Linkfestia
Abortion clinic bomb attempt
On Thursday, a bomb was found in the parking lot of an Austin, TX abortion clinic. A man was arrested, and has been charged with "use of weapons of mass destruction, manufacture of explosive material and violating freedom of access to clinic entrances"(source). This has been pursued by local and federal law enforcement as domestic terrorism, as it should be. Unfortunately, national coverage has been brief and does not mention that threatened and attempted violence at clinics is indeed terrorism.
Government & Politics
Political Appointees No Longer to Pick Justice Interns (Washington Post). You'd think this would be common sense.
Sources: Aid chief quits over call-girl link (MSNBC). Randall Tobias, one of he proponents of absitnence-only foreign policy and AIDS-aid that denies the reality of prostitution in the spread of the disease, resigns after it is brought to light that he was a customer of the enormous "massage and sexual game" service that is charged wit prostitution in Washington, DC.
Iowa and Oregon have passed equal opportunity laws which include both sexual orientation and gender identity. New Hampshire and Oregon recently joined the ranks of states with civil unions. New Hampshire will recognize same-sex marriages from other states (i.e. Massachusetts). No word if Rhode Island has made a decision to codify or rescind its policy of recognizing all Massachusetts marriages.
HIlary Clinton managed to make a public statement in support of these recent legislative gains without using any words indicating they pertained to LGBT citizens. For real.
Gay rights
Soulforce's Equality Ride, on which spiritual gay and lesbian young people visited religious colleges which forbid homosexual behavior and the discussion thereof, ended last week at Cornerstone University in Michigan. At this final stop, the riders attempted to deliver a decorated stepping stone to the students as a symbol of fostering dialogue, and were arrested for their efforts. An administrator later accepted the stone, while taking no responsibility for ordering the arrest of riders as they approached the campus.
The confessed killer of Andrea Sanchez received a mere 3 days in jail and $1000 fine in Chile. He has a four-year suspended sentence that will only be imposed if he's caught for murder again (and only 4 years? wtf!). Why such leniency? In the words of the killer, "turns out it's cheap to kill a faggot." F&^@#.
In Washington, two girls caught kissing were not only outed to their parents, but their parents were shown the surveillance video of the brief kiss. The school disciplinarian said that showing the parents the video was probably out of bounds, but outing the kids was absolutely necessary.
On a humorous note, a columnist at the Sydney Morning Herald attests: There's a fundamental wrong in letting some people marry. Brilliant!
Science
National Geographic reports that new ancient Greek works have been discovered under other writing in an ancient book. Archimedes ho!
Wired: Will bioterror fears spawn science censorship? Jennifer Granick warns it should be on our radar. A guideline that urges regulation scientific knowledge or technology that "could be directly misapplied by others to pose a threat" does seem a tad broad. Hopefully this statement of purpose will get narrowed to a managable scope. While the group proposing this oversight particularly pertains to biosecurity, the area has a broader scope than biology and biotech.
Public Health
The NY Times reports melamine has been a common cutting additive in cheap grains, including animal feeds, in China for years now. The USDA admits that the contaminant was not detected for 8 months, and animals fed this grain have entered the food supply. But really, everything's fine. And the US is emminently equipped to handle a terrorist threat to our food supply. Right. More at the Horse's Ass.
Education
A Pennsylvania woman has been denied her teaching certification in punishment for a rather innocuous picture that she posted on her MySpace page. She claimed the principal of one of the schools she was student teaching in demanded she not be certified. On the bright side in looking up the allegations, I discovered that the teacher's Code of Conduct in PA prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of "sex and sexual orientation". Violation with substantiation can result in disciplinary action from the state, and possibility be cause for revocation of teaching certification in the state.
NY Mag: How not to talk to your kids: The power and peril of praising (your) kids discusses the effects of praising intelligence vs. effort. Based on the studies discussed, it appears to be very important to praise effort and stress that it does pay off. Praising innate ability apparently increases frustration and decreases motivation when students can't coast on what they already know. I want to check out some of Carol Dweck's original papers now.
Feminism
Feministing has a great interview with Daisy Hernandez, a journalist who contributes to many publications including her own, ColorLines.
Kendra Urdang's performance of "For Every Man Who Never Called Himself a Feminist" is gripping and nearly made me cry. It's old news, at least several months since it aired, but no less relevant.
I recommend the official shrub.com blog, for its overall reader-friendly but staunchly feminist atmosphere. There is a focus on women in the gaming industry as producers and consumers. There is some coverage of current events, but its less pervasive than some other places.
On Thursday, a bomb was found in the parking lot of an Austin, TX abortion clinic. A man was arrested, and has been charged with "use of weapons of mass destruction, manufacture of explosive material and violating freedom of access to clinic entrances"(source). This has been pursued by local and federal law enforcement as domestic terrorism, as it should be. Unfortunately, national coverage has been brief and does not mention that threatened and attempted violence at clinics is indeed terrorism.
Government & Politics
Political Appointees No Longer to Pick Justice Interns (Washington Post). You'd think this would be common sense.
Sources: Aid chief quits over call-girl link (MSNBC). Randall Tobias, one of he proponents of absitnence-only foreign policy and AIDS-aid that denies the reality of prostitution in the spread of the disease, resigns after it is brought to light that he was a customer of the enormous "massage and sexual game" service that is charged wit prostitution in Washington, DC.
Iowa and Oregon have passed equal opportunity laws which include both sexual orientation and gender identity. New Hampshire and Oregon recently joined the ranks of states with civil unions. New Hampshire will recognize same-sex marriages from other states (i.e. Massachusetts). No word if Rhode Island has made a decision to codify or rescind its policy of recognizing all Massachusetts marriages.
HIlary Clinton managed to make a public statement in support of these recent legislative gains without using any words indicating they pertained to LGBT citizens. For real.
Gay rights
Soulforce's Equality Ride, on which spiritual gay and lesbian young people visited religious colleges which forbid homosexual behavior and the discussion thereof, ended last week at Cornerstone University in Michigan. At this final stop, the riders attempted to deliver a decorated stepping stone to the students as a symbol of fostering dialogue, and were arrested for their efforts. An administrator later accepted the stone, while taking no responsibility for ordering the arrest of riders as they approached the campus.
The confessed killer of Andrea Sanchez received a mere 3 days in jail and $1000 fine in Chile. He has a four-year suspended sentence that will only be imposed if he's caught for murder again (and only 4 years? wtf!). Why such leniency? In the words of the killer, "turns out it's cheap to kill a faggot." F&^@#.
In Washington, two girls caught kissing were not only outed to their parents, but their parents were shown the surveillance video of the brief kiss. The school disciplinarian said that showing the parents the video was probably out of bounds, but outing the kids was absolutely necessary.
On a humorous note, a columnist at the Sydney Morning Herald attests: There's a fundamental wrong in letting some people marry. Brilliant!
Science
National Geographic reports that new ancient Greek works have been discovered under other writing in an ancient book. Archimedes ho!
Wired: Will bioterror fears spawn science censorship? Jennifer Granick warns it should be on our radar. A guideline that urges regulation scientific knowledge or technology that "could be directly misapplied by others to pose a threat" does seem a tad broad. Hopefully this statement of purpose will get narrowed to a managable scope. While the group proposing this oversight particularly pertains to biosecurity, the area has a broader scope than biology and biotech.
Public Health
The NY Times reports melamine has been a common cutting additive in cheap grains, including animal feeds, in China for years now. The USDA admits that the contaminant was not detected for 8 months, and animals fed this grain have entered the food supply. But really, everything's fine. And the US is emminently equipped to handle a terrorist threat to our food supply. Right. More at the Horse's Ass.
Education
A Pennsylvania woman has been denied her teaching certification in punishment for a rather innocuous picture that she posted on her MySpace page. She claimed the principal of one of the schools she was student teaching in demanded she not be certified. On the bright side in looking up the allegations, I discovered that the teacher's Code of Conduct in PA prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of "sex and sexual orientation". Violation with substantiation can result in disciplinary action from the state, and possibility be cause for revocation of teaching certification in the state.
NY Mag: How not to talk to your kids: The power and peril of praising (your) kids discusses the effects of praising intelligence vs. effort. Based on the studies discussed, it appears to be very important to praise effort and stress that it does pay off. Praising innate ability apparently increases frustration and decreases motivation when students can't coast on what they already know. I want to check out some of Carol Dweck's original papers now.
Feminism
Feministing has a great interview with Daisy Hernandez, a journalist who contributes to many publications including her own, ColorLines.
Kendra Urdang's performance of "For Every Man Who Never Called Himself a Feminist" is gripping and nearly made me cry. It's old news, at least several months since it aired, but no less relevant.
I recommend the official shrub.com blog, for its overall reader-friendly but staunchly feminist atmosphere. There is a focus on women in the gaming industry as producers and consumers. There is some coverage of current events, but its less pervasive than some other places.