Posts
March 28, 2013
March 27, 2013
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This week, we’ve got Easter and April Fools’ Day back-to-back. [Insert plethora of obvious jokes here.] As usual, events are all over the map, from the spring opener of egg hunting season to celebrations of the Flying Spaghetti Monster for the Pastafarian pirates among us. But I admit that this posts subtitle is a false dichotomy. You have many more choices than just pirates or zombies. For example, you could spend Easter weekend with a bunch of atheists, including Surly Amy and […]
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6:19 PM | #EdgyHeadlines is the New Hotness
Feminists on Twitter are absolutely killing it lately. #AdviceforLadies hasn’t even had time to wind down, but already there’s a new stream of awesome social commentary happening. Enjoy #EdgyHeadlines: https://twitter.com/JessicaValenti/status/316975334056665089 https://twitter.com/DrJaneChi/status/316975697665069056 https://twitter.com/NameChanged/status/316975420564205569 https://twitter.com/marykmac/status/316973252129984512 […]
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1:00 PM | Skepchick Quickies 3.27
On March 27, 1915, Typhoid Mary was put into quarantine and she stayed there the rest of her life. Her story is pretty interesting, and here are some links to a NOVA special and a Radiolab show about her. Canadian Lawmaker Tells Girl She’ll ‘Make a Wonderful Wife for Somebody Someday’ – Oh, Canada. The Chemistry of Kibble – The science of pet food. I was actually riveted by this article, you should read it! Girl’s Kickstarter to go to RPG camp brings out the horrible, […]
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“Marriage is mostly just firewood, rice, oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea.” -Chinese proverb
Although China’s rising ‘love culture’ has borrowed many foreign ideas, such as teen dating and Valentine’s Day (see my last article), China’s romantic relationships hardly mirror Western ones. Young Chinese are usually free to choose their spouses, but they are not free to linger long in singlehood. If a woman hits her late 20s without a husband,
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March 26, 2013
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7:00 PM | AI: Prop 8 with a side of “Life”
Today, SCOTUS (that’s the Supreme Court of the US… and not to be confused with any male genitalia) heard testimony regarding Prop 8, the California amendment banning anything that is not good old fashioned opposite-sex marriage. And now they’re playing coy about the whole thing by not laughing with Roberts being all “Why the fuck are we even listening to this shit? This is America. Freedom, equality, and all that shiz. Yeah Prop 8 is fucking bullshit. Get it together, […]
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. . . the camera! The one and only episode of Ask Psychic Surly Amy is now available on YouTube. (Don’t ask me how this is possible. Something to do with the energy in the universe being guided by Amy’s mind to the Internet.) As part of our Skepchick Challenge to raise money for SkepchickCON 2013, Amy agreed to answer your otherworldly questions on camera if you helped us meet our goal. And you totally did. A huge thanks to everyone who donated and spread the word. Enjoy the […]
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1:52 PM | Skepchick Quickies 3.26
It turns out that Amanda, our fearless Quickies correspondent, is currently engaged in some black-ops activity, fighting crime and globe-trotting in search of the perfect marzipan. Therefore, I’ll be your server today. Here’s what’s cooking… TEDxDeExtinction was a conference on species-revival science and ethics. The talks are over but the conversation continues. Bringing them back to life is Carl Zimmer’s excellent cover story. {via Amanda D.} A JetBlue passenger […]
March 25, 2013
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Warning: NSFW for artsy nudity. I have been a self-identified feminist for longer than I have been a self-identified [insert any other label with which I currently associate myself here]. I also am of the belief that, in those immortal and eminently quotable words from Tiger Beatdown, my feminism will be intersectional or it will be bullshit. Just as can be case with ”anti-racism” and “social justice,” “intersectionality” can be something of an […]
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This has been going on for a few days now but I only just noticed because I am not very observant. Get thee to Twitter immediately and enjoy the awesome #SafetyTipsforLadies, suggested by people who are obviously pretty tired of all the assholes who ask women to go to greater and greater lengths to be sure we’re not raped: If you hide your forearms in your sleeves, the rapist will mistake you for a T-Rex and carry on his way #safetytipsforladies — Hilary Bowman-Smart (@hilaryjfb) […]
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Stop! Stop whatever you’re doing! I guarantee* it’s not as important as catching up on Skepchick Network posts! * Guarantee void in all places in the universe ever. Teen Skepchick TSBS Episode 5 – Carl Sagan: The Famous Skeptical Mangina Teen Skepchick contributors Eddy and Olivia join Mindy to discuss The Demon Haunted World. Evidence and Rape Culture: A Response to Justin Vacula So you want evidence of rape culture? Olivia has that for you. A Short History of Atheism Beccy […]
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1:00 PM | Skepchick Quickies 3.25
On March 25, 1811, Percy Shelley was expelled from Oxford for publishing The Necessity of Atheism. His father intervened and the school was going to allow him to be reinstated, as long as he recanted his views (which were also anti-war, anti-monarchy), but he refused. The money man behind atheism’s activism – From Heina. Dude, Where’s My Red Wine Pill? The strange saga of resveratrol, the wonder drug that never was – Raise your hand if you took one of these pills or have […]
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I just read about DateSim.netTM, a service that is co-founded by Dr. Jennifer Harman that uses dating simulations to give objective feedback on dating skills. I think it sounds like a great idea, but the $500 fee is outside of my budget.
How about reviewing existing profiles on a dating website and giving suggestions? I've been on the same dating site for 4 years and have only been contacted 3 times - twice by obvious scammers and once by someone whose picture alone scared me to death,
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March 24, 2013
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Hi All, Just wanted to put up a quick note about some upcoming professional development webinars put on by the Association for Women in Science (AWIS). I have been meaning to highlight these for a while and there are a bunch of great ones coming up in April, so I figured now was as good of a time [...]
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No summary available for this post.
March 23, 2013
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7:41 PM | Learning the Foreign Language of Twitter
Any time I go to Europe, as this week, I come back ashamed of my lack of linguistic skills. This time I struggled through a brief conversation in French with a Brussels taxi driver trying to talk about the impact … Continue reading →
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12:23 PM | Planet of the Arthropods
I’m on the radio! Skeptically Speaking asked me to talk a little bit about insect conservation, in order to round out an interview with the author of Rat Island. (I haven’t read the book yet, but it looks pretty fascinating.) I mostly discussed the 2012 report “Spineless”, published by IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature). You might recognize IUCN as author of the Red List, the definitive international list of species that are at risk of extinction. […]
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I was playing 4 Pics 1 Word the other day and this came up. It's a very smart app!
Check it out via iTunes or Google Play.
March 22, 2013
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11:30 PM | SCOTUS Takes on DOMA
On Wednesday I told you about the upcoming SCOTUS case of Hollingsworth v Perry that challenges California’s Prop 8. However, this is not the only case dealing with same-sex marriage the Supreme Court will be hearing next week. SCOTUS will be hearing arguments in the case of United States v Windsor starting next Wednesday. Unlike Hollingsworth v Perry, which takes on the legality of bans on same-sex marriage, U.S. v Windsor challenges the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA […]
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2:38 PM | Planet of the Arthropods
The IUCN has a report out that suggests over 20% of invertebrate species are at risk of extinction. That is a big deal, and we should be worried.
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12:53 PM | Skepchick Quickies 3.22
Thug mentality: How two dick jokes exploded into DDoS and death threats – “A single Twitter pic spiraled into two lost jobs and a chain reaction of sexist abuse.” Kerry has also covered it over on her blog. Texas Congressman doesn’t understand how Gmail ads work – And to make it a two-fer of Texas Congressmen, here’s what Rep. Stockman thinks is the best thing about the Earth. 9 year old building an RPG to prove her brothers wrong - The cutest Kickstarter […]
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If I asked you to list the qualities that make for a good sexual partner, what would you say? Maybe you would want a lover who focuses on your sexual needs, someone who understands your feelings, or perhaps a lover who is sexually skilled and confident in his or her abilities. These different ideas about what makes a good sexual partner suggest that narcissism could either be linked to greater sexual satisfaction (a lover who is confident in his or her sexual skills) or a lower quality sex life
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March 21, 2013
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6:30 PM | Zach Weinersmith’s Bad Chart Thursday
Earlier this week, friend and webcomic artist Zach Weinersmith emailed me a fine example of a pre-made bad chart he found on the front page of NBC, in anticipation of Bad Chart Thursday: As wonderfully bad as that bad chart is, I was more taken by the realization that Zach would be the perfect first guest poster for BCT. I asked him if he could contribute something, and within the day I had this beauty: Thanks so much to Zach Weinersmith and Pat Robertson for this fine contribution to BCT.
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5:02 PM | The customer is always wrong (1999)
“When I have one foot in the grave, I will tell the whole truth about women. I shall tell it, jump into my coffin, pull the lid over me and say, ‘Do what you like now.’” Leo Tolstoy Before I … Continue reading →
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3:51 PM | When Calling Out is Called Out
There are people out there who believe that people who often voice concerns are constantly raring for a fight and enjoy getting into spats over little things. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just because someone calls others out doesn’t mean that they enjoy the calling-out in itself — though the end results, if any and if positive, can make them happy. In fact, just how often their best attempts at diplomacy and tact are met with defensiveness and/or abuse means that the […]
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1:24 PM | Skepchick Quickies 3.21
5 year old finds fossils of a small pterosaur – And now it’s been named after her, Vectidraco daisymorrisae. New poll finds the majority of women voters consider themselves feminists – Dear Republicans, please pay attention to this. Steubenville’s Jane Doe asks people to do something – She’s asked for donations to be made to her county’s shelter for abused women and children. Dr. Oz sued: Diabetic man suffers horrible burns from following Oz’s […]
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3:00 AM | SCOTUS Takes on Prop 8
This week, Washington Post/ABC News released a new poll showing that support for marriage equality in the U.S. has reached an all-time high of 58%. This comes just before the U.S. Supreme Court takes up two marriage equality cases, one challenging California’s Prop 8 and one challenging the Defense of Marriage Act. These cases could be serious game changers but are also more complicated than they seem. To help you make sense of what these cases could mean for the future of marriage equality […]
March 20, 2013
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8:45 PM | EVENTS This Week—Meet Stephen Hawking, Surly Amy, Hemant Mehta, Seth Andrews, Shelley Segal & More!
All over the globe, many of your favorite scientists, skeptics, and atheists are appearing live: in Texas, you can meet Surly Amy at the American Atheists Convention in Austin; Stephen Hawking in Houston; Hemant Mehta and Seth Andrews in Canyon and Houston; Australian atheist singer-songwriter Shelley Segal in Houston and San Antonio. Hemant will also be giving a talk in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Carl Zimmer will be speaking in Overland Park, Kansas; Susan Jacoby in Grand Rapids, Michigan; PZ […]
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4:00 PM | The Misunderstood Particle?
This post is cross-posted and translated from skepchick.no. Ok, so we’ve been talking about the Higgs particle for a year or so now, but there is still this annoying thing that pops up again and again. Namely the nick name the “God Particle”. It is one thing that religious people talk about the particle as if it was actually divine or something, but when scientists perpetuate myths about the Higgs it gets annoying. Can’t we just call it the “Unicorn […]
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1:00 PM | Skepchick Quickies 3.20
On March 20, 1852, the first edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published. It went from being recognized as an anti-slavery novel to criticized for its use of stereotypes (in modern times). Responses to the Steubenville Verdict Reveal Rape Culture – Of course, this is not surprising, but it is a good collection of (horrible) responses. New poll finds the majority of women voters consider themselves feminists – From Veronica. Henry Rollins Reminds Everyone That Outrage Won’t Be […]
