Even in the wake of the Boston bombing, Americans are safer now than they ever have been before. The news is already fear-mongering and the loonies are shouting about conspiracies, but you should remember that you’re safer now than ever, and two bombs and the surrounding media circus doesn’t change that.
The violent crime rate in the US has been steadily declining for decades. All types of violent crimes are seeing less occurrences not only per capita, but also less total instances, even with the rising population. The violent crime rate in the US has declined nearly 50% from 1991 until 2010, and while 2011 data is still preliminary, the FBI recently announced that there was yet another drop in violent crime (4%) from 2010 to 2011[i]. Yet, people still believe that crime is higher than ever, even though it is quite the opposite. Read the rest >>
Said to Lady Journos started out strong with quotes like this one and this one, but just lately I’ve seen several like the one above, or like this one, this one and this one. I’m concerned by this tendency lately to equate any off-color comment with sexism just because a guy said it to a girl.
Paying someone a polite compliment isn’t sexism. Asking a rude question isn’t (necessarily) sexism. Pointing out a hole in someone’s clothes isn’t sexism. Belittling someone and treating them like they’re less intelligent and less capable simply because of their gender is sexism.
The comment above is just a joke. It could have been something a guy said to another guy, or a girl said to a guy, etc, etc, and it’s would still be funny and/or relevant. There’s nothing inherently demeaning directly due to gender in the above quote.
It’s not sexism. It might be rude, but it’s not sexist.
Let’s be the first to call bullshit on this. No networks are stupid enough to shut down over this, and if they are, good riddance. Put that spectrum to better use. First of all, network TV shows get a lot more viewers. By a wide margin.
My favorite quote in TechDirt’s article is, “If we can’t have our rights properly protected through legal and governmental solutions, we will pursue business solution. One solution would be to take the network and make it a subscription service. We’re not going to sit idly by and let people steal our content,” from Fox’s COO, Chase Carey. (Emphasis mine.)
Aereo is a subscription service. For $12 a month, you get broadcast TV via your Internet connection. I don’t know if there are commercials, but it’s a pretty nice business model. It is, in fact, a business model the networks should have thought up first, and years ago.
No one watches network TV because it’s good, they watch it because it’s free. No one’s going to pay $12 (or whatever) for each channel, because your TV shows stink. In fact, most people don’t bother paying for cable, where many of the shows are better by leaps and bounds.
By all means, take your toys and go home, guys. I really don’t think anyone’s going to miss you that much.
One of the guys (at least) was fired from his job. There were celebrations and vindication for the Feminist Cause all around Twitter and the Internet. Meanwhile, the rest of the Internet jumped on top of the firing with both feet, threatening boycotts, lodging complaints, attacking Richards and just generally throwing your average Internet feminism-related hissy fit.
On August 11th 2012, a 16-year-old girl went to a party in Steubanville, Ohio, where she got drunk and passed out. After she passed out, members of the local football team, one of which was apparently her angry ex-boyfriend, paraded her around to several parties, urinated on her, raped her, took photos of her naked, and took pictures and video of themselves talking about raping and assaulting her, tweeted about raping and assaulting her, and generally did their level best to be just as horrific and monstrous about the whole thing as humanly possible.
Two of these kids, Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond, were indicted on the 22nd of August, and yesterday, they were convicted.
Throughout the story, a multitude of people – including CNN – have waxed rhapsodic about the poor, poor rapists who’ve just had their lives destroyed. It’s pretty nauseating stuff.
