BRAVE NEW WORLD.

August 9, 2015

By Iris Vander Pluym - 08.09.15

Allegedly “inspired” by my recent browsing history—a 3 lb bag of Gala apples that I am quite certain I neither viewed nor purchased (I’d buy Greenmarket apples, hello?)—Amazon.com has helpfully suggested the following products for me:

–an 8 oz. bottle of coyote urine
–1,500 live ladybugs
–a $600 stage fan with wireless remote (“Great for blowing fog!”)

And now that I have actually clicked on and viewed these three items, OMG I cannot wait to see what “inspired” product suggestions Amazon has for me next! How about a giant rubber fish head mask? Glow-in-the-dark toilet paper? An iPhone case made out of astroturf? Ooh! Ooh! A Donald Trump board game!* The possibilities truly boggle the mind.

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TPJ MAG

NSA reform debate is a total sham.

July 12, 2015

By Iris Vander Pluym on 07.12.15

AP reporters recently did some very good investigative reporting, and The Washington Post published the story:

FBI behind mysterious surveillance aircraft over US cities

By JACK GILLUM, EILEEN SULLIVAN and ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI is operating a small air force with scores of low-flying planes across the country carrying video and, at times, cellphone surveillance technology – all hidden behind fictitious companies that are fronts for the government, The Associated Press has learned.

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TPJ MAG

Conservative “values” meet conservative “logic” in Colorado.

June 14, 2015

By Iris Vander Pluym - 06.14.15

The Colorado Family Planning Initiative is a program designed to lower the state’s rate of unwanted pregnancies, and thereby lower the associated costs to the public coffers. The concept is simple: young, lower-income women, i.e. those at highest risk of unwanted pregnancies, would be provided with long-acting, reversible birth control—intrauterine devices (IUDs) and hormonal implants—at little to no cost. Originally funded by an anonymous grant, the expectation was that if the program succeeded, continued funding would be taken over by the state. Makes perfect sense, right?

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TPJ MAG

“Pro-Life,” Everyone: Dead pregnant women piling up in Mississippi, PLUS an anti-abortion law so bad even Texas Republicans think it’s too extreme.

May 10, 2015

By Iris Vander Pluym - 05.10.15

A recent headline in The Washington Post naturally caught my eye: Why pregnant women in Mississippi keep dying. I clicked the link hoping that I might learn, you know, why pregnant women in Mississippi keep dying. I know, silly me.

“The U.S. maternal health community doesn’t know exactly why,” [Priya Agrawal, executive director of Merck for Mothers] said. A number of factors may exacerbate the problem, which she called a human rights cris

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TPJ MAG

What’s going on in Yemen? Inquiring minds want to know.

April 12, 2015

By Iris Vander Pluym on 04.12.15

I recently received a “news” alert from The Washington Post informing me that the “U.S. will provide logistical and intelligence support to Saudi operation in Yemen.” I clicked on the link, in the hopes of perhaps finding out, you know, what is going on in Yemen.

What was I thinking.

SANAA, Yemen — Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes early Thursday in neighboring Yemen, heading a coalition of Arab nations in an effort to dislodge Houthi rebels sweeping through that country.

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With gods like these…

March 6, 2015

By Iris Vander Pluym on 03.08.15

The Republican governor of Wisconsin, a d00d named Scott Walker, has been all up in mah feedz for evading the subject of evolution during an interview with BBC Radio. When asked, “Are you comfortable with the idea of evolution, do you believe in it, do you accept it?” Walker replied, “For me, I’m going to punt on that one.”

Scott Walker is running for president of the US of A, and is presently leading this year’s bumper crop of GOP clowns in Iowa polling by likely Republican voters. To give you some idea of just how irredeemable some of these Republican Iowa voters actually are, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-idiculous) won the Ames straw poll among Iowa Republicans mere months before the 2012 Iowa caucuses.

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