tabbiewolf: (USA Today)
VICE published a really interesting article on the concept of the 4-hour workday. Basically, you get paid the same but your hours get cut in half, thus doubling the nation's workforce and increasing the amount of money and (almost more importantly [I say almost because our middle class has been decimated so having more money right now would be an excellent thing]) time people have to spend on stuff, thus benefitting the economy. It'd take a couple years for everything to equalize, but I think it's a pretty great plan.

The Official 4-Hour Work Day website is here, though I suspect chunks of the explanation text have been swiped from when we switched over to an 8-hour workday because some of the concepts (like women in the workforce) are a WEE bit outdated. I am pondering writing in and volunteering to help spread the word (possibly make buttons) but I'll see how I feel about it after discussing it with folks and getting more opinions on it.

~*~

The guy running for governor of Connecticut (well, technically running against someone in the primaries TO run for governor...I think) I got a push-poll call about a few weeks ago, Mark Foley, is in fact a douchebag. His comments on the Newtown tragedy are atrocious. I'm not surprised, unfortunately, because this mindset is basically that of the party he is running with ("Let's de-regulate everything and let those on top those with money God sort it out! WHO IS JOHN GALT, LIBERAL SCUM!"), but...damn. Guessing he's never had a job that paid minimum wage.

~*~

We saw a bumpersticker yesterday that said "ANNOY A LIBERAL: Work hard and be happy" and I'm not really sure how that annoys anyone. I'm a liberal and if you're happy with working hard, good for you! You're awesome!

I'm guessing people who are working 3 jobs and just barely being able to scrape by and they never see their kids because of the whole 3 jobs thing probably aren't too happy though. I'm just saying.

~*~

Disney is adding an extra month onto their Frozen Summer Funfest. I realize this is TOTALLY 100% a First World Problem, but damn I wish they'd announce these events sooner. You put in your reservations for restaurants 6 months in advance, and your hotel room even earlier, and FastPass+ (the "shorter wait time" thing they do) is 60 days in advance now...but they don't announce major events that change your day-to-day schedule until less than a month before your trip? C'mon, Disney. You're better than that.

~*~

The new series of Doctor Who kicked off its premiere tour today in Cardiff. You have to realize: Peter Capaldi was one of those fans, the SuperFan who wrote letters to the BBC staff of the show CONSTANTLY when he was a kid/teenager, complained vehemently about not being elected president of the official fan club, and generally drove the producers and other fans of the show completely crazy.

And now he is the Doctor.

To quote AppleJack: "I didn't learn anything! I was right all along."

(David Tennant, also known as the Tenth Doctor, was also a SuperFan, but probably not as hardcore as Peter Capaldi [from reports I've read anyway]. Though Tennant DID marry his favorite Doctor's daughter.)

~*~

Coolest Blog I've Found in a While: Gurney Journey, James Gurney's guide to art and being an artist, with new posts daily.

James Gurney is the guy who did Dinotopia.

You're welcome.

(I'm really surprised and kind of ashamed I didn't find this blog sooner, but that just means more for me to read NOW.)

~*~

I am currently reading Abigail Barnette's The Boss series, a book series written entirely to contrast the horrible badness (both writing-wise and about the BDSM lifestyle) of 50 Shades of Grey. I'm not into BDSM, myself, and I'm learning how much I'm not by reading the series (some things in the second & third books: not things I ever want to do). I'm vanilla and boring, apparently =p

I'm about halfway through the third book. The first book is decent and sexy, with lighter explorations of BDSM that are pretty hot in my opinion, and ends on a cliffhanger. The second book is Spoilers. )

Anyhoo, if you are interested in what is very much a GOOD version of 50 Shades of Grey, this is the series to get. Well, so far, hopefully the last half of the third book won't change my opinion on that.

~*~

Speaking of birth control... )

~*~

Your Cuteness for the Day: CORGI PICNIC! Awwwwww! Thanks to [livejournal.com profile] was1 for sharing that link :)
tabbiewolf: (i will end you)
My heart goes out to all the folks in Newtown today who lost loved ones in the shooting. Especially all the parents of the young children…I cannot imagine having Christmas gifts wrapped and ready to go under the tree and losing the people who were going to open them, whose lives had barely started. My heart breaks at the thought (and I don't even like kids all that much).

So.

Let's talk about gun control.

No, I'm not going to not talk about it. The "let's wait a bit, it's disrespectful to do it now" thing is bullshit. A couple days ago someone shot up a mall. Not long before that, a movie theater. Now we have an entire class of kids -- KIDS! Little kids who are not even ten years old yet! Kids who have not had time to become cynical! -- dead because of guns and we're still refusing to talk about it? No. We're going to fucking talk about it.

Here's an amazing thing: I want more gun control in this country. This does not mean I want to take your gun away. I know, this is a crazy concept.

If you use your gun for hunting or a hobby -- skeet shooting or something similar -- I'm totally cool with that. Heck, if you have a gun in your bedside table that you keep around because it makes you feel safer, I'm cool with that. If you have a collection of firearms that you are keeping because you are waiting until the next revolution/the rise of the Antichrist/Ragnarok, I think you are a bit crazy and we're going to talk about that here.

I believe that gun owners should be required to pass some sort of mental health requirement every six months. Frankly, having seen mental health issues exhibited in people (and knowing one person who basically is a manipulative psychopath go through half a dozen psychologists before someone pinged on it), every quarter would be better, but every six months is a fair middle ground. I also think that if you own a gun, it should be used at least once a year -- again, I think at least once every six months is better in all honesty -- for hobby stuff, hunting, or simply practice in using it. I honestly have no idea if shooting a gun is like riding a bicycle, but I would assume that keeping up in practice is not a bad thing…especially if you're a hobbyist or hunter.

Do I think there should be a limit on the amount of guns people keep? Well, yes, actually, but that's personal opinion. I doubt this is something we could control, and it'd become one of those "when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns" bumper sticker arguments. But I think if the requirement of regular use every six months or year was maintained, situations where people are building their own militias in their basement may just mellow out a bit. Maybe. It's hard to keep hope in humanity these days.

Someone, I'm sure, will bring up the "Well, cars kill people a lot more often than guns do…should people have to take tests every 6 months to drive?" Ignoring the fact that we have to renew our licenses pretty often, and that some states do have a not-quite-yearly testing requirement (Arizona has one for senior citizens, I know this from living there, so that folks who are going blind or have Alzheimers will not be permitted to drive when it seems like they really shouldn't), cars were not designed specifically to kill people. Neither was alcohol or drugs (well, most kinds of recreational drugs, anyway). Guns were designed for one purpose: to injure and kill. Be it an animal, a person, or just a clay disc, their purpose is for destruction. And I think that if you want to be able to own something with the single purpose of destruction, you should have to prove that you are mentally healthy and capable of owning such an item.

This is just an idea, mind you, a personal concept that I came up with this morning after hearing of the incident. What does everyone here think? More importantly, what do you think we should do? And don't say "We can't change anything" because we are the only ones who can change anything, and being quiet about it will not do a damn thing.

WOOOOOO

Nov. 7th, 2012 01:04 am
tabbiewolf: (responsible adult)
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

*falls over*

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