FYI: Natch is both short for “Naturally” and “I’m a douche”
(Source: anniehinton)
Here’s a great breakdown of what the PROTECT-IP Act is all about.
Just a reminder.
Love her process.
This is incredibly cool and ridiculously beautiful and makes me wish I had more money to spend on art.
In Your Arms - Behind The Scenes (by kinagrannis)
This is even more impressive than the original video. Must watch.
Oh these are stunning.
MUMBAI, India (AP) — More than 200 Indian girls whose names mean “unwanted” in Hindi have chosen new names for a fresh start in life.
A central Indian district held a renaming ceremony Saturday that it hopes will give the girls new dignity and help fight widespread gender discrimination that gives India a skewed gender ratio, with far more boys than girls.
The 285 girls — wearing their best outfits with barrettes, braids and bows in their hair — lined up to receive certificates with their new names along with small flower bouquets from Satara district officials in Maharashtra state.
In shedding names like “Nakusa” or “Nakushi,” which mean “unwanted” in Hindi, some girls chose to name themselves after Bollywood stars such as “Aishwarya” or Hindu goddesses like “Savitri.” Some just wanted traditional names with happier meanings, such as “Vaishali,” or “prosperous, beautiful and good.”
“Now in school, my classmates and friends will be calling me this new name, and that makes me very happy,” said a 15-year-old girl who had been named Nakusa by a grandfather disappointed by her birth. She chose the new name “Ashmita,” which means “very tough” or “rock hard” in Hindi.
The plight of girls in India came to a focus after this year’s census showed the nation’s sex ratio had dropped over the past decade from 927 girls for every 1,000 boys under the age of 6 to 914.
Maharashtra state’s ratio is well below that, with just 883 girls for every 1,000 boys — down from 913 a decade ago. In the district of Satara, it is even lower, at 881.
Such ratios are the result of abortions of female fetuses, or just sheer neglect leading to a higher death rate among girls. The problem is so serious in India that hospitals are legally banned from revealing the gender of an unborn fetus in order to prevent sex-selective abortions, though evidence suggests the information gets out.
Part of the reason Indians favor sons is the enormous expense of marrying off girls. Families often go into debt arranging marriages and paying for elaborate dowries. A boy, on the other hand, will one day bring home a bride and dowry. Hindu custom also dictates that only sons can light their parents’ funeral pyres.
Over the years, and again now, efforts have been made to fight the discrimination.
“Nakusa is a very negative name as far as female discrimination is concerned,” said Satara district health officer Dr. Bhagwan Pawar, who came up with the idea for the renaming ceremony.
Other incentives, announced by federal or state governments every few years, include free meals and free education to encourage people to take care of their girls, and even cash bonuses for families with girls who graduate from high school.
Activists say the name “unwanted,” which is widely given to girls across India, gives them the feeling they are worthless and a burden.
“When the child thinks about it, you know, ‘My mom, my dad, and all my relatives and society call me unwanted,’ she will feel very bad and depressed,” said Sudha Kankaria of the organization Save the Girl Child. But giving these girls new names is only the beginning, she said.
“We have to take care of the girls, their education and even financial and social security, or again the cycle is going to repeat,” she said. (via 285 Indian girls shed ‘unwanted’ names - Yahoo! News)
“…we choose to declare our war against the New York Stock Exchange. We can no longer stay silent as the population is being exploited and forced to make sacrifices in the name of profit.
We will show the world that we are true to our word. On Oct. 10, NYSE shall be erased from the Internet. On Oct. 10, expect a day that will never, ever be forgotten.
Vox Populi, Vox Anon.
The Voice of The People is The Voice of Anonymous.
We are Legion. We are the 99 percent.
We do not forgive. We do not forget.
Wall Street: Expect us.”
Okay. I’ve officially had enough of this ignorant shit. As a former stockbroker and financial advisor, let me offer my two cents.
Were this actually possible, which it’s not, considering the NYSE has operated long before the existence of the internet, it would actually not impact the so-called “1%” because they became that 1% by selling shares of their company to investors. So who are these investors whose lives would be fucked up by destroying the stock exchange, were Anonymous able to do it?
They’re not all rich white men. Just for example? Your elderly grandparents whose pensions and IRA’s are invested in mutual funds, as well as the pensions of union laborers, firefighters, policemen, and teachers. Also nonprofit organizations and schools who utilize investments as a way to sustain and build their financial resources and afford their employees with benefits. These are the people whose livelihood and means to support themselves and their families would be irrevocably damaged by destroying the stock market—not to mention working parents who are attempting grow savings at a faster rate for their children’s college education or people who have set aside money in trust for dependent/elderly/special needs individuals who cannot fend for themselves or manage their own money. Wow, what an excellent idea! You really are a legion—of assholes.
Why are white kids occupying Wall Street instead of making active change by volunteering? Because they came of age during the largest and most exorbitant economic “bubble” of homebuilding, credit, and technology the white middle class has seen since the post-war 1950’s, and have mistaken that degree of wealth and privelege with a normal standard of living. That’s why their movement has turned away legitimate social justice advocates like John Lewis and welcomed Hollywood movie stars (ironically white and also exceedingly wealthy and priveleged) as its ambassadors to the press. That’s why their demand is for a minimum wage of $20 for their lazy asses instead of an equal wage and rights to education and employability for minorities and women. This is a movement of spoiled children who have grown up in an unprecedented era of white privelege and are having that upended by an inconvenient economic downturn. They’re not demanding that the wealth be redistributed to all based on need—they’re demanding the wealth be handed over to them, which I believe is holding up a bank without a gun. Instead of using the newfound experience of financial hardship to be inspired to volunteer, mentor and advocate for those whose lifelong experience has been to go without, they’ve parked their asses in the financial district and demanded a handout instead of real progress. Go to law school. Take an Econ 101 class. Volunteer at a food pantry, shelter or nursing home. Roll up your sleeves and ask, “What can I do?” instead of “Give me, give me, give me.”
If you’re fortunate enough to have a pulpit that reaches major media outlets, why not use your voice to advocate for those who have no voice, to alert people to charities, resources and programs that can help the truly destitute move forward into better lives? What a waste of your energy, ingenuity and youth to do anything else.
