Honestly, I'd prefer the cats to not give me their presents personally *glaring at boyfriend's 'sweet little angel' who has puked on me twice now when I was sleeping*
“ PET NEWS: To improve efficiency, your cat will now be obliged to do some paperwork whenever it leaves you a present. http://t.co/ogNUW6KJ1Y ”
Whooo!!! Finished Lol. The con is too that’s why I wasn’t active at all lol.
But here are my photos (taken at like 12am the first day I wore it. So that’s why I’m so shiny lol)
But this is my (reclaimed) Erebor regal dwarf dress :) it s super fun omg.
and I had two people recognize me from Tumblr two, I was so surprised lol! But I failed to get your Tumblr name, so please if either of you see this tell me! You were very kind omg.
not being able to do certain things or wear certain things because of the textures or the way things will feel when they touch your skin; the sensation is an overload
Congressional Republicans have essentially conceded that the heavily edited "sting" videos against Planned Parenthood show that the organization has done nothing illegal and that the congressional hearings and investigations they have planned for the coming months are nothing but a sham. But they don't give a damn about whether or not Planned Parenthood did anything illegal, they plan to defund it no matter what.
"I don't know whether we're ever going to be able to answer that question, whether it was illegal for them to do what they were doing," Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho) said during the House's first hearing on the topic Wednesday. "I don’t know if it was illegal … but it was immoral, what was seen on that video." […]
"The issue is not whether there's been a crime committed or not," Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas.) told the same group at the hearing. "This issue is whether or not taxpayers should fund Planned Parenthood. That's the issue before this committee."
Let's clarify that issue for Republicans: it's whether the federal government should be spending $500 million dollars on healthcare for women. Jeb! Bush spoke for all Republicans when he said "I'm not sure we need half a billion dollars for women's health issues." Now they're just reiterating that by moving forward with their attacks on PP despite the fact that three House committees and six states have cleared the organization of any wrongdoing.
They just don't care about the facts. How much do they not care? Enough that a top Republican, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), admitted in the hearing that was supposedly about the issues raised in the videos, that they had not seen and were not interested in seeing the actual, unedited videos from Center for Medical Progress. "The answer is no that we are not," Franks told Democrat, Rep. David Cicilline (RI). "But I should suggest to you that we are in possession of enough of it to indicate that living, human, viable babies are being murdered at Planned Parenthood." Which, no, has not at all been proven. What's more, abortion is legal in this country. Federal funds don't go to abortion, they haven't since 1976. Planned Parenthood does not use federal funding in providing women their legal right to a safe abortion. Period.
Meanwhile, another hearing about Planned Parenthood is scheduled for this week. Just like last week's hearing, Planned Parenthood has not been invited by the committee to testify.
I burst into tears watching this. I always say as a female you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. There’s literally nothing we can do to fight the dichotomy between being ugly, seemingly unhygienic and unkempt, or a vapid, deceitful slut who wears too much makeup who is at the core of all mens’ trust issues. This video is so powerful, please watch it.
She is a great make up artist and I simply cannot grasp the idea and motivation behind people and their vile comments.
So, i was planning on doing this video a lot later on in the month, but I realized that a lot of people are probably planning their Halloween costumes right now and I just wanted to stop you now before you made a fool out of yourself.
So, every year around this time we always seem to have a rash of people who want to feel a little ethnic for the evening and think Halloween is the perfect time for that.
You can be a Spicy Senorita
A China Man
An Indian Princess
Or a brave African Warrior!
Or… you could not be an insensitive jerk and recognize that cultures are NOT costumes
Look, I get the point of Halloween is to dress up as something you’re not and role play all night. I get it, I do.
but when your costume is parodying or poking fun at a culture that is not your own, I’m sorry but you’re kind of a jerk and you’re certainly not invited to my Halloween party.
Now, I’m the sort of person that likes to assume the best of people, I don’t want to assume that people who wear these costumes are racists. I’d like to just assume that you don’t know any better so let me go down a list of problematic costumes and tell you why they are:
While dressing as a sensitive geisha for the night, might be fun for you,
Asian women have to live with the geisha stereotype that says that they are quiet, submissive and subservient.
While wearing an Indian headdress may make your Native American themed costume more extravagant,
you’re ignoring the fact that the Native American Headdress is a sign of achievement that is cherished in many native communities.
Wearing it as a joke or as part of a costume is hella disrespectful.
Dressing up as an “Arabian” Terrorist may be a hit with all of your racist friends,
but people of middle eastern descent have to live with people assuming that they’re terrorists because of their race and how they may choose to practice their religions
One of the main reasons I’m making this video is because of the response to my black face video.
A lot of people were asking me if it was ok for them to darken their skin when playing a black character, or a character with darker complexion.
Now, first and foremost I wanted to say this:
I have no idea WHY when you look at a black character the biggest thing you take away is their skin color. I’m sorry, but if you can’t convincingly dress like a black character without darkening your skin tone, your costume is really bad and you should probably just not do it all together.
To be completely honest, I feel like there are some people that are just dying to paint their skin black and act like a black stereotype. I always hear this argument about how darkening their skin somehow makes their portrayal more accurate and I think that’s a massive excuse.
Black face has a long history of pain and hurt behind it, as do these other stereotypes we’ve discussed here.
I was Velma last year for Halloween. Everyone knew who I was. No one was confused because my look and my outfit were on point. So NO you shouldn’t be darkening your skin tone to play a character that’s black.
Lightening my skin never once came to my mind, even though the character is white. Because Velma is so much more than a nerdy white girl.
When the biggest thing you take away from a character is their race, that’s probably a costume you should veer away from.
You wear the COSTUME, not the race.
Look at these great cosplayers. You know exactly who they are even though they aren’t the original race of the character.
These costumes are amazing and clearly tell you who they’re supposed to be.
Look at problematic as hell, Miley Cyrus doing it right with her lil kim Haloween costume. When Miley Cyrus is being less racist than you then it’s time to look at your life and look at your decisions. Look at Ellen who FLAWLESSLY dressed as Nicki Minaj one year.
Look at this adorable Tiana Frog Princess cosplay
One of my favorite Marvel Characters is Storm and this girl did a bang on job
You know who these characters are and you don’t need black face to communicate that.
A lot of Halloween costumes are manifestations of harmful racial stereotypes. Stereotypes that I’m sure lack a lot of context at this point in society, but are still just as offensive to the people of color who have to deal with these stereotypes in their day to day lives.
If your costume says “tribe” or “ethnic” or “traditional” or “authentic” on it, then the chances are you’re grabbing a problematic costume. And again if you wear it, you’re not invited to my party.
If you’d be embarrassed to be seen by a person of the race that you’re parodying then that’s a costume you probably shouldn’t wear.
At the end of the day, Halloween is supposed to be about FUN. There are so many costumes that you can wear that aren’t racist that do not require you to try on the culture of another person’s culture for an evening.
If you’re having fun at someone’s expense, then you’re sort of a jerk and you should examine why you feel entitled to wear a costume that you know is offensive to people of the race you’re parodying.
Like I said, I prefer to air on the side of people just not knowing better. So I hope this video stopped you from buying that racist Halloween costume.
And on that note PLEASE share this video to all of your problematic friends. I really don’t want to see a slew of articles and posts about NEW racist costumes. It’s 2014 and we should really be over this by now.
So ghouls and girls, be sure to have fun this Halloween and always remember and never forget that you are beautiful and you are loved… bye!! <3
Things I want to declare are against my religion: Answering telephones...
Time for an updated photo?
Kim Davis, the homophobic Kentucky clerk who was jailed for five days last week for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples is back on the job ... sort of:
Kentucky clerk Kim Davis says marriage licenses are being issued in Rowan County without her authority and she wants her name and title removed.
Choking back tears this morning at a news conference before her return to work, a defiant Davis said she is faced with a "seemingly impossible choice ... my conscience or my freedom," referring to her opposition to same-sex marriages. [...]
Despite her assertion that her deputies don't have her authority to issue marriage licenses, Rowan County Deputy Clerk Brian Mason said he will continue issuing them today.
Great. So remove her name and title ... and then remove her from office.
There’s something to be said for learning to take a compliment, and a lot of us are really bad at it. When a friend, coworker, or boss praises us for a job well done, we’ll brush it off and say something like, “eh, it’s no big deal.” If you’re trying to improve your compliment-accepting skills, here’s how to respond instead.
Did you know there's a term for what can make folks with anxiety, autism, ADHD, or OCD unable to get things done? It's not about being “lazy” – here's what you need to know about what's really going on.
Men: Don’t look like a trash can Women: “Look pretty enough to show you’re a woman” because the only thing that matters to be a woman is to be beautiful, also “covered enough to look like a lady” because showing your shoulder will make every man in the audience simaltaneously ejaculate and it will be a big mess. Also if someone stares at your tits and not your face, it’s your fault and you should be ashamed of yourself and your disgusting, lustful body.
Jesus Christ on a Double Standard Bicycle.
So if anybody wondered why the young ladies on tumblr who are still having to put up with this shit complain about it at the top of their lungs…yeah. Yeah, this would be why,
Yeah, see, this is exactly why I didn’t much care for it when Bernie brushed off that “is it unfair that the media focuses more on Hillary’s hair than yours” as a non-issue. It is NOT a non-issue. It is a very big issue that affects women at all stages of our lives.
Some things never change. With some constants in life, like the invariable force of gravity or the sun rising in the east, that persistence is good news. (Imagine your morning coffee without them.) The bad news is that some myths, no matter how dangerous or thoroughly debunked, never seem to die.
This week, the greatest Republican zombie lie of them all—that tax cuts virtually pay for themselves—was once again exhumed for the American people. Combined with his yet-to-be revealed plans for education reform and deregulation, Jeb Bush promised his new tax cut scheme "will unleash increased investment, higher wages and sustained 4 percent economic growth, while reducing the deficit." Unfortunately, the past 35 years show that every GOP president and would-be president since Ronald Reagan—including Jeb's brother George—failed to produce either an explosion of economic growth or bulging coffers for the U.S. Treasury. Instead, like the Gipper and Dubya, Bush and his rivals will deliver a massive tax-cut windfall for the wealthy, and trillions of dollars in new debt.
““Icarus. The original myth had two parts. Daedalus said to his son, ‘I fashioned these wings for you. Two rules. Don’t fly too high, or the sun will melt the wax. But, more important, son, don’t fly too low. Because if you fly too low, the water and the waves will surely weigh down the wings, and you will die.’ We’ve left out the second part of the myth. We don’t say to people anymore, ‘Don’t fly too low.’ All we do from the time they are 4 years old is warn them against hubris. We have created this industrially led structure that says: How dare you.””
The evidence that upward mobility is out of reach for most low-income kids in America, particularly in certain areas, keeps building. Over the past 40 years, research by Raj Chetty and coauthors suggests, declining racial segregation and high school dropout rates—factors that should have increased mobility—were in competition with rising income inequality and single motherhood—factors that work against mobility. But a new study adds in another factor that is correlated with kids from low-income families moving up: unions.
According to the study by Richard Freeman, Eunice Han, David Madland, and Brendan V. Duke of Harvard, Wellesley, and the Center for American Progress, unions are linked in a few ways with improved outcomes for kids:
Areas with higher union membership demonstrate more mobility for low-income children. Using Chetty and others’ data, we* find that low-income children rise higher in the income rankings when they grow up in areas with high-union membership. [...] This relationship between unions and the mobility of low-income children is at least as strong as the relationship between mobility and high school dropout rates—a factor that is generally recognized as one of the most important correlates of economic mobility. Indeed, union density is one of the strongest predictors of an area’s mobility. Furthermore, unions remain a significant predictor of economic mobility even after one controls for several variables including race, types of industries, inequality, and more.
Areas with higher union membership have more mobility as measured by all children’s incomes. We also measure the geographic relationship between union membership and another measure of mobility: the income of all children who grew up in an area after controlling for their parents’ incomes. According to our findings, a 10 percentage point increase in union density is associated with a 4.5 percent increase in the income of an area’s children. [...]
Children who grow up in union households have better outcomes. Using a different dataset, we match parents and children to compare the outcomes of children who grew up in otherwise similar union and nonunion households. The findings show that children growing up in union households tend to have better outcomes than children who grew up in nonunion households, especially when the parents are low skilled. For example, children of non-college-educated fathers earn 28 percent more if their father was in a labor union. This analysis helps provide evidence suggesting a link between unions and economic mobility.
The study only shows correlation, not causation, so other factors that are associated with unions may be the ultimate cause, but the correlation sure is interesting, isn't it? Particularly since Republicans keep telling us how bad unions are for everyone. Even if unions aren't causing higher mobility (and they may be; we just can't tell from the available data), they sure aren't getting in the way. That fits with research finding that declining union membership contributes to rising income inequality.
Normally gerrymandering in a medium-sized town that doesn’t even pertain to city council elections would be too down-in-the-weeds, but this story from the Columbia Tribune is too funny to ignore. Self-interested business owners successfully petitioned the Columbia, Missouri, city council to create a local Community Improvement District, which would have the authority to impose a half-cent sales tax increase with voter approval. However, the district lines were drawn in a manner that attempted to avoid containing any eligible voters, meaning that property-owners themselves would get to decide on the sales tax increase as a way to avoid further property taxes to pay for improvements.
Unfortunately for them, things didn’t exactly go according to plan. It soon became known that a single voter, University of Missouri student Jen Henderson, was registered to vote in the new CID. That means that she alone will get to decide whether or not to approve the sales tax increase. The CID has already gone into debt to finance planned improvements and was counting on the increased revenue from the sales tax increase.
Predictably, Henderson is not pleased with how manipulative this process has been. She was even asked to de-register so that the vote would revert to property owners. While Henderson hasn’t publicly stated which way she plans to vote, she sounded skeptical of the proposed sales tax increase and rightfully pointed out how it is regressive in nature while the benefits accrue mainly to incumbent businesses.
In a delicious twist of irony, if Henderson votes against the sales tax increase or the vote is called off entirely, the only way for the CID to pay off its debts will be to levy further taxes onproperty, which is exactly what these businesses were trying to avoid. Most of the time gerrymandering is successful and unfair, but instances like this show it can sometimes backfire spectacularly.
kitten: i am going to get UP HIGH on the TALLEST THING
kitten: GONNA DO IT. I GOTTA
kitten, on the tallest thing: ...this was perhaps, in some manner or form, something akin to a mistake
Kim Davis, the homophobic Kentucky clerk who was jailed for five days last week for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples is back on the job ... sort of:
Did you know there's a term for what can make folks with anxiety, autism, ADHD, or OCD unable to get things done? It's not about being “lazy” – here's what you need to know about what's really going on.
Some things never change. With some constants in life, like the invariable force of gravity or the sun rising in the east, that persistence is good news. (Imagine your morning coffee without them.) The bad news is that some myths, no matter how dangerous or thoroughly debunked, never seem to die.
The evidence that upward mobility is out of reach for most low-income kids in America, particularly in certain areas, keeps building. Over the past 40 years, research by Raj Chetty and coauthors suggests, declining racial segregation and high school dropout rates—factors that should have increased mobility—were in competition with rising income inequality and single motherhood—factors that work against mobility. But a new study adds in another factor that is correlated with kids from low-income families moving up: unions.
