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.
- “Lightspeed and Uncanny Magazine Announce People with Disabilities Destroy SF!“–“In 2017, the Destroy series will continue with a People with Disabilities Destroy Science Fiction! special issue, and it will be filled with the same quality material you’ve come to expect from the series—but it won’t be a special issue of Lightspeed. We’re delighted to pass the Destroy torch to our friends at Uncanny Magazine.”
- “If Women Are Better at Coding, It’s Because They Have to Be“–“The researchers cited a 2013 survey that found women in open-source are more likely than men to hold master’s or Ph.D. degrees, and workplace studies support the notion that women who perform as well as men tend to be rewarded at a lower rate.”
- “5 logical fallacies that aren’t always fallacious“–“Many skeptics have diligently learned what the fallacies are, but end up incorrectly identifying them. These false positives are understandable, but we would all benefit from putting some extra effort into our analysis.”
- “I sat beside Obama at the Black Lives Matter meeting. This was no political show“–“Political theater is real. Our fears are valid. But they don’t always come to pass.”
- “MSF President: ‘Syria is a kill box’“–“The latest attack came just three days ago, on 15 February, in Maraat al-Numan, Idlib Province. At 9:00 a.m., airstrikes destroyed a hospital supported by MSF.”
- “2015 Nebula Awards Nominees Announced“
- “Could you ever love a sex robot?” (Mild NSFW illustrations)–“Robots are already serving coffee, hoovering floors, minesweeping, organising our schedules, talking to us, and so on, and not only do we often treat them as we would our human colleagues, we seem utterly incapable of not doing so.”
- “5 Problems with Hookup Culture – And How to Take It Back from Sexism“–“And if your partner doesn’t care enough about you to bother asking you what you’re into or making sure that you’re enjoying yourself, it might be time to find another hookup. Casual doesn’t have to mean careless or boring.”
- “Don’t Be A Dick: On Atheism, Cruelty and Kindness“–“Having the right answers meant that I was smarter than they were, and that meant that I was better than they were, and that was a small comfort while they were pouring orange juice in my schoolbag.”
- “Kasich signs Ohio bill diverting Planned Parenthood funding“–“The money, which is mostly federal, supports HIV testing, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and prevention of violence against women. The legislation prohibits such funds from going to entities that perform or promote abortions, their affiliates and those that contract with an entity that performs abortions.”
- “Don’t Put an Atheist on the Supreme Court“–“If we are going to select Justices in the hope that they will represent a particular religious population, then the most severely underrepresented group is Protestant Christians, who currently have no representative on the Court despite making up almost half of the US population.”
- “Public toilets – the new battleground for bigots wanting to legislate trans people out of existence“–“The far-right Christian lobbyist organisation the Family Research Council (which was listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2010) announced a five-point plan last year to, as Tannehill put it, ‘legislate transgender people out of existence by making the legal, medical and social climate too hostile for anyone to transition in’.”
- “Inspiration Porn: Don’t Take Pictures of Disabled People Without Their Consent“–“Some suggested rules for life as a good person”
- “Mark Oshiro Says ConQuesT Didn’t Act On His Harassment Complaints“–“In light of what I’ll reveal at the end, I find it more important than ever to talk about the persistent and pervasive racial and sexual abuse/harassment I was the victim of at ConQuesT because I did everything I was told to do in the event that I was harassed.”
- “In Support of Ellen Oh“–“So if, as white writers, we are taking up one of the coveted, few spots at the publishing table for books about POC and A) we’re not POC and B) we do it wrong?”
- “Why Bernie Sanders’s campaign makes me worry about how he’ll manage the White House“–“Management isn’t the sexiest or most inspiring of topics. But, as Jimmy Carter can tell you, it matters.”
- “DEADPOOL’s Success is About Truth in Character, Not Raunch“–“Now, unlike Deadpool or certainly Batman, the Guardians weren’t that well known, and even the characters in the movie were from a reboot that was only a few years old. But it was a movie that trusted its weirdness and didn’t try to emulate the rest of the MCU.”
- “How Society Pays When Women’s Work Is Unpaid“–“When the time women spend on unpaid work shrinks to three hours a day from five hours, their labor force participation increases 10 percent, according to the O.E.C.D. When women are not able to go to school, their children are less healthy and more likely to stay in poverty.”
- “Not a Nice Story“–“As if no one can connect the dots. As if their actions did not have consequences. As if a child can be raised to hate themselves in the Name of God and suddenly grow into an adult that is healthy.”
- “Adventures in Rhetorical Brilliance: Black Law Students of Georgetown and Scalia“–“If cultural and political conservatives accept that language has power (see: ‘War on Christmas’) when used against them, then all language has power.”
- “Being the Disclaimer Sentence: Ex-Muslims in Religious Discussions“–“There needs to be an understanding in liberal religious discussions in the West that Islam deserves the same in-depth and lengthy discussion as Christianity receives, and that someone focusing more often on the religion they know and that hurt them is understandable for both people from Muslim and non-Muslim backgrounds.”
- “This is #BlackLivesMatter activist DeRay Mckesson’s 26-page plan to transform Baltimore as mayor“–“Two weeks ago, Mckesson released the first part of his platform, which tackled police reform and education. In that document, he discussed his most radical proposal: mandatory anti-racism training.”
- “The Status Quo Does Not Need World Building“–“It is implied in every detail that is left out as ‘understood by everyone,’ in every action or reaction considered unimportant for whatever reason, in every activity or description ignored because it is seen as not worthy of the doughty thews of real literature.”