A Series of Non Sequiturs

Taken with Instagram

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 03:33:19 -0400

Taken with Instagram

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 03:08:02 -0400

Taken with Instagram

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 10:23:03 -0400

Taken with Instagram

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 03:29:48 -0400

Taken with Instagram

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 03:15:18 -0400

Taken with Instagram

Sat, 18 Aug 2012 05:04:21 -0400

Taken with Instagram

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 09:31:21 -0400

Taken with Instagram

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 05:05:05 -0400

Taken with Instagram

Mousaka (Taken with Instagram)

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 01:31:15 -0400

Mousaka (Taken with Instagram)

Taken with Instagram

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 08:30:51 -0400

Taken with Instagram

theappleppielifestyle: “Yeah, come on, dad.” In which Tony gets...

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 10:36:27 -0400

theappleppielifestyle:

“Yeah, come on, dad.”

In which Tony gets Peter to watch the reels in the basement.

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Fri, 06 Jul 2012 16:01:00 -0400

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Fri, 06 Jul 2012 11:55:55 -0400

"Dudes. Imagine life here in the US — or indeed, pretty much anywhere in the Western world — is a..."

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 07:44:45 -0400

“Dudes. Imagine life here in the US — or indeed, pretty much anywhere in the Western world — is a massive role playing game, like World of Warcraft except appallingly mundane, where most quests involve the acquisition of money, cell phones and donuts, although not always at the same time. Let’s call it The Real World. You have installed The Real World on your computer and are about to start playing, but first you go to the settings tab to bind your keys, fiddle with your defaults, and choose the difficulty setting for the game. Got it?

Okay: In the role playing game known as The Real World, “Straight White Male” is the lowest difficulty setting there is.

This means that the default behaviors for almost all the non-player characters in the game are easier on you than they would be otherwise. The default barriers for completions of quests are lower. Your leveling-up thresholds come more quickly. You automatically gain entry to some parts of the map that others have to work for. The game is easier to play, automatically, and when you need help, by default it’s easier to get.

Now, once you’ve selected the “Straight White Male” difficulty setting, you still have to create a character, and how many points you get to start — and how they are apportioned — will make a difference. Initially the computer will tell you how many points you get and how they are divided up. If you start with 25 points, and your dump stat is wealth, well, then you may be kind of screwed. If you start with 250 points and your dump stat is charisma, well, then you’re probably fine. Be aware the computer makes it difficult to start with more than 30 points; people on higher difficulty settings generally start with even fewer than that.

As the game progresses, your goal is to gain points, apportion them wisely, and level up. If you start with fewer points and fewer of them in critical stat categories, or choose poorly regarding the skills you decide to level up on, then the game will still be difficult for you. But because you’re playing on the “Straight White Male” setting, gaining points and leveling up will still by default be easier, all other things being equal, than for another player using a higher difficulty setting.
Likewise, it’s certainly possible someone playing at a higher difficulty setting is progressing more quickly than you are, because they had more points initially given to them by the computer and/or their highest stats are wealth, intelligence and constitution and/or simply because they play the game better than you do. It doesn’t change the fact you are still playing on the lowest difficulty setting.

You can lose playing on the lowest difficulty setting. The lowest difficulty setting is still the easiest setting to win on. The player who plays on the “Gay Minority Female” setting? Hardcore.”

- John Scalzi tells it like it is. (via bookling-stormborn)

That is a fabulous breakdown of privilege.

(via ouyangdan)

I approve of this analogy. Even if it doesn’t mention all axes of oppression the analogy definitely works. Definitely.

(via jemimaaslana)

Huge fan of geeky analogies for privilege and oppression.
(via genderbitch)

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Fri, 06 Jul 2012 03:52:48 -0400

"It’s a uniquely American prudishness. You can write the most detailed, vivid description of an ax..."

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 19:53:33 -0400

“It’s a uniquely American prudishness. You can write the most detailed, vivid description of an ax entering a skull, and nobody will say a word in protest. But if you write a similarly detailed description of a penis entering a vagina, you get letters from people saying they’ll never read you again. What the hell? Penises entering vaginas bring a lot more joy into the world than axes entering skulls.”

- Author George R. R. Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire.) Interview published in May 2012 Rolling Stones Magazine. (via sweetupndown9)

queennubian: agirloficeandfire: andtherebyhangsatale: OH MY...

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 16:01:29 -0400

queennubian:

agirloficeandfire:

andtherebyhangsatale:

OH MY GOD THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS.

<3

you gonna learn today!

madamethursday: [Image: A picture of Holley Mangold, a fierce,...

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 11:52:00 -0400

madamethursday:

[Image: A picture of Holley Mangold, a fierce, fat very light skinned woman with blonde hair wearing a white dress with a dark pink sash with a bar across her shoulder on which two other people thin people wearing dresses hang, smiling.]

femmesandfamily:

desadesfatgirl:

Holley Mangold, the 323-pound woman in perfect physical shape, is highly favored to compete on the 2012 U.S. Olympic weightlifting team.

~inspired~

I want to be THIS. This. GOD AND I LOVE THAT DRESS, TOO. EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS IS PERFECT.

"George Lucas’ rich neighbors don’t want him building a movie studio in their backyard. His response..."

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 07:45:02 -0400

“

George Lucas’ rich neighbors don’t want him building a movie studio in their backyard. His response is the best thing he’s done in years.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, for four decades Lucas has owned a large swath of land in Marin County in the North San Francisco Bay and has spent the past few years trying to transform the ranch on it into a massive, nearly 300,000 square foot, state-of-the-art movie studio complete with day care center, restaurant, gym and a 200-car garage. His neighbors, however, have rejected it every step of the way. Despite the promise of bringing $300 million worth of economic activity to the area, the already-well off neighbors are worried about years’ worth of construction activity and the additional foot traffic it will bring into their neighborhood once completed.
[…]
So what is George Lucas going to do with his property now that he’s tired of his rich neighbors putting up a not-in-my-backyard stink? He wants to transform the property into low-income housing, naturally, ending their official statement with this zinger, “If everyone feels that housing is less impactful on the land, then we are hoping that people who need it the most will benefit.”

He’s working with the Marin Community Foundation to instead construct affordable housing for either low-income families or seniors living on small, fixed incomes. In order to smooth along the development, he’s already given them all of the pricey technical studies and land surveys Lucasfilm spent years conducting. And we think that’s just great. Because if there’s one thing rich people will hate more than having movie magic made in their backyard, it’s poor people moving in.

”

- George Lucas Does Something Likeable For a Change

This is amazing. (via liquidiousfleshbag)

White (social label, social construct) - defined

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 03:48:51 -0400

getgln:

See on Scoop.it - Community Village Daily Activist
“White Supremacy is an historically based, institutionally perpetuated system of exploitation and oppression of continents, nations, and peoples classified as “non-White” by continents, nations, and peoples who, by virtue of their white (light) skin pigmentation and/or ancestral origin from Europe, classify themselves as “White.” Although history illuminates the fabrication, changeability, and contingencies of Whiteness (e.g. the case of Irish and Italians once being denied entry into the White “race”), it is important to note that this global power system is structured and maintained not for the purpose of legitimizing racial categories as much as it is for the purpose of maintaining and defending a system of wealth, power, and privilege. Thus, it has been Whites who have constructed racial categories based on the economic, political, and social aspirations of Whites, for the benefits of Whites (L. Ross, 1995). In this way, Whites define who is White; a definition that has changed and will likely continue to change based upon the particular economic, political, and social conditions of the moment (e.g. the case of Egyptians now being classified as White when they were once classified as Arab, and previously as Black). It is clear then that White supremacy is based less on racial Whiteness (as evidenced by skin color) than it is on ideological Whiteness—the exclusive value assigned that involves “a series of immunities, privileges, rights, and assumptions…” This [value is] not inherent, natural, or biologically determined. Rather [it reflects] artificial beliefs created by social, economic, and political conditions” (L. Ross, 1995).”

- CLICK TITLE FOR MORE -

See on mixedracestudies.org