September 2012
8 tags
3 tags
3 tags
Paul Ryan's Untruthful Speech, by Ezra Klein →
So at about 1 a.m. Thursday, having read Ryan’s speech in an advance text and having watched it on television, I sat down to read it again, this time with the explicit purpose of finding claims we could add to the “true” category. And I did find one. He was right to say that the Obama administration has been unable to correct the housing crisis, though the force of that criticism is somewhat...
August 2012
5 tags
6 tags
Teens Uses Google to Help Develop More Effective... →
“Fifteen-year-old Jack Andraka took home top science fair honours this year for the development of a cancer-testing method found to be 168 times faster, 26,000 times cheaper and 400 times more sensitive than the current gold-medal standard. His work was impressive enough to earn the Maryland high school student a total of $100,500 in grants and prizes at the 2012 Intel Science Fair. Even...
3 tags
“Establishes that Maryland’s civil marriage laws allow gay and lesbian couples to...”
– Maryland Marriage Equality Ballot Proposal
A well worded proposal that seems to cover all the bases and will no doubt have Fundies screaming in righteous anger.
(via religiousragings)
Indeed, there is no compromising with extremists, even if the proposal balances constitutional reassurances of...
4 tags
New Zealand is One Step Closer to Marriage... →
On Friday, the Human Rights Commission released a paper formally endorsing marriage equality and a non-discriminatory approach to adoption.
It said legal equality depended on New Zealanders having the right to found and form a family regardless of sexual orientation.
Ms Wall said the commission’s paper also reinforced celebrants’ right to refuse to marry same-sex couples, which was...
“The will of the capitalist is certainly to take as much as possible. What we...”
– Karl Marx - Value, Price, & Profit (via guydeboring)
7 tags
4 tags
Once Upon a Time in Shanghai →
A slideshow of images of early 20th century Shanghai.
4 tags
Jobs of the Future →
A few jobs that may be replaced by machines sooner than we think. Perhaps a couple of these are a bit too far-fetched, but it can’t be ruled out.
5 tags
The Vanishing Sikh-Mexican American Community →
An interesting look at a unique and little-known union between two unexpected ethnic groups.
6 tags
3 tags
There are few things more satisfying than going about the mundane routines of life and encountering several old friends along the way. I’m quite fortunate to a have a life that’s been touched by so many wonderful people. I look forward to more pleasant surprises like this
2 tags
THE EXAMINED LIFE: 'Socratic existentialism' →
For Socrates, knowledge was not an ensemble of propositions and formulas which could be written, communicated, or sold ready-made. This is apparent at the beginning of the Symposium. Socrates arrives late because he has been outside meditating, standing motionless and “applying his mind to…
6 tags
Thank you all...
…for being such good friends. Several of you noticed my recent post about self-loathing and depression, and several more took the time to comment or message me (as you’ve done in similar moody posts in the past). Please know that your concern and/or efforts to aid me mean more than you’ll ever know.
It’s a curious thing that virtual strangers (virtual in both senses of the...
3 tags
“So, Mitt, you say no one has ever asked to see your birth certificate? Really?...”
– D.H. Stone
5 tags
4 tags
6 tags
6 tags
6 tags
I can feel the self-loathing creeping in...
While I regularly lack confidence, it always seem particularly scathing at night, no doubt because my mind is left to wander, reflect, and wallow. It’s quite a vicious cycle, because I begin to resent myself for resenting myself: I feel pathetic for feeling so pathetic, and so on and so forth.
And to think that I’d sooner share this with strangers or acquaintances on the internet...
5 tags
4 tags
Mitt Romney Made a Birther Joke →
motherjones:
And Adam Serwer has some big thoughts about it.
I suspect many Republicans who continue to subscribe to the birther lunacy do so because it bothers liberals and because it’s an act of symbolic defiance of a president they dislike. The problem with birtherism, however, is that the underlying assumptions driving it have always been broader than the president. Birtherism is more than...
6 tags
China's Burgeoning Cities - And the Problems They... →
In the last five years, China has built 20,000 miles of expressways, finishing the construction of 12 national highways a whopping 13 years ahead of schedule and at a pace four times fasterthan the United States built its interstate highway system. Over the last decade, Shanghai alone has built some 1,500 miles of road, the equivalent of three Manhattans. China’s urban population is...
6 tags
China's Rising Cities →
A list of 29 of China’s largest and most influential cities, most of which outsiders have never heard of.
9 tags
Postcards from the Future: A Slideshow of 75 of... →
Courtesy of Foreign Policy:
Welcome to the era of the megacity. More than half the global population now lives in urban areas, and there’s no going back to the farm. With China leading the way, today’s global cities are surging ahead in population and economic heft, powering the world economy — and posing some very difficult problems for governments. But it’s not all...
5 tags
5 tags
The Rise of "New Atheism" in America →
This New York Times article takes an interesting look into the growth of secularism in the United States, which is starting to spread even in unlikely areas such as the Southern Bible Belt. The piece also gives a rare look into another growing phenomenon within the movement: the emergence of atheists among religious clergy.
4 tags
Researchers Uncover the Possible Reason for... →
It kind of makes sense when you think about it…
2 tags
3 tags
Since religious conservatives, especially (though not exclusively) those of Republican affiliation, are so fond of attributing natural disasters to God’s wrath, I wonder what they think about this storm Isaac interfering with the GOP convention. It seems it’s only an act of God if it doesn’t get in the way of their divine political mandate.
2 tags
Canada's Population Among the Fastest Growing in... →
And most of it is due to immigration, which remains the highest per capita in the world. Canada is on track to become one of the most diverse countries in the world. While this influx of people will strain services and infrastructure, it will also offset the aging and decline of the population that has been problematic for many other wealthy countries.
5 tags
An Open Letter to Straight, White, Christian Men... →
Dear Straight, White, Christian Men,
It has recently come to my attention that some of you may seem to think that some portion of your identity is under attack, be it by the “lame stream media,” the liberals, the secularists, the gub’ment, or the ghost of Ted Kennedy.
I’m here to assure you that it is, in fact, not.
To paraphrase Jon Stewart, you seem to be confusing “war” with “not getting...
1 tag
Irish President Talks Down a Tea Partier →
Granted, it’s a bit one sided since the Tea Partier, a talk show host, had his response mostly cut out (the point was to focus on the Irishman’s message). You can click a link below the page to see the full interview/debate.
3 tags
What's in a Bow? 14 Kinds of Bows in Japan →
And I mean the physical gesture, not the tie :P
whitesparrowsblackarrows asked: do you think I could get back to you in a bit? Im meant to go pick up some furniture haha but I'll answer I swear :)
5 tags
5 tags
Happy Women’s Equality Day. On this day in 1920, women in the United States were granted the right to vote by the 19th Amendment to the constitution (though the amendment was first introduced many years earlier in 1878). Women fought a very hard, though largely forgotten, fight to get this most basic right - and there’s still a long way to go in many areas.
2 tags
5 tags
13 Photos From Taiwan's First Same-Sex Buddhist... →
Huang Mei-yu and Yu Ya-ting wed Saturday in a traditional Buddhist ceremony. Their union still isn’t recognized by the Taiwanese government, though support for gay marriage is mounting across Asia.
6 tags
Everyone lies. Even primates and corvids, among the most advanced kind of animals, have been observed doing it often. The more developed the mind, the greater the inclination to deception. There is no point is denying the paradox: we all hate lying, but we all do it, not only to deceive others but to deceive ourselves. Lies are often a manifestation of our own preferred truth. So in many we lie...
6 tags
Report Finds that Americans Throw Out 40% of Food →
In a country where 1 out of 6 people are going hungry, along with hundreds of millions worldwide, this is disturbing. Granted, we could dispute the numbers, but it’s still safe to say that we waste a lot more than we should. Such is the case in almost anything we have in abundance.
5 tags
6 tags
3 tags
7 tags
6 tags
bright star theory.: [TW: ableism, ableist slurs,... →
holymotherofrowling:
youarenotyou:
1. If someone with a mental illness does something violent, the mental illness is assumed to be the cause of the violence.
2. If someone without mental illness does something violent, they are assumed to have a mental illness. [Perceived] Sanity…
I’m reminded of how the US has a higher incarceration rate than every developed country, and...
