fourty-two for tea too

Treason charges for Snowden would be rare, challenging

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:08:03 +0100

Treason charges for Snowden would be rare, challenging:

Article 3, Section 3 of the Constitution spells out what is considered treason in the United States:

“Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.”

+ here

So he’s NOT a traitor then.

Free country, kids. Them’s the rules, Joe.

azspot: Andy Singer: Mississippi River Pollution

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:00:28 +0100

azspot:

Andy Singer: Mississippi River Pollution

wilwheaton: inothernews: This weekend in New York City, there...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:00:25 +0100

wilwheaton:

inothernews:

This weekend in New York City, there were 25 people shot, including six fatalities; one victim was an 11-year-old girl who was shot through the neck and spine and who will never walk again.

Or, as the NRA says, “Who cares?”

(Photo of a bloody crime scene in Brooklyn by Debbie Egan-Chin / The New York Daily News)

Fuck the NRA.

There’s a certain type who think that violence with a gun is no worse than a punch to the face. There’s another type who really want all you urban blacks to just die off faster. The NRA play to those types.

therealsongbirddiamondback: magickmaker: Nico’s got a lot of...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:52:30 +0100

therealsongbirddiamondback:

magickmaker:

Nico’s got a lot of loved ones who probably didn’t head upwards after they died.

I’d say I’m surprised that they actually killed her, but I really think that every character there is D-list enough to be on the chopping block. Not that that’ll stop any writer from reviving them if the writer wants to use them enough. Man, this event has me cynical on comic book death.

…more than usual, any way.

We’re in the age of Cynical comic writers…

What’s really surreal is going from the comments on fan pages which amount to, “Not only is this killing off a lot of beloved characters, it’s doing it poorly,” to a CBR column that says:

…”Avengers Arena” is one of the best comics on the stands today. It’s so good that I almost want writer Dennis Hopeless assigned to write every comic book character’s death, because dude knows how to make them all count. And that’s what makes the book, and in particular today’s issue, special.

Whatever, hypebot.

Sorry, but I’m old enough to remember both Crisis on Infinite Earths and the Scourge stories in Captain America on the stands, and I have a complete run of John Ostrander’s first Suicide Squad series. I’m old enough to have seen a few variations on the “murder your trademarks” theme, is what I’m saying.

This kind of stunt killing-off of your trademarks en masse is generally a cheap waste. Doing it badly, with out-of-character portrayals, and a silly conceit (sorry, Battle Royale is silly) that announces you’re going to do a lot of it? It’s sloppy.

For the record, I thought COIE was a bad idea, I thought Scourge’s idea mostly worked but lost a few characters with good story hooks, and I think Ostrander’s preaching of the bleak indifference of fate to characters’ would-be arcs got out of hand sometimes (but had a lot of other good pages between the bloodlust issues).

benjaminldaniel: I’m watching New Amsterdam Check-in to New...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:10:07 +0100

benjaminldaniel:

I’m watching New Amsterdam

Check-in to New Amsterdam on GetGlue.com

That was a neat show with too few episodes.

Photo

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:00:37 +0100

thehappysorceress: Olympians: Aphrodite by Fedini Magic Monday

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:00:24 +0100

thehappysorceress:

Olympians: Aphrodite by Fedini

Magic Monday

strangersatthemall: ozyreads: SHRIEKING N O

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:00:19 +0100

strangersatthemall:

ozyreads:

SHRIEKING

N O

a-lot-of-nerve: Also, 15 is apparently not “much too young” to...

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:00:33 +0100

a-lot-of-nerve:

Also, 15 is apparently not “much too young” to be a MOTHER.

Ya think?

I’m sorry for the stream of angry political posts, so...

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:00:23 +0100

I’m sorry for the stream of angry political posts, so here’s a cute story about Zach.

While the Boy Scouts has drawn national attention for its intolerance toward gays, the organization also has compiled a poor record on environmental protection.

Thu, 23 May 2013 06:00:21 +0100

While the Boy Scouts has drawn national attention for its intolerance toward gays, the organization also has compiled a poor record on environmental protection.:

Disappointing but somehow it fits.

motherjones: theamericanprospect: The Making of a Dead...

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:42:52 +0100

motherjones:

theamericanprospect:

The Making of a Dead Zone

Knowledge.

You Need Phosphorous to Live—and We're Running Out

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:39:15 +0100

You Need Phosphorous to Live—and We're Running Out:

motherjones:

Industrial farming has played a part in sucking this critical element out of our soil.

Just fyi.

I knew this. Our days are numbered.

AUSTIN KLEON: Make bad art.

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:38:38 +0100

AUSTIN KLEON: Make bad art.:

austinkleon:

Neil Gaiman has released a book of his great commencement address, Make Good Art.

When things get tough, this is what you should do: Make good art. I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician — make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by a mutated boa constrictor — make good art. IRS on your trail — make good art. Cat exploded — make good art. Someone on the Internet thinks what you’re doing is stupid or evil or it’s all been done before — make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, eventually time will take the sting away, and that doesn’t even matter. Do what only you can do best: Make good art. Make it on the bad days, make it on the good days, too.

I love Gaiman’s message, but I also want to make a plug for something else: when the going gets rough, make bad art, too.

When 9/11 and Katrina hit and she lost a bunch of her close friends, Lynda Barry got really depressed, and all she could do is doodle:

I found myself compelled, like this weird, shameful compulsion to draw cute animals. That was all I could stand to draw. You know, just cry and draw cute animals…dancing dogs with crowns on, you know? And, like, really friendly ducks. But I found this monkey, this meditating monkey, and I found that once - when I drew that monkey, it’s not that it fixed the problem. But it did shift it a little bit, or provide me some kind of relief. And that’s when I started to think, maybe that’s what images do, because I believe in all my - with all my heart they have an absolute biological function…

“Good” can be a stifling word, a word that makes you hesitate and stare at a blank page and second-guess yourself and throw stuff in the trash. What’s important is to get your hands moving and let the images come. Whether it’s good or bad is beside the point. Make art.

Yes yes yes.

absentlyabbie: kidnotoriouswashere: arkhane: Lady Captain...

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:35:31 +0100

absentlyabbie:

kidnotoriouswashere:

arkhane:

Lady Captain America and Lady Thor

Art by Yasmine Putri

One of the few female versions I’ve seen that portray the strength of the characters instead of being a vehicle to show Cap with a midriff or Thor with tremendous cleavage.

Hell yes.

Lady Gaga on trailer “Machete kills” It’s finally coming...

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:29:35 +0100

Lady Gaga on trailer “Machete kills”

It’s finally coming out? And Gaga is in it? Yay!

Photo

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:21:58 +0100

foolishcaptainkia: gothamshitty: kushdrinker: sweet dreams are made of cheese who am I to diss a...

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:21:53 +0100

foolishcaptainkia:

gothamshitty:

kushdrinker:

sweet dreams are made of cheese

who am I to diss a brie

I cheddar the world and the feta cheese

quickhits: Coburn clearly feeling the heat for his...

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:21:38 +0100

quickhits:

Coburn clearly feeling the heat for his hostage-taking.

Talking Points Memo: Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) office on Tuesday afternoon slammed critics of his position that any additional disaster relief funds to tornado victims in his state must be offset with spending cuts.

“It is crass for critics to play disaster aid politics when first responders are pulling victims from the rubble,” his office said in a memo to reporters.

Wait, you’re holding potential disaster relief for your own constituents hostage to budget cuts and your critics are playing “disaster politics”? Really? The person making the conditional demands is the one playing politics, because they’re using the disaster as leverage. I’m really hoping this statement’s the most bass-ackward thing I read today, because anything worse may actually cause brain damage.

His office explains his hostage-taking.

“Dr. Coburn has opposed disaster aid bills in the past because he believes disaster funding should be used to pay for disasters, not a wish-list of parochial or backlogged priorities that have nothing to do with helping victims,” his office said. “If an additional emergency aid package is necessary Dr. Coburn will not change his long-standing position on offsets.”

Of course, this is complete BS. Coburn has pulled this hostage-taking before and when his demands weren’t met, he went ahead and shot the hostage. Of course, you can’t come right out and say that without seeming like a villain, so he makes up excuses. But his demands are villainous.

“Especially in the wake of the sequester cuts, the notion that the federal budget is larded with easily eliminated spending is ludicrous,” writes Joan Walsh at Salon. “Would Coburn like to see more kids thrown out of Head Start? More seniors losing Meals on Wheels? The federal deficit is shrinking faster than at any time since just after World War II, but Coburn is going to insist that someone, somewhere, must lose their federal help so Oklahoma can get it instead.”

And what exactly does Coburn — and the rest of the GOP, for that matter — have against taxpayer money going back to the taxpayer? That’s what all of their cuts are about, whether it’s disaster relief or Medicare. This is money that you and I pay in and Republicans seem to believe it should all just disappear — preferably into our bloated military and its corporate contractors.

He’s not lashing out like this because he’s getting a ton of praise for his stance. I went out of my way to try to find defenders. I didn’t have a lot of luck. He’s trying to turn the criticism around on his detractors by trying the strategy conservatives so dearly love — playing the victim card. I doubt anyone will bite.

Crazy.

joshuastarlight: And this is the cause of my life — new hope...

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:11:57 +0100

joshuastarlight:

And this is the cause of my life — new hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American — north, south, east, west, young, old — will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege. - Ted Kennedy, 2008 DNC Speech

Should’ve built a socialized system then, you pompous son of privilege.

I really hate the way he’s lionized for advocating, apparently just at the end of his life, a system that isn’t even as progressive as what was put forth by LBJ when he was a young man.