Archive for May, 2012
Great moments in product name second thoughts
Posted in Advertising, Pop Culture on May 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
If only….
Posted in Pop Culture on May 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Wut? Why a dikshinairy?
Posted in Academia, Social media, Writing on May 31, 2012 | 1 Comment »
“He once gnawed on my ears at prom, but that was as far as it went.”
Posted in Media, Weird on May 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
What if the kid meant to write that word?
Posted in Animals, Children on May 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
It’s as if DirecTV has hired your mother to write boring programming notes
Posted in Pop Culture on May 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
“Up next,
Meanwhile, in Texas….
Posted in Wingnuts on May 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
I’d actually be more concerned about the ridicule she’ll endure from still being on MySpace
Posted in Social media, Substance use/abuse on May 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
“Girl, is that how I raised you? To still be on that shitty social media site after all this time? Now go to your room without shooting up.”
When rednecks hang plants
Posted in Wingnuts on May 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
If you’re elderly and poor, which would be better: prison or a state retirement institution?
Posted in Health, Justice System, Pop Culture, Republicans on May 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
That is the question posed by the website io9, with predictable results in a society where Americans increasingly lack the basic critical reasoning skills to force the government to do what is best for everyone’s future. (I’m looking at you, tea baggers.) You might be better off embezzling from a bank or committing some other non-violent federal crime, rather than waiting to see what our me-first society has in store for you:
If you are in old age, with no family and little money, your options are slim if you need living assistance.
Wasting away at home is a tragic possibility and government funded retirement homes might only be an option once your assets are depleted. Would you be better off committing a crime and going to prison where you receive food, clothing, and medical care? We decided to find out.
Regardless of your state, province, or national government, going into old age and needing care while holding little or no individual assets is a dicey situation. Would you be better off in a prison than a retirement home if you lack financial assets or family?
The Pros of Prison
Let’s look at some of the positives of incarceration. Prison is cheap (if not free), provides a steady supply of food, a relatively high level of healthcare, and some social interaction. In the best situations, you could take classes for college credit, learn a new trade, or spend your days catching up on television.While standards and settings can change from prison to prison, if you find yourself in a minimum security Federal prison, your quality of life will be pretty good. While you can’t pick your roommate or the denizens of your cell block or leave, your status as an elderly individual (and hopefully your lack of violent crimes) will likely land you amongst criminals of a similar threat level (i.e., low). Depending on the facility, you might even be able to roam park-like portion of the grounds. Policies do exist to accrue inmate housing costs from personal finances, but if you lack assets, this will not be a problem for you.
Federal prisons, at least in the United States, are a much safer place than state prisons. Federal prisons are often home to white-collar, non-violent offenders, and violent attacks occur at less than half the rate of state prisons. These prisons are typically located on or near military installations (like FPC Montgomery on the grounds of Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama), where prisoners can work in clerical positions and even take in a movie at the serviceman’s theater on the grounds of the base.
You can read the rest here, and it ain’t pretty.
Back in Boston after trip to Montreal, Ben and Jerry’s factory in Vermont
Posted in Consumerism, Corporations, International, Travel on May 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
No posting for the four days I was in Montreal, one of my favorite cities in North America. New posts below.
I love Montreal. It’s like being dropped into a little bit of Europe just a few hours north of Boston. Stayed at a B&B called Sir Montcalm, which is as charming as it is reasonable. It’s also just a half block off Rue Ste Catherine, the pulsing heart of all things gay in the city. Plus the hosts make excellent breakfasts every morning. The interior garden and patio themselves are worth the stay (see pic below).
Then, on the way back, we stopped at the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Vermont (or, one of them, anyway), where they charge you four dollars for quite possibly the shittiest and most disappointingly lame factory tour ever devised. It’s an hour of stupid cow-and-dairy puns, with very little of it having to do with actually touring the plant itself.
I love the company, don’t get me wrong. But their tour is rip-off. Don’t bother.
The amazing patio and garden at Sir Montcalm.
Why kitties are awesome
Posted in Animals, Humor on May 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Religion, in a nutshell
Posted in Religion on May 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Iliterates of the world, you only have wun life, live it to the fullist
Posted in Poverty, Rednecks, Tattoos on May 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
And mommy should stop making the bed all the time with the postman
Posted in Children, Humor on May 30, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Gurl, why you so emotional?
Posted in Christianism, Wingnuts on May 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Who the hell is Jack and why should we give him any of our damn stickers?
Posted in Children, Education on May 24, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
From the Only In San Francisco Department
Posted in Weird on May 24, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
