Posts for Wednesday, 14 May 2008
This year alone at least 44 Palestinian children have been killed [in Gaza], according to a count at the end of April by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. The UN has put the figure at 53 children dead and 177 children injured so far this year.
Despite talks about a ceasefire the death toll on both sides continues to rise. At least 312 Palestinians, more than half civilians, have been killed this year, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. On the Israeli side six soldiers and six civilians have died, the latest Shuli Katz, 70, who was killed on Monday by a rocket fired by Gazan militants into Yesha, a village in southern Israel.
The number of white Democratic voters who said race had influenced their choices on Tuesday was among the highest recorded in voter surveys in the nomination fight. Two in 10 white West Virginia voters said race was an important factor in their votes. More than 8 in 10 who said it factored in their votes backed Mrs. Clinton, according to exit polls.
The home of crappy TV uses - what else? - Microsoft Silvershite™
As seen on TV: So I bought this armchair (left) at the weekend, sort of Martin Crane meets mid-century moderne. Then - knock me dahn wiv a fevver, guv’nor - I saw the same chair in Monday’s episode (right) of eternal British soap, Coronation Street. I guess if it’s good enough for Liam and Maria, it’s good enough for JB*.
*I promise I’ll never use the third person again.
BROKE
Okay, everything you’re about to read is totally true, and I implore you to take me seriously. The number at the bottom is really my number.
My name is Pam Newman,
I DESPERATELY need money. I am having difficulty balancing my funds as easily as I used to (Since gas is about 4 dollars a gallon, milk is almost 5 bucks a gallon and veggies are through the roof), and have spent all of my savings on catching up with my bills. I want to live a normal life, not lose my car or get evicted.
I can’t even afford home internet service right now. Seriously.
I have beautiful artsy stuff to sell, and I want it to go to people who will love it.
I have hand made art which I will ship to you free of charge. Flat price of $50 bucks for each piece until the end of May (which is the imperative time that I earn monies): http://awesome-everyday.com/artwork.aspx I will pay for shipping after I receive your payment.
If you want me to create a painting for you, and you have a concept, email me with what you would like. We can work it out for anywhere between the flat $50 charge for something simple to $100 dollars for something that might be a little more involved.Don’t be a frog, please reblog.
Awesome everyday:
Pam Newman
If you’d like to contact me by phone, I suggest sending a text message with your name and your favorite color or maybe your favorite animal or… maybe something relevant to this post, lol. This is only because I don’t answer phone calls from unknown numbers.
215-459-3248
This stinks. If you don’t already follow Pam, you might want to: her tumblr is awesome everyday (or at least several times a week), and evidently Pam’s health and the prohibition of affordable healthcare in the US are contributing to her money worries. As one who is only now emerging from several years of severe financial hardship, I sympathise. Buying one of Pam’s paintings might brighten your place up and brighten her day at the same time.
This morning I wrote a hopeful email: I wrote a hopeful email to my manager, informing her of my intention to apply for a promotion and needing to solicit her advice before doing so. This afternoon I was told by her manager, a short and abrupt bully of late middle age, quite plainly and in all seriousness, that I would not be recommended for promotion.
Human resources - Error Gorilla
Career plan? Not in this place.
(via errorgorilla)
This also stinks. Read the whole thing to get the full horror, where Mister Gorilla also reminds us of the stress involved in working in his corner of the public sector.
I am often bemused by the tramlines that discussion of such gripes follows, with stuck-record sneers from private sector employees to the effect that “if you don’t like it, try working in the real world - you wouldn’t last five minutes.” Well as someone who now labours in higher education, but used to work for such red-blooded capitalists as Rupert Murdoch, I can say that such people are talking out of their arse. I have never worked as hard, or under as much stress, as I do in the public sector.
While private corporations can be stuffed with the same appalling managers and HR robots as any where else, what often serves to make public sector employment such a soul-destroying experience is the way that strategic decisions are based upon a mistaken idea of how good private sector organisations run. My own institution is an example, with a macho, managerialist, micro-managing ethos which drains, deskills and demotivates. Hearing senior managers talk is like reading some appalling 1980s textbook or watching an episode of The Office.
The Murdoch Death Star, by contrast, represented a relatively enlightened working environment where autonomy was promoted, where the right to fail was encouraged (and, incidentally, where I was paid several times to encourage Britons to slump in front of the TV what I am now paid to teach).
Enough about me. It is, surely, an indictment of any employer that they cannot appreciate the talents of one as erudite and funny as our Gorilla.
I’m a man, and I’ll drink anything that doesn’t come out of another man.
Simpletwist, in the comments box for Digg - List: 10 Unmanliest Drinks In The World
Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it mate…
Thanks, Macuyiko
It:
- Uses Airtight Interactive’s cool TiltViewer swf.
- Scrapes the Tumblr Radar for the popular images.
- Caches the results of this scrape for at least 15 minutes.
- Displays the Tumblelog title and a link to the post when you flip over an image.Clever!
The url, appropriately enough, begins with “omg”…
Apple is gay-friendly, survey shows
Apple is among the top six gay-friendly brands in the US, recent research reveals. The company shares the status with Bravo, Showtime, HBO, Absolut and Levi’s. Apple is seen as gay-friendly by 39 per cent of the gay and lesbian population in the US, just behind Bravo’s 52 per cent share.Proof that TV is an unnatural brainwashing tool, capitalist companies like to make money off of homosexuality, and my opinion about Apple fan-boys was 100% correct.
Don’t you love the way bigots just can’t resist crawling out of the woodwork?
Fake Track List From A Band
ASSIGNMENT: Make a fake track list from a fake album from a recording artist you like.
MINE: Cannery Row, a new album from Tom Waits
- Bertha Come Home
- I’m Gonna Be A Sailor
- Hiss Clank Jive
- Bearded Lady
- Back Alley Dog
- Meet Me At The Dead Tree
- Catallus
- Red Breasted Robin
- Hard Coffee
Spooky. I’d swear I’ve got this album somewhere.
The longer Hillary stays in the race, the more one is prone to reflect unsentimentally on the Clinton years in the White House. Mrs. Clinton’s arrogance squandered a chance for universal healthcare. Bill helped elect a GOP Congress for the first time in 40 years. He pushed through NAFTA and a host of destructive deregulation. He brought China into the WTO with no protections for American jobs. He squandered historic opportunities, lastly sinking into the squalid Monica scandal. She picked a state in which she had never lived as her senatorial entitlement. The net was to make the election of 2000 close enough for the Republicans to steal, leading to the calamity of W and Dick.
Rogue Columnist (via azspot)