This is critical information for all my American friends out there.

thedailywhat:

CISPA Update of the Day: CISPA, the Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act that passed the House in April, likely is headed for a Senate vote in early June.

To drum up opposition to the legislation, which would create “a ‘cybersecurity’ exemption to all existing laws,” Fight for the Future, Democrats.com, The Liberty Coalition, and the Entertainment Consumers Association have created a new website called Privacy Is Awesome. The site outlines the top five ways to help defeat CISPA:

• Call your senators and tell them to oppose the Lieberman-Collins bill (CISPA), and ask for a constituent meeting during the Memorial Day recess to help change their mind.
• Email senators offices about CISPA, expressing your opposition.
• Keep calling senators until they plan a constituent meeting.
• Donate to anti-CISPA organizers — the same teams that helped defeat SOPA/PIPA.
• Share your opposition online — Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is spearheading opposition to the legislation, concluding a recent Senate floor speech with:

I believe these bills will encourage the development of a cyber security industry that profits from fear and whose currency is Americans private data. These bills create a Cyber Industrial Complex that has an interest in preserving the problem to which it is the solution.

Watch the full video here. It’s terrific.

[death+taxes}

anticapitalist:

Our real first gay president

The new issue of Newsweek features a cover photo of President Obama topped by a rainbow-colored halo and captioned “The First Gay President.” The halo and caption strike me as cheap sensationalism. I realize airport travelers look at a magazine for 2.2 seconds before moving on to the next one. I grant that this cover will probably get Newsweek a 4.4 second glance. I also understand that Newsweek is desperate for sales. Nevertheless, I doubt that the Newsweek of old, before it was sold for a dollar, would have pandered as shallowly.

The caption is a superficial way to characterize an important development of thought that the president — along with the country — has been making over recent years. It is also entirely wrong. Like the mini-furor a couple of months back about the claim that Richard Nixon was our first gay president, the story simply ignores that the U.S. already had a gay president more than a century ago.

There can be no doubt that James Buchanan was gay, before, during and after his four years in the White House. Moreover, the nation knew it, too — he was not far into the closet.

Today, I know no historian who has studied the matter and thinks Buchanan was heterosexual. Fifteen years ago, historian John Howard, author of “Men Like That,” a pioneering study of queer culture in Mississippi, shared with me the key documents, including Buchanan’s May 13, 1844, letter to a Mrs. Roosevelt. Describing his deteriorating social life after his great love, William Rufus King, senator from Alabama, had moved to Paris to become our ambassador to France, Buchanan wrote:

I am now “solitary and alone,” having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection.

motherjones:

More US states allow sex with animals than allow gay marriage.

AL, FL, KY, MA, NH, NJ, NM, NV, OH, TX, VT, WV, and WY have no direct prohibitions on the sexual assault of an animal.

CT, DC (not a state), IA, MA, NH, NY, and VT have legalized gay marriage.

Even after saying he personally supports gay marriage, President Obama still believes states should be allowed to vote to outlaw it.

nickturse:

From Juan Cole today:

“Each star is a US base. But just to be clear, Iran is the one that is threatening us.”

(via usbasesme)

That kind of puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?

hockey-teeth:

Truth

ilovecharts:

Now here’s a chart. Well played, Internet.

thedailywhat:

Catching Up With Cain of the Day: Luckily for Obama, Presidential elections aren’t based on the cleverness of a candidate’s 404 error page. 

Neither are they based on a candidate’s choice of pizza toppings, but Cain might beg to differ:

Chris Heath: What can you tell about a man by the type of pizza that he likes?

Herman Cain: [repeats the question aloud, then pauses for a long moment] The more toppings a man has on his pizza, I believe the more manly he is.

Chris Heath: Why is that?

Herman Cain: Because the more manly man is not afraid of abundance. [laughs]

Devin Gordon: Is that purely a meat question?

Herman Cain: A manly man don’t want it piled high with vegetables! He would call that a sissy pizza.

[benjoseph / copyranter /  gq.]

That whole pizza conversation at the end… WTF.

wussypillow:

ancestryinprogress:

colormysoul:

freebreezeandyoungbloods:

One of the biggest gangs operating in Cape Town, South Africa’s “Americans” (because of their love for the American flag, easy money and the manner of imitating rappers).

“When asked directly where the name came from, he simply responded with another question to us which was meant to be rhetorical, “aren’t you all American, then you already know.” His eyes swept us up and down taking in our attire and jewelry, and after a slight pause he stated “you are rich…you are greedy….and you take what you want.” Not finished with his response, he ferreted for a small piece of paper torn and yellowed in a scrapbook of sorts and presented it to us. He pounded his chest with a clenched fist and proclaimed, “George Bush….my hero…..he will take what he wants.” - Interview with Prisoner / Member

speechless.

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