Anthro-esque DIY Dollar Store Business Card Box

It's been a while since I've done a "Look What I Found at the Dolla Store" feature, so although this is just one item, let's add this to the list! If you can't find these at your local dollar store I'm pretty sure Michaels will have something similar, so save your coupons and make it a cheap "almost dollar store" buy.


Of course, it does require a bit of transformation to get it to it's final state, but it's an easy project.

When I came across these little boxes at Dollar Giant, they instantly reminded me of something I may find in an Anthropologie or a a stationery store. They are the perfect size for holding business cards on your desk, but I'm sure you could think of a million other things you could put in them. Lipstick. Coins. Tea Bags.

I bought both a rounded edge box, and a squared edge box, but I'll save the latter for another post! I didn't take a before photo (bad blogger!) but I found the square edged box on the Dollar Tree website.

I've painted enough wooden craft boxes in my lifetime to fill a room. I'm sure I'm not alone here, right? Every time I see one, I paint it, thinking it's going to look absolutely amazing and I will be able to display it for all the world to see. Truth is, it usually looks just like a cheap wood box painted with craft paint, and it usually ends up inside a cabinet somewhere playing home to my chequebooks and reciepts. Out of sight. This time, I wanted to do something different, so out with the paint, and in with the "homemade old wood" recipe!

I adapted the "recipe" for this since it's a small teeny tiny box. I used just one teabag, not steeped for more than a few minutes. I also used one steel wool pad,  just a cup of vinegar, and let that sit for just about 12 hours (the longer this mixture sits, the darker your wood will be).


It's such an easy and painless "painting" process because you're just dousing the box in liquid and there's no such thing as drips or a messy paint job. Do make sure you cover the entire box in both solutions though. Whatever you don't will remain the unfinished wood colour. Make sure to let the box dry between the tea and vinegar mixtures, and then let it fully dry before adding any other paint embellishments.

I thought the box could use a bit more panache, so I put my Silhouette to use and made my first ever stencil. I used vinyl, but I think next time I might try some of my thicker adhesive cardstock as the vinyl was a touch tricky to stencil with.

And par ce que everything sounds better in french, I decided to stencil "les cartes" instead of just "cards". Way more fun. Who knows if the French even refer to business cards as "les cartes", but it has a nice ring to it, mais non?

I just used a white craft paint to stencil with my Martha Stewart plopping sponges ( or whatever they're called). After the paint dried, I gave it a quick sand to add to that aged look, and then did a single coat of water-based poly. You'll see in the photo below that the sanding was also necessary because clearly I'm not a great stenciller.

And the verdict? I'm obsessed. I may only have a need for one business card holder, but I seriously want to go buy and refinish ten of these right now. They are just so stinking cute, and at $1.25 each, are about the cheapest bit of lovely I own right now. And with my new business cards being printed as we speak, I'm even more excited to bring them home and store them in a sweet place they can call their own.

Stories we dont hear, from people we all know.

Fired from @WholeFoods because they needed time off for surgery. #ows #S17 #election2012

There are hundreds of stories like this one and worse. The stories of folks like us, who are directly affected by injustice. Our concern is where do they go? Where do they live? Who will help them?
And most important----What can we do?
Get involved- We need your voice.
Peace...

NOT A GREAT WAY TO START THE 2013 NEW YEAR FOR STUDENTS & TEACHERS AT THE SAWYER CAREER INSTITUTE!

Denise Maldonado, my Lady, currently resides in Hartford, CT, and on the 3rd of January she received a letter in the mail with disappointing news from Sawyer Career Institute. The letter stated that the school informing her that Sawyer will be closed permanently.  

Not only the Students received the bad news, also the Teachers did not get a notice before the Holiday vacation. 

Miss Maldonado was majoring in Medical Terminology, and she was really looking forward to her bright future. It's pretty overt that Denise's 2013  New Year is not going well for her. By this sad news, it does not phase her at all. She has her chin up high, moving forward with motivation, dedication, and to find a new home  to continue her education.

Here is more information below on how the Sawyer Career Institute closed down.

Students and teachers gathered outside the Sawyer School in Hartford on Wednesday morning, angry over the school’s sudden closure during holiday break.

Students and teachers are frustrated with the lack of answers coming from Academic Enterprises, Inc., the Rhode Island company that runs the Sawyer Schools in both Hartford and Hamden, as well as the Butler Business School in Bridgeport, all of which have shut their doors, kicking a total of 1,200 students out of class. 

“I was ready to graduate and then they closed the school,” complained Charlene Brimage, who was trying to get her degree in business.

“I was three classes away from going out on externship and graduating in April,” Arelis Quinones said.

“Our schedules were already out.  We were already scheduled for classes,” Don Lanier, an instructor, said.

Some students received a letter telling them class was out permanently, while others heard through social media.

The instructors, including Lanier, received a call from their supervisor over the holidays reporting that classes would not resume this week as scheduled.

“We have no answers about anything,” Lanier said.

The Office of Higher Education addressed the abrupt closing in a statement saying they “received a brief email on December 30, 2012 from Academic Enterprises Inc., stating that the schools have 'suspended' operations.'"

The statement also urges students impacted by the closure to contact the Office of Higher Education for assistance.

"We encourage all impacted students to register with our office so that we may learn of their status and help answer their questions about finishing their coursework and obtaining potential tuition reimbursements,” said Jane A. Ciarlegio, executive director of the Office of Higher Education.

Connecticut General Statutes prescribe procedures for schools to follow in the event of closing.  Schools are required to notify the Office of Higher Education at least 60 days before closing.  The notification gives agency officials time to work with school representatives to assure an orderly transition and cessation of business.  Both Sawyer Schools and the Butler Business School allegedly violated this requirement.

How the schools will be punished, if at all, following the state’s investigation, remains to be seen.

By Todd Piro

|  Wednesday, Jan 2, 2013  |  Updated 12:38 PM EST

A tale of two massacres.

I was going to put down some thoughts on the Newtown school massacre but felt that the subject had been covered to death by the other bloggers and my contribution wouldn't add much to the subject. Still, it did pique my interest in the subject of school shootings and Wiki has a good entry on rampage killers.  Unfortunately, these events are not that uncommon and there appears to be a long history of them. Still, two cases caught my eye which seem to well illustrate the crisis of masculinity in our current culture.

The fist case is that of the Virginia Tech Massacre.  Roissy's comments at the time were, I felt, particularly pertinent.

The killer of 32 people at Virginia Tech used a .22 caliber and a 9mm pistol.
Why wasn’t this guy rushed by anyone?  He’s calmly picking people off.  Bloodshed all around.  Imagine you’re there, trapped in that classroom.  You know you’re as good as dead if you just sit immobile like a juicy target, so you may as well lunge for him and drive your thumbs in his eyes.  You might still die, but you’ve improved your odds dramatically, especially if you go at him during a reload.  He’ll maybe get off one or two shots at you but handguns are notoriously inaccurate, especially when a person is running into your face disturbing your zen-like aiming.  You’d stand a good chance of him missing or you incurring a non-fatal flesh wound.

So a rude thought intrudes.  Engineering campus.  Nerds.  A taxonomy of guys who’ve probably run from fights their whole lives.  Total inexperience with summoning the warrior animal spirits.
There are times of crisis when brainy deliberation or pavlovian avoidance response will do a man no good.

Maybe the bullets were flying so fast, the killer so accurate (from marathon sessions of video gaming I bet), the timeframe so compressed, that in the chaos no one had an opportunity to do anything.  Well, except for this guy.

But if that’s not the case, then I’ll be uncharitable and ask…
did nerdiness cost lives?

and;

yeah, i’ve changed my thinking on this. i think passivity is a systemic problem with men in the West, [ED]not just relegated to nerds. i’m pissed that one guy was able to calmly kill 30 people without anyone at least trying to subdue him, so that colored my reaction.

i talked to a guy recently who went through nyc police training and he told me that a certain percentage of people will go into shock and do nothing in the event of a crisis. the nypd trains their recruits by having them walk around corners and get “shot” unexpectedly with harmless plastic caps. the first few times it happens the recruits stand motionless in shock.

after a few rounds of this training the recruits are able to think better on their feet and react quickly.

Compare this with another school shooting, this time in Bremen, in 1913. From the Wiki Entry;

At approximately 11:00 a.m. Heinz Schmidt entered St. Mary's Catholic School, armed with six to ten revolvers or Browning pistols (depending on sources) and about 1000 rounds of ammunition, which he had bought several weeks prior to the shooting. Because of the large number of rounds, the owner of the gun-shop, where Schmidt had bought his arsenal, deemed it necessary to contact police, though the incident was not found to be important and thus not investigated any further.

In the hallway on the first floor Schmidt encountered Marie Pohl, a teacher at the school, who was just stepping out of classroom 8b, and, seeing his agitated appearance, questioned him about his business at school. Without answer, Schmidt proceeded to shoot at her, barely missing her head. While Miss Pohl fled into a classroom nearby Schmidt entered room 8b, which was occupied by 65 girls, most of them being 6 or 7 years old, and immediately began firing at them. Also shooting at the children after they hid under their tables the gunman instantly killed two of them and wounded another 15. When the girls fled out of the classroom, Schmidt followed them, still shooting. While trying to escape, one of the girls fell down the stairs, broke her neck and died.

The gunman then went back and unsuccessfully tried to enter another classroom that had been locked by a teacher who had realized what had been happening. Schmidt shot at the school janitor, Butz, who attempted to apprehend him, hitting him in the face, before going upstairs where he was tackled by teacher Hubert Möllmann. When Schmidt managed to break free from Möllmann's grip he shot the teacher twice, hitting him in the stomach and shoulder, whereupon he proceeded to shoot out of a window at the children on the schoolyard, injuring five boys. The shots also wounded a roofer working nearby, who, together with his colleagues and other people alarmed by the shooting, then rushed into the school building, though as they arrived on the first floor the gunman had already been subdued by janitor Butz and a teacher named Hartlage. When Schmidt was led away by police he was met by an angry crowd outside, which beat him up and attempted to lynch him, until the police officers managed to hold the mob at bay with their sabres.

In total, Schmidt had fired 35 rounds, three girls died instantly, while two more later succumbed to their wounds – the last victim dying some time in mid-July – and 18 children, as well as three other persons were injured

At Virginia Tech in 2007, the only people who seemed to offer any resistance to the shooter were an old Guy and middle aged female teacher. Where where the young men? (Apparently a student named Henry Lee was assisting the female teacher barricade the room but no one was rushing the shooter.)

On the other hand, back in 1913, the janitor, the teachers, even the roofer working next door and his mates--who had ample time and opportunity to run away--all rushed the bastard. Butz, the janitor, even went back for seconds after being shot in the face!!  Balls of steel I tell you.

(Picture of German Reservists from 1911. Pretty much the same type of guys who would have tackled the shooter.)

Somewhere between then and now, the manhood died.

The older I get, the more convinced I am that the First World War was the dividing line between the old and modern world. 

Sexual Minorities Uganda v. Scott Lively – why you should care, why you should go!

On Monday January 7th 2013 in Federal Court Springfield, opening oral arguments will be heard for the motion to dismiss the case of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) v. Scott Lively.  This is not the defendant’s first attempt at dismissal.  

Lively is of course claiming his First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech and Religion. This historic case against Lively is for crimes against humanity, for persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.  It is a first case of its kind anywhere in the world and it is happening here in Massachusetts now that Scott Lively and his Abiding Truth Ministries – Southern Poverty Law Center designated hate group – reside here in the Commonwealth.

For many years Scott Lively has travelled not just our country but the entire world spewing his own special form of hate and persecution imparting his own unique ‘knowledge’ of the ‘Gay Agenda’.  He claims he “knows more than almost anyone else in the world” about homosexuality.

In 2009, he brought his theory and his purposeful anti-LGBTI agenda to a Uganda workshop and a month or so later the Ugandan Parliament suddenly saw the introduction of what is now known as the ‘Kill the Gays Bill’, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, with harsh penalties that currently includes the death penalty. 

Scott Lively bragged that he had created a "nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda."  Oh, and don’t believe the rumors from the BBC or the AP or even Lively’s latest missive about the death penalty being removed as the bill cannot actually be modified until it is officially debated in the Ugandan Parliament.

Why should we care about what is happening in Uganda thanks to American Evangelicals?  Because if you’ve listened to the crowing of Lively, Perkins, Fischer, and others of that ilk following the bill’s reappearance on the Ugandan Parliament’s agenda in November you’ll have heard that it is exactly what they envision for the US too!

Not as likely to happen here as it seems in Uganda where it enjoys a 96% favorability rating thanks to the decades of lies spread throughout the African continent about how the American and European gays are coming for their children to recruit them into homosexuality, and how pray-away-the-gay really works, no really, and a whole host of other ridiculous unfounded claims easy to dispel if you have access to facts.

Here in the US, Scott Lively recently traveled to Springfield Missouri to lend his hand to derail that city’s proposed sexual orientation nondiscrimination ordinance, which he called a “Gay Fascism Bill” for which he now brags that he should be called in whenever a ‘Trojan Horse for the Gay Agenda’ like that crops up because surely he is the only one who can extinguish them as he claims to have done there.

So our LGBT brothers and sisters in Missouri will continue to be fired, evicted, and denied their civil rights thanks to our Commonwealth’s resident. 

Keeping in mind the more they succeed, the more emboldened they become everywhere. Here in the Commonwealth, we remember how public accommodations were removed from the Trans Civil Rights Bill.  Are you good with all that?  Are you okay with death and life imprisonment penalties for gays and their allies?  If not, please consider attending the court hearing to show support that this demonization of the gay and trans communities must stop everywhere.

What: Oral argument on Defendant's Motion to Dismiss in SMUG v. Lively

Where: Hampden Courtroom, Federal Courthouse, 300 State St., Springfield, MA

When: Monday, January 7, 2013 at 11:00 a.m.

Cathy Kristofferson

GetEQUAL/MA and Stop The Hate and Homophobia Coalition Springfield

ARISE IS PROUD TO BE ONE OF THE FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE “STOP HATE AND HOMOPHOBIA COALITION.”

LITTLE OLD CHINA TOWN.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

All prepped and ready for the New Year with small goals and plans made and lots of dates set in stone. The year 2013 is almost full already as there seems to be something to look forward to almost every month at this stage. I think my biggest resolution for the year is just to make it to the end with out pulling my hair out.

What better way to start the year of with BIG pops of colour and a super cool Brisbane location.

Top: H&M

Skirt: Country Road (Similar Here)

Chain: Cheap Monday

Cuff: Peeptoe Shoes

Sunglasses: Similar Here

Photo's by my girl Starring Nobody

Lets Socialise...

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One Resolution

** I started writing this post a few days ago, and then yesterday ran across a similar sentiment on one of my favourite blogs. I debated whether or not I should post mine, but decided that since it's great and useful information, the more that's out there, the better. Any similarities you encounter are complete and utter coincidence as this post was independently written by myself about my own experiences.***

Just before Christmas, I came across my 2012 New Years resolutions. Although I've been on and off the "I don't make resolutions because you're only setting yourself up to fail" train, the last few years, I decided to drink the koolaide and go full on resolution mode. Last year was the first year I really followed through to a point where I can say I am content with the changes I made.

It is in part a result of increased motivation, but also can be attributed to the types of goals I set. In the past, a resolution may have read "Workout 5 times per week" whereas last year it read: "Do more: be more active". It was this little change in verbage that helped propel me to making some changes. If I didn't have time for a full five workouts a week, oh well. Maybe I'd walk to the ten minutes to the market instead of drive on a rainy day. Maybe I'd run around and dance a little more while cleaning and cooking.

I also let go of a lifelong belief that in order to exercise you need to take a couple hours out of your day, drive to a gym, and kill yourself to the point where you never want to go back. But you're supposed to go back, but you don't want to, so you don't. So I didn't.

 I ditched the gym memberships, and the "must workout for at least one hour" mentality, and found something that worked for me. I started running. I started small. Just a few kilometers that would take me just over 20 minutes. I was slow, but I ran. When I discovered the Nike running app, I started to get competitive with myself, and wanted to beat my time. Then, I wanted to run further. After a while, I committed myself to 6K runs. I have a great 6K route that I'm comfortable with, and I know it takes me around 34 minutes. Who doesn't have 34 minutes? But then there were times I wanted to run further, longer. And so I would run 10K. But I never beat myself up if I only ran 6K. Or, if on occasion, I only ran 3K. The point was that I was out there. I was doing it.

I had many other resolutions that I followed through with as well. And, upon examining each resolution  and the effects they had on me, there was one resounding theme.

There were no cut and dry goals that I had to "meet" in order to check them off my list. As long as I made tiny improvements, there was no "failing". Every single resolution was a way to live my already great life, just a little bit better. And that's all we can really hope for, right?

This year, I am setting that one resolution, to live better, and I'm bullet pointing it. To be honest, I wouldn't even bother writing anything past those two words optimally, but I do like to have a reminder of what I want to acheive, so bullet points it is. These bullet points will evolve over the year. Some will go, some new ones will come.

You will also see there is no"try". I used to put "try to eat healthy" in my resolutions. No more. There is no try, only do. Thanks Yoda. But really, don't give yourself a way out. You ARE going to live better this year, and every year following.


LIVE BETTER

• More home cooked meals. From scratch. Less packaged foods. 
• Less coffee. More tea. 
• Less salt. Less sugar. More herbs and spices.
• More fruits and veggies.
• Continue to make consitent excercise a part of life.
• Be kind. Everyday. Go out of your way to be kind.
• Donate your time. There are people out there who need it.
• More books. Less TV. Less blogs.
• More hubby time. Less computer time.
• More face to face friend time. Less facebook.
• More real. Less tech.
• More scheduled. Less random.
• More organic. More nutrients. 

There are more, but you get the gist.  Everything is just in an effort to live my life the way I see as ideal. And so far, it works.

Source

I hope that whatever 2013 holds for you, that it is better than last year. That you may hold your resolutions, should you choose to make them, near and dear to your heart.

To a very merry and HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

xox J

Don Ogden: After the End of the World

Predictions about the end of the world have come and gone for millennia and we all know how those turned out. This latest one concerning misreadings of the Mayan calendar got its legs from social networking and the media, but like so many others, when the date on the calendar passed........nothing. Having said that, it seems way past time we seriously addressed the real end of the world: the Climate Crisis. Going back decades and longer, the world's leading scientists (and more than a few activists like myself) have been sounding the alarm about humanity being on a collision course with the natural world. Way back in 1992, exactly two decades ago, The World Scientists' Warning to Humanity  stated: "The earth is finite. Its ability to absorb wastes and destructive effluent is finite. Its ability to provide food and energy is finite. Its ability to provide for growing numbers of people is finite. And we are fast approaching many of the earth's limits". Then the Scientists' Warning went on to say: "No more than one or a few decades remain before the chance to avert the threats we now confront will be lost and the prospects for humanity immeasurably diminished".  That was two decades ago.

During the intervening years, in every avenue available to us, environmentalists and others have been sounding the alarm. When we launched The Enviro Show on Valley Free Radio in late 2005 we read from the World Scientists' Warning on our very first show. Just this past summer we read those words again on this, the two decade anniversary of the Warning's release. These days we have no shortage of warnings concerning the Climate Crisis. Activists like Bill McKibben and the folks at 350.org , Al Gore and even more mainstream groups like Greenpeace or the Sierra Club, as well as a growing student movement may be out in front on this, the most critical issue facing humankind, but governments and industry are not. Do we really need to ask why? In case you missed it, scientifically proven, human-caused climate change is a product of western civilization, industrial development. You probably won't be hearing that from Bill McKibben or Al Gore, much less cable or network news. You can read about the numbers, about the need to return CO2 levels in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, down from its current level of 392ppm, or the need to transition to alternative energy and away from fossil fuels, but seldom will you read or hear about how our own industries, how Corporate America, is destroying the biosphere on our planet, how it is diminishing the lives of our children and future generations.

Recently we had wildlife biologist Guy McPherson on the show. His take on the Climate Crisis is even more grim than McKibben's or The World Scientists' Warning. McPherson's position? Game over.  The link takes you to his recent presentation at Greenfield Community College. Rumor has it that he will not be invited back. Why? No one wants to hear about the end of the world. This is not to say that McPherson has all the numbers right, that his analysis is, dare I say, the last word. I enter it here simply to point out two important things: 1) the real end of the world (as we know it) is an ongoing process, and  2) everyone, everyone, needs to fight back. The time for denial or waiting for the UN or government or God to fix things is over. We are the savior we've been waiting for.  Regardless of McPherson's gloom & doom, just the chance that we may lessen the effects of climate chaos, just the chance that we can give future generations more time, should be enough to motivate us into action. This is what is required: a massive popular groundswell, a movement even more powerful than the abolition of slavery or civil rights. It is the Rights of Nature, and our right to a livable planet that should empower us. Some Mayans have said the turning of their calendar was not "The End of the World" but rather the beginning of a new world. We need that new beginning now.

-- d.o.

 *****************************
********

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The Peter Pan Man Boy.

In a previous post, commentator Iangobard asked if I would make a comment on Dalrock's post about the Peter Pan Manboy.

Dalrock should be commended for putting up the data and the first thing that strikes me looking at it is just how badly the under thirties are faring in the U.S. economy. It certainly confirmed our observations from when we were there a year ago.  It's not just the home of the brave and free but also the poor. The overall impression I got from my visit to the U.S was that it was a failing nation composed of a mass of good-willed people who were being overworked and badly governed.

Be that as it may, this is not a post about economics but a post on on the existence of the manboy. From a female perspective, a manboy is a man who refuses to take on the responsibility of adulthood and engage in adult behaviour.  Now before the MRA's start invading the comment section, I want to make it perfectly clear that adult behaviour does not involve marrying some burnt-out carousel rider, rather, manning up in my lexicon means having your shit together.  For those who are retarded, start here for definitional understanding.

Dalrock's data certainly does show that, across the board, men moderately outperform women in earnings capacity.  But I think focusing on earnings capacity over simplifies things and I'd like to point readers back to Roissy's Dating Market Value Test for Men, which I think is an appropriate analytical tool to use when looking a sexual market analysis. Roissy's test is more appropriate since masculinity can't simply be reduced to one parameter.

Still, if we look at the income data, it does demonstrate that there is a severe mismatch for women of higher achievement when hypergamy is taken into account.  Now, the thing to remember is that hypergamy is relative to a woman's own status, therefore,  only the men earning the same amount or more are going to be of interest to her. (All other things being equal.)

I've pulled the following chart from Dalrock's post.

Let's assume that the median income for both sexes is somewhere between the 25-40 thousand band.

Under the influence of hypergamy, a woman from this band will find 58% of all single men (these are the men on her pay scale or above) attractive. On the other hand, the pool of available women is much larger for man since a woman's income is not as important in her attractiveness. That's almost a two to one ratio in favour of the man. The problem gets worse for women the more successful they are as there are progressively less men to satisfy their hypergamous instincts.

But income is only one of the parameters of attraction. A woman's judgement of a man is based on a multivariate analysis. Other parameters such as intelligence, status and physical attractiveness matter, and there is that intangible element of "style".

Now, let's look at educational qualification as education is a rough proxy for status and intelligence.

 Percent of U.S. Adults Ages 25-29 With a Bachelor's Degree or Higher, 1969-2009

What is there to say? There are roughly 1.5 times more bachelor qualified women to men in this age group. Now its true that men still outnumber women in the professions that require really hard thinking i.e Science and Engineering, but this is irrelevant when it comes to the dating game.  What matters in the dating game is which social class/group you belong to and an education is a qualification ticket into the middle and upper classes. An industrious redneck trucker is going to need an awful lot of money to appeal to a female sociology major, since the sociology major is going to feel that, intellectually, he is beneath her and will not appeal to her hypergamic instinct. Yeah, I know there may be exceptions but this is the rule.

Now one thing we notice from the graph is that the number of men attaining a bachelor's degree has remained approximately the same since the sixties. However, given the massive expansion in education over the last fifty years it seems that women have taken the opportunities presented to them whilst men haven't. This graph is a dreadful indictment of the modern American male. Perhaps one of the reasons that so many men are unemployed is because they're to dumb (and therefore unnatractive to women) to attain the qualifications that will give them a job.

I know many MRA types have tried to explain away the discrepancy of educational rates because of affirmative action policies by educational institutions.  And they are correct, there is discrimination, but it appears to be in favour of men. So great is the gender imbalance at some of the universities that they are now actively discriminating against women in favour of lesser qualified men.

But perhaps these men have decided to opt out of the materialist cubicle jockey lifestyle and pursue a life of travel and adventure.

Nope.

This graph shows the percentage of sexes living at home with mum.

Perhaps they're spending all their time at self improvement and doing things like hitting the gym?

Yeah, sure.

I know much is made of the fatification of womanhood by the manosphere but in the U.S. it's the men who actually have a slight edge in fatness during the mating years.

Now, for those who are retarded, pointing out male failure does not equal a support of feminism and those who can't see the distinction can simply bugger off. However, an objective man, looking at the data, can't but conclude that women have fully grasped the opportunities given to them whilst the men haven't.  The data does suggest that there are a significant group of men who fit the Manboy label.

I don't rejoice in these numbers, in fact they profoundly depress me, but what depresses me even more is the both the justification and victimhood mentality that has set in to explain this state of affairs.

Ten Numbers the Rich Would Like Fudged

We don't usually reprint an article from another site in its entirety but this article has the kind of bullet points we should memorize.

AlterNet / By Paul Bucheit

16 COMMENTS

The numbers reveal the deadening effects of inequality in our country, and confirm that tax avoidance, rather than a lack of middle-class initiative, is the cause.

November 19, 2012 |

1. Only THREE PERCENT of the very rich are entrepreneurs.

According to both Marketwatch and economist Edward Wolff, over 90 percent of the assets owned by millionaires are held in a combination of low-risk investments (bonds and cash), personal business accounts, the stock market, and real estate. Only 3.6 percent of taxpayers in the top .1% were classified as entrepreneurs based on 2004 tax returns. A 2009 Kauffman Foundation study found that the great majority of entrepreneurs come from middle-class backgrounds, with less than 1 percent of all entrepreneurs coming from very rich or very poor backgrounds.

2. Only FOUR OUT OF 150 countries have more wealth inequality than us.

In a world listing compiled by a reputable research team (which nevertheless prompted double-checking), the U.S. has greater wealth inequality than every measured country in the world except for Namibia, Zimbabwe, Denmark, and Switzerland.

3. An amount equal to ONE-HALF the GDP is held untaxed overseas by rich Americans.

The Tax Justice Network estimated that between $21 and $32 trillion is hidden offshore, untaxed. With Americans making up 40% of the world's Ultra High Net Worth Individuals, that's $8 to $12 trillion in U.S. money stashed in far-off hiding places.

Based on a historical stock market return of 6%, up to $750 billion of income is lost to the U.S. every year, resulting in a tax loss of about $260 billion.

4. Corporations stopped paying HALF OF THEIR TAXES after the recession.

After paying an average of 22.5% from 1987 to 2008, corporations have paid an annual rate of 10% since. This represents a sudden $250 billion annual loss in taxes.

U.S. corporations have shown a pattern of tax reluctance for more than 50 years, despite building their businesses with American research and infrastructure. They've passed the responsibility on to their workers. For every dollar of workers' payroll tax paid in the 1950s, corporations paid three dollars. Now it's 22 cents.

5. Just TEN Americans made a total of FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS in one year.

That's enough to pay the salaries of over a million nurses or teachers or emergency responders.

That's enough, according to 2008 estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN's World Food Program, to feed the 870 million people in the world who are lacking sufficient food.

For the free-market advocates who say "they've earned it": Point #1 above makes it clear how the wealthy make their money.

6. Tax deductions for the rich could pay off 100 PERCENT of the deficit.

Another stat that required a double-check. Based on research by the Tax Policy Center, tax deferrals and deductions and other forms of tax expenditures (tax subsidies from special deductions, exemptions, exclusions, credits, capital gains, and loopholes), which largely benefit the rich, are worth about 7.4% of the GDP, or about $1.1 trillion.

Other sources have estimated that about two-thirds of the annual $850 billion in tax expenditures goes to the top quintile of taxpayers.

7. The average single black or Hispanic woman has about $100 IN NET WORTH.

The Insight Center for Community Economic Development reported that median wealth for black and Hispanic women is a little over $100. That's much less than one percent of the median wealth for single white women ($41,500).

Other studies confirm the racially-charged economic inequality in our country. For every dollar of NON-HOME wealth owned by white families, people of color have only one cent.

8. Elderly and disabled food stamp recipients get $4.30 A DAY FOR FOOD.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) has dropped significantly over the past 15 years, serving only about a quarter of the families in poverty, and paying less than $400 per month for a family of three for housing and other necessities. Ninety percent of the available benefits go to the elderly, the disabled, or working households.

Food stamp recipients get $4.30 a day.

9. Young adults have lost TWO-THIRDS OF THEIR NET WORTH since 1984.

21- to 35-year-olds: Your median net worth has dropped 68% since 1984. It's now less than $4,000.

That $4,000 has to pay for student loans that average $27,200. Or, if you're still in school, for $12,700 in credit card debt.

With an unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds of almost 50%, two out of every five recent college graduates are living with their parents. But your favorite company may be hiring. Apple, which makes a profit of $420,000 per employee, can pay you about $12 per hour.

10. The American public paid about FOUR TRILLION DOLLARS to bail out the banks.

That's about the same amount of money made by America's richest 10% in one year. But we all paid for the bailout. And because of it, we lost the opportunity for jobs, mortgage relief, and educational funding.

Bonus for the super-rich: A QUADRILLION DOLLARS in securities trading nets ZERO sales tax revenue for the U.S.

The world derivatives market is estimated to be worth over a quadrillion dollars (a thousand trillion). At least $200 trillion of that is in the United States. In 2011 the Chicago Mercantile Exchange reported a trading volume of over $1 quadrillion on 3.4 billion annual contracts.

A quadrillion dollars. A sales tax of ONE-TENTH OF A PENNY on a quadrillion dollars could pay off the deficit. But the total sales tax was ZERO.

It's not surprising that the very rich would like to fudge the numbers, as they have the nation.

Paul Buchheit is a college teacher, an active member of US Uncut Chicago, founder and developer of social justice and educational websites (UsAgainstGreed.org, PayUpNow.org, RappingHistory.org), and the editor and main author of "American Wars: Illusions and Realities" (Clarity Press). He can be reached at paul@UsAgainstGreed.org.

http://www.alternet.org/economy/ten-numbers-rich-would-fudged?akid=9711.218510.wNfwlu&rd=1&src=newsletter748976&t=3&paging=off

The Worst of 2012... Just kidding

I'm baaaack!

Happy holidays everyone, and hope you had a very merry Christmas. I sure did, and I'm not yet ready to say goodbye to it. I'm currently writing this post from my brand spanking new Macbook Pro which hubby got me for Christmas. It's the same as my last, just not 4 years old. I'm loving the new Lion and how fast it is compared to my old one. I want to try to cull all the "stuff" on my computer, so I have to sort through 12,000 photos and a gazillion fonts. Sheesh, I may be busy for the next few months!

Anyways, I'm loving the "Best of" posts, so figured why not do one here? I know there are a lot of you who just found my wee space of the internet, so here's what you may have missed in 2012.

January

My first and only post of January was this makeup organizer that was repurposed from a pasta tray. Does this make me a garbage lady? Please say no.  And check out the first version of my blog logo.... eeeek, cringe!

Makeup Organizer

February

The month of Saint Valentine was a one-post only kind of month as well, but was really the catalyst for this entire blog and the jet fuel for my etsy shop. It continues to be my most read and most pinned post (I honestly have no way of finding out how many times it's been pinned, but its feature on Dollar Store Mom was pinned over 18,000 times... holy geesh!). Go re-visit my $48 pantry project here.

March

After two one-post-per-month months, I made a record with the most posts of 2012 in March.

One of my most popular posts (searched via google) is the Moustache Bash baby shower I designed for a friend. Apparantly moustaches were very on trend in 2012!

I also shared our new marble backsplash that we had installed over the winter. It's probably the biggest project we've undertaken in this home (along with our floors), and has certainly made the most impact. Go checkout the blah tan before photos. Blech! It's been a year since we ripped it out and I can say whole heartedly, it's been the best decision we've made in this house so far. Instead of griping about how badly I wish my cabinets were white and not espresso, I can look at my backsplash and be thankful for a little taste of my future dream kitchen.

In March, I also completely re-did our spice cabinet with a very affordable dollar store DIY project. It's still almost as pretty, but I do need to go through and de-clutter than cabinet once more.

April

In April, I re-did our "dog" cupboard with some, yes, toilet paper covers....

And then, the garbage lady in me came out to play again, and I painted some really nasty nasty outdoor pillow covers.

And I also started my "Look What I Found at the Dollar Store" series... which I really need to continue!

May

I was in full backyard mode this spring, and decided to do a quick DIY recover of my tired patio cushions using a table cloth.

I also re-capped this renter makeover from 2007. It's an oldie but a goodie. If you are, or anyone you know is, renting and want to "personalize" your boring kitchen, then this is a must read! Just switch up the colour and pattern to your taste.  

June

June saw a master bedroom transformation for us! Hubby re-did our free CL dresser, and painted the entire room among many other tweaks.

Still on a backyard roll, I spray painted some outdoor chairs for a little bisto area for our patio. I am sad to report said spray paint did not hold up and is cracking all over. I will have to figure out something to do with them when the weather gets better.

And I shared our DIY/Ikea built-ins...

August

I failed, and failed again, but ended up really liking our red wine rack.

And finally shared my office tour...

Completed my first reader e-design...

September

In September, the hubby undertook the task of ripping up and replacing our laminate floors. It was quite  the time suck, but I love how it turned out. I still have yet to fully recap the project... oops!

I also re-did our fridge (and re-did it again) for my guest post over at Modern Parents Messy Kids. Ya, it doesn't look like that anymore (except for the bins).

October

In October, I shared my experience with changing to a plant-based lifestyle. My family still thinks I'm crazy. I also hit 500,000 page views which was pretty awesome.

And a year and a bit later, my chrome table base finally got a top. Previously it was sunbathing on the beaches in Cannes (topless, get it? Ya I'm not that funny).

November

In November, I started growing some green. You should try it!

And did another makeover with a dollar store item and some paint..

December

And last but not least, this month I poured myself into card making, and cheap holiday decorating.

That's just a smattering of the 90 posts from 2012 ( I really wish I was able to hit the 100 mark- oh well, there's always 2013!). 

Hope you enjoy the last few days of this year, and have the very best start to the new year!

Happy happy holidays!

xox Jen