The Forces Of Nature Agency

Watch This 9-Year-Old Totally Own the Politicians Who Want to Close His School

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:30:47 -0400

Watch This 9-Year-Old Totally Own the Politicians Who Want to Close His School:

This 3rd grader just gave the best speech you’ve ever seen.

all us modern citizens could use a little perspective…

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:48:26 -0400

all us modern citizens could use a little perspective…

liberalsarecool: The GOP hates students, loves their debt...

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:06:36 -0400

liberalsarecool:

The GOP hates students, loves their debt payments.

Why aren't more people freaking out about the new Venezuelan labor law?

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:04:25 -0400

captain-communism:

monetizeyourcat:

dancepunksnotdead:

You know, the one that gives housewives/full-time mothers a pension— wages for housework?

It’s ONLY A HUGE VICTORY FOR FEMINISM, SOCIALISM, AND WOMEN OF COLOR. Not a big deal or anything. Tumblr is mysteriously silent about this.

http://rabble.ca/columnists/2013/05/venezuelas-new-labour-law-best-mothers-day-gift

holy shit!

WAIT THIS IS AMAZING

Photo

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:03:00 -0400

foodnun: thats my baby girl who is Ke$ha?

Wed, 22 May 2013 20:58:02 -0400

foodnun:

thats my baby girl

who is Ke$ha?

all the Yes…

Wed, 22 May 2013 20:33:33 -0400

all the Yes…

strugglingtobeheard: bonvoyagepussy: Pressure Point...

Wed, 22 May 2013 20:14:46 -0400

strugglingtobeheard:

bonvoyagepussy:

Pressure Point (1962)

omg i died. this face says everything. you understand? everything.

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:58:00 -0400

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

880 the revolution - progressive talk radio

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:28:58 -0400

880 the revolution - progressive talk radio:

Listen to 1,500+ Live Stations or create commercial-free, all-music Custom Stations featuring songs from the artist you select and similar music.

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Wed, 22 May 2013 19:26:44 -0400

US judge receives 28-year jail term for his role in kids-for-cash kickbacks

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:17:32 -0400

US judge receives 28-year jail term for his role in kids-for-cash kickbacks:

An American judge known for his harsh and autocratic courtroom manner was jailed for 28 years for conspiring with private prisons to hand young offenders maximum sentences in return for kickbacks amounting to millions of dollars.

The Xbox One will always be listening to you, in your own home

Wed, 22 May 2013 12:26:18 -0400

The Xbox One will always be listening to you, in your own home:

silviowilma:

The reason for always-on listening mode is simple; Microsoft wants the new Xbox to respond quickly and naturally to you, whenever you need it. To fulfill that goal, the company will ship the new Kinect — its motion-sensing and listening peripheral — with every Xbox One. The new console uses the new Kinect for just about everything: switching between games, movies, web browsing, and live television, all of which can be done with voice commands. (In fact, the new console needs the Kinect to operate at all — it’s not an optional add-on like with the Xbox 360.) Even when the console’s turned off, users can simply say “Xbox On” to power up — which means the new Kinect will be listening to you in your living room at all times.

The reason for always-on listening mode is simple; Microsoft wants the new Xbox to respond quickly and naturally to you, whenever you need it. To fulfill that goal, the company will ship the new Kinect — its motion-sensing and listening peripheral — with every Xbox One. The new console uses the new Kinect for just about everything: switching between games, movies, web browsing, and live television, all of which can be done with voice commands. (In fact, the new console needs the Kinect to operate at all — it’s not an optional add-on like with the Xbox 360.) Even when the console’s turned off, users can simply say “Xbox On” to power up — which means the new Kinect will be listening to you in your living room at all times.

In fact, the new camera and microphone system is so sensitive to your presence, that Microsoft says the new Kinect can even read your heartbeat while you’re exercising, and recognize and process audio that’s personalized to specific individuals. “This is rocket science level stuff,” Xbox’s Marc Whitten said during today’s reveal.

Read more at the link.

this should be very worrying. this is a problem

seekandyoushallfindjustice: Consumers or the Consumed? Why the...

Wed, 22 May 2013 12:13:00 -0400

seekandyoushallfindjustice:

Consumers or the Consumed? Why the inequality?

Can we still regard ourselves as consumers or are we the ones who are being consumed? Materialism is rife in the most technologically advanced society to date (Wilkinson & Pickett 2010) and I am convinced it is somewhat responsible for the global economic inequality we face today. Wanting material things isn’t a bad intention in itself, however when this desire is gluttonous morality is pushed aside because the sharing of material things is limited to self. This individualistic view is justified by a sense of deserving and a utilitarian notion of achieving happiness by accumulating materials (Mahadea & Rawat 2008).

Its time to question this justification because it has led to major global inequalities.

How can we justify this pursuit for happiness through materialism when it has encouraged economic growth in the West and has failed to encourage activism with regard to the persistent existence of severe poverty? The West faces a morality crisis when it alone is found to exceed the necessary funds required to end severe poverty (Pogge, 2008). Unfortunately, this worthy goal hasn’t been pursued because of a concern for economic growth that seems more salient than the concern for ending poverty (Pogge, 2007, 2008). 2010 data from the Credit Suisse Research Institute revealed 68.4% of the world’s population had a net worth of USD$10,000 or under, as opposed to 0.5% of the world’s population (located in Asia, Europe and the US) having a net worth of USD$1,000,000 or more. Furthermore Pogge (2008) uses 2004 World Bank data to argue there are approximately USD$300 billion dollars worth of annual shortfalls for populations in poverty, which is “well under 1 percent of the aggregate annual gross national incomes of the high income economies.” With such facts it is more than reasonable to argue there is a gluttonous desire for economic growth that forgoes morality and allows poverty. This situation shouldn’t be tolerated when there are scores of poverty related diseases and deaths occurring that are preventable (Pogge 2007, 2008).

The excitement stirred up by our culture has perpetuated this cycle of pursuing happiness through materialism that overlooks the poverty widespread throughout the globe. This false notion of enlightenment unfortunately fails to improve levels of happiness despite its promises (Mahadea & Rawat 2008; Wilkinson & Pickett 2010) yet those in the West continue to pursue it and so the cycle perpetuates.

Lets stop the cycle. Let’s regain balance. Lets regain economic equality.

References:

Mahadea, D. and Rawat, T. (2008). Economic Growth, Income and Happiness: An Exploratory Study. South African Journal of Economics, Vol. 76, p276 – 290.

Pogge, T. (2007). Why Inequality Matters. In David Held Aysa Kaya (Eds). Global Inequality. Malden: Polity Press, p132 – 145.

Pogge, T. (2008). General Introduction. In World Poverty and Human Rights: Cosmopolitan Responsibilities and Reforms (2^nded). Cambridge: Polity Press, p1 - 26.

Wilkinson, R. & Pickett, K. (2010). Material Success, Social Failure. In The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone. New York: Penguin Books, p3 – 30.

Credit Suisse (2010). Press Release. Retrieved from https://www.credit-suisse.com/news/en/media_release.jsp?ns=41610.

Credit Suisse (2010). Chart 1: The Wealth Pyramid. Retrieved from https://www.credit-suisse.com/upload/news-live/000000022231.pdf.

pizzaforpresident: why are people even questioning obesity in...

Wed, 22 May 2013 12:05:25 -0400

pizzaforpresident:

why are people even questioning obesity in america

its a tragedy. chef ramsey is gonna go pour a 40oz for all the suckers who never made it.

silenthill: leonmcgann: -annoying: i took a picture of a...

Wed, 22 May 2013 07:18:50 -0400

silenthill:

leonmcgann:

-annoying:

i took a picture of a white girl taking a picture of her starbucks

she looks so happy

nature is amazing

there are no words in the English language to describe the feels radiating from that pic…

"‎”Black women been styling their natural hair for thousands of years but when we got to America it..."

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:50:21 -0400

“‎”Black women been styling their natural hair for thousands of years but when we got to America it suddenly became unmanageable.””

- (via the-african-violet-speaks)

!!!

(via chokolatesoul)

amen

(via youngblackandvegan)

legallyunderage: #signalbost

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:47:23 -0400

legallyunderage:

#signalbost

setfabulazerstomaximumcaptain: thepeoplesrecord: Prison Labor...

Tue, 21 May 2013 22:20:36 -0400

setfabulazerstomaximumcaptain:

thepeoplesrecord:

Prison Labor Exposed: From Starbucks to Microsoft - A sampling of what US prisoners make & for whom
May 21, 2013

Tens of thousands of US inmates are paid from pennies to minimum wage—minus fines and victim compensation—for everything from grunt work to firefighting to specialized labor.

The breaded chicken patty your child bites into at school may have been made by a worker earning twenty cents an hour, not in a faraway country, but by a member of an invisible American workforce: prisoners. At the UnionCorrectional Facility, a maximum security prison in Florida, inmates from a nearby lower-security prison manufacture tons of processed beef, chicken and pork for Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises (PRIDE), a privately held non-profit corporation that operates the state’s forty-one work programs. In addition to processed food, PRIDE’s website reveals an array of products for sale through contracts with private companies, from eyeglasses to office furniture, to be shipped from a distribution center in Florida to businesses across the US. PRIDE boasts that its work programs are “designed to provide vocational training, to improve prison security, to reduce the cost of state government, and to promote the rehabilitation of the state inmates.”

And Each month, California inmates process more than 680,000 pounds of beef, 400,000 pounds of chicken products, 450,000 gallons of milk, 280,000 loaves of bread, and 2.9 million eggs (from 160,000 inmate-raised hens).Starbucks subcontractor Signature Packaging Solutions has hired Washington prisoners to package holiday coffees (as well as Nintendo Game Boys). Confronted by a reporter in 2001, a Starbucks rep called the setup “entirely consistent with our mission statement.”

Texas inmates produce brooms and brushes, bedding and mattresses, toilets, sinks, showers, and bullwhips.

In Texas, prisoners make officers’ duty belts, handcuff cases, and prison-cell accessories. California convicts make gun containers, creepers (to peek under vehicles), and human-silhouette targets.

A stitch in time: California inmates sew their own garb. In the 1990s, subcontractor Third Generation hired 35 female South Carolina inmates to sew lingerie and leisure wear for Victoria’s Secret and JCPenney. In 1997, a California prison put two men in solitary for telling journalists they were ordered to replace “Made in Honduras” labels on garments with “Made in the usa.”

Open wide: At California’s prison dental laboratory, inmates produce a complete prosthesis selection, including custom trays, try-ins, bite blocks, and dentures.

Constructive criticism: Prisoners in for burglary, battery, drug and gun charges, and escape helped build a Wal-Mart distribution center in Wisconsin in 2005, until community uproar halted the program. (Company policy says, “Forced or prison labor will not be tolerated by Wal-Mart.”)

On call: Its inmate call centers are the “best kept secret in outsourcing,” Unicor boasts. In 1994, a contractor for gop congressional hopeful Jack Metcalf hired Washington state prisoners to call and remind voters he was pro-death penalty. Metcalf, who prevailed, said he never knew.

Federal Prison Industries, a.k.a. Unicor, says that in addition to soldiers’ uniforms, bedding, shoes, helmets, and flak vests, inmates have “produced missile cables (including those used on the Patriot missiles during the Gulf War)” and “wiring harnesses for jets and tanks.” In 1997, according to Prison Legal News, Boeing subcontractor MicroJet had prisoners cutting airplane components, paying $7 an hour for work that paid union wages of $30 on the outside.

Full article

AND THIS

IS WHY

THE WAR ON DRUGS

AND REAGAN

CAN FUCKING BURN FOREVER

FOR FUCKING EVER

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Tue, 21 May 2013 22:16:38 -0400