think on this.

jhermann: interweber: basketball game So they definitely just...

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:26:27 -0600

interweber:

basketball game

So they definitely just sucked those two dudes out of their seats, devoured them and washed them down with a sip of ice coffee right?

Vintage Ski Posters of Europe « The Mid-Century Modernist

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:08:46 -0600

Vintage Ski Posters of Europe « The Mid-Century Modernist

reading milestones

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:17:27 -0600

at this point in the year, i have read twice as many books as there are weeks. and only about 80% of them were total crap! here’s the good ones:

the orphan master’s son - adam johnson. totally not the kind of book i would pick up - soldier in north korea, ugh - but it won the tournament of books and got all kinds of awards. and i tore through it, totally absorbed, and now have been recommending it to people right and left. yeah, there’s a big chunk on a fishing boat. yeah, it is actually hilarious. yeah, you learn a lot about north korea, and torture. yeah, you should read it.

where’d you go, bernadette - maria semple. one of those fun books about precocious youth and their eccentric families that i love so much, with real weight and resonance. told primarily through found documents, which is always fun. heartfelt and hilarious.

sharp objects - gillian flynn. she wrote ‘gone girl’ and this was a similarly dark mystery/family drama with a surprise-ish twist partway through. richly textured, almost swampy. self-harm content.

11/22/63 - stephen king. a nice big thick book to dive into, with time travel and historical fiction. there were some not great things - visiting history from the perspective of a white male is only so interesting - but the mechanics of time travel, the love story, and the climactic conflict made up for it.

Domesticated — JSIV

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:17:18 -0600

Domesticated — JSIV

Beth Galton » Cut Food 01

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:25:49 -0600

Beth Galton » Cut Food 01

Kurt Braunohler hires man in plane to write stupid things in the...

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:34:39 -0600

Kurt Braunohler hires man in plane to write stupid things in the sky - Salon

Art director and graphic designer Koji Iyama has been staging...

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:43:01 -0600

Art director and graphic designer Koji Iyama has been staging installations across Japan to promote the multifunctional uses of mt-masking tape. (Spoon & Tamago)

Are you sick of lumpy butter on your toast? (Technabob)

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:51:54 -0600

Are you sick of lumpy butter on your toast? (Technabob)

mom: where are you right now?

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:02:07 -0600

mom: where are you right now?
me: at the park, by the creek, in a hammock.
mom: this post-finals vacation thing is really working out for you.
me: i do my best!

rlly important question

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:16:54 -0600

what will be the jam of the summer? or YOUR jam of the summer? or a jam for the summer?

Those results are from the new Pew report. Each column is...

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:48:08 -0600

Those results are from the new Pew report. Each column is interesting, for instance read down for “Most Compassionate.” It’s funny how many individuals do the same for themselves, I might add, in what has to be one of the simplest and most common of all intellectual mistakes. (via Stereotyping in Europe)

A plain blog about politics: Young Voting Update

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:36:03 -0600

A plain blog about politics: Young Voting Update:

Takoma Park, Maryland, has gone ahead: they’ve lowered the voting age for local elections to 16. Excellent. We’re talking a suburb of 17K citizens, so it’s not exactly a ton of 16 and 17 year old voters. Not to mention that giving them the vote only for local elections isn’t exactly likely to produce stampedes at the polling places. Still, it’s something.

"If only the government would apply the same level of thoroughness to their supervision of food and..."

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:24:20 -0600

“If only the government would apply the same level of thoroughness to their supervision of food and milk in China.”

- Meet the Chinese ‘censors’ who watch 700 pornographic movies every week

Army Sexual Assault Prevention Office Coordinator Accused of 'Abusive Sexual Contact'

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:12:13 -0600

Army Sexual Assault Prevention Office Coordinator Accused of 'Abusive Sexual Contact':

A soldier assigned to coordinate a sexual assault prevention program in Texas is under investigation for “abusive sexual contact” and other alleged misconduct and has been suspended from his duties, the Army announced Tuesday. Just last week an Air Force officer who headed a sexual assault prevention office was himself arrested on charges of groping a woman in a parking lot. The Army said a sergeant first class, whose name was not released, is accused of pandering, abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates. He is being investigated by the Army Criminal Investigation Command. No charges have been filed. He had been assigned as an equal opportunity adviser and coordinator of a sexual harassment-assault prevention program at the Army’s 3rd Corps headquarters at Fort Hood, Texas, when the allegation arose, the Army said.

tranqualizer: [photo: image of a Black homeless man wearing a...

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:04:21 -0600

tranqualizer:

[photo: image of a Black homeless man wearing a white t shirt and holding a white Abercrombie and fitch branded t shirt in front of him.]

Why Fitch the Homeless is a Really Bad Idea

In response to some comments made by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries about not wanting large people in A&F clothes because he prefers “attractive…cool kids” in A&F clothes, there’s been a pretty big backlash, which is understandable. Most recently, I’ve learned about some “activism” aimed at giving Abercrombie and Fitch a “brand readjustment’” by giving Abercrombie and Fitch clothing to the homeless.

Because wouldn’t it be so awful for Abercrombie and Fitch clothing to be associated with homelessness and homeless people, because homeless people are so gross and disgusting, amirite? The video above says that it is striving to make Abercrombie and Fitch “the #1 brand of homeless apparel”. Maybe you’re thinking there’s no issue here because at least homeless people are getting some new duds and they were purchased from Goodwill, so what’s the big deal?

The big deal comes in when homeless people are being exploited to prove a point. Many homeless people are already widely disenfranchised and lacking a platform to be heard or to get access to the resources they need. By attempting to make a brand look bad by associating it with homelessness, the message is that homeless people are so gross, dirty, shameful (insert negative attribute here) that by associating the brand with these types of people, we are really making the brand look shitty, because these people are so shitty! get it? It’s all such a laugh! This type of “activism” is a farce. It contributes to and propagates a culture wherein homeless people can be used as props to further an agenda. This isn’t how you treat people. This is how you treat disposable objects. It isn’t funny, noble, or helpful to try and stick it to Abercrombie and Fitch by using homeless people as the medium for your message. Would the American population at large be comfortable with any other minority group being used to make a brand look “bad” by associating their clothing with that group? Sub out “homeless” for any other minority group and see how that sounds and feels. Pretty shitty, right?

Giving clothing, food, needed sundries, time, and other resources to the homeless or people who are in need is an awesome thing. But this isn’t about giving to the homeless. I don’t see any real or actual concern for homeless people in this “movement”. I see homeless people being used as the butt of a joke. The punchline? “Hahaha Abercrombie! You want cool and attractive people in your clothes and you claim to be exclusionary, so we’re going to give your clothes to homeless people because you would hate that!” The implication here is that homeless people are not cool or attractive and the brand can’t be exclusionary when worn by an already excluded group. This only “works” because homeless people are already part of an othered and excluded group, often left out of mainstream society, denied access to basic resources and the ability to have their needs met. Can’t.Stop.Laughing.

People who want to give to the homeless can do so at any time. Do it today! But giving a certain brand of clothing to the homeless in an attempt to make that brand of clothing look bad or unsavory or less-than-desirable is only possible when the population or group receiving the clothing carries the stigma you are trying to attach to that label. This doesn’t make Abercrombie and Fitch look bad. This makes Greg Karber and everybody supporting this “activism” look like an insensitive douche canoe who thinks homeless people are disposable props to be used to further an agenda, and that’s pretty sad and disappointing. Wanna help the homeless? Try not furthering the stigma surrounding homelessness by insisting that a brand being associated with homelessness would surely be less desirable or wanted. Wanna stick it to Abercrombie and Fitch? Easy Peasy! Don’t give them your money! It’s a simple solution that doesn’t involve stepping on the backs of the homeless in place of a soapbox.

(click through the link to watch the youtube video)

(bolding mine)

if i never hear about this brand again, i would be thrilled.

US Air Force Measures Potato Cannon Muzzle Velocities

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:48:14 -0600

US Air Force Measures Potato Cannon Muzzle Velocities:

A question that will have passed through the minds of many hobbyists is: what is the best fuel for a potato cannon? Today, they get their answer thanks to the work of Michael Courtney at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado and another Courtney at BTG Research in Colorado Springs. These guys have measured the speed at which an accelerated potato leaves the muzzle of a cannon powered with five different fuels: acetylene, methanol, butane, ethanol and propane.
The results point to a clear winner. Propane, ethanol, methanol and butane all produce muzzle velocities of between 28 and 48 metres per second. But acetylene is in a class of its own, producing a muzzle velocity of 138 metres per second. That’s over 300 mph.

Today in the Noble Ideals of Amateurism

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:36:13 -0600

Today in the Noble Ideals of Amateurism :

You may have heard that the highest-paid employee in each state is usually the football coach at the largest state school. This is actually a gross mischaracterization: Sometimes it is the basketball coach.

L.A. mayoral candidates support making teacher evaluations public

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:24:24 -0600

L.A. mayoral candidates support making teacher evaluations public :

Los Angeles’ two mayoral candidates said Tuesday that they support making teacher evaluations public, going well beyond a level of disclosure that is supported by top school district officials.

Poverty as a Childhood Disease - NYTimes.com

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:12:20 -0600

Poverty as a Childhood Disease - NYTimes.com:

At the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies last week, there was a new call for pediatricians to address childhood poverty as a national problem, rather than wrestling with its consequences case by case in the exam room.

Poverty damages children’s dispositions and blunts their brains. We’ve seen articles about the language deficit in poorer homes and the gaps in school achievement. These remind us that — more so than in my mother’s generation — poverty in this country is now likely to define many children’s life trajectories in the harshest terms: poor academic achievement, high dropout rates, and health problems from obesity and diabetes to heart disease, substance abuse and mental illness.

Recently, there has been a lot of focus on the idea of toxic stress, in which a young child’s body and brain may be damaged by too much exposure to so-called stress hormones, like cortisol and norepinephrine. When this level of stress is experienced at an early age, and without sufficient protection, it may actually reset the neurological and hormonal systems, permanently affecting children’s brains and even, we are learning, their genes.

Toxic stress is the heavy hand of early poverty, scripting a child’s life not in the Horatio Alger scenario of determination and drive, but in the patterns of disappointment and deprivation that shape a life of limitations.

At the meeting, my colleague Dr. Benard P. Dreyer, professor of pediatrics at New York University and a past president of the Academic Pediatric Association, called on pediatricians to take on poverty as a serious underlying threat to children’s health. He was prompted, he told me later, by the widening disparities between rich and poor, and the gathering weight of evidence about the importance of early childhood, and the ways that deprivation and stress in the early years of life can reduce the chances of educational and life success.

“After the first three, four, five years of life, if you have neglected that child’s brain development, you can’t go back,” he said. In the middle of the 20th century, our society made a decision to take care of the elderly, once the poorest demographic group in the United States. Now, with Medicareand Social Security, only 9 percent of older people live in poverty. Children are now our poorest group, with almost 25 percent of children under 5 living below the federal poverty level.

Can People Distinguish Pate from Dog Food?

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:48:03 -0600

Can People Distinguish Pate from Dog Food?:

The answer to the question is sort of, in that they tend to like the pate better than canned dog food but can’t identify which (out of 5 choices) is the actual dog food better than random.