The Dilettante

buzzfeed:

quatre1six:

theraconteurasaurus:

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, gets stuck on the Victoria Park zipline today, 1 August 2012.

Undeterred, the still-enthusiastic Mayor, left dangling for about 5 minutes, continued to celebrate London 2012 and Team GB by waving Union Jacks and exchanging pleasantries with passers-by below.

Boris Johnson 4ever.

Bloomberg: Police Should Strike for Gun Control

Come on.

I’m a supportive of gun control and safety measures and regulations…but this is absurd and clearly sensationalistic.

Scranton City Workers Pay Restored!

@nbcnightlynews: City workers in Scranton, PA whose pay was slashed to minimum wage will get paid in full this week

This is almost exactly what a friend and I discussed the other day. 

We would add a centralized mental health database that would track confirmed issues and threats. It could be cross-checked during the gun application process, which would keep those at risk from guns more easily AND ensuring they are given the care they need.

Supporting!

lizlemon:

rachelinbrooklyn:

I find this very very hard to argue with, and would be very interested to hear why some folks think this isn’t reasonable. Seriously — not trying to pick a fight here.

This is an excellent point.

Of course, I’m pretty sure anyone arguing against it would say this is the exact kind of thing that makes America suck: too many regulations, too much government intervention. Sigh.

"Not a single person at the Aurora, Colorado theater shot back..."

parislemon:

I just quoted Roger Ebert’s excellent New York Times op-ed about the Aurora shooting, but really, you should read the whole thing. The entire thing is quote-worthy. 

Another key excerpt:

Should this young man — whose nature was apparently so obvious to his mother that, when a ABC News reporter called, she said “You have the right person” — have been able to buy guns, ammunition and explosives? The gun lobby will say yes. And the endless gun control debate will begin again, and the lobbyists of the National Rifle Association will go to work, and the op-ed thinkers will have their usual thoughts, and the right wing will issue alarms, and nothing will change. And there will be another mass murder.

That James Holmes is insane, few may doubt. Our gun laws are also insane, but many refuse to make the connection. The United States is one of few developed nations that accepts the notion of firearms in public hands. In theory, the citizenry needs to defend itself. Not a single person at the Aurora, Colo., theater shot back, but the theory will still be defended.

If anyone’s stance is really going to be that citizens need guns to protect themselves, it should be viewed that this idea failed yesterday in a way far worse than if guns were outlawed in this country. Nearly 100 people failed to use their gun rights to protect themselves. And 12 people have died as a result. A complete and utter failure of that right.

Of course, that right is actually preposterous. It’s 2012, not 1712.

Can’t get much more constitutional than that.

lizlemon:

daveholmes:

I have an idea: can we just do this, like, now? Cast our votes and be done with it? Seems like we’ve all made up our minds here, right? You either believe in the guy we have, or you don’t*. Sure, months of lively debate and research would be helpful, but since we prove every single minute of every single day that we’re not capable of anything remotely close to that- even especially our media, who with maybe two exceptions displays the attention span and emotional maturity of a Toddlers & Tiaras pageant child- want to just call it a day? Great. Me too. 

Okay, fine: for the eleven people who haven’t made up their minds (and so the rest of us can say we did it), one two-hour debate later this week. Snuggie Beyonce Boy and Carly Rae Jepsen can do the halftime show, to ensure that we all watch. Then we all show up at the ballot box and do the damn thing. 

I am actively avoiding campaign news and ads, but there’s still enough bullshit getting through- from both sides and every stop in between- that I don’t know whether I’ll make it through this afternoon, much less the rest of July and then August and then September and then October and then some of November. 

*This is in no way an invitation for you to share whether you personally do or do not believe in the guy we have. Oh, you have a chart? Neat! Stick it up your ass and go see Magic Mike.  

All the applause.

think-progress:

The President and First Lady get the Kiss Cam treatment at the USA basketball game tonight.

Teddy’s presumptive wisdom.

think-progress:

Mitt Romney isn’t responsible for ANYTHING because he “retired retroactively” from Bain Capital.

That’s a new one!

“They didn’t fire me. When they tied, I quit retroactively.”

gifhound:

Joe Biden delivered the keynote at the NAACP convention in Houston today. He wasn’t booed until his speech ended.

[Source: MSNBC]

(via think-progress)

Every Single Media Outlet Is Misreporting Obama’s Tax Proposal

soupsoup:

Obama is not proposing that families making up to $250,000 a year keep their tax cuts while families making more than that don’t. He’s proposing that everyfamily keep their tax cuts on their first $250,000 of taxable income (which isnot the same as “income” or “earnings,” by the way).

That includes families with taxable income of $260,000, $1 million, $5 billion, $3 trillion, or whatever Jay-Z and Beyonce make in a year. Everyone would continue to pay a lower tax rate on their first $250,000 of taxable income under Obama’s plan. To report that Obama only wants to maintain tax cuts for families making less than $250,000 is simply false.

thenationmagazine:

Romney’s not the only one with a love of foreign bank accounts—his donors also happen to be some of the biggest offshore tax haven abusers in the country. Full report from George Zornick here.

Cognitive Dissonance: So a Girl Walks into a Comedy Club....

breakfastcookie:

This is something that happened to a friend of mine in her own words.

“So, on Friday night my friend and I were at her house and wanted to get out and do something for the evening. We brainstormed ideas and she brought up the idea of seeing a show at the Laugh Factory….