I really liked this segment. I mean, for John Oliver, it's gentle and loving, less about making parents feel bad for not know who to trust, and more about providing information.
Finally, there's a John Oliver video about vaccines that you can share with all those relatives whose Facebook status updates make you worried for their children.
“Knowing that they were losing “valuable product” due to their slaves’ propensity to swim, slave owners began taking drastic steps to protect their property. One of these steps was to instill a fear of the water by dunking disobedient slaves in water until they nearly drowned and by creating fear through stories of creatures living in the water. Thus it didn’t take long to excise or destroy the West African swimming tradition from African- American culture. The Jim Crow laws that were enacted after The Civil War prohibited blacks from the popular seaside resorts in places like Atlantic City, N.J. and Revere Beach, Mass. And by the 20th Century, as the swimming pool began to gain in popularity in the United States, the color line prohibited blacks from enjoying this pleasant recreational skill.
In addition, self-segregation also played a role in limiting those of African ancestry from getting in the water. I remember my Aunt saying to stay away from the pool because, “black folk don’t swim.””
Next time you hear someone ask questions like, “Why don’t black people swim?” Or “Why are so many black people afraid of dogs?” And, “Why are there do so many black people live in poverty?”…..let ‘em know that those aren’t coincidences. These things didn’t just happen naturally, all on their own. There’s a reason for it, and you don’t have to be an historian to know they’re all interconnected through slavery, endemic racism and persistently racist cultural norms.
Thought of day. Much easier to have these when I’m not locked into a low mood tho. Gotta love them cycles and sudden organic inversions in energy and functioning. Very bipolar-affirming. Today I’m fine again
My toddler accidentally hit me in the face yesterday; the most bullshit part of Superman’s origin story is that he didn’t accidentally kill the Kents when he was three.
someone created a random generator that creates randomized inspirational quotes overlaid on random images in a soothing fashion and each and every image is comic gold
it’s pretty much the best thing ever and here are some of my favorites so far
so good
I’m getting this one made into a motivational poster for my home office
by Aimée Lutkin on The Slot, shared by Julianne Escobedo Shepherd to Jezebel
It’s weird, but it seems like someone associated with Donald Trump may not be entirely on the up-and-up when it comes to his finances. Trump’s lawyer, Jay Sekulow, sworn to uphold the law, appears to be some sort of conniving shyster who uses nonprofits to fill his own family’s coffers. Can you believe?
OK, so the Republicans may lose their change to get rid of legislature that is currently much more popular than anyone in their crappy little club. So... why has McConnell been walking around with that shitty little smile since the Senate started playing with it? Is he just lay the whole thing at Ryan's feet, metaphorically beheading him like some sort of Fucklord Highlander? Because I could have SWORn that that was the smile of a man whose delighted to be tossing cancer kids out onto the hospital's curbs, and who might round out the day by eating those kid's puppies for lunch. In front of them.
Hours after a CBO report concluded the Senate health care bill would kick 22 million people off of insurance, defections among the party caucus in the Senate may doom the bill from ever reaching a vote.
Vox policy reporter Dylann Scott tweeted on Monday evening he had heard that senators such as Rand Paul, Dean Heller and Susan Collins were all opposed to a motion to start debate on the bill as proposed.
According to Politico, Sen. Ron Johnson has also “signaled” opposition to the procedural vote, while other senators including Shelley Moore Capito and Marco Rubio were “undecided.” Read more(6/27/17)
After the CBO report, several Democratic Senators and Congresspeople took to Twitter to deride the Republican health care plan.
On Monday, the American Medical Association also announced it strongly opposed the Senate’s health care proposal.
Additionally, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced in a statement shared to Twitter that the Senate bill was “unacceptable.” Read more (6/27/17)
Keep calling. Keep showing up at the capitol. Keep protesting. Keep the pressure on, because literally millions of people’s lives depend on it.
I hate hate HATE all those 2edgy 4me theories about kids shows. Like Angelica dreaming up the rugrats, or the ed, edd, and eddy children being ghosts, or literally anything that takes a lighthearted and fun kids show and has to turn it into some tragic take of rape or murder or misinformed mental illness.
So you know what? From now on I’m gonna do the exact opposite. Every cool grim-dark show is now because of a bunch of children. To get us started:
Game of Thrones: A middle-school DnD campaign with the most angry, vindictive DM who has promised to kill everyone’s player characters (and their family) by the end.
The Walking Dead is actually a bunch of kids playing zombie apocalypse in their neighborhood and every time someone “dies,” it’s because their parents called them home for supper.
Breaking Bad is actually just a fanfic the students in Mr. White’s class write about him because no one has any idea what he does with his free time and the running jokes about it got wildly out of hand.
These are all officially my headcanons for the actual shows now
someone should get these kids to write for television
I mean, seriously. Since when is my humanity located in my knee?
Cyberpunk Author: In this dystopian future, people are willing replace their living body parts with machines, sacrificing their HUMANITY for the power granted by TECHNOLOGY. When we can no longer tell where man ends and machine begins, have we not truly lost-
Me: Wait, so people can use cybernetics technology to change their bodies according to their wishes, compensating for disabilities or reshaping their forms to better fit their identity?
Cyberpunk Author: Yes, but can we really afford to abandon our natural-
Me: (already wearing seven pairs of mirrorshades)
Senate Democrats have held the floor for the last several hours, and promise to go into the night to talk about the danger Trumpcare poses to the American people. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer provided gallery passes from his office for advocates to watch the Senate proceedings.
Several Senators—Cory Booker (NJ), Jeff Merkley (OR), Chris Murphy (CT), Bob Casey (PA) and Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) are holding a sit-in on the Capitol steps, with Booker writing this on his Facebook page.
Health care is a human right.
So this week we face a defining moment: we are perhaps days away from a vote on a devastating health repeal bill in the United States Senate that threatens the health and financial security of millions of Americans.
We must fight harder for the American people who will suffer, who will get sicker, who will lose loved ones if the Senate Republican plan goes through. Because right now, the fate of millions of Americans and future generations are at stake in this fight – a fight Americans cannot afford to lose.
Congressman John Lewis said it well: “Affordable health care is the birthright of every American. At stake are not just the details of policy but the character of our country.”
So John Lewis and I are going to sit down on the Capitol steps for a while to protest Senate Republican’s efforts to repeal health care and give voice to millions of Americans who believe that affordable health care is a human right.
Make your Republican Senator feel the heat. Call their office EVERY DAY at (202) 224-3121 to demand that they say NO to ripping health care away from millions of Americans. No on Trumpcare. Then, tell us how it went.
Meanwhile, and this is weird, there are now four Republicans who say they will vote against the motion to proceed to this bill—GOP Sens. Dean Heller (NV), Susan Collins (ME), Rand Paul (KY), and Ron Johson (WI) (this is like his fourth position on the bill in the last two weeks). If they hold, if a few more join them, this is done. Call your Republican senators.
“Democrats need to grow a pair and go on TV and radio and start actually slugging it out with idiotic Republicans. They don’t need to go low like the GOP, but fucking man the trench for once and don’t give an inch. Climate change is REAL. Evolution is REAL. Tax cuts DO NOT WORK. Healthcare is a RIGHT. Black people and muslims are being MURDERED on a daily basis. Trump COLLUDED with the Russians. Democrats need to start fighting like the world and people’s lives depend on it.”
Alison Chandra never expected to go viral for tweeting about her son’s medical bills — in fact, she never expected to be the mother of a child who needed so much medical care in the first place. But, with one viral tweetstorm she made it clear just how important the Affordable Care Act is to so many families. Read more (6/26/17)
He's just a big sweetie who's doing the best he can...
As if people aren’t bad enough, your future seatmate could feature large, pinchy claws. Well, sort of.
According to the Transportation Safety Administration’s Instagram account, a screener at Boston Logan International Airport found himself facing this giant of the sea while resolving a checked baggage alarm:
Lobsters — quite popular at airports in New England, as one may imagine — are allowed in both carry-on and checked bags, TSA notes, but just make sure you’ve checked with your airline ahead of time for packing guidelines.
Nicki Minaj, née Onika Tanya Maraj, now holds the key to her native New York City borough. Melinda Katz, Queens Borough President, gifted the rapper this symbolic key in commemoration of her musical achievements.
“Strict new regulations on abortion providers were approved Tuesday by the Missouri House, setting up a showdown with the state Senate over just how expansive the legislation should ultimately be.
On a 110-38 vote, the House approved legislation that requires the state health department to conduct annual, unannounced, on-site inspections and investigations of abortion facilities.
The bill gives the state attorney general new authority to prosecute violations of abortion laws without first notifying local prosecutors. It also enacts new requirements for pathologists who provide services to abortion clinics, and repeals a St. Louis ordinance that bans employers and landlords from discriminating against women who have had an abortion, use contraceptives or are pregnant.”
What the gifs don’t convey is the soundtrack: the opening to Guns N Roses “Welcome to the Jungle.” Perf.
This movie was so fucking underrated. I blame the marketing. They tried to sell it as a face-off between Will Ferrell’s character and Brad Pitt’s, all because they didn’t want to spoil the twist: that Metro Man dies 10 minutes in. But it’s not that much of a twist, because the entire story is about what happens if the villain actually wins, and what makes a villain in the first place. I think it also got buried by Despicable Me, which came out at the same time, but this is infinitely superior.
Seriously, if you’ve never seen Megamind, go watch it right now.
Also, I HAVE a job. I work for the government, but as a temp. I do shit that the folks who are employees can't, because in spite of the fact that they've actually been using computers for the entirety of their working lives, they "just can't get the hang of them," and I'm just so special smart that I "just get this kind of thing" (no, fuck you, I've been working twenty godamned YEARS on improving my skills and learning shit while you've been shoving your work on other people, and I'm just your latest victim), but in spite of the fact that I've created more effective systems for five different government offices now, THAT THEY STILL USE, I can't get hired back because I'm fucking autistic and sound like a moron in job interviews so I get passed over by teenage girls and baby boomers, both of whom have less computer literacy than my CAT. And meanwhile, the "health insurance" plan from my employer is so lacking, I'm going blind in order to avoid going even further into debt.
Maybe it is because I’ve been self employed for the vast majority of my adult life but I have hard fucking issues with “Just get a job” when it comes to medical insurance, etc
I… have a job? That I invented my fucking self? I pay taxes. A higher percentage than you.
Why is my self employment less important to the economy (we’ll just skate by socially for a sec) than working for a giant corporation?
(builds an artisanal megaphone) Also I don’t get giant tax cuts to create jobs. I just create jobs by being in business and paying vendors.
My work creates the economy without costing you – fellow tax payer – a dime.
So go fuck yourself with this “get a job” advice.
