Politically Nerdy

"People often say with pride, ‘I’m not interested in politics.’ They might as well say, ‘I’m not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, my freedoms, my future, or any future.’" -Martha Gelhorn

[politicallynerdy]

How Putin Outsmarted Obama: By Completely Surrendering All To His Demands http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/09/how-putin-outsmarted-obama-by.html

[tastefullyoffensive]

[via]

[inothernews]

We can only imagine what a heartbreaking and exhausting week it’s been for you and your city. But do know your newsroom colleagues here in Chicago and across the country stand in awe of your tenacious coverage. You make us all proud to be journalists. We can’t buy you lost sleep, so at least let us pick up lunch.

A letter, accompanying several boxes of pizza, sent by staffers at the CHICAGO TRIBUNE to their friends at the Boston Globe.

As the folks at the Globe said, classy to the core.

(via Romenesko)

[sandandglass]

That’s John Howard, Australia’s Prime Minister at the time of the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996. After the massacre, he prompted the passing of gun control laws throughout Australia. Gun buy-back programs resulted in the destruction of 600,000 guns, private sales were prohibited, guns were required to be individually registered to their owners and assault weapons were banned or heavily restricted. The result? Gun homicides reduced 59%, gun suicides dropped 65% and there have been no mass shootings since (4 or more deaths at one time).  

[tpfnewsdesk-deactivated20181216]

Senators Graham and McCain, if Dzhohkar Tsarnaev is tried as an enemy combatant, we would not be exercising American values. There is a reason due process exists for citizens. True justice requires due process. Try Dzhohkar in American court and find him guilty. If we don’t give him due process, our American values are meaningless. It would mean that the American government could withhold from American citizens rights that are guaranteed to them by the Constitution.

His actions are still egregiously heinous and macabre, but he deserves to be tried in American court where justice can properly be served.

[sandandglass]

[moviemeatloaf]

A line from The Hangover comes to mind here: You[Fox News] are literally too stupid to insult.

[taoistsoul-deactivated20131214]

Wait, wut?! I don’t have a Constitutional right to have sex? I’m moving to Canada!

[tpfnewsdesk-deactivated20181216]

And speaking of that, here’s an outrageous fact that many of you may or may not know: male products such as medicine for erectile dysfunction and male enhancement are 100% covered by most insurance companies, yet birth control/contraception/abortions are not covered by most insurances. So, basically, a man can get a woman pregnant after using Viagra (covered by his insurance), but the woman he impregnates can’t get the morning-after pill or an abortion because it’s not covered by her insurance.

Something’s wrong with that picture!

Correct me if I’m wrong on my comments. Please.

[howtosucceedinwhoring-blog-blog]

1) our President is a Prime Minister

2) our Prime Minister is a She

3) She is an Atheist

and we have had ‘Obamacare’ for like… ever

[holdmydiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-blog]

[greenteashawty]

Lmao

[nettumbles]

the best response^

[azspot]

SENATORS say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets. The fear that those children who survived the massacre must feel every time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering that they loved them, so that love would be the last thing the students heard if the gunman found them. On Wednesday, a minority of senators gave into fear and blocked common-sense legislation that would have made it harder for criminals and people with dangerous mental illnesses to get hold of deadly firearms — a bill that could prevent future tragedies like those in Newtown, Conn., Aurora, Colo., Blacksburg, Va., and too many communities to count.

Gabrielle Giffords (via azspot)

[azspot]

Rob Rogers: Brave American

[liberalsarecool]

Last OSHA inspection: 1985.

[so-elegantly-disheveled]

I really, really love this. Can everyone please remember this?

[anarcho-queer]

House Republican’s Propose To End 40 Hour Work Week Law

House Republicans have introduced a bill that would end the 40-hour work week, dismantling an important component of the Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 and hurting middle-class families across the country.

Sponsored by Rep. Martha Roby (AL), the dubiously-titled “Working Families Flexibility Act” (H.R. 1406) would remove the requirement that employers pay a cash premium for overtime work and instead allow them to offer employees compensatory time off. The effect would be an FLSA that is undermined of its only incentive against excessive hours and a cheaper way for employers to demand mandatory overtime.

Eileen Appelbaum, a senior economist with the Center for Economic Policy and Research, says the bill’s major effect would be to hurt workers, “likely increasing overtime hours for those who don’t want them and cutting pay for those who do.”

IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger wrote a letter to Congress encouraging them to vote against the bill.

“Employers can already work within the existing laws to allow workers adjusting work schedules around family needs without changing the 40-hour workweek,” Buffenbarger wrote. “‘Comp time’ proposals let the employer decide whether workers can use any accrued compensatory time. Additionally, nothing would prevent the employer from forcing workers to take time off individually or limiting whether workers can use the compensatory time at all if it is too burdensome to the work-load.”

The bill was referred to committee and could come to a vote in the House as early as next week.

[kohenari]

Seems like an important question for our elected officials tonight, in light of this news.

I’ll await word from public safety exemption experts on why we’re trotting it out in this case but didn’t, for example, in the McVeigh case.

[thegreatnessideserve]

Fox news actually, honestly, literally went out of their way to point out that these two people are not caucasian, despite the fact that they ARE LITERALLY THE DEFINITION OF CAUCASIAN, because their viewers were confused. 

They couldn’t handle the fact that the terrorists were white. It was too confusing for them.

[cognitivedissonance]

Have I ever said how much Sen. Lindsey Graham scares the shit out of me? No?

Well, here’s why we should give an actual fuck if the suspect receives a Miranda warning.

[brooklynmutt-deactivated2021090]

@JuddLegum

[motherjones]

Yup.

[chekhov]

Suu Kyi was held as a political prisoner for like 20 years for criticizing her government

[katara-deactivated20130617]

I’m going to throw up

[warzonetourism]

Quite frankly anyone who doesn’t vote for ASSK over Gaga can go and die in a hole. Currently 45% of participants… Vote here.

[ethanisonline]

I voted for gaga constantly whenever this popped up on my dash….in my opinion Gaga is more influential. Sure what ASSK did is amazing, but it doesn’t influence nearly as many people as gaga. She has helped millions accept themselves. It’s no “small group”. It’s huge.

[chekhov]

SHE BROUGHT DEMOCRACY TO A NATION OF 60 MILLON PEOPLE