Lrbever

by maciej ratajski (+)

24 hour Tee site Unamee has a Maud Pie shirt up for sale for the usual cheapo price.  As always, it will drop at the end of the day, so grab it if you want it. 

Thanks to Brendan for the heads up!

The Obamacare signup numbers topped 7 million at the end of the initial period and that fact sent Glenn Beck into a major league hissy fit. He declared Obama to be a “sociopath” and the media “rat bastards” for not exposing what he’s just sure are fake numbers. It was quite a righteous rant. And then he’s just so tired of it he isn’t going to deal with all those people anymore.

Here’s what you need to know about Sherman Alexie‘s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian:

It’s won a ridiculous number of prestigious awards since being published in 2007.

Every kid you know who’s read it has loved it.

A couple of parents in Idaho have convinced a local school board — representing the largest school district in the state — to remove the book from its curriculum because it’s too “obscene” for them.

Bonnie Stiles, mother of four students in Meridian schools, said she pushed for the removal from the high school curriculum after reading the book and counting 133 profane or offensive words in its 230 pages.

“There’s obscene material throughout, degrading slang words like the one used to describe a certain part of a woman’s anatomy and an offensive depiction of (Jesus Christ),” she said.

So, Stiles “read” the book, yet failed to pick up on the broader story and takeaway lessons. All she did was keep a tally mark of the naughty words. Which is really the mature way to read a book…

She wasn’t alone in her whining, either. Grandparent Sharon Blair voiced the initial complaint and told the school board:

“You have them as teachers for a small part of the day. We have them for a lifetime, and I do not want our children exposed to explicit, filthy, racist things.“

By that logic, I guess Blair doesn’t want her kids to learn about U.S. History either, since our past (and present) is full of racism. Obviously context matters — and Alexie’s book doesn’t include bad words just for the hell of it. He’s depicting characters who think and talk that way. It’d be disingenuous to pretend otherwise.

I’d be much more worried if my kids had to put up with someone like Blair than if they had to read a challenging book.

That reference to Jesus that Stiles was so worked up about, by the way, occurs after a character (Eugene) dies. The father of Arnold, the main character, grieves by drinking. Arnold’s mother grieves by going to church. And Arnold is just mad at God for letting all this happen:

If you’re Bonnie Stiles or Sharon Blair, you see that as an “offensive depiction” of Jesus.

If you’re anyone else, you see that as a normal human emotion: getting angry and upset when life doesn’t seem fair. (And as far as acting out goes, a silly drawing is hardly that bad.) Any teenager reading the book would understand that.

As if that weren’t enough, no one was even forcing their kids to read the book. It was just one of five options sophomore could choose for a required reading assignment. Which means Stiles and Blair didn’t just want their own kids not to read the book; they wanted to make sure no one else could read it for credit, either.

I hope no one tells them about Catcher in the Rye. Or The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Or Speak. Or the Bible, with its gratuitous violence and rape scenes. Oh! And make sure their kids never go on the Internet. Or go outside in public spaces.

After hearing from parents like Stiles and Blair and then from sensible people who oppose censorship, the school board still unfortunately voted 2-1 to remove the book from the curriculum… at least until the district can undertake a review of the items on its Supplemental Reading List. In other words, they’re delaying making a decision that should have been ridiculously easy. It was the coward’s way out.

I would love to see students read the book, anyway, even if they’re not getting credit for it — just to show that they’re not going to let some uptight parents control what they can and can’t read. It would be a wonderful way to protest their school board’s capitulation to overbearing critics who don’t think other peoples’ kids should be exposed to excellent, challenging, real literature.

Generally speaking, Canadians like to fancy ourselves decent, tolerant people, (mostly) accepting of cultural diversity in a live-and-let-live sort of way, and openly enthusiastic when it comes to having plenty of restaurant choices for dining out.

So when Quebec’s Parti Quebecois acknowledged that its Charter of Values will lead to job loss for people who wear turbans, kippahs, and Islamic head coverings — particularly after Montreal PQ candidate Évelyne Abitbol said explicitly that, following a transition period, those who refuse to comply with the Charter will be fired from public-service positions — PQ leader Pauline Marois understandably felt that a little damage control was needed.

Doing her best to avoid Abitbol’s directness about firing people whose religious expression doesn’t follow the model set by Christianity, Marois insisted that her government would

work with the person, help them, advise them… We believe it is possible to find pathways to steer these people to other jobs that match their skills, because (the charter) does not touch the private sector. We are only looking at the public sector.

Marois did not address the separate-but-unequal problem this creates: private-sector jobs often pay less than their public-sector equivalents and employers may be more reluctant to offer benefits or job security to employees when such measures cut into their bottom line. Some careers lack private-sector equivalents altogether; Marois did not address how she would help those workers, except to say that she doesn’t really think people will be fired over the issue, since the year-long transition period would allow those affected to “adapt to the charter” — presumably by abandoning their religious headdress.

Asked if she worried that people would abandon Quebec in favor of provinces with rules more open to diversity, Marois said

I’m not afraid about that because we will respect all the religions; we will respect all the people. Here there is freedom, and they will continue to practise their religion, and I don’t have any problem with that.

Once again, Marois is viewing the practice of world religions through a Christian lens, in which attendance at worship services is the primary form of “practice” and other markers of belief are optional or “extra.” Yet for many of the religions targeted by the Charter, visible religious identifiers like the hijab, niqab, or turban are important religious and cultural symbols.

Politics-watchers in Canada have suggested that the PQ is doing its best to make the Charter a central issue in the upcoming provincial election, in place of separatist politics that usually follow the party. “Identity politics,” Canadian Press journalists Sidhartha Banergee and Nelson Wyatt suggest, have “proven fruitful” for the Parti Quebecois in the past. Other politicians have raised the possibility that Marois aims to avoid more substantive policy discussions, and Quebec Liberal leader Philippe Couillard argues that the charter is actually aimed at bringing about a referendum on Quebec sovereignty:

It is regrettable, questionable, and indefensible to see how, to Madame Marois and the PQ, the end justifies the means… The goal was not to legislate on the so-called identity [of Quebec]. The goal was to create a big fight, a big division, and build that in a truly Machiavellian way toward a referendum.

What seems clear, however, is that this legislation — which allows Christian symbols to remain in the public square as symbols of “Quebec culture” — is not truly about providing a fully secular public space.

Dragons like makeovers too

Me too. But that is often the stereotype mean people assign me when they learn that information. Also, neckbeard, moocher, lazy, etc.

I was trying to head rude comments off at the pass.

My beard is full and luxurious and covers both my face and neck. I have a most-of-the-head-beard. 

The assumed landfill in which millions of unsold copies of E.T. lay buried in concrete is set to be excavated. Despite a series of setbacks, Microsoft, sponsor of the documentary filming the excavation, has confirmed with the local newspaper that it is ”finalizing plans as we speak.”

This excavation can bring closure to one of video gaming’s most cherished urban legends. E.T. for the Atari 2600 is a game heralded by many as the absolute worst ever made, and while that is not even remotely true, it is a proper poster child of an age when Atari saw fit to capitalize on crummy shovelware.

The company rushed to develop E.T. in the shadow of the popular movie and made millions of copies, hoping that customers would be so touched by Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece that they would want to continue their experience by playing the game. In fact, just the opposite happened, and people respected Spielberg’s work too much to scar their precious memories of the film with such filth.

E.T. bombed spectacularly, plunging Atari into financial ruin and contributing greatly to a video game crash in 1983-84. Millions of unsold copies were believed to be submerged in concrete and buried in the New Mexico desert to help offset the loss.

The New Mexico Environmental Protection Division Solid Waste Bureau has been opposed to the excavation for worry of chemical waste, but all has been set to make this dream come true. Microsoft and Lightbox Software will be on hand filming as we uncover the fate of Atari’s first major disaster.

The documentary is expected to air as an Xbox One and Xbox 360 exclusive sometime this year.

Source: The Alamagordo Daily News

With pony going strong into 2045 the Hub has announced yet another spinoff series after the success of the CMC Chronicles, Cooking with Pinkie, and Doctor Whooves: Adventures in Time! This one looks to be their biggest hit yet and is sure to add on to the amazing success of the MLP:FiM brand!

Check on after the break for a video the amazing news!

Update: Even more amazing! After the success of MLP in Japan over the past 30 years, the HUB surprises us with another spinoff. Pony forever!

Read more »

Apple Bloom because Apple Bloom! Her massive bow told me to put her as number one today...

Now for more plushies my friends! Check them out after the break!

[1] Source
Apple Bloom plushie (FOR SALE)


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First Twilight in a long time! (and 2 more on the way along with Maud)

This was my first attempt making her crown, so it's not super perfect, but I think it works. There were from frizzies on the edges due to the tear away embroidery, but I smoothed them down with fabric glue. If anyone has any tips for stand alone embroidery (like patches) do share please!

Her body purple is also not the usual shannon lavender, PheiPheiPhei showed me it! It's not quite as soft as shannon's minky but I think the color makes up for it. c:

She's 13 inches tall, has a rotatable neck joint, semi 3D ears, flat hooves and removable crown. She can sit, stand, and lay down. She is not for sale.

For a character with so little screen time I'm surprised how popular Luna is. Really wish I could understand it, but I'm no psychologist. The best brain picking I can do is popping brains out of heads and examining them and I don't think that is too healthy for the patient.

Anyhow, more comics! Click for full!

The mountains of Iceland. In Iceland, 1 in 10 Icelanders will be published in their lives!

Iceland is a beautiful country. It's also covered in snow and pretty inhospitable for huge swaths of the year. Maybe that's why Iceland reads, writes, and buys more books than any other country in the world on a per-capita basis.

In their lifetimes, one in ten Icelanders will publish a book, and the average Icelander reads four books every year. Many people attribute this love of literature to Iceland's most famous export: The Sagas

The Icelandic Sagas are a group of tales and stories written in Old Norse that recount the oral history of the Icelandic people. Written around the turn of the first millennium, they mostly concern the travels and travails of the Vikings, Kings, and peoples of Iceland. To this day, the word "saga" means "story" in modern Icelandic.

(Source)

A 112 page book dedicated to both episodes of "Return to Harmony" (Discord's Episode) has been set up for pre-order in paperback form over on Amazon.  The specific summary for it reads:

An adaptation of the television series that lets you revisit the habitants of Equestria and learn about the magic that friendship brings. It adapts Season 2 episodes "Return to Harmony" Parts numbered 1 and numbered 2.

Celebrate Discord in words form! Head on over here to pre-order it.   Official release date July 22nd.

Thanks to Valo, Ossie, and everyone else for sending it!

Source

Love these two so much!