This is America, Dude.

"I hate America, Louis. I hate this country. It’s just big ideas, and stories, and people dying, and people like you. The white cracker who wrote the national anthem knew what he was doing. He set the word 'free' to a note so high nobody can reach it. That was deliberate. Nothing on earth sounds less like freedom to me. You come to room 1013 over at the hospital, I'll show you America. Terminal, crazy and mean. I live in America, Louis, that’s hard enough, I don’t have to love it. You do that. Everybody’s got to love something." -Belize, Angels in America

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Apr 9

“As the downturn wreaked havoc on budgets, some states took new steps to keep the needy away. They shortened time limits, tightened eligibility rules and reduced benefits (to an average of about $350 a month for a family of three).” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/us/welfare-limits-left-poor-adrift-as-recession-hit.html

Mar 30

sadfacts:

Willful ignorance (via Amy Berg)

Mar 26

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2012/03/21/gIQAk0IeSS_graphic.html

“Since the passage of the Children’s Internet Protection Act in 2000, public schools have been required to use Internet filters that shield students from pornography and obscenity. As for who developed this particular filter, which along with blocking obscenity also discriminates against content supportive of gay people, that person’s identity is hidden behind URLBlacklist, a company that sells filter software to schools.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/education/missouri-school-district-questioned-over-anti-gay-web-filter.html

Mar 15

“Partly, many observers say, the Americans have had a lot of practice at apologizing for carnage, accidental and otherwise, and have gotten better at doing it quickly and convincingly.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/world/asia/disconnect-clear-in-us-bafflement-over-2-afghan-responses.html

Mar 14

sadfacts:

For African Americans, the last 50 years have been marked by extremely high unemployment occasionally interrupted by periods of merely high unemployment.

For African Americans, 50 years of high unemployment

Jan 23

“A Marine sergeant who told his troops to “shoot first, ask questions later” in a raid that killed unarmed Iraqi women, children and elderly pleaded guilty Monday in a deal that will carry no more than three months confinement and end the largest and longest-running criminal case against U.S. troops from the Iraq War.” http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/23/marine-accepts-plea-deal-in-iraqi-civilian-deaths/

Jan 15

“CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A squad mate of a Marine accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians testified that if he had to do it again, he would have called in an air strike to destroy a home where the group gunned down six people.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/marine-testifies-he-would-have-used-air-power-to-level-iraqi-home-if-he-had-to-do-it-again/2012/01/13/gIQAH29VvP_story.html

Dec 18

“Here are a few other facts: last year, the N.Y.P.D. recorded more than 600,000 stops; 84 percent of those stopped were blacks or Latinos. Police are far more likely to use force when stopping blacks or Latinos than whites. In half the stops police cite the vague “furtive movements” as the reason for the stop.” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/opinion/sunday/young-black-and-frisked-by-the-nypd.html

Dec 17

“While walking back to the school, one parent recognized that Vasser was wanted by police. Officers were called in, prompting a lockdown at Lowell Elementary.
According to the Washington Department of Corrections, Vasser was in prison from 2006 to February of 2011 on a drug conviction. Vasser violated probation by having wine in his fridge, and a warrant for his arrest was issued on November 28.” http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/15/9469786-most-wanted-fugitive-spotted-on-school-field-trip

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