life:

Five decades later, the assassination of John F. Kennedy remains one of the few utterly signal events from the second half of the 20th century. Other moments — some thrilling (the moon landing, the fall of the Berlin Wall), others horrifying (the killings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the Challenger explosion) — have secured their places in the history books and, even more indelibly, in the memories of those who witnessed them. But nothing in the latter part of “the American century” defined an era as profoundly as those rifle shots that split the warm Dallas air on November 22, 1963, and the sudden death of the 46-year-old president.

Here, on the 45th anniversary of JFK’s March 1967 reinterment, when his remains were moved from his initial resting place to the permanent grave site and memorial at Arlington, LIFE.com offers a gallery of photographs (some of them never before published) from the deeply fraught funeral held mere days after Kennedy was killed.

While both ceremonies — the state funeral in ’63, and the reinterment three-and-a-half years later — were marked by sorrow, the rawness of the emotion evident in 1963 is still striking, and rending, today.

thedailywhat:

Santorum Santorum Says of the Day: Having gone after pretty much every other “social malady” in the book, Rick Santorum is finally setting his sights on the big daddy of them all: Pornography.

In a statement that reads like something Anthony Comstock would have deemed “going too far,” the GOP presidential candidate claims pornography ”causes profound brain changes in both children and adults” and blasts the Justice Department for favoring “pornographers over children” by not enforcing obscenity laws.

Santorum continues: “[C]urrent federal ‘obscenity’ laws prohibit distribution of hardcore [obscene] pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops and through the mail or by common carrier.”

The former Pennsylvania Senator concludes by vowing that, as President, he will change the status quo as it concerns pornography.

It seems somewhat laughable, but can President Santorum really get rid of Internet porn if he set his mind to it? Yes, says UCLA Law Professor and noted blogger Eugene Volokh.

“If the government wanted to aggressively move against Internet pornography, it could do so,” Volokh told The Daily Caller. “Here’s the deal: In most parts of the country, a lot of pornography on the Internet would plausibly be seen as obscene.”

The law may be on his side, but, if he were to pursue his anti-porn crusade, Santorum would likely find rather quickly that the only thing still able to blur the lines of political affiliation is porn.

“When it comes to adult entertainment, it seems people are more the same than different,” said Harvard Business School’s Benjamin Edelman, who, in 2009, published a nationwide study [pdf] on porn viewing habits that should give Santorum pause.

Eight out of the top 10 porn-loving states voted for John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. By comparison, six of the bottom 10 cast their vote for Obama.

[thehill / dailycaller / newscientist.]

mothernaturenetwork:

Infographic: GE Foods at a Glance
Just Label It! puts the facts about genetically engineered foods and labeling them into an easy to understand infographic.

(via giantgreypanda)

iheartchaos:

Ben & Jerry’s introduces new ice cream flavor in support of gay marriage

Ben & Jerry’s UK announced they were renaming their Apple Pie ice cream to “Appley Ever After” in support of gay marriage. Sadly, the flavor is only available in the UK right now. Hopefully it will come to the US, because what’s more American than apple pie flavored gay marriage?

Link

ohmygil:

tmz:

TMZ has footage of “Kony 2012” honcho Jason Russell in the midst of his naked meltdown in San Diego (YouTube video) … pounding his fists in anger and screaming maniacally.

As we previously reported, Russell was detained by police yesterday … after witnesses say he was running around naked and making sexual gestures.

This is the greatest gifset I’ve ever seen.

thedailywhat:

RIP: Chaleo Yoovidhya, creator of the world-famous energy drink Red Bull, passed away today of natural causes. He was 89.

The self-made billionaire, listed by Forbes as the richest man in Thailand, launched Red Bull (Krathing Daeng in Thailand) in the 70’s through his company, T.C. Pharmaceuticals. It was an instant hit among truck drivers and construction workers.

In the early 80’s, Chaleo was persuaded by Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz to introduce the drink in foreign markets. Mateschitz, then an international marketing director, would make frequent trips to Thailand, and found that “one glass [of Krating Daeng] and the jet lag was gone.”

Chaleo partnered with Mateschitz, and Red Bull quickly took flight. It is currently sold in over 70 countries. 

[bbc.]

thedailywhat:

RIP: Legendary Disney songwriter Robert Sherman, best-known for his work on such classic films as Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and The Jungle Book, passed away Monday in London. He was 86.

Together with his brother Richard, Sherman co-wrote many enduring Disney anthems, including “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and “It’s a Small World After All.”

“[H]e wanted to bring happiness to the world and, unquestionably, he succeeded,” wrote his son, Jeff, in a Facebook post. “His love and his prayers, his philosophy and his poetry will live on forever. Forever his songs and his genius will bring hope, joy and love to this small, small world.”

[thr.]

Make a change and stop Joesph Kony

Who is Joseph Kony?: http://vimeo.com/37119711

Pledge Here: http://www.kony2012.com/

the deadline to stop Kony ends Dec. 31st 2012

If you don’t feel like watching the video, here’s a little summary: 

Joseph Kony lives in Central Africa. What Joseph does is, he abducts African kids. He takes them and he keeps them. He makes the boys killers, usually they have to kill their families. When girls are abducted they are turned into sex slaves and are raped. There is no way out of his group: Lord’s Resistance Army, AKA the LRA. He has adbucted over 30,000 children and had made them child soldiers. he won’t stop what he is doing until he is caught, he found out that the US is now on a making to look for him making him harder to find. Right now, Kony is invisible because no one knows about him.. no one. Tell as many people about Kony as you can and make him visible and know. Donate money if you can. Make him visible. we need change, and we need difference. we need Kony to be famous so we can stop the harm of innocent children, this won’t hurt your blog.. just reblog it.

(via giantgreypanda)

latimes:

Forest Service to drop fees at most national forests: Following a review, the agency will eliminate the unpopular Adventure Pass for most forest areas. In addition, the U.S. 9th Circuit has ruled that the government went too far in charging for access.

Photo: The Angeles National Forest is one of the areas where visitors must currently display an Adventure Pass. Credit: Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times

(Source: Los Angeles Times, via giantgreypanda)

thedailywhat:

Today On TDW: Geek —

• Above: University scientists launch rocket into Northern Lights.

• Faster-than-light neutrino result blamed on bad connection.

• 300 million year-old forest found buried under Chinese coal mine.

• ACTA on hold thanks to European Commission.

• If you want to delete your Google Web History, you’d better do it now.

• Report: Google goggles to go on sale by end of the year.

• Released: A new trailer for Borderlands 2.

• Live-action adaptation of Bleach moving forward with new writer.

• Collection with nearly every rare comic book discovered in basement.

• Here’s Stephen King reading the first chapter of his Shining sequel, Dr. Sleep.

(via giantgreypanda)

life:

Did you know? — On this day in 1940 Woody Guthrie wrote one of his best known folk songs, “This Land is Your Land.”

Pictured: Woody Guthrie entertains commuters, 1943. “There’s a feeling in music and it carries you back down the road you have traveled and makes you travel it again. Sometimes when I hear music I think back over my days — and a feeling that is fifty-fifty joy and pain swells like clouds taking all kinds of shapes in my mind.”

(see more here)