(via liberal-lad)
Be aware of this truth that the people on this earth could be joyous, if only they would live rationally and if they would contribute mutually to each others’ welfare.”
—Kurt Vonnegut. (1981). Palm Sunday. New York: Delacorte Press.
Segway Jeremy Ryan in Addicting Info: “Anna went into the hospital seeking treatment for a sprained ankle. Anna also happened to be poor, homeless, and African American. Anna had been to two other hospitals the week in September that she died. But like millions of poor people across the country, she was unable to get adequate care. Brown, of course, was on Medicaid, making it so she would get the minimum level of care. She went to Saint Mary’s Hospital of Saint Louis hoping they would help her as she was in excruciating pain, again from a sprained ankle. Saint Mary’s released her but she refused to leave stating that her ankle hurt so bad she couldn’t stand.”
Abdellah Taïa in The New York Times: “In the Morocco of the 1980s, where homosexuality did not, of course, exist, I was an effeminate little boy, a boy to be sacrificed, a humiliated body who bore upon himself every hypocrisy, everything left unsaid. By the time I was 10, though no one spoke of it, I knew what happened to boys like me in our impoverished society; they were designated victims, to be used, with everyone’s blessing, as easy sexual objects by frustrated men. And I knew that no one would save me — not even my parents, who surely loved me.”
Do you think you have a right to keep your Facebook password private? The Republican Party thinks you should have to turn it to your employer.
Henry Giroux in Truthout: “A group of right-wing extremists in the United States would have the American public believe it is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of a market society. Comprising this group are the Republican Party extremists, religious fundamentalists such as Rick Santorum and a host of conservative anti-public foundations funded by billionaires such as the Koch brothers, whose pernicious influence fosters the political and cultural conditions for creating vast inequalities and massive human hardships throughout the globe.”
Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic: “Whereas comedy writers at The Daily Show, who take the time to understand the inside baseball, nevertheless see things differently, for in the search for absurdity required of them, they’re attuned to real world consequences, and uninclined to give establishment processes the benefits of any doubt”
(via divide-by-0)
This interactive map of the U.S. allows users to select a geographic location and then select the amount of sea level they wish to project. The map then shows what portion of the selected region would be underwater.
An anagram for “Trayvon Martin” is “not vain martyr.” I certainly hope so.
A paean to the homophobic but delicious Chik Fil-A as written and performed by utterly fabulous drag queens: “Chow Down (at Chick-fil-A)” (Posted by noextrai.)
Stephen Walt in Foreign Policy: “This month marks the ninth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Regardless of your views on the wisdom of that decision, it’s fair to say that the results were not what most Americans expected. Now that the war is officially over and most U.S. forces have withdrawn, what lessons should Americans (and others) draw from the experience?”
Erik Kain in Forbes: In South Carolina a teacher has been placed on administrative leave for reading excerpts of Orson Scott Card’s science fiction classic Ender’s Game to his middle school students.
John Quiggin in Crooked Timber: “…a political system dominated by tribal shibboleths is unlikely to produce good outcomes.”
