no. 165

"Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, “Dear Jim: I loved your card.” Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, “Jim loved your card so much he ate it.” That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it."

Maurice Sendak

no. 164

"Homophobia: the fear that gay men will treat you the way you treat women."

Coyote Too

(via)

no. 163

"There are obvious, even significant differences between Obama and someone like Mitt Romney, particularly on social issues, but no matter how Obama markets himself this time around, a choice between these two will not in any way represent a choice between "change" and the status quo. This is a choice between two different versions of the status quo, and everyone knows it."

Matt Taibbi

no. 162

"It's true that the early bird gets the worm, but the early worm gets eaten."

Unknown.

(And the second mouse gets the cheese)

no. 161

"Peace: a morbid condition, due to a surplus of civilians, which war seeks to remedy."

Cyril Connolly, The Condemned Playground

no. 160

“Regular” marriage and “Gay” marriage are like bikini tops and bras. The exact same thing, but only one is allowed in public.

"Mouse"

no. 159

"Atheist are routinely asked how people will know not to rape and murder without religion telling them not to do it, especially a religion that backs up the orders with threats of hell. Believers, listen to me carefully when I say this: When you use this argument, you terrify atheists. We hear you saying that the only thing standing between you and Ted Bundy is a flimsy belief in a supernatural being made up by pre-literate people trying to figure out where the rain came from. This is not very reassuring if you’re trying to argue from a position of moral superiority."

10 Myths Many Religious People Hold About Atheists, Debunked

no. 158

no. 157

"Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank and he can rob the world."

Edited on Tue Nov-29-11 12:49 PM by WilliamPitt
Credited to Jim Truther on Facebook

(via)

no. 156

"Dont forget to polybag your sad. I'd hate for it to decrease in value"

Peejee, in R. K. Milholland's Something Positive

Whoops! Sorry about the gap, o non-existant readers!

no. 155

"Mitt hasn't given up hope and for damned good reason. Poor old Newt has the nasty habit of flaming out just as things are starting to look up for him. It's only a matter of time before he foolishly blurts out something too weird even for the right wing extremists who are now the "norm" in that disgusting party. Or worse - he might say something thoughtful and intelligent - the kiss of death for any Republican candidate these days. That's what destroyed the Rick Perry campaign. When he claimed that anyone who would separate an illegal immigrant from his or her family "has no heart" his campaign was toast and jelly. It wasn't all of the idiotic things emanating from his mouth that killed his chances. It was one genuine moment of human compassion. That's what kind of party the Republicans have become."

Tom Degan, discussing the Republican primary (before the Iowa caucus)

no. 154

"Too few parents approach this matter with the right attention and too many kids think, porn is the manner in which adults express affection.

Most people who are talking about this do so to win votes or push for censorship. Here is an exception and this is her mission."



via

no. 153

"This is a Facebook CLASSIC. It’s vague and subtle enough to sound good and be reposted 55 million times, but it’s such a nonsensical, insidious little piece of misogynistic bullshit. Let’s examine, shall we?

“If more females would sit down” - Passive. Quiet. Knowing one’s place. Not causing trouble. This is the standard that is laid out for “being a lady”. Big problem. HUGE.
“Be ladies” - Being a “lady” is different than being a woman. A woman is someone who identifies as a woman. A “lady” is someone who is prim, proper, and abides by the societal standards of behavior expected of female presenting persons, often to her own detriment. The etymology of the word lady is fascinating, although not how I’d like to exist in the world as a woman.
“More males would stand up” - Active. Outspoken. Standing up is a good thing, a heroic thing, something to be encouraged…but only if you’re a man, apparently. The double standard here is palpable; standing up is undesirable if you’re a woman, because you should be sitting and allowing men to stand up.
This ideal that is set forward is reminiscent of all the submissions I’ve seen in the past where people lament about the “good old days”. Oh, chivalry was everywhere! Oh, people DRESSED so much better! Oh, what’s that? You could be jailed for wearing pants as a woman, or lynched for being black? Well I’d rather just focus on how rad gender roles were then without getting into the messy stuff. Surely you understand.

(Of course, with this particular adaptation of the Facebook adage, you get the additional cissexism bonus of female being equated with ladies, and male being equated with gentlemen, with obviously no thought to the difference between sex and gender.)"

stfusexists, via

no. 152

no. 151

unsolicited advice to adolescent girls with crooked teeth and pink hair

When your mother hits you, do not strike back. When the boys call asking your cup size, say A, hang up. When he says you gave him blue balls, say you’re welcome. When a girl with thick black curls who smells like bubble gum stops you in a stairwell to ask if you’re a boy, explain that you keep your hair short so she won’t have anything to grab when you head-butt her. Then head-butt her. When a guidance counselor teases you for handed-down jeans, do not turn red. When you have sex for the second time and there is no condom, do not convince yourself that screwing between layers of underwear will soak up the semen. When your geometry teacher posts a banner reading: “Learn math or go home and learn how to be a Momma,” do not take your first feminist stand by leaving the classroom. When the boy you have a crush on is sent to detention, go home. When your mother hits you, do not strike back. When the boy with the blue mohawk swallows your heart and opens his wrists, hide the knives, bleach the bathtub, pour out the vodka. Every time. When the skinhead girls jump you in a bathroom stall, swing, curse, kick, do not turn red. When a boy you think you love delivers the first black eye, use a screw driver, a beer bottle, your two good hands. When your father locks the door, break the window. When a college professor writes you poetry and whispers about your tight little ass, do not take it as a compliment, do not wait, call the Dean, call his wife. When a boy with good manners and a thirst for Budweiser proposes, say no. When your mother hits you, do not strike back. When the boys tell you how good you smell, do not doubt them, do not turn red. When your brother tells you he is gay, pretend you already know. When the girl on the subway curses you because your tee shirt reads: “I fucked your boyfriend,” assure her that it is not true. When your dog pees the rug, kiss her, apologize for being late. When he refuses to stay the night because you live in Jersey City, do not move. When he refuses to stay the night because you live in Harlem, do not move. When he refuses to stay the night because your air conditioner is broken, leave him. When he refuses to keep a toothbrush at your apartment, leave him. When you find the toothbrush you keep at his apartment hidden in the closet, leave him. Do not regret this. Do not turn red. When your mother hits you, do not strike back.

Jeanann Verlee

no. 150

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."

Edith Lovejoy Pierce