May 2012
232 posts
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Bill Maher: ‘Obama Couldn’t Be Less Threatening If... →
Didn’t we just go over this? Trayvon jokes are off-limits. Combined with the blatant ongoing sexism, I think this is enough to officially put me off Maher:
In a macabre attempt at humor that was so off its mark and unnecessary that it was pathetic, Maher compared President Barack Obama’s non-threatening, conciliatory demeanor when caving to conservative demands — and ignoring liberals —...
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The Suicidal Pregnant Woman and the Politics of... →
Bei Bei Shuai, the Indiana woman charged with murder and attempted feticide for trying to commit suicide while pregnant, was recently released from jail for the first time in more than a year. She posted bond, and now she waits for her trial in December. And in the meantime, we can consider what her case tells us about the way our culture regards motherhood.
Shuai, a pregnant Chinese...
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Congressman Apologizes For Trayvon Joke At... →
Another one succumbs to foot-in-mouth disease:
DARTMOUTH, Mass. — Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank (pictured) is apologizing for comments he made about the Trayvon Martin case at a weekend graduation ceremony.
Referring to the hooded academic robe that civil rights leader Hubie Jonesreceived at theUniversity of Massachusetts Dartmouth commencement on Sunday, the Democrat said, “You now...
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Garage-Sale Polaroid Shocks Family Like a Ghost →
A story serendipitous enough to give you goosebumps:
A boy’s visit to a local garage sale has nearly brought back a lost family member from the dead, the Wichita Eagle reports. Addison Logan went garage-sale shopping last week because he’d broken his arm and couldn’t ride his dirt bike as usual. He picked up a “pretty cool” Polaroid camera for $1, brought it home,...
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Stubborn Infection, Spread by Insects, Is Called... →
So, apparently we have a “new” AIDS-like disease that has a long incubation period, is difficult-to-impossible to cure, and is spread through the exchange of blood or by blood-sucking insects:
Chagas disease, caused by parasites transmitted to humans by blood-sucking insects, has been named “the new AIDS of the Americas” in a lengthy editorial published in PLoS Neglected Tropical...
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Are There Really Just Five Racial Groups? →
This column was a really long and tortured way of explaining that race is an arbitrary and ridiculous method of classification.
The most important piece of information:
Why did we settle on these particular groupings?
Because they track discrimination. Officials from the Office of Management and Budget, which is responsible for maintaining the nation’s racial-classification system,...
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Hair Vajazzles: Amy Childs' New Invention Is...... →
…thanks to a British reality TV star, there’s a new way to sparkle up your skin:”hair vajazzles.”
“Hair vajazzles” are both a) a real thing, and b) a new product launched by Amy Childs, a 21-year-old British model and television personality who owns her own beauty salon in Essex and thinks your mane could use a gemstone or two.
I admit that I’m late...
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Rihanna Reveals Shocking Topless Pics From ‘Where... →
Woah! Rihanna is leaving nothing to the imagination in these new pics from behind the scenes of her ‘Where Have You Been’ music video! Do you think it’s too much?
I never noticed America’s puritanical obsession with breasts until I left…
Side note: A Google search of “Rihanna” and “shocking” yields about 26,700,000 results. Just...
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Anderson Cooper Kicks ‘Human Barbie’ Off Show: ‘I... →
Anderson Cooper kicked the Human Barbie (that’s the woman who gave her 7-year-old a voucher for plastic surgery) off of his show, telling her:
“I honestly have nothing more to talk to you about,” Cooper said after a brooding pause. “I gotta be honest, I gotta just stop. I’m sorry.” He then called Burge “dreadful,” and the mother of four stormed...
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Will Smith: Why I Slapped That Reporter →
Big Willie explains why he had to backslap a reporter who tried to kiss him during the MIB3 junket in Moscow:
Will Smith was quick to clarify to David Letterman last night that he “didn’t beat up” the Moscow journalist who tried to kiss him. But seeing as Smith was caught on video slapping the reporter, Letterman had to get the story. “He says, ‘I’m your...
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For Native American Women, Scourge of Rape, Rare... →
Native Americans always seem like the citizens that the country has forgotten. This is deeply disturbing:
…according a survey by the Alaska Federation of Natives, the rate of sexual violence in rural villages like Emmonak is as much as 12 times the national rate. And interviews with Native American women here and across the nation’s tribal reservations suggest an even grimmer reality:...
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7.2
theswanandthesnake:
We pulled up to the house in silence. Berenice nodded to me fearfully, and I understood: it meant take your things and follow me, we have to talk.
Angela opened the door, and Berenice spoke as if making sure she’d get the first word before Angela could: “I’ll show you the room. Right down this corridor.” She took my hand and ran forward, but not in the kind of childishness...
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A Life Worth Ending →
An interesting read about what it really means to age in modern times (and whether our quest for immortality is having some very serious unintended consequences):
In 1990, there were slightly more than 3 million Americans over the age of 85. Now there are almost 6 million. By 2050 there will be 19 million—approaching 5 percent of the population. There are various ways to look at this. If you...
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Lucasfilm Retreats in Battle With Wealthy... →
The reaction to George Lucas’ decision to cancel plans for the third expansion of his LucasFilm compound and instead build low-income housing is so ridiculous that I’m tempted to submit the entire story to White Whine:
Whatever Mr. Lucas’s intentions, his announcement has unsettled a county whose famously liberal politics often sits uncomfortably with the issue of low-cost housing...
DEA Agents Under Investigation in Colombian... →
A new chapter unfolds in the Colombia prostitution scandal involving Secret Service and U.S. military personnel. Members of the Drug Enforcement Administration are now also under investigation for separately hiring prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia,CBS News reports.
The new allegations against the DEA were revealed during an interview with a Secret Service agent who was being questioned about...
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Ohio Pit Bull Law Removes 'Vicious' Labeling →
I found this interesting in light of the debate currently underway in T&T. I don’t think anyone’s 100% sure about the issue of dog viciousness, but I do think that you can’t go wrong when you require owners to be responsible for the actions of their dogs.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Pit bulls will no longer be labeled as “vicious” dogs under a new Ohio law.
The measure...
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Psychiatry Giant Sorry for Backing Gay ‘Cure’ →
PRINCETON, N.J. — The simple fact was that he had done something wrong, and at the end of a long and revolutionary career it didn’t matter how often he’d been right, how powerful he once was, or what it would mean for his legacy.
Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, considered by some to be the father of modern psychiatry, lay awake at 4 o’clock on a recent morning knowing he had to do the one thing...
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Supreme Court Passes on File-Sharing Case, but... →
The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal in one of the record industry’s longest-running cases over unauthorized file-sharing.
The court effectively let stand a jury’s $675,000 damages award against Joel Tenenbaum, a former Boston University student who admitted to downloading some 30 songs on the unlicensed file-sharing service Kazaa.
But even this decision is not likely to be the...
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Pervy Troll Successfully Tittybombs Advice... →
Inspired by the now-infamous TIME magazine Boob-In-Mouth cover, a merry prankster or gang of pranksters decided to see what sort of advice famous internet columnists might dish out to someone in a really fucked up (but really fake sounding) situation involving their mother, their mother’s breasts, and a younger sibling too fixated on a mother’s breasts. Get it!? It’s funny...
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Hair! (Not the Musical) →
Oh, this was a great and hilarious read. Especially since it came from the perspective of a woman learning and growing rather than a woman hectoring other women into a different form of conformity, i.e. her own idea of what a woman should be.
Best part:
Q5. Do you actually go out in string tops and shorts with the unsightly keratin-based proof that you have gone through puberty on show for all...
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Zuckerberg's post-IPO wedding is smart legal move →
A prenuptial agreement in California typically states how spouses would divide assets in the event of a divorce. The couple usually waives the right to make claims based on community-property laws, which state that any property created after the marriage is essentially community property and should be split evenly after any divorce.
California is one of a handful of states with...
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'I Heart NY' Bags Get Designer Arrested →
A Brooklyn designer’s tribute to New York City went awry—and got him arrested for planting fake bombs early Saturday. Takeshi Miyakawa, 50, intended to place illuminated “I Heart NY” shopping bags around the city as part of NY Design Week. Instead, police were called about a suspicious package hanging from a tree; the bomb squad evacuated the area and investigated for two...
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Travolta Case Lawyers Now Suing ... Each Other →
The lawyers involved in the alleged John Travolta massage debacle have taken a break from suing him to … sue each other.
John Travolta’s alleged massage table exploits are inspiring even more action between lawyers,TMZ reports. The lawyer representing one of the masseurs has filed suit against Gloria Allred for trying to steal his client, John Doe #2, and she’s planning a...
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Speeding young men but no cops around →
I know I said that I was off the local news, but I just couldn’t resist this letter to the editor from a concerned citizen:
How many of us have been driving on the Foreshore, Beetham, Churchill-Roosevelt or Uriah Butler Highways at maybe 100 kms/hr or a bit above the speed limit [emphasis mine] when a car or cars driven by young men flash by at nearly twice your speed cutting in and out...
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Chris Brown Slammed by Pink, Joe Jonas Over... →
Everybody’s a critic? When it comes to the stars who were treated—and we use that term as loosely as possible—to Chris Brown’s Billboard Music Awardsperformance last night, well, yes.
And rather vocal critics, at that. Pink and Joe Jonasboth slammed the R&B star’s rendition of “Turn Up the Music,” mincing no words when blasting the singer for miming his way...
