I share a lot of links on Twitter and Facebook that I don’t blog about because I don’t have much to add. The reading list is a periodic feature where I share those links with my blog audience too. Of course, you’re still welcome to follow me on Twitter.

• “Protesting sexism, comic book artists pull out of running for Angoulême Grand Prix“–“Franck Bondoux, the Executive Officer of the festival, was quick to offer a non-explanation for the shortlist’s overwhelming maleness; they just couldn’t find any women!”
• “Twitter’s New Mental Health Policy Could Put Users at Risk“–“I use Twitter to talk with people and to make connections with people with similar issues and interests; having Twitter hover over me like a dystopian Big Brother monitoring and possibly responding to my every interaction with people — especially when it comes to these very personal, deep topics — will make me less willing to engage with people.”
• “Why President Obama’s Tears of Righteous Anger Matter“–“But that’s not what I picked up as a child, when I was a sensitive kid often moved to tears and relentlessly bullied and mocked for it by my peers. I learned then that crying was weakness, that it was unacceptable, that I deserved mockery and ostracism for it.”
• “I Confronted the Doctor Who Missed My Cancer“–“I didn’t question him when he prescribed antidepressants — rather than another MRI — after I confided I was sleep-deprived from constant knifing back pain. I convinced myself that his inability to fix me was my failure, not his.”
• “Women Are Learning About Herbal Abortion Online — Here’s Why That’s a Problem“–“Susun Weed, an author and authority on herbal medicine, told Mic she won’t advise a woman on herbal abortifacients unless the patient makes an appointment for a medication abortion or a surgical D&C first, because herbs simply don’t have the same level of efficacy.”
• “High-intensity interval training has great gains — and pain“–“And some psychologists question whether a workout that’s so uncomfortable should be promoted in public health campaigns. Will people work through the pain? Or will promotion of such difficult workouts just make people give up in frustration?”
• “‘Adulting’ is an Indictment of Society, Not of Millennials“–“If you think people who don’t want to adult are lazy, you haven’t been watching some of them pour hours and weeks and years into making and perfecting their arts. They’re not averse to work – they’re averse to meaningless work that makes the rich even richer.”
• “Oregon Residents Call For End Of Armed Militia Occupation“–“The occupiers were polite, kept the area clean, and didn’t seem to pose a threat, they said. Even so, it was time for them to go home, Rodney Johnson said.”
• “Thoughts from Chief Sjolander…“–“We are here to help, we won’t judge you, laugh at you, belittle you, or ask why you stayed as long as you did. We know each situation is unique, just as each of us is unique.”
• “Why I Almost Slapped a Fellow Theatre Patron, and What That Says About Our Theatres“–“Now I know some readers will think: They were just a little socially inept, maybe even crazy. Write it off as a random moment of one crazy person and let’s keep moving.”
• “Bats do it, so why shouldn’t you? The science of oral sex“–“No, evolutionary psychology is perhaps more akin to looking into a mirror and trying to describe your great-great-great-grandfather. And why, evolutionarily-speaking, he ate pussy like a demon.”
• “King County’s ‘Unprecedented’ Prostitution Sting Has Shut Down a Popular Vetting Tool for Sex Workers“–“Sex workers have also criticized the prosecuting attorney for failing to distinguish between trafficked victims and consensual sex providers; actions like shutting down TRB and potentially punishing its entire customer base, they argue, puts willing sex workers in danger.”
• “Gatekeepers: The Nerd/Jock False Division“–“Labels are the weapon of the gatekeeper, a way they try to keep out whatever does not fit their narrow views, a way they seek to exert control over that which is not theirs to own.”
• “‘Born this way’ beliefs may not be the key to reducing homophobia“–“Even among those who believed gay men are ‘born that way,’ those who also believed gay men are ‘all the same and act the same way’ were more likely to hold prejudicial attitudes toward gay men, Grzanka said.”
• “What to do when you’re not the hero any more“–“The way we tell stories is changing. The change is creeping slow and political as hell. Just look at the diverse stories we’ve had this year, none of them perfect, all of them groundbreaking in the simplest and most shocking of ways.”
• “UN urged to label Isis crimes against Yazidi community as genocide“–“The letter, published by the BBC, said there was ‘clear evidence of Isis assassinations of church leaders, mass murders, torture, kidnapping for ransom in the Christian communities of Iraq and Syria and the sexual enslavement and systematic rape of Christian girls and women’.”
• “How the Michigan state government poisoned the children of Flint“–“To save $36,500 a year or maybe a little more, the city failed to treat the Flint River water, leaving it corrosive and able to leach lead and copper from the aging pipes used to transport it.”

I share a lot of links on Twitter and Facebook that I don’t blog about because I don’t have much to add. The reading list is a periodic feature where I share those links with my blog audience too. Of course, you’re still welcome to follow me on Twitter.

• “The Year of the Imaginary College Student“–“But the alarm about offense-seeking college students may say more about the critics of political correctness than it does about the actual state of affairs.”
• “The Mystery of the Missing Boardgame“–“This made me very sad. I assumed that I must have left it at the convention, even though games very rarely end up missing at that particular con.”
• “Michael Shermer: Murdering the facts about Homo naledi?“–“The schoolkids understood right away that the idea of murder and sacrifice don’t match the evidence that we have so far. Shermer preferred to speculate without evidence and publish an essay without fact-checking.”
• “No, Anti-Feminists Didn’t Cost Star Wars Any Money“–“As ridiculous as that may be—and it is perhaps the stupidest thing yet said about the film—their recent claims about just how much of an impact their, ahem, ‘balanced, critical reporting’ has had on the film’s financial success are even more ludicrous.”
• “Contempt Culture“–“We don’t reinforce our communities with respect or a sense of achievement, but with shame and contempt and awfulness. We exclude people. I’ve excluded people. Directly, me.”
• “No Vaccination, No Camp. Finally.“–“During the flu epidemic of 2008–09, I watched as dozens of kids came down with a new flu strain, one for which a shot had not yet been developed. It was a frightening lesson in what can happen in unvaccinated populations.”
• “California Bans Use Of Grand Juries In Police Shooting Cases“–“‘The use of the criminal grand jury process, and the refusal to indict as occurred in Ferguson and other communities of color, has fostered an atmosphere of suspicion that threatens to compromise our justice system.'”
• “4 Common Lies You Should Stop Believing About Black Single Mothers Right Now“–“Tropes declaring Black women can’t properly raise children by themselves springboards from this legacy of deceit. And it’s from these fabrications that we see the responsibility for Black oppression, poverty, and criminalization placed at the feet of our women.”
• “Minneapolis NAACP calls for boycott of Mall of America over restraint of 14-year-old girl“–“As the teen attempted to make change for bus fare in the mall’s transit hub, four security guards restrained her face down on the floor as she screamed for them to get off her back.”
• “Timeline: Land Use and the ‘Patriots’“–“It also explores some of the antecedents to both the Bundy standoff and the Patriot movement, in particular such themes as the ‘county supremacy’ ideology embraced by Bundy and his many armed supporters in the militia groups.”
• “Why the Post Office Makes America Great“–“I bit my tongue and did not tell my already suspicious friends that the country was also dotted with libraries that provided books to all patrons free of charge. They wouldn’t believe me anyway since I hadn’t believed it myself.”
• “Read about the Worldcon supporting membership grant recipients, in their own words.“–“What I love best about this collection of paragraphs is that it really makes it clear that people who love SFF come from every walk of life. Liberals, Libertarians, moms, students, teachers… we all love this geeky stuff.”
• “The problem with science journalism: we’ve forgotten that reality matters most“–“Science journalists may write about science, but it’s also our job to look beyond wonders, hypotheses and data. It is to look at the people doing the science and whether they have conflicts of interest, or trace where their money is coming from. It is to look at power structures, to see who is included in the work and who is excluded or marginalized, whether because of gender or race or any other identity.”
• “Lumosity to Pay $2 Million to Settle FTC Deceptive Advertising Charges for its ‘Brain Training’ Program“–“‘Lumosity preyed on consumers’ fears about age-related cognitive decline, suggesting their games could stave off memory loss, dementia, and even Alzheimer’s disease,’ said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.”
• “Cosby Charged in Case of Temple U Employee“–“The resolution also condemned Patrick O’Connor, Temple’s board chair, for representing Cosby 10 years ago when he was sued by a woman. Faculty leaders said it was a conflict of interest for O’Connor to represent Cosby when both were on the board together, potentially making it unlikely that the board would rethink its ties to Cosby.”
• “Today’s gun culture is NOT American tradition.“–“In 1934, [the] NRA testified in support of 1st federal gun law which cracked down on machine guns.”

I share a lot of links on Twitter and Facebook that I don’t blog about because I don’t have much to add. The reading list is a periodic feature where I share those links with my blog audience too. Of course, you’re still welcome to follow me on Twitter.

• “Bookstore puts Trump, Carson in ‘Humor’ section“–“‘There are a lot of people, particularly on the other side, who really have a very different philosophy of America,’ Carson said during the interview.”
• “‘Shut Up, I’m Talking’: Why I Refuse To Educate Bigoted People“–“Here’s my experience: when someone I’ve called ignorant demands I educate them, they don’t want me to be patient—they want me to have infinite patience, to listen to them affably, without anger, however they behave, and to treat anything they say as valuable.”
• “What No One Said about Rey (Star Wars Spoilers!)“–“In the originals, Leia was competent and capable and became a role model for generations of girls, but all three films were filled with hot princess comments.”
• “A Sensitive Subject: On Family and Sincere Insensitivity“–“And there it is, her gift to me on my birthday. The candles are blown out, and the wish is made. Her wish, not mine.”
• “New Chrome App Helps Women Stop Saying ‘Just’ and ‘Sorry’ in Emails“–“Still, part of me always cringes when people tell women that the way they speak or write is wrong. One reason why women have adopted these kinds of speech and writing patterns is because, historically, they’ve gotten pushback for appearing too decisive and demanding (read: just as decisive and demanding as men).”
• “Lost Soles“–“Most were shocked to hear that it had even happened, even though they—like my husband, who didn’t realize I’d disappeared to the bathroom because I’d been horribly hurt, because I didn’t tell anyone, because no one was looking for it—were standing right next to me when it happened.”
• “The Developer Formerly Known as FreeBSDGirl“–“I had talked to someone from the FreeBSD Foundation earlier on the phone about what was happening. During this same conversation, they actually said ‘maybe you should be nicer.'”
• “The Sudden But Well-Deserved Fall of Rahm Emanuel“–“For twenty years now, there have been those who say that this emperor never had any clothes on in the first place. Given the speed and intensity of his fall, perhaps it’s time to reconsider their case.”
• “A New Year’s Resolution For Science Advocates: Don’t Cry Wolfe“–“Wolfe draws in followers with cute, inspirational, and share-worthy graphics and posts, and then hits them with far less innocuous content.”
• “3 Keys to Progress the Secular Community Needs in 2016“–“We live in a white-oriented, male-centered, heteronormative culture. Make it a habit to remove yourself from the typical whitewashed, insular narratives you’ve grown accustomed to and immerse yourself in the plight and outlook of others foreign to your background and worldview.”
• “The En-Gendering Of Genius“–“And that is why, in responding to this year’s Edge Question, I first began to write about the icecaps. But perhaps the insignificant measure we assign to the under-estimation of the creative potential of more than half our population is itself a manifestation of the problem.”