Tag Archives: i do politics

As promised: Rosie reviews Fifty Shades of Grey.

As promised: Rosie reviews Fifty Shades of Grey.

*Fans consistently express desire for movies with more diverse leads*
Marvel: Well, you see, it’s not that we don’t want to, it’s just that we already laid out this plan that just happens to not include those, and everything is just so tightly woven together and carefully planned that we couldn’t possibly add anything or change anything without ruining the whole plan.
*Marvel unexpectedly acquires Spider-Man rights*
Marvel: Okay, we want to get him onscreen ASAP, but we didn’t plan for him to be in Phase 2. No biggie, we’ll just push all of these movies (including the only female-led and PoC-led movies we’ve announced) back several months, and he’ll fit in perfectly with no repercussions to the overall plan beyond changing release dates. In fact, we’re still early enough on that we can probably write in a role for him into the movie before his!
Me: ಠ_ಠ

Since 1980, guess how much of the growth in income the 90% got? Nothing. None. Zero. In fact, it’s worse than that. The average family not in the top 10% makes less money than a generation ago. So who got the increase in income over the last 32 years? One-hundred percent of it went to the top 10%. All of the new money earned in this economy over the past generation — all that growth in the GDP — went to the top. All of it.

delilahsdawson:

youarenotyou:

jhameia:

driftingfocus:

anogoodrabblerouser:

disquietingtruths:

universalequalityisinevitable:

Robert Sapolsky about his study of the Keekorok baboon troop from National Geographic’s Stress: Portrait of a Killer.

Thiiiiiiis, people, thiiiis!

1. Kill alpha male types
2. Achieve world peace

Got it.

I’ve actually read a lot of Sapolsky’s work.  He’s one of my favorite scientists in the neuro/socio world.

I just watched the documentary and there is so much more about the troop that isn’t in this photoset—not only does the troop have a culture of little aggression and greater cooperation, but any incoming jerk baboons learned within a few months that their shitty behaviour was in no way acceptable, that the troop only rewarded sociability, and they changed accordingly. 

#NotAllAgressiveAlphaMaleBaboonsWhoEatBabies

There’s this great myth out there that we call the “Over-consumption Myth,” which goes: If you earn a decent income, and you’re in trouble financially, it must be because you’re blowing all your money at the Gap, and TGIF. The myth is so powerful, it almost seems like heresy to question it. But when we actually looked into the data on what real families actually spend, it’s just not true. An average family of four actually spends less on clothing than their parents did a generation ago, adjusted for inflation. That includes all the Tommy Hilfiger sweatshirts and all the Nike sneakers. How does this work? Well we forget all the things we don’t spend money on anymore — how many kids have leather shoes for Sunday school anymore? How many people dress up in wool suits for work everyday?

The point is that families today are spending their money no more foolishly than their parents did. And yet they’re five times more likely to go bankrupt, and three times more likely to lose their homes. Families are going broke on the basics —housing, health insurance, and education. These are the kind of bills that you can’t just trim around the edges in the event of a downturn.

Amelia Tyagi (via moontyger)

Yes. This. I can’t tell you how many times I have been around and around and over and under our budget, and there’s nothing else left to cut. I shop carefully — my son’s summer clothes come from thrift stores because he grows so fast, his school clothes come from Old Navy, bought on sale a season ahead of time with coupons and during ‘clearance even on clearance.’

My groceries are healthy but careful.

My only indulgence is my tablet, and that’s $23 a month until it’s paid off. Hardly a bank-breaker.

(via vaspider)

A minimum of 50% of the expensive, nice, electronic things in our home have been gifts from one parent or another. Including one of his cars. We’re shaving so finely in the budget I’m nagging him about the $5 he spends on a drink and snack when he buys gas, and worried about the $5 I spend on lunch at work.