links for 2010-08-27

Continue Readinglinks for 2010-08-27

Sapphic matchmaking

Apropo of nothing, on the way to the restroom at work, this notion popped into my head:

“Hey, wasn’t Joan’s roommate Carol (played by Kate Norby in season 1 of Mad Men) a lesbian? They should write a scene where she meets Peggy’s new friend Joyce (played by Zosia Mamet, appearing in season 4) so they could hook up.”

Madmen - Carol
Madmen – Carol
Madmen - Joyce
Madmen – Joyce

Yes, I’m setting up fictional lesbians on television programs these days.

Continue ReadingSapphic matchmaking

links for 2010-08-26

  • Hugo Schwyzer: "As I commented at Feministe, I have a simple formula I’ve developed over the years to describe my thinking about men in feminist spaces. (I am perplexed as to why I’ve never blogged about it before.) Four words: 1. Step up. 2. Step back. Stepping up means, of course, being willing to confront other men. I’ve said over and over again that the acid test of a man’s commitment to feminism often comes not only in terms of how he treats women, but also how he speaks about women when he’s in all-male spaces. Stepping back means acknowledging that in almost every instance, feminist organizations ought to be led by women. It means that men in feminist spaces need to check themselves before they pursue leadership roles." – a really good take on the issue of how men can successfully support women through feminism.
  • How to adjust a pattern to match your yarn/needle/gauge.
Continue Readinglinks for 2010-08-26

links for 2010-08-25

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links for 2010-08-24

  • Among those who sortied from Chiran, there were few fathers who volunteered to be kamikaze pilots. Captain Kuno was one of these men. On May 23, 1945, the eve of his sortie, he wrote his final letter all in katakana [1] to his 5-year-old son Masanori and his 2-year-old daughter Kiyoko who he was leaving behind. A child learns katakana in the lower grades of elementary school.
  • The difficulty is over microfinancers that started as not-for-profits by switched to a for-profit model, making them more beholden to shareholders than to the people they are attempting to help.
  • There is no history of whites being the victims of racial discrimination in the U.S. Where such charges have been raised, they have come from right-wingers with an agenda against affirmative action and other social programs created to help African Americans, who were not only slaves in this country, but then faced another 100 years of legal discrimination after slavery that only ended one generation ago.
    (tags: racism)
  • The belief has become widespread, particularly in the wake of the publication of international bestsellers such as John Gray's Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus that stress the innate differences between the minds of men and women. But now a growing number of scientists are challenging the pseudo-science of "neurosexism", as they call it, and are raising concerns about its implications. These researchers argue that by telling parents that boys have poor chances of acquiring good verbal skills and girls have little prospect of developing mathematical prowess, serious and unjustified obstacles are being placed in the paths of children's education.
Continue Readinglinks for 2010-08-24

Weekend Update 2010-08-23

We spent a good chunk of Saturday at my mom’s helping her clean out her garage and get rid of stuff that needed to go to heavy trash. I’m pretty happy at what we were able to accomplish there. It seems much easier to help other people organize their stuff for some reason than it does for the stuff at our house.

Sunday we went to the last day of the Indiana State Fair and rode rides on the midway, then attended the Demolition Derby. I haven’t seen a crash-em up derby since I was a kid; I think we went to one near my grandparents house in Iowa. That was pretty entertaining although not exactly environmentally sound. The crowd was definitely red-state – there wasn’t any overtly political talk from the hosts “onstage” but there was long and heart-felt salute to the troops and extended discussion of the wonders of Wal-Mart.

I’ll have to see how my photos of the event came out; I missed the huge flaming fireball when one of the cars caught fire, but I think I have decent photos of the firemen putting it out. I took some fun photos of the food booths, but skipped the fried balls of death therein.

Deep Fried

Continue ReadingWeekend Update 2010-08-23

links for 2010-08-22

  • Once outside the concert, Smith and the other trainees were finally given an option and told to split into two groups: those who wanted to attend, and those who did not. Smith and about 80 others decided not to attend, even though they were obviously being "pressured" to do so. Smith and the others were sent back to their barracks on "lockdown," a punishment that Smith said withholds even basic freedoms like using their own electronics.
Continue Readinglinks for 2010-08-22