Items of interest found recently in my RSS feed. Please share what you've been reading (and writing!) in the comments.

• The Politico Thinks Stalking Is Funny

– “Ho ho ho. You see, because being stalked is a compliment. Only the truly sexy among us are afforded the enviable bit of flattery that is becoming the pointed focus of an obsessive and entitled fixation, the increasingly sinister expressions of which intensify as the ostensible admirer tightens orbits in ever smaller concentric circles, slowly squeezing every last remnant of safety, security, and anything resembling normalcy out of one’s life.

What an awesome compliment!”

• Here we go again with the classism

– “I had two major shocks last year. One of them was discovering the hypocrisy and rank misogyny of so many self-described feminists (a phenomenon I blame, by the way, on the cultural backlash that has weakened the movement and led to pod-like feminists who aren’t really very good at being feminists. Solution: more feminism!) The other was discovering the extent to which so many self-described liberals actually despise working people. Which they do, remarkably enough, while flattering themselves that they are still the party of workers. Exhibit A: Henry Rollins.”

• Size-zeros are so last year

– “Now, don’t go cheering this as a righteous political move. It isn’t a defense of the health of models or fashion consumers. It’s just plain and simple good business:”

• Letterman, the Palins, and the Left vs. the Right

– “It sounds, at least to me, like an earnest apology, recognizing that intent is irrelevant and acknowledging that there are legitimate objections to the “joke”-gone-awry”

• Still Not Wanted: Girl Geeks

– “Bookmark this post for the next time someone asks you where all the girl gamers are.”

• Voluntary childlessness "unnatural" and "evil"

– “I’m struck by the similarities between the vitriol Vernon reports and typical anti-choice rhetoric. She receives “terrifying” letters and e-mails calling her “selfish … unnatural, evil.” She is “now routinely referred to as ‘baby-hating journalist Polly Vernon.'” Ring any bells?”

• Debbie does HIV

– “Last week, Los Angeles County officials revealed that there have been at least 16 previously unreported cases of HIV among porn performers in the past five years.”

• What the Riots Tell Us [Iran]

– “If the election were truly “real and free” as Mr. Ahmadinejad insisted, the results would be accepted by the voters and the government would not have to resort to such repression.”

• Poverty, Self-Denial, And New Nikes

– “Teaching relatively class privileged students about why poor people can’t just pull themselves up by their bootstraps can be extremely challenging.”

• Don’t Sit Back and Wait for the Human Trafficking Disaster at the World Cup

– “The connection between big international soccer matches and human trafficking is not a new discovery”

• GOP Racist Emailers Save Reputations with Snappy Apologies | RaceWire

– So much raceFAIL.

• Sotomayor is not meaner, just femaler

– “…actually compared audio clips of questions asked by Sotomayor and those asked by her male colleagues — or those who would be her colleagues if she is confirmed for the Supreme Court. And — SURPRISE! — Sotomayor is no “meaner” than your average justice. She is just femaler.”

Categories: linkfest

Tags: blogging, elections, Read-ems