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Honesty Instead of Hyperbole?
I’m about as square as you can get – the only intoxicant I consume is an occasional mojito in the summer. (How could I not? My parents are Cuban!) But, given the fact that we’ve had two presidents now who smoked pot (and one who did cocaine), and seem to be OK, it’s nice to…
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This explains a lot of what Republicans do
“What Mailer told me is that the CIA is basically a white Christian Protestant organization,” Fellwock said. “And white Christian Protestants have to find a devil in order to justify what they do. Their Christian values say they should help the poor, like the Communists were. But they were not helping the poor. They were…
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Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) on Journalism as the Fourth Estate
Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important than they all. It is not a figure of speech, or a witty saying; it is a literal fact. Printing, which comes necessarily out of Writing, I say often, is equivalent to Democracy: invent…
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If you disagree that NYC’s Stop and Frisk program should be ended (or changed),
Read this article about Questlove being stopped repeatedly despite being, well, Questlove!. A few choice quotes: Questlove said his most recent stop was conducted at the base of the Williamsburg Bridge a few weeks ago following an appearance at the hip venue Brooklyn Bowl. Officers pulled over his driver, shined flashlights into the car and…
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Judge says NYC’s stop and frisk is unconstitutional
This is a good first step, but the City has vowed to fight, so it’s not over yet.
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WHAT?
Well, if it gets immigration reform passed, does it matter what kind of lala land you have to live in? If anyone mentions that I’ve been confused for a Persian – good job at failing to realize that Persians aren’t Arabs.
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The AV Club is Right. Patton Oswalt Won Twitter
The important thing is that you need to read to the end of the article or it’s just going to seem really weird.
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Co-worker
“I could run China” -Co-worker
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Cancel the Russian Winter Olympics?
Stephen Fry is asking for the Olympic Committee to cancel the Winter Olympics in Russia this Winter. The reason is their recent horrible actions against LGBT people. Politically, I think Fry’s in the right. (The gay stuff plus tons of other bad things Russia’s been doing lately) But I feel it could be unfair to…
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Latino Vote or Mexican Vote?
I’m always late on my podcasts. I have a lot of stuff I want to listen to and not much time for listening. This week I was catching up on the final week of Talk of the Nation episodes as well as some This American Life episodes from a month or more ago. They kept…
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One Less Reason to go to the United Kingdom
Orgzine has an article complaining that in the UK when crossing the border you don’t get the same protections as you do within the borders. This does not surprise me since we have the same issue over here and we tend to have more robust civil liberties than our cousins across the pond. (Hence why…
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Two Stories about Governments Not Understanding the Internet
Singapore has attempted to bring websites under the same decency standards are other media. The Singapore government just announced an intention to begin regulating websites that report on the country, requiring a S$50,000 ‘performance bond’ and compliance with any takedown notices from the government within 24 hours. The reason for this is apparently to regulate…
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Justice Takes a Vacation
I’m breaking my usual schedule because of the Trayvon Martin case. This story over at Gawker has an important point to make about how race played a part. Personally, I think that, like OJ, Zimmerman is free of jail, but may still end up guilty in a wrongful death lawsuit. After all, he did admit…
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That Old Stats Cliche
Do I even need to repeat it here? Eh, why not: “Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics”. Between the way the mind works and the way we’ve been socialized, statistics carry more weight than the same information without statistics. However, there are many ways to take the same data and bend the results to draw out…
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Portland, OR rejects flouride in the drinking water
When I was still a young lad, we lived in Oregon for a while; just outside of Portland. I remember my mom making us chew these horrible tasting “vitamins”. I asked my mom what they were and she told me it was because they didn’t fluoridate the water. She didn’t want our teeth to get…