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Culture Tag

Posted by Amy Miller on May 11, 2015 32 Comments
Behold, Mars: site of future discoveries adventures microaggressions. Yes, really. Happy Sunday, everyone. Every once in a while, the social justice warrior set cracks a window and shines light on what's really bugging them about the world. Racism, ageism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, life-phobia---if they can't find a problem, they'll use one of these handy buzzwords to invent one. Last week, Martin Robbins at The Guardian (presumably) gazed up into the firmament and saw what only a social justice warrior could see when presented with such breathtaking splendor: potential. For discrimination. Martin presents a simple question: How can our future Mars colonies be free of sexism and racism? (Anyone with a brain reading this just did a spit take.) In his essay, he questions the idea that “[w]hen we go into space, we will all magically become nice,” and makes an exquisitely flawed case for why future off-planet settlements will look a less like a Picard-era Enterprise, and more like an Earp-era gambling outpost.

Posted by Amy Miller on May 06, 2015 14 Comments
In politics, there's no such thing as a tiny mistake. Even the silliest moments become "gaffes" at the behest of overeager journalists looking to "break" the Next Big Scandal©. There's no avoiding it; what matters is how you deal with it. Carly Fiorina knows how to deal with it. When Fiorina took the plunge into the 2016 presidential pool, her team discovered that somewhere down the line, whoever was in charge of these things had neglected to buy CarlyFiorina.org. What's worse, the person who had managed to secure the domain is currently using it to lambast Fiorina's tenure at HP:
“Carly Fiorina failed to register this domain. So I'm using it to tell you how many people she laid off at Hewlett-Packard,” the page reads, followed by 30,000 sad-face emotions that it says represents one person that lost their job. The Hill later reported that an employee at the Service Employees International Union, which regularly donates to the Democratic Party, created the website. He told The Hill that he made the site entirely on his own time with his own resources late last year and that it had nothing to do with his employer.
During her recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Meyers brought it up---and was promptly taken to school. Watch:

Posted by Amy Miller on May 05, 2015 17 Comments
We live in a culture obsessed with digital presence. When I joined Facebook in 2003, I never imagined that over a decade later I'd use the platform to network with bosses and clients, connect with family, and participate in discussions and debates with people half a world away. I definitely never anticipated having to scrub seemingly-innocent pictures and status updates from that platform before I applied to law school, and again from Twitter before I began my job hunt. Single life. Job. Marriage. Kids. Death. Online is everything; it can prop us up, take us down, and turn into an obsession if we're not careful. Appearances are everything, and in a time when the smallest step out of line (never mind something actually scandalous) can draw fire that ruins careers, marriages, and lives, paranoia isn't just justified---it's expected. Enter the "selfie arm." (Scroll up to the featured image and soak it in.) This little slice of horror is a piece of social commentary on the "selfie stick," which you've seen if you've gone anywhere near a tourist trap in the past six months. (It allows the holder to hold their phone farther out from the subject of the selfie, ensuring a photo that is apparently 150% more badass than a normal selfie. Or something. Don't ask me---I don't get it.)

Posted by Amy Miller on April 29, 2015 16 Comments
Last week, Iron Man and Avengers: Age of Ultron star Robert Downey, Jr. walked out of an Avengers promotional interview after British journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy decided to dive into the motivation behind a comment RDJ made in 2008 about the correlation between incarceration and progressivism. Here's the offending utterance:
“I have a really interesting political point of view, and it’s not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you can’t go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal. You can’t. I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics every since.”
It was an ambush seven years in the making. Here's what happened when Guru-Murthy decided to go all 60 Minutes on the actor during what was billed as a superhero movie promo spot:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 28, 2015 41 Comments
I know this has made the rounds quite a bit, but it's still worth playing. Kind of speaks for itself, but here's the story:
This Baltimore mom saw her son throwing rocks at police on television. That didn't sit well with her. The video shows the mother repeatedly striking her boy, chasing him as he tries to walk away.
Mom may have humiliated her son on national TV. And that may be the best thing that ever happened to him. I don't know the son's age, but would anyone be surprised that, if he's under 18, child services will come down hard on MOM? Here's the video:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 27, 2015 31 Comments
Today marks Chipotles first "GMO free" menu day. The burrito chain announced they will no longer prepare food containing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). According to the New York Times:
“This is another step toward the visions we have of changing the way people think about and eat fast food,” said Steve Ells, founder and co-chief executive of Chipotle. “Just because food is served fast doesn’t mean it has to be made with cheap raw ingredients, highly processed with preservatives and fillers and stabilizers and artificial colors and flavors.”
Finally! A GMO-free burrito! Oh, do you have gluten-free tortillas? And can I get extra ice in my coconut water? - A hipster somewhere, probably. So, yay! Chipotle, burgeoning champion of the GMO-free pander movement makes a bold stand. Sounds good, right? There's just one little problem though... Chipotle isn't actually going 100% GMO-free.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 26, 2015 23 Comments
For the longest, Blue Bell was solely a Texas establishment. Their factory is right up the road from Houston. Kids would take school trips to the Blue Bell factory (and I imagine they still do). Everyone grew up looking forward to their seasonal offerings. And Blue Bell was the treat you looked forward to as a kid. Not ice cream -- Blue Bell. So when the grocery store is out of Blue Bell, they may as well be out of ice cream altogether. Beloved Texas staple, Blue Bell ice cream voluntarily pulled their product off the shelves following widespread listeria contamination concerns. As my sister observed at the grocery store yesterday:

Noooooo :(

A photo posted by Kristee Masters (@masterlenn) on

The massive voluntary recall was the first since the creamery opened in 1907. Closed temporarily, Monday, "Blue Bell Ice Cream will embark on an intensive cleaning program while it simultaneously conducts a new training program for its employees at all four production facilities with locations in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas." Friday afternoon, Blue Bell released the following video:

Our employees are working hard to bring Blue Bell back. Here’s their message for you:

Posted by Blue Bell Ice Cream on Friday, April 24, 2015

Posted by Amy Miller on April 26, 2015 35 Comments
We're slowly losing the distinction between the protest and the riot. Last night, chaos broke out in Baltimore after protests against the death of Freddie Gray turned into riots that damaged property and police cars, and resulted in the arrests of more than 30 people. Baltimore city officials denounced the violence as the work of "splinter groups"---isn't that always the case?---but the fact that over 300 officers were deployed and engaged in the area around Camden Yards sends that friendly narrative right down the toilet. One producer paid the price for covering the protests, and was robbed on camera as she filmed a group of teens running the streets. In the video below, you'll see the producer become surrounded, and then thrown to the ground as the crowd becomes more frenzied. The producer filming the scene was forced to give chase after one of the teens ripped her handbag from her person. Fortunately, police intervened soon after. Watch:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 24, 2015 33 Comments
You might remember Emma Sulkowicz, the Columbia University student who vowed to carry her mattress around campus in protest of her alleged rapist who remained on campus. Sulkowicz turned what she says was a horrible tragedy into performance art; performance art that will suffice as her senior thesis. Sulkowicz chose not to press charges, but to pursue allegations through Columbia's 'justice' system instead. A few months ago, Sulkowocz's alleged rapist, German student Jean-Paul Nungesser, provided his side of the story to the The Daily Beast. Nungesser's story, which was corroborated by Facebook and text messages provided to The Daily Beast, deviated significantly from Sulkowicz's version of the sordid tale. Though charges levied against by Nungesser were dismissed by Columbia University, he was judged harshly by his peers as a result of what appeared to be false accusations. When Nungesser's shared his version of events, I wrote:
Nungesser was judged in the court of public opinion because of what appear to be patently false accusations. He was hounded by the press and his peers. Meanwhile, Sulkowicz was praised for her bravery and artistic expression. And the compulsion to vilify the accused, in spite of evidence to the contrary, has yet another notch on its belt.

Posted by Amy Miller on April 24, 2015 27 Comments
Earlier today, the Speaker's office released a light, approachable (we'll talk about this later), "Happy Spring" video from the Man himself, showing John Boehner purchasing and installing a new blade on his push mower. Watch it here:
He may be the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, but he still irons his own shirts, washes his own dishes, and yes…cuts his own grass. But a well-kept yard requires well-kept tools, so in the video, Speaker Boehner preps his push mower for the springtime.
Flawlessly executed "man of the people" spot? NAY. Soon after the video was released, the internet noticed something...horrifying. Behold:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 23, 2015 22 Comments
When I read Aleister's post detailing the ludicrous trigger warning issued by Georgetown's radical feminists for Christina Hoff Sommer's talk, I was taken aback by this tweet from from an attendee of an event for the Association of Writing and Writing Programs. After I got done rolling my eyes, I realized that it is unlikely that any one of these geniuses will be remembered for their writing in 40 years...much less 400 years. This is compared to one very white, very straight man known as William Shakespeare, who was born on this day in 1564.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 21, 2015 49 Comments
You've seen the maps delineating the largely regional usage of words like "y'all" versus "you guys." But what about the more subtle differences in English usage? Yale's Grammatical Diversity Project produced some rather fascinated results. The study "examines syntactic differences among local varieties spoken by considerably smaller numbers of people." Digging far deeper into the grammar usage among regions within the same state, the study documents, "minimal differences among varieties of English spoken in North America." According to one of the researchers, the goal was not to look for grammatical inaccuracies or judge language usage, but to catalogue regional variations. For example, in many parts of New England, people will say "so don't I" to mean "so do I," he explained. The study also explores generational differences in the usage of words like, "so." Among younger people, and particularly in New York and California, "so" is used to convey drama. For example, "I was so tired last night, I couldn't keep my eyes open."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 17, 2015 13 Comments
Tomorrow evening marks 240 years since Paul Revere made his famous midnight ride. Made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Revere's ride has become an iconic piece of American revolutionary history. Longfellow's poem was riddled with inaccuracies, but made for an entertaining rhyme.
LISTEN, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, ‘If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light,— One, if by land, and two, if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm...’
Revere was a Boston-based artisan, early propaganda artists, and original Tea Partier:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 16, 2015 5 Comments
Etsy has long been my internet happy place. The online market provides craft-makers, artists, photographers, and virtually every creatively-minded individual a place to hawk their wares. And with over one million active sellers scattered across the globe, there's an abundance of fabulously kitschy, and often customizable items to chose from. I've purchased everything from wall hangings, jewelry, vintage clothing, incense, post cards, to hors d'oeuvres plates, and many other unique pieces. Until recently, mass manufactured products were not eligible for Etsy stores. Founded in Brooklyn approximately 10 years ago, Etsy practically re-engineered the virtual marketplace and offered a global platform for the would-be small business owner.  Opening a shop in Etsy's marketplace is free. Etsy charges 20 cents for each item listed and collects a fee of 3.5% once the item sells. Screen Shot 2015-04-16 at 2.06.43 PM Reaching a new milestone today, Etsy went public. The IPO's shares are currently hovering around $32 a pop. "Today, as we reach an important milestone for Etsy – our initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange – we would like to thank you, our sellers, for helping us reimagine commerce. Together, we’ve built not only a thriving marketplace, but a unique worldwide community based on creativity, entrepreneurship and helping one another," said the site's announcement.

Posted by Amy Miller on April 13, 2015 10 Comments
It's cherry blossom season in DC. I walked down to the tidal basin this weekend to see them. It really is wonderful---white petals flying everywhere, and when the wind blows just so, the little flowers make a lovely rustling sound. It's almost enough to make you forget the garbage that politicians go through to seize an office here. I made the mistake of looking at the internet early Sunday morning and discovered that everyone was already talking about Hillary's Big Announcement©. Fortunately for conservative bloggers everywhere, Hillary's Big Announcement© quickly turned into Hillary's Big Disaster©. Even before the news dribbled out from her camp, Hillary's surrogates went on the attack against her critics---and made a few not-too-thinly veiled threats in the process.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 24, 2015 33 Comments
Today will go down in history as the day feminists officially stepped beyond the bounds of self-parody. UK based outfit, the National Union of Students is hosting a conference for women. The multi-day conference for union delegates began today. Motions up for consideration at the conference include designating the abolishment of prisons as a feminist issue, free education and living grants, supporting the decriminalization of sex work, ending Transphobia, Biphobia, and Islamophobia on campus, and supporting the right to justice and education for Palestine. This afternoon (our time, anyway), a group in attendance made the following request: To which the NUS Women's Campaign responded, saying:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 23, 2015 18 Comments
The seminal case in the fight against 'rape culture' ended today, leaving a giant, gaping hole in the Rape Culture agenda. An investigation conducted by the Charlottesville Police Department found no evidence of rape at the accused University of Virginia fraternity. Months ago, Rolling Stone broke Jackie's story. Jackie claimed she'd been gang raped by members of Phi Kappa Psi in 2012. When the Rolling Stone article sparked national outrage, UVA's administration acted swiftly and without facts, punishing Greek life on campus. Then the Washington Post began to dig deeper into the Rolling Stone shocker. And that's when the story began to quickly unravel and was eventually debunked in entirety. Today, the New York Times reports:
“I can’t prove that something didn’t happen, and there may come a point in time in which this survivor, or this complaining party or someone else, may come forward with some information that might help us move this investigation further,” Police Chief Timothy Longo told a roomful of reporters here. “That doesn’t mean that something terrible did not happen to Jackie on the evening of Sept. 28, 2012,” Chief Longo said, referring to the accuser and adding that his department was simply unable to corroborate her account. He added, “This case is not closed by any stretch of the imagination.”
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