Another Waste of Time

Dan Harmon Poops: HEY, DID I MISS ANYTHING?

Sat, 19 May 2012 15:23:28 -0600

Dan Harmon Poops: HEY, DID I MISS ANYTHING? :

Well that’s bullshit. I love Community—scratch that, I lovED Community.

Kids:

A few hours ago, I landed in Los Angeles, turned on my phone, and confirmed what you already know. Sony Pictures Television is replacing me as showrunner on Community, with two seasoned fellows that I’m sure are quite nice - actually, I have it on good authority they’re quite nice, because…

Occupy Movement Wins Spate of Legal Battles

Sat, 19 May 2012 14:12:22 -0600

Occupy Movement Wins Spate of Legal Battles:

jeffbridges: Police arresting political protesters under demonstrably false charges, threatening physical violence, and “disappearing” people for 12 hours—in Chicago. When this happens anywhere else in the world, the US demands economic sanctions. What’s happening to my country?

jeffbridges: Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you, Chris...

Wed, 09 May 2012 14:41:06 -0600

jeffbridges: Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you, Chris Matthews, for sharing your progressive Christian take on this wonderful news. Absolutely right on.

jeffbridges: As a Christian who agrees that the crucifixion...

Fri, 04 May 2012 17:54:53 -0600

jeffbridges: As a Christian who agrees that the crucifixion wasn’t “theologically necessary,” this skit is absolute genius.

Cop spends weeks to trick an 18-year-old into possession and sale of a gram of pot

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 06:13:45 -0700

Cop spends weeks to trick an 18-year-old into possession and sale of a gram of pot:

Way to give an honors student serious trust issues.

More fun from the self-loathing society: This American Life had a show about how young female undercover cops infiltrated a high school and flirted with boys to entrap them into selling pot, so they could charge them with felonies and destroy their lives at an early age.

Last year in three high schools in Florida, several undercover police officers posed as students. The undercover cops went to classes, became Facebook friends and flirted with the other students. One 18-year-old honor student named Justin fell in love with an attractive 25-year-old undercover cop after spending weeks sharing stories about their lives, texting and flirting with each other.

One day she asked Justin if he smoked pot. Even though he didn’t smoke marijuana, the love-struck teen promised to help find some for her. Every couple of days she would text him asking if he had the marijuana. Finally, Justin was able to get it to her. She tried to give him $25 for the marijuana and he said he didn’t want the money — he got it for her as a present.

A short while later, the police did a big sweep and arrest 31 students — including Justin. Almost all were charged with selling a small amount of marijuana to the undercover cops. Now Justin has a felony hanging over his head.

Sick: Young, Undercover Cops Flirted With Students to Trick Them Into Selling Pot (Via Aurich Lawson :somepolitics :ladyalexandria)

“I hugged a man in his underwear. I think Jesus would have...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:41:56 -0700

“I hugged a man in his underwear. I think Jesus would have too.”

Beautiful post about a group of Christians who went to a Pride parade with signs that read, “I’m sorry.” Read it here, and feel overwhelmed with joy:

Watching people recognize our apology brought me to tears many times. It was reconciliation personified.

My favorite though was a gentleman who was dancing on a float. He was dressed solely in white underwear and had a pack of abs like no one else. As he was dancing on the float, he noticed us and jokingly yelled, “What are you sorry for? It’s pride!” I pointed to our signs and watched him read them.

Then it clicked.

Then he got it.

He stopped dancing. He looked at all of us standing there. A look of utter seriousness came across his face. And as the float passed us he jumped off of it and ran towards us. In all his sweaty beautiful abs of steal, he hugged me and whispered, “thank you.”

"Rebellion without a rigorous alternative vision is just a feeble spasm. If I could offer advice to a..."

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:08:54 -0700

“Rebellion without a rigorous alternative vision is just a feeble spasm. If I could offer advice to a young rebel, it would be to rummage the past for a body of thought that helps you understand and address the shortcomings you see… Effective rebellion isn’t just expressing your personal feelings. It means replacing one set of authorities and institutions with a better set of authorities and institutions. Authorities and institutions don’t repress the passions of the heart, the way some young people now suppose. They give them focus and a means to turn passion into change.”

- David Brooks, “How to Fight the Man,” New York Times, 2/2/2012.

Duke professor wants to replace term papers with blog posts.

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:29:00 -0700

Duke professor wants to replace term papers with blog posts.:

Having written both myself, this is totally absurd. The academy exists to teach people how to think critically and express those thoughts in a clear, nuanced way. Blogs exist to persuade and convince through rhetorical force. Clear and nuanced arguments can contribute to this end, but rarely constitute the core of a post. From the article:

Because, say defenders of rigorous writing, the brief, sometimes personally expressive blog post fails sorely to teach key aspects of thinking and writing. They argue that the old format was less about how Sherman got to the sea and more about how the writer organized the points, fashioned an argument, showed grasp of substance and proof of its origin. Its rigidity wasn’t punishment but pedagogy.

Exactly right (aside from the strange reference to Sherman, which doesn’t make sense even in the full context of the article). But there’s no reason blogs and papers can’t coexist. From a professor at Standford:

Professor Lunsford is playing to student passions. Her writing class for second-year students, a requirement at Stanford, used to revolve around a paper constructed over the entire term. Now, the students start by writing a 15-page paper on a particular subject in the first few weeks. Once that’s done, they use the ideas in it to build blogs, Web sites, and PowerPoint and audio and oral presentations. The students often find their ideas much more crystallized after expressing them with new media, she says, and then, most startling, they plead to revise their essays.

I like this approach, which helps to ensure that the arguments being made in those blogs and tweets are well-considered. But, then, I didn’t compose a 5-page paper before writing this post, so I could be wrong…

"The officer repeatedly punched the left side of my face for long enough that I had time to pray that..."

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 06:58:08 -0700

“The officer repeatedly punched the left side of my face for long enough that I had time to pray that the crunching sounds I heard were not damaging my brain.”

- Rev. John Helmiere, on his encounter with Seattle Police at an Occupy protest earlier this week. (via jeffbridges)

From an interview this afternoon with my friend Dave Woessner,...

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:25:41 -0700

From an interview this afternoon with my friend Dave Woessner, one of the founders of the Occupy movement’s Protest Chaplains:

“What do you think it looked like when Jesus was roaming the Judean countryside with a couple hundred people—a ragtag bunch? Who refused to identify himself, “Who do you say I am?” People are like, “What’s this occupy movement about?” This is exactly the same conversation they were having about Jesus of Nazareth. I don’t know why it’s so difficult for people to see, but I suppose it is.”

nawasaka:fuckyeahmoleskines:nawasaka.tumblr.com I still don’t...

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:54:22 -0600

nawasaka:fuckyeahmoleskines:nawasaka.tumblr.com

I still don’t know how something I scribbled in a hurry at 3am got so many notes in the space of a day? Shakespeare is clearly too awesome. I spelt “bated” wrong, awk :) Someone said this looks like a serial killer’s notebook, which made me laugh a lot. They’re not wrong, I’ve been a sleep deprived zombie lately.

(via NPR)

Isn’t he, though?

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:00:06 -0600

Isn’t he, though?

"Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make..."

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:38:55 -0600

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart…. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

- Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Speech, 2005. Godspeed. (via jeffbridges)

If you’re not disturbed, you aren’t paying attention. The only...

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:03:00 -0600

If you’re not disturbed, you aren’t paying attention. The only thing that should be too big to fail in this country is the middle class. Where’s Teddy Roosevelt when we need him? (Banking Bracket via Michael Bowman)

Photo

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:34:54 -0600

“By 2030 China’s share of global economic power will match...

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:47:54 -0600

“By 2030 China’s share of global economic power will match America’s in the 1970s and Britain’s a century before.” —The Economist

Well that’s kinda scary.

"The American Academy of Pediatrics would like to correct false statements made in the Republican..."

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:06:02 -0600

“The American Academy of Pediatrics would like to correct false statements made in the Republican presidential campaign that HPV vaccine is dangerous and can cause mental retardation. There is absolutely no scientific validity to this statement. Since the vaccine has been introduced, more than 35 million doses have been administered, and it has an excellent safety record.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Academy of Family Physicians all recommend that girls receive HPV vaccine around age 11 or 12. That’s because this is the age at which the vaccine produces the best immune response in the body, and because it’s important to protect girls well before the onset of sexual activity. In the U.S., about 6 million people, including teens, become infected with HPV each year, and 4,000 women die from cervical cancer. This is a life-saving vaccine that can protect girls from cervical cancer.”

- American Academy of Pediatrics Press Release (via stfuconservatives)

I have a new slogan for the Tea Party—Certa Ignorantia:...

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:02:00 -0600

I have a new slogan for the Tea Party—Certa Ignorantia: “Certitude in Ignorance.”

CNN sit-down with Obama

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:37:34 -0600

BLITZER: “If you're reelected, the last time you were elected, you got Sasha and Malia a cute little puppy. … What are you going to get them the next time, if you're reelected?”

OBAMA: “When I'm reelected, what I'll be getting them is a continuation of Secret Service so that when boys want to start dating them they are going to be surrounded by men with guns. That's their gift.”

Even with a far larger population, it’s interesting that...

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:23:25 -0600

Even with a far larger population, it’s interesting that China’s military employes fewer people than our own.