Year: 2011

Update

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…on the April 18th beating of a trans woman at McDonald’s in Maryland: From dallasvoice: Teona Brown, 19, has pled guilty Thursday, Aug. 4, to first degree assault charges and a hate crime charge in connection with the beating of transgender woman Chrissy Polis last April in Towson, Md.  The attack was captured on video by a McDonald’s … Read more

The perils of confusing libertarians and right-wingers

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Exhibit A: You might make as big a fool of yourself as Lawrence O’Donnell did. See, there is this video making the rounds of a reporter from Reason magazine talking to Matt Damon (the actor) about incentives to perform one’s job, comparing actors to teachers. But much more important than this exchange was O’Donnell’s reaction … Read more

New blog network: FreethoughtBlogs

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My friend Ed Brayton who currently blogs at Dispatches From the Culture Wars on Scienceblogs is launching a new blogging network specifically for skeptical/humanist concerns called FreethoughtBlogs on Monday, August 1st. You can see the event announcement on Facebook here, and here is the description given: A new blog network is hitting the web on … Read more

Speculations on the economics of sterilization: Denmark edition

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From the blog of Dan Ariely, professor of behavioral economics: The Economics of Sterilization When it comes to sterilization, Denmark has had a rather turbulent history. In 1929, in the midst of rising social concerns regarding an increase in sex crimes and general “degeneracy,” the Danish government passed legislation bordering on eugenics, requiring sterilization in some … Read more

How not to deal with misogyny, gaming edition

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Girls, keep out! Let’s say you’re planning a big party. Unfortunately, when parties like the one you have in mind have been thrown in the past, they have tended to attract…well, some assholes. These assholes direct their ire to and about a certain specific group of people, and it can be really obnoxious, making others … Read more

When is a pasta strainer not a pasta strainer?

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An Austrian man, Niko Alm, was acknowledged the right of wearing a pasta strainer on his head for his driver’s license photo: Pasta strainers are now considered suitable religious headgear in Austria … at least as far as the transport authorities are concerned. Three years after applying for a new driver’s licence, an Austrian man has … Read more