because there is NO science

not for a 19 year old, a 90 year old OR a 9 year old. there's NO science, only 'intelligent' design. that rules out god creating ANYTHING other than christian women and christian men who think of themselves as ONLY a boy or ONLY a grrrl.

fuck you too. the kid ("z") was only presenting REAL AND VALID EVIDENCE he collected. just because the school won't share it like they shared all the others, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

i'd like to extend a giant shout out to 'Z'

from boing boing


Nine year old's survey project excluded from school because he learned some people don't think of themselves as male or female

Posted by Cory Doctorow

A reader writes, "TheFourthVine's nine year old nephew, Z, wrote a survey that she encouraged her friends to take. However, when his mother went to the school's open house to take a photo of the end result, she couldn't as out of all the science projects Z hadn't been shown."

Except she couldn't. Because my nephew's project, alone among all of them, was not displayed. After much back and forth with various people, my sister learned that apparently some people were uncomfortable with his conclusions. Specifically the part where he said that what he really learned from this project was that some people don't want to be called boys or girls, and that those people need an "other" option. (And also that they tend to prefer blue to green.)

Follow up on Z's Science Project

i rail against ultra muslims who mistreat women

so i have no problem railing against ultra jews who MAKE WOMEN DISAPPEAR because women aren't people. they're baby making machines who shouldn't be allowed to leave home. fuck them and fuck ANY one singly or in groups who mistreat women or think women are worth even one iota less than men.

i had NO idea. really i didn't.

Israeli papers brush women out of cabinet
Rachel Shabi in Tel Aviv

Two female ministers within a 30-strong cabinet may not sound like such a big deal to most. However, it was two women too many for Israeli ultra-orthodox newspapers, so they simply airbrushed the offending female figures out of photographs of Binyamin Netanyahu's new cabinet, on the grounds that printing pictures of women is "immodest".

Limor Livnat and Sofa Landver, the two apparently inappropriate ministers, simply "disappeared" from a photograph of the new cabinet in the weekly newspaper Shaa Tova, with black holes visible in the spaces where they had been standing. Meanwhile, in the newspaper Yated Neeman, male cabinet members were blown up and superimposed on to the images of the two female ministers in the frame.

Shaa Tova told the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv: "Anyone who is acquainted with the ultra-orthodox press knows that from time immemorial, ultra-orthodox newspapers avoid publishing pictures of women.".......

Papers alter Israel cabinet photo

photo: The original image, above, was digitally altered by two ultra-Orthodox Jewish newspapers. Yated Neeman daily newspaper replaced the women with two men in the lower image. (bbc)

what a giant asshole

oscar de la renta is. if i wore designer clothing and i owned any of his shite, I'D EFFING BURN IT. normally i don't talk such trivia as what michelle obama is wearing, but i sure couldn't believe this dipshite had the NERVE to say what he said. hey mr designer listen.......

#1) the black and white outfit she had on while hangin' wit da queen was smokin'. no ifs ands or buts about it. she AND her outfit were bangin
#2) methinks he doth protest too too too much
#3) meaning, i think i smell fear AND jealousy on oskie's breath


Oscar de la Renta has tough words for Michelle Obama

(CNN) – Michelle Obama's fashion choices at the G20 summit have drawn widespread praise, but at least one famous designer thinks the fist lady made a major faux pas in her wardrobe choice for a private audience with Queen Elizabeth II.

"You don't…go to Buckingham Palace in a sweater," Oscar de la Renta told Woman's Wear Daily regarding Mrs. Obama's decision to wear a cardigan over an Isabel Toledo-designed dress for the private meeting.

De la Renta also said the first lady — who often sports relatively affordable American brands — should broaden her wardrobe and seize an opportunity to spur the flailing fashion industry.

“American fashion right now is struggling,” he said. “I think I understand what [Obama and her advisers] are doing, but I don’t think that is the right message at this particular point."........

more on the giant flush

Limbaugh: Obama May Give Gordon Brown "Anal Poisoning"

Jason Linkins

Wow. Whatever bet L.A. Times columnist Andrew Klavan thought he was making by daring people to listen to Rush Limbaugh and find one instance of the talk radio host saying a "single racist, hateful or stupid word" was lost today in dramatic fashion.

Limbaugh went waaaaaay over the top in insulting Gordon Brown with a mental image that one must work at to un-think about, warning that if the British Prime Minister keeps "slobbering" over President Barack Obama, he'll "come down with anal poisoning and may die from it."................

(go to the link above because mr linkins has the audio clip)

get the F**K out of town!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Rush Limbaugh Leaves New York
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

(another) one of 'em is effing nuts and one is effing funny

i took the pledge

stop by the link below to show your tweet support and your facebook support as well



spread the word to end the word


Posted by: Rachel in Disability Issues, Do Something

The casual use of the word “retarded” just sets my teeth on edge. I can’t tell you the number of self-described liberals/progressives I hear use it. I’ve actually thrown down with more than one friend - again, people who work in progressive nonprofits, in civil rights, in advocacy - over its use, and been told it’s not a big deal, it’s not an insult to people with disabilities, or I’m just being too sensitive.

So I’m more than happy to pass this along. Special Olympics has launched a campaign, “Spread the Word to End the Word,” to get people to think about how their language affects others. They offer a lot of ways to support the effort...........

the american medical system is a mess

and the following article illustrates exactly WHY (such as if a person has insurance, their insurance company usually pays way LESS than half the cost the health care providers would charge an uninsured individual. effed up or what?)

Fainting in This Country Can Carry a $10,000 Price Tag

By Kirk Nielsen, Miller-McCune.com

There's really no good time or place for a blackout, though some are significantly worse than others. Mine, one subzero evening in downtown St. Paul, Minn., last December, fell solidly on the inauspicious side of the spectrum.

The Level 2 lobby of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts was teeming with people waiting for the second half of a fine production of Irving Berlin's White Christmas to begin. I was standing with my mom, sister and her three young-adult kids. Through the windows of a dazzling curtain-wall that spans the front of the trapezoidal building, I was admiring the golden lights on the canopy of trees in the park across the street. On the warm side of the glass, a professional trio of carolers had just finished a short intermission set. I was in a good mood; a fantastic woman in Duluth was expecting my call after the show to finalize plans for our first date the next night.

Suddenly, I felt weirdly lightheaded, so I turned to hasten to my seat. I took three steps, got the spins and took a nosedive, just missing the edge of a wine and coffee bar. Upon impact, I regained some consciousness and sat half-sprawled with my elbows on the carpet. A short-haired middle-age woman was crouching next to me, asking me if I knew my name, what day of the week it was, where I was. I did, which eliminated the possibility of stroke. "You blacked out ... I'm not a doctor ... That happens to me ... You should lay down," I recall her saying. .......

one of 'em is effing nuts and one is effing funny

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The 10/31 Project
comedycentral.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

no comment

hmmmmmmmmmm

wicked creepy (and kinda VERY disgusting)


KFC Now Filling Potholes...With Ads
By Daniel Luzer

In the latest sign that the economy is even more screwed than we thought: The city of Louisville, Kentucky has struck a deal allowing the fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken to fill in the city's potholes—in exchange for stamping the pavement as "Re-freshed by KFC."

KFC explains that the company's foray into highway repair is a tie-in to its new "fresh" campaign, which focuses on food quality. Well, nice to know that it isn't part of the "take advantage of the county's economic collapse" or "appropriation of municipal public works" campaigns. According to Ad Age:...................................

........................Yea, because there's nothing creepy whatsoever about a fast food company, especially one accused of harming the Amazon rainforest, providing low wages, and being cruel to animals taking over city maintenance.....................

saw this on boing boing and figured it wouldn't hurt

this isn't because i remember jack sheldon

from school house rock (which i of course do as do ALL other americans who were once YOUNG)

it's because i remember jack sheldon from the merv griffin show. merv loved him (and so did i). not only could jack blow that horn, he sure was funny as all hell

Blossom Dearie’s “Conjunction Junction” Romance?

Did the woman who sang "Unpack Your Adjectives" ever get together with the guy who sang "I'm Just a Bill"?

It turns out the answer is yes! Sort of...

Blossom Dearie was an occasional singer on Schoolhouse Rock, and so was Jack Sheldon, who sang the gravelly-voiced conductor song Conjunction Junction. When Blossom came to Hollywood (for a big recording session at Capitol Records), Sheldon was her trumpeter. "I was madly in love with Blossom at the time," he remembered wistfully. "We were going everywhere and doing everything together..." reads his remembrance 34 years later from the liner notes of Blossom's re-issued album. "Blossom was marvelous."

(Click to hear Jack's love-struck trumpet
on the album's title track, "May I Come In?")
Blossom Dearie, the beguiling blonde jazz chanteuse, died Saturday at the age of 82. But when she'd met Sheldon in 1964, she was just 38, and had already lived in Paris for several years — even though she didn't speak French! Within a few years, Blossom had recorded several jazz albums and married a Belgian saxophone player named Bobby Jaspar, who had recorded with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Chet Baker. In 1963, Jaspar died of a heart attack at the age of 37 — but Blossom Dearie was about to earn her own fame in America.
..........

human rights?

what are they? i seem to have forgotten in the PAST EIGHT LONG HARD YEARS

it won't solve all the ills in the entire cosmos, but it's a baby step and that's how to start

(now ask yourself, how could anyone be AGAINST human rights?)

U.S. to Join U.N. Human Rights Council, Reversing Bush Policy

By Colum Lynch

Washington Post Staff Writer

UNITED NATIONS, March 31 -- The Obama administration decided Tuesday to seek a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, reversing a decision by the Bush administration to shun the United Nations' premier rights body to protest the influence of repressive states.

"Human rights are an essential element of American global foreign policy," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement. "With others, we will engage in the work of improving the U.N. human rights system. . . . We believe every nation must live by and help shape global rules that ensure people enjoy the right to live freely and participate fully in their societies."

The United States announced it would participate in elections in May for one of three seats on the 47-member council, joining a slate that includes Belgium and Norway........

i really don't think

THIS was written as a joke. after checking out a few of the other postings, i think it's meant to be real (real fucked up that is)

(ht: feministe)

sham what???????????????

ShamWow Guy In Slap, Chop Bust
TV pitchman battered hooker in South Beach hotel room brawl

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times

did dickens have a hand in writing this story? hmmmmmm

Judge Must Release Woman Sentenced to Jail for Being Poor, ACLU Says in Court Papers

DETROIT – The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan asked for an emergency hearing today on behalf of an Escanaba woman sentenced to 30 days in jail because she is too poor to reimburse the court for her son’s stay in a juvenile detention facility.

“Like many people in these desperate economic times, Ms. Nowlin was laid off from work, lost her home and is destitute,” said Michael J. Steinberg, ACLU of Michigan Legal Director. “Jailing her because of her poverty is not only unconstitutional, it’s unconscionable and a shameful waste of resources. It is not a crime to be poor in this country and the government must stop resurrecting debtor’s prisons from the dustbin of history.”

In December 2008, Ms. Nowlin’s 16-year-old son was sentenced to the Bay Pines Center and Ms. Nowlin was ordered to pay $104 per month for his lodging. At the time of this order, Ms. Nowlin was homeless and working part-time with a friend after being laid off from her job. She told the court that she was unable to pay the ordered amount, however the judge found her in contempt for failing to pay. In addition, Ms. Nowlin’s requests for a court appointed attorney were denied..........

wtf??????????

what's going on? i eat a LOT of peanuts and peanut products. i didn't have to give any of them up from the last recall because i know the source of my peanuts was not from the contamination site.

NOW PISTACHIO NUTS? i'm addicated and i know many others who are as well. what's happening with our food sources? i'd expect this from some countries BUT NOT OURS. how wrong am i?

truth be told i knew about the peanuts this is the FIRST i'm hearing about pistachios

FDA says to avoid pistachios amid salmonella scare

By GARANCE BURKE

The Associated Press

FRESNO, Calif. -- Federal food safety officials warned Monday that consumers should stop eating all foods containing pistachios while they figure out the source of a possible salmonella contamination.

Still reeling from the national salmonella outbreak in peanuts, the Food and Drug Administration said central California-based Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., the nation's second-largest pistachio processor, was voluntarily recalling a portion of the roasted nuts it has been shipping since last fall. A Setton spokeswoman said that amounts to more than 2 million pounds of nuts.

"Our advice to consumers is that they avoid eating pistachio products, and that they hold onto those products," said Dr. David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food safety. "The number of products that are going to be recalled over the coming days will grow, simply because these pistachio nuts have then been repackaged into consumer-level containers."......

the last time i posted a story on guns

i got a very angry comment. the article was about the present administration stopping the absolutely insane law (or whatever the hell it was) about bringing guns into national parks. the person felt with their whole heart and soul they could NOT go into a national park without packing heat. they felt afraid for their lives. well if you're afraid to go to a national park (same is true of not wanting gays marrying DON'T MARRY SOMEONE WHO IS GAY or not 'believing' in having an abortion DON'T HAVE AN ABORTION) DON'T GO TO AN EFFING NATIONAL PARK

now i see this about texas universities (and then read the headline i'll post AFTER the texas gun story)

Colleges line up against allowing guns on campuses
By DAVE MONTGOMERY
AUSTIN — Texas universities are firing back against a bill that would permit students to carry handguns on campus.

Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland, said his bill would be limited to students 21 and older. But campus police chiefs and administrators say the idea of permitting firepower on campus is a potential threat to student safety.

"As one faculty person told me, 'Do you think I want to pass out those F’s and D’s with somebody in the classroom having a gun?’ " said Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth.

Burnam is a member of the House Public Safety Committee, which will consider the legislation at a hearing Monday.

Another North Texan on the committee, Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, said he believes that students should be able to leave guns in their vehicles on campus parking lots. But he said he is keeping an open mind about whether they should be permitted to carry guns elsewhere on campus.

The April 2007 massacre of 32 people at Virginia Tech by a mentally disturbed student ignited a nationwide call for greater safety at colleges. Both sides in the debate over Driver’s bill cite that tragedy in making their case.

"There might have been a lot less people dead" if there had been a legally armed student at Virginia Tech to stop the gunman, Driver said. ..........

and here's that OTHER headline

Eight killed in North Carolina nursing home rampage
(CNN) -- An armed man shot and killed seven patients and a nurse at a Carthage, North Carolina, nursing home Sunday before being wounded during a shootout with a police officer, authorities said. Three other people, including the police officer and a visitor to the nursing home, were wounded in the attack, Carthage Police Chief Chris McKenzie said. The police officer was treated and released, McKenzie said.

The slain patients ranged in age from 78 to 98, Moore County District Attorney Maureen Krueger said. The man accused of carrying out the attack, 45-year-old Robert Stewart, was in custody, and his condition was unknown Sunday night, McKenzie said.

Stewart was not an employee of the Pinelake Health and Rehab Center, and he did not appear to have been related to any of the patients, she said.

"There is still more to be uncovered as far as his purpose in being there," she said.

A witness told CNN affiliate WRAL that Stewart was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and other weapons. The officer who stopped him, Justin Garner, "acted in nothing short of a heroic manner" and probably stopped the carnage from being worse, Krueger said.........


freedom states alliance

because she's OUR earth

not a democratic earth or a liberal earth. she belongs to ALL of us everywhere. we MUST take care of her or we'll lose her and along the way, ourselves as well

i just never understood the actions of the former administration. ignoring or burying all of the warnings we've gotten thus far. turning around laws we already had in place to protect the environment and allowing big bid-nez to spew their filth into our water supplies.

Winds of Change Evident in U.S. Environmental Policy

By Juliet Eilperin

Washington Post Staff Writer

Daniel Reifsnyder, a 25-year State Department veteran, knew even before President Obama was elected that U.S. environmental policy was going to change. So in early November, he called a couple of his Environmental Protection Agency counterparts about drafting documents to lay the groundwork for endorsing a treaty to curb global emissions of toxic mercury.

The Bush administration had resisted proposals for a United Nations-sponsored mercury treaty since at least 2005 on the grounds that voluntary measures were sufficient, but Reifsnyder told his fellow career officials that they had an opportunity to quickly formulate a new U.S. position in time for an upcoming meeting in Nairobi. They knew that as a senator, Obama had sponsored legislation banning the export of mercury overseas and that he was likely to be sympathetic to the treaty proposal.........

very cool

Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

little red riding hood - the animated infographic story

(ht: bifurcated rivets)

there is NO second

theory. the earth IS more than 6,000 years old. humans did NOT ride on the backs of dinosaurs. the universe WAS NOT LITERALLY CREATED IN SIX DAYS.

giving even one little iota to the cranks and kooks and religious zealots who spew these inaccuracies is not only stupid it's dangerous

on the surface, one would think the texas decision was a victory for evolution. it's not really. there are far too many roadblocks

yet ANOTHER reason to be embarrassed to be human

State education board approves science standards
New standards remove specific references to age of the universe.
By Laura Heinauer
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

The State Board of Education on Friday passed science curriculum standards that members described as a compromise between those who are critical of teaching evolutionary theories without scrutiny and those who feared attacks on evolution would lead to the teaching of creationism in Texas schools.

After the 13-2 vote, it was social conservatives on the board who were doing most of the celebrating while scientists expressed concerns.

The new standards remove current requirements that students be taught the "strengths and weaknesses" of scientific theories. Instead, teachers will be required to have students scrutinize "all sides" of the theories.

The new standards will determine what will be included in science textbooks in Texas. Because of its size, Texas could influence what publishers print in books used in other states. Friday's adoption comes after many months of debate over drafts for the standards, which were last revised in 1998.

On the one hand, the standards encourage questions about certain evolutionary concepts, satisfying those who are critical of the theory. But those supportive of evolution were partly mollified because calls to teach "insufficiencies" or "weaknesses" of the theory were rejected..................

more proof

torture doesn't work. one WILL say what one thinks his/her captors wish to hear.

we cannot be savages. we are NOT savages. we cannot and must not torture

Detainee's Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots
Waterboarding, Rough Interrogation of Abu Zubaida Produced False Leads, Officials Say

By Peter Finn and Joby Warrick

Washington Post Staff Writers

When CIA officials subjected their first high-value captive, Abu Zubaida, to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, they were convinced that they had in their custody an al-Qaeda leader who knew details of operations yet to be unleashed, and they were facing increasing pressure from the White House to get those secrets out of him.

The methods succeeded in breaking him, and the stories he told of al-Qaeda terrorism plots sent CIA officers around the globe chasing leads.

In the end, though, not a single significant plot was foiled as a result of Abu Zubaida's tortured confessions, according to former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations. Nearly all of the leads attained through the harsh measures quickly evaporated, while most of the useful information from Abu Zubaida -- chiefly names of al-Qaeda members and associates -- was obtained before waterboarding was introduced, they said...........