November 2, 2011 • 1 note •

You'll Sleep When The Crushing Loneliness Subsides

God damn it.

November 1, 2011 • 1 note • • islamico

BBC News - Kenya warns al-Shabab of bombing by Twitter

islamico:

These are starving refugees without water, food, or electricity, much less Twitter accounts.

October 31, 2011 •
Hee.

Hee.

September 26, 2011 • 1 note • • islamico

BBC News - First step for Saudi women's rights

islamico:

September 26, 2011 • 1 note • • islamico

The (un)manageable crisis | Opinion | DAWN.COM

This is the narrative.

Afghanistan is a mess, always was a mess and probably always will be a mess.

But turmoil is relative. As long as foreign forces are waging a full-blown war in Afghanistan, the turmoil will remain at its maximum.

For reasons of history and culture, the establishment narrative goes, the Afghans will never accept a massive foreign footprint on their soil.

Unhappily, the American superpower thought it could rewrite history. Its war machine felt it could defeat the Taliban and tame Afghanistan.

What was Pakistan to do as the mighty American bull snorted and dug at the ground with its hooves? Get out of the way and let it charge at the puny Talibs, that`s what.

The result was always going to be the same. The cunning Afghans would dodge the charging American bull forever and plunge their rusty swords into its back whenever they could. The mightiest war machine in history would eventually be brought to its knees, exhausted and out of money and the will to fight.

Didn’t the US govt watch the Princess Bride? Never get involved in a land war in Asia.

Inconceivable.

September 21, 2011 •

Iran Hikers Release: Jailed Americans Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal Freed From Prison

This is kind of a big deal. Our office has been inundated with requests to comment on the situation as it evolved, and we are definitely thrilled to see that the entire situation has come to an end. Congrats to the families, and here’s hoping the guys are physically and mentally alright after their less than idyllic stay in the lovely and hospitable country of Iran…

September 21, 2011 • 10 notes • • islamico

Postcards from Hell: Failed States from around the World

islamico:

Foreign Policy’s Elizabeth Dickinson chronicles, in words and pictures, 60 states around the world which can be labeled “failed.” Below are the first 15, including their scores and her brief explanation of the terminology.

Hear the words “failed state,” and a certain unshakable set of images likely floods your vision. There is poverty, insecurity, and a disregard for human dignity. Families fight for their survival, and political regimes fight to extend their rule. Some weak states are simply geographical aspirations on a map, filled with destitution and squalor. Others are, if anything, too strong; citizens of Zimbabwe and Syria might be better off if their countries’ security forces weren’t quite so good at repression.

This is the world of the fragile state — a world that is a grim reality for an alarming percentage of the global population. A quarter of the world’s human beings live in the 60 worst-ranking countries on the 2011 Failed States Index (FSI), which examines the year 2010. Here’s a glimpse of their daily existence.

1. SOMALIA
FSI Score: 113.4

2. CHAD
FSI Score: 110.3

3. SUDAN
FSI Score: 108.7

4.DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
FSI Score: 108.2

5. HAITI
FSI Score: 108.0

6. ZIMBABWE
FSI Score: 107.9

7. AFGHANISTAN
FSI Score: 107.5

8. CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
FSI Score: 105.0

9. IRAQ
FSI Score: 104.8

10. IVORY COAST
FSI Score: 102.8

11. GUINEA
FSI Score: 102.5

12. PAKISTAN
FSI Score: 102.3

13. YEMEN
FSI Score: 100.3

14. NIGERIA
FSI Score: 99.9

15. NIGER
FSI Score: 99.1

September 8, 2011 • 141 notes • • extrawiggleroom

extrawiggleroom:

Happy Thursday! I’m trying to include a cross-section of where real discussion is going on, whether people have a positive or negative outlook on the photos and the AA contest. Please email/tweet/post any original content I seem to be missing. I’d love to add any to the list, ESPECIALLY if they offer good counterpoints to my actions. 

Lively and objective debates on the internet, FTW!

Jezebel

Huffington Post

The Frisky

Feministe

Bitch Media

Put This On

Papillon Oui

Shaped By My Life

Reddit 

Madison Plus

The Siren

Madmoizelle

Bloginity

Also, you can still Vote here for one more day.

Or, instead of voting me up, send an email to the editor of your favorite fashion magazine/blog and request to see more of the talented models from the “contest!” Or, you know, do both. Really entirely up to you.

PS. Fashion Week starts tomorrow, right? Supposedly Dov Charney will be out and about in NYC. Just sayin’, if somebody wants to run into him and ask about the contest and mention me by name or photo and maybe capture it all on video I’d maybe possibly send them something cool in the mail or dosomethingcrazyIdunnojustathought. :)

Nancy Upton is fucking awesome.

September 6, 2011 • 2 notes • • islamico

islamico:

Noam Chomsky discusses the history of Arab and American sentiment towards each other—and the Arabs towards their own neighbors.

Chomsky says unequivocally that colonial history has had a tangible effect on current terror campaigns. He also references Britain’s reaction to IRA terrorism, and states that neither the US nor Britain took as their first concern the welfare of the populace of Iraq when weighing the costs and benefits of initial invasion. They acknowledged—and it came to pass—that terror would increase. Chomsky notes it increased “seven-fold.” This is not to say that these countries were not concerned about the indigenous population—rather there were other factors which were valued above and beyond human capital.

We’re 10 years outside of this terrible tragedy. It is time to reframe the debate and reframe our questions. We have to look at the entire picture. We can’t bomb tribal areas into oblivion in the search for a few shadowy characters, claim “victory” and call it a day. We have to figure out what structural inadequacies lead a person to inflict violence on their fellow man and address those. And we’re missing that chance right now in Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

September 5, 2011 •

Did Michele Bachmann Say They Should Drill The Everglades? 'Cause She Meant To Say They Should Drill Responsibly

The problem with this kind of crap is that some Americans believe it is as easy as a politician saying “if you vote me in, gas will be 2$ a gallon!”—and it SO isn’t. Even if we were to open up Alaska and Florida and the Gulf and everyone’s backyards to drilling, the oil that comes out IS NOT immediately available for sale and use. 

The RESPONSIBLE thing to do would be to invest more time and money into alternative energy sources, which would free us from dependance not just on foreign oil but on our own domestic oil. Oil IS NOT renewable. FYI.

Brain freeze. Rant over.

September 3, 2011 •

DWTS Audience Are Total Assholes About Chaz Bono

America never fails to disappoint. The ignorance, bigotry, and petty nonsense on ABC’s message boards are enough to make you sick. 

September 3, 2011 •

Obama Nixes EPA's Proposed Smog Standards

this is beyond screwed up. no me gusta.

August 23, 2011 • 4 notes •

Jezebel explains the east coast earthquake

Invisible Godzilla for sure.

August 23, 2011 • 9 notes • • firewithwater

Promiscuous women cause earthquakes, Iran cleric says - CNN.com

firewithwater:

Ah, that’s cause it happened last year.

The prayer leader, Hojatoleslam Kazim Sadeghi, says women and girls who “don’t dress appropriately” spread “promiscuity in society.”

“When promiscuity spreads, earthquakes increase,” he says in a video posted Monday on YouTube, apparently of him leading Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran, last week.“There is no way other than taking refuge in religion and adapting ourselves to Islamic behavior,” he adds in the video.

Well there you have it. Cover up the breasticles, world! DC can’t handle these sorts of shenanigans! Books fell down! Lawn furniture was in disarray! I was forced to sit in the sun for 90 minutes! Wait…

When in doubt, blame it on the promiscuous.

August 23, 2011 • 4 notes •

Gawker weighs in on East Coast Quake

Listen, we know the average Californian was born amid a thundering 7.5 magnitude quake and popped out directly into a mudslide. We’ve all read tales of how the bright pioneers of San Francisco bathe their young in tsunamis and kill mountain lions for sport (and yet would shrivel and die if the temperature fell below 65.)

But can we wimpy East Coasters just have our moment of absolutely shitting ourselves in fear as our non-earthquake-proofed buildings wobble and creak around us? Can we crawl around on our carpets to survey the paltry damage—look, a book fell off a shelf! That could have given someone a serious goose-egg!—without some Californian standing smugly in the doorframe like they learned in grade school, chewing on a PowerBar from the earthquake preparedness kit they carry around in a Lakers fanny pack at all times?

We deserve our fear, California. Because of 9/11! This earthquake could have been another 9/11, for all we knew. Yeah, didn’t think you had anything to say to that.

so THERE.