Americans of all types — Democrats and Republicans, even some Good Progressives — are just livid that a Pakistani tribal court (reportedly in consultation with Pakistani officials) has imposed a 33-year prison sentence on Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani physician who secretly worked with the CIA to find Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil. … Except that’s a woefully incomplete narrative: incomplete to the point of being quite misleading.
What Dr. Afridi actually did was concoct a pretextual vaccination program, whereby Pakistani children would be injected with a single Hepatitis B vaccine, with the hope of gaining access to the Abbottabad house where the CIA believed bin Laden was located. The plan was that, under the ruse of vaccinating the children in that province, he would obtain DNA samples that could confirm the presence in the suspected house of the bin Laden family. But the vaccine program he was administering was fake: …
So people have been asking about why Loki is seen wearing a kind of muzzle in this last scene. Well you Sons of Coul, sit down and let me explain:
In the Nordic mythology (or what tumblr users would probably prefer to call “the acient canon” or something alike) one of Loki’s punishments for behaving badly was to have his lips sewn together.
Now, because the audience would most likely not appreciate seeing Thor sewing Loki in the mouth - Marvel introduced this very unexpected muzzle.
Well, thank Marvel for not always keeping to the acient canon… for example no one would want to see Loki being impregnated by Odins horse.speak for yourself. *eyebrow waggle*
Yeah, they’re really cutting out a huge range of markets there, the internet goes nuts over this stuff. Eight-legged horses and world serpents and mpreg, oh my.
“Well, thank Marvel for not always keeping to the acient canon… for example no one would want to see Loki being impregnated by Odins horse.”
Uh, yeah, we wouldn’t want to see Loki be impregnated by Odin’s horse, seeing as Sleipnir is Loki’s colt by the Frost Giants’ horse Svaoilifari in the first place. It’d either be getting the continuity completely ass-backwards or some kind of weird mother/son bestiality incest and at least the first of those things tends not to be very popular with comic book fans.
Roach wins everyone go home
And here is what Leia does, when you force her into a scanty outfit and choke-chain: she takes that chain, and she kills you with it. She doesn’t let her clothing get in her way or limit her more than she can help—she waits for her moment to strike, and then she conquers her would-be conqueror and saves the day.
And I was a little kid, not yet desensitized to violence […] Jabba’s death scene freaked the hell out of me. It wasn’t a clean blaster shot to the chest or a slice from a lightsaber that sent sparks flying or made you turn invisible. There were struggles, and flailing, and twitching limbs. The shots are close-ups, and very dark—it’s vicious, and vengeful, and physical, and very very personal.
So for me, wearing that gold bikini does not mean Here I am, a sexy toy for your amusement and gratification.
To me, that gold bikini says, If you fuck with me, I will end you.
"— Olivia Waite - Ellora’s Cave author, inquisitive mind, and hedonist-about-town (via veggiezombiex)
(via bluejaybirdie)
Comics are horrifying
You know when I think about it
all the new fans who are getting into comics through the movies
and then they see certain crap happening to their babies
and then they’re all NOPE NOPE WE DID NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS
oh god I’ve never thought of this
no one prepared them for anything
I mean can you imagine falling on love with a character and expecting everything to have a happy ending like the movies
and then they pick up some comics and start reading
and they aren’t even disappointed I bet
I’m sorry guys.
#welcome to comics #you are probably scarred for life #this isn’t anything you were ever trained for
I helped one of my friends get into comics recently. I’m not sure whether to feel pleased with myself for being helpful and having someone to talk comics with, or to feel incredibly guilty because comics.
#being-a-fan-of-comics-is-the-most-masochistic-thing-ever #especially-if-you’re-a-woman
Storytime: I almost got into comics through Scans_Daily. Through SD, I learned two things:
- Comics have a lot of neat ideas in them
- Comics are bullshit
Over time, I saw that the bullshit predominated.
The moral of the story is I don’t go to S_D anymore and that’s not because of anything I thought was wrong with S_D.
I’m pretty sure the text is a reference to something other than Metroid, but I don’t know what.
(Source: idrawnintendo, via ponypuns)
Nobody ever takes Luke seriously.
it’s funny because all of them are dead now
Let’s be fair, Luke was totally wrong in that third statement: he didn’t die with the Emperor.
(Source: malibluecloa, via bluejaybirdie)
How Corporations and Local Governments Use the Poor As Piggy Banks | Mother Jones
Excellent (and depressing) piece by Barbara Ehrenreich. I’ve seen a lot of what she mentions in action.
(By the way, if you haven’t read her book Nickel and Dimed, I recommend it.)
Yes, yes. Nickel and Dimed is a classic.
Nickel and Dimed is problematic, but still read this.
Since I read Nickel and Dimed a few years ago I have probably spent just as many occasions ranting about its bias and problems as I have about the issues it highlights in low-income lifestyles. IT MAKES ME SO CROSS. Ugh.
The Superior Domesticated Apex Predator doesn’t recognize your breath mint. Where did you get it?
(Source: shellybuttface, via flarson)
Guys, I’ve found my new hero. LOOK AT THIS WOMAN. SHIT. GET IT, GIRL.
Credit where it’s due, this looks a lot cooler because the dude put his hand out so that he’d flip over rather than land on his skull.
