I had no idea that the White House had established a web site specifically to host petitions. Some of them are quite wacky, but the one I got an email from CFI (the Center for Inquiry) about today is very worthy: Call upon the Indonesian government to respect the freedom […]
Read MoreBeing good at slinging a ball around doesn’t make you a hero, part 327
As the Penn State report is being reviewed, and people are talking about how a man could rape multiple children over a sustained period with the protection of his colleagues, I see explanations of “hero worship” and comparisons to the Catholic church again and again. I won’t say these explanations […]
Read MoreHow to destroy a woman
Taslima Nasreen has a horrifying post up at No Country for Women on individual cases of women attacked with acid in different countries. It includes a lot of photos, so be forewarned. Each woman had acid thrown in her face, with the result of being disfigured beyond recognition and often […]
Read MoreEqual opportunity flirt-slaying
I received an email this morning from Change.org: “Yeah, I killed him, but he did worse to me.” In 1997, a man in Queensland, Australia killed a gay man who he claimed flirted with him by bashing his head into a wall and stabbing him to death. Today, “gay panic” is still […]
Read MoreYou have the freedom to make rape jokes. Should you?
There is no way, I think, to more thoroughly annoy a proponent of free speech than to claim that criticism violates it. It’s hard enough defending free speech sometimes. People don’t see anything wrong with stopping the Westboro Baptists from protesting. Denying the Holocaust? Yeah, go ahead and outlaw that. […]
Read MoreWhen a cult rules a town
Two former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) found a kitten, still alive, mostly buried in concrete inside a metal tube on one of the men’s property in Colorado City, Arizona. The tube was of one of six standing upright in the ground, intended for use […]
Read MoreCasual Sunday. Casual everyday.
Spotted at infidel753.blogspot.com I am not one of those people who enjoys dressing up. I do not fault them for it, and wish them all the best, but I am not one of them. Sure, it can be fun for a wedding or fancy dinner, but generally speaking I am […]
Read MoreWeekend web readin’
I’ve been slacking with the interesting articles sharing lately. Let’s fix that. From The Raw Story: Global report: Decriminalization does not increase rates of drug use Money quote: The report, A Quiet Revolution: Drug Decriminalisation Policies in Practice Across the Globe, “looks at over 20 countries that have adopted some form […]
Read More…Not yet
I often say that offense is a valuable thing– as appealing as it might seem, you really wouldn’t want to be a person who isn’t offended by anything, because that would mean losing your humanity. People who go through life being oversensitive are in a bad state because they’re suffering […]
Read MoreDoes it get easier?
Gaming as Women has an excellent advice post up today. The letter-writer wants to know if it gets easier to be a feminist: Right now it is very hard to be a feminist when I am constantly told that I shouldn’t be one, that I’m doing it wrong somehow, and […]
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