I want to see a bit in some cop show or action movie where a dude goes to kick a door in, but doesn’t realize that it’s one of those crappy hollow-core ones, and puts his foot completely through it and gets stuck with like a third of his leg through the door.
“little help” as he hops back and forth, arms flailing
I keep hoping that the grocery stores will start protesting this crap. I mean, the people suggesting this nonsense aren't ever going to believe that humans who happen to be poor should be treated with dignity, but they might listen to wealthy store owners complaining about the burdensome regulations...
When it comes to what poor people eat, Republicans love them some big government. Republicans across the country keep coming up with bills to ban people from using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to eat things that Republicans think low-income people shouldn’t eat. The latest move is in New York, where two state legislators are pretending like the poors are out buying steak and lobster all the time and that’s why they need to be reined in:
“At a time when our state and nation are struggling with an obesity epidemic, it is critically important that taxpayer funded programs help low income consumers make wise and healthy food choices,” reads a legislative memo accompanying the bill. “The purpose of SNAP is to promote good nutrition, but current rules allow the purchase of junk food and luxury items like high-end steaks and lobster.”
If you’re on a food stamp budget, you better be ready to go hungry, because you’re looking at a couple pounds of lobster as your food for an entire week.
If the law were to pass and receive federal approval, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits would cease being a valid form of payment for a variety of purchases.
Sandwiches prepared at bodegas and delis, for instance, could no longer be bought with SNAP anywhere in New York. And bottled water, seltzer, ice, honey-roasted nuts, and vegetable seeds or seedlings intended to be planted at home would all be cut off, according to a review of state sales tax rules.
Don’t have kitchen access? Too bad. No sandwiches for you. Nuts are a good source of protein and healthy fats, but don’t even think about looking for them to be sweetened rather than salty. For your own protection, of course, because obesity. Except:
SNAP families don’t actually drink more soda than rich families once you adjust the data for demographics. They eat less candy. They turn to cheaper proteins like chicken, pork, eggs, and beans, but consume just as much overall protein as richer shoppers. They are less likely to eat shellfish than either wealthy shoppers or other low-income families that haven’t enrolled in food stamps even though they could.
The next stage of the bill would go even further, hitting those steaks and lobsters and anything else dubbed a luxury item. When a similar bill was being debated in Missouri last year, Jeanine Grant Lister wrote that “Flank steak—tough, stringy and the only cut of beef I can afford—is off-limits.” But in the popular imagination, steak means filet mignon or ribeye, so screw the reality of flank steak.
The good news is that 1) this is New York and the bill is unlikely to become law, and 2) the federal government doesn’t allow states to put such limits on food stamps in place, anyway. The bad news is that Republicans are not giving up on their quest to stigmatize poor people and control their lives down to what they eat.
I somehow got on Hillary and Bernie's lists both, but I have a filter that puts anything with the word "unsubscribe" in the trash; when I check through the trash to see if there's anything worth saving, I swear it's like mom and dad aren't talking to each other, and they're passing messages through me.
A few weeks ago, I signed up for all the candidates’ email lists – mainly because I wanted to see if any of them would sell my information. (I used all unique email addresses.)
One thing that quickly became apparent was that Jeb!’s fundraising strategy consistedalmostentirely of attempting to trick or guilt the reader into throwing in a dollar.
In honor of Jeb!’s dignified cessation of his presidential campaign, I have composed the following poem, using only phrases from his own fundraising emails from the last few weeks.
Godspeed, John Ellis. May angels whisk you swiftly back to your beloved gator-ridden swamps.
A Letter To My Friend
Friend — Did you see I’m asking you personally I’m going to be blunt I need you. before I step on stage tonight I need your help this can’t wait.
Friend One thing you should know This is the most important week Poll after poll shows us top three I’m putting my faith in you to help me pull this out The bad news is If we don’t raise more than $100,000 in the next 24 hours, it’ll be a big setback for us. That can’t happen.
It’s clear the momentum is on our side but without your support it won’t mean anything. I need to be able to count on you, Friend.
So I’m asking you, Friend. Can you help us win this thing Help us hit this goal Chip in $10, $5, or $3, or whatever you can afford a gift of just $1 Your gift of just $1 Please rush just $1 Will you chip in just $1 before tonight’s debate before I step on stage just $1 to show you’re with me to show you have my back?
Friend — quickly if you don’t step up right now we won’t have a greater tomorrow a new kind of leader to beat Hillary Clinton to take on Donald Trump. I’m asking you directly to step up The clock is ticking. So you have to act now: Every dollar counts.
Friend — What’s wrong? Jeb emailed you this morning and thousands have stepped up but you haven’t.
Friend — the good news is, This is a long road knowing he has supporters keeps him going he is the only candidate who can unleash the potential that dwells within our citizens to break free to daylight With your help, we can win.
I know Jeb He didn’t say it, but He’s putting his faith in you please don’t let him down he needs your help to bring it home. We can’t do this without you, Friend. Jeb needs you. Please, rush a gift of just $1 to help Jeb.
Friend, I’m asking you Did you see Mom’s note? I email you a lot, but this is the email I need your response to the most, Friend.
Friend, can I count on you at the most critical moment Every day we delay our competitors gain on us They came for us tonight Donald Trump came for us tonight Everything we’ve worked for is at stake.
Friend — I know it’s late, but I needed to reach out. I’m emailing you first as one of our most loyal supporters We only have a few hours left to turn this around We have to capitalize on this right away. the next 24 hours are absolutely critical. our window of opportunity on this is already closing.
I’ve asked my staff to personally send me the name of every supporter who steps up This is our campaign’s moment of need, Friend I’m getting my first update from the staff in 6 hours, and if I don’t see your name, I’m going to start to worry. Can I count on you, Friend? I’m counting on you, Friend You’ve been with me from the start
Friend — I had to reach out quickly. We’re about to send Jeb his first update and you haven’t stepped up yet. He’s counting on you, Friend. All it takes is a gift of just $1 We want your name to be on this update, but you need to hurry, we can’t wait to send much longer.
Friend —Are you there? Today, Jeb turns 63 I want to surprise him with a card Will you wish him a Happy Birthday by signing his card right now? take a minute right now and sign his card. We’re going to show him this card while we’re on the trail I hope your name will be on it.
Dad’s counting on you, Friend. Dad’s birthday is today and you still haven’t signed his card. It won’t take more than a few seconds so wish him a happy birthday right now.
I’m on the road with Dad, and he just asked for an update on everyone
I was about to show him your name but according to the report, you haven’t given yet. This has to be a mistake, Friend.
Friend — Last night was an important step I’m pumped. Stepping off that stage last night, I felt great. We won last night I don’t need the pundits to say it.
The time for waiting is over, Friend. Tomorrow, the race takes an important turn. the fight is far from over the real fight begins now This race is just getting started. Now: we will shock the world and beyond. But If we don’t raise $250,000 in the next 48 hours, we put it all at risk.
Did Marco Rubio just pick up the biggest endorsement of all? Despite pledging nearly $900 million from their network of donors to fight the Democrats in the 2016 election, Charles and David Koch have been largely missing in action during the primary battle. But Politico is reporting today that their top political operative, Marc Short, is joining Rubio's campaign as a senior adviser.
It's not an actual endorsement by the Kochs, but nabbing Short is a big deal for Rubio. For the past few years, Short has served as the president of Freedom Partners, the nerve center of the Kochs' sprawling political operation. Freedom Partners has a lot of strengths, but the two biggest are arguably money and data. The group is organized as a membership-based organization, with Koch network donors kicking in a minimum of $100,000 per year—and many contributing much more than that. The group raised and spent at least $250 million during the 2012 election and almost $130 million in 2014. As the man at the forefront of the Kochs' vast political fundraising operation, Short may have the best Rolodex of donors in the world.
The second area where Freedom Partners has excelled is data—one of Short's specialties. Freedom Partners is an investor in i360 LLC, a sophisticated databank of voter information that has been augmented with personal information gathered by campaigns and commercial groups. The group has data on millions of American voters and its voter files have become one of the must-have tools for most Republican campaigns.
Short is a longtime political operative who got his start working for Colonel Oliver North's failed congressional campaign in 1994. He went on to a series of high-level staff jobs working for GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including serving as chief of staff for the House's Republican Conference. As the head of Freedom Partners since 2013, he surely has a good grasp on the money and the data. It remains to be seen whether Short's move to the Rubio campaign is a sign that the Kochs and their donors are lining up behind the Florida senator. But nonetheless this is very good news for Rubio.
My cat just broke a 54 million year old fossilized fish I’m not even mad I’m just marveling at the long line of evolution that lead to that fish, which lead to mammals, which lead to hominids, which lead to Homo Sapiens Sapiens, who decided to domesticate these small carnivorous felines that were hanging around the grain silo, which lead to my birth and the birth of my cat, but not before human beings got a serious bug about digging dead shit out of the ground, which I also enjoy doing and made my career, and so I bought this 54 million year old dead fish and put it on my mantel and my cat decided today, 54 million years later, that nah that motherfucker looks way better in pieces on the floor.
“The greatest perversity of all? The ghastliest hovels, like Ruby’s house, often yield the highest returns. They cost nothing to maintain, because you owe nothing to a tenant who’s behind on rent. Evictions are cheaper than making repairs; the mortgage payments on these places are minimal; if all goes to hell, you can always stop paying taxes and surrender the place back to the city. It’s win-win. As Sherrena, Ruby’s landlord, likes to say, “The ’hood is good.””
When I was growing up, we had dogs. One of them, a corgi, learned REALLY QUICKLY about presents. Any time we had a present opening event, he HAD to have his own present, or he would assume ALL presents were corgi presents. One time, we were having Christmas late because of the parent's work schedules (a common occurrence) and somehow we had forgotten the corgi present. My dad had to go drive to the store to buy him a rawhide, and then wrap it up so it could be unwrapped before he was appeased.
I don’t know Kesha is telling the truth, and I am willing to leave it up the the legal system to determine whether her producer should be convicted and what his sentence should be.
I do not, however, think that she should be legally obliged to never write or perform another song unless she records several more albums with someone she clearly hates. I’ve got issues with the American legal system, but in this case the issue I have is with Sony and Dr. Luke, who have the ability to release an artist from a contract that she will never complete, and that is shoveling mounds of awful publicity on them, but are still NOT WILLING TO DO IT. Apparently this is to set an example to other artists and show them that there is no way out of your contract…ever…in any case…even if it means you never write a song again with us or without us.
That seems like a pretty awful reason to put a person through this Hell.
It does not seem like the behavior of rational, compassionate adults to see this situation and say “Well, what if she’s just throwing a tantrum…what if she’s just making it all up to get out of a contract.”
Even if that is the case, the contract must be an awful enough thing in the life of this young woman that she will go through years of expensive, painful, embarrassing bullshit to free herself from it. If I was the entertainment industry CEO in this situation, I would be questioning not just the legitimacy of my actions, but the legitimacy of my entire business model if it requires such draconian control over the freedom of performers.
"You know, Job, the first twenty-five years were a test. Now you're just in a weird S&M relationship with God." ~Randy Milholland http://www.somethingpositive.net/
Republican candidate Ted Cruz's father, who I should remind you is a bit of a crazy person whose thoughts must be taken with a pillar of salt, tells the story of how God Himself sent word to Ted Cruz to run for president.
My son Ted and his family spent six months in prayer seeking God's will for this decision. [...] It was a Sunday. We were all at his church, First Baptist Church in Houston, including his senior staff. After the church service, we all gathered at the pastor's office. We were on our knees for two hours seeking God's will. At the end of that time, a word came through his wife, Heidi. And the word came, just saying, "Seek God's face, not God's hand." And I'll tell you, it was as if there was a cloud of the holy spirit filling that place. Some of us were weeping, and Ted just looked up and said, "Lord, here am I, use me. I surrender to you, whatever you want."
If the face of God turns out to be Ted Cruz, that would be a hell of a surprise.
There’s not much to add to that. It is a bit confusing, though: If we listen to our fine American politicians and their hangers-on, during each election God tells a large pile of them to run for president. Most of those candidates go on to humiliate themselves badly, which suggests God perhaps is playing some very mean-spirited tricks on them.
So, doesn't that sound pleasant? Wonder who would become Secretary of Ted Cruz's Personal God, in a Ted Cruz administration. Maybe it'd be lumped in with Secretary of Defense.
I feel as though we need a all POC fictional epic series with these three as queens of very different kingdoms. Each kingdom must have different foods and natural resources to export, different weather, different people. It would be amazing.
Beyoncé’s queendom (because seriously) is a mixture of France and Spain - beautiful vineyards, opulent aristocracy, classical architecture, painted plaster and endless flowers; a holdover of rich tradition mixed with respectful treatment of all who follow her.
Nicki’s queendom is ultra-modern like all the hotels in Dubai, the skyscrapers in New York, the heart of Tokyo. Towering clean lines, shining glass, and gleaming metal. Rich in technology but dabbling in the past for touches of style, so everything feels brand new and ancient at the same time.
Rihanna’s queendom is all Arctic ice and stone, sleek lines and durable drapes, diamonds and steel. The buildings are hewn from the mountains, the fires burning hot, beds draped in furs. Her people are warriors and she leads from the front, sword drawn and fearless.
Oooooooooooooo you got me excited! I can see this! I can see it!
Then, in the sequel: what was thought to be an island of antiquated technology and out of date computers turns out to be a brand-new civilization of emerging artificial intelligence, building themselves up from what looks like nothing into an elegant and fascinating society in its own right, with an aesthetic almost alien to humans but utterly irresistible.
This is best case scenario. Obviously what we usually get is some variation of "stop killing us" = "kill white people"
My great great grandparents: Stop racism. Stop killing us. Stop murdering unarmed black people.
My great grandparents: Stop racism. Stop killing us. Stop murdering unarmed black people.
My grandparents: Stop racism. Stop killing us. Stop murdering unarmed black people.
My parents: Stop racism. Stop killing us. Stop murdering unarmed black people.
Me: Stop racism. Stop killing us. Stop murdering unarmed black people.
America: What are black people trying to say? What have they been trying to tell us? It's a complete mystery. Maybe we need to have a conversation about race.
And when she says ‘one of the best […] EVER’ (emphasis mine), lemme tell ya: it’s really, really true.
hey
hey you there
following me
stop
stop what you’re doing
and watch
W A T C H T H E T H I N G
If you haven’t seen this, your life is about to get so much better. If you have, I assume you will watch it again because it is impossible to watch this video too many times. Watch it NOW.
This is, hands down, my favorite fanvid.
I send this thing to people who don’t know fanvids, and they love it.
reblogging myself because every day should be Rewatch Starships Day
This was glorious.
always reblog Starships
^^^^ always reblog Starships
always
I can now sometimes watch this without crying but only sometimes. Also recommended: the black and white remix version with classic golden age SF.
I’ll admit that I just teared up….
yeah, i can’t get through it without crying
I…I don’t understand. Why am I inspired by this video and want to bawl at the same time?
I need a subtitle track with the sources as they play because wow
this gives me a lot of feelings??? like, honestly a lot a lot of wanting-to-cry feelings
I have never wanted pop-up video for fanvids as much as I do with this one.
With new data from a Pew Research Center survey, we know that women play an even bigger role in the gaming community. Of the 40% of Americans who own a video game console, 42% are women and only 37% are men.
I love it. In the article, it emphasizes that mobile devices don’t count as consoles, because literally the immediate comeback of male gamers who are confronted with stats like this is “lol but that includes candy crush right?”. I just choose to downplay my gaming in most social situations because I just don’t want to deal with that kind of condescension, gate-keeping, and/or being treated like a magical unicorn (which is arguably the worst part of it).
