Sent from my iPad
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/12/14/national/w214302S21.DTL
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Some News Makes You Know Less
A new Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind Poll finds that the Sunday morning political shows on television "do the most to help people learn about current events, while some outlets, especially Fox News, lead people to be even less informed than those who they don't watch any news at all."
"For example, people who watch Fox News, the most popular of the 24-hour cable news networks, are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their government than those who watch no news at all (after controlling for other news sources, partisanship, education and other demographic factors). Fox News watchers are also 6-points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their government than those who watch no news."
These results mirror a University of Maryland study published last year.
Push Up Bikini Tops at Abercrombie Kids » Sociological Images
Push Up Bikini Tops at Abercrombie Kids » Sociological Images
Allison K. sent in another example of the sexualization of young girls. Abercrombie Kids is selling bikinis with “push-up” tops. According to Wikipedia, the company markets its products at kids age 7-14. The average age of puberty is 12. So, at what age should girls start trying to enhance their cleavage? How old is too young?
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
A small group from We’re What’s Left, Occupy SLO, and Occupy Cuesta College are driving up to Oakland on Sunday night to be part of the West Coast Port Blockade on December 12
A small group from We’re What’s Left, Occupy SLO, and Occupy Cuesta College are driving up to Oakland on Sunday night to be part of the West Coast Port Blockade on December 12. This promises to be a remarkable action. Port cities up and down the West Coast, including San Diego, Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, Vancouver, and Anchorage are participating in coordinated port shutdowns to put a dent in the profits of EGT and Goldman Sachs who make great profits at the expense of the workers. Solidarity actions are occurring concurrently throughout the country.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Video: Full-Length Program | Watch Botany of Desire Online | PBS Video
Video: Full-Length Program | Watch Botany of Desire Online | PBS Video
Program: Botany of Desire
Episode: Full-Length Program
Featuring Michael Pollan and based on his best-selling book, this special takes viewers on an eye-opening exploration of the human relationship with the plant world, seen from the plants' point of view. The program shows how four familiar species -- the apple, the tulip, cannabis and the potato -- evolved to satisfy our yearnings for sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The California Federation of Teachers issued a statement today formally endorsing the "Occupy Wall Street" movement.
cft.org
October 14, 2011—The California Federation of Teachers issued a statement today formally endorsing the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. Click here for the statement. CFT members in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Oakland have already been participating in the occupations for the past two weeks. Shown in photo: Rebecca Hensler (right), counselor in Denman Middle School, during Occupy San Francisco event before school on October 12. The CFT also recommends Department of Education-approved materials on the historical background of the "Call to Action" for November 2. Matthew Hardy photo
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Texas Judge Beats Disabled Daughter on Video - YouTube
Texas Judge Beats Disabled Daughter on Video - YouTube
2004: Aransas County Court-At-Law Judge William Adams took a belt to his own teenage daughter as punishment for using the internet to acquire music and games that were unavailable for legal purchase at the time. She has had ataxic cerebral palsy from birth that led her to a passion for technology, which was strictly forbidden by her father's backwards views. The judge's wife was emotionally abused herself and was severely manipulated into assisting the beating and should not be blamed for any content in this video. The judge's wife has since left the marriage due to the abuse, which continues to this day, and has sincerely apologized and repented for her part and for allowing such a thing, long before this video was even revealed to exist. Judge William Adams is not fit to be anywhere near the law system if he can't even exercise fit judgement as a parent himself. Do not allow this man to ever be re-elected again. His "judgement" is a giant farce. Signed, Hillary Adams, his daughter.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
America's inhumane approach to labour problems will finish Obama | Richard Sennett | Comment is free | The Guardian
America's inhumane approach to labour problems will finish Obama | Richard Sennett | Comment is free | The Guardian
The "special relationship" has a perverse twist in the realm of labour; our two societies harbour large numbers of insecure or vulnerable employees whose ills have been addressed timidly by centrist governments. There are real solutions, however, to the travails of work; they are found along Europe's northern rim – in Scandinavia, Germany and the Netherlands. These more balanced economies have avoided Anglo-American, finance-driven capitalism; their governments have protected established companies, especially small companies, providing capital for growth when banks won't lend it. On this stabilising base, Norway and Sweden have made concerted efforts to include young people in starter jobs; their youth unemployment stands at about 8%. The Germans put big resources into youth training schemes; the Dutch effectively supplement the wages of part-time employees. Factories in Europe's northern rim have long explored how to deal humanely with automation, and tried in many different ways to counteract the outsourcing of jobs. Existential Gloom may well be inherent in the northern temperament, but these prosperous countries have in everyday practical life proved good at shaping labour. Why don't we learn from them?
Thursday, November 3, 2011
NYTimes: Fraud Case Seen as a Red Flag for Psychology Research
From The New York Times:
Fraud Case Seen as a Red Flag for Psychology Research
A Dutch scholar was found to have falsified findings in dozens of papers, in a field that critics say is vulnerable to such abuses.
Sent from my iPad
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Freshman 15 is a myth, study says - latimes.com
Freshman 15 is a myth, study says - latimes.com
"Freshman 15," "Freshman 15"… how often do you read that stat about weight gain during that first year of college, and how often do you wonder if it’s true?
Two researchers – one at Ohio State University and the other at the University of Michigan at Dearborn -- decided to take a thorough look. In a study to be published in the December issue of the journal Social Science Quarterly, they report that…
.. drumroll ..
..it’s not true. It’s a myth. Weight gain among freshman students is far less than 15 pounds, as a rule — more like three pounds. And it doesn’t seem to have much to do with college: Young adults who don’t go to college gain just about as much weight as those who do.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Why inequality in America is even worse than you thought - U.S. Economy - Salon.com
Why inequality in America is even worse than you thought - U.S. Economy - Salon.com
A new report (.pdf) by the Bertelsmann Foundation drives this point home. The German think tank used a set of policy analyses to create a Social Justice Index of 31 developed nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The United States came in a dismal 27th in the rankings. Here, for example, is a graph of one of the metrics, child poverty, in which the U.S. ranked fourth-to-last (click for larger size):
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Two Moral Framing Systems in Politics
How To Frame Yourself: A Framing Memo For Occupy Wall Street | Common Dreams
Two Moral Framing Systems in Politics
Conservatives have figured out their moral basis and you see it on Wall Street: It includes: The primacy of self-interest. Individual responsibility, but not social responsibility. Hierarchical authority based on wealth or other forms of power. A moral hierarchy of who is “deserving,” defined by success. And the highest principle is the primacy of this moral system itself, which goes beyond Wall Street and the economy to other arenas: family life, social life, religion, foreign policy, and especially government. Conservative “democracy” is seen as a system of governance and elections that fits this model.
Though OWS concerns go well beyond financial issues, your target is right: the application of these principles in Wall Street is central, since that is where the money comes from for elections, for media, and for right-wing policy-making institutions of all sorts on all issues.
The alternative view of democracy is progressive: Democracy starts with citizens caring about one another and acting responsibly on that sense of care, taking responsibility both for oneself and for one’s family, community, country, people in general, and the planet. The role of government is to protect and empower all citizens equally via The Public: public infrastructure, laws and enforcement, health, education, scientific research, protection, public lands, transportation, resources, art and culture, trade policies, safety nets, and on and on. Nobody makes it on their own. If you got wealthy, you depended on The Public, and you have a responsibility to contribute significantly to The Public so that others can benefit in the future. Moreover, the wealthy depend on those who work, and who deserve a fair return for their contribution to our national life. Corporations exist to make life better for most people. Their reason for existing is as public as it is private.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
AFP: Materialistic values weigh couples down: US study
AFP: Materialistic values weigh couples down: US study
WASHINGTON — Less materialistic spouses are more likely to find themselves in happier marriages than those who dwell too much on money and possessions, a trio of US researchers say.
In findings published Thursday, the team led by Jason Carroll at Brigham Young University in Utah explored the impact that value differences about materialism could have on a marriage.
Previous studies limited themselves only to materialism in itself, and not the importance that husbands and wives placed on material things.
From data collected from 1,734 couples, they concluded that, even among spouses who shared the same materialistic values, "materialism had a negative association with marital quality."
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
What Do Women Want? - Discovering What Ignites Female Desire - NYTimes.com
What Do Women Want? - Discovering What Ignites Female Desire - NYTimes.com
All was different with the women. No matter what their self-proclaimed sexual orientation, they showed, on the whole, strong and swift genital arousal when the screen offered men with men, women with women and women with men. They responded objectively much more to the exercising woman than to the strolling man, and their blood flow rose quickly — and markedly, though to a lesser degree than during all the human scenes except the footage of the ambling, strapping man — as they watched the apes. And with the women, especially the straight women, mind and genitals seemed scarcely to belong to the same person.
Is bisexuality the same in men and women? | Psychology Today
Is bisexuality the same in men and women? | Psychology Today
There has been a lot of scientific and cultural interest lately in differences in the sexuality between men and women. For example, my colleague Dr. Meredith Chivers has been publishing some fascinating research showing major differences in the ways in which men and women experience sexual attractions. She has found that men are fairly specific in what turns them on sexually, whereas women in general have more flexibility. Men who identify as heterosexual become aroused when watching films of women but not men. Gay men tended to be aroused by films of men. This is very different with the women in her research. No matter how they identified in terms of their sexual orientation, they were more likely to show the same pattern of arousal to men, women, and both. Her research was featured in a New York Times Magazine cover story.
Largest national sex survey ever publishes highlights sexual behavior and condom use among Americans ages 14 to 94 | Psychology Today
Readers of the Sexual Continuum blog may be most interested in the findings about same-sex behavior and sexual orientation. I created the graph below, which shows the percentage of individuals who identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual by age and gender. As shown, 3.3% of males between the ages of 14 and 17 identified as gay or bisexual, whereas 8.4% of girls in the same age group identified as bisexual. The numbers increased with age for men and decreased with age for women. Similar to many previous studies, more women identified as bisexual than lesbian, whereas more men identified as gay than bisexual. Some have suggested this indicates that sexual orientation is different in men and women, as reviewed in one of my previous blog posts.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in U.S., Times analysis shows - latimes.com
Drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in U.S., Times analysis shows - latimes.com
Drugs exceeded motor vehicle accidents as a cause of death in 2009, killing at least 37,485 people nationwide, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Stop Coddling the Super-Rich - NYTimes.com
Stop Coddling the Super-Rich - NYTimes.com
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, tax rates for the rich were far higher, and my percentage rate was in the middle of the pack. According to a theory I sometimes hear, I should have thrown a fit and refused to invest because of the elevated tax rates on capital gains and dividends.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
The Agenda - Grinding America Down
The Agenda - Grinding America Down - YouTube
The Agenda - Grinding America Down
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Why Your Boyfriend Won't Propose | Hannah Seligson
Why Your Boyfriend Won't Propose | Hannah Seligson
As young women trenching through the dating jungle of men who are in no hurry to say “I do,” what’s the answer? Hymowitz quotes Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, who has written prolifically on this topic and is the author of Why Are There No Good Men Left. Whitehead says that cohabitation encourages this behavior. “[Men] get the benefits of a wife without shouldering the reciprocal obligations of a husband.”
Monday, July 18, 2011
Modern-Marriage Report: Not as Necessary Yet Still Desired - TIME
Modern-Marriage Report: Not as Necessary Yet Still Desired - TIME
But cohabitation among the economically blessed is a whole different ball game than it is among the struggling. For most college-educated couples, living together is like a warm-up run before the marital marathon. They work out a few of the kinks and do a bit of house-training and eventually get married and have kids. Those without a college degree, says Cherlin, tend to do it the other way around — move in together, have kids and then aim for the altar. And children, as Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston discovered, change everything.
Modern-Marriage Report: Not as Necessary Yet Still Desired - TIME
Modern-Marriage Report: Not as Necessary Yet Still Desired - TIME
Promising publicly to be someone's partner for life used to be something people did to lay the foundation of their independent life. It was the demarcation of adulthood. Now it's more of a finishing touch, the last brick in the edifice, sociologists believe. "Marriage is the capstone for both the college-educated and the less well educated," says Johns Hopkins' Cherlin. "The college-educated wait until they're finished with their education and their careers are launched. The less educated wait until they feel comfortable financially."
Healthcare System Ratings: U.S., Great Britain, Canada
Healthcare System Ratings: U.S., Great Britain, Canada
The views of Americans on the quality of medical care in their country are not overly different -- 48% of Americans, 52% of Canadians, and 42% of Britons say they are satisfied. However, Americans are slightly more likely than Canadians or Britons to rate this issue at one extreme or the other. The proportion of respondents who are very (as opposed to somewhat) satisfied with the quality of healthcare in the United States is 17%, while the proportion who are very dissatisfied is 26% -- so 43% of Americans fall at the extremes of this scale. In the other two countries, the middle ground of "somewhat" satisfied or dissatisfied respondents tends to be larger. In Canada, 13% are very satisfied, while 22% are very dissatisfied -- so 35% of the public is at the extremes. In Great Britain, 11% are very satisfied, while 23% are very dissatisfied -- a total of 34% is at the extremes.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Book Review: Milner, Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids
Book Review: Milner, Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids
Milner then takes this analysis outside of schools, and links the status preoccupations of teenagers to the development and maintenance of consumer capitalism. High school status systems play an important role in socializing people to be concerned with the way in which their status is displayed through the acquisition of commodities. Yet while teenagers and advertisers are often to blame for adolescents' quest for designer jeans, cell phones and cars, Milner reminds us that schooling officials, parents and, most importantly, America's culture of consumerism are also to blame. In a culture that emphasizes its populace’s role as consumers (remember when Americans were told to ‘shop' after 9/11?), and producers (e.g. divorce has less of a stigma than getting fired) other values are submerged.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
YouTube - Lily Allen - The Fear
YouTube - Lily Allen - The Fear
I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I don’t care about clever
I don’t care about funny
I want loads of clothes and f***loads of diamonds
I heard people die while they are trying to find them
I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I don’t care about clever
I don’t care about funny
I want loads of clothes and f***loads of diamonds
I heard people die while they are trying to find them
Forget about guns and forget ammunition
Cause I’m killing them all on my own little mission
Now I’m not a saint but I’m not a sinner
Now everything is cool as long as I’m getting thinner
YouTube - Ain't No Reason
YouTube - Ain't No Reason
I got a basket full of lemons and they all taste the same
Slavery stitched into the fabric of my clothes
I got a basket full of lemons and they all taste the same
Slavery stitched into the fabric of my clothes
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Study by USU Professor Finds Overweight Women at Risk - USU Statesman - Utah State University
Study by USU Professor Finds Overweight Women at Risk - USU Statesman - Utah State University
Previous studies have demonstrated that employers often attribute positive traits such as cooperativeness, intelligence and competence to attractive female employees, and view heavy women — often considered less attractive — as less productive, less capable of managing others. However, the new evidence suggests the disparity of career advancement begins long before an overweight individual even sets foot in the workplace — it occurs while people are still in the classroom.
Flash Mob as Final Exam | NBC Washington
Flash Mob as Final Exam | NBC Washington
Buckingham said the flash mob final exam pushed the students to connect their song choices, choreography and costumes to their course material. The students had to explain their sociological relevance before they were approved.
Sociology is the study of human behavior and how people influence each other. The Wootton students not only had to organize to perform, they had to observe their audience while they did it.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Weekly Standard: Kickin' Back with Tax Payer Money : NPR
Weekly Standard: Kickin' Back with Tax Payer Money : NPR
The work done by most of my colleagues did bear on issues of wider relevance and not all of it was so ideologically compromised as to be useless. But the readership of academic journals is tiny, and most of this work had no impact beyond a small circle of interested academics — for understandable reasons. Philip Tetlock, a research psychologist at Berkeley, tested the accuracy of 82,361 predictions made by 284 experts including psychologists, economists, political scientists, and area and foreign policy specialists, 96 percent with post-graduate training. He found that their prognostications did not beat chance. The increasingly ideological nature of social science will not improve this record.
Weekly Standard: Kickin' Back with Tax Payer Money : NPR
Weekly Standard: Kickin' Back with Tax Payer Money : NPR
According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, Harvard, donating 4 to 1 in favor of Democrats in 2008, was one of the more politically diverse major American universities. Ninety-two percent of employees at the University of Chicago donated to Democrats. The University of California favored Democrats over Republicans, 90 percent to 10 percent. And William and Mary employees preferred Democrats to the GOP by a margin of 99 percent to 1 percent. Neil Gross of Harvard found that 87.6 percent of social scientists voted for Kerry, 6.2 percent for Bush. Gross also found that 25 percent of sociologists characterize themselves as Marxists, likely a higher percentage than members of the Chinese Communist party. I would guess that if Lenin were around today he would be teaching sociology and seeking grants to fund the revolution.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Transgender Clownfish? Gender Diversity Lesson at California School Riles Critics - FoxNews.com
Transgender Clownfish? Gender Diversity Lesson at California School Riles Critics - FoxNews.com
"This is only the latest example of what seems to be a New-Age, gender-bending agenda pushed into the mainstream media by those who refuse to accept the traditional sex differences between men and women," Brown wrote.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
For Millennials, Parenthood Trumps Marriage - Pew Research Center
For Millennials, Parenthood Trumps Marriage - Pew Research Center
Likewise, about six-in-ten (63%) Millennials think that single motherhood is bad for society, compared with seven-in-ten (71%) adults ages 30 and older. More than four-in-ten (44%) Millennials say that the institution of marriage is becoming obsolete, compared with 37% of those ages 30 and older.
Daily Number: Jesus Christ's Return to Earth - Pew Research Center
Daily Number: Jesus Christ's Return to Earth - Pew Research Center
By the year 2050, 41% of Americans believe that Jesus Christ definitely (23%) or probably (18%) will have returned to earth. However, a 46%-plurality of the public does not believe Christ will return during the next 40 years. Fully 58% of white evangelical Christians say Christ will return to earth in this period, by far the highest percentage in any religious group. Only about a third of Catholics (32%) and even fewer white mainline Protestants (27%) predict Christ's return to earth by 2050. One-in-five religiously unaffiliated Americans also see Christ returning during the next four decades. Americans with no college experience (59%) are much more likely than those with some college experience (35%) or college graduates (19%) to expect Jesus Christ's return. By region, those in the South (52%) are the most likely to predict a Second Coming by 2050.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Lifeguards' high pay riles Calif. beach city - USATODAY.com
Lifeguards' high pay riles Calif. beach city - USATODAY.com
With overtime only added in, more than half of the 13 cleared $100,000 and the rest made between $59,500 and $98,500. Adding in pension contributions, medical benefits, life insurance and other pay, two battalion chiefs earned more than $200,000 in 2010, while the lowest-paid officer made more than $98,000.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
1968 Olympics
The Olympics: Black Complaint - TIME
"Faster, Higher, Stronger" is the motto of the Olympic Games. "Angrier, nastier, uglier" better describes the scene in Mexico City last week. There, in the same stadium from which 6,200 pigeons swooped skyward to signify the opening of the "Peace Olympics," Sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, two disaffected black athletes from the U.S. put on a public display of petulance that sparked one of the most unpleasant controversies in Olympic history and turned the high drama of the games into theater of the absurd.
Who's ‘cool’ after high school graduation? - Books - booksmiscellaneous - TODAY.com
Who's ‘cool’ after high school graduation? - Books - booksmiscellaneous - TODAY.com
The students outside these walls are the kids who typically are not considered part of the in crowd, the ones who are excluded, blatantly or subtly, from the premier table in the lunchroom. I refer to them as “cafeteria fringe.” Whether alone or in groups, these geeks, loners, punks, floaters, nerds, freaks, dorks, gamers, bandies, art kids, theater geeks, choir kids, Goths, weirdos, indies, scenes, emos, skaters, and various types of racial and other minorities are often relegated to subordinate social status simply because they are, or seem to be, even the slightest bit different.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Push Up Bikini Tops at Abercrombie Kids » Sociological Images
Push Up Bikini Tops at Abercrombie Kids » Sociological Images
Allison K. sent in another example of the sexualization of young girls. Abercrombie Kids is selling bikinis with “push-up” tops. According to Wikipedia, the company markets its products at kids age 7-14. The average age of puberty is 12. So, at what age should girls start trying to enhance their cleavage? How old is too young?
Monday, March 28, 2011
Four Preventable Risk Factors Reduce Life Expectancy in U.S. and Lead to Health Disparities - March 22, 2010 -2010 Releases - Press Releases - Harvard School of Public Health
Four Preventable Risk Factors Reduce Life Expectancy in U.S. and Lead to Health Disparities - March 22, 2010 -2010 Releases - Press Releases - Harvard School of Public Health
Boston, MA -- A new study led by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in collaboration with researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington estimates that smoking, high blood pressure, elevated blood glucose and overweight and obesity currently reduce life expectancy in the U.S. by 4.9 years in men and 4.1 years in women. It is the first study to look at the effects of those four preventable risk factors on life expectancy in the whole nation.
The researchers also estimated the effects of these risk factors on eight subgroups of the U.S. population, called the “Eight Americas.” The Eight Americas are defined by race, county location and the socioeconomic features of each county. They found that these four risk factors account for a substantial proportion of differentials in life expectancy among these groups. Southern rural blacks had the largest reduction in life expectancy due to these risk factors (6.7 years for men and 5.7 years for women) and Asians the smallest (4.1 years for men and 3.6 years for women).
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
YouTube - Lily Allen - The Fear
YouTube - Lily Allen - The Fear
I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I don’t care about clever I
don’t care about funny
I want loads of clothes and f***loads of diamonds
I
heard people die while they are trying to find them
Forget about guns and forget ammunition
Cause I’m killing them all on my own
little mission
Now I’m not a saint but I’m not a sinner
Now everything is
cool as long as I’m getting thinner
Justices Rule for Protesters at Military Funerals - NYTimes.com
Justices Rule for Protesters at Military Funerals - NYTimes.com
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented in the case, Snyder v. Phelps, No. 09-751. He likened the protest to fighting words, which are not protected by the First Amendment.
“In order to have a society in which public issues can be openly and vigorously debated,” he wrote, “it is not necessary to allow the brutalization of innocent victims.”
YouTube - Katie Makkai - Pretty
YouTube - Katie Makkai - Pretty
This is about the self-mutilating circus we have painted ourselves clowns in.
About women who will prowl 30 stores in 6 malls to find the right cocktail
dress, but haven't a clue where to find fulfillment or how wear joy, wandering
through life shackled to a shopping bag, beneath those 2 pretty
syllables.
About men wallowing on bar stools, drearily practicing
attraction and everyone who will drift home tonight, crest-fallen because not
enough strangers found you suitably fuckable.
This, this is about my own
some-day daughter. When you approach me, already stung-stayed with insecurity,
begging, “Mom, will I be pretty? Will I be pretty?” I will wipe that question
from your mouth like cheap lipstick and answer, “No! The word pretty is unworthy
of everything you will be, and no child of mine will be contained in five
letters.
http://dianasmanylifetimes.blogspot.com/2010/11/katie-makkai-pretty.html
This is about the self-mutilating circus we have painted ourselves clowns in.
About women who will prowl 30 stores in 6 malls to find the right cocktail
dress, but haven't a clue where to find fulfillment or how wear joy, wandering
through life shackled to a shopping bag, beneath those 2 pretty
syllables.
About men wallowing on bar stools, drearily practicing
attraction and everyone who will drift home tonight, crest-fallen because not
enough strangers found you suitably fuckable.
This, this is about my own
some-day daughter. When you approach me, already stung-stayed with insecurity,
begging, “Mom, will I be pretty? Will I be pretty?” I will wipe that question
from your mouth like cheap lipstick and answer, “No! The word pretty is unworthy
of everything you will be, and no child of mine will be contained in five
letters.
http://dianasmanylifetimes.blogspot.com/2010/11/katie-makkai-pretty.html
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Justices Rule for Protesters at Military Funerals - NYTimes.com
Justices Rule for Protesters at Military Funerals - NYTimes.com
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented in the case, Snyder v. Phelps, No. 09-751. He likened the protest to fighting words, which are not protected by the First Amendment.
“In order to have a society in which public issues can be openly and vigorously debated,” he wrote, “it is not necessary to allow the brutalization of innocent victims.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)