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Let's lead off with a nice big depressing thing - If it isn't a house that is sucking away all your money, it's your student loans - and even though private industry is out of the game, that doesn't mean the game has changed any - the government now gets to profit off of students having to take out government loans for college. And they aren't shy about harassment, garnishment, or employing the worst of collectors to collect.
Regrettably, it gets worse. An Irish 17 year-old at an Eminem concert had a photo taken of her giving a boy oral sex, which then spread about the Internet. As one might guess from the set-up, the grand majority of comments, RTs and hashtagging involved slut-shaming the girl and leaving the boy free of criticism. This is not new. This is only faster than it was before, and spread to a wider audience. There were some using the tag to try and point out the obvious misogyny involved, but those voices were fewer than the ones promoting said misogyny. Seems like we need the equivalent of drink-dialing protection for photo sharing - not that it will necessarily stop things, but then people have to at least have thought about it before posting these things...or so we hope, anyway.
Keeping in the theme, benevolent sexism, or the situation where trying to compliment someone is still horribly sexist. Which is the sort of situation a lot of Nice Guys run into, and then get hostile when their compliment is not accepted as such. Complimenting people on the wrong attributes for the context, or in ways that indicate you only think of them on stereotypical ways, aren't necessarily compliments. Context is king. Additionally, it is totally possible, and used by creepy people, to pressure someone without appearing to trip any warning flags to observers. Which is why it's important to trust women when they tell you those things.
Organizers for as commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of a civil rights March on Washington, D.C. tried to find prominent Republicans to come speak at the event. They all declined, with at least one declining to go meet with oil company executives. Conservatives were initially furious at no Republican presence, presuming none had been asked, but when the truth came out, Even prominent figures such as Bill O&apps;Reilly corrected the error that had been made.
So remember how Washington State legalized marijuana use and possession in certain cases last year? For this year's Hempfest, the Seattle Police Department distributed bags of chips with a sticker on them about he particulars of marijuana usage and what will still get smokers cited. The comments suggest SPD will also collect used bags and build a database of "known drug users" to use against them if some other offense appears, supported by history that says SPD and the King County Sheriff have several officers that are not particularly interested in good public service. The sticker itself, however, must have been fun for someone to write.
As it turns out, the Attorney General says he is not interested in pursuing federal suit against Washington state or Colorado over their recreational marijuana legalization, wisely deciding he has other, bigger, and more dangerous fish to fry.
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service will recognize all valid and legal same-sex marriages for the purposes of federal tax law. WOOHOO! Now, to make it so that nobody has to cross state lines to get a valid and legal marriage...
A Louisiana Republican was all in favor of throwing state support behind religious schools (in the form of vouchers), constitutional issues be fragged, right up to the point where a Muslim school applied for said state support. Because, apparently, when it's all about Christians getting support (One True Religion and all that), they're fine with it. But if those icky Muslims want to be treated the same, then it's unacceptable. (Reason of choice: Muslims are taking over the country and springing up radical schools everywhere, a thousand or more in Louisiana alone. We never said they were good reasons.) And thus, another Republican learns the hard way why several Founders were adamant on the part where Congress would not interfere with religious practice, not attempt to establish an official religion. At least this time, they're being honest about their prejudices instead of trying to cloak it in some sort of other bullshit.
Speaking of bullshit, The phenomenon of bullshit jobs, or, how despite advances in technology, most of us are still stuck doing 40 hours or more at jobs we hate, while being unable to pursue our passions because they don't pay well enough. And then we get on Facebook, and we feel less good about ourselves because we compare ourselves to others. Which, if we have not learned the duck lesson, only compounds the issue. It is still folly to compare your inside life to other people's outside lives, no matter how natural it seems. (Physician, heal thyself. We know.) Additionally, the measure of your "reality" regarding any role in your life is not measured by how hardcore you are at it.
For more physical issues - breaking the cycle of self-criticism through being exemplary...and by being able to teach the duck lesson without a quack.
And now, with fast food workers striking and agitating for better wages and benefits, a robot that can cook, assemble, and serve up to 340 burgers per hour. Because this is how technology is used - to replace anyone who agitates. Soon, though, there won't be replacable people, or the people will be able to shift the economy so that the tech frees people up rather than forcing them into unemployment.
Brain scans suggest that psychopaths may be persons whose default state of empathy is ":off", but who may be able to turn it on if prompted correctly.
The Mako Mori Test: a female character gets her own narrative arc that is not in support of a male character. Suggested as a companion to the Bechdel Test as another indicator of minimal feminism amounts.
A repository of links for social justice issues at the Pharyngula Wiki - lots of things to peruse, many with trigger warnings. More immediately, if your Congresscritter wants to cut food stamps / SNAP / TANF / WIC, then there's a high possibility they are okay with people dying of starvation. And why disablism might be a better term for discrimination based on disability, instead of ableism.
Beyond the Binary: Twenty-four questions about gender, sex, trans* issues, genderfluidiy, genderqueerness, and more.
A photography project - examining the contents of suitcases belonging to the residents of the Willard Psychiatric Center. Done with respect, and interest in the artifacts, rather than salacious stories of the residents.
In tech, Motorola is introducing an unlocking NFC chip, the Skip, which they think will make it easy to have complex passwords for phones, but will also likely make it easier for thieves and grifters to steal things from your phone by stealing your chip as well. And law enforcement won't have to get a warrant to search your phone, either.
Recommendations on picking the best out of Massively Open Online Courses, from someone with a lot of experience with them.
Last out, an attempt to define introversion in relation to various social situations, and sixteen words whose origins and usage are much older than the slang of the kids these days.
Oh, and pizza rolls resembling the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom, and a game that's all about making a lot of cookies.
Regrettably, it gets worse. An Irish 17 year-old at an Eminem concert had a photo taken of her giving a boy oral sex, which then spread about the Internet. As one might guess from the set-up, the grand majority of comments, RTs and hashtagging involved slut-shaming the girl and leaving the boy free of criticism. This is not new. This is only faster than it was before, and spread to a wider audience. There were some using the tag to try and point out the obvious misogyny involved, but those voices were fewer than the ones promoting said misogyny. Seems like we need the equivalent of drink-dialing protection for photo sharing - not that it will necessarily stop things, but then people have to at least have thought about it before posting these things...or so we hope, anyway.
Keeping in the theme, benevolent sexism, or the situation where trying to compliment someone is still horribly sexist. Which is the sort of situation a lot of Nice Guys run into, and then get hostile when their compliment is not accepted as such. Complimenting people on the wrong attributes for the context, or in ways that indicate you only think of them on stereotypical ways, aren't necessarily compliments. Context is king. Additionally, it is totally possible, and used by creepy people, to pressure someone without appearing to trip any warning flags to observers. Which is why it's important to trust women when they tell you those things.
Organizers for as commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of a civil rights March on Washington, D.C. tried to find prominent Republicans to come speak at the event. They all declined, with at least one declining to go meet with oil company executives. Conservatives were initially furious at no Republican presence, presuming none had been asked, but when the truth came out, Even prominent figures such as Bill O&apps;Reilly corrected the error that had been made.
So remember how Washington State legalized marijuana use and possession in certain cases last year? For this year's Hempfest, the Seattle Police Department distributed bags of chips with a sticker on them about he particulars of marijuana usage and what will still get smokers cited. The comments suggest SPD will also collect used bags and build a database of "known drug users" to use against them if some other offense appears, supported by history that says SPD and the King County Sheriff have several officers that are not particularly interested in good public service. The sticker itself, however, must have been fun for someone to write.
As it turns out, the Attorney General says he is not interested in pursuing federal suit against Washington state or Colorado over their recreational marijuana legalization, wisely deciding he has other, bigger, and more dangerous fish to fry.
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service will recognize all valid and legal same-sex marriages for the purposes of federal tax law. WOOHOO! Now, to make it so that nobody has to cross state lines to get a valid and legal marriage...
A Louisiana Republican was all in favor of throwing state support behind religious schools (in the form of vouchers), constitutional issues be fragged, right up to the point where a Muslim school applied for said state support. Because, apparently, when it's all about Christians getting support (One True Religion and all that), they're fine with it. But if those icky Muslims want to be treated the same, then it's unacceptable. (Reason of choice: Muslims are taking over the country and springing up radical schools everywhere, a thousand or more in Louisiana alone. We never said they were good reasons.) And thus, another Republican learns the hard way why several Founders were adamant on the part where Congress would not interfere with religious practice, not attempt to establish an official religion. At least this time, they're being honest about their prejudices instead of trying to cloak it in some sort of other bullshit.
Speaking of bullshit, The phenomenon of bullshit jobs, or, how despite advances in technology, most of us are still stuck doing 40 hours or more at jobs we hate, while being unable to pursue our passions because they don't pay well enough. And then we get on Facebook, and we feel less good about ourselves because we compare ourselves to others. Which, if we have not learned the duck lesson, only compounds the issue. It is still folly to compare your inside life to other people's outside lives, no matter how natural it seems. (Physician, heal thyself. We know.) Additionally, the measure of your "reality" regarding any role in your life is not measured by how hardcore you are at it.
For more physical issues - breaking the cycle of self-criticism through being exemplary...and by being able to teach the duck lesson without a quack.
And now, with fast food workers striking and agitating for better wages and benefits, a robot that can cook, assemble, and serve up to 340 burgers per hour. Because this is how technology is used - to replace anyone who agitates. Soon, though, there won't be replacable people, or the people will be able to shift the economy so that the tech frees people up rather than forcing them into unemployment.
Brain scans suggest that psychopaths may be persons whose default state of empathy is ":off", but who may be able to turn it on if prompted correctly.
The Mako Mori Test: a female character gets her own narrative arc that is not in support of a male character. Suggested as a companion to the Bechdel Test as another indicator of minimal feminism amounts.
A repository of links for social justice issues at the Pharyngula Wiki - lots of things to peruse, many with trigger warnings. More immediately, if your Congresscritter wants to cut food stamps / SNAP / TANF / WIC, then there's a high possibility they are okay with people dying of starvation. And why disablism might be a better term for discrimination based on disability, instead of ableism.
Beyond the Binary: Twenty-four questions about gender, sex, trans* issues, genderfluidiy, genderqueerness, and more.
A photography project - examining the contents of suitcases belonging to the residents of the Willard Psychiatric Center. Done with respect, and interest in the artifacts, rather than salacious stories of the residents.
In tech, Motorola is introducing an unlocking NFC chip, the Skip, which they think will make it easy to have complex passwords for phones, but will also likely make it easier for thieves and grifters to steal things from your phone by stealing your chip as well. And law enforcement won't have to get a warrant to search your phone, either.
Recommendations on picking the best out of Massively Open Online Courses, from someone with a lot of experience with them.
Last out, an attempt to define introversion in relation to various social situations, and sixteen words whose origins and usage are much older than the slang of the kids these days.
Oh, and pizza rolls resembling the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom, and a game that's all about making a lot of cookies.
