information addict

my name is Sophie. I work at a public library in Wisconsin. I'm currently studying to be a young adult librarian, mostly so I can read YA books all day and get paid for it.

things I often tumble: feminism, books, relationships, dogs, Luna Lovegood, Xzibit meme, social (in)justice, pretty flickr things, LOLanything, Obama, gay rights, libraries, and anything else I find fascinating or funny or infuriating. usually SFW.

where to find me: livejournal flickr
sophie dot sensation at gmail

robot-heart: furrowedbrow: ronniebruce:

Turk Dancing to Poison

I’ve tumbld this like five times but it’s that good.

Always a reblog.

katharinec:

Sacha Baron Cohen’s GQ Cover is “Pornography” in NYC | Carnal Nation

In NYC, the newsstand chain Hudson News recently declared that the issue would be treated as pornography, and would be sold with the lower half concealed.

But, as both Gawker and Shakesville point out, this month’s issue of Esquire with Israeli model Bar Refaeli, above right, is not being sold “as pornography” by Hudson News, and you can easily find the two resting next to one another on Hudson’s shelves, Refaeli proudly flaunting it all to the passerby in Grand Central Station while Sacha is discreetly covered up.

This makes me want to do an experiment where we put naked people of various sizes, shapes, ethnicities, genders, ages, etc. on magazine covers and see which of them get labeled “pornographic.”

Rape, abortion, incest. Is this what CHILDREN should read? | Mail Online 

librarianpirate:

Oh dear lord. Somebody give some sense to this journalist? Note: YA novels are not intended for children. In the morning I am going to type up something long and full of rebut towards Danuta Kean, but for now I am going to just go with one (rather minor) point of his.

The story is inspired by Snow White And The Red Rose by the Brothers Grimm. But anyone expecting singing dwarves and a comedy cruel queen, followed by an innocent peck on the cheek by a handsome prince, is in for a horrible shock.

Yeah, the Grimm’s tale is actually called “Snow White and Rose Red” and is very different from the normal Snow White tale and most people know that the original Grimm tales are always, well, grim. And anyone who reads the YA version of a fairytale expecting Disnification is reading the wrong thing.

That is all for now. Goodnight.

Blarg. Maybe if kids knew more about rape and incest, there would be fewer abused kids who didn’t know what was happening to them. Anyone who thinks their kids are innocent little angels and should remain so until they turn 18 is doing them more harm than good.

List of musical works in unusual time signatures - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 

“Hey Ya!” by OutKast. Emulates 11/4 by using a cadential six-measure phrase consisting of three 4/4 measures, a 2/4 measure, and two 4/4 measures.

o.O

(also, why do they have “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” on here but not “The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders”? I spent like a month in 2006 obsessed with that song and its crazy time signature mayhem.)

We are — we keep marrying other species and other ethnics and other … See, the problem is the Swedes have pure genes. Because they marry other Swedes …. Finns marry other Finns, so they have a pure society.

Brian Kilmeade, Fox & Friends 7/8/09

Y’know what else would make our society more pure?  Drowning all of the racist assholes - and I know just the place.

(via thesmarttart)

Is this Racism Wednesday or something?

(via robot-heart-politics) (via think4yourself)

spaceships:

Photos of a kickass, beautiful wedding in Georgia

I love the barn dancing and the big round signs. gorgeous.

Most depressing news I've read in a while. 

robot-heart-politics:

ohfortheloveofdog:

Did you see how many comments were on the original article?  90% of them will make you think you’ve been transported to 1940.  I am so angry I could smash something right now.

The comments are jaw-dropping. First there are the assumptions that the children were misbehaving, vandalizing things, stealing, cursing, wearing dirty underpants (not even kidding), and generally wreaking havoc, even though by all accounts the children were well-behaved and most had barely gotten into their swimsuits. Some people referred to them as “thugs” and “animals.” Keep in mind we’re talking about children under the age of 6. And while some don’t out and out say that they are afraid of black people, many comment on the horrors of “inner city” children and how if parents “work so hard” to keep their white-bred suburban princes and princesses away from those monsters, then they shouldn’t be forced to deal with the inner city kids they’re so afraid of at a private pool. (Private, in America, is code for “white.”) More than one comments on how the parents [of the black children] must be ignorant and uneducated and therefore aren’t to be trusted.

There are arguments about how black people are even more racist than white people, so why should we have to do any favors for them? And if they can have black-only organizations or whatever, why should we have to include them in our (unofficially) white-only organizations? After all, look at black Miss America and BET! There are just legions of black people excluding white people! Nevermind that we’re talking about things that were created primarily because of the way blacks have been historically excluded from traditional, white-run organizations, TV stations, colleges, etc. And even many of the “black only” organizations and such are not actually black only—it’s just that, as many others gleefully pointed out, what white person would want to be a part of it? White people don’t or won’t, so it ends up being black only.

Then you get the stuff like this: “Twanda Brawley” (i.e. a white person trying to be clever) who commented:

Yo deez RACIST jerks be needn ta git rolld up on…we aint be da LIARS here, we duh vic, i knows it

OR:

It doesn’t matter whether or not these Black kids were making trouble… too many Blacks in general act like barely socialized savages in public, thus causing others to rightfully not want to be around ANY of them. Blacks need to take responsibility for their actions. They need to stop whining all the time and EARN others’ respect.

Or (and there are several variations on this person’s sentiments):

Why don’t all the whiney crybabies put their money together and build their own pool? Or form their own “club” so they can swim? It can even be all Black! It would work- because no self-respecting White would let their kids swim with ghetto trash.

Or:

YEEEHAH! TAKE BACK AMERICA! WE SHIPPED ‘EM HERE, WE CAN SHIP ‘EM ELSEWHERE!!!

And while I’d love to say that anyone could be the racists making these statements, there are endless comments about Obama, ACORN, and evil libruls, which highlight the fact that the people who harbor these kinds of opinions come from the right…and are egged on by conservative leadership with rhetoric like school vouchers (to get your precious white babies away from the black, inner city savages) and school choice (remember: private = white), the welfare queen, being tough on crime (which is only perpetrated by black people) and drugs (which are only trafficked/used by black people), ACORN (chock full of black people!) and Rev. Wright (and his crazy black church), the importance of private business and the free market (because if it’s private, nobody can force you to include black people), reverse racism and the evils of affirmative action (which allows those lazy black people to get the same privileges as white people without working for them), and so on. The thing that strikes me about almost all of the racist comments is: 1) how heavily they rely on stereotypes, and 2) how heavily politics and politicized ideas figure into their perceptions and their arguments. And you can argue all you want about how the leadership on the right isn’t really racist or pulling upon racist ideas or fears to get votes. All I have to say is that one very quick glance at the overwhelmingly racist conservative response to this piece shows that, even if you aren’t picking up on the racist undertones, they certainly are.

I’m appalled by the commentary, but not really surprised. Not by any of it. This is America, and this is a deeply-embedded part of American society…whether we like it or not, whether we want to admit it or not. But I hope that more of you who are usually willing to apologize for this kind of stuff (“there’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep your children away from poor inner city children,” “there’s nothing wrong with private business keeping black people out—it’s a private business”) are more willing to admit it, after seeing some of this…directed at small children, no less.

It wasn’t just anyone who left MySpace to go to Facebook. In fact, if we want to get to the crux of what unfolded, we might as well face an uncomfortable reality… What happened was modern day “white flight.” Whites were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. The educated were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. Those from wealthier backgrounds were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. Those from the suburbs were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. Those who deserted MySpace did so by “choice” but their decision to do so was wrapped up in their connections to others, in their belief that a more peaceful, quiet, less-public space would be more idyllic.

Congrachoolayshuns on yore noo nayme, Syfy! 

(via frogcynic)
Derrick Jensen and Aric McBay’s What We Leave Behind begins with a story about shit. It sounds snarky and unfair when I describe it that way, but that’s because shit occupies a rather maligned place in Western culture; the story itself is quite lovely. One of the authors (they intentionally avoid saying who writes which chapter, and although it’s often easy to tell, I’ll refrain from naming them individually), reluctant to “flush all those nutrients down the toilet,” goes outside of his house in the woods to contribute to the food chain by depositing his shit on the soil. If waste is something that’s no longer usable by anyone or anything, he explains, then the concept of “waste” doesn’t exist in nature, and sure enough, he soon sees slugs and bacteria breaking the piles down and plants growing in their places. However, he notices that when he’s prescribed antibiotics – which pass through a human’s system more or less intact – his poop starts to kill plants and soil life. “The soil in the two main spots where I relieved myself became bare,” he says. “[They] remained bare for the next two years.

Two (economic) explanations why older people think kids today are spoiled 

gregbrown:

The explanations of each cognitive fallacy are really neat, especially when considered along with part II which covers two more economics-related reasons. They’re a useful contrast (and rebuttal) to more sensationalist explanations like those in Generation Me.

“With all due respect for the liberation of women, someone has to clean the house and do all sorts of boring chores.”

Not Your Mama’s Pregnancy « Awful Library Books

juliasegal:
OMG!!! The creepy phone calls are coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!!!

juliasegal:

OMG!!! The creepy phone calls are coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!!!
A few weeks ago, two despicable radio hosts in Sacramento spent 30 minutes advocating child abuse against transgender kids. Rob Williams and Arnie States railed against ”allowing transgenders to exist,” urged parents of gender dysphoric children to beat it out of them, and used cruel, dehumanizing language calling for their demise: “I look forward to when they go out into society and society beats them down. And they end up in therapy.
Insurance companies sometimes charge higher premiums for people with a high BMI. Among such people are all those fit individuals with good bone and muscle and little fat, who will live long, healthy lives during which they will have to pay those greater premiums.
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