Note to readers: I’m going to be quoting some rather icky rape apologist and shaming language here, for reasons of critique. I feel like I should warn you so that you can, you know, not read this if you would rather not be exposed to that sort of thing. Recently, Ouyang Dan pointed me in …
Monthly Archives: November 2009
Frosty Canapes
Global Rich List (via Sociological Images) The Age: Police to have power to strip-search at random Legal experts have labelled the proposed laws, which will enable officers to strip-search children and the disabled, as draconian and a knee-jerk reaction to the problem of drunken violence. No way this can go wrong. Also, thanks for turning …
On Patriotism
“There are two types of patriotism, although sometimes the two are mingled in the same breast. The first kind one might call nationalism; nationalists believe that all other countries are inferior in every respect and that one would do them a favour by dominating them. Other countries are always in the wrong, they are less …
Beyond the Binary
(A slightly different version of part of this post has appeared at FWD.) I know that many of my readers fall within the gender binary, identifying as either male or female, and thus, they may not think, often, about what it’s like to be nonbinary. This is not their fault; for example, I’m not an …
What Is A Woman?
The simple answer to this question is that a woman is a person who says that she is a woman. That she identifies as a woman. That she would like people to use female pronouns when referring to her. A woman is a Miss, a Ms., a Mrs., a Lady, a Dame, a Countess. A …
Humid Submarines
Warning: this ain’t livin’ will be down on Monday, 30 November from 6:00 AM UTC to 9:00 AM UTC! BBC News: Siberian tiger in severe decline The last remaining population of Siberian tigers has declined significantly, according to research. News.com.au: Australian soldier accused of hate crime …firing on a group of seven mostly Aboriginal children …
This Is Just to Say
You know what would be cool? If the President pardoned innocent people on Death Row instead of turkeys. I wrote this last night, and it quickly turned into one of the most quoted things I have ever written. Evidently it spoke to a lot of people. Watching the President indulge in the ritual pardoning of …
Burping Llamas
The Age: Fielding likens same-sex marriage to incest Family First senator Steve Fielding has compared same-sex marriages to incest, as a Senate inquiry yesterday recommended against allowing gay marriage in Australia. Minneapolis City Pages: Anonymous online reviews affecting Twin Cities eateries But many restaurateurs say they have received criticism they felt was false, unfair, or …
Glee: Hairography
I made the probably unwise decision of watching Glee first thing in the morning today. And happened to mention on Twitter (sorry, merideth, I swear it’s relevant!) that I thought it wasn’t possible to be any more infuriated by Glee, and I was wrong. And was promptly told that I am entirely too sensitive and …
House of Night
I recently started reading the House of Night books, in part because several people talked them up to me, and in part because a charming waitperson insisted on loaning me her copies of the first two books. (Take that, New York Times and your snobbish lists of things waitstaff can and can’t do…I’m pretty sure …