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artnet: Ali Underwater An original Flip Schulke Archives...

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:48:15 -0400

Ali Underwater

An original Flip Schulke Archives limited edition print of the iconic boxer Muhammad Ali standing in a perfect boxing pose at the bottom of the Sir John Hotel pool in Miami, Florida, in 1961.

cartoonpolitics: Apparently the only two groups where gun...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:17:24 -0400

cartoonpolitics:

Apparently the only two groups where gun ownership is not declining are ‘the elderly, holding steady at 43%, and Republicans, up slightly at 51%.” .. (from this article)

Two groups where gun ownership is not declining.

cartoonpolitics: Apparently the only two groups where gun...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 23:38:18 -0400

cartoonpolitics:

Apparently the only two groups where gun ownership is not declining are ‘the elderly, holding steady at 43%, and Republicans, up slightly at 51%.” .. (from this article)

Paul Ryan’s Budget, Simplified: Save the Rich, Spare the Old,...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 23:23:10 -0400

Paul Ryan’s Budget, Simplified: Save the Rich, Spare the Old, Forget the Poor

theatlantic:

Paul Ryan’s Budget, Simplified: Save the Rich, Spare the Old, Forget the Poor

It balances the budget! But it solves our income inequality problem like a flamethrower solves a house fire.

Read more.

Former Westboro Baptist Church member Laurin Drain poses for...

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:33:52 -0500

Former Westboro Baptist Church member Laurin Drain poses for NOH8.

knowhomo:

Photos from LGBTQ* Campaigns You May Have Missed:

Former Westboro Baptist Church member Laurin Drain poses for NOH8.

(following from the Advocate)

Lauren Drain, a former member of the antigay, antisemitic Westboro Baptist Church, posed for photographer Adam Bouska’s NOH8 campaign, calling the church a “cult,” and confirming that she still identifies as a Christian, but now stands against “any and all forms of violence, discrimination, bullying, or bigotry directed at someone else due to their personal lifestyle.”

“The main reason I posed for the NOH8 Campaign was in direct response to the judgments of the WBC,” said Drain in a statement on NOH8’s website. “I wanted to show people that despite having grown up within the cult and having spent a good portion of my life on the picket line, condemning our deceased soldiers, reveling in any and all forms of tragedy and simply striving to be hurtful in the name of God; that the WBC is wrong and what I did at the time was wrong!”

…Drain’s NOH8 photo was released just days after news that two other young members of the WBC had defected from the hate group. Megan Phelps-Roper and her sister Grace, granddaughters of the church’s infamous founder Fred Phelps, confirmed Thursday that both have left the church, and issued a statement apologizing for the pain they have inflicted upon others.

Amazon Hires Neo Nazis To Intimidate Immigrant Workers In...

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:31:16 -0500

Amazon Hires Neo Nazis To Intimidate Immigrant Workers In Germany

anarcho-queer:

Amazon Hires Neo Nazis To Intimidate Immigrant Workers In Germany

Amazon is at the centre of a deepening scandal in Germany as the online shopping giant faced claims that it employed security guards with neo-Nazi connections to intimidate its foreign workers.

Germany’s ARD television channel made the allegations in a documentary about Amazon’s treatment of more than 5,000 temporary staff from across Europe to work at its German packing and distribution centres.

The film showed omnipresent guards from a company named HESS Security wearing black uniforms, boots and with military haircuts. They were employed to keep order at hostels and budget hotels where foreign workers stayed. “Many of the workers are afraid,” the programme-makers said.

The documentary provided photographic evidence showing that guards regularly searched the bedrooms and kitchens of foreign staff. “They tell us they are the police here,” a Spanish woman complained. Workers were allegedly frisked to check they had not walked away with breakfast rolls.

Another worker called Maria said she was thrown out of the cramped chalet she shared with five others because she had dried her wet clothes on a wall heater. She said she was confronted by a muscular, tattooed security man and told to leave. The guards then shone car headlights at her in her chalet while she packed in an apparent attempt to intimidate her.

Several guards were shown wearing Thor Steinar clothing – a Berlin-based designer brand synonymous with the far-right in Germany. The Bundesliga football association and the federal parliament have both banned the label because of its neo-Nazi associations. Ironically, Amazon stopped selling the clothing for the same reasons in 2009.

Actual Fox News screenshot. Accuse the other guy of what you’re...

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:30:09 -0500

Actual Fox News screenshot. Accuse the other guy of what you’re doing. #UniteBlue #topprog

abaldwin360:

mediamattersforamerica:

Actual Fox News screenshot.

Accuse the other guy of what you’re doing.

Police Repeatedly Changed Final Trayvon Martin Shooting Report, Records Show

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:17:46 -0500

Police Repeatedly Changed Final Trayvon Martin Shooting Report, Records Show :

anarcho-queer:

On the day Sanford police turned over the Trayvon Martin shooting investigation to prosecutors, they changed their final report at least four times over five hours and downgraded the charge they recommended from second-degree murder to manslaughter, newly released records show.

In the first version on March 13, lead Investigator Chris Serino and his bosses recommended that George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who killed Trayvon, be charged with murder. But they changed that about four hours later, according to paperwork released Tuesday by Zimmerman defense attorney Mark O’Mara.

Records reveal that Serino and his supervisors made several changes but only two major ones.

The first was the change in the charges.

The second was a strongly worded paragraph condemning Zimmerman’s actions, pointing out that there was no need for a confrontation with Trayvon.

This is the Republican solution to gun violence and everything...

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 17:12:31 -0500

This is the Republican solution to gun violence and everything else.

An Amazing 1969 Account of the Stonewall...

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 17:05:26 -0500

An Amazing 1969 Account of the Stonewall Uprising #LGBT

theatlantic:

An Amazing 1969 Account of the Stonewall Uprising

The conflict over the next six days played out as a very gay variant of a classic New York street rebellion. It would see: fire hoses turned on people in the street, thrown barricades, gay cheerleaders chanting bawdy variants of New York City schoolgirl songs, Rockette-style kick lines in front of the police, the throwing of a firebomb into the bar, a police officer throwing his gun at the mob, cries of “occupy — take over, take over,” “Fag power,” “Liberate the bar!”, and “We’re the pink panthers!”, smashed windows, uprooted parking meters, thrown pennies, frightened policemen, angry policemen, arrested mafiosi, thrown cobblestones, thrown bottles, the singing of “We Shall Overcome” in high camp fashion, and a drag queen hitting a police officer on the head with her purse.

Read more. [Image: Joseph Ambrosini/The New York Daily News]

Great photo from Women’s Rights New’s facebook...

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 17:04:06 -0500

Great photo from Women’s Rights New’s facebook page.

silentfeministrevelations:

Great photo from Women’s Rights New’s facebook page.

Historical moments in shade throwing. Keep your eyes on FLOTUS’...

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:39:42 -0500

Historical moments in shade throwing. Keep your eyes on FLOTUS’ reaction to what Boehner said to her & POTUS

.mattyrab:

Historical moments in shade throwing, Inauguration Edition 2013. Keep your eyes on FLOTUS’ reaction to what Boehner said to her and POTUS.

Historical moments in shade throwing. Keep your eyes on FLOTUS’...

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:39:07 -0500

Historical moments in shade throwing. Keep your eyes on FLOTUS’ reaction to what Boehner said to her and POTUS.

mattyrab:

Historical moments in shade throwing, Inauguration Edition 2013. Keep your eyes on FLOTUS’ reaction to what Boehner said to her and POTUS.

News release from the KKK about Westboro Baptist...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:44:26 -0500

News release from the KKK about Westboro Baptist Church.

mathanielfitch:

that awkward moment when your reputation is so bad that the KKK has to release a statement saying they want nothing to do with you.

Wonderful infographics about reproductive health from the The...

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:18:39 -0500

Wonderful infographics about reproductive health from the The Guttmacher Institute,

cognitivedissonance:

These wonderful infographics about reproductive health were recently released by The Guttmacher Institute, a foundation which aims to advance knowledge of reproductive health worldwide. They also bust myths surrounding abortion and reproductive health with this super amazing tool called “science.”

These infographics show the often sad realities of abortion in America — for many facing unintended pregnancy, it’s a nearly unattainable, expensive procedure with barriers that worsen for those who are in poverty or are people of color.

JFK and Caroline Kennedy having a tea...

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:16:10 -0500

JFK and Caroline Kennedy having a tea party

collectivehistory:

JFK and Caroline Kennedy having a tea party

Series of Brooklyn Billboards Put Racial Inequity on...

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:10:35 -0500

Series of Brooklyn Billboards Put Racial Inequity on Display

ladyplebian:

r

anarcho-queer:

Series of Brooklyn Billboards Put Racial Inequity on Display

Billboards are everywhere in New York City. They’re on subway trains and in stations, and on top of and inside taxis. But few, if any, have been anything like a series of anonymous billboards that have popped up on bus shelters in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. They’re not selling anything but a delcaration: that racism still exists.

That’s also the name of the appropriately titled campaign. At least half a dozen billboard sites have sprung up around the neighborhood since August, with each month dedicated to highlighting racial disparities that impact black people in America. So far, the billboards have touched on topics ranging from the entertainment industry, education, fast food, smoking, policing, and black wealth. Each month’s billboard is also accompanied by an detailed post on Tumblr that provides background information, news articles, studies, charts, and statistics to back up each claim.

A brief statement on the Tumblr page says, in part, that “RISE is a proejct designed to illuminate some of the ways in which racism operates in this country.” But who’s behind the project remains a mystery.

For the time being, the project seems dedicated to its anonymity. Both the Tumblr page and the billboards themselves are devoid of any contact information. Similarly, the private advertising company that’s contracted by New York City’s transit agency to host advertisments and billboards said that it does not give out information about who paid for the advertisements.

Even local activists who spend their time dedicated to working on racial justice issues can’t figure out who’s behind the billboards. Nonetheless, they’re intrigued by the campaign. This month’s billboard is dedicated to Stop-and-Frisk, the controversial NYPD tactic that’s drawn national criticism for its disproportionate impact on black and Latino men. The billboard’s provactive text reads, “Don’t want to get stopped by the NYPD? Stop being black.” On the heels of New York City’s 2013 mayoral race and the prominent role that critics of Stop-and-Frisk have taken in city politics, the billboards have become a meaningful part of local discussion.

It’s no accident that of all of New York City’s neighborhoods, the billboards have targeted this one. A historically black neighborhood, Bed-Stuy has become one of the most contested spaces in New York City. A 2012 study from the Fordham Institute found that Brooklyn is home to 25 of the country’s most rapidly gentrifying zip codes. That’s created a stark contrast between those in the neighborhood who have more upward social and economic mobility than others. Several high profile media accounts have recently noted Bed Stuy’s so-called “hip” transformation and “resurgence”, but the borough’s medium per capita income in 2009 was just $23,000, which was $10,000 below the national average.

The content of the billboard’s messaging may not exactly be news for most residents, but the presentation has nonetheless been powerful.

Concentrated Poverty And Homicide In...

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:28:56 -0500

Concentrated Poverty And Homicide In Chicago

anarcho-queer:

Concentrated Poverty And Homicide In Chicago

By Steve Bogira

I posted here recently about the role of concentrated poverty in Chicago’s murder rate. I wrote that sufficiency of police protection was not the key issue in the murder rate—that “violent crime in Englewood and West Garfield Park will continue to run rampant as long as poverty’s clustered there.”

The chart above illustrates the relationship between concentrated poverty and homicide. I culled figures from a data set published earlier this month by the Chicago Department of Public Health. The chart shows the five poorest, and five least-poor, community areas in the city (based on the percentage of households below the poverty line), and their homicide rates from 2004 through 2008. Because concentrated poverty in Chicago is inextricably linked to being African-American, I’ve also included the percentage of African-Americans in these community areas, calculated from 2005-2009 Census Bureau estimates.

If the homicide rates in the poor black areas were twice the rates in the better-off white areas, that would be significant. The differences above, averaging about 13 to one, are staggering. This is what apartheid looks like.

Let’s remember how things got this way, in Chicago and a host of other northern cities. Policies throughout the first seven decades of the 20th Century—some governmental, some commercial—hemmed blacks in geographically. So did the bombing and burning of the homes of blacks who tried moving into white neighborhoods, and the shooting and stoning of these intruders. Racial segregation combined perfectly with racial discrimination in hiring and schooling to create vast areas of concentrated poverty—most notably in housing projects, but in other black neighborhoods as well. In areas of concentrated poverty, children are far more likely to grow up with one parent or no parent, neglected and abused, amid alcoholism and drug addiction. If you want children to become violent in their teens and early 20s, these are the right ingredients. Merely having more police around to catch them in the act is like throwing thimblefuls of water on a house fire.

The only thing more reprehensible than homicide rates so grossly disparate, from poor black neighborhoods to middle-class white neighborhoods, is that we’ve tolerated them for decades. It was this way long before the 2004-2008 period the rates are based on—and the situation hasn’t changed since 2008. In today’s Crain’s Chicago Business, Arthur J. Lurigio, professor of criminal justice and psychology at Loyola University, points out that in 2010, 52 percent of murders in Chicago occurred in just six of the city’s 25 police districts—areas “plagued by intergenerational poverty, gang infestation, single-parent households, social disorder, and economic blight.” These precursors to violence, Lurigio writes, “can be addressed most effectively through the social, political, and economic revitalization of distressed neighborhoods.”

“Revitalization” is part of the solution—but it’ll never work without concurrent efforts to deconcentrate the poverty. There must be a far harder push for mixed-income housing throughout the metropolitan area, and more support for those who want to live in it. This requires federal leadership that’s been lacking. It also requires the cooperation of mayors across the region—but only one mayor has the clout to lead the effort. He should remind his colleagues that the region won’t thrive unless its central city does.

That’s what should happen, but it probably won’t, because of another feature of segregation that makes it so tenacious. The people with the power to spur Mayor Emanuel to act have little reason to do so when the disease of poverty is quarantined. If you live in Edison Park, Garfield Park is not your problem. The homicide rate in Fuller Park may briefly dismay us, but then we move on to the next thing. We hate hearing about the murders, but it’s not us, our neighbors, our family members, or our friends who are getting the heartbreaking middle-of-the-night calls.

randomness-from-thisoldguy: LOL #NRA Stuart Carlson editorial...

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:22:26 -0500

randomness-from-thisoldguy:

LOL #NRA

Stuart Carlson editorial cartoon

…our American Taliban have learned nothing from their brethren overseas…

“More than nine out of ten Americans are calling for background...

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:18:51 -0500

“More than nine out of ten Americans are calling for background checks on gun buyers….”

smdxn:

“More than nine out of ten Americans are calling for background checks on gun buyers, according to polls by CNN/ORC and USAToday/Gallup in the last month. But Republican gun-enthusiasts are not responding too kindly to the mere suggestion of new laws on gun safety.”