ideals, breaches, disappointments and inspirations
Apparently Alain de Botton knows exactly how everybody feels about sex (just like he does! how convenient!) while being blithely unaware of the sheer TMI factor. This review of his latest book How To Think More About Sex at sexandthe405.com is long, comprehensive and unfavourable.
This time it’s the science fiction writing community undergoing Deep Rifts over a disputed implementation of an existing anti-harassment policy at Readercon following a verified harassment incident, complete with yet another round of but-we-don’t-need-no-stinkin-policy-anyway backlash. [nb: updates 1 & 2]
Eleanor Gibbs has a cracker of an article in New Matilda on the national disgrace that is the continuing roadblocks to the National Disability Insurance Scheme:
[Content note: rape culture, sexual violence] Liss put up a counter-thread at Shakesville for rape-survivors and allies to talk about their reactions in a safe-space.
Take-home message: beware micro-manipulations as part of a flirt routine – if warning bells are ringing, trust the jangling of our spidey-senses.
RWA & SDO – two personality traits that prop up the kyriarchy
Game design consultant Ernest W. Adams at Butterflies and Wheels: It’s time for us to force the permanent nine-year-olds to grow up or get out of our games and forums.
A page on this blog is now titled “Critical Thinking” instead of its previous title “Skepticism”, because that name has become tarnished by the long-lasting and widespread ‘Skepchicks should STFU’ campaign being waged by so-called “skeptics” and “rationalists” who reject the utility of applying critical thinking to social structures, at least if that critical thinking is being done by feminists.
Mr Denmore gives examples of how the writers who are supposedly paid for their knowledgeable insight are shown over and over again to have feet of clay and invisible robes whenever someone cares to look at their published works with a mildly jaundiced eye:
Those who fight for the right of [anyone] to have as many people-killing weapons as they want share moral responsibility for what happened last night—as they will when it happens again. And it will happen again.
This accusation of suppressing speech online keeps on coming up (it’s a fundamental plank in the ongoing FTBullies smear campaign): the allegedly terrible awful no-good horrible “crime” of deleting comments on a blog. To which I say bah humbug pish tosh harrumph and quote a 2010 comment here: you have a right to access the Internet, not to access my audience via my resources
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Hoyden About Town 