Where To Pretend It’s Summer In NYC

January 29th, 2013 by Whitney Meer

Have you heard it’s been kind of cold recently? While it’s been good for some things, it’s been the absolute worst for morale as school starts back up. Who wants to go to their 9:30 class when there’s snow falling? Luckily, we live in New York, so there’s no reason why we can’t make the weather we want all year round. We’ve found some of the best places in the city to pretend it’s still summer!

If You Need to Be Around Living Plants:
The New York Botanical Garden is showcasing some of their permanent collection of tropical flowers in their huge Victorian style glass house, and heating it to between 65 and 75 degrees. So you can walk around and pretend you’re in Hawaii for a few hours before piling on eight pairs of socks to go get groceries. Get tickets here. If you’re not into paying for the chance to get out of the cold, the World Financial Center houses an Arts & Events Program in their Winter Garden Plaza. They periodically put on events and shows, and almost always have art exhibitions up (check out an events calendar here). Read more…


Gays Won The Election: A State By State Rundown

November 8th, 2012 by Whitney Meer

As we told you last month, four states had some kind of marriage equality issue on the ballot yesterday. Maine put marriage equality up to a popular vote, in order to reverse a referendum from 2009. Maryland and Washington passed  state laws earlier this year to legalize gay marriage, and the voters in those states were deciding to approve and uphold them, respectively. Minnesota voters had the option to change their state constitution to ban gay-marriage. Here are the results:

Maine 
Question 1, the measure that would overturn a 2009 ban on gay marriage, was approved yesterday, with 53% of the votes. Equality Maine collected signatures over the summer and gained enough support to put the measure on the ballot. Maine’s historic measure was the first in the country to put gay marriage to a popular vote and win. Read more…


Local Explains It All: Candidates Like The Gays Except When They Don’t

October 25th, 2012 by Whitney Meer

When it comes to gay marriage and equal rights, it can be mighty tricky to wade through what a candidate has done in the past, what they say now, and what they will do in the future. President Obama said he didn’t support gay marriage in 2008 but came out (heh) in favor of it earlier this year. In 1994, Romney’s Senate campaign passed out fliers at a gay pride parade, and they said he’d be a stronger ally than Ted Kennedy. (Spoiler alert: This is no longer what they think.) Oh, the joys of politics. A more detailed outline of the different stances as they are now after the break. Read more…


Local Explains It All: Do The Candidates Like Women?

October 23rd, 2012 by Whitney Meer

Just because the candidates have started acting like high school girls doesn’t mean you have to. With just over two weeks left until election day, very little has been said about something that’s near and dear to our hearts: vaginas, and the women who have them.

Prompted by the inclusion of contraception in the Affordable Care Act, there’s been a lot of talk about women’s bodies and who does and does not get to regulate them this past year. The rhetoric being used is changing as well. Who’d ever heard of “legitimate rape” until this summer? (Hint: no one, because all rape is rape). There’s talk of overturning Roe v. Wade and amending the constitution to change the definition of a person. The stakes are high for women this year. Read about each candidate’s position on women’s issues after the break. Read more…


Final Debate Roundtable: We Opened A Google Doc And Started Talking To Each Other

October 23rd, 2012 by John Surico, Raj Sidhu, Ava Kiai, Whitney Meer, Kyle Zinn, and Brett Chamberlin

As a consequence, most of the time we have no idea who was speaking.

Ari: Is it just me or is this debate kinda bleh.
Obama’s tie knot is too tight

Game of Battleship should have actually been this debate

Battleship drinking game. They each take a shot whenever they strike the other’s base.
This is boring, right? Since when does “presidential”= boring?
John: Romney has brought up the economy three times and counting this debate.
Because thats what people actually care about – foreign policy isnt exactly a proverbial panty dropper

Also, Romney’s strong point is the economy, NOT foreign policy. (And economy wins votes – come on, guys, have you READ Karl Marx?!) true Read more…


Good Things Happening In Sex Ed And Reproductive Rights This Week

October 5th, 2012 by Whitney Meer

Wednesday night’s debate gave us a lot of great material. But it was a little disheartening: There was not one mention of social issues, like women’s reproductive rights or gay rights. So, to cheer us up, we’ve put together a list of good thing happening for sex education and reproductive rights.

Military Acknowledges Sexual Assaults

The Pentagon is stepping up its sexual assault prevention training in light of the rape and assault of female trainees at the Air Force’s basic training base in San Antonio. In July, the New York Times said 31% of all female trainees were identified as possible victims. To its credit, the Department of Defense reacted quickly – and hopefully effectively – to the crimes committed. It released a statement last week detailing its plan to implement new and improved prevention efforts. The changes will begin with a review of the current program, followed by a “fundamental change” in the way the DoD deals with sexual assault and its aftermath. Read more…


Good Things Happening In Gay Rights This Week

September 26th, 2012 by Whitney Meer

This election season has been a little bit stress-inducing for those of us who aren’t rich white men. From student debt, to women’s reproductive rights, to LBGTQ issues, sometimes watching the news can feel disheartening. Isn’t it 2012? Shouldn’t we get over this?

Sometimes it’s nice to take a step back from all the bigotry flying around and remember that sometimes, good things happen, and progress is slowly inching forward—especially in gay rights. Good things to smile about after the break.

Read more…


Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Spoke At Kimmel Yesterday, Scared Everybody

September 25th, 2012 by Whitney Meer

Former British Prime Minister and current NYU “Distinguished Leader in Residence” Gordon Brown graced Kimmel’s Rosenthal Pavilion with his presence yesterday. Brown was prime minister in the UK when the financial crisis and subsequent recession hit. His attempt to chart a new course for the global economy following the events of 2008 was met with resistance from the rest of the world, and he resigned in 2010. Since then, Brown has done work in the field of education, both in the developing and developed world. NYU, apparently, pays him to look good on the faculty and give talks sometimes.

Brown’s speech began with high praise of John Sexton (the two are friends), followed with an awkward mention of a tradition we apparently have here of singing “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to Sexton on his birthday. We are never going to not have that image in our head. Read more…


National State Of Emergency Continues, Nobody Panics

September 19th, 2012 by Whitney Meer

Raise your hand if you knew our country has been in a national state of emergency for over 11 years. If you didn’t, well, surprise! We have been, and on Friday President Obama let us know that he was extending the provision for another year, until September 14th, 2013.

The President can declare a state of national emergency whenever he feels like it. Common sense would tell us that a state of national emergency would start when bad things actually start happening, and end when said bad thing stops happening – or soon after. This is apparently not how presidents feel about it. Read more…


The Internet Makes Semi-Famous People Say Political Things

September 10th, 2012 by Whitney Meer

With the Republican and Democratic National Conventions behind us, let’s ask ourselves, “What just happened?” 2008 saw a further reinforcement of celebrities’ role in politics– from Tina Fey’s wonderful impressions to Daddy Yankee’s surprising endorsement of John McCain, every celebrity had an opinion and blasted it. Now it’s 2012, and nearly everyone is on social media, spouting really considerate rants about the election. The same is true for non-famous minor celebrities!  Take a look at the most surprising people to make political statements so far this year.

Walker, Texas Republican
We always figured action star/meme Chuck Norris was a Republican. But we didn’t know it was this bad. Chuck Norris and his wife released a video earlier this week on World Net Daily warning of “1000 years of darkness” if Obama won. Quoth the Norrises: “If we look to history, our great country and freedom are under attack. We’re at a tipping point and, quite possibly, our country as we know it may be lost forever if we don’t change the course in which our country is headed.” They proceed to plead with their “evangelical brothers and sisters” to vote come November. Or else, y’know, a thousand years of darkness. Some people think that’s racist, but it’s probably just completely insane. Read more…