Joeybear

This is how you defend Chik-fil-A

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 13:09:28 -0400

This is how you defend Chik-fil-A

Per my rant against Mr. Merritt

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:54:44 -0400

Per my rant against Mr. Merritt:

Well, duh.

laughingsquid: Career Options For Your Cat Yesyesyes

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 19:15:02 -0400

laughingsquid:

Career Options For Your Cat

Yesyesyes

Via the Atlantic: "In Defense of Eating at Chik-fil-A"

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 15:44:05 -0400

Via the Atlantic: "In Defense of Eating at Chik-fil-A":

Comment sections on news, opinion and political sites contain the worst kind of vitriol, so I’m not going to post this on the Atlantic site. My Tumblr, like my FB wall, is my living room; guests can easily overstay their welcome, and I’d rather not invite hateful shit into my space. Reasoned discourse? Sure! I’ll have some pie and coffee waiting.

ANYWAY, this article. Overall, I have no real problem with it, except of course the idea that a boycott, no matter how small, is ultimately pointless. Which, nope, your opinion is wrong, Mr. Merritt.

He claims the money I would have spent at a business is “a drop in the bucket” for larger corporations, which is wholly true, no doubt, and that the boycott as a political device is ineffective and divisive, because:

For one thing, boycotts rarely cause actual pocketbook - rather than PR — damage. Most consumers don’t care enough to drive an extra mile to get the same product from someone else. And that’s especially the case for companies as large as Chick-fil-A, which has prime locations on many college campuses where there is little head-to-head competition.

He continues to posit that if the coin were flipped, and if Christian activists (“who are more numerous than gays and lesbians and their more activist supporters”) were to boycott, their efforts would be “met with more success when prosecuted by large groups of people.” LE SIGH.

Now, the “fight” against Chik-fil-A is no major civil rights battleground. Yes, folks, it’s a sandwich, and despite regional sensibilities and homegrown loyalties, is actually kind of shitty (all fast food being equal in my eyes; sorry). This is no Selma bus boycott, but last I checked, Mr. Merritt, those were started by a group far less numerous than those deemed their oppressors. And they (thankfully, valiantly, irrevocably) succeeded.

What troubles me about this article is not so much its premise that Chik-fil-A is a business which— at its core— does a lot of other good in spite of the current brou-haha over its LGBT-related politics, but that no boycott actually works. The sense I get from Mr. Merritt is the sense of someone fomenting not hate or something of its ilk, but actionable apathy.

This is America, damn it, and frankly, it’s my prerogative as a consumer to spend their money any way I damn please. And yes, boycotts may not always cause the monetary doom they often threaten to individual companies and corporations, but to advocate against them as a political device (much less: as a tool for highlighting one’s cause) is kind of sleepily diabolical. I say this only because, Mr. Merritt, it seems to me that the Christian advocates you so claim to be more numerous, thereby more effective, have actually failed spectacularly in their ability to garner attention, while those movements led by progressive groups have succeeded. One Million Moms v. JC Penney and Ellen? Egg in the face, pure and simple. LGBT groups—and Lady Gaga, for chrissakes—against Target? Changes in policy and a “vetting” process for political contributions (though the sincerity of this can be argued). Change! IT FUCKING HAPPENS.

I can intellectualize that yes, maybe my not spending $3 for a shitty chicken sandwich at Chik-fil-a will not institute widespread change, especially considering I’ve never eaten there anyway, knowing its Christian and right-aligned political beliefs. But it cannot be discounted that the $3 I would have spent won’t do a world of good for the communities I call home, for the businesses I would rather patronize, the owners I’ve befriended, the sandwiches and chicken and products I know came from honest, hard-working people who believe in those causes I believe in.

Yes, Chik-fil-a provides jobs etc. and helps develop its employees! But at what cost? Blind loyalty? I don’t know, nor do I claim to, but my $3 is infinitely better spent, and worth more than any vote I make every four years, because I spend everyday. Like every hot-blooded American, I earn my money, and I spend it, and that’s how I vote. I vote for the trust I have in local businesses and those businesses who do good and deserve their own Chik-fil-A level success, sans wrong-side-of-history opinions, because that’s what they are.

Then again, Mr. Merritt, I don’t deign to speak for everyone and how they vote or spend. Because every act can be someone’s level-headed political decision, not another hasty shot fired in the culture war, as you seem to argue.

Romney Just Made

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 01:34:27 -0400

Romney Just Made:

mrenzulli:

This is worth about $700 of Romney time fun.

“In the time it takes me to make fish tacos, Mitt Romney makes $9,735.30”

I want to go to there.

Shrimp. Its whats for dinner. (Taken with Cinemagram)

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 18:21:34 -0400

Shrimp. Its whats for dinner. (Taken with Cinemagram)

mattchew03: She’s not a Christiannnnuuuh! Christmas, my house....

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 02:41:34 -0400

mattchew03:

She’s not a Christiannnnuuuh!

Christmas, my house. Me, heathen.

When the Taste of Chicago is Over

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 02:39:12 -0400

soyeahduh:

I’m all like,

> what did you think of the shorter Taste?

Also, I think I pee in my pants. But! I’m no longer in Chicago, so this ain’t no thang. #phew

"According to slaveryfootprint.org, (which is backed by the U.S. State Department), there are up to..."

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 10:44:50 -0400

“According to slaveryfootprint.org, (which is backed by the U.S. State Department), there are up to 27 million slaves worldwide, many of whom work in the mining and agriculture industries. The result? A lot of our everyday household goods, including shoes, cosmetics, and toiletries, raw materials for cars, and the seafood industry utilize slave labor.”

- Reducing Your Slavery Footprint | Gadling.com (via mrenzulli)

Let there be light. (Taken with Cinemagram)

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 00:57:19 -0400

Let there be light. (Taken with Cinemagram)

Sancerre: the perfect summer wine. (Taken with Cinemagram)

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 01:30:23 -0400

Sancerre: the perfect summer wine. (Taken with Cinemagram)

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 01:21:14 -0400

Sancerre: the perfect summer wine. (Taken with Cinemagram)

Soba noodles getting their boil on. (Taken with Cinemagram)

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 23:31:44 -0400

Soba noodles getting their boil on. (Taken with Cinemagram)

popculturebrain: Super Westeros World | BuzzFeed I would play...

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 11:25:19 -0400

popculturebrain:

Super Westeros World | BuzzFeed

I would play this game so hard.

Tumblr: Helping keep things in perspective.

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 19:59:31 -0400

Tumblr: Helping keep things in perspective.

Things I know to be true

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:20:18 -0400

Fact: This is a puppy cam. Fact: They are sleeping. Fact: Someone needs to poke them awake for me:

ustream.tv/sfshiba

tpmmedia: Recipe swapping, hair braiding inspiration, and...

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 01:23:59 -0400

tpmmedia:

Recipe swapping, hair braiding inspiration, and campaign finance accountability — a killer combo for a social network?

The Public Campaign Action Fund has been maintaining a Pinterest board of the billionaires backing the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future.

Read more…

This is a thing that is awesome and related to my varied (P?)interests.

FEMINISM. Or something.

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 01:14:37 -0400

FEMINISM. Or something.

motherjones: 21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith in...

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 00:17:15 -0400

motherjones:

21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity.

Buzzfeed is doing it right.

There was some tear-duct activation on my end, no doubt.

coketalk: Fuck the police. I think you meant...

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 00:15:53 -0400

coketalk:

Fuck the police.

I think you meant “po-leeece.”