It’s getting warm and Macklemore is supposedly shooting a music video down the street in a couple of hours. If you’re not outside enjoying the sun (or are but reading this on your phone), here are some ways to amuse/anger/inform yourself.

– Hey emergency managers – remember this one? Good times. Terrorism Preparedness Guide (parody)

– Apparently a solid eight hours sleep is a (relatively) new phenomenon. I guess our kittens are just trying to bring us back to tradition when they start wrestling on our bed at 2 A.M. The myth of the eight-hour sleep

– In confusing-fat-with-unhealthy news, Penn State is doing some super creepy stuff with their employee health benefits. I mean, it is Penn State, but still. Ick. Side note – this is one blog where the comments can be super fun to read. In totally not surprising news

– Dislike the conservative corporation that is Clear Channel? Well, this isn’t going to help. Apparently women’s healthcare is indecent, or something. Take action: Clear Channel pulls ads for a clinic that provides abortions for violating “decency standards”

– I hate that I don’t think about these issues more often. This is high-level overview, but it’s a start. Transgender troops serve in silence

– Well this is interesting. I may write about it more this week. Should a city be able to have a say in the wages of companies within its borders? Should it make it more difficult for those who pay low wages to set up shop because the employees will need to be supplemented by the government when the pay isn’t enough? Mayor’s race ignited as McGinn called out on Whole Foods attack

– On Trayvon Martin and being a good ally. Ally-phobia: On the Trayvon Martin Ruling, White Feminism, and the Worst of Best Intentions

– ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Ohio bank steals woman’s possessions by ‘mistake,’ then refuses to pay up

And finally, this. Austin and I both took “The Life You Can Save” pledge last year. Once our charity savings account hits $1000 (used to be $450, but we’re trying to increase the impact of our money), we donate it to a charity. It isn’t always the type that Mr. Singer suggests, but we like consciously setting aside that money each paycheck and supporting causes that matter to us.

A lovely summer Monday in Seattle. It’s my day off, so I’ve been running errands, doing laundry, reading (A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Two), and catching up on the day’s news. In an effort to write more, I’ve decided to do a compilation post every day, with at least weekly in-depth posts on a topic of interest, plus the Cannonball Read V reviews as I finish up books.

So, on with today.

– A quick reminder from the good folks at Shakesville on how to stop rape: Today in Rape Culture

– A feminist I follow on twitter – Amanda Marcotte – was the subject of a whole lot of negative tweets by Dr. Jane Chi, a fellow feminist. I’ve not read any of Ms. Marcotte’s longer form articles or books, so I was unaware of the issue. This article clarified that for me. As a very privileged feminist myself, I recognize that voices from women whose experiences more closely match mine than other people’s get way more coverage than makes sense (even when those voices are good, they shouldn’t drown out the feminists who are persons of color). It’s a shame that Ms. Marcotte perhaps willfully chooses to ignore the broader issues of intersectionality: An Open Letter to Amanda Marcotte

I’m also on the lookout for some good articles on the media coverage of that baby that was born in London today, focusing more on the hoopla and the bizarre idea of royalty still existing. If you know of any please send them my way.