Dick Cheney, The Artiste
Posted on April 26, 2014 in Political Cartoons
Cold, calculating minimalism.
The White Tourist’s Burden
Posted on April 26, 2014 in Articles
The Article: The White Tourist’s Burden by Rafia Zakaria in Al Jazeera.
The Text: My friend Jack likes to tell his favorite story about a summer he spent volunteering in Colombia. He recounts that story anytime he’s handed the opportunity, at parties, lunch meetings and airports. He highlights varying facets of the story on different occasions — the snake he found in his tent, his camaraderie with the locals and his skills at haggling. The message to his audience is clear: I chose hardship and survived it.
If designer clothes and fancy cars signal material status, his story of a deliberate embrace of poverty and its discomforts signals superiority of character. As summer looms, many Americans — college students, retirees and others who stand at the cusp of life changes — will make similar choices in search of transformational experiences. An industry exists to make these easier to make: the voluntourism business.
A voluntourist is someone like Jack, who wishes to combine exotic vacation travel with volunteer work. For anyone interested in being one, a dizzying array of choices awaits, from building schools in Uganda or houses in Haiti to hugging orphans in Bali. In all of them, the operational equation is the same: wealthy Westerners can do a little good, experience something that their affluent lives do not offer, and, as in Jack’s case, have a story to tell that places them in the ranks of the kindhearted and worldly wise.
Brian Williams Raps “Gin And Juice”
Posted on April 25, 2014 in Videos
Thank you, Jimmy Fallon, for not making the news so goddamn depressing.
12 Hilarious Weed Memes
Posted on April 25, 2014 in Political Cartoons
As more and more states take measures to legalize marijuana, you can bet that the Internet will start amping up its commentary and quips. Here are some of our favorites thus far.
Why Corporations Fail To Do The Right Thing
Posted on April 25, 2014 in Articles
The Article: Why Corporations Fail to Do the Right Thing by Christine Bader in The Atlantic.
The Text: Four years ago yesterday, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 men and spilling thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf. This Thursday is the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh, which killed more than 1,100 garment workers.
What has happened in the time since these disasters? BP was barred from drilling in U.S. deepwater—until last month. Western clothing brands are upgrading Bangladeshi factories, but the fundamentals of their business haven’t changed: Brands outsource production to factories serving multiple clients in low-wage, low-regulation countries (not just Bangladesh).
The lack of fundamental change in these industries—and others, such as financial services after the 2008 crisis—suggests disasters like these are bound to happen again.
