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.
Around FtB
- Why didn’t a microbiologist perform Swan Lake?–“Oh the hell with it. I was going to confine my kvetching on this one to Facebook, but the hell with it – it’s too annoying to leave.”
- Marthe Gautier, another woman scientist trivialized–“I had known that Jérôme Lejeune was the fellow who had discovered that Down Syndrome was caused by trisomy of chromosome 21, but it seems there were many other things about him I had not known — he was just a name. But there were a few things that set me aback.”
- Fake tweet, legit topics of discussion.–“Piers Morgan is no stranger to controversy lately, where in his TV show’s dying days, he sought to turn Janet Mock’s life into infotainment, doing immense splash damage to trans folks in the process. It’s no wonder people are taking it upon themselves to shame him in innumerable ways.”
- Why I Support Rouhani–“To a western reader it might seem strange that a strong radical atheist like me has devoted his political life in supporting the reformists, who are a faction of Islamic Republic, and not seculars.”
- I am left cursing–“Here’s a video of a young man being executed in Iran. He wants to say goodbye to his mother who can be heard screaming in the crowd.”
- It’s Okay Not To Disagree With Your Friends About Politics–“I’ve seen a lot of articles and discussions lately on the theme of “why you should have friends who disagree with you [about politics].” Given how uncritically this view is often presented, I want to complicate it a little.”
- Quick, while I have the TERFs and MRAs distracted, go solve all the problems!–“Nearly twenty years ago, when I was a sixteen year old wide-eyed innocent who believed the human race is generally good, I was victimized by someone’s lies. I told the story on this blog in hopes of achieving some measure of catharsis for myself, and providing real support to others for whom the same sort of lie had damaged their lives.”
The Wider Web
- Judge accuses woman with Down syndrome of not acting like a victim in rape trial–“According to his ruling, Judge Christopher McFadden claimed that a new trial was necessary because the unnamed victim waited a day before reporting the rape, and because she did not behave like a rape victim.”
- Manufactured Mommy Wars. Le Sigh.–“A recent study found that there was no effect of breastfeeding on several long-term health and behavioral outcomes in U.S. children (Colen and Ramey 2014). Cue the media feeding frenzy and online mommy-war finger wagging.”
- 6 months of gay marriage has state confronting profound change–“Thom Bieniek remembers when he had to go by the name “Marissa” just to communicate with his partner Tyler Bieniek during Tyler’s combat deployment in Afghanistan in 2009.”
- There’s More Than One Way for a Person to Be Illegal–“We know about the noble struggles of immigrants: how many fight poverty as well as oppressive legal and cultural systems to survive and even thrive. They are not the only people called illegal.”
- The Value of Selectivity in Dating, Discussions, and Comment Moderation–“One of the strangest ones to hear about, for me, is the guys who respond to rejection with some variation on “Just give me a chance, you don’t want to miss out on a really good thing!”.”
- If He’s Sexually Aggressive In Bars, It’s Not Because He’s Drunk–“Young women are often the targets of aggression when they’re out in bars, but the problem isn’t that guys are too drunk to know better. Instead, men are preying on women who have had too much to drink.”
- The Outstanding Imagery of Amanda Reese–“You want some Yellowstone? You got some Yellowstone!”
- Attack of the paranormal mermaid romance novel: Why you should never, ever lose a bet to David Shiffman–“It seemed innocent enough. I was in the middle of a job search, paying the bills with consulting, freelance work, and science writing while pursuing the next academic appointment. Finally having a bit of time, I wrote a science fiction novel, something I’ve always wanted to do.”