You know your political system is broken when

pieceinthepuzzlehumanity:

• Parties in power pass laws that disenfranchise voters.
• Billionaires can almost single handedly finance candidates that serve their interests.
• Groups associated with a single party plan to spend roughly a billon dollars to influence the election.
• There is virtually no public discussion of policies that exacerbate the War on Terror and gut civil liberties.
• The election will be between two people who fundamentally represent the same financial interests.
• Compromise is a dirty word.
• Severe economic inequality is not of high public importance.

(via sinidentidades)

mohandasgandhi:

13% of deployed Marines consider suicide

sweetupndown9:

 More than one in 10 Marines who deployed overseas reported having suicidal thoughts or plans to attempt suicide, according to a study looking at suicidal predictors.

The anonymous study of 1,517 active-duty Marines and sailors was conducted in 2006-2007. A wide cross-section of the Corps was represented, including the infantry, aviation and combat support communities. Most participants were male (93 percent) and from the junior enlisted ranks (E-1 to E-4). Nearly half had done more than one overseas deployment, but 11 percent were not combat-related.

The “most potent combination” for predicting suicidal thoughts and behavior, Thomsen said, was seen in Marines who experienced a great deal of combat and suffered from PTSD, depression or drug use. And those who reported both severe PTSD and high depression were “the people most at-risk for suicidal behavior,” she said.

Other findings include:

• Higher levels of combat exposure led to more PTSD symptoms and alcohol use, and these individuals reported they had less social support.

• Marines and sailors suffering from PTSD, depression and substance abuse “were more likely to report suicidal thoughts or plans,” she said.

• Those with strong social support “were less likely” to report suicidal thoughts or plans, she said.

• Deployment stressors, which can include worries about spouses and personal finances at home, or dangers such as heat and bugs in the war zone, were “significantly related,” Thomsen said.

• Pre-deployment trauma was a significant factor for those suffering from PTSD, depression, alcohol use or reporting poor social support, she said, but it wasn’t linked to those who used illegal drugs.

• One surprise was “alcohol problems did not emerge as a predictor of suicidal behavior,” Thomsen said. “This is really at odds with a lot of what we hear.”

• Another surprising finding: Lack of social support was “not a strong predictor,” she said, which is at odds with conventional thinking.

Dora the Rude

nom-chompsky:

How is she going define someone’s identify by one action (Swiper) and then ban that action (no swiping!), effectively banning their existence?

That’s some oppressive shit, Dora.

(via anticapitalist)

46% of Americans are Creationists

helvetebrann:

And, of course, the poll found that education is associated with an acceptance of evolution.

Most Americans are not scientists, of course, and cannot be expected to understand all of the latest evidence and competing viewpoints on the development of the human species. Still, it would be hard to dispute that most scientists who study humans agree that the species evolved over millions of years, and that relatively few scientists believe that humans began in their current form only 10,000 years ago without the benefit of evolution. Thus, almost half of Americans today hold a belief, at least as measured by this question wording, that is at odds with the preponderance of the scientific literature.

(Source: gallup.com)

Protecting fetuses, but not people.

jerrymuffinbutt:

(via paxamericana)

dontbearuiner:

buzzfeed:

sexualsportswear:

letsdolaunch:

GZA of Wu-Tang Clan to release a science inspired album: “Dark Matter”

“There’s no parental advisory, no profanity, no nudity,” he said. “The only thing that’s going to be stripped bare is the planets.”

the only thing that’s going to be stripped bare is the planets omg

“The only thing that’s going to be stripped bare is the planets.”

Awesome!!! Astrophysics rap!

(via brosephstalin)

firstfamily:

$1 BILLION TO DEFEAT PRESIDENT OBAMA

Karl Rove, the Koch brothers, and a $1 billion pledge to defeat President Obama.

Do we have your attention?

Politico is reporting today that Republican super PACs like Rove’s Crossroads GPS and other right-wing groups are planning to spend $1 billion to defeat President Obama and take full control of Congress—with $400 million expected from the Koch brothers alone. To put that figure in perspective, John McCain raised $370 million for his entire 2008 presidential campaign.

That means Rove and the Kochs could determine the outcome of November’s elections. As MSNBC’s Steve Benen notes, “Obama, in other words, is going to face a far-right wall of at least $1.8 billion between now and Election Day. To say this is without precedent in a major democracy is a dramatic understatement.”

And that is why May 31’s fundraising deadline is so important. If you donate today, you can help level the playing field for President Obama and Democrats up and down the ticket.

But more than that, a strong showing of grassroots Democratic donors sends the message to Republicans that Rove, the Koch brothers, and their ilk can’t just buy their way to victory on November 6.

Make a contribution in any amount today.

(via abaldwin360)

club-afterlife:

odinsmightymustache:

flatbear:

dead-logic:

I just read this very interesting article:

Why Loki Won in the Avengers.

Warning: spoilers. Make sure you’ve seen the movie first before you read this.

Mind: Blown. It always bugged me that Loki was so careless about drawing the Hulk out, knowing full well he could be beaten by the creature. This is just…ahhh. AHHH.

YES

(via donbeegles)

Classic!

(Source: , via intertnet)

[The] greatest obstacle to the maintenance of a certain moral level in our present societies lies in the absence of social equality. Without real equality, the sense of justice can never be universally developed, because Justice implies the recognition of equality. —  Piotr Kropotkin, Evolution and environment. (via la-virgen-maria)

(via violentopinions)

It is reported that about 30% of the world’s population is unemployed. That’s worse than the Great Depression, but it’s now an international phenomenon. You have 30% of the world unemployed, a huge amount of work that needs to be done just rebuilding the society alone. The people who are unemployed want to do the work, but the system is such a catastrophic failure that it cannot bring together idle hands and work. This is all hailed as a great success, and it is a great success - for a very small sector of the population. —  Noam Chomsky (via fyeahnoamchomsky)

(via philosophy-of-praxis)

(via hatehatetenshi)

laboratoryequipment:

Mediterranean Diet Linked to Better Quality of Life

For years the Mediterranean diet has been associated with a lesser chance of illness and increased well-being. A new study has now linked it to mental and physical health too. The Mediterranean diet, which is characterized by the consumption of fruit, vegetables, pulses, fish, olive oil and nuts, has been proven to be beneficial to the health in terms of a lesser chance of chronic illness and a lower mortality rate.

A new study headed by the Univ. of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Univ. of Navarra took the next step and analyzed the influence of the Mediterranean diet on the quality of life of a sample of more than 11,000 university students over a period of four years.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Mediterranean-Diet-Linked-to-Better-Quality-of-Life-053012.aspx

(via violentopinions)