Sociology
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During the Presidential campaign and directly following the election I decided I could no longer watch Oprah...or at the very least, we needed our space. This past Tuesday she made me a believer again when she did a show regarding Child Neglect.
Oprah!
feminism
Could A 16-Hour Work Week Save Civilization? | Disinformation
The question is: If Americans wanted to retain compensation and employment gains between 1987 and 2009, how long would the average American be required to work each week? Answer: 16 Hours. I was a little reticent to publish this one at first, since it does rather smack of classical Libertarianism (i.e., in the sense of being concerned with “free” time, ergo “liberty”). But then I thought, “What the Hell?” It’s only a thought. If I give the reader access to all the underlying data they could do whatever they wanted with it and make their own decisons.
Dancing Makes You Smarter
For centuries, dance manuals and other writings have lauded the health benefits of dancing, usually as physical exercise. More recently we've seen research on further health benefits of dancing, such as stress reduction and increased serotonin level, with its sense of well-being. Then most recently we've heard of another benefit: Frequent dancing apparently makes us smarter. A major study added to the growing evidence that stimulating one's mind can ward off Alzheimer's disease and other dementia, much as physical exercise can keep the body fit. Dancing also increases cognitive acuity at all ages. You may have heard about the New England Journal of Medicine report on the effects of recreational activities on mental acuity in aging.NEW YORK, NY — The Progressive Caucus of the City Council commends today’s passage of a resolution opposing the United States Supreme Court Citizens United decision, which gave corporations the same First Amendment rights as people. Progressive Caucus Members Brad Lander, Melissa Mark-Viverito and Steve Levin sponsored this resolution, with the entirety of the Progressive Caucus as co-sponsors. We thank Speaker Christine Quinn for her leadership on this important issue. As our support of this resolution demonstrates, restoring confidence in government and strengthening democratic participation is a core principle of the Progressive Caucus.
NY City Council Passes Resolution Declaring that Corporations Are Not People |
Kind of Screwed - Waxy.org
TL;DR version: Last year, I was threatened with a lawsuit over the pixel art album cover for Kind of Bloop . Despite my firm belief that I was legally in the right, I settled out of court to cut my losses. This ordeal was very nerve-wracking for me and my family, and I've had trouble writing about it publicly until now.the maniac lumbers through a silent forest. he is a sallow-faced man with a stout physique and a deep, low voice. he's with a friend, a woman, and they are enveloped by birch trees rising fifty, sixty feet into a pale gray sky. They are talking about something important. What is love? Is love for real, or is it a ruse, a make-believe ambrosia? The woman doesn’t know that the Maniac has had this conversation before. He is practiced.
The Chessboard Killer: Big Issues: GQ
The Domino Project
Is that all the genius is worth? Of course not. Once again, it’s an issue of substitutes. If you want Bach, you have lots of choices. If you want classical music in general, more choices still. And compared to everything else you can do, even more choices.
Stephen Colbert explains SOPA - Boing Boing
if my favorite show is on, say, nbc, and i'm in the habit of watching it online because that's more convenient, then i'll gladly sit through a commercial -- which i cannot skip -- to watch it on nbc's website. you've retained my viewership and you've put my eyeballs on your sponsor's commercial. if my favorite show is on fox, however, and i'm not a cable or hulu plus subscriber, i have to wait a week for the new episode -- which i might do, or i might go to my friend's house and watch it on tivo where we skip every commercial, or i might find it online somewhere, again commercial-free. fox has possibly lost my viewership, and their sponsors have lost my eyeballs. when my favorite nbc show comes out on dvd, i might buy it, because i enjoyed it so much. or i might buy show-related merchandise because i'm a fan. or i will tell my friends to watch the show because it's so awesome. win all over.
Earlier this year, we wrote an investigative blog post criticizing the BBB’s pay-to-play policies. Many of you (including the Today show ) were interested in our research. A few months later, we received a nasty letter from the BBB threatening that they would freeze our accreditation if we didn’t take down the post.
Loses BBB Accreditation Over Investigative Blog Post
Google: Quit the Chamber of Commerce Right now we have a huge opportunity to deal a serious blow to one of Washington's most powerful lobbies, the deeply conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce. At Google headquarters, employees are intensely debating whether Google should quit the Chamber in the next few weeks.
Civic Action: Google: Quit the Chamber of Commerce
Grassroots Momentum Builds Toward Passage of a Constitutional Amendment LOS ANGELES, CA – Next week the Los Angeles City Council will vote on a resolution that calls on Congress to amend the Constitution to clearly establish that only living persons -- not corporations -- are endowed with constitutional rights and that money is not the same as free speech. If this resolution is passed, Los Angeles will be the first major city in the U.S. to call for an end to all corporate constitutional rights. The campaign in Los Angeles is the latest grassroots effort by Move to Amend , a national coalition working to abolish corporate personhood. “Local resolution campaigns are an opportunity for citizens to speak up and let it be known that we won’t accept the corporate takeover of our government lying down," said Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, a national spokesperson for Move to Amend. "We urge communities across the country to join the Move to Amend campaign and raise your voices.”