the kitchen sink

Jesus 2000 HD (via LukStarkiller) I have no idea what is going...

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 17:56:05 -0700

Jesus 2000 HD (via LukStarkiller)

I have no idea what is going on in this video.

“If a messy desk is the sign of a messy mind, what is an...

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:42:00 -0700

“If a messy desk is the sign of a messy mind, what is an empty desk the sign of?

Einstein’s desk was famously messy, so he stood as an example of a person who could be extremely efficient and extremely creative, but at the same time very, very messy.

People with messier desks tend to be more open to new experiences. It reflects their mental process…”

A brilliantly conceived documentary-style look at the desks of several of today’s creatives: artists, art directors, designers, and writers.

Imaginary Forces: L Studio // The Desk (link via Kottke)

somethingchanged: What Americans really think about climate...

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 16:43:05 -0700

somethingchanged:

What Americans really think about climate change.

Photo

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:04:35 -0700

Belle & Sebastian- I Didn’t See It Coming

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:31:38 -0700

Belle & Sebastian- I Didn’t See It Coming

2010 09 09: Penny farthings back on the streets of the...

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 11:21:43 -0700

2010 09 09: Penny farthings back on the streets of the United Kingdom, via Reuters.

This is just awesome.

5 myths about poverty that Christians should renounce

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:26:48 -0700

5 myths about poverty that Christians should renounce:

Myth 1: People are poor because they are lazy or stupid.

Poor people work incredibly hard, under harsh conditions, frequently seven days a week. With no welfare programs and no social networks, if they don’t work, they don’t eat. That’s reality.

My work in microfinance has taken me to some 50 countries. I’ve watched men making bricks in equatorial sun from morning till night in exchange for $10; women hauling five-gallon containers on their heads and in each hand every morning to water their garden-size farm; children rifling through trash for recyclables to exchange for a meal.

Despite their efforts, these hard-working people cannot get off their economic treadmills; they pass their generational poverty onto their children and grandchildren. Getting to know them as sisters and brothers, I can vouch that they are anything but lazy or stupid. The only reason for their life of misery and mine of relative luxury is where we were born.

Myth 2: Poor people want handouts.

We assume that a hungry person wants us to give them something to eat. Sure, if a mother’s children are hungry she’ll gladly accept a free meal. But what that person would much rather have is the opportunity to work and feed her family. Each time she accepts a handout she exchanges a portion of her dignity.

In the Bible, God instructs farmers not to harvest the corner of their crops, but to leave it for the poor. God didn’t tell them to reap it and give the money to the poor, but to leave it for the poor to pick and eat. They need food, but they also need and want an opportunity to work.

Every day some 25,000 people die from starvation. Disturbing as that may be, the real tragedy is that for 90 percent of them, there is no food shortage. They just can’t afford to buy available food. The appropriate response is not relief but development, including opportunities to work.

Myth 3: Our foremost responsibility is America’s poor.

The number one objection I hear to our work in the developing world is that we must first solve the problems in our own country. Yet half of humanity barely survives on $2 per day. And they don’t live here.

We live in a generous country where last year more than $300 billion was given to charity from voluntary donations. As grand as that is, less than five percent goes to international work, leaving 95 percent in our own country for our churches, university endowments and symphonies.

These are worthy causes, but charities that serve the wealthiest nation. I don’t think that’s what Jesus meant when in Matthew 25 he told his followers to serve “the least of these.”

Myth 4: Jesus said we will always have extreme poverty.

What Jesus said in Mark 14:7 was: “The poor you will always have with you.”

Jesus recognized that some will always have less than others. But the kind of abject poverty that over one billion people endure—those living on $1 per day—wouldn’t be tolerated by Jesus and should not exist today.

I honestly believe we can eradicate extreme poverty. And if we can, then we must.

Myth 5: Jesus was concerned primarily about spiritual poverty.

I grew up in South Africa, surrounded by missionaries. There was a subtle message that eternity is a lot longer than life. If someone is saved and bound for heaven, it doesn’t much matter how hungry their children are.

But when Jesus began his public ministry, he read his mission statement: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor… To set free the oppressed.” (Luke 4:18).

Though we must read on to understand the full gospel, if we seek to follow his example and teaching, we must bring good news to the poor and set free the oppressed. More than 2,000 verses in the Bible deal with the poor. Jesus had special solidarity with the poor and told us that if we love him, we will show it by caring for them.

Sad thing is that most of these points will get you in an argument with the average Conservative-minded Christian. We’re so shaped and influenced by the past 65+ years of post-War American history that we’ve just lost touch with the meaning of poverty and hunger.

Internetology 101: The origins of “Derp“ Further...

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 09:53:29 -0700

Internetology 101: The origins of “Derp“

"Because nobody reads — and I keep preaching, ‘Read, read, read, read.’ If you..."

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 09:13:33 -0700

“Because nobody reads — and I keep preaching, ‘Read, read, read, read.’ If you don’t read, you will never be a filmmaker. Those who watch television or are too much on the Internet, they lose the world. And those who read, they win it”

- Werner Herzog, discussing his favorite films with NPR.

nickholmes: Widsom by The Internet.

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:54:43 -0700

nickholmes:

Widsom by The Internet.

Having a bad day? If so, look at this photo of a young Charles...

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 20:28:00 -0700

Having a bad day? If so, look at this photo of a young Charles Barkley with a pizza.

Your sadness is now diamonds.

“Cousins” by Vampire Weekend I’ve probably...

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:30:00 -0700

“Cousins” by Vampire Weekend

I’ve probably posted this before, but who cares? One of my current favorite songs, about absolutely nothing except fun wordplay.

You found a sweater on the ocean floor
They’re gonna find it if you didn’t close the door
You and the small one sit outside of the side
In a house on a street they wouldn’t park on at night…

Watch this Ohio Republican/Tea Party Candidate fails (miserably)...

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:54:15 -0700

Watch this Ohio Republican/Tea Party Candidate fails (miserably) to use his inconsolable, vehement rage to spark a party revolution.

Charimsa: You’re doing it all wrong.

(I think this guy took his ‘Masters in Communication’ classes from the Dwight Schrute School of Speechgiving)

Ground Zero Mosque Protest Signs.

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:33:12 -0700

Ground Zero Mosque Protest Signs.

Hate u, Summer-girls.

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:28:43 -0700

Hate u, Summer-girls.

"Alcohol is a delightful social lubricant, a liquid drug that is particularly good at erasing our..."

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:02:53 -0700

“

Alcohol is a delightful social lubricant, a liquid drug that is particularly good at erasing our inter-personal anxieties. And this might help explain why, according to the new study, moderate drinkers have more friends and higher quality ‘friend support’ than abstainers. They’re also more likely to be married.

…given the extensive history of group drinking – it’s what we do when we come together – it seems likely that drinking in moderation makes it easier for us develop and nurture relationships. And it these relationships that help keep us alive.

”

- “Why Alcohol Is Good For You” - Wired Magazine

(TLDR: Some studies show drinking makes you live longer, possibly because people do it in groups.)

“The Spectrum Of The Sky”, a pretty amazing scenic...

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:45:56 -0700

“The Spectrum Of The Sky”, a pretty amazing scenic wallpaper.

Via Reddit, originally via Interfacelift.

Hitler youth bicyclists (or “spycyclists” perhaps?)...

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:00:00 -0700

Hitler youth bicyclists (or “spycyclists” perhaps?) touring the countryside.

Via the Das Bundarchiv (The German Federal Archives), with link to BBC.

Into the Wild (via drunkxabi)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:14:17 -0700

Into the Wild

(via drunkxabi)

Musicians touring the French countryside by bike. (Via The...

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:48:50 -0700

Musicians touring the French countryside by bike.

(Via The Guardian, photograph Roger-Voillet/Rex Features)