Some recommended reading from John Scalzi and Soraya Chemaly, and a few thoughts.
discrimination
Big gaps in justice system for people with disabilities – new report
“According to a new report, people with disabilities are over-represented within prison, with rates of mental illness and brain injury far above the general population. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are also more likely to have disability, particularly children. People with disabilities are more likely to be victims of violence, with 90% of women with intellectual disability reporting sexual abuse in one study, most before they turned 18.”
Today in smackdowns: Matt Yglesias rolls his eyes at Pax Dickinson’s ‘pernicious nonsense’
Pax Dickinson, whose employment as CTO at Business Insider was abruptly terminated when the board’s attention was drawn to some of his bigoted jackass tweets and the potential liability risk they could present to the company, had an interview in nymag entitled Pax Dickinson on His Regrets, the Media ‘Witch Hunt,’ and What Women Need to Understand About Men (so not doubling down in any way at all) where Pax shares his fear that “turning [tech] into a politically correct wasteland” will take away “the freewheeling nature of [tech that] leads to innovation [which is] really important to this country and to the world”.
Matt Yglesias calls bullshit…
“Most of our choices, as women, are looked upon with scorn”
Society sets us up to judge the choices of others, creating “wars” and “catfights” rather than encouraging us to press for change.
The odds aren’t stacked against you, you’re just thinking wrong.
Are you thinking positively enough and other bullshit.
Friday Hoyden: Emmy Noether
Emmy Noether – the greatest mathematician you have probably never heard of.
Breastfeeding anti-discrimination changes passed at the Federal level
The Sex and Age Discrimination Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 establishes breastfeeding as a separate discrimination grounds; includes provisions about discrimination based on family responsibilities; and strengthens and extends sexual harassment provisions.
US High Schools refusing to allow student atheist groups
The level of bigotry against atheists in the USA frequently appals me; this article by Greta Christina lays out one of the less obvious ways it is expressed.
Quicklink: high-school formal says no to same-sex couple
An Ivanhoe Grammar girl wasn’t allowed to take her girlfriend to her high-school formal.
Quickhit: Mental clinic bans patient from nursing
THE enrolled nurse Alistair Colgrave was driving home after his first shift at a psychiatric unit on the north shore when he received a call from his boss telling him not to return.
Hoyden About Town 