ASK Musings

No matter where you go, there you are.

Monthly Archive: August 2013

Monday

19

August 2013

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What I’m Reading – August 19 2013

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Last night the mister and I watched The House I Live In. It’s a fantastic documentary exploring the war on drugs and how that impacts different classes and races. It was phenomenal, and is available on Netflix streaming.

When I’m not watching movies, here’s what I’m reading:

– A different exploration of Bradley Manning: Story of a human being: Who gets to be Bradley Manning? (h/t @melissagira)

– Laurie Penny with a couple more words on sexism: Of course all men don’t hate women. But all men must know they benefit from sexism (via @PennyRed)

– Fantastic read on how to have a more diverse organization via hiring: Hiring Diversity 101 (h/t @shakestweetz)

– This isn’t the best discussion of being a childfree woman, but it’s something: The choice to be child-free is admirable, not selfish (via @jillfilipovic)

– The idea that breastfeeding  is morally superior sort of fascinates me. Here’s a take I’d not seen before: Explaining why, next time, I won’t breastfeed (h/t @TheMamaFesto)

– Oh FFS. Federal Judge Rules In Favor of Anti-Abortion Extremist Angel Dillard (h/t @shakestweetz)

– This is bizarre: Newspapers say their stories about same-sex marriage disappear from Facebook (h/t @fakedansavage)

– For those who roll their eyes at the harassment women get online: Getting to Know My Critics: Cecil Fuson, Sex Offender (via @rebeccawatson)

– An article about the importance of treating interns with respect! And compensating them! What?! Hired unpaid interns or thinking about it? Read this first (h/t @jennydavis)

– Stay classy, NYPD: Brooklyn Father Of 8 Suffers Fatal Heart Attack After Cops Storm His Home (h/t @JamilSmith)

– Not that I could fit into their largest sizes, but I sometimes bought scarves and accessories there. No more: Forever 21 Employees wake up to bad news UPDATE: Company Confirms (h/t @SarahBurris)

– Julian Assange may have done good things with Wikileaks, but don’t forget: He’s not a friend of women. So, you know, 50% of the population: Assange: Our Only Hope is Ron and Rand Paul, Drudge Report (h/t @AngryBlackLady)

– I should have paid more attention to this. It really is a feminist issue: Why Feminists Should Care About the Baby Veronica Case Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/08/16/why-feminists-should-care-about-baby-veronica-case-150894#.UhDizrw65DE (h/t @ChiefElk)

– More on vaccination: The truth about vaccinations: Your physician knows more than the University of Google (via @JenniferRaff)

– The mister shared this with me today. VERY good idea: Ethical dilemmas faced by software engineers: A request for real-world examples

– Finally, I just watched all of Anita Sarkeesian’s “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games” web series. It’s really great. Check out Part I here:

Thursday

15

August 2013

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Wednesday

14

August 2013

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What I’m Reading – August 14 2013

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Another night, another movie. I just watched “Safety Not Guaranteed” on Netflix. It’s pretty fantastic. It’s a small movie but it feels big. It’s very sweet and interesting. I recommend it.

On with the links.

– Well that was a quick turnaround: Hospital agrees to put 15-year-old on transplant list

– An overview of the #solidarityisforwhitewomen tag, from the woman who started it: #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen: women of color’s issue with digital feminism (via @Karnythia)

– Overview of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Man, I need to read up more on this: The Supreme Court’s War on Indian Children (h/t @ChiefElk)

– Okay. This is funny. Man Creates Very First Website for Women Ever (h/t taralconley)

– Finally, our irony for the evening: Leanin.org’s hiring an intern. An unpaid intern. Yay free labor! Way to limit the pool of candidates to those who have the resources to work for free: Top editor at Sheryl Sandberg’s foundation tries to lean on unpaid intern

Tuesday

13

August 2013

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What I’m Reading – August 13 2013

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I just saw “Kick Ass 2” and it was not good. Depressingly not good. Racist, xenophobic gags (a ‘good guy’ actually says at one point “want me to go Saudi Arabia on that hand of yours?” and then cuts it off). Also so much violence not from a comic-book-superhero-place but from a “wait, is this Saw LX?” place. I really enjoyed the first one, and maybe I missed racism and xenophobia in that one, but man, it’s pretty impossible to ignore in this one. Bad. Really bad.

Now that I’m done with depressing fake stuff, here’s some depressing (and not so depressing) real stuff!

– Tired of reading about race and feminism? Too bad! We Need to Talk About Hugo, Race, and Feminism (via @BitchMedia)

– Another article on the HS issue: Yes, This Is About Race (via @redlightvoices)

– Here’s a term I didn’t know until about a week ago: Microaggressions (h/t @stavvers)

You’ll likely notice the @someone after the articles. I realized today that even though I’ve mentioned I get virtually all these links from interesting folks I follow on twitter, it’s appropriate to actually credit them. If it says ‘via’ it’s because I found it directly from the author; if it’s h/t, it’s the person who tweeted about it but isn’t the author.

– And finally, via the Mister, Back to the Future. In 60 seconds.

 

Monday

12

August 2013

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COMMENTS

What I’m Reading – August 12 2013

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Below are articles that have pretty much entirely come to me based on folks I follow on Twitter.

– Look who’s come around and embraced science: CNN’s Gupta: I Was Wrong About Marijuana

– Stop it, pro-British folks: Northern Ireland clashes leave 56 police, 2 civilians injured

– Do better, SSa: Social Security Payments Limited To Same-Sex Married Couples Living In States That Recognize Marriage Equality

– CA Legislature spreading ‘San Francisco Values.’ Sweet! CA Governor Signs Transgender Student Bill

– Oh so we’re denying organs to kids because they’ve had legal troubles? FFS Dying Teen Is Being Denied A Heart Transplant Because He’s Had Trouble With The Law

– Well that’s fantastic. Also, Mayor Bloomberg and Ray Kelly? You’re done. Just stop. Judge Rejects New York’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy

– No idea who HS is? You’re lucky: When Will We Stop Talking About Hugo Schwyzer? Whenever His Victims Want To Stop, Damn It.

– I’ve only just learned about him, and I’m embarrassed for how Big Feminism has handled itself: An Open Letter to Big Feminist Media Regarding Hugo Schwyzer

– Man, I wish I could have seen this live: Jessica Luther’s Talk from the Opening Plenary of Forging Justice

– Why do these disgusting places get *any* taxpayer dollars? The Trojan Horse of the Anti-Choice Movement

– In today’s “Football Player Rapist” news: Four former Vanderbilt football players charged with rape of unconscious woman

– Finally, if you’re on twitter, please go check out #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen. It is an AMAZING tag started by a woman of color that is good for all of us privileged white women to read, understand, and learn from.

Saturday

10

August 2013

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COMMENTS

Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation

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Another audio book read by the author, another worthwhile Audible purchase.aisha

You know Aisha Tyler. She was host of Talk Soup, started out as a stand-up comic, and once penned an epic takedown of those questioning her gamer cred (go read it now: https://www.facebook.com/notes/aisha-tyler/dear-gamers/10151040991508993. I’ll wait). She’s the voice of Lana on Archer, one of the best shows on television. (Fun fact, my husband and I plan to name our next two kittens Lana and Archer, just so we can comically shout at them around the house. LANAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.)

I didn’t know that this is Ms. Tyler’s second book. I’ll have to check out the first one because this one?  Is funny. It’s not a traditional memoir, although it does appear to vaguely follow a steady chronology. The whole point of the book is for Ms. Tyler to point out some of the epic fails of her life, embracing the choices that other people would shake their heads at. Instead of shying away from the ill-advised mock-turtlenecks of her early acapella career, or ignoring the multiple times she’s had some challenges with fire, she tells the tales of her errors with colorful language, self-deprecation (where warranted) and a whole lot of self-awareness. The point of the book isn’t ‘learn from my mistakes’ so much as ‘I made mistakes and it was awesome, so go make some of your own to learn from.’

Because I listened to instead of read the book, I’m not easily able to quote specific lines that made me choke on my lunch or have to stifle a laugh so hard I couldn’t breathe (the danger of listening at work). But they are there, and they are many. The specifics of stories may not be relatable to you in some ways (perhaps you’ve never attended a kegger at a college, or flipped ass over teakettle on a rusty hobby horse), but the feelings, the decisions, the consequences – those are infinitely relatable.

The audio was a pure joy to listen to as well. Perhaps due in part to her experience as a voice-over actor, and part because these are her words, the stories jumped out of the headphones as vividly as if I’d been watching them as a flashback. I was close to tears during the thirty seconds where she imitates her dad telling the primary school-aged Aisha motivational phrases that the tiny she then repeated back. It’s good. So add it to your list for the next road trip / long flight / commute to work, as long as you’re okay with people staring at you when you occasionally laugh until you snort.

Friday

9

August 2013

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What I’m Reading – August 9 2013

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Friday fun on the Hill. Cider, rum and shuffleboard. But now back to some sobering stuff.

– Good discussion on sexual assault in Egypt: Exploiting Egypt’s Rape Culture for Political Gain

– You can’t hide behind the ideals of academic freedom if your piece isn’t, you know, academic: In Sheep’s Clothing: When Prejudice Hijacks Research to Justify Racist Policy

– Breastfeeding isn’t indecent, folks: Lucy Eades, Breastfeeding Mom, Puts Woman Who Asked Her To ‘Cover Up’ In Her Place

Sexism and abuse isn’t only on Twitter: one woman’s gaming experience

 

Thursday

8

August 2013

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What I’m Reading – August 8 2013

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I got my hair done. It smells like chemicals. Good times.

– Boobs. Video games. But probably not what you’re thinking: Boob Jam: Games to depict ‘unsexy reality’ of breasts

– Hey (some) parents: Do Better: Does the gender pay gap begin with pocket money?

– This is FANTASTIC. I hope more media outlets follow suit: The Washington _________. Why Slate will no longer refer to Washington’s NFL team as the Redskins

– But social security is the problem, right? 401(k)s are a sham

– Interesting, especially in light of the ‘partnerships’ spreading in my home state: Why I Refuse to Be Taken to a Catholic Hospital—And Why Other Women Should Too

– There aren’t a lot of safe spaces for women: Atheism, Sexism and Harassment. The Price of Speaking Up.

– Reminder of why there’s no good reason to interrupt with the ‘not all (white people, white women, etc.) are like that’: We’re Not All Like That

– Finally – if anyone asks, this is why I drink so much cocoa (it sounds so much more respectable than ‘because YUMMY’): Two cups of hot chocolate a day could help fight dementia: study

Wednesday

7

August 2013

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COMMENTS

The Panic Virus

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Are our feelings “a more reliable barometer than facts?” If you think you know something ‘in your gut,’ do you ignore the science that strongly suggests you are wrong?

panic virus

I started this book before Jenny McCarthy was hired to be on The View, reminding many of us of how her activism has likey harmed so many children. While some are looking forward to seeing her strong personality come out while discussing the latest pop culture news with Whoopie Goldberg, others are frustrated that ABC would give her a platform that could ostensibly lead to more discussion about the myth that vaccines cause autism.

The Panic Virus is about much more than the vaccine vs. autism ‘controversy.’ It’s about science – the scientific method, the meaning of ‘theory’ in a scientific context, the fear of the unknown, the rights of the individual, and what we owe to each other. Mr. Mnookin doesn’t spend more than a chapter on Jenny McCarthy (although it is a fascinating one – did you know she was an indigo mom?), and Andrew Wakefield of course features but is not the main player. Science and families compete for the stage as Mr. Mnookin expertly weaves together the history of vaccine fear with the benefits of vaccines and the devastation of autism with the fatal consequences of pertussis on a baby too young to be vaccinated.

These two areas of focus fascinated me as I took this book in. What do parents owe their children – a vaccine against a disease few people have seen in recent years? A ‘better’ chance of not developing autism? What do community members owe to each other – helping to build the herd immunity if possible? Trusting science when it has repeatedly shown the lack of widespread harm of something?

I am not a parent. I am also not a scholar of vaccine history. I am, however, someone who appreciates science, and this book has laid out some of the amazing history of vaccines (including some moments that were extraordinarily poorly handled). It deals with the fact that some children are injured by vaccines, but not on the scale or in the ways that most folks who oppose vaccines claim. When a child with autism is shown with the distraught parents who argue that their child was a happy, perfect baby until immediately after he or she received the MMR vaccine, it’s hard not to empathize. The ‘one child injured by vaccines is one too many’ argument is pretty tough to accept, however, when one looks both at the STRONG evidence that vaccines do not cause the harm these parents claim coupled with the very clear reality that those who either cannot be vaccinated or who do not build immunity from the vaccine are at a real risk from those who refuse vaccines.

The politics of the different autism organizations, the piss poor media coverage, and the celebrity focus are all fascinating, but I was more intrigued by the broader debate over what we owe to each other. Can I be a good citizen if, knowing full well that I can get vaccinated, I choose not to, and then pass pertussis on to a friend’s baby who isn’t old enough to get the vaccine? Is there an obligation to act in the interest of others when the risk to yourself (or your child) is so much less than the risk to the community?

I highly recommend this book. It’s not horribly long, it’s interesting, it’s infuriating, and it’s an important topic to know and understand.

Wednesday

7

August 2013

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COMMENTS

What I’m Reading – August 7 2013

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I met baby Ziggy, yo! So far, he seems like a sweetie. But he’s like 48 hours old, so I’m reserving judgment.

– Some are surprised that I am an introvert. Oh but I am. 27 Problems Only Introverts Will Understand

– New development in the BART killing: Blame in Oscar Grant BART death may shift

– A look at the ‘problems’ men have with feminism: The Problem With Male Feminists

– So the professor who suggested that fat students don’t have the discipline to get PhDs? Yep, he got in TROUBLE: Professor Geoffrey Miller Censured by UNM

– No. NO. We should NOT need loans for kids to go to preschool. Come the fuck on: Parents Now Expected to Need Loans For Kids’ Preschool

– Young adults aren’t in great shape right now: Record number of millennials forced to live at home

– Young adults being awesome anyway: What happened when I started a feminist society at school

– Finally, if you haven’t watched the StePhest Colbchella ‘013, you really, really should.