firehose

one last drink with an old friend

hodad

Thoughts, @ssarah?

Can bicycles be integrated in a non-ableist way into mutual aid and anti-poverty work? They certainly can be cheap and reliably transportation for folks to get to jobs, errands, school, a friend’s house, or wherever they are going, and many mutual aid groups use a bike and a trailer to haul around supplies cheaply. But is it possible to integrate bikes with this kind of work without limiting the benefits and the empowerment to the currently able-bodied?

Original Source

"Sometimes, a**holes create great businesses."

Four Major Insurers Accused of Discriminating Against Women in Long-Term Care Plans:

Article by Sy Mukherjee at Think Progress.

The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), an advocacy group for women, is filing federal sex discrimination complaints against four of the largest American insurance companies for discriminating against women in their long-term care insurance plans. NWLC contends the companies’ plans to charge women more for the policies violates Obamacare protections barring sex discrimination in insurance plans.

The long-term care industry has long maintained that Obamacare’s rules barring insurers from charging women more for their health care don’t apply to them. Early last year, the nation’s largest long-term care insurer announced that it be charging women between 20 and 40 percent more in monthly premiums.

Industry experts predicted the practice would become a trend — a prediction that has proven true. NWLC’s complaints are targeting Genworth Financial, John Hancock, Transamerica, and Mutual of Omaha.

jamaicanrage:

i may actually prefer this to the original story

You’re not alone. …But then I’m irrationally fond of Aku.

"I am not rooting for the Broncos. I am not into Satanic worship. Please do not kill my whole family."

In the Broncos’ AFC divisional round victory over the San Diego Chargers last week, quarterback Peyton Manning yelled “Omaha” more than 40 times. As a way of saying thanks, the Omaha Zoo named a penguin after him.

Read on Ars Technica | Comments

ANIMATED: HORSE-DRUMMING IS FORBIDDEN

art-of-swords:

Miniature Ottoman Gem-set Dagger

• Dated: 19th century
• Medium: steel, green glass, rubies, emeralds, gold, velvet,
• Place of Origin: Turkey
• Measurements: 11.7 cm. long

This miniature dagger is based on a 17th century prototype, an emerald-hilted example of which can be seen in the collection of Topkapi Saray, Istanbul, inv. no. 2/ 152. The dagger features a green glass hilt with quillons set with rubies and emeralds, the gold damascened blade features an inscription.

The gilt scabbard is set with further rubies and emeralds and chased to depict a trailing vine, verso with a trailing vine and scale design chape. The suspension loop comes with a chain with faceted sections and green glass beads, in original fitted velvet box with the tughra of HIH Princess ‘Adile Sultana (1825-1898).

Sidenotes:

1. Princess ‘Adile Sultana (1825 -1898) or HIH Princess ‘Adile Sultana (Turkish: Adile Sultan) was the daughter of Sultan Mahmud II (1785-1839) and sister of the Sultans Abdulmecid I and Abdulaziz. She was an Ottoman princess, a renowned female Diwan poet and a philanthropist.
2. Born in Constantinople, Adile Sultana lost her mother at a very young age, and was raised by Nevfidan Kadin, the chief sultana in the palace. She received a high standard of education and was, like her father, very interested in the arts.
3. In 1845, Adile Sultana married the commander of the fleet Kapudan-i Derya Mehmed Ali Pasha, who served briefly as Grand Vizier to Sultan Abdulmecid (1823-1861).
4. She lost her three children and later her husband in 1868. In deep mourning, she entered the order of Naqshbandi and devoted herself to charitable activities before her death in 1898. She was interned in the mausoleum of her husband in Eyüp, Istanbul. 
5. Adile Sultana’s literary works were as successful as those of Leyla Hanim and Fitnat Hanim, two renowned female poets of her era. However, her works are important as they shed light on palace life and the administration of the Ottoman Empire.
6. She composed a poem about the murder of her younger brother Sultan Abdulaziz (1830-1876), officially deemed a suicide. She also assisted in publishing the printed version of the Divan of Suleyman the Magnificent (1494-1566). A compilation of her poetry ‘Adile Sultan’s Divan was published in 1996.

Source: Copyright © 2014 Bonhams

shaddicted:

Every incarnation of Holmes and Watson in a nutshell.

blackbyasiat:

Chiharu Okunugi

madsoft:

Project: Velyria was born of a love for science-fiction and classic dungeon-crawling RPGs. But our love for those genres did not extend to their typical depictions of women/female-bodied people. We are all too familiar with the over-used tropes trotted out in most RPGs, from the Chainmail Bikini to the White Magician Girl, and we wanted to strive to break the mold. We wanted to approach the development of Project: Velyria from a feminist point-of-view, meaning each feature needed to be reviewed and analyzed for the message it would send to our players.

When we sat down with our character illustrator, we wanted to be clear: The female illustrations should appear the same as the male illustrations. Don’t add high-heels. Don’t destroy the functionality or spirit of the design when designing for either sex. Don’t radically alter the body-type from one sex to another. Since the Homeworld in the game is not Earth, we didn’t want to constrict their bodies to fit some sort of earth-based ideal even if the colonists are humanoid in appearance. We wanted to make sure our players who chose female illustrations to represent their characters felt that their characters were equally well-equipped to deal with the dangers of planet Velyria as their male counter-parts.

We also took a look at our NPCs and the universe in which Project: Velyria takes place. Are we representing female characters in a variety of ways? Do they find themselves in positions of power? Are we writing clichéd stories that focus solely on their femininity to the detriment of other characteristics? Are males shown to embody typically feminine characteristics? It was these kinds of questions on which we focused as we built the world of Velyria. We want to establish a world where female and male colonists are treated equally. The Homeworld sex and gender dynamics may not be perfect, but we didn’t want to reflect the sexism or transphobia inherent in most of the world today in our futuristic game.

Additionally, in our efforts to be inclusive towards all types of people, we examined our community guidelines to ensure that they reflected our ideals. As such, the use of slurs of any type in any communications (whether on the Project: Velyria website or on the Madjestic Network) is strictly prohibited. We strongly feel that there can be disagreements amongst members without using oppressive language. Warnings, suspensions, and account bans will be enforced when players break these guidelines. If you would like to review our full set of community guidelines, you can check them out here.

With these things in mind, we are working towards accurate and interesting representations of all types of people in our games. However, despite our best efforts, we know we aren’t perfect and we want to hear feedback. If you have any concerns or suggestions, please send us a message at support@madsoftgames.com, our contact page, or send us a question via our tumblr and we will do our best to address your concerns.

We look forward to seeing you in-game!

(Note: You can check out higher quality versions of those class images on our Facebook page)

I find this absolutely amazing and extremely refreshing! You have my fullest support on this!

I hope the followers of RHA will give you useful advice. (: I will eventually send you an email too, whenever I have time. Make sure to show them support and feedback, everyone!

Taste the rainbow 12th man! TASTE IT.

There's something entrancing about Skittles in Seattle. Sure, it sounds like a corporate video riff on a certain Tom Hanks romantic comedy, but hard-shelled fruit candy is a way of life in the Pacific Northwest.

Don't believe us? Look at how Golden Tate NEEDS some Skittles to get him through the second half.

He just flat out needs them, like Pac Man needs power pellets.

Throwing items onto the field will get you kicked out of most NFL stadiums, but not the Clink -- never the Clink. If stadium security is looking for the perpetrator we have some ideas on who might be responsible.

Let's just hope Marshawn Lynch stays hydrated, or he's liable to have a cartoon-esque fever dream and climb into the stands to eat this man.

Last week the Niners coach had to be calmed down by his players, but he's currently on an unimpeded roll in Seattle.

Jim Harbaugh's first major freakout of the NFC Championship was fruitless, as a late out-of-bounds flag on Carlos Rogers was upheld. That exhortation featured some nice lateral hopping down the sideline:

The penalty ended up having little impact, as it was ruled after the whistle so the Seahawks still turned the ball over on downs and the Niners ran out the clock to end the half.

Just one quarter later, Harbaugh was back at it losing his mind on two separate occasions. The first came when he interrupted referee Gene Steratore while he was announcing a 5-yard running into the kicker penalty. It looked like one of the 15-yard roughing variety, but Harbaugh's plea went unheard.

Moments later, however, Russell Wilson desperately threw it away as he was being pulled to the turf by multiple Niners' rushers. It appeared the ball did not get back to the line of scrimmage, but the flag was not immediately thrown so Harbaugh saw fit to lose it:

Fortunately, Harbaugh's sideline sanity was momentarily restored when Steratore did finally throw the grounding flag following lengthy deliberation.

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GET INSIDE A BATHTUB OR DOOR FRAME!

It's time to measure this one on the Jim Harbaugh Richter scale.

The San Francisco 49ers allowed a touchdown = 5.0

It was a go-ahead touchdown = 7.5

The score came on a fourth down = 9.0

After it was a free play for encroachment = 9.5

HE'S GONNA BLOW

Well, that is surprisingly mild-mannered. Well done Jim, keep on working buddy.

Meanwhile, across the field...

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Wilson led the Seattle Seahawks to victory on Sunday, while Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers fell just short.

The championship round of the NFL playoffs was dominated in the media by the rivalry between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, but the 49ers' Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson have their own budding rivalry to consider. Manning and Brady are known for being the top passers in the league, while Wilson and Kaepernick represent the new breed of NFL quarterback.

On Sunday, it was Wilson's Seahawks who were victorious, punching a ticket to the Super Bowl with a 23-17 victory in the NFC Championship. But how did the individual quarterbacks perform?

Kaepernick was the one making waves early in the game. He certainly didn't make things happen with his arm, but he ran the football as well as he ever has. Early in the game, San Francisco used numerous designed runs for Kaepernick, and he escaped more than his fair share of pressure. He finished with 11 carries for 130 rushing yards, all of which were pivotal in the game being close.

But at the end of the game, it was his arm that hurt the 49ers the most. Kaepernick threw an interception on the second play of the team's penultimate drive, after San Francisco came up with a huge stop and fumble recovery on the previous drive.

On San Francisco's final drive, Kapernick completed multiple big passes, including a 17-yard reception to Frank Gore for a fourth down conversion and a 16-yard pass for another. But with two timeouts remaining and the team knocking on the door of the red zone, Kaepernick made a poor, poor decision to throw a pass right at Richard Sherman, who promptly tipped it to a waiting Malcolm Smith who intercepted it to end the game.

Wilson, on the other hand, did not attempt to run the ball much. That's partly because the 49ers effectively bracketed him in, forcing him to multiple situations in which he had to throw it away, but it was still an uncharacteristically slow game from a keeper standpoint. Wilson finished with just five carries for 0 yards.

But more importantly, Wilson completed 16 of his 25 pass attempts for 215 yards. That was plenty efficient to get things done in this game, and he had a touchdown on top of that. The biggest factor in this game: Wilson did not throw any interceptions. He wasn't the most accurate and he didn't make "huge" plays all game, but he made smart decisions and that was a difference maker.

Both quarterbacks have a long, long road ahead of them in the NFL, but both have already accomplished so much. Both also have a lot to still prove, and a lot to improve on when it comes to actually throwing the ball. But it's Wilson who will get his shot at a Super Bowl ring this season, and Wilson who clearly came out ahead on Sunday.

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"Is that a quote?"

For I will consider my cat Jeoffry

Just another night of Richard Sherman walking the crazy walk and then talking talking the crazy talk.

Dan W's Edward Snowden 2014 Calendar is a rather subtle commentary on the cult of personality. Snowden has staunchly avoided the public eye, so much so that there aren't enough photos of him to fill a calendar; instead, it's just the same picture every month, except for Sept/Oct/Nov, which are slightly different framegrabs.

Edward Snowden 2014 Calendar (Thanks, Alice!)

hcfrick:

celestedoodles:

Burn Owl

looks like a mean version of the cuddly owl in Fox and the Hound

Tom Brady had a chance to keep his team in the game, and he didn't take advantage of it.

It had to come down to Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning. The amount of coverage surrounding the matchup was over the top, but it was also the key to the AFC Championship Game, which the Broncos won, 26-16.

So on Sunday, it shouldn't have been a surprise when the winner was the team with the better quarterback. It started in the first quarter. Julian Edelman came open down the field, a big gain looking like a formality. Brady lost his footing slightly and the pass sailed over Edelman's head incomplete.

The Patriots had an opportunity to take a lead on the Broncos, but instead began falling behind quickly. Down 10 points with the first half winding down, Brady had another chance to keep the game close. Again his receiver came open, and again Brady just slightly overthrew the intended target.

The second half was better for Brady, but it was too little, too late. While he threw a touchdown and ran for another, every time New England got close enough to make the game interesting, Manning and the Broncos answered right back. Brady had to deal with pressure throughout the game and never fully got into rhythm. He finished 24-for-38 for 277 yards and a touchdown. His late rushing touchdown wasn't enough to keep New England in the game.

Even though Brady's numbers are nothing to scoff at, he was outmatched by Manning, who threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns. Everything seemed stacked against Brady. He was without his top weapon on offense, the Broncos applied consistent pressure and Manning was able to throw against a banged-up New England secondary.

Instead of another trip to the Super Bowl, Brady came up just short. In some cases there wasn't much he could do. But on a few of these passes, he missed big opportunities for yards and points. Sadness ensued.

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