Do we still need feminism? Hell yes. And nobody knows that better than the women working in male-dominated fields like firefighting and longshoring, like Liane Tessier.
Read more: http://upworthy.com/who-would-bully-a-firefighter-the-answer-is-crazy
The NRA lead a recent effort to kill a proposed law that 91% of Americans supported. Here’s what happened when one journalist tried to ask them why.
Read more: http://upworthy.com/this-is-how-the-nra-handles-reporters-2
Election-rigging isn’t just fodder for movies and primetime TV dramas anymore: It’s coming to a state
near you. As if you didn’t need more
reasons to hate the Electoral College…
If this plan is executed, Electoral College votes would be divvied up by the number of congressional districts won by the candidate instead of the current winner-takes-all format that grants the total number of Electoral College votes to the candidate who wins that state’s popular vote. After the successful gerrymandering of congressional districts to keep firm control of the House of Representatives in the Republican majority’s hands, states with highly “blue,” Democratic urban centers that are outnumbered by several rural “red,” Republican districts would give the majority of those states’ votes over to Republicans.
This sour-grapes tactic of rigging the Electoral College is currently being considered by several Republican-dominated state legislatures. These are the six most likely targets for such heinous Electoral College reform:
While the Electoral College needs to be reformed — if not outright abolished — to better reflect the will of the popular vote, using such strategies of dubious legality is a serious threat to an already money-besieged American democratic process.
Tired of seeing your vote diluted by big money super PACs and dirty political tricks? Then it’s time to let your congressional representative know that we won’t stand for this outright theft of the electoral process. It may be flawed, but it’s the only one we’ve got.
Read more: http://upworthy.com/this-is-how-you-steal-an-election
I never think too much about animal rights, and I don’t even own a pet, but as soon as I heard the case Steven Wise makes and saw the video below, it all made perfect sense.
Share this (if you think these creatures deserve some rights too) by clicking the Facebook or Twitter buttons below.
166 men remain imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay prison. 157 have yet to be charged with a crime.
Read more: http://upworthy.com/what-kind-of-country-puts-a-man-in-military-prison-for-11-years-without-trial-or
Tragic. Devastating. Absolutely heartbreaking. There is nothing I can tell you that will do justice to the lifetime of light and laughter Robin Williams brought to so many of us. I can just share sadness with the world at such an unexpected loss and help shed some light on something many of us aren’t comfortable talking about: depression. Depression is a serious medical illness. It’s not a passing bad mood or temporary sadness. It can be debilitating, and it happens to so many people. If you’re struggling with depression, please know there is no shame in reaching out for help in managing a legitimate illness.
Below are two videos. The first is an eight-minute clip from an interview with Robin Williams in 2010. The subject he discussed was suicide. It seems that one tactic he relied on was trying to compartmentalize suicidal thoughts and put them in a category where they were unspeakable. Unfortunately, for many people that tactic will only work for so long.
The second clip is the news about Robin’s death, as well as a retrospective of his career and photographs of him.
Chris Nowinski is a Harvard grad turned pro-athlete who has been raising awareness of the global concussion crisis within the sports industry and its link to brain trauma. Of course adults and kids shouldn’t stop playing sports, but it’s important to understand the risks of certain types of sports before you sign yourself or your kids up.
We are actually talking about the first country to be underwater because of global warming — this is really happening, and it becomes more real every day.
Shades of orange represent homicides, shades of blue represent suicides. It comes as no surprise that the weapon of choice in the vast majority of violent deaths is a gun. This is not something we can afford to ignore anymore, or explain away with a dismissive “a gun is just a tool, man!” In order for a gun to be a tool, it has to have a use other than killing. As far as I know, it doesn’t.
Read more: http://upworthy.com/the-undeniable-problem-with-guns-in-one-quick-chart
Sometimes it seems our system of immigration is purposefully broken — for instance, when you see infographics like this one and realize the massive profit that corporations are making off the detention of immigrants. It’s just one of those times you have to shake your head. And your fist.
Climate scientist Anthony Leiserowitz drops some serious knowledge on “Moyers & Company”. In two bullet points, he describes exactly what Obama needs to say about global warming and what we can do to stop climate change. Let’s hope Obama watches Bill Moyers videos.
Read more: http://upworthy.com/i-really-wish-obama-had-the-guts-to-talk-like-this-guy
I can’t help but think that if we were all better educated about child labor, maybe the demand would slow for such inexpensive goods. What do you think?
There’s a chance you wanna help spread awareness about this. Luckily, that part’s easy. Just hit those buttons down there to share.
Read more: http://upworthy.com/what-we-think-about-this-issue-and-what-is-true-are-2-different-things
So why is it even being discussed, let alone fought in the court system? Anybody? Anybody?
FACT CHECK TIME:
The source for the 55% figure is this survey – which has a lot of data, based on a large sample size. And it also reveals that almost 75% of people surveyed support insurance coverage for birth control.
Family planning is not just about being a little shy when they hand you that bag full of condoms and lube at the clinic. (Or was that just me?) In some countries, it’s about living or dying.
Sequestration sounds like bigfoot’s ugly twin brother. After seeing this, it might as well be.
Read more: http://upworthy.com/if-a-picture-can-be-worth-a-thousand-words-this-one-is-worth-1-2-trillion
There has been plenty of debate about the consequences of unlimited money in elections. The debate is over now. There are a few outliers, no doubt, but it’s completely clear that what you need to win a congressional election is money — loads of money.
Jamie DeWolf, storyteller, has a pretty personal one to share. It involves a child abduction and abuse case, but I urge you to listen all the way through. It’s a hard listen, but an important one.
To keep informed on what is being done to protect children from abduction, please Like the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on Facebook.
UPDATE: Jamie wrote the following on his facebook wall since we published this:
“Since the release of the story, I’ve talked to people who were on the search teams marching through the hills and reporters who interviewed the Wolf face to face, and heard parts of his sickening confession from his mouth. He was worse than you can imagine. Old neighbors have messaged me who still remember the little girl who was always walking by herself.
But more importantly, the 8 year old girl who escaped is named Midsi. 15 years later, she’s grown up and now works for a missing children center and the Polly Klaas Foundation. Which is incredible. Someone posted this performance on her FB wall, and to be honest I was terrified it would be traumatizing to hear. She said, “I want to shake this man’s hand…feeling blessed.” Now I’m hoping to meet her all these years later in person. It’s a heavy thing, but thank you to everyone for helping make that happen. Let’s share this more, show it folks who haven’t seen it, it matters.”
