ThePrettiestOne

breebird33:

runzi333:

who drew this and why are they not credited properly?

I did!

My source is still there but someone erased my original description ‘cause apparently people don’t like told “HAPPY HALLOWEEN!” all year round (those people just don’t know that Halloween IS all year around and that the spooky never stops)

Anyways….

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!!!!

link to this strip | tweet this | share on facebook | email us

This classic Unshelved strip originally appeared on August 24, 2004.

lancrebitch:

alittlelostsputnik:

tinyratfeet:

aquasplendens:

themakeupwitch:

ask-a-zebra:

Having Ehlers Danlos Syndrome sometimes feels about the equivalent of being composed of jello and wet spaghetti. Nothing stays where its supposed to. Literally every single cell in the body is floppy, so fingers are definitely an issue for many of us. I can almost guarantee that for the majority of us, writing is not only slow and painful but nearly impossible at times. FIne motor skills? What even are those? An EDSer surely doesn’t have any of those. Even typing which is far easier than writing, is painful and daunting at times. But last year I joined the population of shiny zebras by getting fitted for a set of Silver Rings Splints and they are beyond magical.

For those of you who have not heard of The Silver Ring Splint Company, they are a company that custom makes finger splints that look like elegant pieces of jewelry. Don’t believe me? Well I can’t even tell you how many compliments I’ve received for them. Nobody even suspects that they might possibly be medical. But more importantly, they work amazing! I still have hand pain and finger dislocations when performing fine motor skills and writing is definitely not something I look forward to but I have saved myself thousands of painful dislocations, I can open doors easier, type faster, write longer and hold objects in my hands without looking like an alien from a sic-fi movie. With the rings on my fingers actually look like fingers rather than tentacles!

The company is also family owned and the people are so sweet and helpful!

If you are having trouble with hand pain, clumsiness and dislocations please check out this amazing company!

http://www.silverringsplint.com

I’m literally crying right now. I will be able to use my hands!!! As it stands I can’t do dishes, hold things, write, hold books, type, without pain or dislocation. Oh my gosh. This is a miracle.

@peaceypanic

those are gorgeous and that is amazing how well they’re working! signal boost!

I love these things. I use one for my thumb because due to arthritis I have very little strength/support in the joint and therefore often can’t do anything. My splint makes it possible for me to do my job, do the shit i need to do and not have as bad of pain. 

these are so cool

omg the first ehlers danlos post I’ve seen, this makes me happy!

Tony Piro, at Calamaties of Nature, has a great cartoon exposing how commodified forms of rebellion can be quite expensive. I cut out the last panel so the cartoon would fit better, view the whole strip here.

When tokens of resistance can be bought and sold, rebellion becomes something you purchase and perform.  The irony is that this, as Piro points out, can actually connect you even deeper to the very structures you want to resist.

Lisa Wade is a professor of sociology at Occidental College and the co-author of Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

(View original at http://thesocietypages.org/socimages)

actjustly:

Today marks one year since Mike Brown was murdered by Darren Wilson. 

Mike Brown (May 20, 1996 – August 9, 2014)

kdhart:

swampgallows:

besturlonhere:

daviddadeer:

besturlonhere:

the american dream is now being the best in the world at something in order to pay medical bills

Only an asshole could turn something as nice as this into a bad thing

this isnt a nice thing this shouldnt be seen as some sort of spirit lifting feel good news blurb it should be seen as a damning indictment of the usa’s healthcare system

“win this race and we’ll let your son live”; a heartwarming tale

A heartwarming tale written by Stephen King, no less.

There are a lot of ways I could have liked it being Natasha. I think one of the best ways to read between the lines we were given is the rationale you bring up here– that Natasha fears lack of control, that the Hulk terrifies her, that this is her response to fear. After months of working together, Nat’s figured it out enough that what was once a defiance of her own terror is now an achievement and a connection to feel proud of. Yeah– I like that. 

Another way to read it would be that she recognizes she has a specific connection to Bruce and the Hulk (which is something they bring up in the movie, and then absolutely flub on execution). She sees him, and is reminded of the Red Room’s lovely monster, who Clint once took a chance on, and so she works to find a way to trust him. 

Those are fine–those can be wonderful stories. In terms of romantic or platonic connections among the MCU Avengers, Natasha/Bruce is one I’m rather fond of actually. I’m fond of it, though, because it’s hard to do, because it more than most needs to be earned. (Hint: it wasn’t.)

Natasha is made of layers and layers, lies and false pasts and stolen ones. She will be all things to all people. She will ask Steve Rogers in a (borrowed) car who he wants her to be and when he says how about a friend it will take a moment for her to digest it. She is malleable– by others, by herself, by friends and foes. 

Bruce is a brilliant, tightly controlled knot of anger and compassion. He’s viewed as passive when really it’s just that whatever problems the rest of the world is having, he’s got his own rather massive set to deal with. He doesn’t deceive; he ignores. He lives in a state of constant exhaustion that puts him one step back from other people. 

(One of my favorite lenses with which to view Bruce Banner is that of a person dealing with chronic illness. There’s less property damage generally, but that state of chronic exhaustion; of having to watch your body every moment, to plan three steps ahead to keep yourself from being caught unawares, to damp your reactions because you don’t have the spoons to spare; of not bothering to correct when people talk to you about cures, when they see how well you function and congratulate you on fixing it when you’re still (always) sick/angry/green living under your skin; smiling benignly when the people around you ask you about yoga…)

But anyway– Bruce does not put on layers. Bruce is and then other people drop assumed layers over him–he’s calm, he’s shy, he’s at peace, he’s a monster. Bruce was stripped down to his core years ago, left living when he didn’t want to be. Now he continues, because he doesn’t have other choices. He finds good work to do.

Trust is a precious commodity for Natasha Romanoff. It’s what she’s seeking for all of Cap2; the mute injury on her face when Nick Fury says, “I didn’t know who I could trust,” is one of the most subtly heartbreaking moments of that film. She asks Steve if he’d trust her with his life and he says “I would now,” like he wouldn’t have before. When Zola reveals SHIELD’s betrayal and corruption, it’s Natasha not Steve who whispers, “SHIELD wouldn’t.” This is a woman who wants to trust; who is looking for connection she desperately wants and doesn’t quite expect to find. 

And we’re trying to put her with someone who not only sees the world as a tissue, but who can explicitly not even trust his own body. Bruce has helped build a giant robot so it can punch him into submission if his Hulk gets out. 

Bruce needs steady ground, and Natasha is shifting sands. Natasha needs someone to rely on, someone to trust, and Bruce turns into a giant green rage monster on the occasional random basis. This is a hard ship to write. Those things have to be addressed– and they didn’t do it. 

They stripped off all of Natasha’s careful layers, had her flirt with a straightforward obviousness. There are ways you could get there– she has a level of comfort with the Avengers now that lets her drop those layers, maybe. Or this is a reaction to her horrified realizations in Cap2, that she considered Nick Fury a friend and even a father, SHIELD her family, and they weren’t even sure she wasn’t one of the people out to take Fury’s life. She is desperate for trust, and that could turn into a stubborn effort at transparency. She drops all her acts and tries to be straightforward–sure, I’ll buy it. 

But they didn’t tell us that story. They just said: she’s in love. And we don’t even know how we got there. 

In a lot of ways this has to do with trust– Natasha’s trust but also our trust in the narrative. Joss thinks we trust him. He thinks if he says ‘Natasha fell in love with Bruce’ that we will believe him and fill in the blanks. And we will fill in some blanks, because that’s how storytelling works, but this? We weren’t given any reasons other than ‘time has passed’ and ‘Bruce is swell’ and 'Natasha is touching the Hulk in minor erogenous zones, because handholding isn’t enough here; we need to make this about sex, okay break out the inner wrist stroking.’

This is a story that can be told, and told well. It can be grounding and illuminating for these two kids and their complicated relationships with trust, bodily autonomy, and guilt. And AoU tried to tell part of it–for all its fumbles in execution (please never never try to imply infertility = monstrousness; I both assume and hope to god that wasn’t their intention, but they sure sounded like it). 

A running theme in AoU was feeling like a monster. They touch on it with several of the Avengers–these are dangerous people, often inhuman in some way, who have left large tracts of destruction behind them. How do you define humanity in the face of gods, disastrous green science experiments, and little girls raised to be ruthlessly lethal porcelain ballerinas? It’s a good question and one of the reasons the Nat/Bruce pairing can be interesting. 

But they didn’t tell that story. They didn’t build it, and that unintuitive jump (especially for Natasha) felt weird. It was the most disconcerting part of a movie I otherwise largely enjoyed. 

You can read into what they gave us and make it work–I plan to. That’s how I like to watch MCU movies, I’ve found. There are things to love in AoU and there are things I can decide to love if I squint hard enough. Bruce/Nat is going to be one of those, though I’m not sure yet if it will be a case of “romance is in the air” or a “oh wow what an interesting and unhealthy dual coping mechanism you’ve both developed here.“ 

moonkistprincess:

frauleindrosselmeyer:

star-anise:

jkthinkythoughts:

If your argument can be boiled down to “well, the *real world* won’t treat you with kindness, compassion, or understanding, so I shouldn’t either” than… the problem is you.

The “real world” does not have to be a cold, cruel, place that requires thick skin, armor, and no weakness ever. That’s the just world you insist on making for yourself. I wish you joy of it.

I’ll be over here, making something better.

*joins you in your corner*

The world is full of nice people. If you cannot find one, be one.

salon:

1. Oliver Slams Mandatory Minimums and Mass Incarceration

Just last week, Oliver piggybacked off the news of President Obama’s 46 commutations and pivoted to our country’s insane mandatory minimums and their role in making the US the world leader in incarcerating its people.

2. Oliver Blasts the U.S. Bail System for Locking up Poor People Regardless of Guilt

Oliver recently took on the U.S. bail system pointing out that it has increasingly become a way to lock up the poor, regardless of guilt. Oliver referenced a report by the Drug Policy Alliance that found nearly 40 percent of the jail population in New Jersey is held solely because they don’t have the money for bail, which can be a little as a few thousand dollars. The average length of time people wait in jail is 10 months.  It won’t surprise you that the vast majority of those locked up are poor people of color.

3. Oliver Shows How Law Enforcement Can Steal Your Stuff: Civil Assets Forfeiture

Oliver brilliantly showed how the police, thanks to the war on drugs, can basically steal your stuff, even if you have never been convicted off a crime. And then it is up to you to prove that you are innocent. Law enforcement gets to keep everything they seize.

The Drug Policy Alliance released a report, Above the Law: An Investigation of Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuses in California, which looked at asset forfeiture abuses in California that revealed the troubling extent to which law enforcement agencies have illegally used the practice to pad their budgets.

4. Oliver Explains How Racist Drug War Fuels Mass Incarceration

Oliver delivered a devastating critique on our racist drug law enforcement, the role it plays in fueling mass incarceration and the inhumane treatment and abuse people face behind bars. The U.S. has less than five percent of the world’s population, but nearly 25 percent of the world’s people behind bars.

Read the full article.

classictrek:

Start every day with this speech.

The music’s good, too.

From Dave Itzkoff: “My rough transcript of Jon Stewart’s extraordinary “Bullshit is everywhere” speech.“

By Ivan Farkas,Vicki Veritas,J.D. Robinson  Published: August 09th, 2015 

Wheee!

blackberries-and-arsenic:

elektrik-eel:

underwearandourjackedupthumbs:

hohomylad:

#honestly i dont care if its fake

It’s not. It happens every day all around the world.

ink-splotch:

1. Steve, our giant dorito of goodness, who was not the person the Hulk caught and saved from death in the first avengers, but who was the first person Hulk ever took an order from. 

Steve respects soldiers; and he respects people who hates bullies, and he was one of the first people to speak to the Hulk and not plead with him. When he tells Hulk, “Thank you,” he means it and even Hulk can tell. When he says, “You’re done, we’ve got it from here,” Hulk believes it. He’s safe. 

2. Tony, who was the falling body Hulk caught, who was one of the few acts of friendship and not destruction Hulk was given in Avengers, who has spent long nights and early mornings with Bruce in the lab now, sharing in something they both love. Tony either:

a. talks science in a soothing tone– “supernovas? the emissions on those things. and mechatronics! omg, let’s talk about nyquist plots, don’t you think they look like butts? they totally look like butts” – until Hulk makes a giant green enraged sigh, puts his hands over his face, and just lets Puny Bruce out to deal with Won’t-Shut-Up-Man.

OR

b. Tony touches down in the Ironman suit and circles Hulk like a particularly irritating gnat. “Hey hey hey Hulk, man, go to sleep. go to sleep okay? go to sleep. go to sleep go to sleep gotosleepgotosleepGOTOSLEEPokaycmonhulkgotosleep” until Hulk finally swats him and does.

(because Tony’s affection always filters through annoyance)

3. Thor, who blasts down and with jovial seriousness begins a brotherly brawl of joint camaraderie. Thor’s one of the few Hulk can’t hurt too easy, and Hulk’s one of the few Thor can’t hurt. 

There are so many frustrations in their lives, these two boys who belong best to simpler worlds and keep getting pulled into machinations and schemes of others–but this, here, is simple. This is just bodies in an empty war zone, all the danger gone. They fight like kittens, like flop-eared puppy dogs, until they roll over panting in the rubble and gasp and laugh themselves to sleep. 

(Steve and Tony, who have finished all the requisite paperwork during this cooldown/beatdown period, come out and carry their snoring allies to the Quinjet– Steve with Bruce wrapped in a blanket, and the Ironman armor lugging Thor.)

4. Probably not Hawkeye, honestly. I love you, Clint, but no. 

5. But not Natasha, who is brave and slippery and terrifying, who is afraid more than almost anything of losing control, whose role on the team is the spy, the killer, the repenter, the manipulator, the blade in the dark, the smile that cuts, the dry wit, Hawkeye’s best friend and Cap’s dose of loyal reality– Natasha, whose role is not to be the girl, the mother, or other people’s peace. 

They see me owlin. (vine by negitan)

when your parents fight about you

Jon Stewart concluded his generation-defining run on The Daily Show this past evening, Thursday, August 6th, and while many (many) people came to say goodbye, the emotional denouement belonged solely to Stephen Colbert.

And it was, appropriately, entirely a Lord of the Rings metaphor.

Watch the video of the beautiful, wonderfully nerdy send-off below.

Gendered fashion is on the way out. Fashion designers are mixing menswear and womenswear on the runway. Parents are pushing for genderless clothing that allows little girls to, say, wear science-themed t-shirts instead of princess dresses. And Quartz fashion writers are asking: “Sex and gender aren’t perfectly binary. Why should clothes be?”

To be sure, retailers like Gap, the North Face, and American Apparel have sold unisex clothing for years, though sizing is still typically cut across gender lines.

But moving toward a less gendered retail experience could also be a “business opportunity for retailers who create a comfort zone for people who don’t want to subscribe to one category,” writes market researcher NPD Group in a new e-book (pdf).

NPD argues that retailers could benefit from moving past the old-fashioned store layouts once designed to comply with increasingly outdated notions of gender roles (although it falls short of providing conclusive proof that consumers would actually buy more if stores dissolved the gender division).

Still, the argument makes sense. If men and women are going to wear the same pair of Converse or Vans sneakers, why stock them in separate “his” and “hers” sections of the store? If a woman shopping in a department store prefers the clothes in the traditional men’s section, does she have to lug them down to another floor just to try them on? Should a retailer give up on potential sales by alienating a woman who doesn’t want to shop in the men’s department?

Some retailers are already moving in that direction. While Personnel of New York maintains “women” and “men” sections on its website, it also has a tab featuring genderless clothing and accessories called, simply, “Everyone.”

Just this week, Target announced that it was phasing out gender-based signage after customers complained that marketing products by gender was regressive and unnecessary. Target said it would remove signs in the home goods and entertainment aisles that delineate which products were meant for boys or girls, as well as the use of pink, blue, yellow, or green paper on its shelves in the toy aisles.

British department store Selfridges recently did away with gender-based shopping in a concept store called Agender, which aims to “transcend the notions of ‘his’ and ‘hers,'” according to its website, with genderless clothes from more than 40 designers. So far, business has been good enough that Selfridges is considering creating a stand-alone store, reports Details.

The store’s experiment hints that the appeal isn’t limited to women who want to escape the stylistic confines of conventional femininity.

“In fashion, more and more we are seeing physically masculine men wearing what might traditionally be thought of as feminine,” Linda Hewson, Selfridges’ creative director, tells Details. “Function and individuality are now more important than a uniform idea of what’s conventionally appropriate.”

sandandglass:

Stephen Colbert thanks Jon Stewart for everything he’s done

racist people when a white character gets switched to a minority: why are they forcing diversity :\ :\ why does everything have to be 'diverse' these days??
racist people when a minority character gets switched to white: why are SJWs bitching about this :\ :\ why can't they accept that moviemakers are casting based on talent??
racist people when a canonically minority character is played by a minority: tbh i never pictured them that way :\ :\ where does it say in the book that they look like this??

mysecretorigin:

neil-gaiman:

positivelypersistentteach:

There are teachers from every grade level here.  I asked teachers to send me their wishlist if they needed classroom supplies and materials that their districts and/or students’ families would not be able to supply.  Many teachers on this list have been tumblr friends of mine for years, while some have just come to the #education community more recently.  The majority of the teachers here teach in Title I schools (areas of high economic need), special education, or are new teachers.  Your support makes a world of difference to our students and to us.  Here’s to a successful 2015-2016 school year!  

Positivelypersistent’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Girlwithalessonplan’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Novicephoenix’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Listenlearninspireteach’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Pablophonic’s Amazon Wish List is here.

HipsterEnglishTeacher’s Amazon Wish List is here. 

Windycitylibrarian’s Amazon Wish Lists are here and here.

VWalker’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Allisonunsupervised’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Impatienteacher’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Veecheck’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Lugofrombananacountry’s Amazon Wish List is here

Kateann6′s Amazon Wish List is here 

Allmadeofstardust’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Jibteaches’ Amazon Wish List is here.

Audgy’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Anjimoto’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Myfesteringcesspool’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Nojokesfact’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Itsdestiny’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Firstclassrom’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Andjuliesaid’s Amazon Wish List is here.  

Ship-of-dreams’ Amazon Wish List is here.

Mystified Mom’s Amazon Wish List is here.

copseth21′s Amazon Wish List is here.

Miss-Kang’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Mpinaire’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Redfernfrog’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Allysowned’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Myrtletheviolist’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Wearingmycrazy’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Sh*&mysecondgraderssay’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Megbytheminute’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Repandrev’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Justwalkthroughmyclassroom’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Theyellowraincoat’s Amazon Wish List is here.

Middleschoolchamps’ Amazon Wish List is here.

If you can’t donate, please remember reblogs are still very helpful!

What a great thing to do. Let’s spread this around. And help.

I’m happy to reblog this, but after neil-gaiman reblogging, I’m not sure how much good my puny reblog will do…

unless, of course, seananmcguire reblogs it. ;)

Yes, ma’am.

Dilbert readers - Please visit Dilbert.com to read this feature. Due to changes with our feeds, we are now making this RSS feed a link to Dilbert.com.

Hovertext: I don't care that we're barely out of a recession, start maxing out your credit cards!

New comic!
Today's News:

BAHFest East tickets are still available! 

Courtney shared this story from Super Opinionated.

---

“@timjcam: @megynkelly @FrankLuntz @realDonaldTrump Fox viewers give low marks to bimbo @MegynKelly will consider other programs!”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015

During the GOP Presidential debate last night, moderator Megyn Kelly brought up Donald Trump’s history of misogyny, pointing out that Trump has “called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals,” and that said comments might not indicate “the temperament of a man we should elect as president.” (His answer: “I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct. […] “Frankly what I say and oftentimes it’s fun, it’s kidding, we have a good time.”)

So, like any reasonable adult in contention for one of the most influential jobs in the world, Trump retaliated by proving Kelly’s point and spending the rest of the night sending her gendered insults over Twitter. Not since the lady Ghostbusters decided to ruin some childhoods has there been such a desperate display of male entitlement.

Wow, @megynkelly really bombed tonight. People are going wild on twitter! Funny to watch.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015

I really enjoyed the debate tonight even though the @FoxNews trio, especially @megynkelly, was not very good or professional!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015

“@JetRanger69: @realDonaldTrump @FoxNews @megynkelly @BretBaier WAS A DISASTER ALSO.”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015

“@Reid2962: @realDonaldTrump @FoxNews I expected better from @megynkelly, wondering what is her hidden agenda.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015

“@agcaddauan: @realDonaldTrump @DRUDGE_REPORT Megyn could have done a far better job*”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015

“@stinger_inc: @realDonaldTrump @megynkelly‘s behaviour at the #GOPDebate was astonishingly biased.”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015

“@italy2320: @Reid2962 @FoxNews @megynkelly Tell me what I can do to help you. She really has made me want to never watch fox again”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015

“@CaptTimScrim: Dear @megynkelly , your attempted hatchet job on @realDonaldTrump was unbecoming & a total failure. @FoxNews

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015

“@ElvisFever: @megynkelly @FoxNews Out to get you with baited questions. She was angry at you. Very hostile and unprofessional”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015

“@RubenMMoreno: @realDonaldTrump The biggest loser in the debate was @megynkelly. You can’t out trump Donald Trump. You will lose!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015

Kelly might not have disguised her feelings for Trump during the debate, but it’s hard to imagine an opinionated male moderator receiving so much push-back or being condemned as a ‘hostile, unprofessional bimbo.’

Regardless, given Trump’s appalling track record of misogynistic comments (in addition to his willingness to defund Planned Parenthood and his close association with rape apologists), I’m totally uninterested in giving him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his treatment of Kelly. Or any women, for that matter.

If the whole president thing doesn’t work out, maybe Trump can get on the ‘ethics in game journalism’ beat? He’s already got the prerequisite obsession with powerful women and lack of social media chill.

(Via Uproxx and NBC, image via Shutterstock)

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