“Don’t be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying yes begins things. Saying yes is how things grow. Saying yes leads to knowledge. “Yes” is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say yes.”
—Steven Colbert (via lalehemily)
February 2011
January 2011
“
I was beaten yesterday by security; you can see where they broke my rib. But I don’t care – just look around you. The energy of the Egyptians is amazing. We’re saying no to unemployment, no to police brutality, no to poverty.
We saw how scared Mubarak and his regime was; they’re being forced to listen to the people. Now the army is with us too, I’m sure of it. The job isn’t completed yet but we’re not losing any momentum. These protests will continue day after day until every bit of the regime falls.
The psychological barrier between us and our president has been broken by teargas; the government created this uprising, and now they will face the consequences.
” —Haggag Hamd, Kung fu coach and agricultural supplies company employee, 28
from the Guardian’s “Voices of the Egyptian Rebellion”
(via afternoonsnoozebutton)
How I Will Be Fucked Come April (If the Affordable Care Act is Repealed)
As I write this I am 23 years old. If the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is repealed, in April I will be ‘too old’ and kicked off my parents’ health care. While many people say that this isn’t true because that provision does not become law until 2014, my health insurance company was willing to give my parents the option to keep me on their healthcare now… Bizarre, right? A health insurance company doing something reasonable -AMAZING. But that’s all good and fine, unless ACA is repealed: in that case, this April I will be kicked off my parents’ healthcare.
This wouldn’t be that big of a problem if it weren’t for the other provision that will be repealed in the process. I have a pre-existing condition: Crohn’s Disease to be exact. A disease that is thought to be genetic, thus not my fault like many people seem to think all illnesses are. I was diagnosed at 12 and have continued to require expensive medical procedures and even more expensive medicines for the last 11 years. Unfortunately, this means that any and every health insurance provider will refuse to accept me unless I am willing to pay thousands upon thousands of dollars each month. I will be graduating college this May and entering an awful job market, which means I will not have these thousands of dollars to pay.
They claim the number of people that strongly oppose the ACA greatly outweigh the number of people who strongly support it in Congress. This came from a conservative politician, so I’m not too sure of its validity. People I know say that they don’t support the ACA because it’s incomplete. Of course it’s incomplete; of course it doesn’t include a lot of things. It’s a really really big piece of legislation trying to undo years and years of crazy healthcare legal contract crap. However, it was a decent start to something meaningful. The ACA still managed to keep me sheltered for another 2 years from ridiculous monthly fees and copays etc AND make it so I could get healthcare afterwards by not being denied. Other than me, there are many people that will be adversely affected by this repeal. According to a study conducted by the US government, over half of Americans under 65 have a pre-existing condition. Republican Representative King from Iowa dismissed this as a “minor thing.” A MINOR thing?! Over half of Americans under 65?! I get it, your main constituency is people over 65 because they obviously don’t give a shit about the rest of us, but c’mon! They’ve even shown that the expansion of Medicare will greatly improve services to seniors, so you should at least care about yourselves!
Republicans have advertised this repeal as The Job Killing Health Care Law Act (redundant, care-act???). The Congressional Budget Office has said that repealing the ACA will actually COST more money by increasing the deficit by $230 billion and DESTROY over 250,000 jobs each year over the next decade.
GOP: if you want people to live long enough to vote for you then you’d stop your senseless repeal and focus on something else. But you won’t. You can’t: you’ve based your entire 2010 campaign on repeal of the ACA and you know you won’t be reelected come 2012 if you don’t live up to that promise.
Thus, not only am I fucked come April, but over 129 million Americans are fucked indefinitely. This isn’t fair. This isn’t fair to me or anybody else.
“Mika, you need to buck up. I know you think this story has no purpose other than keeping Sarah Palin’s name in the headlines for another news cycle.I know you think she has nothing to offer the national dialogue and that her speeches are just coded talking points mixed in with words picked up at random from a thesaurus. I know you think Sarah Palin is, at best, a self-promoting ignoramus, and at worst a shameless media troll who’ll abuse any platform to deliver dog-whistle encouragement to a far-right base that may include possible insurrectionists. I know you think her reality show was pathetically un-statesmanlike, and at the same time I know you think it represents the pinnacle of her potential, and that her transparent desperation to be a celebrity so completely eclipsed her interest in public service so long ago, that there would be more journalistic integrity in reporting on one of the lesser Kardashians’ ass implants. And I know, I know that when you arrive at the office each day, you say a silent prayer that maybe, just maybe Sarah Palin will at long last shut up for ten fucking minutes. I know ‘cause I can see it in your eyes!”
—
STEPHEN COLBERT, offering words of encouragement for MSNBC Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski after she nearly refused to read a story on Sarah Palin, on The Colbert Report.
As Brzezinski put it, “I don’t want to overemphasize her news value.” Awesome, Mika.
(via inothernews)
Sarah Palin and Blood Libel
Today, Sarah Palin created a post on her Facebook both denouncing the acts of the media in suggesting her cross hairs map is responsible for the actions of Jared Lee Loughner in his horrific murdering spree in AZ this past weekend that left a federal judge, among many others, dead and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords critically injured from a gunshot to the head. Whether or not Palin’s hateful and inappropriate image was responsible is not known at this time, and in all reality placing the blame on her is akin to blaming Marilyn Manson/video games/whatever else they came up with that wasn’t bullying, insanity, and lack of parental supervision for Columbine. However the fact is that her image and the accompanying rhetoric contributed to a violent faction who took out their anger by violently vandalizing Gifford’s office, and further contributed to a toxic environment in which such a heinous act occurred.
In the facebook post she quotes Ronald Reagan: “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” While I agree with that statement in that I think that it’s wrong to claim that anyone other than the perpetrators of criminal acts are criminally responsible, I don’t think there’s any harm in talking about how the existence of such political discourse creates an environment that can be associated with such terrible acts of violence, like this weekend’s mass assassination attempt/murder spree in Arizona, but that’s a separate matter.. My biggest head scratcher here is I remember not too long ago Palin dismissed Reagan as having been a “blue-blood” and “just an actor.” Hypocrisy much? I think so.
That aside, she also claimed that the media was partaking in “blood libel.” The definition of blood libel is “false accusations made against religious minorities” and almost always refers to Jews [here’s the wiki site ] While I somewhat agree that the media is singling out specific people and placing blame (when do they not?), she’s definitely being harsh and using poor judgement in her choice of words (when does she not?).
The thing that gets me here, is that she has been guilty on more than one occasion of actual blood libel in her crusade against Islam. She says in her post “Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state…” yet we only have to turn on Fox News to hear clips of her racist and ignorant rants on Islam. So it’s okay when she actually takes part in blood libel, but not okay when the media nears that same red line but doesn’t cross it?
I know, I know; she’s a hypocrite and has exposed herself as one on MANY occasions.. but her attitudes towards Islam are inappropriate, offensive, and irresponsible. Her statements/rhetoric regarding the Islamic community center, which wasn’t even at ground zero, were reprehensible.. as were those of just about everyone on Fox News, but that is a whole other monster that I won’t get into because Jon Stewart does such a good job here if you watch pretty much any of those videos.
In conclusion, the media was dumb for pointing fingers at specific people when they should have looked at the bigger picture but Sarah Palin was dumber but in an all together more horrendous way than the media ever was.
Sarah Palin and Blood Libel
Today, Sarah Palin created a post on her Facebook both denouncing the acts of Jared Lee Loughner in the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords AND that the media has suggested her cross hairs map is at all responsible for the actions. Whether or not her hateful and inappropriate image was responsible is not known at this time, and in all reality placing the blame on her is akin to blaming Marilyn Manson for Columbine. However the fact is that her image and the accompanying rhetoric contributed to a violent faction who took out their anger by violently vandalizing Gifford’s office.
In the facebook post she quotes Ronald Reagan: “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” And while I partially disagree and that’s a separate matter.. I remember not too long ago Palin dismissed Reagan as having been a “blue-blood” and “just an actor.”
That aside, she also claimed that the media was partaking in “blood libel.” The definition of blood libel is “false accusations made against religious minorities” and almost always refers to Jews [here’s the wiki site ] While I somewhat agree that the media is singling out specific people and placing blame (when do they not?), she’s definitely being harsh and using poor judgement in her choice of words (when does she not?).
The thing that gets me here, is that she has been guilty on more than one occasion of actual blood libel in her crusade against Islam. She says in her post “Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state…” yet we only have to turn on Fox News to hear clips of her racist and ignorant rants on Islam. So it’s okay when she actually takes part in blood libel, but not okay when the media nears that same red line but doesn’t cross it?
I know, I know; she’s a hypocrite and has exposed herself as one on MANY occasions.. but her attitudes towards Islam are inappropriate, offensive, and irresponsible. Her statements/rhetoric regarding the Islamic community center, which wasn’t even at ground zero, were reprehensible.. as were those of just about everyone on Fox News, but that is a whole other monster that I won’t get into because Jon Stewart does such a good job here if you watch pretty much any of those videos.
In conclusion, the media was dumb and Sarah Palin was dumber but in an all together more horrendous way than the media ever could be.
Eve Ensler on Sarah Palin
I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a
member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned
and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for
Polar Bears. Maybe it’s their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the
fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or
touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice.
Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.
I don’t like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying
to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is
hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all
the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the
goodness and solidarity of Feminists.
But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to
Feminism which for me is part of one story — connected to saving the earth,
ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our
minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.
I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices
of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out
may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may
never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would
have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my
lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the
presidency with regularity.
Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her
world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or
evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic,
the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of
cancers, are all part of God’s plan. She is fighting to take the polar
bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin’s view, is here
to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot
and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be
taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, “It was a task
from God.”
Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are
raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to
determine whether they have their rapist’s baby or not.
She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine
her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that
makes.
Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has
tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people
who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and
difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next
president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse
populations on the earth.
Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She
has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves
from the air.
Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But
when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared
in God’s name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the
end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America
has ever tried to be.
I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in
our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of
the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to
save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will
determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or
whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It
will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest
our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction.
It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether
we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America
is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism
and aggression.
If the Polar Bears don’t move you to go and do everything in your power to
get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin
spoke at the RNC, “Drill Drill Drill.” I think of teeth when I think of
drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I
think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the
brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.
Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of
the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and
peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?
Eve Ensler
September 5, 2008
What I've Learned This Year
1. Everyone just wants to know that they are worth something to someone. Feelings of worthlessness are what drive people to horrific and harmful acts against themselves and others. It’s important to tell people how we feel, to let them know we care, and that they are important to us.
2. It’s important to accept people for who they are, whoever they are, no matter what… Even if you disagree with whatever that may be.
3. There are genuinely good and hard-working people out there that would do anything to give their children a better life at the sacrifice of themselves. These people are amazing and deserve so much more respect than they are given in our society.
4. Small acts of caring and kindness make a world of difference to those who expect it the least from us.
5. Changing the life of just a single person really is making a difference in the world. You never know what good that one person can do for another; and the chain reaction is so vast and so amazing that it cannot be ignored.
6. Deep down we are all insecure, confused, and afraid. We all despair.
7. Individuals are brilliant, thoughtful, and often peaceful while the masses are ignorant and, more often than not, bloodthirsty.
8. Extremism on any side of an issue is still extremism and makes you unable to understand the other side and thus incapable of reaching a solution.
9. It is so much more important to truly hear someone than it is is to simply listen.
10.There is only so much you can do. After that, there is faith and trust.
