Suggested by Shaker Emily: "What is your favourite family recipe, and what makes it so special?"
z8_GND_5296
An international team of astronomers has, using the Hubble Space Telescope, detected the most distant galaxy yet to be discovered.
The galaxy is about 30 billion light-years away and is helping scientists shed light on the period that immediately followed the Big Bang.Neat!
It was found using the Hubble Space Telescope and its distance was then confirmed with the ground-based Keck Observatory in Hawaii.
The study is published in the journal Nature.
Because it takes light so long to travel from the outer edge of the Universe to us, the galaxy appears as it was 13.1 billion years ago.
Lead researcher Steven Finkelstein, from the University of Texas at Austin, US, said: "This is the most distant galaxy we've confirmed. We are seeing this galaxy as it was 700 million years after the Big Bang."
The far-off galaxy goes by the catchy name of z8_GND_5296.
...The system is small: about 1-2% the mass of the Milky Way and is rich in heavier elements.
But it has a surprising feature: it is turning gas and dust into new stars at a remarkable rate, churning them out hundreds of times faster than our own galaxy can.
It is the second far-flung galaxy known that has been found to have a high star-production rate.
Prof Finkelstein said: "One very interesting way to learn about the Universe is to study these outliers and that tells us something about what sort of physical processes are dominating galaxy formation and galaxy evolution. What was great about this galaxy is not only is it so distant, it is also pretty exceptional."
P.S. We are all made of stars.
Discussion Thread: Interpersonal Dealbreakers
A friend of mine asked me to consider today what are the non-negotiables in my interactions with other people, be they intimate relationships, professional relationships, activist work, pastimes, etc.
I answered: "1. Respect that I am the definitive expert on my own life. 2. Emotional honesty. 3. Center consent. Everything else I value seems to flow from those three things."
So: What are your non-negotiables?
(Naturally, acknowledging that even "non-negotiables" are sometimes subject to terrible bargaining, and that what seems non-negotiable at one time in your life may change with experience or circumstance. Among about a dozen other additional reasons why I trust none of us will audit each other's responses in this thread.)
I Hate Pranks, Part Eleventy-Sixteen
[Content Note: Bullying; betrayal.]
Last night, Iain and I caught a piece of some garbage show that featured THE BEST PRANKS!!!1! on the internet. (Television shows that are nothing more than terrible compilations of internet videos for broadcast are a whole other post.) The prank that was airing when we turned on the TV was played on a guy who was obsessed with the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. If you're not familiar with the PCH, it's basically people exchanging their personal information to a marketing company in the hope of winning one of their lotteries, which are delivered on-camera to winners' front doors by a balloon-wielding dude in a cheap suit.
So, this guy's friends decided to prank him by staging a fake PCH win. They hired a camera crew and an actor to deliver the giant check, complete with balloons. And they sent them to their friend's front door, to tell him he'd won $5,000 a week for the rest of his life. Naturally, he was pretty excited! He kept asking, "Is this real?" and he was assured it was. He called his friend—the jackass playing the prank—to share the good news.
Watching this, Iain and I were writhing in discomfort. "This isn't funny; it's so cruel!" Iain exclaimed. "FUCK PRANKS!" I shouted. "I HATE PRANKS!" We fixed our gazes on the screen, as if somehow we could will this out of existence, as if our concentrated hatred of what was happening might tear a hole in the space-time continuum and Eternal Sunshine this terrible experience out of this poor guy's head.
Eventually, the man is asked to recreate his moment of surprise for the cameras. When he opens the door the second time, it's his stupid mean friend, laughing at him. The man is crushed. He punches a mirror. He says, "This was the happiest day of life." It is an accusation.
We turn it off. I say to Iain, "And not only did they do this to him; they posted it online."
Pranks are fucking terrible. Pranksters are bullies.
And, like every other iteration of someone arguing against cruelty, the merry pranksters and their vicariously sadistic fans have always at the ready a rhetorical arsenal full of "humorless!" ready to be unleashed at anyone who dares to suggest that pranks are selfish, manipulative, potentially harmful garbage.
Never mind that many targets of "pranking" are not so much objecting as they are expressing the pain of being triggered or betrayed or exploited for someone else's amusement. Shock humor can be an absolute nightmare for many veterans and other survivors of trauma, for some people who are neuro-atypical, for people with anxiety disorders, among others—well beyond the common "I hate being pranked" reaction that a lot of people without additional considerations have.
And part of the reason prank-hating nofunnerjerks like me point this out over and over and over is because lots of pranks go terribly wrong, in ways sometimes far worse than a ruined friendship, which is itself pretty awful.
When things do wrong, the merry pranksters always insist that "no one could have predicted" it. Except here I am, predicting it! Your prank could go terribly wrong! It is a very real possibility, no matter how much you envision an outcome in which the pranked-upon person is laughing at their own fright or betrayal or humiliation.
You see, there are a lot of people in the world who—by virtue of a whole host of reasons spanning natural dispositions as well as the fucked-up things that humans do to each other—don't have the capacity, every day or any day, to safely and easily process being "pranked." And, the thing is, if you're the sort of dirtbag who gets off on pranking your friend for your own amusement, there's a good chance you're also the kind of person to whom your friends don't expose their vulnerabilities.
The last person anyone's going to tell about, say, a history of abuse is someone who they suspect might use it against them; someone who hears "I got bullied in high school and shoved in a locker by bigger kids" and thinks, "Oh man, how AWESOME would it be to shove you in a locker and see what happens?!"
Which means that the friends and family and colleagues of pranksters might project a seemingly less-than-average vulnerability, as a strategy of self-protection.
And then the pranksters claim "I never knew that about hir!" and "Who could've predicted?" after it's too late. But there are people who could've predicted. There are people who are predicting. It's a damnable lie that no one can conceive of harm caused by pranks.
It's a damnable lie told by shameless heapshits who want to pretend that their individual antipathy is universal ignorance.
It isn't.
Enough with the pranks, pranksters. You are hurting people. Just stop.
Quote of the Day
"There are times when you must speak, not because you are going to change the other person, but because if you don't speak, they have changed you."—My friend Maud, whom I still miss every day.
Daily Dose of Cute
Dudley and Olivia, just hanging out, keeping an eye on things.
It's not that he's small—he is a 75-lb greyhound who is taller than I am when he stands on his back legs. It's that she is A GINORMOUS CAT. She is very long and very tall and very stocky. Which makes her sooooo squeezable! But she hates being squeezed, except by Iain, who can do no wrong in Olivia's eyes.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
The Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by sunshine.
Recommended Reading:
Mannion: Obamacare Under Construction
Sally Stevens, Elizabeth Stahmer, and Cecile McKee: [Content Note: Abuse of people and animmals] The Link Between Domestic Violence and Animal Abuse
18MR: [CN: Racism; misogyny; harassment] 'Man Banter' Fails to Amuse
Via email, an update on the above story, care of 18MR: "Thanks again for covering this story. Here's a little update, which speaks volumes about the culture we're trying to change. Yesterday, 18MillionRising members took to SiriusXM's Facebook page and Media Relations phone lines to ask why the company hasn't done anything about Mike Babchik's abuse and lies. Phone calls were neither answered nor returned, and SiriusXM social media managers deleted comments asking about the case. We're looking for a real response from SiriusXM: no more unanswered emails, voicemails, and deleted social media posts!" If you're on Twitter, you can also tweet at SiriusXM here.
Jacob: [CN: Homophobia] Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce Comes out against Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment
Angry Asian Man: [CN: Cancer; racism] "Asian women don't get breast cancer." False.
Fannie: [CN: MRA stuff; misogyny; violence] Another Mainstream Journalist Discovers MRAs
Jess: [CN: Misogyny] On Female Fans of the NFL
Miss Cellania: [CN: Childhood illness] Hear Me Roar
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
TV Corner: Agents of SHIELD
[Content Note: Discussions of violence. Spoilers for the most recent episode of Agents of SHIELD.]
"People think I was wrong about something, and now I am grumpy."
In this episode of Agents of SHIELD, more reversals about Skye's motivations lead to more explicit commentary on how whistleblowers risk lives and shadowy government agencies with no oversight or accountability totally try to save them! (Except when Bad People, as so designated by shadowy government agencies, need to die, obvs.) I dunno, you guys. I had a handful of vague expectations and apprehensions for Agents of SHIELD, but "rank apologia for the NSA" wasn't among them.
Anyway. We join a new bloke named Chan Ho Yin in Hong Kong, where he is doing disappointing street magic for an unenthusiastic crowd. He suddenly conjures a fireball in the palm of his hand and launches it at a disinterested couple of observers, who quickly leave. A pretty young woman in a flowered dress named Raina is, however, impressed. He takes her back to his apartment, where she asks him about his mad fire skillz and he is remarkably forthcoming with a total stranger about his secret power that has warranted personal SHIELD protection. Whoooooooops it turns out she only wants to get into his pants to do experiments on him, and two men in fireproof suits kidnap him.
Meanwhile, back at SHIELD HQ, Chan's handler Agent Kwan informs Agent Coulson and Co. that Chan has disappeared. Something something Skye's hacker group Rising Tide is responsible for disclosing Chan's whereabouts. Skye swears it wasn't her and uses her hack-magic to identify that it was Rising Tider Miles of Austin, Texas. The team travels to Austin, where Coulson chases Miles, and Miles hacks Coulson into a traffic jam, and Skye is waiting for Miles back at his apartment, where she tells him she's "getting close" and he is fucking her shit up. OH NOES! Is Skye pranking SHIELD after all?! We'll have to wait to find out until after Skye and Miles do it.
Something something fucky times. Afterwards, Skye opens the bedroom door to find Melinda May standing there scowling at her. The Calvary is kinda creepy! Skye and Miles are taken into SHIELD custody, and Agent Coulson is pouting because his gut was wrong about Skye. (OR WAS IT?!) Skye swears it's not what it looks like, but she's still hiding something.
Meanwhile, at Nefarious Baddies HQ, Chan is given a serum to make him super powerful. Now he's not just some David Blaine wannabe (that is the most depressing career trajectory ever); now he's a superhero/villain called Scorch! This boy is on fire! He is also drunk with his own fiery power. This is going to end badly.
The doctor who almost got blowed up in the pilot shows up and confabs with Raina. It turns out they're just using Chan to steal his blood platelets in order to stop their enhanced subjects from exploding. Like the guy in the pilot. Remember? Something something Centipede.
SHIELD has to rescue Chan before everything goes up in smoke (literally), and they take the building from its rooftop, only to lose Agent Kwan instantly in a tower of fire. It's a good thing he showed up this episode so someone from SHIELD could die and we could all feel bad (but not TOO bad!) and have a reason to be mad at Chan instead of viewing him as the tragic figure he actually is.
Meanwhile, back at SHIELD HQ, Skye and Miles have a Meaningful Conversation about how he is a dirtbag for selling information, and SHIELD is trying to protect the guy he put in harm's way. And I have many problems with the way this conversation goes, not least of which is how Chan's agency is totally erased from this equation, as well as the circumstances of his life, which include the terrible and worse options of effectively being a prisoner of SHIELD or being exploited by Centipede.
Meanwhile, back at Nefarious Baddies HQ, Chan immolates the doctor, then pauses his fiery rampage just long enough for all the SHIELDies to escape from the building before blowing up. Kaboom. Fire ball. RIP Scorch.
Raina has also escaped, and she heads to a dirty prison to meet with a craggy man and tells him to touch base with the Clairvoyant so they can proceed to Stage 3 now that Stage 2: No More Boomies is complete. He likes her dress. She knows.
Miles is released back into the wild with a fancy bracelet that SHIELD will use to track and control him. Goodbye, Miles! You are not the person Skye thought you were! Skye gets a bracelet, too, even after Coulson demands she reveal her secret and she does: All she knows of her birth parents is a redacted SHIELD document. Let us hope this Mysterious Origin Story now replaces the Skye's Dubious Allegiance Arc, which has overstayed its welcome.
Also: Chiseled White Hero, Fitz, and Simmons were definitely in this episode.
Discuss.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today!
Jofi Joseph, a director in the non-proliferation section of the National Security Staff at the White House, has been fired after it was discovered he was responsible for the @natsecwonk Twitter account from which he had been tweeting criticisms of members of the administration as well as prominent conservatives. "What started out as an intended parody account of DC culture developed over time into a series of inappropriate and mean-spirited comments." Okay, player.
Democratic Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin posted on Facebook that, during a shutdown negotiation, a leading House Republican said to President Barack Obama: "I cannot even stand to look at you." Because that party has no respect for this President.
[Content Note: Guns] Gun owners are using Instagram to privately sell guns, thus evading background checks. Because of course they are. I will never stop mirthlessly laughing at people who incessantly invoke the second amendment of the US Constitution while shouting about their rights and freedoms and THE LAW, but have nothing but contempt for any law that doesn't suit them.
Darren Black Bear and Jason Pickel of Oklahoma City will be married in the sovereign nation of the Cheyenne Arapahoe Tribe, since same-sex marriage is still not legal in the state of Oklahoma.
Gallup finds that a majority of USians now favor legalizing marijuana: "For the first time, a clear majority of Americans (58%) say the drug should be legalized."
Would you like to read a sweet story and/or watch a video about a couple who met and fell in love on Instagram? If so, here it is!
Neat: "A purring monkey, a vegetarian piranha, and a flame-patterned lizard are among more than 400 new species of animals and plants that have been discovered in the past four years in the Amazon rainforest."
Are you a fan of Anchorman and ice cream? Well, then you might enjoy Ben & Jerry's new limited-run flavor: Ron Burgundy's Scotchy Scotch Scotch.
So Here's the Deal
[Content note: Transphobia, terrorism]
In the past year, I've seen an escalating series of bullying aimed at my trans* sisters. A group of women (led by one woman in particular) has been harassing them on social media. In various cases, my friends and sisters have been outed to employers, social groups, and doctors.
On Monday and Tuesday, a new (but prominent) website published an interview with the lead bully, the woman who's been terrorizing trans* women, followed by a profile of two trans women, one of whom doesn't particularly like other trans* women or otherwise think that we qualify as women. (I guess the trans* woman who doesn't think we're women was there for "balance.") The general tone of the articles was that the terrorist and the trans woman are both "polarizing" figures playing roles in an evolving controversy.
Like hell.
This week's profiles are new developments, but the bullying is something trans* women have been dealing with for a while. I haven't felt the need to say much publicly, because there simply isn't much to say—there's a group of women terrorizing trans* women, attempting to destroy these women's lives, as well as that of anyone else who dares to object. I have words of comfort and support for my sisters, but there's not a lot for me to gain by stating the obvious. I'm opposed to the persecution of trans* women. You already knew that, right?
In response to the latest incident, I'm faced with two choices.
First, I can speak out in as much detail as possible to document what's happened. This will:
Re-victimize women who have already been outed, forcing them to re-live the trauma of seeing personal information about them (correct or not) strewn about the web
Give the bullies that are looking for a bigger platform precisely that
Drive traffic to the website that hopes to profit from using trans* women's oppression as clickbait.
My second option is to say nothing. This will:
Render the acts of violence against my fellow trans* women invisible, which will make it harder for me to convince folks that I'm not making shit up the next time (and all the times after that) that bigots target my sisters and me
Allow the bullies the relative anonymity necessary to keep perpetuating their campaign of terror
Allow the "feminist" website in question to avoid what should be a major, credibility destroying scandal.
This is why folks keep quiet. It's not a new dynamic, and bullies and venture-capital backed start-ups know damn well how it works.
Here's what I suggest:
1) Don't read publications that give voice to bullies, or patronize companies that advertise therein. Make sure that all involved know why you're making that choice.
2) Continue to speak out against trans* phobia and other bigotry. I'm not just talking about the most violent bullying, I'm talking about all the micro-aggressions that make it possible for a publication to think that it's okay to portray trans* women and people who seek to bully trans* women out of existence as if they're two equally valid sides of an interesting debate.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Anthym_Rene: "What book do you wish you could read again for the first time?"
I love this question! Even though I can't think of an answer. Rather, I can think of too many possible answers—so many books that made me feel something profound, that I devoured in a single sitting, that I desperately didn't want to end.
I suppose I will give as an answer A Tale of Two Cities, a book I used to read every year, but stopped reading so that one day it might feel new again.
Photo of the Day
"I am the one who knocks...and says TRICK OR TREAT!"
Justin at Laughing Squid writes: "Winnipeg, Canada-based artist Tripperfunster has carved a Halloween pumpkin and made it look like teacher-turned-meth-cook Walter White from AMC's Breaking Bad." THE BEST.
I Got Your Badge in Communist Campfire Cooking Right Here
[Content note: homophobia, misogyny, religious oppression.]
Girl Scouts and former Scouts beware! Right-wing radio pastor Kevin Swanson is on to us:
Swanson warned that the “wicked” Girl Scouts are promoting “lesbianism” and abortion, calling the cookies “food offered to idols.”...Swanson added that Girl Scouts are creating a generation of independent women who will put a “communist in the White House” and promote the “gay and lesbian agenda.”
He warned that “lots and lots of lesbians” attend Girl Scout conventions and criticized the Girl Scouts for hosting Houston Mayor Annise Parker and musician Sara Bareilles.
And just in case the scope of our iniquity wasn't fully clear, his co-host elaborated:
Buehner alleged that girls shouldn’t participate in Girl Scout sales because they might then think it is acceptable to be “a woman who is going to compete with men in the marketplace,” when they should train their daughters on how to become “a woman who will be a helpmeet to a man so he can compete in the marketplace.”
Hmmmm... let me check my badge vest. I know I have one in "Ignoring my Helpmeet-y Duties" somewhere, along with "Taking a Man's God-given Job Away."
Still working on the "Put a Commie in the White House" one, though.
You can read and listen to fuller excerpts at Right Wing Watch, if you have the stomach and the time to waste. Personally, I'mma put those precious minutes to good use, offering Girl Scout cookies to my idols, Steampunk Abortion Robot and Karl Marx Fashion Doll.
Feel free to share your favourite un-godly badges in comments!
[BIG h/t to elle.]
I Wouldn't Even if I Could
[Content Note: Fat hatred; diet talk; sexual violence.]
"Just ignore it."
This is advice I have been given on countless occasions, regarding the abundant fat hatred that permeates every aspect, every crevice, of our culture. It is offered by people who love me, and don't want me to be hurt by the messages that tell me I am less than, that I am weak and lazy and grotesque and worthless, and it is offered by people who hate me, who want to be able to disgorge their hostility toward people who look like me without evidence of consequence, who seek to oblige me to stop taking all the fun out of their bigotry.
It is offered by people who believe that my having a reaction, any sort of reaction at all, to being demeaned, is evidence of over-sensitivity. Never is it evidence that someone who engages in fat hatred is not sensitive enough.
It is offered by people who tell me that I shouldn't be offended, or don't have a right to be—people who mistake for offense what is actually contempt.
It is offered by people who believe that urging me to ignore fat hatred is a way of protecting me, even though what "ignore" effectively means is "do not publicly react to." Don't acknowledge it. Don't process your feelings about it. Don't say out loud, certainly not out loud, that it's wrong. That would just make everyone uncomfortable.
Better that I alone should be uncomfortable instead.
Reacting only empowers the bullies, say well-meaning people, who I know to be intelligent enough to understand that this is not true. Failing to react, silence, empowers bullies. Letting bullying go unchallenged empowers bullies. A lack of accountability empowers bullies. But my reacting makes everyone squirm, so that is why I am told that reacting would be A Bad Thing.
Reacting is not A Bad Thing. Self-defense is not A Bad Thing. Dignity, humanity, self-esteem are not Bad Things.
Just ignore it.
Just ignore it and trade my dignity, my humanity, my self-esteem for your temporary comfort.
Just ignore it, because we wouldn't want things to get awkward.
For the people who have made me a target.
Embedded in this advice, this recommendation to just ignore it, is the implication—an accusation—that there's something wrong with me if I fail to ignore it. That this is something I should be able to do.
It is a thing said, an accusation made, by people who do not understand what they are suggesting.
Ignore the body shaming and food policing and fat hatred, self-directed or aimed at others, which are routine parts of conversations with family members and friends.
Ignore the adverts—on social media, on news sites, on billboards, on radio, on television, in newspapers, in magazine, on the sides of buses, anywhere and everywhere that an advertisement can be placed—for weight loss drugs and diet plans and workout regimens and body-shaping clothing and bariatric surgeries and liposuction and all the new and shiny ways in which I can (and should!) mutilate my body in order to look more aesthetically pleasing.
Ignore the fat jokes and weight-based bullying that goes on around me all the time. Ignore it when it gets shouted at me from passing cars. Ignore it when it shows up in every single show I watch on television, even the ones that are supposed to be anti-bullying, pro-diversity, centered around some belief in kindness. Ignore it when it's in my Twitter feed. Ignore it when it's in this hilarious new meme that Progressive Celebrity just posted on Facebook. Ignore it in nearly every film I watch. Ignore it in the comments of my own blog. Ignore it in the comments of most blogs. Ignore it on the comments of my YouTube videos, where people can't wait to let me know I'm fat, as if I may not have noticed. Ignore it in my inbox. Ignore the fat jokes and weight-based bullying everywhere I look and listen.
Ignore the dearth of positive images of fat people. Ignore that the most visible images of fat people I see are the "headless fatties" accompanying news reports about the "war on obesity." Ignore that I live in a culture where there is a "war on obesity."
Ignore dehumanizing and eliminationist campaigns against fat people. Ignore the ones that are not overtly eliminationist, but simply ask fat people to make our bodies do things they cannot do so we can turn ourselves into people we are not. And ignore the ones that are explicitly eliminationist—the ones that suggest fat people should be rounded up and dispatched, before we ruin the country.
Ignore fat hatred at my doctor's office. Ignore it when I'm shopping for clothes. Ignore it when I'm eating in public. Ignore it when I'm grocery shopping. Ignore it when I'm getting on an airplane. Ignore it when I'm sitting on a bus. Ignore it when I'm standing in line at the post office, or buying coffee, or doing any one of the dozens of ordinary tasks that any person does which can turn into a gauntlet of glares and stares and sneers and comments just because I am fat.
Ignore the things I am not allowed to do, the places I can't fit, because I am fat. Ignore the things I'm told overtly that fat women "don't" or "can't" or "shouldn't" do, and the things I'm not so subtly discouraged from doing, and the things I can't do, like buy a Halloween costume in a local store that isn't just a giant sack, because I am fat.
Ignore the people who tell me no one would rape me because I am fat. (Whoops.) Ignore the people who tell me I should be raped because I am fat.
Ignore the constant conflations of fatness with evil and stupidity. No better way to show that a character is a villain, or a rube, than to make hir enormously fat.
Ignore the people who send me long and detailed missives about what my sex life with my husband must be like, because I am fat. Ignore the people who send me emails to tell me my husband probably doesn't fuck me at all, because I am fat. Ignore the people who email to me tell me he isn't attracted to me because I am fat. Ignore the people who email me to tell me he is only attracted to me because I am fat.
Ignore the things I know to be true—that fat people have a more difficult time getting hired, that fat people make less money, that fat people are passed over for promotions, that fat people are viewed by bosses and colleagues as lazier and less ambitious than their coworkers; that fat people have a more difficult time accessing healthcare and getting the right diagnoses; that fat people are charged more for products and services when there is no valid justification for it.
Ignore that it's still totally okay for a thin actor to wear a fat suit.
Ignore every time I hear someone wish the worst curse of which they can conceive on another person: "I hope zie gets FAT."
Ignore the cruelty I see directed at other fat people all the time. Ignore when someone exceptionalizes me. I didn't mean you. Ignore that I am constantly obliged to participate in my own marginalization and/or the marginalization of others.
Ignore that many people underestimate me because I'm fat. That they think I am not as smart as I am, or not as strong as I am, or not as hardworking as I am, or not as clean as I am, or not as loved as I am. Ignore that these prejudices influence my life, and my opportunities, in ways I don't even always know, can't even always identify.
Ignore all of these things, and all of the things I haven't put into words.
Tell me, I say to the person urging me to "just ignore it." What would it take for you to 'ignore" what you encounter virtually every moment of your every day?
I can't ignore it. And I wouldn't even if I could.
Who I am, who I want to be, depends on my not ignoring that I am despised. Who I am depends on my greeting that hatred head-on, and pushing back on it with all the strength in my strong, tough, fat body.
I will not behave like a person who isn't full of gumption. I will walk into the world each day with my head held high, and I will react when someone tries to lower my chin and slow my stride.
I will not just ignore it. Don't even ask me to try.
The Capitalists
Richard Wolff: US Politics' True Bipartisan Consensus: Capitalism Is Untouchable.
Yup.
Daily Dose of Cute
Snuggly little puppeh.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Quote of the Day
"He has all of the earmarks of a Marxist dictator."—Professor of Smartology at Genius University Glenn Beck, on President Obama.
As Kyle notes at the link, "Presumably Beck meant that Obama has all of the 'hallmarks' of a dictator, because 'earmarks' doesn't make any sense."
