Nancy Grace Versus On Nancy Grace On Weed
Posted on February 5, 2014 in Videos
It’s good to know that her conviction is as strong as her jawline.
Journalists’ Hilarious Live Tweets Of Sochi Olympics Trauma
Posted on February 5, 2014 in Images
While most of us in the continental United States moan and groan about persistent polar vortexes, consider this: at least you can drink the water from your faucet (OK, maybe still not in West Virginia) and flush your toilet paper down the toilet. Not so in Sochi. Oh, and it’s cold as balls there. As Vladimir Putin and co soar toward the Sochi Olympics on their Siberian cranes, journalists on the ground are wondering what in the hell they’ve gotten themselves into. Case in point: these tweets.
Being Gay In Putin’s Russia
Posted on February 5, 2014 in Articles
The Article: The Brutal, Bloody Horror of Gay Life in Putin’s Russia by Mark Joseph Stern in Slate.
The Text: Ever since virulently homophobic Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed through a law effectively outlawing openly gay people, the country’s LGBTQ community has, predictably, been plagued by violence. Now a study published in Harvard University’s Health and Human Rights journal confirms what myriad horrific anecdotes suggest: Gay people in Russia are being beaten, raped, and murdered at record rates—and the government is doing little to stop it.
The issue of violence against gays in Russia is, of course, nothing new. Before the passage of the new federal measure, several regional governments passed identical laws, stripping gay citizens of legal rights and human dignity. More than one-half of Russian gays reported psychological abuse, while 16 percent experienced physical assault, and 7 percent were raped. Yet 77 percent also reported complete distrust of the police, leaving most anti-gay crimes unreported.
15 Reasons Why The US Deserves Every Bad Thing That Happens To It
Believe it or not, the most offensive thing about this year’s Superbowl wasn’t Bruno Mars’ flashy crooning or his phosphorescent grin. No, it wasn’t the national anthem. And if you were a Seahawks fan, it sure as hell wasn’t the game. In fact, it was only outside the field where things got real ugly, real quick.
Coca Cola, using the shiny, trendy cloak of diversity to aggrandize its product, unveiled what they likely thought a benign commercial featuring–gasp–faces, races and words unknown to Ward Cleaver’s neighborhood, all singing along to “America, the Beautiful” like a big ole melting pot should.
Alas, the world just isn’t as rosy as the sugar smack dealers would have liked to think. It might come as a shock that not the most enlightened individuals take part in a belligerent, belching and booze-filled event known as “watching the Super Bowl” every year. It might come as an even bigger shock that these liberty-loving, wing-munching Americans don’t cotton too well to the idea of a terrorist–or god forbid, a gay one–adding his or her harmony to the great American chorus when he or she speaks “Arab”. Thus, #SpeakAmerican found its way from the dregs of Twitter-using neanderthals to its trending page. Here are some of the worst examples.
The Facebook Of Mormon
Posted on February 4, 2014 in Articles
The Article: Facebook Of Mormon by Shira Telushkin in The Atlantic.
The Text: The woman that he was trying to reach almost never picked up her phone, and she lived more than 50 miles away. Plus, he had to watch his gas mileage. So Brandon Gonzales, a then-20-year-old missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints, stationed in Slatington, Pa., looked her up on Facebook. The young Mormon found that she was almost always free to chat online in the mornings, and soon they were chatting every day. He would send her links to church videos and sermons that explained aspects of Mormon faith, family life, or church theology.
This was 2010, and, as far as most Mormons knew, what he was doing was completely forbidden.
Restrictions on technology have long been a defining feature of life during the Mormon mission, a full-time proselytizing effort that typically lasts two years for men and 18 months for women. Missionaries don’t use personal cell phones, browse the Internet, or even watch movies, excluding certain church-produced films. They read nothing outside of the Mormon scriptures and missionary-relevant texts. They call home only twice a year: on Mother’s Day and on Christmas. Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year—but also the busiest. Perhaps you’re haunted by the image of your mom making plates of homemade cookies for the neighbors, why not send this Christmas cookies mailed here to your loved ones!
Up until April 2013, these missionaries kept in touch with friends via handwritten letters. Today they have access to email on a church-operated server for a limited time once a week. The lifestyle is constructed to minimize worldly distractions, and focus missionaries on the task of preaching their gospel. Which is why it was a pretty big deal that Brandon Gonzales was on Facebook.
