The milieu through which we swim
I’ve just posted at Feministe about the latest developments in the skeptosphere’s Deep Rifts TM. For those who’d rather discuss the ongoing cyberstorm that began with Elevatorgate here, this is the thread for you. Links to other people’s posts especially welcome.
Given a choice between a welfare system in which some people get money they don’t deserve but nobody dies miserably, and a welfare system in which nobody gets money they don’t deserve but people die miserably, which do we prefer?
Contrast the government’s war on welfare with the rhetoric surrounding critics of the increasing wealth gap as advocates of “class warfare”. Hmm.
What news story/commentary/analysis has grabbed your attention lately?
In just the last week Anita Sarkeesian, Zoe Quinn and over 100 female showbiz celebrities brought it all on themselves, doncha know.
Also in the last week our current Federal LNP government has kept on working to push its ideological agenda through Parliament, against what seems horribly likely to be insufficient opposition despite the best efforts of the Greens.
What news story/commentary/analysis has grabbed your attention lately?
The news has come in that the “female scientists” Lego set, produced after a huge grassroots campaign and petition from parents who wanted more variety in female minifigs, will only exist as a limited edition set. Despite selling out almost immediately, it will not be released as a standard line.
No longer HaT’s Dr Who abstainer, I saw the 50th anniversary episode, the last Christmas episode and I have every intention of watching the first Capaldi episode and seeing how it goes. Thus, a thread!
Once the ABC and BBC broadcasts begin, this thread should be assumed to contain spoilers.
I have been mostly speechless/typingless at the latest news, taking refuge in offline activities. But I should still put up a post for the rest of you to vent/rant or even ideally substantively discuss these issues, because disengagement is never going to be a solution, even if it’s sometimes necessary for some self-care. Go for it.
What news story/commentary/analysis has grabbed your attention lately?
Emma Goldman was a Russian Jewish immigrant to the USA, who spent her life being persecuted for her work campaigning for the rights of workers and marginalised groups of all kinds.
Here we are at Life at Nine already. How quickly they grow up! The ABC’s documentary series tracking the growth and development of a sample cross-section of Australian children only appears every two years. The two episodes of this edition are designated ‘Independence’ and ‘Creativity’.
Readers who are already part of SF fandom have probably seen a lot of this WisCon 38 fallout already, but since this sort of institutional memory-holing of relevant history regarding serial harassers is precisely the sort of social convention that serial harassers rely upon in order to keep getting away with what they do, alongside the fallacy that harassers are obvious deviants who could never be part of my well-ordered community (when in fact they are commonly those with the well-liked/respected status to be given the benefit of the doubt when/if reports are made against them), it’s worth reading about the mistakes of communities with which one isn’t familiar so that one can learn about patterns to watch out for and procedural standards which need to be known and practised by decision-makers.
Good news everybody! Our esteemed Treasurer Joe Hockey just told the Kiwis that the Australian economy is not in crisis nor even in trouble!
What news story/commentary/analysis has grabbed your attention lately?
Hoyden About Town 