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

• Who says the Hun speaks “for the community”?

– “We are fortunate, as a country, that we have been sensible enough to develop other sentencing dispositions beyond simply trying to lock everyone up, first time, every time, an outcome which will only increase crime and, in the long run, assist no-one but the companies that run our prisons.” – the Hun, of course, thinks anything short of locking people away is letting them off.

• Cassandra Promoter Punked

– CADD – a nasty scam based on people misunderstanding autistic spectrum disorders

• Depending on narcotics

– “Here’s the thing, though. In both common culture and the medical industry, chronic pain patients who take these medications to be able to perform everyday, ordinary tasks that currently-able people take for granted — like bathing or showering or washing dishes or dropping their kids off at school — are still constructed as an addict just looking to get high.”

• Gatesgate (by digby)

– “A policeman using his discretion to arrest a man in his own home because he was not deferential enough is just one more incident along a long road of creeping authoritarianism. […] It’s far more corrosive to society to allow authority figures to abuse their power than the other way around.”

• Why rape jokes aren't harmless fun.

– “The crux of her argument is that rape jokes are triggering to rape survivors and reinforce rape myths, and seeing as so many women have survived rape, it might be, you know, considerate not to be joking about rape when you have no idea if someone listening has been affected by it:”

• Rachel Maddow – no access to abortion in 87% of US counties
• Today in Fat-Hatin'

– “More than 40% of physicians had a negative reaction toward obese patients.”

• Friday Blogaround

– linkage

• Health care for everyone costs half as much

– “Lack of compassion does not lead to savings. Lack of compassion leads to trillions in wasted money.”

• See a Real Live Police State—See America First!

– “This is the modern America, where children are afraid to go to church, and pre-trial detainees are kept in prison conditions that would qualify as war crimes if used to hold prisoners of war.”

• Photo of the Day

– Awwwww

Categories: linkfest

Tags: blogging, Read-ems