See Ya, Sucka

Best meme of all these shenanigans.



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Sign Here

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Do You Think He Was A Palin Supporter?

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Check Out This BAMF

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Get 'Er Done

This is ... everything that's wrong with this country (yes, this is actually legit).

Interesting Statistics From a Survey of Republicans in the United States

1. 39% think Obama should be impeached (for what, exactly, is unclear).

2. Only 42% believe Obama was born in the United States. 36% believe he was not born in the U.S., and 22 percent are unsure.

3. 63% believe Obama is a Socialist. 22% are unsure.

4. About a quarter believe that Obama wants the terrorists to win. 33% are unsure of whether or not he wants a terrorist victory.

5. 55% believe that Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than Barack Obama. 33% are unsure. Only 14% believe that Palin is not more qualified than Obama. The survey did not ask participants if they understand the definition of “qualified.”

6. 2/3rds of Republicans either believe that Obama is a racist who hates white people, or aren’t sure if Obama is a racist who hates white people.

7. A third of Southern Republicans would like their state to secede from the Union. Which, hey, is better than conservative Southerners 150 years ago, so here’s to progress.

8. Only 7 percent of Republicans believe that Congress should make it easier for for workers to form or join labor unions. Nearly 70% do not believe that Congress should make it easier.

9. If illegal immigrants agreed to pay a fine and learn English, 25% of Republicans think it would be ok to let them stay in the United States.

10. More than half of Republicans do not believe that openly gay men and women should be allowed to serve in the military.

11. Only 7 percent of Republicans believe that same-sex couples should have the right to marry. Only 11 percent believe that same-sex couples should receive state or federal benefits — belying the idea that this is just about the “institution of marriage.”

12. Shockingly, even to me, only 8 percent of Republicans believe that gay men and women should be allowed to teach in public schools. 19% are not sure; 73% believe that gay men and women should not be allowed to teach.

13. In better news, 42% of Republicans think that sex ed should be taught in schools.

14. In less-good news, apparently most Republicans didn’t get decent sex ed, because 34% of them think the birth control pill is abortion, and 18% of them aren’t sure.

15. Apparently science is also lacking, because a large majority — 77% — of Republicans believe that public school students should be taught that the book of Genesis in the Bible explains how God created the world.

16. Back to good news: Feminism has infected even Republicans! 76% of them believe that marriage is an equal partnership between men and women, and 86% of them believe that a woman should work outside the home.

17. Back to bad news: A solid 31% of Republicans think that contraceptives should be outlawed. As noted above, 34% think the birth control pill is abortion; 76% think abortion is murder. I think it’s probably safe to say that most of that 34% also believe that abortion is murder. Does follow, then, that somewhere around 1/3 of Republicans think you have committed murder for being on the pill? How much time, do you think, should the more than 80% of American women who use hormonal contraception spend in jail for murder? And is flushing a tampon destroying evidence?

18. The one thing that the largest majority of Republicans agree on? Killing people! 91% support the death penalty, and only 4% oppose it. That’s a more significant margin of approval than the 67% who believe that Jesus Christ is the only way for an individual to go to Heaven.

Conclusion: America needs to invest significantly more in its educational system. And if only there was a way to teach children empathy.

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The Leader of the Free World

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Pimpin All Over The World

Apparently, this is a new word that is sweeping the Japanese youth culture.

Obamu: (v.) To ignore inexpedient and inconvenient facts or realities, think “Yes we can, Yes we can,” and proceed with optimism using those facts as an inspiration (literally, as fuel). It is used to elicit success in a personal endeavor. One explanation holds that it is the opposite of kobamu. (拒む, which means to refuse, reject, or oppose).

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The T-Pain App Is Just Not Enough

Thanks to Jimmy Kimmel, we finally have an idea if T-Pain ruled the world (with Prez Obama's help)...

From 43 to 44

Along with many other traditions during the "Transition of Power," it is customary for the outgoing President to leave a note for the incoming President. The notes from past Presidents have never been read or leaked to the public, as one can imagine these letters are of the utmost importance.

That is until now.

The Huffington Post somehow go a hold of the letter Former President Bush left for President Obama. So here is it ladies and gentlemen, breaking news right here on IAYN.

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That Darn Hat

Besides the fact that January 20th brought us a new President and a new era of change, it brought us something more. Something that none of us could have ever imagined to impact our lives forever. That, my friends, is the shining beacon of hope to America, Aretha Franklin's Inauguration Hat.


Now my guess is that the Queen of Soul had no idea her accessory was going to cause this much of a commotion. For all she knew, this is what her mother and her mother's mother wore for a Sunday church service or special event (see Crowns, Lyric Stage 2004). That or she just found the hat next to a Bedazzler in her attic and decided President Obama would be mighty impressed with not only her singing skills, but her excellent craftiness as well.

My favorite thing about this hat is that since then, it has become a worldwide PHENOMENON. Soon after the Inauguration, everyone from Ellen (who was relieved she didn't wear the same hat on Inauguration day too) to bloggers, who especially have taken their own shots at Ms. Franklin's hat.

My favorite blog, ONTD, has had its history with integrating outside pop culture references into their own blogging world. For example, when The Dark Knight was about to come out, everyone's posts and user icons suddenly seemed to have gone through MS Paint involuntarily and Heath Ledger's joker face was 'spraypainted' all over the faces of stars like Britney and Zanessa. The phrase 'Y So Srs' was plastered all over Brangelina walking down the red carpet. Just like TDK, today it's difficult to not see a post without an icon dedicated to that glorious hat.

An example of LiveJournal User Icons

But my favorite AFIH moment is when I saw on my FB News Feed that 5 of my friends had just become fans of "Aretha Franklin's Inauguration Hat." After LOLing for approx 5.3 minutes, I became a fan immediately. The greatest part of this fan page is the description of said hat:

"A glimmering vision of hope outshining the sun on a certain cold wintry day in January, tears of joy and the swell of optimism bursting from two million citizens' hearts as they focus their expectant gaze in one direction... you know what we are talking about and that is why you are here. To celebrate this vision of change, this paradigm shift, this sparkling, glittering vision, yes... Aretha Franklin's inauguration hat."

I would say that every 5 minutes after joining the fan club, more and more people became a part of the movement. Even now, I see it's growing by the thousands. People from across the world are taking advantage of Photoshop and posting their own pictures of their favorite people and inanimate objects with the hat.

Who could ever predict that in 2009, as we welcome in a new administration, that the stand out of this incredible journey was not necessarily the fact that the United States has its first African American President, or even that [Former] President Bush left behind the biggest mess in the history with two wars and the worst economy since the Great Depression, but in fact it is a shining, glimmering, headpiece that no one could take their eyes or minds off of that stole the show. At this rate, we might have our very first silver bow hat as President in 2012. I'm just sayin if it was between a celebrity hat and a certain Governor of Alaska, I just might need to breakout the Beadazzler in the attic of my own.

Big Day

When I wake up in the morning, the first thought that usually comes in my head is "What time is it? What time do I actually need to get up? How much more time does that give me to sleep?" On November 5th, the day after the election, I didn't wake up thinking that. My first thought was "Obama won. I can have faith in this country again. This is surreal. It's a new day." It's so weird to think that tomorrow will be the start of a new era.

In July of 2004, I remember sitting in my bedroom at home watching the Democratic National Convention that was taking place at the Hynes Convention Center, practically down the street from where I going to live when I moved to Boston in a few months. I remember seeing this man, who apparently everyone at the convention knew, because there was a sea of signs waving in the air saying "Obama." "Who IS this guy?," I thought to myself. Eyes and ears glued to the TV and 26 minutes later, that was it. I knew this Senator from Illinois was going to be something. Someone. I think I even put something about him running in 2008 in my AIM away message about it. Re-reading his speech, his message and values are still the same.

The true genius of America, a faith... a faith in simple dreams, an insistence on small miracles; that we can tuck in our children at night and know that they are fed and clothed and safe from harm; that we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door; that we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe; that we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution; and that our votes will be counted -- or at least, most of the time.

It is that fundamental belief -- it is that fundamental belief -- I am my brother's keeper, I am my sisters' keeper -- that makes this country work.

It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family: "E pluribus unum," out of many, one.

There's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America.

Do we participate in a politics of cynicism, or do we participate in a politics of hope?...I'm not talking about blind optimism here, the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't think about it, or health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it.

That's not what I'm talking. I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too.

Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope: In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation, a belief in things not seen, a belief that there are better days ahead.

I believe that we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity.

I believe we can provide jobs for the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair.

I believe that we have a righteous wind at our backs, and that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices and meet the challenges that face us.

America, tonight, if you feel the same energy that I do, if you feel the same urgency that I do, if you feel the same passion that I do, if you feel the same hopefulness that I do, if we do what we must do, then I have no doubt that all across the country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine, the people will rise up in November, and John Kerry will be sworn in as president. And John Edwards will be sworn in as vice president. And this country will reclaim it's promise. And out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come.

Obviously, things didn't go in the Kerry/Edwards favor, but in some ways, I think it was a good thing. I'm not sure if John Kerry would have made the ideal President that we needed at that time, but who knows. I'm not saying that President Bush should have won in 2004, but I am saying that things happen for a reason. Plus John Edwards got out fairly easily with the whole affair thing, and 4 more years just showed how inept Bush is/was as a President.

Putting it into perspective, President Bush has been in office since I was a Freshman in high school. I practically grew up and formed my own personal values and beliefs based on him being our President. And as our President, he was less than perfect to say the least. As far as I can say for my generation, President Obama is someone that does stand for change, because he is everything that these past 8 years of fail is not. He is someone that stands for hope, the hope that America can rebuild from the mess left behind from its predecessor, the hope that we don't have to worry if we will lose our jobs (or even find a job at all), the hope that we can return to the America it used to be, United, as one.

Tomorrow, we get a fresh start. Good morning, America. Nice to meet you.

It's a new day.


A policeman walks past Shepard Fairey's portrait of US President-elect Barack Obama after it was installed at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington on January 17, 2009. By Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty.