I live in Japan making a living teaching things like fruit, numbers, and the concept of plurals to elementary school kids. I am also a lazy writer, a pretend photographer, and I hate biking when it's really windy outside.
Check out my Japanese study blog over at
popcornjapanese.tumblr.com
Check out my Japanese study blog over at
popcornjapanese.tumblr.com
"Consider how textbooks treat Native religions as a unitary whole. The American Way describes Native American religion in these words: “These Native Americans [in the Southeast] believed that nature was filled with spirits. Each form of life, such as plants and animals, had a spirit. Earth and air held spirits too. People were never alone. They shared their lives with the spirits of nature.” Way is trying to show respect for Native American religion, but it doesn’t work. Stated flatly like this, the beliefs seem like make-believe, not the sophisticated theology of a higher civilization. Let us try a similarly succinct summary of the beliefs of many Christians today: “These Americans believed that one great male god ruled the world. Sometimes they divided him into three parts, which they called father, son, and holy ghost. They ate crackers and wine or grape juice, believing that they were eating the son’s body and drinking his blood. If they believed strongly enough, they would live on forever after they died.” Textbooks never describe Christianity this way. It’s offensive. Believers would immediately argue that such a depiction fails to convey the symbolic meaning or the spiritual satisfaction of communion."
— Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen (via whoistorule)
(via stfuconservatives)
Mark Kelly, the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) who’s emerged as a high-profile advocate for new gun laws, purchased an assault weapon last week in a move intended to prove the uninvasive nature of background checks.
On Friday, Kelly took to his official Facebook page to post a photo of himself filling out a background check form at a Tucson, Ariz. gun store. In the post, Kelly, a retired astronaut, said he purchased a used AR-15, which he intends to submit to the police department in Tucson.
“Looks like the judiciary committee will vote on background checks next week. I just had a background check a few days ago when I went to my local gun store to buy a 45,” Kelly wrote. “As I was leaving, I noticed a used AR-15. Bought that too. Even to buy an assault weapon, the background check only takes a matter of minutes. I don’t have possession yet but I’ll be turning it over to the Tucson PD when I do. Scary to think of people buying guns like these without a background check at a gun show or the Internet. We really need to close the gun show and private seller loop hole.”
Kelly has been an omnipresent figure in the ongoing debate over gun policy. In January, he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing on gun violence in the country.
h/t CNN
I saw a conservative post this with “GABBY GIFFORDS HUSBAND CAUGHT BUYING AN ASSAULT RIFLE!!!” Yes, that was the point. He was showing how easy it is to buy military-style assault rifles. He didn’t do it to exercise his Second Amendment rights; he did it to show how people are abusing the Second Amendment by letting anyone and everyone get their hands on guns.
