![RIP: Maurice Sendak, at 83: Maurice Sendak, the beloved author and illustrator of Where The Wild Things Are, has died after complications from a recent stroke. He was 83.
Sendak won nearly every major book award, including the Caldecott Medal,considered the Pulitzer Prize of children’s book illustration. He had lived with his partner, Eugene Glynn, for 50 years before Glynn’s death in 2007.
Watch an excerpt from the documentary Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak here.
[nyt]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3phsaZYQA1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
RIP: Maurice Sendak, at 83: Maurice Sendak, the beloved author and illustrator of Where The Wild Things Are, has died after complications from a recent stroke. He was 83.
Sendak won nearly every major book award, including the Caldecott Medal,considered the Pulitzer Prize of children’s book illustration. He had lived with his partner, Eugene Glynn, for 50 years before Glynn’s death in 2007.
Watch an excerpt from the documentary Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak here.
[nyt]
(Source: thedailywhat)
ICWUDT of the Day: I like the part where the poll’s answers are strategically placed to form a giant middle finger.
(Source: thedailywhat)
![Utah Governor Gary Herbert made his objection to the state’s abstinence-only bill known last night when he vetoed the legislation.
HB363, which would have forced schools that teach sex-ed to make classes entirely about abstinence, was approved by the state Senate on March 6th.
In addition to making sex-ed effectively toothless, the bill would have banned teachers and students from discussing contraception and homosexuality in the classroom.
Prior to the veto, Gov. Herbert told reporters he thought the existing curriculum “works pretty well.” Utah currently requires parents to opt in to sex-ed classes in writing. A survey by the Salt Lake Tribune found that “the vast majority of parents opt in to the instruction.”
“After careful review of existing law and following extensive discussions with stakeholders on both sides of the issue,” Herbert said today. “I am convinced the existing statutory framework respects these two principles, while HB363 simply goes too far by constricting parental options.”
An online petition opposing the bill received over 40,000 signatures; and the governor’s office was flooded with thousands of letters from concerned citizens asking Herbert to veto the bill.
The legislation’s co-sponsor, Sen. Margaret Dayton (R), expressed her disappointment at the governor’s decision, saying she found teaching students about contraception akin to telling them to avoid drugs while showing them how to “mainline” heroin.
[sltrib.]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m11jfyPX8r1qzpwi0o1_1280.jpg)
Utah Governor Gary Herbert made his objection to the state’s abstinence-only bill known last night when he vetoed the legislation.
HB363, which would have forced schools that teach sex-ed to make classes entirely about abstinence, was approved by the state Senate on March 6th.
In addition to making sex-ed effectively toothless, the bill would have banned teachers and students from discussing contraception and homosexuality in the classroom.
Prior to the veto, Gov. Herbert told reporters he thought the existing curriculum “works pretty well.” Utah currently requires parents to opt in to sex-ed classes in writing. A survey by the Salt Lake Tribune found that “the vast majority of parents opt in to the instruction.”
“After careful review of existing law and following extensive discussions with stakeholders on both sides of the issue,” Herbert said today. “I am convinced the existing statutory framework respects these two principles, while HB363 simply goes too far by constricting parental options.”
An online petition opposing the bill received over 40,000 signatures; and the governor’s office was flooded with thousands of letters from concerned citizens asking Herbert to veto the bill.
The legislation’s co-sponsor, Sen. Margaret Dayton (R), expressed her disappointment at the governor’s decision, saying she found teaching students about contraception akin to telling them to avoid drugs while showing them how to “mainline” heroin.
[sltrib.]
(Source: thedailywhat)
![On Kony 2012: I honestly wanted to stay as far away as possible from KONY 2012, the latest fauxtivist fad sweeping the web (remember “change your Facebook profile pic to stop child abuse”?), but you clearly won’t stop sending me that damn video until I say something about it, so here goes:
Stop sending me that video.
The organization behind Kony 2012 — Invisible Children Inc. — is an extremely shady nonprofit that has been called ”misleading,” “naive,” and “dangerous” by a Yale political science professor, and has been accused by Foreign Affairs of “manipulat[ing] facts for strategic purposes.” They have also been criticized by the Better Business Bureau for refusing to provide information necessary to determine if IC meets the Bureau’s standards.
Additionally, IC has a low two-star rating in accountability from Charity Navigator because they won’t let their financials be independently audited. That’s not a good thing. In fact, it’s a very bad thing, and should make you immediately pause and reflect on where the money you’re sending them is going.
By IC’s own admission, only 31% of all the funds they receive go toward actually helping anyone [pdf]. The rest go to line the pockets of the three people in charge of the organization, to pay for their travel expenses (over $1 million in the last year alone) and to fund their filmmaking business (also over a million) — which is quite an effective way to make more money, as clearly illustrated by the fact that so many can’t seem to stop forwarding their well-engineered emotional blackmail to everyone they’ve ever known.
And as far as what they do with that money:
The group is in favour of direct military intervention, and their money supports the Ugandan government’s army and various other military forces. Here’s a photo of the founders of Invisible Children posing with weapons and personnel of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Both the Ugandan army and Sudan People’s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting, but Invisible Children defends them, arguing that the Ugandan army is “better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries”, although Kony is no longer active in Uganda and hasn’t been since 2006 by their own admission. These books each refer to the rape and sexual assault that are perennial issues with the UPDF, the military group Invisible Children is defending.
Let’s not get our lines crossed: The Lord’s Resistance Army is bad news. And Joseph Kony is a very bad man, and needs to be stopped. But propping up Uganda’s decades-old dictatorship and its military arm, which has been accused by the UN of committing unspeakable atrocities and itself facilitated the recruitment of child soldiers, is not the way to go about it.
The United States is already plenty involved in helping rout Kony and his band of psycho sycophants. Kony is on the run, having been pushed out of Uganda, and it’s likely he will soon be caught, if he isn’t already dead. But killing Kony won’t fix anything, just as killing Osama bin Laden didn’t end terrorism. The LRA might collapse, but, as Foreign Affairs points out, it is “a relatively small player in all of this — as much a symptom as a cause of the endemic violence.”
Myopically placing the blame for all of central Africa’s woes on Kony — even as a starting point — will only imperil many more people than are already in danger.
Sending money to a nonprofit that wants to muck things up by dousing the flames with fuel is not helping. Want to help? Really want to help? Send your money to nonprofits that are putting more than 31% toward rebuilding the region’s medical and educational infrastructure, so that former child soldiers have something worth coming home to.
Here are just a few of those charities. They all have a sparkling four-star rating from Charity Navigator, and, more importantly, no interest in airdropping American troops armed to the teeth into the middle of a multi-nation tribal war to help one madman catch another.
The bottom line is, research your causes thoroughly. Don’t just forward a random video to a stranger because a mass murderer makes a five-year-old “sad.” Learn a little bit about the complexities of the region’s ongoing strife before advocating for direct military intervention.
There is no black and white in the world. And going about solving important problems like there is just serves to make all those equally troubling shades of gray invisible.
[kony2012.]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0iyiw3Jv01qzpwi0o1_r1_1280.jpg)
On Kony 2012: I honestly wanted to stay as far away as possible from KONY 2012, the latest fauxtivist fad sweeping the web (remember “change your Facebook profile pic to stop child abuse”?), but you clearly won’t stop sending me that damn video until I say something about it, so here goes:
Stop sending me that video.
The organization behind Kony 2012 — Invisible Children Inc. — is an extremely shady nonprofit that has been called ”misleading,” “naive,” and “dangerous” by a Yale political science professor, and has been accused by Foreign Affairs of “manipulat[ing] facts for strategic purposes.” They have also been criticized by the Better Business Bureau for refusing to provide information necessary to determine if IC meets the Bureau’s standards.
Additionally, IC has a low two-star rating in accountability from Charity Navigator because they won’t let their financials be independently audited. That’s not a good thing. In fact, it’s a very bad thing, and should make you immediately pause and reflect on where the money you’re sending them is going.
By IC’s own admission, only 31% of all the funds they receive go toward actually helping anyone [pdf]. The rest go to line the pockets of the three people in charge of the organization, to pay for their travel expenses (over $1 million in the last year alone) and to fund their filmmaking business (also over a million) — which is quite an effective way to make more money, as clearly illustrated by the fact that so many can’t seem to stop forwarding their well-engineered emotional blackmail to everyone they’ve ever known.
And as far as what they do with that money:
The group is in favour of direct military intervention, and their money supports the Ugandan government’s army and various other military forces. Here’s a photo of the founders of Invisible Children posing with weapons and personnel of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Both the Ugandan army and Sudan People’s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting, but Invisible Children defends them, arguing that the Ugandan army is “better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries”, although Kony is no longer active in Uganda and hasn’t been since 2006 by their own admission. These books each refer to the rape and sexual assault that are perennial issues with the UPDF, the military group Invisible Children is defending.
Let’s not get our lines crossed: The Lord’s Resistance Army is bad news. And Joseph Kony is a very bad man, and needs to be stopped. But propping up Uganda’s decades-old dictatorship and its military arm, which has been accused by the UN of committing unspeakable atrocities and itself facilitated the recruitment of child soldiers, is not the way to go about it.
The United States is already plenty involved in helping rout Kony and his band of psycho sycophants. Kony is on the run, having been pushed out of Uganda, and it’s likely he will soon be caught, if he isn’t already dead. But killing Kony won’t fix anything, just as killing Osama bin Laden didn’t end terrorism. The LRA might collapse, but, as Foreign Affairs points out, it is “a relatively small player in all of this — as much a symptom as a cause of the endemic violence.”
Myopically placing the blame for all of central Africa’s woes on Kony — even as a starting point — will only imperil many more people than are already in danger.
Sending money to a nonprofit that wants to muck things up by dousing the flames with fuel is not helping. Want to help? Really want to help? Send your money to nonprofits that are putting more than 31% toward rebuilding the region’s medical and educational infrastructure, so that former child soldiers have something worth coming home to.
Here are just a few of those charities. They all have a sparkling four-star rating from Charity Navigator, and, more importantly, no interest in airdropping American troops armed to the teeth into the middle of a multi-nation tribal war to help one madman catch another.
The bottom line is, research your causes thoroughly. Don’t just forward a random video to a stranger because a mass murderer makes a five-year-old “sad.” Learn a little bit about the complexities of the region’s ongoing strife before advocating for direct military intervention.
There is no black and white in the world. And going about solving important problems like there is just serves to make all those equally troubling shades of gray invisible.
[kony2012.]
(Source: thedailywhat)
![3 steps back: Abstinence-Only Bill: With the nation’s attention trained on the media’s breathless coverage of Super Tuesday, Utah’s legislature this evening quietly passed a bill requiring schools to teach abstinence-only sex education, or else skip the classes altogether.
Additionally, both teachers and students would be prohibited from discussing contraception and homosexuality in the classroom.
HB363 passed in the state Senate by a vote of 19 to 10. Utah’s House approved the bill last month.
Senator Stuart Reid (R-Ogden) said the legislation takes sex ed out of the hands of teachers “who we have no idea what their morals are” and turns it over to parents.
But Democrats countered that parents already had control over their children’s sex education, as they were given a choice whether to keep their child enrolled in sex ed classes or pull them out.
Under the new legislation, sex ed classes — if they are offered at all — must teach abstinence only, and parents are required to opt in if they want their child to attend.
“It’s concerning when now we’re trying to dictate morality,” said Sen. Ross Romero (D-SLC). “We’ve been discussing this as if every child has the benefit of two loving and caring parents who are ready to have a conversation about appropriate sexual activity, and I’m here to tell you that’s just not the case.”
The Utah PTA expressed vehement opposition to the bill. “I just can’t believe they did this,” said the association’s president-elect, Liz Zentner. “I think they’re going to have to revisit it in a couple years when the teen pregnancy rates and teen [sexually transmitted disease] rates shoot through the roof.”
It remained unclear if Gov. Gary Herbert would sign the bill into law or veto it. Speaking ahead of a House Education Committee hearing on HB363 last month, Herbert said he felt the existing curriculum “works pretty well,” but also said he personally supports abstinence as a form of pre-marital contraception.
[sltrip / fox13.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0hwezFi7E1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
3 steps back: Abstinence-Only Bill: With the nation’s attention trained on the media’s breathless coverage of Super Tuesday, Utah’s legislature this evening quietly passed a bill requiring schools to teach abstinence-only sex education, or else skip the classes altogether.
Additionally, both teachers and students would be prohibited from discussing contraception and homosexuality in the classroom.
HB363 passed in the state Senate by a vote of 19 to 10. Utah’s House approved the bill last month.
Senator Stuart Reid (R-Ogden) said the legislation takes sex ed out of the hands of teachers “who we have no idea what their morals are” and turns it over to parents.
But Democrats countered that parents already had control over their children’s sex education, as they were given a choice whether to keep their child enrolled in sex ed classes or pull them out.
Under the new legislation, sex ed classes — if they are offered at all — must teach abstinence only, and parents are required to opt in if they want their child to attend.
“It’s concerning when now we’re trying to dictate morality,” said Sen. Ross Romero (D-SLC). “We’ve been discussing this as if every child has the benefit of two loving and caring parents who are ready to have a conversation about appropriate sexual activity, and I’m here to tell you that’s just not the case.”
The Utah PTA expressed vehement opposition to the bill. “I just can’t believe they did this,” said the association’s president-elect, Liz Zentner. “I think they’re going to have to revisit it in a couple years when the teen pregnancy rates and teen [sexually transmitted disease] rates shoot through the roof.”
It remained unclear if Gov. Gary Herbert would sign the bill into law or veto it. Speaking ahead of a House Education Committee hearing on HB363 last month, Herbert said he felt the existing curriculum “works pretty well,” but also said he personally supports abstinence as a form of pre-marital contraception.
(Source: thedailywhat)
![Santorum Santorum Says of the Day: Gone mostly unnoticed until very recently is a comment made by presidential candidate Rick Santorum during a December 30th NBC News interview, in which he made clear his intention to nullify all legal same-sex marriages currently in existence across the country.
The latest census data, collected in 2010, puts the number of married same-sex couples at 131,000, but that number is likely higher now.
Santorum said he plans to introduce an amendment to the Constitution that would not only make same-sex marriages illegal throughout the nation in perpetuity, but would also invalidate all existing unions.
“We can’t have 50 different marriage laws in this country,” he remarked. “You have to have one marriage law.”
The former Senator has come under fire in the past for comparing same-sex marriages to the matrimony of “man on child” and “man on dog.”
Both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich has expressed their intention to ban same-sex marriage through a Constitutional amendment, but have not gone so far as to demand the retroactive nullification of existing marriages.
Ron Paul, who is personally opposed to same-sex marriage, says the federal government should not be involved in deciding who can and cannot get married.
Asked how he would go about getting such an amendment approved, given growing public support for gay rights, Santorum inadvertently made a powerful appeal to history in favor of marriage equality.
“Just because public opinion says something doesn’t mean it’s right,” he said. “I’m sure there were times in areas of this country when people said blacks were less than human.”
[sfgate.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0djkzrxcN1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Santorum Santorum Says of the Day: Gone mostly unnoticed until very recently is a comment made by presidential candidate Rick Santorum during a December 30th NBC News interview, in which he made clear his intention to nullify all legal same-sex marriages currently in existence across the country.
The latest census data, collected in 2010, puts the number of married same-sex couples at 131,000, but that number is likely higher now.
Santorum said he plans to introduce an amendment to the Constitution that would not only make same-sex marriages illegal throughout the nation in perpetuity, but would also invalidate all existing unions.
“We can’t have 50 different marriage laws in this country,” he remarked. “You have to have one marriage law.”
The former Senator has come under fire in the past for comparing same-sex marriages to the matrimony of “man on child” and “man on dog.”
Both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich has expressed their intention to ban same-sex marriage through a Constitutional amendment, but have not gone so far as to demand the retroactive nullification of existing marriages.
Ron Paul, who is personally opposed to same-sex marriage, says the federal government should not be involved in deciding who can and cannot get married.
Asked how he would go about getting such an amendment approved, given growing public support for gay rights, Santorum inadvertently made a powerful appeal to history in favor of marriage equality.
“Just because public opinion says something doesn’t mean it’s right,” he said. “I’m sure there were times in areas of this country when people said blacks were less than human.”
[sfgate.]
(Source: thedailywhat)
![Blunt Amendment News of the Day: The Senate voted today to reject legislation authored by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) that aimed to offset President Obama’s health care mandate requiring employers to provide contraception coverage to female employees.
The legislation would have given employers the right to refuse any medical coverage they were religiously or morally opposed to.
Lawmakers in the Democrat-led Senate tabled the Blunt amendment along party lines, with 48 voting in favor, and 51 voting against. Outgoing Republican Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) joined Democrats in defeating the transportation bill amendment.
The junior Senator from Maine, Susan Collins, did not side with her colleague out of concern that self-insured health plans of faith-based organizations would not be allowed an exemption from the mandate.
“This issue will not go away unless the administration takes it away by giving people of faith those First Amendment protections” to refuse coverage on religious grounds, said Sen. Blunt.
Democrats objected to providing employers with the say-so on their employees’ birth control use.
“Imagine that, your boss will decide whether you’re acting morally,” Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said before the vote. “It’s appalling we’re having this debate in the 21st century.”
[politico.]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m07visiJ691qzpwi0o1_1280.jpg)
Blunt Amendment News of the Day: The Senate voted today to reject legislation authored by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) that aimed to offset President Obama’s health care mandate requiring employers to provide contraception coverage to female employees.
The legislation would have given employers the right to refuse any medical coverage they were religiously or morally opposed to.
Lawmakers in the Democrat-led Senate tabled the Blunt amendment along party lines, with 48 voting in favor, and 51 voting against. Outgoing Republican Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) joined Democrats in defeating the transportation bill amendment.
The junior Senator from Maine, Susan Collins, did not side with her colleague out of concern that self-insured health plans of faith-based organizations would not be allowed an exemption from the mandate.
“This issue will not go away unless the administration takes it away by giving people of faith those First Amendment protections” to refuse coverage on religious grounds, said Sen. Blunt.
Democrats objected to providing employers with the say-so on their employees’ birth control use.
“Imagine that, your boss will decide whether you’re acting morally,” Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said before the vote. “It’s appalling we’re having this debate in the 21st century.”
[politico.]
(Source: thedailywhat)
![Noooooo!!!!!!! RIP: Davy Jones, founding member of the popular 60’s rock group The Monkees, passed away this morning of a heart attack in a hospital near his Florida home. He was 66.
Jones, the only musician signed to a studio deal before auditioning for Bob Rafelson’s and Bert Schneider’s made-for-TV music group The Monkees, was the lead vocalist on many of the band’s most memorable songs, including “Daydream Believer” and “I Wanna Be Free.”
After the Monkees’ disbanded in 1971, Jones continued to perform as a solo artist, and also made several appearances on TV shows, most often as himself.
Jones reunited last year with fellow band members Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork for a three-month tour of Europe and North American entitled An Evening with The Monkees: The 45th Anniversary Tour.
He is survived by his wife Jessica, and four daughters from previous marriages.
[tmz.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m062x0vlhU1qzpwi0o1_1280.jpg)
Noooooo!!!!!!! RIP: Davy Jones, founding member of the popular 60’s rock group The Monkees, passed away this morning of a heart attack in a hospital near his Florida home. He was 66.
Jones, the only musician signed to a studio deal before auditioning for Bob Rafelson’s and Bert Schneider’s made-for-TV music group The Monkees, was the lead vocalist on many of the band’s most memorable songs, including “Daydream Believer” and “I Wanna Be Free.”
After the Monkees’ disbanded in 1971, Jones continued to perform as a solo artist, and also made several appearances on TV shows, most often as himself.
Jones reunited last year with fellow band members Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork for a three-month tour of Europe and North American entitled An Evening with The Monkees: The 45th Anniversary Tour.
He is survived by his wife Jessica, and four daughters from previous marriages.
[tmz.]
(Source: thedailywhat)
![Food Not Bombs of the Day: The US State Department this morning released a statement saying North Korea has agreed to halt all nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment and nuclear missile tests, in exchange for 240,000 metric tons of food aid.
The six-nation disarmament-for-aid talks with the hermetic nation ceased in 2009, after North Korea withdrew.
International Atomic Energy inspectors will reportedly be allowed to confirm that moratorium conditions are being observed.
“The United States still has profound concerns regarding North Korean behavior across a wide range of areas, but today’s announcement reflects important, if limited, progress in addressing some of these,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
Those words were echoed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who called the agreement a “modest first step in the right direction.”
The website of North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency also issued a statement about the development, but it has not yet been translated into English. Here, then, is a Google translation, courtesy of Vanity Fair:
Korea is not hostile to the United States no longer in a spirit of respect for sovereignty and equality are ready to enhance bilateral relations doeyeo jaehwakeonhayeotda learn that.
[ap / reuters / vf.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m05zbvIrm81qzpwi0o1_1280.jpg)
Food Not Bombs of the Day: The US State Department this morning released a statement saying North Korea has agreed to halt all nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment and nuclear missile tests, in exchange for 240,000 metric tons of food aid.
The six-nation disarmament-for-aid talks with the hermetic nation ceased in 2009, after North Korea withdrew.
International Atomic Energy inspectors will reportedly be allowed to confirm that moratorium conditions are being observed.
“The United States still has profound concerns regarding North Korean behavior across a wide range of areas, but today’s announcement reflects important, if limited, progress in addressing some of these,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
Those words were echoed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who called the agreement a “modest first step in the right direction.”
The website of North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency also issued a statement about the development, but it has not yet been translated into English. Here, then, is a Google translation, courtesy of Vanity Fair:
Korea is not hostile to the United States no longer in a spirit of respect for sovereignty and equality are ready to enhance bilateral relations doeyeo jaehwakeonhayeotda learn that.
(Source: thedailywhat)
This Is Funny, You Should Watch It of the Day: At last night’s special Oscar Edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, host Jimmy Kimmel unveiled the trailer for the greatest film ever made that will, sadly, never actually get made.
Starring (and I kid you not): Pretty much every person working in show business today.
[jkl.]
