June 2012
Heidi Walters at North Coast Journal: Bright Bird →
The birds recovered soon enough. And, much to the delight of their tormenter, Pia Gabriel, the next time these Steller’s jays came across eggs that looked like the ones that had made them sick, they avoided them. Later, Gabriel ventured into the redwood forest in Redwood National and State Parks with hundreds more of the yack-bombs — small chicken eggs, painted to look like marbled murrelet eggs...
The Economist: Caveat emptor.com →
Online shoppers let slip plenty of information about themselves that could be of use to crafty salesmen. Cookies reveal where else they have been browsing, allowing some guesses about their income bracket, age and sex. Their internet address can often be matched to their physical address: the richer the neighbourhood, the deeper the pockets, it may be assumed. Apple computer-owners are on...
this ain't livin': Book Review: Wither, by Lauren... →
To get back on track to the actual book, and with a note that spoilers lie beyond this point, let’s talk about some of the reasons I loved Wither. For one, the language is rich, dynamic, and interesting. DeStefano painted a lush world that I think is a pretty accurate depiction of what would happen in the scenario she set up; youth run wild with few elders for guidance as the last of the first...
Sandra Laville at The Guardian: Revealed: the... →
Sexual predators in the police are abusing their power to target victims ofcrime they are supposed to be helping, as well as fellow officers and female staff, the Guardian can reveal.
An investigation into the scale and extent of the problem suggests sexual misconduct could be more widespread than previously believed.
The situation raises questions about the efficacy of the police complaints...
Jennifer Ludden at NPR: Buried In Debt, Young... →
“Part of the American dream is that if you work hard, and you get an education and you apply yourself, you’ll be successful,” Zukin says.
But today, says Zukin, one-third of college graduates say that adage doesn’t hold true for them.
Gosh, maybe because the ‘American dream’ is a pack of lies?
Anne Midgette at Washington Post: These knitters... →
The USOC may be too big to fight — the Ravelympics will henceforth be known, after a lot of debate and a member poll, as the Ravellenic Games. But that doesn’t mean Ravelers didn’t try. Ravelers are not your grandmother’s knitters; they spend a lot of time on computers and they know how to use social media. The pushback on Twitter, in particular, was so intense that the USOC found itself...
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Do you ever get freaked out by your own fingers? Like, woah, where the hell did these come from?! Why are they moving? Do you try to psych them out, see if you can escape before they notice? How does the human body even work y’all.
Joanna Lin at California Watch: For blacks and... →
California high schools that serve largely Latino or African American students are failing them as pathways to college, according to a new report by a statewide education policy, research and advocacy organization.
Just 10 percent of high schools that serve primarily Latino students have above-average graduation and college-going rates for Latinos. The same is true for African Americans at 24...
this ain't livin': I Don't Mean To Baffle You, But... →
The devaluation of these kinds of connections means that many people are also deeply confused by them, especially when they encounter queerplatonic partners in person. And I do say partner, and sometimes refer to the unit formed by a partner and myself as a couple, because we are. We function like a couple, we do things together, we are intimate with each other, though not necessarily in the way...
Jorge Rivas at Colorlines: Democrats Walk Out to... →
As the Republican-led House voted to hold Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt on Thursday, Democrats led by the Congressional Black Caucus walked out in protest. Democrats walked off the House floor and out of the chamber chanting, “shame on you” directed at their colleagues. The motion passed 255-67.
“This is not about oversight, this is about overkill,” Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.)...
Ernest J. Wilson III at Foreign Affairs: Silicon... →
SOPA’s defeat has been held up as a triumph for Internet freedom. But in combination with a few earlier examples, including Google’s 2010 courageous but lonely stance against the People’s Republic of China, it represents something more transformational. January’s legislative battle marked the first time the major U.S. tech firms and their friends and followers came...
Jim Meyer at Grist: Date with disaster:... →
Some of the debris has already made landfall in North America, most notably a Harley Davidson discovered on a Canadian beach earlier this year (perhaps the first time a Harley has made it over 4,000 miles without breaking down) and shockingly, a 66 foot-long concrete dock covered in millions of invasive organisms that washed up on the Oregon coast.
But according to Eriksen, this debris is only...
Ali Winston and Darwin BondGraham at East Bay... →
According to OPD expenditure records obtained by the Express, the total legal costs of ongoing police officer misconduct totaled $13,149,000 in fiscal year 2010-11. Most of this, approximately $12,271,000, was set aside to pay settlements stemming from police brutality, illegal searches, injuries, false arrests, and related civil-rights violations. Another $1,147,000 of this total was for work...
Global Comment: Aaron Sorkin and New Media: Why... →
Sorkin’s The Newsroom may not be what critics or audiences want, but Sorkin appears prepared to write that down to sheer bloody-mindedness, rather than the ability to independently evaluate media. His patronising attitudes about viewers and reviewers were notoriously showcased in The Globe and Mail last week, where reporter Sarah Nicole Prickett highlighted exactly how much of an ass Sorkin can...
this ain't livin': Writing the Other →
I wonder, in other words, if people worry about writing the other because they might get it wrong, or because they fear someone might tell them about it. Because these are two distinctly different things, and they must be picked apart when people start talking about the way they research and prepare for characters who have backgrounds that differ from their own—because writers are researching...
xoJane: Can You Hang Up the Phone For Three... →
We live in an era of constant connectivity, one where everyone is assumed to be available at all times and where many people feel the impulse and urge to be on the phone all the time, relaying the minute details of their lives. But there’s a time and a place, and it’s really OK to hang up your phone to focus on people around you, or to set it aside in the interest of politeness. When...
Aaron Glantz at California Watch: State program... →
Fewer than 8,000 borrowers have received help out of 101,337 Californians the agency estimated would receive assistance in an agreement with the federal government 18 months ago.
Keep Your Home California is designed to subsidize mortgage payments for unemployed borrowers and reduce debt for people whose homes significantly declined in value during the housing crisis.
But the program’s...
Jorge Rivas at Colorlines: National Council of La... →
Earlier this month, on June 9, the board of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) unanimously approved a resolution supporting the freedom to marry for same-sex couples. The largest Latino civil rights group in the country is expected to formally announce the endorsement next month at their national conference in Las Vegas,the Washington Blade reports.
What was that about the Latina/Latino...
Michelle Diament at Disability Scoop: Builder To... →
The deal comes in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against Texas-based JPI Construction L.P. in which federal officials alleged that the company failed to design and construct several multifamily housing complexes to accommodate people with disabilities.
Under the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, builders are required to make multifamily housing...
Kevin Drum at Mother Jones: In Iowa, Paying Your... →
Felons, of course, tend to be poorer, blacker, and younger than the general population, which means they’re more likely to vote for Democrats than the general population. So who cares if they’ve paid their debt to society? A tendency to vote for Democrats is mighty suspicious behavior all on its own, no? Surely anyone foolish enough to belong to one or more of these demographic...
xoJane: The Border Control Is Out Of Control,... →
It’s not just the desert that poses a threat: the United States Border Patrol has been repeatedly accused of violations of human rights at the border when handling immigrants of all stripes, from legal crossings at established checkpoints to arrests of undocumented immigrants found in the desert. These violations include beatings, rape, withholding food and water, inhumane conditions, unlawful...
this ain't livin': Food Sovereignty is Not... →
Fundamental assumptions about big agriculture are often wrong, and are often based on knowledge that agricultural companies want to promote, like the idea that it’s not possible to produce enough food using environmentally-friendly farming methods. Or that the shortage of food in the world is a problem linked to farm production, rather than to resource distribution; the United States is not the...
Tiger Beatdown: We cannot have it all because we... →
redlightpolitics:
Eh, as it was bound to happen, I wrote a response to the piece that Anne-Marie Slaughter published at The Atlantic.
This has been the week of backlash against feminism. In fairness, it is always backlash week against feminism but Anne-Marie Slaughter’s piece at The Atlantic, Why women still can’t have it all, has revived some of those sentiments. Feminism has failed us, she...
Heather L. Weaver at ACLU: Supreme Court Takes a... →
The Supreme Court’s decision lets stand a January ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which held that the cross display violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As the Ninth Circuit explained, “The use of such a distinctively Christian symbol to honor all veterans sends a strong message of endorsement and exclusion. It suggests...
Aleem Maqbool at BBC News: Mohenjo Daro: Could... →
In its day, about 2600 BC, its complex planning, incredible architecture, and complex water and sewage systems made it one of the most advanced urban settings anywhere. It was a city thought to have housed up to 35,000 inhabitants of the great Indus civilisation.
While I was overwhelmed by the scale and wonderment of it all, my eminent guide to the site was almost in tears of despair.
...
Julianne Hing at Colorlines: Parent Fundraising... →
Who can afford to set aside enlisting their schoolchildren to hawk gift wrap for school fundraisers so parents can bring in over a $1 million through school PTAs? Parents at tony public schools on New York City’s Upper West Side, is who. That set of schools and their powerful parent fundraising arms became the subject of some debate earlier this month when the New York Times detailed the...
“It’s important to note here that Rhimes directed her criticism at @abcfbunheads,...”
– Disgrasian’s Jen Wang stays giving me life with this shutdown of using critiques about TV’s lack of characters of color on female-showrunner’d series equating to “woman-hating” is total bullshit on the R today. (via racialicious)
Christine MacDonald at AlterNet: Why Some of Our... →
Sealaska, a diversified conglomerate with native Alaskan shareholders, says the land includes sites with cultural and sacred value. But the company’s critics, including some of its own shareholders, say it’s a land grab worth billions of dollars in timber sales. Logging those lands, they warn, could jeopardize ecosystems inside one of the world’s last remaining temperate...
this ain't livin': Seeking Alternatives To... →
As tempting as it is, simply outlawing alternative financing isn’t the solution, for a whole host of reasons. One is that when you outlaw something, you don’t take the market for that product away. Low-income people will still need financing and will still seek it, which means that other lenders will spring up to fill in the gaps. Whether they find loopholes to use in a quasi-regulated industry...
xoJane: Old People Have Sex! Deal With It! →
Sex in healthcare settings is something that makes many people uncomfortable. Residents of long-term care facilities, including not just older adults but people with disabilities, are often assumed to be disinterested in sex. In addition, people think they lack the capacity to consent to sex, or the ability to make sound choices about sexuality. Consequently, they’re denied opportunities for...
Mark Memmot at NPR News: Orbitz Shows Mac Users... →
And as Dignan says in CNet, “Apple customers are known to pay a premium for their Macs, strong design, and integrated software,” and apparently are willing to spend more on other things as well.
Mónica Novoa at Colorlines: The People of Arizona... →
Yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling to uphold the “show me your papers” provision in the case of Arizona v. the United States leaves Latinos and people of color in the state — and any other state where a similar law might spring up — open to racial profiling as law enforcement officers have been given the go-ahead to stop and question anyone. In Arizona, where the infamous Sheriff Joe Arpaio runs...
SUNfiltered: PUSH GIRLS: The push and pull of... →
I was glad to see Mia give dating a try after her recent breakup, and gladder still when she recognized that the chemistry just wasn’t working for her. There’s a really common perception that people with disabilities have a hard time finding people who are sexually attracted to them and willing to commit to long-term relationships, and PUSH GIRLS is really pushing back on that narrative. Mia...
“Being raped does change you: it’s more than non-consensual sex, it’s...”
– Anonymous, ‘The R Word,’ on rape and gaming.
Please note that this is an intensely personal piece by a male sexual assault survivor which includes graphic discussions of sexual assault and its aftermath.
