inothernews:

Choice quotes from the American Rifleman article linked to here by Talking Points Memo:

• From the slideshow intro: “Many of these movies… take us back to simpler times, when dreaming of saving the day got us through that oh-so boring class.”
• From a review of Red Dawn: “Up until the fall of the Berlin Wall, many folks prepared for a possible invasion by what Ronald Reagan called the ‘Evil Empire.’”  Man, gun nuts were delusional even back then.
• On The Terminator, which, remember, is a science fiction film: “This movie made shooters realize the importance of firepower, and that preparedness might be needed in the future.”  You know, just in case a time-travelling killer android comes looking for you.
• On The Godfather: “That (Michael Corleone) built his empire through violence is only that much more alluring.”  Oh really.
• On The Matrix, the film contains “a line that could easily be the catchphrase of many gun owners when asked what they need: ‘Guns.  Lots of guns.’”
• On The Road Warrior:  ”This movie made some people realize that ammunition is a commodity, and would be useful if the world ever does hit the fan.”  

Most folks recognize the movies are fiction, meant as a form of escape.

The NRA apparently takes them at face value.

So irony is dead now.

(Source: publius-esquire)

accurate

(Source: evilgr33nranger)

dancepunksnotdead:

You know, the one that gives housewives/full-time mothers a pension— wages for housework?

It’s ONLY A HUGE VICTORY FOR FEMINISM, SOCIALISM, AND WOMEN OF COLOR. Not a big deal or anything. Tumblr is mysteriously silent about this.

http://rabble.ca/columnists/2013/05/venezuelas-new-labour-law-best-mothers-day-gift

beygonce:

writeswrongs:

Black Man to Lose Scholarship For Refusing Racist Assignment

Timothy McNair is a graduate student of opera at Northwestern University’s famed Bienen School of Music. McNair is at the school on a full scholarship, but the 25-year-old is standing up to his school after his professor, Donald Nally, gave him an assignment to perform a song created by a racist American poet named Walt Whitman. McNair asked his instructor if he could be assigned to perform the work of other artists but Nally denied him the opportunity and told him if he didn’t turn in all of his completed work by Friday, May 17th he’d receive a failing grade. McNair refused.

“Certainly I do not deserve to fail this class.  I have a 3.7 GPA.  I’m an officer on three committees of this university.  So what is deserving for me?  Is to be able to perform two pieces and have the third piece removed because of the insensitivity,” McNair told Chicago’s WGN news station. Although the piece McNair is instructed to perform does not contain any blatant racism, McNair believes it is still offensive that he was asked to complete the works of a devout racist. “We know (he) was historically racist.  He’s called African Americans ‘baboons’ and was for oppressing voting rights,” McNair said of Whitman.

But let a white person had to sing a song written about Osama or Sadam that shit would have been on every new station.

I didn’t realize Walt Whitman had written such racist stuff (that wasn’t covered when we read his work in high school, SURPRISE) (if you’re curious, his archive has a super-apologist piece about it - along the lines of “well sure he was racist, but everyone was racist back then!”), and this is super fucked up.

thepoliticalfreakshow:

Oklahoma residents will now turn to government assistance for emergency disaster aid after a tornado ripped through the state on Monday, leaving dozens dead and tearing apart hundreds of buildings. But the same night that many residents lost their homes, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) told CQ Roll Call insisted he would “absolutely” require any federal […]

Oklahoma residents will now turn to government assistance for emergency disaster aid after a tornado ripped through the state on Monday, leaving dozens dead and tearing apart hundreds of buildings. But the same night that many residents lost their homes, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) told CQ Roll Callinsisted he would “absolutely” require any federal disaster aid to be offset by other budget cuts. He later clarified on Tuesday, promising, “I can assure Oklahomans that any and all available aid will be delivered without delay.”

Both of the state’s senators, Sen. James Inhofe (R) and Coburn, however, have long worked to undermine the Federal Emergency Management Agency, even though their state heavily relies on disaster aid:

– In September 2011, Coburn offered an amendment to offset $6.9 billion in FEMA funding.

– Coburn voted in 2011 against funding FEMA after it ran out of money, because, in his words, funding FEMA would have been “unconscionable.” Inhofe did not vote. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid fired back at Republicans blocking a bill for necessary funding to FEMA.

– Inhofe proposed removing grants for storm shelter programs coordinating with FEMA, and instead provide individuals with tax breaks.

– Coburn criticized items in Sandy disaster relief such as $12.9 billion for disaster mitigiation and $366 million for Amtrak as “wasteful spending.”

– After Hurricane Sandy, Inhofe and Coburn voted against a bill for $50.5 billion in Hurrican Sandy disaster relief.

– Coburn demanded that $5.25 billion in FEMA grant funds be reallocated because of sequestration in April 2013.

A spokesman told the Huffington Post that Coburn has supported offsets for the Oklahoma City bombing recovery effort, which tapped funds not yet appropriated.

Oklahoma and Texas rank as the top two states in FEMA disaster declarations; combined, they account for more than a quarter of declared disasters since 2009. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that the senators have requested disaster aid for severe storms and drought, even though Coburn is willing to hold up relief with his demands.

liberalsarecool:

Oklahoma currently ranks third in the nation … in terms of total federal disaster and fire declarations. This is not a new trend, every year OK needs Federal help.

Enter Republican Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn who are fiscal hawks who have repeatedly voted against funding disaster aid for other parts of the country. See Super Storm Sandy. They also have opposed increased funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

It appears increasingly likely that residents who lost homes and businesses [in the Oklahoma tornado] will turn to the federal government for emergency disaster aid. 

With their vindictive and evil voting record on disaster aid for other states solidifying their as*hole status, both Coburn and Inhofe appear to sing a different tune when it comes to such funding for Oklahoma.

Inhofe & Coburn have a top-notch runaround going on the American people. They can vote against Sandy aid (they did) and expanded FEMA funding (they did) and claim we can only give one-time disaster relief if we cut something else (they did) (and by “cut something else,” they mean food stamps or school funding, not tax loopholes obviously). And then, when disaster hits their state, we’ll give their constituents federal aid because we’re not FUCKING MONSTERS, and they get to keep railing against Big Government and Welfare Queens and Handouts AND brag about how they got disaster relief for their state.

And then they get reelected, because… because a lot of reasons. Because the two-party system is fundamentally broken. Because Republicans appeal to wedge issue voters on things like marriage equality and abortion. Because gerrymandering. An Oklahoman friend told me it’s because they hate Obama so much they would vote for Republicans no matter what.

But yeah. Quite a gig Inhofe and Coburn have going for themselves.

rtamerica:

Sen. Rand Paul is outraged that Congress held a hearing to “bully one of America’s greatest success stories.” The Kentucky lawmaker believes Apple was unfairly targeted for trying to minimize its taxes, and that the company is owed an apology.

Ah, yes, a true American success story. Kids, work hard and study in school and maybe one day you too could be exporting jobs from America to countries with questionable labor practices and then pocketing the tax money with loopholes created exclusively for the benefit of the wealthy! AMERICA!

I just don’t buy this bullshit where companies and individuals try to look like saints by throwing their hands up in the air and saying, “Well, it’s not OUR fault we skipped out on paying taxes, we fully complied with the tax law! Who would want to pay more than they owe???” I believe Romney said something along those lines during the election. The people who create the tax laws are overwhelmingly wealthy individuals. Many tax exemptions can ONLY be taken advantage of if you’re wealthy (to wit: Romney’s $77,000+ tax refund for his wife’s horse). Corporations employ massive teams of accountants for the sole purpose of finding new ways to get out of paying taxes.

Then again, Congress doesn’t really have the moral high ground in this situation. They’re complaining that Apple took advantage of a tax code that they made, and that they can change if they want to. But they don’t want to. Because Apple and many of the other companies that enjoy corporate welfare subsidies are also major donors to political campaigns. It’s almost like money is toxic in politics or something.

aknightlight:

jackpowerx:

acornfarm:

defilerwyrm:

AHAHAHA NOT QUITE, OP, NOT QUITE

FUCKING NAILED IT

A+ commentary!

THANK YOU

I had seen the original making the rounds. Glad to see it got a proper rebuttal.

(Source: flowers-for-mr-ukki)

newsweek:

PSA: Help victims of the tornadoes in Oklahoma by donating $10 to the Red Cross. Text REDCROSS to 90999, or visit redcross.org.

Federal officials met with South Dakota’s nine Sioux tribes on Wednesday for a historic summit in Rapid City. A year in the making, it was an effort to address long standing concerns over the high number of Native American children the state places in white foster homes. State officials, however, didn’t show up for the meeting.

State officials, however, didn’t show up for the meeting.

A funding crisis caused the Buena Vista School District to close its schools for the rest of the year—and perhaps permanently.

(Source: thesmithian)

(Source: awakenthesheeple)

theyoungturks:

Who took down Stockton? by TYTInvestigates

Stockton, California recently became the largest city to file for bankruptcy in American history. And now we know why. (Spoiler alert: big banks, government corruption, greed.) They interviewed a lot of Stockton employees who got formally screwed over (healthcare cut, retirement accounts wiped out) when the city went bankrupt. It’s really heartbreaking and poignant to see the impact of austerity on human lives up close.