The Reading List, 9/6/2015

I discontinued this feature last year for the amount of work, but I still want a place for these links. I’ll probably play with the format, frequency, and number of links a bit until I get something I like.

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.

  • “This is not the only fishy aspect of these investigations. The final press release, sent out on Aug. 5, accused Planned Parenthood doctors of providing second-trimester abortions in clinics that weren’t licensed for the procedures. Sounds bad, right? But Planned Parenthood argued that the accusation was based on a misreading of how Florida law defines the second trimester of pregnancy.” Read more.
  • “Identifying mushrooms can be a lot of fun, but it can also leave you with beautiful artwork. Today I would like to tell you about the mycologist’s art: spore prints.” Read more.
  • “Teehee, who then served as the first-ever senior policy advisor for Native American affairs for President Barack Obama’s administration, was instrumental in advising the president’s team and working with advocates on how to prosecute non-Natives who abuse Native women on tribal lands.” Read more.
  • “When we try to make sense of history, especially the history of capital-M Movements, we tend to mythologize a single-minded march toward justice. But the civil rights movement was diverse. There was a dominant theme, but there was dissonance, too. There was competition. There was strife. Forty years later, two of its luminaries stood before my college class and delivered opposing takes on its legacy. How did these differences actually play out in the history of the civil rights movement? Who was right?” Read more.
  • “The new rules don’t force insurers to cover any specific treatment — including gender confirmation surgery — but do require them to demonstrate their coverage policies aren’t designed to discriminate against people because of their gender identity. For example, insurers and medical providers wouldn’t be allowed to refuse ovarian cancer treatments to a patient who identifies as a man. The rules also provide patients a legal recourse if they believe they aren’t being treated equally.” Read more.
  • “There is an odd cult of masculinity around things that taste like shit and being able to eat things that taste like shit and/or hurt you when you eat them (cinnamon challenge anyone?). Oddly, putting oneself in situations that require pain or discomfort is seen as good and manly and powerful and strong, whereas actually doing things you enjoy is seen as girly (unless it’s eating a steak which gets a pass because killing things and eating their flesh is also manly). And for that reason, eating things that are sweet is considered feminine. It’s delicate, because only weak ladies feel the need to consume things that go down easy.” Read more.
  • “Davis is the government in this case, and she is quite literally prohibiting the free exercise of couples in her county to enter their holy bonds of matrimony. Davis is also clearly violating the Establishment Clause as well, as her actions are essentially putting the county government under the heel of her personal religious beliefs, establishing them for everyone. ” Read more.
  • “In other words, the judge believes SCOTUS changed the definition of marriage when it ruled in favor of nationwide marriage equality earlier this summer, therefore it must also change the definition of divorce, and until then he won’t allow anyone, same- or opposite sex, to end their unions.” Read more.
  • “In general, though, the trend is clear. The number of homicides in major U.S. cities has declined spectacularly, and the streets appear much safer than they were just a few years ago. As for the recent increase in crime, it isn’t yet clear whether the number of homicides in Baltimore is just an outlier, a result of tense relations between police and civilians, or a harbinger of a reversal in the national trend.” Read more.
  • “My parents get a call from the hospital just prior to the shooting. They say, ‘Hey, we’re ready to discharge Alan, he’s ready to go.’ My parents say the same thing they’ve been saying the whole time. ‘Listen, we’ve seen this once before, we don’t want him to be discharged. Please give us references for another facility.’ And the hospital staff says, ‘Yeah, just come in, he’s ready to go.’ At some point someone says ‘he’s playing games’ to my mother. That’s a quote.” Read more.
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The Reading List, 9/6/2015
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