American Eyes

Apr
24th

Sun

What does an early abortion look like?

tinysprout:

This is what 90% of abortions actually look like. Very, very different from the pictures of cut up babies anti-choice people like to flaunt, let me tell you [which are actually premature babies or late-term abortions performed for health reasons - about 1% of all abortions]

The picture is not graphic.

I know this has been reblogged a thousand times, but I think this is really important.

I wasn’t pro-choice 2 or 3 years ago. In 10th grade my CCD school had an assembly where a pro-lifer spoke. At the end they handed out teeny, tiny golden pins in the shape of baby feet, telling us it was the exact size of an aborted fetus’ feet. The exact size, the exact shape. Perfectly formed golden baby feet. I pinned it on my backpack and wondered how someone could be so ignorant, so selfish as to destroy a perfectly formed life.

I look at that little bit of… stuff up there and I don’t see a human. I see something that has no cognitive abilities or concept of pain. I see something less mammalian than the smallest mouse.

I still don’t know how I feel about abortion, but I know how I feel about telling another person she can’t receive one because of my own personal, and very skewed, views.

If you attended CCD like me, and were forced to view literal bags of late-term abortions, please click the above link. This helps gain perspective.

I just can’t stress how important this is. Education is key.

(Source: mr-owls)

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Apr
9th

Sat

seriousladies:

Hot tipper Caro points us to Jean Bartik’s obit (and her snazzy skirt suit).

futurejournalismproject:

Jean Bartik (left), one of the United States’ first computer programmers, died in late March.

Via the New York Times:

Ms. Bartik was the last surviving member of the group of women who programmed the Eniac, or Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, which is credited as the first all-electronic digital computer…

…When the Eniac was shown off at the University of Pennsylvania in February 1946, it generated headlines in newspapers across the country. But the attention was all on the men and the machine. The women were not even introduced at the event…

…The Eniac women were wartime recruits with math skills, whose job was initially described as plugging in wires to “set up the machine.” But converting the math analysis into a process that made sense to the machine, so that a calculation could flow through the electronic circuitry to completion, proved to be a daunting challenge.

“These women, being the first to enter this new territory, were the first to encounter the whole question of programming,” said Paul E. Ceruzzi, a computer historian at the Smithsonian Institution. “And they met the challenge.”

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Mar
18th

Fri

I love the part when she’s kicking it in the back seat between two friends and she sings, “My friend is by my right!” Friend on the left? Totally dissed. Life is cold, friend on the left.

—

Why Rebecca Black is the Demon-Wizard Child Piper Who Will Lead Us to Reason

Rob Sheffield has many things to say about Rebecca Black. This is great if just for the burn on Fleet Foxes.

(via perpetua)

AND THE SABRINA SHOUT OUT OH MY GOD

(via perpetua)

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Mar
13th

Sun

gingersnaps:

Highlights from the truck stop..

(via gingersnaps-deactivated20111228)

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seriousladies:

jillsies:

Joan Didion and her 1969 Yellow Corvette Stingray

J-DIDDY: Serious Lady swag

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Mar
7th

Mon

"To understand Bailey’s worth to Northwestern, you need to understand a little bit about Northwestern. First, it's full of very smart and very driven people. Second, it's not a place where young people go to have their assumptions challenged. It's not the sort of university where young people go to experiment and find themselves and dabble in campus radicalism and psychedelics and maybe let someone of the same sex or someone in a body suit rub up on them. Due to its prestigious undergraduate programs in theater, journalism, engineering and business, it has an entrenched and sometimes suffocating pre-professional streak. In every way, geographically, intellectually, socially, psychologically, it's the opposite of our South Side rival for academic supremacy. It's also really, truly, appallingly cold. Which is all a way of saying that it's the sort of place that might benefit from a fucksaw every now and then."

maura:

This is not an untrue statement.

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Feb
27th

Sun

This is an especially nice palate cleanser after the STYLING DISASTER that was inflicted on our boy in that GQ spread. My retinas are still searing from that t-shirt!!!

whydoihaveablog:

I have a crush on Childish Glover, you guys. No, you’re not understanding, I have a crush on him. The kind you develop in elementary school on recess black tops and grassy green fields.

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American Aquarium Drinker: When I was 9, my parents threw a birthday party for some old...

daveholmes:

When I was 9, my parents threw a birthday party for some old great-aunt or -uncle or other and invited the whole massive extended family. We’re Irish, so it was packed. Last to arrive was my great-uncle Freddy, a jolly widower who had recently taken up painting. He showed up with a huge package…

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Feb
15th

Tue

Nobody ever responded to us goofing on them, which disappointed me a little bit. Although I will say that the cast of the Broadway show works VERY hard to pull off that show and I give them all the credit in the world for having that level of talent. It’s just that the show itself has no reason to exist.

— Tom Scharpling re: American Idiot and “Bottled In Cork”. Via Chromewaves.

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Feb
9th

Wed

Norm Macdonald is returning to television

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Source: goldenfiddle)

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Feb
8th

Tue

WIND CHILL VALUES… 20 TO 25 BELOW ZERO.

— Woo hoo!

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newsweek:

today:

I would like a lifetime supply, please.

What’s the drink? Is there such a thing as chocolate-hazelnut flavored milk?

1. This is awesome, obviously.

2. The Today Show Tumblr appears to have little or no relation to the television program. In fact, it would almost appear to be directly at odds with it (e.g., unabashed mockery of Kim Kardashian vs. po-faced “reporting” on her latest endeavor).

Do they really think this is going to suddenly draw in new (and younger) viewers or trick people into thinking that Kathie Lee and Hoda are cool? Seems to be rather transparent and futile but at least they’re keeping a freelancer employed, I suppose.

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The Night Yo La Tengo Performed A Seinfeld Episode

This is not a fib - I was there too, marking the first (and presumably, last) time I have ever seen Yo La Tengo get booed.

Even though I knew that the novelty factor would wane after 10 mins or so, I was firmly in the “into it” camp - it was uncanny how much Ira nailed the delivery of his character (and to a lesser but still impressive extent, James). Frankly, I admire them for sticking with it - the band had clearly put a long time into practicing their lines and it would have somehow felt like a defeat to wind it down early.

But. While YLT has certainly earned enough goodwill to do pretty much whatever they want, I too was baffled and disappointed by the extended intermission that followed. Given that there was an extremely long and involved break/tuning session after the opening act (the surprisingly great William Tyler), and given that the instruments were left untouched during the first set, it was extremely off-putting to suffer through another long break (and for some reason, more tuning). Simply put, it just didn’t feel very Yo La Tengo-y, especially given the ticket price.

But yeah, once back onstage, they killed it. Perhaps in a nod to the previous 50 minutes, they launched into a percussion-heavy rendition of “The Room Got Heavy” and it was all jams from there. I bought a coffee mug.

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Feb
5th

Sat

FILE UNDER: PEOPLE I NEVER, EVER THOUGHT WOULD BE IN A PHOTO TOGETHER.

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"John Darnielle lives in Durham and sings around the world for the Mountain Goats. He came to hockey late, but he fell in love with it when he saw his wife lace up her skates in Ames, Iowa. One of the reasons he moved to North Carolina in 2003 was because Raleigh had a hockey team. His new album, All Eternals Deck, is due in March."

maura:

John Darnielle wrote up the NHL All-Star Game! And Lalitree took pictures!

Wow. Nice one. (Especially since I am a shallow person who hasn’t taken well to Last Plane to Jakarta’s abstract makeover.) I am well familiar with Mac MacCaughan’s hockey fandom but didn’t realize it extended to his friend and colleague Mr. Darnielle.

Corny as it may be, the NHL All-Star Draft, Skills Competition and Game were all must-see TV in our house. (Blackhawks represent!) Although I had to watch most of the draft by myself since my husband was off doing his job or something.

I will use this opportunity to belatedly encourage you to watch HBO’s Winter Classic 24/7 doc if you haven’t already. Setting aside my interest in the sport, it ranks as some of the more powerful documentary filmmaking I’ve seen in some time. I would submit that some of the “folksy, low-budget charm” that Darnielle ascribes to Raleigh is also part of the game itself. Ok, “low-budget” is a stretch, but there’s a level of humility in hockey and its players that their counterparts in professional football and basketball have long since abandoned. Even the game’s TV announcers exude a sincerity and joy that’s increasingly rare. I don’t know whether it’s the sheer number of games per season, the (relatively) lower salaries, or something else, but there’s a difference and 24/7 captures it honestly.

And if you still need more indie cred to convince you of hockey’s charms, even a cursory glance at the TeenBeat Twitter feed will let you know where Mark Robinson stands.

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