malariamonsters:

Excerpt:

” WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that officials may strip-search people arrested for any offense, however minor, before admitting them to jails even if the officials have no reason to suspect the presence of contraband.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, joined by the court’s conservative wing, wrote that courts are in no position to second-guess the judgments of correctional officials who must consider not only the possibility of smuggled weapons and drugs, but also public health and information about gang affiliations.

“Every detainee who will be admitted to the general population may be required to undergo a close visual inspection while undressed,” Justice Kennedy wrote, adding that about 13 million people are admitted each year to the nation’s jails.

The procedures endorsed by the majority are forbidden by statute in at least 10 states and are at odds with the policies of federal authorities. According to a supporting brief filed by the American Bar Association, international human rights treaties also ban the procedures.”

ayries:

Poor Amy. He always leaves you, doesn’t he? Alone in the dark.

 #this is the thing that bugs me the most about the god complex  #amy has never had complete trust and faith in the doctor  #he has disappointed her so many times in her life  #like the eleventh hour was all about amy being hardened because the doctor let her down and him working to gain some of that trust back  #amy even goes so far to say in the god complex that the doctor has never let her down and i just cannot even  #and this was after the loss of melody too!  #so little consistency happening there  #and this is why the emotional send off of that episode doesn’t work for me  #the relationship presented between amy and doctor is not consistent with the series as a whole  #then again series six as a whole was a mess in terms of emotional consistency

cloudsinmyeyes:

In this context, what Moffat would do with Adler was always going to be interesting. From a certain perspective, Conan Doyle’s character is something of a “proto-feminist”, a woman of great intellect and formidable agency, who, above all, proves to be a match for Holmes. It’s not unproblematic that both author and protagonist respect Adler only because she has a “soul of steel” and “the mind of the most resolute of men”. She’s not a waste of space, it is suggested, because she escapes the weakness of her sex and can act, symbolically, as a man. But, importantly, she makes her own way in the world. In the climactic scene of Conan Doyle’s story, emotion initially leads her to betray herself, and – like all women – when confronted by danger, she protects the thing she cares about (which, according to Holmes, is invariably either babies or jewellery). However, after these events, having had time to reflect coolly, Adler realises she has given herself away and plans the escape by which she gets one over on Holmes.

However, even this ambiguous portrait of female power proved too much for Moffat to stomach. Granted, he allowed her to keep her smarts. But, at the same time, her acumen and agency were undermined every which way. Not-so-subtly channelling the spirit of the predatory femme fatal, Adler’s power became, in Moffat’s hands, less a matter of brains, and more a matter of knowing “what men like” and how to give it to them; of having them by the sexual short and curlies, or, perhaps more aptly, on a nice short leash. Her masterminding of a cunning criminal plan was, it was revealed late in the day, not her own doing, but dependent on the advice of Holmes’s arch nemesis, James Moriarty. A move that, blogger Stavvers noted, neatly reduced her from “an active force to a passive pawn in Moriarty and Holmes’s ongoing cock-duelling”.

More troubling still, Moffat’s Adler blatantly fails to outwit Holmes. Despite identifying as a lesbian, her scheme is ultimately undone by her great big girly crush on Sherlock, an irresistible brain-rot that leads her to trash the security she has fought for from the start of the show with a gesture about as sophisticated – or purposeful – as scrawling love hearts on an exercise book. As a result, Moffat sends Adler out into the world without the information she has always relied on for protection, having made herself entirely vulnerable for the love of a man. Lest we haven’t got the point yet, Holmes hammers it home. “Sentiment,” he tells us, “is a chemical defect found in the losing side.”

- Jane Clare Jones,  ”Is Sherlock Sexist? Steven Moffat’s Wanton Women”

save me I don’t want to eat dinner with my brothers they’re jerks whyyy

I don’t want to talk to anyone brb hiding under my blankets forever >:(

thedailywhat:

This Is Also All Kinds Of Wrong of the Day: Speaking of how Arizona is making a habit of being awful, an administrative judge yesterday upheld an earlier decision by the state’s superintendent of public instruction to ban the Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican-American studies program, claiming it violates a new Arizona law prohibiting classes that “promote resentment toward a race or class of people.”

Judge Lewis D. Kowal defended John Huppenthal’s call, which the school district sought to have overturned. In his recommendation, Kowal concluded that the program presents material concerning the historical oppression of Mexican-Americans in a “biased, political, and emotionally charged manner.”

“I made a decision based on the totality of the information and facts gathered during my investigation — a decision that I felt was best for all students in the Tucson Unified School District,” said Huppenthal in a statement following the judge’s ruling. “The judge’s decision confirms that it was the right decision.”

Huppenthal and his supporters oppose the program on grounds that using “racial terms” to frame historical events promotes “groupthink and victimhood.” But those in favor of the program counter those claims by insisting that Latino students are encouraged to excel by being exposed to the cultural and historical contributions of Mexican-Americans.

A federal judge is set to rule next month on a motion to dismiss a case contending that the law barring ethnic-studies classes is unconstitutional.

Remarking on Tuesday’s ruling, the attorney representing teachers in the federal case, Richard M. Martinez, said “it confirms what we already knew the state of Arizona wants to do, which is shut down Mexican American studies.”

[latimes / azstarnet / photo: ap via edweek.]

ihavechortles:

ethanology:

garlandgrey:

[Trigger warning: This blog post describes graphic imagery, touches on reproductive coercion, and includes a dude being really cruel and ignorant about trigger warnings and anxiety.]

Last night the Tumblr account “Animals Talking in All Caps” posted a graphic image of a man being mauled by a bear, accompanied by text that made it seem as it the man had been injured in a protest. ATIAC is a novelty blog that specializes in pairing images of animals with caps lock dialogue, a cute little trick that makes it seem as if the animals were shouting at you. After receiving complaints about the image the site’s owner, Justin Valmassoi, published a post on his personal blog railing against trigger warnings:

I will never, never, put a fucking trigger warning on anything. Ever.

Do you read the newspaper? Do you watch movies? Do you go on the internet, ever?

If you are so emotionally crippled that you can’t handle seeing or reading something icky, you need to be in a fucking hospital, under observation, until such time as the world isn’t too sad for you.

First of all, no one on Tumblr has ever been forced to give a shit about accessibility, so coming out of the gate with all that toxic hostility as if you were the victim of some grave injustice is HORSESHIT. Second of all, I’ve never seen an image as graphic as that one in a newspaper, and usually if a movie has extreme images of gore there is ample warning. Notice the way he uses contrasting extremes to make his own argument seem logical, mixing over- and understatement. People who complain are “emotionally crippled,” triggering imagery is “icky,” anxiety and depression are just the world being too sad, with that mocking italic lilt. The message is clear: You are overreacting, which you would know if you weren’t such a terribly weak person. 

Valmassoi then describes traumatic events from his own life:

I saw, in person, at age 14, a homeless man lie down on some railroad tracks and get bisected by a couple tons of fast-moving steel.

My girlfriend, when I was 25, had an abortion that has pretty much ruined the rest of my life.

I have been sexually abused by family members and friends, beaten unto the point of hospitalization by my father, and witnessed a man set on fire by a flare gun fired into an automobile.

I am the product of domestic abuse. I have been shot at by muggers. I have witnessed stabbings.

And his advice to people who advocate for trigger warnings so they don’t have to get the fuck off the Internet?

If you can’t handle a spider, some blood, or a sad news story, get the fuck off the internet.

I mean this.

Go to therapy, if you can afford it.

The takeaway? I have had traumatic things happen to me and I don’t want/need/like trigger warnings, so all of you who do desire/need/advocate for trigger warnings should vacate the Internet, because the way I handle trauma is the only way to handle trauma without being a complete pansy.

Grow a fucking vagina and woman up. Horrible shit is de rigueur, kids. It’s almost 2012. You want to play ostrich you go ahead. I won’t help you do it, though.

For two years I couldn’t see an Asian baby without crying. Every locomotive whistle reminds me that life can occasionally be so shitty you’d rather die than live it. My dad calls me five or six times a month, because he’s my dad.

We have a little anatomy swap on an old classic, because naturally people with vaginas are always called “women” and women alllllllways have vaginas OH MY GOD IT IS IN THE BIBLE JUST LOOK IT UUUUUUP, and then move on to the “and now you know the REST of the story” moment, where we get more information about the previously-mentioned abortion.

It is at times like these that I appreciate the value of a little exercise called “I Wonder What That Experience Was Like From The Other Side?” Here’s how you play: you pull your head out of your ass and consider something from someone else’s point of view. This woman was not ready to raise a child, for whatever reason, and her partner made it totally and completely about him and his feelings. I’m sure it just keeps her up nights, thinking about the one that got away. “Oh, if only I had sacrificed my bodily autonomy to make him happy and carried a pregnancy to term against my better judgement, we could have really made a go of it.”

So, to recap, the perfect Internet user is stoic and unmoved when they see terrible shit that is done to strangers they don’t know, but is completely unmade by the terrible shit they do to other people while abandoning all culpability for their actions. INSTRUCTIVE!

Shut the fuck up and live. Either that, or die. Those are your options. The world doesn’t owe you a nice soft pillow. You cannot, and shouldn’t, ask it to be nicer to you than to others.

Fuck your trigger warnings. The phrase “trigger warning” triggers enough resentment in me to necessitate one.

L-O-FUCKING-L. Did you see that? He took the argument and just FLIPPED that shit. Artful. Stellar. Tiny golf claps and gleaming smiles. Because it sure is “resentment” that causes people to manifest strong negative somatic symptoms in response to disturbing or graphic imagery or stimuli. You getting angry about trigger warnings is totally like being triggered! You are so smart Justin. Do you have any parting words of wisdom?

You are not special, and millions of other people make it through the day, the week, and their entire lives without coddling. Respect them enough to do the same, or up your fucking dosage.

Pansies.

Compassion = coddling. Suppressing your emotional traumas to please a theoretical group of individuals invented by a blogger = respect. Direction your dosage should be going, because all medication is the same and all negative side effects are due to too little of the medication in question: UP. And does this man know how to make an exit? He decided to show off his liberal gay rights activism by calling his audience pansies. Oh joy.

So, denizens of the Internet, here are the things you must do, right away, to bring yourself into compliance with the Animals Talking In All Caps Lifestyle:

• If you experience anxiety it is paramount that you leave the Internet forever. Every site on the Internet is equally triggering and you burden others with your presence. I know this is the message you get from everyone, everywhere, all the time, but we can’t afford to be victimized by your requests for decency and compassion.
• If you experience anxiety you must submit to treatment and medication. Such blanket demands would be irresponsible if any of you had personal experiences that might make therapy or medication OUTOFTHEFUCKINGQUESTION, but since this is theoretical blog land and none of that is true we can assume that no one reading this reads the above requests as in any way hostile or silencing. No. Surely not.
• Feeling sick about seeing gore with no prelude makes you weak. After all, most of your life must certainly be about people catering to your every whim and being totally understanding and respectful of your invisible disability. I’m sure this is the first time anyone has ever told you you should get over it or made you feel ashamed about your response to triggering material. You need to just get with the program and realize your are being ridiculous for turning something so small into such a big deal. 
• It is, however, perfectly acceptable to spend two years mourning someone else’s personal medical decision.

Wow, fuck this blog… [edit: and by the I mean animals talking in all caps…]

Blurgh I saw that post going around but didn’t realize it was by the ATiAC guy (who I had actually unfollowed early for the more generic white-dude-liberalism problems that had already been displayed)

I just

ugh

thedailywhat:

This Is All Kinds Of Wrong of the Day: At the encouragement of conservative “values promoting” organization Florida Family Association, the national home improvement chain Lowe’s has decided to pull their advertising from TLC’s groundbreaking reality show All-American Muslim.

In an email sent to Lowe’s and other advertisers, FFA refers to All-American Muslim —  a show which follows the members of five families as they deal with the everyday difficulties of being Muslim in America — as “propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.”

According to the Association’s website, Lowe’s responded to the e-mail by saying that the show does not “meet Lowe’s advertising guidelines,” and therefore the company “will no longer be advertising on that program.”

Reached for comment by The Hollywood Reporter, a spokewoman for Lowe’s said concerns and complaints were raised “from multiple sides of the viewer spectrum” on various news sites and blogs. “We based our decision to pull the advertising on this research and after hearing the concerns we received through emails, calls, through social media and in news reports.”

TLC said that, despite Lowe’s withdrawal, advertising support for the show remains strong.

Outrage over the move continues to grow, however. One Twitter user likely spoke for many when he asked, “will you next consider KKKs demands to pull ads from BET?”

It’s worth noting that The Home Depot, the largest home improvement retailer in the US, is still supporting the show with its ads.

[thr.]

According to a report published today by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), greenhouses gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere have reached a record high. … According to the U.N. weather agency, current greenhouse gas concentrations exceed the worst of seven different emissions scenarios drawn up in 2001 by the UN’s expert climate panel. In other words, conditions are even worse than we anticipated they would be.

#oh but don’t worry #we shouldn’t restrict corporations #GOSH