The geniuses over at MAD created this Mitt Romney vs. Mr. Burns quiz. It makes you wonder if Mr. Burns could build a consensus in the Republican Party faster than Mitt Romney.
Source: mad.blog.dccomics.com
Who Said It: Mitt Romney Vs. Mr. Burns
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President Obama's Transgender Nanny
A heartbreaking photo essay on Evie, the transgender woman who looked after young Barack Obama, and the harsh realities of her shunned culture in Indonesia. Evie was hired by Ann Dunham, President Obama's mother, to look after young Barry when they lived in Indonesia from 1967-1971. The lives of Evie and other transgender people in Jakarta are fraught with hardship .
Evie, also known as Turdi, the former nanny of President Barack Obama, stands at the doorway of her room at a boarding house in a slum in Jakarta, Indonesia. Evie, who was born a man but believes she is really a woman, has endured a lifetime of taunts and beatings because of her identity. Nobody knows how many transgender people live in the sprawling archipelagic nation of 240 million, but activists estimate 7 million. Societal disdain runs deep - when transgender people act in TV comedies, they are invariably the brunt of the joke.
(AP / Dita Alangkara)
(AP / Dita Alangkara)
A younger Evie/Turdi, left, dressed as a woman with an unidentified friend in a pageant.
(AP / Dita Alangkara)
A transgender woman who identifies herself as Adis applies makeup to her face before going door-to-door to dance for small change, at her boarding house in a Jakarta slum.
(AP / Dita Alangkara)
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The Verb
Why do we sound so dumb when we talk about communication? Maybe because our verbs aren't really verbs.
It was early in 1969, and William Morris had a language to fix. On his desk, at 72 West 45th street in New York, was a stack of ballots, letters and interview notes from 104 of America's most important users-of-words. A writer for the New Yorker had written to campaign against the use of "senior citizen." The editor of Harper's magazine was lobbying for the use of "escalate" as a verb. Isaac Asimov had emphatically expressed his deep hatred of "finalize"; David Oglivy, the father of modern advertising, said of "hopefully": "If your dictionary could kill this horror, and do nothing else, it would be worth publishing."
These were the results of the first American Heritage Dictionary's Usage Panel, which has assembled most years since to decide which words belong in the English language, and which don't.
Today, even more so than in 1969, endeavors like this are mostly formalities--opportunities for a small group of people to comment on, rather than change, the tides of language. The only usage panel that matters today is open-admission: email, Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. It’s very good at anointing new words to talk about new ideas. It’s bad at finding words to talk about itself.
One of the more contentious candidates in 1969 is a word we take for granted today: contact. The verb, not the noun, which has been in common usage since the 1600s. In the 1800s, people started using it as a verb, meaning "to bring or place in contact," which didn't seem to bother anyone. But by the ‘60s, people had started saying the word to mean "to communicate with," as in "contact me." The Panel could not abide this: It was voted down, 66 percent to 34 percent.
"Getting in contact" eventually made the cut in 1988, but by then it was too late: This noun had been verbed. Says the 1996 edition of the American Heritage Book of English Usage:
[The vagueness of "contact"] is a virtue in an age in which forms of communication have proliferated. The sentence 'we will contact you when the part comes in" allows for a variety of possible ways to communicate: by mail, telephone, computer or fax.'
What the panel couldn't have known was that "contact" may have been one of our last hopes for a sane way to talk about communication. Today we don't so much get in contact as we email (is that even a word?) text (a noun), message (barely a verb), Tweet (a brand) or Facebook (an admission of defeat). The only seemingly perfect electronic communication verb still in use--and, it’s worth noting, a verb before it was a noun--is "to call," but who even does that anymore?
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Nouns that have been "verbed" are known to linguists as denominal verbs, and they're everywhere: repurpose; boycott; boss; deplane; blanket; skin; label; juice; water; bribe; arm; book; bottle, can, package; author; blanket. You could list (there's one!) these for miles.
Eve Clark is the linguist who wrote the rulebook for verbing with Herbert Clark in 1979. According to their "Innovative Denominal Verb Convention," the most important thing is that people understand what you mean. In standard English, that means your verb-noun should be connected with a well-known action, like text to texting. With your friends, it can be an inside joke, or a person's name. ("Jesus, he really Wagnered it at the bar the other night, etc.")
Linguists hate it when you call this "nerbing"
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Four Super Tuesday Burgers
Dorm Room Dinner has applied its culinary talents to the Republican primary, creating a special hamburger and description — a kind of hamburger attack ad — for each of the candidates who have thrown their hats in the ring. Not sure which one looks tastiest.
Rick Santorum: "The Family Values Burger"
All-Beef Burger, Totally-Not-Gay Special Rainbow Sauce, Fairy Sprinkles on a Bun
"We all know how Ricky feels about the gays, which is why I created this completely family- and kid-friendly burger, perfect for you're whole family to enjoy! You'll taste the sanctity of traditional marriage in every bite!"
Mitt Romney: "The $10,000 Burger"
Premium American Wagyu Beef Burger, New England Aged Cheddar, Black Truffel, Elitist Massachusetts Greens on a Brioche Bun
"A burger this luxurious only seemed appropriate for the former business executive. And as long as we're all protected under Romney-Care, why not have two?"
Newt Gingrich: "The Open Relationship Burgers"
All-Beef Burger with Mayo and Ketchup, All-Beef Cheese Burger, All-Beef Bacon Burger
"Why have just one burger when you can have three at once? That's why I made three nice and plump burgers for Mr. Gingrich. I think he'll like them so much he'll want to marry all three!"
Ron Paul: "The Slim Burger"
Turkey Burger and Lettuce on a Bun
"Ron Paul wants a slimmer government, so I created a slimmer burger. And let's be honest, this burger is about as exciting as the Paul campaign gets."
Source: dormroomdinner.com
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Baseball Is Coming
Brace yourself, MLB Opening Day is one month away.
(H/t Amy Sly for some photoshop doctoring.)
Via: michaelhayes
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Mortal Kombat Security Guard
Seriously guys, he has mace. If they keep killing each other, they're going to get a warning.
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The "Cheer Up Barack Obama" Meme
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20 Tornado Truthers
Apparently there are a group of people who believe a government machine called HAARP (High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program) controls the weather. Here's what some of these people have to say about this recent round of tornados. Who do you believe?
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Chad Ochocinco Is An Attention Whore
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I don't think that's the real Patriots playbook.
Source: instagr.am
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Neil Patrick Harris Reacts To Kirk Cameron Calling Gays Detrimental To Society
Nailed it.
In case you missed it, here's an interview Kirk Cameron gave with Piers Morgan where he calls gays detrimental to society:
Source: youtube.com
And here's Neil Patrick Harris' response:
Via: popculturebrain.com
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The Existential Pain Of Oscar The Grouch
Think it's fun being the furry green trashcan dweller of Sesame Street ? Think again.
Source: memegenerator.net / via: d2rights.blogspot.com
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"Assassin's Creed 3" Trailer Drops
We're getting closer to the present. It'll be interesting to see what reasoning Ubisoft gives a Native American assassin in assisting the American rebels.
Source: g4tv.com
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Mitt Romney Would Like To Get This Thing Over With
The end, though near, could again prove frustratingly difficult to reach. “Closing arguments,” again.
Romney in Youngstown, Ohio today.
(Getty Images / Mario Tama)
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Mitt Romney’s campaign is hoping the end is near.
Virtually assured a majority of delegates awarded tomorrow, (Rick Santorum is ineligible for 16 percent of them, according to a release from the Romney campaign), and eyeing a symbolically important victory at the polls in Ohio, the campaign — yet again — can almost taste the opportunity to put and end to the bitter primary season.
“I sure hope it makes a turning point in this campaign,” Romney said, of the endorsement he received yesterday from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the latest in a series of high-profile Republicans to move toward Romney.
Romney’s campaign is repeating that today is his “closing argument” tour, and Romney succinctly defined his campaign for the benefit of television sound-bites during a town-hall here today.
“This will be a campaign about more jobs, and less debt, and smaller government,” he said.
Barring an unexpectedly poor performance tomorrow, Romney’s campaign will seek to signal the end of the race by rolling more endorsements and emphasizing their candidate’s lead in the delegate count.
The length of the bitter nominating fight is taking its toll on Romney, who was said to be feeling somewhat under the weather, and his wife Ann, who quipped about the challenges of life on the campaign trail.
“If this goes on much longer, I will really be the heavyweight champion,” she said.
A Romney victory in Ohio would undermine Santorum’s argument that he appeals to blue-collar America, while a likely Newt Gingrich win in Georgia — and a tight race in Tennessee — means that the anti-Romney field may widen again.
But Romney has been here before: After New Hampshire, and again after Florida, the race appeared to be over, only to have Republican doubts about Romney and his own mistakes continue to fuel his rivals. And some Republicans believe that the fault lies ultimately with the vision of his campaign.
“Romney's campaign is only about why he's a better businessman than Barack Obama,” former Romney advisor Alex Castellanos said. “He is offering a very small campaign to a country craving a big change in direction. And Americans want to be part of something large, not something small.”
“This campaign is his for the taking, but Romney won't put this race away until he offers voters a purpose larger than his campaign provides them today,” Castellanos added.
Asked whether Super Tuesday would be the game-changer the campaign is looking for, senior advisor Eric Fehrnstrom told BuzzFeed: “We’ll see after Tuesday.”
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Just A Film Celebrating Nature's Beauty
Filmed in the Salmon River Rainforest in Oregon and featuring music by Radiohead, this short film is all kinds of lovely.
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New Book Alleges John Lennon Was Bulimic
Who is Debra Sharon Davis and should she be trusted? People write a lot of things about famous people, especially dead famous people. Davis interviewed a close friend of Lennon's who claims the rock icon struggled with the eating disorder for years.
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Rural African American Life In The 1930s-40s
These remarkable color photographs were taken for the Farm Security Administration between 1939 and 1941. They depict African American tenant farmers and their families living in the rural South during World War II. Despite the efforts of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU), living conditions were often deplorable.
African American Tenant Home, Mississippi
Photographed by Marion Post Wolcott in September 1939.
Source: library_of_congress
Marcella Plantation, Mississippi
Photographed by Marion Post Wollcott in September 1939.
Source: library_of_congress
Day laborers picking cotton in Mississippi
Photographed by Marion Post Wolcott in September 1939.
Source: library_of_congress
Marcella Plantation, Mississippi
Photographed by Marion Post Wollcott in September 1939.
Source: library_of_congress
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Captain Planet Vs. Magic School Bus
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6 Things Rich People Need To Stop Saying
Just…stop talking. You might be tempted to take to a microphone, to defend yourself and your wealthy friends. But before you do, I want you to stop and ask yourself, “Will this make me sound like an out-of-touch douchebag?”
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Parahawking In Nepal
Parahawking is a fusion between Falconry and Paragliding. These birds of prey are trained to fly with paragliders and to guide them to the thermals. Parahawking also gives you a unique opportunity to interact with birds of prey in their own environment.
Via: thesuiteworld.com
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Maybe The Most Powerful Anti-Obama Meme Of 2012
Unlike Benjamin Netanyahu, Rick Perry, and others, he didn't spend his 20s in uniform.
Source: jewsforsarah.com
Source: lucente.org
And The Liberal Response:
Via: balloon-juice.com
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More Pages to Explore .....
