The Only Plfrmat

Disaffected political ramblings we can believe in.
Jan 4 '12

I’m disturbed that dubstep is now being used in movie trailers on TV

And I’m especially confused about why it appears in a trailer for the Tuskegee Airmen movie.

Tags: red tails

Dec 15 '11

This is how the war ends, not with a bang but a whimper.

2 notes

Dec 10 '11
inothernews: OCCUPY MOSCOW   Protesters gathered in Bolotnaya Square in Russia’s capital on Saturday.  Organizers say between forty and 80,000 Russians demonstrated against recent parliamentary election results which observers, including former Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev, have dismissed as fraudulent.  Protesters chanted “Putin is a Thief” and “Russia Without Putin” in the largest anti-goverment action since the fall of the Soviet Union.  (Photo: Yuri Kadobnov / AFP-Getty via the New York Times; caption via the Times) Is Vladimir “President For Life!” Putin in trouble? Da. Is everyone ready for another round of tone-deaf commentary on some international protests? Cuz it looks like tumblr is gearing up for it. I challenge anyone who is going to write about the Russian elections to take a quick peek at history and answer the question of how large a threat mild dissent has ever posed to a Russian autocrat.

inothernews:

OCCUPY MOSCOW   Protesters gathered in Bolotnaya Square in Russia’s capital on Saturday.  Organizers say between forty and 80,000 Russians demonstrated against recent parliamentary election results which observers, including former Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev, have dismissed as fraudulent.  Protesters chanted “Putin is a Thief” and “Russia Without Putin” in the largest anti-goverment action since the fall of the Soviet Union.  (Photo: Yuri Kadobnov / AFP-Getty via the New York Times; caption via the Times)

Is Vladimir “President For Life!” Putin in trouble?

Da.

Is everyone ready for another round of tone-deaf commentary on some international protests? Cuz it looks like tumblr is gearing up for it.

I challenge anyone who is going to write about the Russian elections to take a quick peek at history and answer the question of how large a threat mild dissent has ever posed to a Russian autocrat.

563 notes (via motherjones & inothernews)Tags: russia ows politics

Dec 3 '11

maxistentialist:

FOX News reviews The Muppets

The best part about this clip is the contrast between what the Fox commentator is saying and the film’s stock footage playing next to his head.

In other news, I hate everything.

30 notes (via maxistentialist)Tags: Muppets FOX News LOL Camilla

Nov 29 '11
thedailywhat: Second Amendment Santa of the Day: Better pray you’re not on this Santa’s naughty list: The Scottsdale Gun Club is offering families the chance to take their seasonal Santa photo with a wide range of Santa’s special little assault rifles. The year’s Christmas Tree topper: An $80,000 Garwood minigun, which families are welcome to test fire. “I thinks it’s going to be all in fun from those who support the second amendment and those who don’t,” said club member Richard Jones. “Whether you’re a gun advocate or not, you should have a lot of fun with it.” The next “Santa and Machine Guns” event is scheduled for December 10th. Watch a local news report on the story below: [mfp / facebook.] My town, represent.

thedailywhat:

Second Amendment Santa of the Day: Better pray you’re not on this Santa’s naughty list: The Scottsdale Gun Club is offering families the chance to take their seasonal Santa photo with a wide range of Santa’s special little assault rifles.

The year’s Christmas Tree topper: An $80,000 Garwood minigun, which families are welcome to test fire.

“I thinks it’s going to be all in fun from those who support the second amendment and those who don’t,” said club member Richard Jones. “Whether you’re a gun advocate or not, you should have a lot of fun with it.”

The next “Santa and Machine Guns” event is scheduled for December 10th. Watch a local news report on the story below:

[mfp / facebook.]

My town, represent.

286 notes (via thedailywhat)Tags: Second Amendment Santa

Nov 21 '11
“That is the point. What happened was not a revolution. The demonstrators never brought down Mubarak, let alone the regime. What happened was a military coup that used the cover of protests to force Mubarak out of office in order to preserve the regime. When it became clear Feb. 10 that Mubarak would not voluntarily step down, the military staged what amounted to a coup to force his resignation. Once he was forced out of office, the military took over the existing regime by creating a military council and taking control of critical ministries. The regime was always centered on the military. What happened on Feb. 11 was that the military took direct control.”
—

A nice summary of the situation in Egypt. (via theonlyplfrmat)

This seems particularly relevant to post again. I’ve written more here.

(Source: stratfor.com)

71 notes (via theonlyplfrmat)Tags: egypt

Nov 8 '11
shortformblog: Heavy D, dead at 44: Here’s his last tweet. Is this going to become a thing? Please no.

shortformblog:

Heavy D, dead at 44: Here’s his last tweet.

Is this going to become a thing? Please no.

232 notes (via shortformblog)Tags: heavy d rip heavy d heavy d rap old-school hip hop hip hop rap

Oct 21 '11

discountemporium asked:

I love NPR, and this is like NPR in blog format! fantastic! I'm an English major. Have you ever read Kerouac's On The Road (the source of your blog name)? It's an okay book, though it's got a cult following among certain English students.

That’s a pretty big compliment! I’ve lost some steam after a year and a half of blogging here, so that’s why I don’t post very often. 

I haven’t read Kerouac, unfortunately. 

Anyway, thanks a lot for writing in!

1 note

Oct 21 '11
theeconomist: Daily chart: climate change. A new measure of global warming, intended partly to address the concerns of “legitimate sceptics”, offers fresh evidence that the world is warming fast. I spy with my little eye… four independent data sets converging on the same conclusion: anthropogenic climate change.

theeconomist:

Daily chart: climate change. A new measure of global warming, intended partly to address the concerns of “legitimate sceptics”, offers fresh evidence that the world is warming fast.

I spy with my little eye… four independent data sets converging on the same conclusion: anthropogenic climate change.

772 notes (via theeconomist)Tags: science chart climate change global warming

Oct 17 '11
300,000 babies stolen from their parents and sold for adoption by the Catholic Church in Spain

This is one of the most disgusting things I’ve heard in a long while.

Several mothers say they were told their first-born children had died during or soon after they gave birth.

But the women, often young and unmarried, were told they could not see the body of the infant or attend their burial.

In reality, the babies were sold to childless couples whose devout beliefs and financial security meant that they were seen as more appropriate parents.

Official documents were forged so the adoptive parents’ names were on the infants’ birth certificates. […]

Experts believe the cases may account for up to 15 per cent of the total adoptions that took place in Spain between 1960 and 1989. 

9 notes Tags: news politics feminism catholic church