Life Is Amazing

...I stand here, bold as brass and brilliant as glass.

tsunafishy:

youranonnews:

ACTA in a Nutshell –
What is ACTA?  ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A new intellectual property enforcement treaty being negotiated by the United States, the European Community, Switzerland, and Japan, with Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada recently announcing that they will join in as well.
Why should you care about ACTA? Initial reports indicate that the treaty will have a very broad scope and will involve new tools targeting “Internet distribution and information technology.”
What is the goal of ACTA? Reportedly the goal is to create new legal standards of intellectual property enforcement, as well as increased international cooperation, an example of which would be an increase in information sharing between signatory countries’ law enforcement agencies.
Essential ACTA Resources - 
Read more about ACTA here: ACTA Fact Sheet
Read the authentic version of the ACTA text as of 15 April 2011, as finalized by participating countries here: ACTA Finalized Text
Follow the history of the treaty’s formation here: ACTA history
Read letters from U.S. Senator Ron Wyden wherein he challenges the constitutionality of ACTA: Letter 1 | Letter 2 | Read the Administration’s Response to Wyden’s First Letter here: Response
Watch a short informative video on ACTA: ACTA Video
Watch a lulzy video on ACTA: Lulzy Video
Say NO to ACTA. It is essential to spread awareness and get the word out on ACTA.

COME ON HOW DOES THIS HAVE SO LITTLE NOTES?
WAKE UUUUUPPPP

tsunafishy:

youranonnews:

ACTA in a Nutshell –

What is ACTA?  ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A new intellectual property enforcement treaty being negotiated by the United States, the European Community, Switzerland, and Japan, with Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada recently announcing that they will join in as well.

Why should you care about ACTA? Initial reports indicate that the treaty will have a very broad scope and will involve new tools targeting “Internet distribution and information technology.”

What is the goal of ACTA? Reportedly the goal is to create new legal standards of intellectual property enforcement, as well as increased international cooperation, an example of which would be an increase in information sharing between signatory countries’ law enforcement agencies.

Essential ACTA Resources

  • Read more about ACTA here: ACTA Fact Sheet
  • Read the authentic version of the ACTA text as of 15 April 2011, as finalized by participating countries here: ACTA Finalized Text
  • Follow the history of the treaty’s formation here: ACTA history
  • Read letters from U.S. Senator Ron Wyden wherein he challenges the constitutionality of ACTA: Letter 1 | Letter 2 | Read the Administration’s Response to Wyden’s First Letter here: Response
  • Watch a short informative video on ACTA: ACTA Video
  • Watch a lulzy video on ACTA: Lulzy Video

Say NO to ACTA. It is essential to spread awareness and get the word out on ACTA.

COME ON HOW DOES THIS HAVE SO LITTLE NOTES?
WAKE UUUUUPPPP

afternoonsnoozebutton:

afternoonsnoozebutton:

Most national language policies are not just “hey let’s symbolically say that English is the most commonly taught language and leave it at that.” Most national language policies, part of the immigration debate, are better termed “English-only” policies which stigmatize and could potentially harm minority workers.

And no, America does not currently have a single national language. The Senate has voted for “English as a national language” amendments twice, in 2006 and again in 2007, but the legislation they were attached to (Comprehensive Immigration Reform/CIR) failed to pass.

Another piece of national language legislation that nearly passed was a bill that would have blocked the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from suing employers that required workers to speak only English while on the job, even when not justified by a business necessity. So, for example, this “national language” legislation would have allowed an employer to, say, fire a Korean gardener for not being sufficiently English proficient, even though this “proficiency” would have nothing to do with the worker’s ability to perform.

In case you’re not familiar with discrimination law, the “bona fide occupational qualification” part of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states the following:

Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibit discrimination because of:

  • Race
  • Color
  • Religion
  • Sex
  • National origin
  • Age

The bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) defense is available only in cases of discrimination because of:

  • Religion
  • Sex
  • National origin
  • Age

A BFOQ is an appropriate legal defense for behavior that would otherwise be considered discrimination. So, for example, it’s legal to impose a certain retirement age on airline pilots. What Title VII stated, however, was that race is never a BFOQ. This “national language legislation,” then, would contradict the original nature of the Civil Rights Act, which states that there is no acceptable reason to discriminate based on race.

Before you say “oh, but discrimination based on language isn’t discrimination based on race” - the two are the same. Let’s be real here, the people who are going to be hurt by this legislation are going to be pretty much exclusively minorities. And yes, that’s still employment discrimination - there are two main kinds of employment discrimination: disparate treatment and disparate impact. Disparate treatment is law that straight out discriminates against a protected class (such as a racial minority), whereas disparate impact is law that does not discriminate in its language, but functionally discriminates/has a “disparate impact” on a protected class.

47.5 million people in the United States (17.5% of the population) speak a non-English language in their homes. Most of these people are US citizens or otherwise here legally, work full time, and are tax payers. Many of these adults are also incredibly willing to learn English, but the funds devoted to adult ESL classes are somewhere between paltry and miniscule. So, if we were to pass “national language” legislation like the EEOC bill I mentioned before, we would be created an inescapable trap where non-English speaking adults can’t learn English, but they can be legally discriminated against for their lack of English proficiency.

So sure, I have no problem saying that most people in the US speak English, and that most schools in the US teach in English. To say otherwise would indicate a fundamental disconnect with reality. We don’t need legislation to reaffirm something to basic, just like we don’t need legislation to establish that grass is green, that our flag is red, white, and blue, or that a guitar is a musical instrument. We especially don’t need legislation to decide the matter when there are so many possible negative consequences, Let’s not confuse that, however, with national language legislation.

Sorry for the long explanation, this shit is relevant to my major/interests.

(Comic via xkcd, Title VII summary via Law Memo)

I’ve gotten a couple questions about my take on the national language question tonight, so I’m reblogging my previous explanation.

piinboots:

feministslut:


My kind of happily ever after.

That’s the kind of Disney I wanna watch <3

(Source: disneyslittlemermaid)

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

piinboots:

thefeeloffree:

oogishkamaanisee:

Alan Rickman reads Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks; 
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
   And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
   As any she belied with false compare. 

I came

unfffff

Literally hit play, closed my eyes, lay back and let his voice and those words slide over my skin. 

I play this when I fell stressed. Alan Rickman’s voice reminds me I am but dust to the universe. and I wouldn’t have it any other way <3

(Source: tiny-sized)

omg he is so adorable, i can&#8217;t even.. oh goouush.

omg he is so adorable, i can’t even.. oh goouush.

(Source: thetemptationofemily)

andyts:

Yeahp, if you check their website they pretty much tell you outright their a religious group who helps to promote “tradition”.

Oh goodnesss

andyts:

Yeahp, if you check their website they pretty much tell you outright their a religious group who helps to promote “tradition”.

Oh goodnesss

Set Fire to the Rain

nerdycommunity:

I can’t.. omg.. too much.

(Source: ingalacornicum)

&#8220;Can u just check one bitch&#8221;
omg this is rich

“Can u just check one bitch”

omg this is rich

Oh goodness

Oh goodness

(Source: omarguerrero)

nerdycommunity:

Sneeze troll

I do this all the time. Except, instead of a spray bottle, I wet my fingers and flick them in people’s direction.

once, I was on Facebook replying to a friend. 5 minutes later my friends tells me “Wow, I never spend that much time thinking about what I write. I just reply.”……. Me:”… I’ll just tell him in person” *deletes comment*

theemorningafter:

be still, my child.

It’s clearly not a cat.. just a 500 year old, condemned man named Salem

gagaforpotter:

lickmypersuasion:

big-time-schmidtgasm:

stop-your-preaching-right-there:

mikeywaygivesmeladyboners:

death-strawberry:

gusgoodface:



i would rather hear the ringing

never questioning the ringing again. 

that’s cool!

 omg. why did i read that. why.

omg that sounds so cool

some things aren’t meant to be read
.___. why


The last line sent me to sleep&#8230; in my mother&#8217;s room

gagaforpotter:

lickmypersuasion:

big-time-schmidtgasm:

stop-your-preaching-right-there:

mikeywaygivesmeladyboners:

death-strawberry:

gusgoodface:

i would rather hear the ringing

never questioning the ringing again. 

that’s cool!

 omg. why did i read that. why.

omg that sounds so cool

some things aren’t meant to be read

.___. why


The last line sent me to sleep… in my mother’s room

(Source: hannahsneakers)