion.

-Carrie Chapman Catt

23 Jun 14:05

Someone help.

by DOGHOUSE DIARIES

Someone help.

And there’s still so much I’ve left off. Standards (the lack thereof, really) have failed us. There’s money to be made! Tell us what your biggest gripe is on Facebook, or Twitter, or you know, any of the other ten trillion services there are. I need a nap.

23 Jun 13:40

Chuck & Beans: Classics

by Shelley

While Brian takes a well-deserved vacation, we hope you enjoy the first day of summer with this classic, 100% organic cartoon.

organic or non organic updated

22 Jun 14:35

"You are either in your bed or in your shoes, so it pays to invest in both."

by derekguypto
““You are either in your bed or in your shoes, so it pays to invest in both.””

- John Wildsmith (quote via Leffot)
21 Jun 19:23

Why I Love My Bitchy Resting Face

by Kristine Gutierrez

Why I Love My Bitchy Resting Face

Along with millions of other women, I suffer from an unfortunate, incurable condition. Living with it means that even though 97% of the time, I am not sad, angry, menopausal, or constipated, my face sends out a noticeable F-U-C-K-Y-O-U vibe. Yes, I have Chronic Bitch Face, and as a result, strangers think I'm a sad, rude crone. How do I know? They've told me this to my bitch face.

Read more...

    


21 Jun 17:20

Single photograph looks like 4 individual photographs

by Aaron Cohen

Photographer Bela Borsodi fastidiously manipulated household items in the photograph below to create an image that looks like 4 photographs. Created as an album cover for the band VLP, I can confirm it's possible to stare at this picture for many minutes.

Bela Borsodi

Here's the photo again from a different angle, and if you're interested, here's a video of the process used to create the image.

Bela Borsodi Off Axis

(via unified pop theory and reddit, thx, alex)

Tags: Bela Borsodi   photography
21 Jun 12:44

Jeah! We Mapped Out The 4 Basic Aspects Of Being A 'Bro'

In an effort to figure out whether the stereotype of the "bro" had a racial component to it, we mapped out the dimensions of bro-ness. Turns out it's a fairly nuanced landscape, but there's one celebrity who indisputably rules it all.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

20 Jun 19:30

Supreme Court 2013: The Year in Review

by Eric Posner

One of the striking things about this term is that the Republican appointees are forming a significantly looser coalition than the appointees of Democratic presidents. If you look at these SCOTUSblog statistics showing when the judges at least partially agree in the opinion or judgment in the cases that are not decided unanimously (about half of the total), you will see that Sotomayor and Kagan agree 91 percent of the time, Sotomayor and Ginsburg agree 86 percent of the time, and Ginsburg and Kagan agree 86 percent of the time. Breyer does not march quite so much in lockstep, agreeing with each of the other three liberals between 67 and 76 percent of the time. (The statistics cover this term through June 12)

20 Jun 16:50

Amazing. In a Good Way.

by Josh Marshall

I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like this. Exodus International, one of the top Christian groups advocating for and providing so called 'reparative' therapy to help gays stop being gay, has issued a lengthy public apology for their work and closed up shop.

    


19 Jun 15:49

American middle-class prosperity is pure fantasy

AlterNet

America is the richest country on Earth. We have the most millionaires, the most billionaires and our wealthiest citizens have garnered more of the planet's riches than any other group in the world. We even have hedge fund managers who make in one hour as much as the average family makes in 21 years!

This opulence is supposed to trickle down to the rest of us, improving the lives of everyday Americans. At least that's what free-market cheerleaders repeatedly promise us.

Unfortunately, it's a lie, one of the biggest ever perpetrated on the American people.

Our middle class is falling further and further behind in comparison to the rest of the world. We keep hearing that America is number one. Well, when it comes to middle-class wealth, we're number 27.

The most telling comparative measurement is median wealth (per adult). It describes the amount of wealth accumulated by the person precisely in the middle of the wealth distribution—50 percent of the adult population has more wealth, while 50 percent has less. You can't get more middle than that.

Continue Reading...

    
11 Jun 19:17

Politeness Questioned

by Alex Balk
04 Jun 21:08

SEAL Team 6 Veteran Comes Out as Transgender

by Meher Ahmad

SEAL Team 6 Veteran Comes Out as Transgender

Kristin Beck was a part of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6, the fabled unit that was ultimately responsible for Osama bin Laden's death. She served for 20 years and underwent 13 deployments. She was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for her decades of service. But during this time, Kristin wasn't known as Kristin — she was Chris Beck, a transgender man who had to suppress her sexuality to serve in the military.

Read more...

    


03 Jun 15:46

Where I See Myself in Five Years by James Drummond

Performance Review Question 4:
Where do you see yourself in five years?

Since no one can see the future, I will answer by presenting twenty possible scenarios, which, admittedly, vary in their likelihood. Nevertheless, I feel it is best to try to be thorough so that at least one of the scenarios may prove true in five years. Most of the scenarios are positive, but a few negative scenarios are included for balance. Please note that during previous performance reviews I have been repeatedly told that I need to “think outside the box.”

Scenario 1: In five years I will have received a promotion.

Scenario 2: In five years, the company will have realized what a hard-working, intelligent and loyal employee I have been and will reward me for my long and dedicated service with a generous raise and a bonus. My performance rating will go from the unwarranted “needs improvement” to “exceeds expectations”

Scenario 3: In five years I will have risen to the position of Vice President.

Scenario 4: In five years I will have risen to the position of President.

Scenario 5: In five years I will own the entire company.

Scenario 6: In five years I will own the entire company and will have replaced all the managers with pieces of fake, rubber poop embedded with voice chips that randomly say things like “Work smarter, not harder,” or, “I need your time sheet,” or, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

Scenario 7: In five years I will have given up trying to understand the phrase “think outside the box.”

Scenario 8: In five years I will be living outside in a box.

Scenario 9: In five years my worst childhood fears will have been realized when I am attacked by a swarm of killer bees just moments before I undergo spontaneous human combustion.

Scenario 10: In five years there is global-thermonuclear war. Adding insult to injury, the war happens on a Friday, ruining absolutely everyone’s weekend. The only other person in the building besides me to survive the initial attack is a marketing consultant. His first words to me are “You’re going to want to think about rebranding.” I tear a hole in his radiation suit.

Scenario 11: In five years I will have been elected to public office on the basis of my controversial, yet ultimately reasonable and popular platform of giving the death penalty to anyone caught using a leaf blower. Less popular is my proposed legislation, which only allows hockey to be played where ice forms naturally.

Scenario 12: In five years I will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of my invention of the time machine, which I will observe by attending the original Woodstock concert, again.

Scenario 13: In five years I will have stunned the medical and sporting worlds by undergoing a metamorphosis wherein I reverse in age 25 years, grow six inches in height and become the starting goalkeeper for Liverpool FC, leading them to the Premiership title, the FA Cup championship and the European Football Associations championship. Note: If this scenario proves true, then in a further five years I see myself leading Canada to its first World Cup title.

Scenario 14: In five years I will have switched fields and become a respected and in-demand speaker, getting $25,000 per appearance to lecture on “being in the moment.” I use the money to fund my work on the time machine.

Scenario 15: In five years I will be fronting the re-formed Led Zeppelin, after Jimmy Page happens to see my YouTube cover of “Black Dog” and is moved to tears by my uncanny physical and vocal resemblance to Robert Plant, who can’t participate because he is too busy making hillbilly music.

Scenario 16: Same as the above except substitute Doors for Led Zeppelin, Robby Krieger for Jimmy Page, “Touch Me” for “Black Dog,” Jim Morrison for Robert Plant and dead for too busy making hillbilly music.

Scenario 17: Using my time machine, I have gone back and prevented the meeting of the man and woman, who, without my intervention, would have eventually given birth to the HR person who came up with the question “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

Scenario 18: In five years I will have invented an alternative form of clean, renewable and safe energy, eliminating the need for fossil fuels and creating an immediate reversal of the negative effects of climate change. Because of the patent waiver I signed when I was hired, the company owns the invention and makes trillions. My performance rating goes from “needs improvement” to “meets expectations.” I start working on a time machine in my garage at night.

Scenario 19: In five years I will be doing “more with less.”

Scenario 20: In five years I will be filling out this fucking form again.

31 May 19:22

Megyn Kelly, U Mad? Oh Yeah, She Maaaaaaaad

by Rebecca Schoenkopf
Abrayeh

According to Lou, "The Serengeti is on FYAH.."

We’ve been wondering what Megyn Kelly would have to say about Erick Erickson unaccountably getting the whole shaft for an entire panel’s worth of dickmouth about female breadwinners yesterday. Megyn Kelly is not stupid, nor is she a shrinking violet. While all the Fox “Democrat” ladies weighed in by last night, we were looking forward to Ol’ Megs. Does she disappoint? Nope. Feminazi nutbuster MEAN LADY.

Of course, she starts in dulcet tones, but then she gets all f’in shrill just because Erick Erickson is an unrepentant idiot.

Then she calls him a racist, pretty much.

Chicks, man. It is like you can not even blame them for the dissolution of an entire civilization without them getting their panties all in a wad.

[ThinkProgress]

31 May 18:37

Reports

If that fails, just multiply every number by a thousand. 'The 2nd St speed limit should be set at 25,000 mph, which would likely have prevented 1,000 of the intersection's 3,000 serious accidents last month.'
31 May 18:04

A dog screaming like a human

by Sarah Kliff
Abrayeh

More like yelling...but that's not important. Favorite!!

Consider this your sequel to the incredibly well-received goats screaming like humans. You're welcome, world.

    


30 May 12:53

Introducing Prancercise, the Only Awesome Exercise You Need

by Dodai Stewart

Eff jogging, spinning and running. We should all be Prancercising!

Read more...

    


30 May 12:39

5-Year-Old Girl Reads 875 Books a Year, School Library Can't Keep Up

by Laura Beck

5-Year-Old Girl Reads 875 Books a Year, School Library Can't Keep Up

Just in case you didn't already feel like the laziest today, meet a 5-year-old who probably read five books in the time it took you to finish this sentence.

Read more...

    


30 May 12:33

Hey, dads, time to step up!

Abrayeh

Not just dads. All guys.

Some questions for the ladies: Are you having enough children and at the right time with the right person under the right legal arrangement? Are you working hard enough and at the right level of ambition? Are your kids suffering for it?

And one question for the men: Guys, are you even reading this?

If you've spent any time reading about the radical but incomplete changes in family life in the United States in recent years, you could be forgiven for thinking they’re a female problem. It's as if women are doing this all by ourselves, a special female problem to be fixed in our lady’s corner -- not for nothing has "work-life balance" been defined as a "women's issue." It’s true that women’s lives have changed the most dramatically. But framing it as only the concern of half the population -- incidentally, the half that collectively has far less political and economic power -- is a recipe for very little change.

Men and women face different circumstances -- including biological ones around pregnancy and childbearing -- but as long as families are made up of both men and women, these are everyone's issues, and men need to step up. The question is how to talk about them without turning it into an angry zero sum game or oppression Olympics.

Continue Reading...

    


29 May 17:40

The WTF pitch

by Jason Kottke
Abrayeh

So I'm starting to get into baseball pitching. Not that I know anything about baseball, because I don't, but the more I see videos like this and cool infographics, the more interested I get...

Angels pitcher Robert Coello's unique pitch has knuckleball movement but is thrown with a fastball grip & pitching motion and has a bit more speed on it than a typical knuckleball. His catchers and opposing hitters call it the WTF pitch.

Physicist Alan Nathan, a professor at the University of Illinois who studies baseball and has a particular interest in the knuckleball, hadn't ever seen a pitch like Coello's. His preliminary theory on the pitch: His thumb on the underside of the ball exerts backspin, counteracting the tumbling effect his top fingers put on the ball and balancing the torque so perfectly that the pitch has a knuckleball effect with superior speed (around 80 mph).

Be sure to wait for the slow motion at the end of the video.

Tags: baseball   Robert Coello   sports   video
29 May 15:59

Here Are the Least Sucky Cities for Women in the Workforce

by Meher Ahmad

Here Are the Least Sucky Cities for Women in the Workforce

The pay gap between male and female workers in the U.S., though it decreased briefly in 2011 with women making a whopping 82.2 percent of what men earned (thanks, dudes! Extra shopping ca$h, amirite?), widened again in 2012, most likely because The Recession but also because Old Dudes Don't Want Us Making Money. In 2012, women earned 80.9 percent of of what men earned. But here's the flip side to the shitty problem that should have been solved, like, forever ago: A bunch of cities have ALMOST equal pay for women. Yipee!

Read more...