Life as I Know it

STOP DONT MOVE! FOLLOW MY REAL BLOG INSTEAD!

Wed, 09 May 2012 17:44:48 -0400

STOP DONT MOVE! FOLLOW MY REAL BLOG INSTEAD! :

THANK YOU TIMES A MILLION!!! Until Tumblr figures out a way to change your secondary blog to your primary (or if anyone can tell me how) Please follow the blog that I put my heart and soul into!!! THANK YOU AGAIN!

Stadium Pal (by neurostimulator) Towards the end of September I...

Mon, 07 May 2012 18:30:51 -0400

Stadium Pal (by neurostimulator)

Towards the end of September I will be attending an Evening with David Sedaris in London. I have been a huge fan of his since my first year at CSU San Marcos where I was assigned to read Me Talk Pretty One Day. I now own every one of his books and I can always depend on Sedaris for some light hearted life advice. I could not be happier for this event! For those that have never heard of David Sedaris, I highly recommend listening to the above clip (as well as all the This American Life podcasts) and purchasing one of his books. You won’t be disappointed.

Mmm Brazilian alcohol (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 06 May 2012 16:01:21 -0400

Mmm Brazilian alcohol (Taken with instagram)

Nothing like a good elephant picture to brighten up my...

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:52:04 -0400

Nothing like a good elephant picture to brighten up my day….now about that symbol for the Republicans, it needs to change

theanimalblog:

An elephant does a jive in Masai Mara, Kenya. Photographer David Lloyd captured the image by suspending a camera attached to a monopod upside down outside of the vehicle. Picture: David Lloyd / Barcroft Media

Today is voting day throughout the UK. People all over the...

Thu, 03 May 2012 13:17:00 -0400

Today is voting day throughout the UK. People all over the country are taking to the polls to vote for their local and mayoral candidates. That being said, I would like to take this time to discuss a very important issue that will be creeping up in my blog throughout the next few months…that is, the US presidential election. It is a rather large issue and something I am very passionate about. Rather than be offended by my PERSONAL point of views, I encourage those reading my blog to comment on any election content and discuss (respectfully of course!) your own point of view. I welcome debate and cross-party dialogue. Remember, keep it clean and keep it respectful. If you do not agree, please feel free to state why rather than go on the defense and attack in a hateful way. Now that we have that out of the way, I wish my fellow Brit, EU citizens, and Canadians alike (yes, EU and members of the commonwealth all get to vote) happy voting and good luck to any candidate out there!

"I surrender that America has nothing on England in the accent department. Y’all are the Dream Team;..."

Thu, 03 May 2012 03:56:37 -0400

“I surrender that America has nothing on England in the accent department. Y’all are the Dream Team; we are the Singapore curling team, and the game is still basketball.”

- http://www.leedsstudent.org/2012-05-01/ls2/observations/accents-of-approval

A great article dissecting the diversity of UK accents, from my fellow American flatmate.

Gary Johnson and the End of Marijuana As a Fringe Issue - The Atlantic

Wed, 02 May 2012 14:14:20 -0400

Gary Johnson and the End of Marijuana As a Fringe Issue - The Atlantic

politicalprof: Couldn’t be said...

Wed, 02 May 2012 13:48:16 -0400

politicalprof:

Couldn’t be said better.

think4yourself:

Boom!

Near the top of my list of people I want to meet.

theatlantic: May Day in Union Square, 1912 and 2012 (via Teju...

Wed, 02 May 2012 13:44:03 -0400

theatlantic:

May Day in Union Square, 1912 and 2012

(via Teju Cole)

truth-has-a-liberal-bias: Obama’s Private Sector Jobs Record

Wed, 02 May 2012 13:43:38 -0400

truth-has-a-liberal-bias:

Obama’s Private Sector Jobs Record

Photo

Wed, 02 May 2012 06:31:50 -0400

Stephen King: Tax Me, for F@%&’s Sake!

Wed, 02 May 2012 06:28:28 -0400

Stephen King: Tax Me, for F@%&’s Sake!:

kateoplis:

“I’ve known rich people, and why not, since I’m one of them? The majority would rather douse their dicks with lighter fluid, strike a match, and dance around singing “Disco Inferno” than pay one more cent in taxes to Uncle Sugar. It’s true that some rich folks put at least some of their tax savings into charitable contributions. My wife and I give away roughly $4 million a year to libraries, local fire departments that need updated lifesaving equipment (Jaws of Life tools are always a popular request), schools, and a scattering of organizations that underwrite the arts. Warren Buffett does the same; so does Bill Gates; so does Steven Spielberg; so do the Koch brothers; so did the late Steve Jobs. All fine as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go far enough.

What charitable 1 percenters can’t do is assume responsibility—America’s national responsibilities: the care of its sick and its poor, the education of its young, the repair of its failing infrastructure, the repayment of its staggering war debts. Charity from the rich can’t fix global warming or lower the price of gasoline by one single red penny. That kind of salvation does not come from Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Ballmer saying, “OK, I’ll write a $2 million bonus check to the IRS.” That annoying responsibility stuff comes from three words that are anathema to the Tea Partiers: United American citizenry. […]

I guess some of this mad right-wing love comes from the idea that in America, anyone can become a Rich Guy if he just works hard and saves his pennies. Mitt Romney has said, in effect, “I’m rich and I don’t apologize for it.” Nobody wants you to, Mitt. What some of us want—those who aren’t blinded by a lot of bullshit persiflage thrown up to mask the idea that rich folks want to keep their damn money—is for you to acknowledge that you couldn’t have made it in America without America. That you were fortunate enough to be born in a country where upward mobility is possible (a subject upon which Barack Obama can speak with the authority of experience), but where the channels making such upward mobility possible are being increasingly clogged. That it’s not fair to ask the middle class to assume a disproportionate amount of the tax burden. Not fair? It’s un-fucking-American is what it is. I don’t want you to apologize for being rich; I want you to acknowledge that in America, we all should have to pay our fair share. That our civics classes never taught us that being American means that—sorry, kiddies—you’re on your own. That those who have received much must be obligated to pay—not to give, not to “cut a check and shut up,” in Governor Christie’s words, but to pay—in the same proportion. That’s called stepping up and not whining about it. That’s called patriotism, a word the Tea Partiers love to throw around as long as it doesn’t cost their beloved rich folks any money.

This has to happen if America is to remain strong and true to its ideals. It’s a practical necessity and a moral imperative. Last year during the Occupy movement, the conservatives who oppose tax equality saw the first real ripples of discontent. Their response was either Marie Antoinette (“Let them eat cake”) or Ebenezer Scrooge (“Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?”). Short-sighted, gentlemen. Very short-sighted. If this situation isn’t fairly addressed, last year’s protests will just be the beginning. Scrooge changed his tune after the ghosts visited him. Marie Antoinette, on the other hand, lost her head.

Think about it.”

fuckyeahdrugpolicy: Student abandoned in DEA holding cell for...

Wed, 02 May 2012 06:24:25 -0400

fuckyeahdrugpolicy:

Student abandoned in DEA holding cell for five days | NBC San Diego

Daniel Chong, the UC San Diego student who was left in a Drug Enforcement Agency holding cell for nearly five days, said the time spent in his cell was a life-altering experience.

[…] Chong said he was at a friend’s house in University City celebrating 4/20, a day many marijuana users set aside to smoke, when agents came inside and raided the residence. Chong was then taken to the DEA office in Kearny Mesa.

He said agents questioned him, and then told him he could go home. One agent even offered him a ride, Chong said. No criminal charges were filed against him.

But Chong did not go home that night. Instead, he was placed in a cell for five days without any human contact and was not given food or drink. In his desperation, he said he was forced to drink his own urine.

“I had to do what I had to do to survive….I hallucinated by the third day,” Chong said. “I was completely insane.”

Chong said he lost roughly 15 pounds during the time he was alone. His lawyer confirmed that Chong ingested a powdery substance found inside the cell. Later testing revealed the substance was methamphetamine.

After days of being ignored, Chong said he tried to take his own life by breaking the glass from his spectacles with his teeth and then carving “Sorry mom,” on his wrists. He said nurses also found pieces of glass in his throat, which led him to believe he ingested the pieces purposefully.

Chong said he could hear DEA employees and people in neighboring cells. He screamed to let them know he was there, but no one replied. He kicked the door, but no one came to get him.

By the time DEA officers found Chong in his cell Wednesday morning Chong was completely incoherent, said Iredale.

full article

"Gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world. They are all ages, all races, all..."

Tue, 01 May 2012 17:44:03 -0400

““Gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world. They are all ages, all races, all faiths. They are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes. And whether we know it, or whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends, and our neighbors. Being gay is not a western invention. It is a human reality.””

- Part of Hillary Clinton’s speech to the UN on LGBT rights ( gay .org.uk)

I love her.

(via waterwedoingtoday)

"We’ve been hearing a lot about the war on women, which is real enough. But there’s also a war on the..."

Tue, 01 May 2012 17:42:05 -0400

“

We’ve been hearing a lot about the war on women, which is real enough. But there’s also a war on the young, which is just as real even if it’s better disguised. And it’s doing immense harm, not just to the young, but to the nation’s future.

Let’s start with some advice Mitt Romney gave to college students during an appearance last week. After denouncing President Obama’s “divisiveness,” the candidate told his audience, “Take a shot, go for it, take a risk, get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business.”

The first thing you notice here is, of course, the Romney touch — the distinctive lack of empathy for those who weren’t born into affluent families, who can’t rely on the Bank of Mom and Dad to finance their ambitions. But the rest of the remark is just as bad in its own way.

I mean, “get the education”? And pay for it how? Tuition at public colleges and universities has soared, in part thanks to sharp reductions in state aid. Mr. Romney isn’t proposing anything that would fix that; he is, however, a strong supporter of the Ryan budget plan, which would drastically cut federal student aid, causing roughly a million students to lose their Pell grants.

So how, exactly, are young people from cash-strapped families supposed to “get the education”? Back in March Mr. Romney had the answer: Find the college “that has a little lower price where you can get a good education.” Good luck with that. But I guess it’s divisive to point out that Mr. Romney’s prescriptions are useless for Americans who weren’t born with his advantages.

… What should we do to help America’s young? Basically, the opposite of what Mr. Romney and his friends want. We should be expanding student aid, not slashing it. And we should reverse the de facto austerity policies that are holding back the U.S. economy — the unprecedented cutbacks at the state and local level, which have been hitting education especially hard.

Yes, such a policy reversal would cost money. But refusing to spend that money is foolish and shortsighted even in purely fiscal terms. Remember, the young aren’t just America’s future; they’re the future of the tax base, too.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste; wasting the minds of a whole generation is even more terrible. Let’s stop doing it.

”

- Paul Krugman, The New York Times, “Wasting Our Minds.”

Go read the whole damned thing.

(via inothernews)

A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall - Marshall and Sarah Blackwood...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:15:57 -0400

A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall - Marshall and Sarah Blackwood (by walkofftheearth)

"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations."

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:19:31 -0400

“Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.”

- George Orwell (@JPBarlow)

theeconomist: Why are the feds cracking down on marijuana in...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:15:16 -0400

theeconomist:

Why are the feds cracking down on marijuana in states that allow it?

politicalprof: A useful take on the matter. ht: ALA

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:53:03 -0400

politicalprof:

A useful take on the matter.

ht: ALA

theatlantic: This is fantastic. Adam WarRock composed an...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:49:09 -0400

theatlantic:

This is fantastic. Adam WarRock composed an amazing rap in honor of our own Ta-Nehisi Coates:

For those that don’t know, Ta-Nehisi Coates is a blogger for The Atlantic, who writes about culture, race, and politics. He’s one of my favorite bloggers on the web, and you should definitely read his blog (he’s also a geek, as his twitter bio would prove). If he ever happens to hear this song, I hope he knows that I used his name because, well a) it’s an awesome name, and b) I think he’s come to stand for, at least to me, a welcome and comforting voice when it comes to speaking on race and America, specifically America’s complex relationship when it comes to race in all elements of our culture and ethics.

Ta-Nehisi loves it.