isabelthespy:

an interesting story about ethnicity (well interesting to me anyway) is that when my mom started looking into converting to judaism she started doing kind of haphazardly piecing together different things that led to discovering that her family is like, huuuugely composed of sephardic jewish roots — basically, that her spanish & italian ancestors had once been jewish families who had taken their judaism underground what with, you know, the inquisition, and suchlike. this is enough of a thing that there’s a pretty lengthy wikipedia article about it — her rabbi actually told her that the descendants of forced converts are considered jewish once they want to be, basically, but advised her to have a conversion ceremony anyway so no one would give her a hard time, lol (*this is what her rabbi said i’m not a talmudic scholar ok). a big part of how she figured this out, as well as something it helped explain, was a lot of habits of her great-grandmother — her repeated mentioning of “the kabbalah” (which, literal centuries out from anyone in the family identifying as jewish, she had in her head as the name of some benevolent cosmic force to be prayed to), her annual fast day in the fall, the songs she would sing when my mom was a kid that my mom recognized in a college class during a lecture on jewish folk songs. i mean, like, you have to remember, this is on puerto rico, there is not exactly a sizable jewish community there, i wouldn’t be at all surprised if my relatives there have never met a jewish person, and she never would have thought to associate these things with judaism. and yet there they were.

there are more interesting stories spanning more branches of the family i forget right now. but anyway it’s just an interesting genealogical wrinkle, to me, i guess.

There’s an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent about this. A woman from Argentina finds out she has Jewish roots and then dies under suspicious circumstances, without telling anyone what she discovered. Goren figures it out because he discovers she spoke Ladino.

slythwolf: sailor-honey: jocelynisunderconstruction: graceevolved: andfakethewayiholdyou: afternoonsnoozebutton: brooklynmutt: @ChuckWendig: Facebook will not remove rape culture photo from its site as it doesn’t qualify as “hate speech.”  via @EverydaySexism This is fucking bullshit WTF well, lets toss this around facebook for a bit and see how other people react… erkhjaduisfohadghifadkjfxnhadsufdcfihsdjfhsudfgsjasajdfsjadhhfjkhfasdjfhdsjhfkjadlgfuasdhgfudfadsfsfasdf Are you fucking kidding me you fucking idiots? I am done with Facebook. That is bullshit.  Facebook doesn’t consider this to be hate speech because it attacks all women rather than a specific one. Posting this about a specific woman would be harassment. Posting it about all women is hilarious.
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slythwolf:

sailor-honey:

jocelynisunderconstruction:

graceevolved:

andfakethewayiholdyou:

afternoonsnoozebutton:

brooklynmutt:

@ChuckWendig: Facebook will not remove rape culture photo from its site as it doesn’t qualify as “hate speech.”

 via @EverydaySexism

This is fucking bullshit

WTF

well, lets toss this around facebook for a bit and see how other people react…

erkhjaduisfohadghifadkjfxnhadsufdcfihsdjfhsudfgsjasajdfsjadhhfjkhfasdjfhdsjhfkjadlgfuasdhgfudfadsfsfasdf

Are you fucking kidding me you fucking idiots? I am done with Facebook. That is bullshit. 

Facebook doesn’t consider this to be hate speech because it attacks all women rather than a specific one. Posting this about a specific woman would be harassment. Posting it about all women is hilarious.

(via androboiinprogress)

Source: twitter.com

A lot of these dudes, when you challenge them, will say that they don’t have any real feelings about this and that they’re just trolling for the fun of it. They don’t really hate women, they just think it’s funny to… treat women as if they hate them. And… well, first of all, you’re lying to yourself, there’s clearly more to it than that. And, second of all, that doesn’t make it any better! Only somebody who hates women and sees them as less than human would even think that’s a meaningful distinction!

Jay Smooth, Ill Doctrine (via nextyearsgirl)

I firmly believe a vast majority of men hate women.  I was just thinking about this today.  They won’t admit to it, like this quotation suggestions, but in their opinions and actions it becomes clear they truly hate women.

“No, I LOVE women!” they protest.

Yes, you love looking at women.  You love fucking women.  You love pushing their buttons and objectifying them and letting them do things for you.  You love judging them and masturbating to them and having them on your arm on a night out.

But you do not actually have any respect for women.  You view them as inferior, you don’t question this.

I explained this to someone I had dated and of course he wouldn’t hear a word of it.

(via effffffffffasinfat)

AHHH SO PERFECT

(via misandry-mermaid)

Men love the idea of women, but most of them really and truly hate actual women.

(via callingoutbigotry)

They really, truly do. Yes I agree it’s the vast majority. They love women only as objects and tools. They have no real love for US.

(via everythingbutharleyquinn)

(via spindrift-secret)

Source: youtube.com

Here comes Obamacare

Well, the California bids are in — that is, insurers have submitted the prices at which they are willing to offer coverage on the state’s newly created Obamacare exchange. And the prices, it turns out, are surprisingly low. A handful of healthy people may find themselves paying more for coverage, but it looks as if Obamacare’s first year in California is going to be an overwhelmingly positive experience.

What can still go wrong? Well, Obamacare is a complicated program, basically because simpler options, like Medicare for all, weren’t considered politically feasible. So there will probably be a lot of administrative confusion as the law goes into effect, again especially in states where Republicans have been doing their best to sabotage the process.

Also, some people are too poor to afford coverage even with the subsidies. These Americans were supposed to be covered by a federally financed expansion of Medicaid, but in states where Republicans have blocked Medicaid expansion, such unfortunates will be left out in the cold.

Still, here’s what it seems is about to happen: millions of Americans will suddenly gain health coverage, and millions more will feel much more secure knowing that such coverage is available if they lose their jobs or suffer other misfortunes. Only a relative handful of people will be hurt at all. And as contrasts emerge between the experience of states like California that are making the most of the new policy and that of states like Texas whose politicians are doing their best to undermine it, the sheer meanspiritedness of the Obamacare opponents will become ever more obvious.

So yes, it does look as if there’s an Obamacare shock coming: the shock of learning that a public program designed to help a lot of people can, strange to say, end up helping a lot of people — especially when government officials actually try to make it work.
~Paul Krugman

fuckyeahfeminists: tyleroakley: buzzfeed: George Takei responds to “traditional” marriage fans.  George Takei is flawfree. this will never get old.
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fuckyeahfeminists: tyleroakley: buzzfeed: George Takei responds to “traditional” marriage fans.  George Takei is flawfree. this will never get old.
Zoom Info
fuckyeahfeminists: tyleroakley: buzzfeed: George Takei responds to “traditional” marriage fans.  George Takei is flawfree. this will never get old.
Zoom Info
fuckyeahfeminists: tyleroakley: buzzfeed: George Takei responds to “traditional” marriage fans.  George Takei is flawfree. this will never get old.
Zoom Info
fuckyeahfeminists: tyleroakley: buzzfeed: George Takei responds to “traditional” marriage fans.  George Takei is flawfree. this will never get old.
Zoom Info
fuckyeahfeminists: tyleroakley: buzzfeed: George Takei responds to “traditional” marriage fans.  George Takei is flawfree. this will never get old.
Zoom Info
fuckyeahfeminists: tyleroakley: buzzfeed: George Takei responds to “traditional” marriage fans.  George Takei is flawfree. this will never get old.
Zoom Info
fuckyeahfeminists: tyleroakley: buzzfeed: George Takei responds to “traditional” marriage fans.  George Takei is flawfree. this will never get old.
Zoom Info
fuckyeahfeminists: tyleroakley: buzzfeed: George Takei responds to “traditional” marriage fans.  George Takei is flawfree. this will never get old.
Zoom Info
fuckyeahfeminists: tyleroakley: buzzfeed: George Takei responds to “traditional” marriage fans.  George Takei is flawfree. this will never get old.
Zoom Info

fuckyeahfeminists:

tyleroakley:

buzzfeed:

George Takei responds to “traditional” marriage fans. 

George Takei is flawfree.

this will never get old.

Source: BuzzFeed

khealywu: zillah975: femmeforeverybody: Nichelle Nichols (Uhura on the original series):”Whoopi Goldberg, she’s just marvellous. I had no way of knowing that she was a Star Trek fan. When I finally met her it was her first year on the Next Generation. She loved the show so much and she told her agent she wants a role on Star Trek. Well agents go ‘Big screen, little screen, no, you can’t do that’. Well you can’t tell Whoopi ‘You can’t do that’. And so they finally asked, and they had the same reaction at Star Trek office, specifically Gene. And she said, ‘I want to meet him and I want him to tell me to my face. If he tells me he doesn’t want me and why, I’ll be fine.’ Knowing Gene he had to take that challenge, and so he met with her. She said, ‘I just wanted you to tell me why you don’t want me in Star Trek.’ Gene said, ‘Well, I’ll just ask you one question and I’ll make my decision on that. You’re a big screen star, why do you want to be on a little screen, why do you want to be in Star Trek?’ And she looked at him and she said, ‘Well, it’s all Nichelle Nichols’ fault.’ That threw him, he said, ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘Well when I was nine years old Star Trek came on,’ and she said, ‘I looked at it and I went screaming through the house, “Come here, mum, everybody, come quick, come quick, there’s a black lady on television and she ain’t no maid!”’ And she said, ‘I knew right then and there I could be anything I wanted to be, and I want to be on Star Trek.’ And he said, ‘I’ll write you a role.’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/interviews/nichols/page4.shtml I know I’ve reblogged this before, and I will undoubtedly do it again. It matters. And no amount of saying that we’re post-racial or that racism isn’t a thing or that “they just chose the best actor for the role” or otherwise trying to cover up for it will make it okay to keep relegating actors of color to secondary roles, villain roles, stereotyped roles, or no roles at all, and it sure as hell won’t make it okay to keep whitewashing CHARACTERS of color out of the story by casting white actors to play then. Remember how Martin Luther King Jr. convinced Nichelle Nichols to stay on the show?  I said “Dr. King, thank you so much. I really am going to miss my co-stars.” He said, dead serious, “What are you talking about?” I said, “I’m leaving Star Trek,” He said, “You cannot. You cannot!” I was taken aback. He said, “Don’t you understand what this man has achieved? For the first time on television we will be seen as we should be seen every day – as intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing, dance, but who can also go into space, who can be lawyers, who can be teachers, who can be professors, and yet you don’t see it on television – until now….” I could say nothing, I just stood there realizing every word that he was saying was the truth. He said, “Gene Roddenberry has opened a door for the world to see us. If you leave, that door can be closed because, you see, your role is not a Black role, and it’s not a female role, he can fill it with anything, including an alien.” At that moment, the world tilted for me. I knew then that I was something else and that the world was not the same. That’s all I could think of, everything that Dr. King had said:  The world sees us for the first time as we should be seen. It matters, man. It honestly does. It mattered then and it still matters. It. Matters.
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khealywu: zillah975: femmeforeverybody: Nichelle Nichols (Uhura on the original series):”Whoopi Goldberg, she’s just marvellous. I had no way of knowing that she was a Star Trek fan. When I finally met her it was her first year on the Next Generation. She loved the show so much and she told her agent she wants a role on Star Trek. Well agents go ‘Big screen, little screen, no, you can’t do that’. Well you can’t tell Whoopi ‘You can’t do that’. And so they finally asked, and they had the same reaction at Star Trek office, specifically Gene. And she said, ‘I want to meet him and I want him to tell me to my face. If he tells me he doesn’t want me and why, I’ll be fine.’ Knowing Gene he had to take that challenge, and so he met with her. She said, ‘I just wanted you to tell me why you don’t want me in Star Trek.’ Gene said, ‘Well, I’ll just ask you one question and I’ll make my decision on that. You’re a big screen star, why do you want to be on a little screen, why do you want to be in Star Trek?’ And she looked at him and she said, ‘Well, it’s all Nichelle Nichols’ fault.’ That threw him, he said, ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘Well when I was nine years old Star Trek came on,’ and she said, ‘I looked at it and I went screaming through the house, “Come here, mum, everybody, come quick, come quick, there’s a black lady on television and she ain’t no maid!”’ And she said, ‘I knew right then and there I could be anything I wanted to be, and I want to be on Star Trek.’ And he said, ‘I’ll write you a role.’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/interviews/nichols/page4.shtml I know I’ve reblogged this before, and I will undoubtedly do it again. It matters. And no amount of saying that we’re post-racial or that racism isn’t a thing or that “they just chose the best actor for the role” or otherwise trying to cover up for it will make it okay to keep relegating actors of color to secondary roles, villain roles, stereotyped roles, or no roles at all, and it sure as hell won’t make it okay to keep whitewashing CHARACTERS of color out of the story by casting white actors to play then. Remember how Martin Luther King Jr. convinced Nichelle Nichols to stay on the show?  I said “Dr. King, thank you so much. I really am going to miss my co-stars.” He said, dead serious, “What are you talking about?” I said, “I’m leaving Star Trek,” He said, “You cannot. You cannot!” I was taken aback. He said, “Don’t you understand what this man has achieved? For the first time on television we will be seen as we should be seen every day – as intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing, dance, but who can also go into space, who can be lawyers, who can be teachers, who can be professors, and yet you don’t see it on television – until now….” I could say nothing, I just stood there realizing every word that he was saying was the truth. He said, “Gene Roddenberry has opened a door for the world to see us. If you leave, that door can be closed because, you see, your role is not a Black role, and it’s not a female role, he can fill it with anything, including an alien.” At that moment, the world tilted for me. I knew then that I was something else and that the world was not the same. That’s all I could think of, everything that Dr. King had said:  The world sees us for the first time as we should be seen. It matters, man. It honestly does. It mattered then and it still matters. It. Matters.
Zoom Info
khealywu: zillah975: femmeforeverybody: Nichelle Nichols (Uhura on the original series):”Whoopi Goldberg, she’s just marvellous. I had no way of knowing that she was a Star Trek fan. When I finally met her it was her first year on the Next Generation. She loved the show so much and she told her agent she wants a role on Star Trek. Well agents go ‘Big screen, little screen, no, you can’t do that’. Well you can’t tell Whoopi ‘You can’t do that’. And so they finally asked, and they had the same reaction at Star Trek office, specifically Gene. And she said, ‘I want to meet him and I want him to tell me to my face. If he tells me he doesn’t want me and why, I’ll be fine.’ Knowing Gene he had to take that challenge, and so he met with her. She said, ‘I just wanted you to tell me why you don’t want me in Star Trek.’ Gene said, ‘Well, I’ll just ask you one question and I’ll make my decision on that. You’re a big screen star, why do you want to be on a little screen, why do you want to be in Star Trek?’ And she looked at him and she said, ‘Well, it’s all Nichelle Nichols’ fault.’ That threw him, he said, ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘Well when I was nine years old Star Trek came on,’ and she said, ‘I looked at it and I went screaming through the house, “Come here, mum, everybody, come quick, come quick, there’s a black lady on television and she ain’t no maid!”’ And she said, ‘I knew right then and there I could be anything I wanted to be, and I want to be on Star Trek.’ And he said, ‘I’ll write you a role.’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/interviews/nichols/page4.shtml I know I’ve reblogged this before, and I will undoubtedly do it again. It matters. And no amount of saying that we’re post-racial or that racism isn’t a thing or that “they just chose the best actor for the role” or otherwise trying to cover up for it will make it okay to keep relegating actors of color to secondary roles, villain roles, stereotyped roles, or no roles at all, and it sure as hell won’t make it okay to keep whitewashing CHARACTERS of color out of the story by casting white actors to play then. Remember how Martin Luther King Jr. convinced Nichelle Nichols to stay on the show?  I said “Dr. King, thank you so much. I really am going to miss my co-stars.” He said, dead serious, “What are you talking about?” I said, “I’m leaving Star Trek,” He said, “You cannot. You cannot!” I was taken aback. He said, “Don’t you understand what this man has achieved? For the first time on television we will be seen as we should be seen every day – as intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing, dance, but who can also go into space, who can be lawyers, who can be teachers, who can be professors, and yet you don’t see it on television – until now….” I could say nothing, I just stood there realizing every word that he was saying was the truth. He said, “Gene Roddenberry has opened a door for the world to see us. If you leave, that door can be closed because, you see, your role is not a Black role, and it’s not a female role, he can fill it with anything, including an alien.” At that moment, the world tilted for me. I knew then that I was something else and that the world was not the same. That’s all I could think of, everything that Dr. King had said:  The world sees us for the first time as we should be seen. It matters, man. It honestly does. It mattered then and it still matters. It. Matters.
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khealywu:

zillah975:

femmeforeverybody:

Nichelle Nichols (Uhura on the original series):”Whoopi Goldberg, she’s just marvellous. I had no way of knowing that she was a Star Trek fan. When I finally met her it was her first year on the Next Generation.

She loved the show so much and she told her agent she wants a role on Star Trek. Well agents go ‘Big screen, little screen, no, you can’t do that’. Well you can’t tell Whoopi ‘You can’t do that’.

And so they finally asked, and they had the same reaction at Star Trek office, specifically Gene. And she said, ‘I want to meet him and I want him to tell me to my face. If he tells me he doesn’t want me and why, I’ll be fine.’

Knowing Gene he had to take that challenge, and so he met with her. She said, ‘I just wanted you to tell me why you don’t want me in Star Trek.’

Gene said, ‘Well, I’ll just ask you one question and I’ll make my decision on that. You’re a big screen star, why do you want to be on a little screen, why do you want to be in Star Trek?’

And she looked at him and she said, ‘Well, it’s all Nichelle Nichols’ fault.’

That threw him, he said, ‘What do you mean?’

She said, ‘Well when I was nine years old Star Trek came on,’ and she said, ‘I looked at it and I went screaming through the house, “Come here, mum, everybody, come quick, come quick, there’s a black lady on television and she ain’t no maid!”’ And she said, ‘I knew right then and there I could be anything I wanted to be, and I want to be on Star Trek.’

And he said, ‘I’ll write you a role.’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/interviews/nichols/page4.shtml

I know I’ve reblogged this before, and I will undoubtedly do it again.

It matters. And no amount of saying that we’re post-racial or that racism isn’t a thing or that “they just chose the best actor for the role” or otherwise trying to cover up for it will make it okay to keep relegating actors of color to secondary roles, villain roles, stereotyped roles, or no roles at all, and it sure as hell won’t make it okay to keep whitewashing CHARACTERS of color out of the story by casting white actors to play then.

Remember how Martin Luther King Jr. convinced Nichelle Nichols to stay on the show? 

I said “Dr. King, thank you so much. I really am going to miss my co-stars.” He said, dead serious, “What are you talking about?” I said, “I’m leaving Star Trek,” He said, “You cannot. You cannot!”

I was taken aback. He said, “Don’t you understand what this man has achieved? For the first time on television we will be seen as we should be seen every day – as intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing, dance, but who can also go into space, who can be lawyers, who can be teachers, who can be professors, and yet you don’t see it on television – until now….”

I could say nothing, I just stood there realizing every word that he was saying was the truth. He said, “Gene Roddenberry has opened a door for the world to see us. If you leave, that door can be closed because, you see, your role is not a Black role, and it’s not a female role, he can fill it with anything, including an alien.”

At that moment, the world tilted for me. I knew then that I was something else and that the world was not the same. That’s all I could think of, everything that Dr. King had said:  The world sees us for the first time as we should be seen.

It matters, man. It honestly does. It mattered then and it still matters.

It. Matters.

(via seananmcguire)

Source: femmeforeverybody

Suppose a man makes unwanted social advances to a woman in, let’s say, a restaurant or theatre, and she eventually has to tell him loudly or angrily to get lost. She is the one who will be perceived as rude, hostile, aggressive, and obnoxious. His verbal aggression and invasiveness are accepted and expected; her rudeness (or mere curtness) in getting rid of him is noticed and condemned. One of our great myths is that a “real lady” can and should handle any difficulty, defuse any assault, without ever raising her voice or losing her manners. Female rudeness or violence in resistance to male aggression has often been taken to prove that the woman was not a lady in the first place, and therefore deserved no respect from the aggressor or sympathy from others.
D.A. Clarke, “A Woman With a Sword” (via foodbeersexwhatever)

(via seananmcguire)

Source: wretchedoftheearth

I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.

Stephen Jay Gould  (via 5footabstract)

FOREVER REBLOG!

(via knowledgeequalsblackpower)

why stephen jay gould is my favorite

(via le-kif-kif)

(via elizabitchez)

Source: peapodkid