Snorkmaiden

_{Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka’s family costume photos from 2011, 2012, and 2013}

tinawiththedreads:

realbarbielifts:

spock-of-science:

takshammy:

This guy

This fucking guy

All the awards

lol lamebook

raggamuffinvena:

tastefullyoffensive:

Disney Princesses Dressed as Their Princes by Godohelp [more]

Previously: Fallen Disney Princesses, Nicolas Cage as Disney Princesses

So mulan looks the same lol. But Megora& Ariel > ^-^

It may not be just a pap smear - it may be a bundled set of tests, as explained in an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine:

The first time a patient called me to say that she'd been billed more than $600 for her Pap smear, I was sure it was a mistake. The second time, I was less sure, and these days I am no longer surprised to find laboratory charges of $1,000 or more for a test that until recently cost only $20 or $30...

It turns out that the high-ticket screening tests contain multiple items: the Pap test itself, usually in the form of a new liquid-based test rather than the older (and cheaper) slide test; a human papillomavirus (HPV) test, which is recommended only for women 30 to 64 years of age and only once every 5 years; tests for sexually transmitted diseases (recommended routinely only for women 15 to 25 years of age and those with symptoms suggestive of an infection); and sophisticated laboratory tests for a variety of yeasts, the presence or absence of which was once assessed by the physician looking at a slide under a microscope. So how do all these tests come to be ordered for healthy women who come in only for an annual gynecology exam? The answer is that someone, whether the physician or nurse practitioner or the medical assistant processing the specimen, checked off all those boxes on the order form...

Laboratories have learned that one easy way to increase revenue is to make it easy for clinicians to order more tests. In the past year, I have been visited by multiple laboratory representatives touting “improved” tests, virtually all of which involve combination panels that can be easily ordered and that contain extensive lists of fairly esoteric tests. The single-vial women's health test is being heavily marketed by multiple laboratories. It includes not only the Pap and HPV tests but also tests for multiple infections — including some we would rarely have tested for in the past — for which we often have no evidence of benefit. Costly tests that once would have required physicians to submit multiple collection vials and specimens can now be ordered with the Pap smear simply by clicking a single box in the electronic medical record. Nothing at any point along the way alerts either the clinician or the patient to the high costs of these tests or to the fact that there is little medical evidence to suggest that they are useful for most patients. It seems harmless, even possibly beneficial, to run these additional tests, and for our staff, it eliminates the risk of missing a test the doctor might have wanted to have run. The risk it poses, though — the one I face when a patient calls about a crippling bill — is that more and more women may choose not to undergo screening, afraid of the financial consequences.

More at the link.  It's an important concept to understand.

“What is disaster pornography? Africans define it as the Western media’s habit of blacking out Africa’s stock markets, cell phones, heart surgeries, soaring literacy and increasing democratization, while gleefully parading its genocides, armed conflicts, child soldiers, foreign debts, hunger, disease and backwardness.”

- Gbemisola Olujobi, Nigerian journalist (Via the December 2007 issue of Ebony magazine)  (via the-cat-inside)

desliz:

In the generic queer template, everyone’s either really skinny or a little pudgy with bad posture, and everyone has short hair, tattoos, and piercings. Long hair is for straight and/or trans women. Everyone lives in a city and no one over 30 is likely to be found. Sometimes, one or two of them will be people of color, but they will be partnered with white people so nobody panics. There are lots of bikes.

I’m a 25 year old man, and Adventure Time just gave me the best explanation of how a car works that I’ve heard ever. 

cartoonhangover:

We want to make more Bee and PuppyCat cartoons - even a whole series of them! Help us by contributing to a Bee and PuppyCat Kickstarter. 

This Kickstarter is the fastest way to get you a series of Bee and PuppyCat cartoons. It is also the best way to help Frederator give Natasha Allegri, the creator of Bee and PuppyCat, the most creative freedom. And you can get some awesome Bee and PuppyCat stuff that will not be available anywhere. Your help is crucial.

Thank you,

-The Cartoon Hangover Team

get at it y’all!!

[video]

fatalwaves:

pig in a blanket

gynocraticgrrl:

Title of Talk: From the Personal is Political to the Personal is Personal: Neo-liberalism and the Defanging of Feminism.

Gail Dines, PhD Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies, Wheelock College, Boston, MA. Author of Pornland: How Porn has Hijacked our Sexuality, July 2012.

i-come-by-it-honestly:

Mallory Orberg on fire on twitter today (as usual).

Oh dear heavens, exactly THIS.

"There goes one who does not believe in gods yet calls on them. How will it be for him when they come?". …:)))))))))

Shake is a fun book collection of high-speed photography by Carli Davidson of dogs caught in the middle of shaking off water. The book is available to purchase online at Amazon, and individual prints of the hilarious photos can be bought on Davidson’s Shopify.

Original, amusing, and brilliantly documented, Shake is a heartwarming collection of sixty-one beguiling dogs caught in the most candid of moments: mid-shake. This glorious, graphic volume will stop you dead in your tracks as you are presented with images of man’s best friend caught in contortion: hair wild, eyes darting, ears and jowls flopping every which way.

With Shake, photographer Carli Davidson proves how eager and elated we are to see our pets in new ways. The result is a one-of-a-kind book: a colorful assemblage of photographs that are simultaneously startling and endearing, consistently hard to look away from, and revealing.

photos and video via Carli Davidson

via Colossal

Feminism has an image problem, that much is obvious. Much of that image problem comes from feminists with a platform putting forth thoughts and ideas without criticality examination, and more of it comes from misinformation given on websites and other news outlets. Annica Benning’s piece over at the State Press is a glaringly obvious example of misinformation and misrepresentation being put forth on a widespread level, furthering myths about feminism. Ms. Benning is not a woman out to do harm. She is, however, misinformed on some basic tenets of feminism, and I think that if we break her argument down point-by-point and address it, that this might help put forth a broader and more accurate portrayal of what feminism is. So let’s go!

1. “I also believe that I should not be denied a job because I am a woman. However, unless I’m applying to be a lumberjack in Canada, the chances of me being denied a job based on my gender are incredibly slim.”

Gender discrimination in the workplace is still an ongoing problem. The thing is, gender discrimination doesn’t stop at whether or not you are hired for a job: It continues on in the workplace. Workplace gender discrimination can include getting paid less than a male colleague with similar skills and experience for the same work; being subjected to sexual harassment, which is most commonly directed at women, and not men; and an inability to access to basic medical services through company provided insurance, like contraception, maternity care, pre-natal care or maternity leave.

And it doesn’t stop there! Significant over-representation of men at the management and CEO level is a problem, along with horizontal segregation, which occurs when any occupation is dominated by women or men. Example: The nursing field is occupied mostly by women. These practices hurt men and women, and feminism is about equality for everybody. Women are denied jobs, promotions, raises, hospitable work places based on their gender, and men are often limited to access to some fields that are predominantly occupied by women because of their gender. Feminism wants people of all genders to be able to avoid gender discrimination in the workplace.

2. “The larger problem I have with the feminist movement is they seem to want preferential treatment because of their sex. It’s akin to reverse discrimination. Many male-dominated industries seek out women for the sole purpose of appearing diverse, which does not sit well with me. I do not want to be sought out because I am a woman. I want to be sought out because I am the best candidate.”

I think the problem here starts with assuming that feminists are only women. A lot of men are feminists, too! Some of the most important men in my life are feminists. And wanting to be sought out because you are the best is great and all, and definitely aspire to that. But the fact is that a company looking for diversity is doing that because they are in large part homogenous and need to correct an imbalance, and that imbalance is usually race or gender related. There’s no reason to assume women getting hired for jobs aren’t the best at the job. Also, reverse discrimination is not real. 

3. “Attempting to solve a problem by balancing out the playing field sounds good, but at the end of the day, it is still discrimination.”

Balancing the playing field is the exact opposite of discrimination. If discrimination didn’t happen, there would be no need to level the playing field.

4.”Modern day feminism is used as a crutch in many ways. Putting down males won’t bring up women. Rants about equality are just that: rants. And forgoing committed relationships to just ‘hook up’ because it’s somehow ‘empowering’ might be the greatest running joke of all time.”

Rants about how feminism is just the shittiest shit fest ever is also just a rant, so there’s that. But feminism is not about putting men down. It is about equality for women AND men. Nobody should be left out in this equation. As much as feminism wants women to have equal opportunity, freedom and agency as men, we also want men to be able to participate in some activities commonly associated with femininity and not be criticized or shamed for it. That’s another way feminists want to level the playing field, and no, it’s not discriminatory. For many feminists, paternity leave and maternity leave are things we fight for. It’s also common for many feminists to want men to be able to seek out mental health treatment without stigma, or to be able to more open with their emotions and feelings and not be criticized for it. The “hook up is empowering” mode of thought is one aspect of raunch culture coming out of third wave feminism. Not every feminist feels like that. I don’t. 

5. “I don’t expect a man to open the door for me or pick up the dinner check. I can open doors just fine on my own, and I can earn my own Amex points. However, I appreciate both of the aforementioned, because it is respectful and courteous.”

Why is it only respectful and courteous for a man to do these things for a woman? Isn’t opening and holding the door for whomever is behind you courteous no matter who is doing it for whom? And is there a particular reason why a man paying for the bill is courteous, but a woman doing it is not? It is an old-fashioned custom built on sexism, and if it works for you, go for it, sisterfriend! But if it doesn’t work for other women, or men that you are dating, there’s nothing wrong with them. Feminism doesn’t mean “you can’t let a man pay for you,” but it does mean “consider the historical and cultural context of the origin of that custom and decide if it is right for you based on that.” I don’t care if you buy your own dinner or if somebody else buys it for you. It would be nice if people did think about where “respectful and courteous’” customs borne out of sexism came from, however.

6. “I appreciate it just as much when a girlfriend picks up a late night frozen yogurt fix or my boss takes me out to a nice lunch. Being thoughtful and having good manners should apply to everyone, regardless of gender.”

Yeah. Feminism agrees with you. Being nice to people is good. Being a bag of dicks is not good.

7. “Another problem is endemic to the modern career woman, who seems to think that to make it to the top you have to push everyone else, including other women, out of your way. I hear it all the time, one girl talking about how another girl is in the same field as her so they are ‘competing for the same jobs.’ Why is it a competition? I know it’s a tough economy, but there are plenty of jobs to go around. If women helped each other out and worked together they could accomplish great things. Instead, they push each other down.”

No no no no NOPE. Because of gender discrimination embedded in hiring proceesses and corporate structures by people OTHER than women, women often are competing for the same job. But women didn’t put themselves in this position. We are playing the hand patriarchy has dealt us, and trying to do the best we can to bring that system down and build up. So if you do see women bad-mouthing each other and pushing each other down to lift themselves up, that has nothing to do with feminism and everything to do with patriarchy. Feminism doesn’t want women to have to work against each other. What you’re citing as a problem is a real problem, but it’s not a problem within or created by feminism. It’s a problem feminism wants to eradicate.

8. “True success comes from not only building yourself up, but helping out those around you. If      feminism focused more on building up women, I might give it a chance. Until then, the last thing I want to be called is a feminist.

I don’t know what you’re reading, but feminism does a lot to build women up. There are some really valid and important reasons why somebody might not want to call themselves a feminist, but none of them were on this list, and most of the complaints don’t actually have anything to do with feminism. If you ever change your mind and want to join up and work for the equality of all people, feminism will still be right here, and you’re welcome at any time.

Written by Sara Luckey
You can Tweet with her, talk beauty with her here, or engage in a conversation about current events as viewed through a sociopolitical, feminist lens here.

We’re beginning to wonder if it’s possible for an animal to be so awesomely cute that the sight of them actually breaks the human brain for a moment. These spectacularly fluffy bunnies are Angora Rabbits, bred for their extraordinarily long soft wool and, we hope, because watching creatures like this hop around makes people deliriously happy. They look like giant tribbles with faces.

[via io9]

While unicorns love summer for all its sunshine and rainbows, they are also fond of autumn. We took this unicorn to a corn maze and he declared himself king of the pumpkin patch. 

Thanks to Stocker Farms for letting us take pictures! 

Buy your own Unicorn Mask here

Science 18 October 2013:

Vol. 342 no. 6156 pp. 326-331

DOI: 10.1126/science.1238484

A Complete Skull from Dmanisi, Georgia, and the Evolutionary Biology of Early Homo

David Lordkipanidze et al.



The site of Dmanisi, Georgia, has yielded an impressive sample of hominid cranial and postcranial remains, documenting the presence of Homo outside Africa around 1.8 million years ago. Here we report on a new cranium from Dmanisi (D4500) that, together with its mandible (D2600), represents the world's first completely preserved adult hominid skull from the early Pleistocene. D4500/D2600 combines a small braincase (546 cubic centimeters) with a large prognathic face and exhibits close morphological affinities with the earliest known Homo fossils from Africa. The Dmanisi sample, which now comprises five crania, provides direct evidence for wide morphological variation within and among early Homo paleodemes. This implies the existence of a single evolving lineage of early Homo, with phylogeographic continuity across continents.

Link

It continues.

I love that Flula keeps the jeep riding

What I mean when I say "patriarchy": A set of socially maintained systems, values, and ideologies which perpetuate arbitrary and outdated ideas about gender and human sexuality, encompassing social phenomena like homophobia, transphobia, and sexism.
What people THINK I mean when I say "patriarchy": A secret brotherhood that meets together once a month to discuss how best to oppress women, and are in control of all of the world's governments.

We share this world with entities that love to move our Ouija board planchettes at slumber parties, knock picture frames from our shelves, and haunt the massive estates bequeathed to us in the wills of distant, wealthy uncles. I’m talking about ghosts, and although we can’t always see them, they’re everywhere. So if you’re an amateur necromancer, thrilled by the supernatural, or just trying to figure out why candelabras are always floating across your dining room, let this list of the most common spirits guide you through your phantasmal adventures.

1. The Poltergeist

What it is: A mischievous invisible entity that gets off on disrupting the regular course of your daily activities. They can be violent(throwing pots and pans across rooms, smashing chinaware) or just sort of annoying (rapping at windows, knocking over wastepaper baskets, loudly cracking their invisible knuckles when you’re trying to read, messing with your Wifi connection).

Where you’ll find it: In houses—particularly ones built on ancient burial grounds—and within television static.

What to do about it: Contact your neighborhood spirit medium, shaman, priest, and/or professor of folklore, and exorcise the spirit. If that doesn’t work, try exercising the spirit until it gets so tired that it leaves you alone.

2. The Scooby-Doo “G-g-g-g-ghost!”

What it is: This specter is really just an aggrieved person whose righteous indignation has led them to create an elaborate ghost costume and then run around terrifying dogs and bespectacled, ascoted, red-haired, shaggy youngsters, thinking that this will somehow remedy their problem.

Where you’ll find it: In abandoned mines, warehouses, museums, factories, and dilapidated mansions.

What to do about it: Remember that every supernatural creature you’ve ever encountered has been a guy in a costume, and then call the cops. But if you have time to burn, chase the “ghost” through a long, dimly lit corridor, trap him by dropping a giant net over his head, tie rope around him, remove his mask, turn him in to the authorities, and then pull a footlong submarine sandwich out of your pocket and eat it in one bite. Mmm…pocket sandwich.

3. The Bed-Sheet Ghost

What it is: A white bed sheet with two eyeholes cut into it that is either draped over a quick-thinking person who didn’t have time to get a real Halloween costume, or an actual ghost that is refreshingly droll.

Where you’ll find it: Roaming the streets on October 31.

What to do about it: Give it a treat—a fun-size candy bar, a fun-size cup of fabric softener—and it’ll skedaddle.

4. The Ghost That Had Sex With Ke$ha

What it is: According to an interview she gave on Conan, Ke$ha went to the bone zone with a strange ghost that showed up at her house. She called the experience, which included a lot of sensual caressing, a sexy time. The ghost woke up the next morning feeling like P. Diddy.

Where you’ll find it: Ke$ha’s boudoir.

What to do about it: Just say, “I respectfully decline your offer of spooky intercourse.” Unless you want to do it, in which case I guess go for it? I don’t know.

5. The Spirit Orb

What it is: A ball of light that sometimes shows up in flash photography and infrared video footage. It is thought by some to be a manifestation of a spirit’s presence or energy.

Where you’ll find it: In the photographs of people who believe in ghosts. In everyone else’s photographs, an orb is just light reflecting off of dust particles.

What to do about it: Send the pictures or footage to everyone you know. Ghosts exist. The truth is out there. Don’t let the government suppress this information.

6. The Happy Ghost With a Tail

What it is: A nonthreatening illustration of a ghost that you’ll start seeing everywhere in October.

Where you’ll find it: In Halloween decorations and clip art.

What to do about it: Get into the Halloween spirit by appreciating its joyful face and sperm-y tail.

7. The Onryō

What it is: A vengeful, usually female spirit from Japanese folklore who suffered while she was alive. She’s pale and wears a white gown or kimono. Her black hair covers her face, and for shits and giggles she’ll crawl when pursuing her victims.

Where you’ll find it: In your mirror, on your ceiling, standing over you as you sleep, climbing out of your TV screen, behind you in the shower.

What to do about it: You could try and help the Onryō by avenging her death or finding her a ponytail holder, but neither is a guarantee that she’ll go away.

8. The Friendly Ghost

What it is: His name is Casper and he’s the friendliest ghost you know. Though grownups might look at him with fright, the children all love him so, and he always says hello.

Where you’ll find it: In a rundown old house, or flying around in the sky at night.

What to do about it: Befriend him, of course. And then later maybe he’ll magically be turned into a human and you two can go to a middle school dance together and kiss in front of everyone.

9. The Deceased Loved One

What it is: A relative, friend, pet, or lover who, in death, continues to watch over you, presumably even when you’re trying to pick your nose, poop, or masturbate. This spirit is most likely invisible to you, but can signal its presence in subtle, meaningful ways, like through smell—you might get a whiff of your loved one’s favorite perfume out of nowhere. It can also communicate to you via Whoopi Goldberg.

Where you’ll find it: Close to you, shortly after someone has died.

What to do about it: Be happy that someone thinks you’re so amazing they refuse to let death stop them from hanging out with you.

10. The Shyamalan

What it is: A ghost that doesn’t know that it’s dead.

Where you’ll find it: Walking around town acting like it’s alive.

What to do about it: As gently as you can, so as not to upset them, tell the ghost that it is dead. If they don’t believe you, ask them to drink a glass of water, which, as a non-living entity, they can’t do. If they are able to drink water, they aren’t ghosts, and you should probably stop telling people that they’re dead. It’s weird. ♦

Found at imgur, via Reddit.