Cheat To Win

Best Songs of 2012, Tracks 50-1
The Compiled List

50. “The Feeling” - The Knocks
49. “Born to Die” - Lana Del Rey
48. “Anna Sun” - Walk the Moon
47. “Parachute Heart” - Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
46. “On’n’On - Ruined by Rick Rubin” - Justice
44. “I Belong In Your Arms” – Chairlift
45. “Maybe You” - Saint Lou Lou
43. “Primadonna” - Marina and the Diamonds
42. “Don’t Leave Me [Ne Me Quitte Pas]” - Regina Spektor
41. “If I Didn’t Know Better” - Claire Bowen and Sam Palladio
40. “Yet Again” – Grizzly Bear
39. “Alone With You” – Phebe Starr
38. “Stare Into the Sun” – Graffiti6
37. “I Don’t Wanna Pray” – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
36. “Danse Carribe” – Andrew Bird
35. “Tourist” – Yuna
34. “Taro” – Alt-J
33. “Are You Listening” – Kopecky Family Band
32. “You Never Need Nobody” – The Lone Bellow
31. “Ho Hey” – The Lumineers
30. “All I Want” - Kodaline
29. “Safe and Sound” - Capital Cities
28. “Sound Proof Room” - Elle Varner
27. “Ruin” - Cat Power
26. “Three Car Garage” - You Won’t
25. “Yellow Light (Cillo Remix)” - Of Monsters and Men
24. “Don’t Wake Me Up” - Lianne La Havas
23. “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” – Tame Impala
22. “Once There Was a Hushpuppy” - Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin
21. “Jumanji” - Azealia Banks
20. “Love Interruption” - Jack White
19. “Clique” - Kanye West feat. Big Sean and Jay-Z
18. “Chase Us Around” - Viceroy feat. Madi Diaz
17. “Anything Could Happen” - Ellie Goulding
16. “I Love It” - Icona Pop
15. “Doses and Mimosas” - Cherub
14. “It’s Time” - Imagine Dragons
13. “Continuous Thunder” - Japandroids
12. “Ghost” - Sir Sly
11. “I Spy” - Mikhael Paskalev
10. “Safe and Sound” - Taylor Swift feat. The Civil Wars
9. “Emmylou” - First Aid Kit
8. “Nothing is Anything (Without You)” - Wintersleep
7. “Used To Be” - Redwood
6. “Cold Nites” - How To Dress Well
5. “Comeback Kid” - Sleigh Bells
4. “Losing You” - Solange
3. “All Eyes On You” - St. Lucia
2. “The Riot’s Gone” - Santigold
1. “Thinkin Bout You” - Frank Ocean

Spotify

This is my 2012 encapsulated in a single picture.

* Jon Huntsman: After a nonexistent performance in the August Iowa debate, the former Utah governor was much more part of the conversation this time around — delivering jabs to Romney and Perry as he tried to contrast his record in the Beehive State with theirs. Huntsman also looked like he belonged on the stage tonight — a major change from his August showing. His biggest problem remains that his tonal approach to the race — sensible moderation — still doesn’t seem to fit the Republican primary electorate. But, for tonight, Huntsman did himself proud.

Taken from a Winners and Losers article in the Washington Post, this blurb doesn’t even begin to describe the appeal of Huntsman.  Not only does he buck the current GOP trend by refusing to dabble in sensationalism, he’s practical, erudite, and thoughtful in his responses.  

That said, we live in America - so that insufferably sophomoric Perry is leading in polls.

The fight for the Republican presidential nomination began narrowing into an intense and ideological battle at a debate here Wednesday night, with Gov. Rick Perry of Texas andMitt Romney sharply clashing over Social Security, health care and each other’s long-term prospect against President Obama.

A series of spirited exchanges between the two men, which revealed differences in substance and style, offered the first extensive look into the months-long contest ahead. They traded attacks on each other’s job creation records and qualifications to be president, overshadowing their opponents in the crowded Republican field.

I’m actually pretty bummed I missed this.

Aided by strong tea party support, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has surged in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, pushing former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney into second place and significantly diminishing the once-rising star of Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Fuck.

‎”Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.” - Charles Darwin

The tweet unquestionably puts an exclamation point on a strategy that hasn’t worked so far for a candidate that one GOP strategist, insisting on anonymity for obvious reasons, called “a dead man walking.” But can a tweet change the course of a campaign?

Perry’s logic doesn’t surprise me. Although his answer is inarticulate, his characterization of comprehensive sex ed as a teen sex free-for-all is a pretty standard conservative position. He appears to have no clue that actual sex education teaches abstinence in addition to other methods of preventing pregnancy and STDs. His policies and positions indicate a complete lack of understanding of sexual health, and he’s far from the exception.
There’s something that frustrates me even more than Perry’s skewed logic, though: the reporter’s missed opportunity. He fails to point out that teaching safer sex and abstinence are not mutually exclusive. He doesn’t remind Perry that while, yes, abstinence itself works, abstinence-only education does not. And he doesn’t even really explain why teen pregnancy rates would be affected by keeping information away from students; he just cites the two facts side-by-side. 

This reminds me explicitly of a conversation I had on facebook recently in response to Slutwalk DC.  I had to defend the concept of primary prevention as opposed to risk reduction (and, inherently, victim-blaming) in response to sexual assault.

I assure you, I felt just as exasperated as this blogger.  Rick Perry is the new Dubya and, God/Allah/Buddha/Britney willing, he won’t go much farther in the campaign.

(via turtletiiime)