Alas, a Blog

1. Trans Women Face Extreme Levels of Abuse in Men’s Prisons.
   “For trans women in prison, it’s often the abuse by the guards that is the most abhorrent, and that abuse doesn’t stop at misgendering or inappropriate strip searches. According to a 2012 Department of Justice survey, 16.7% of trans inmates have experienced sexual misconduct at the hands of a prison staff member.”
2. Let’s Stop Comparing Campus Sexual Assault Proceedings to Criminal Trials — Konidaris Law
3. #Me Too is about more than stopping rape. We demand more | Jessica Valenti | Opinion | The Guardian
4. (89) Dinner Discussion – SNL – YouTube
   Sketch about some friends at dinner being scared to discuss Aziz Ansari. I think there’s something to this – people are too scared of messing up.
5. Gallery removes naked nymphs painting to ‘prompt conversation’ | Art and design | The Guardian
   The article explains that this artificially created controversy is intended to be a conceptual art piece, and that the gallery intends to resume displaying the painting at some point. I’m skeptical of the value of this exercise at all; critically examining the painting is fine, but doing it this way seems designed to generate more heat than light.
6. Give all immigrants the right to vote
   “Between 1776 and 1926, Hayduk’s research shows, up to 40 states permitted immigrants to vote in local, state and federal elections.”
7. Turning a Unicorn into a Bat: the Post in Which We Announce the End of our Marriage | The Weed
   A Mormon couple, one of whom came out as gay five years ago, reaches a turning point.
8. Achtung Baby by Sara Zaske, reviewed.
   “…contemporary German parents give their children a great deal of freedom—to do dangerous stuff; to go places alone; to make their own mistakes, most of which involve nudity, fire, or both.”
9. But see also Jane Yager’s comments on that German parenting article.
10. This four minute video by a Palestinian Israeli, of his encounter with a Jewish family, is very striking.
11. The Weaponization of Nostalgia: How Afghan Miniskirts Became the Latest Salvo in the War on Terror – Ajam Media Collective
12. The Dark Art of Stealing from Self-Checkouts – The Atlantic
    In my twenties, I definitely would have shoplifted something via the self-checkout, because I was poor, and just because I could. But now, it honestly didn’t occur to me… until I read this article. (Still won’t do it, though.)
13. Kansas Scrambles To Change Rules After 6 Teens Enter Governor’s Race : The Two-Way : NPR
14. Single Mothers Are Not the Problem – The New York Times
    “Ultimately, there simply aren’t enough single mothers to explain our high poverty. Even if they all married or never had children, poverty would not be substantially lower.”
15. All of Groundhog Day shown as a single Groundhog day.
    “I wanted to see what it would be like if the events of the movie Groundhog Day all took place simultaneously. The film shows 37 separate days from Phil’s thousands of Groundhog Days in Punxsutawney.” The video is a half-hour long, and is oddly compelling… or at least, it is to met I’ve seen that movie a kazillion times.
16. Nigel, the world’s loneliest bird, dies next to the concrete decoy he loved – The Washington Post
    He built it a nest.
17. A new Vox poll reveals surprising nuance in public opinion on abortion
    “…18 percent of Americans, like King, pick “both” when you ask them to choose between pro-life and pro-choice. Another 21 percent choose neither. Taken together, about four in 10 Americans are eschewing the labels that we typically see as defining the abortion policy debate.”
18. I’m sort of obsessed with this The Invisible Man poster by Jonathan Burton. I tried to buy one, but it sold out in two minutes. I can still get it on Ebay for four times the price….
19. What no politician wants to admit about gun control – Vox
    The very mild measures that Democrats have proposed, would probably have only mild effects on the gun death rate.
20. She killed 115 people before the last Korean Olympics. Now she wonders: ‘Can my sins be pardoned?’ – The Washington Post
21. GOP lawmakers take aim at WHO agency over Roundup ingredient
22. First modern Britons had ‘dark to black’ skin, Cheddar Man DNA analysis reveals | Science | The Guardian
23. North Korea: what war with the US would look like – Vox
    “A full-blown war with North Korea wouldn’t be as bad as you think. It would be much, much worse.”
24. N.Y. landlord obliterated dozens of graffiti murals. Now he owes the artists $6.75 million. – The Washington Post
25. I Spent Two Years Trying to Fix the Gender Imbalance in My Stories – The Atlantic
26. This Mutant Crayfish Clones Itself, and It’s Taking Over Europe – The New York Times
    “Before about 25 years ago, the species simply did not exist. A single drastic mutation in a single crayfish produced the marbled crayfish in an instant.”
27. The Minimum Wage And The Price of Comics.
    The real cost of buying a comic book has been going up much faster than the minimum wage – or the cost of going to a movie. No wonder sales have plummeted.
28. Speaking of which, I wrote a thread on Twitter arguing that it’s ridiculous to think that the sales problems of comics are due to more diverse characters and a few pros being rude on Twitter. This is in response to #ComicsGate, which is an attempt to take the failures of GamerGate and the Rabid/Sad Puppies and make them happen for comics, too.
29. Why this economist thinks public education is mostly pointless – Vox
30. Former Slaves’ Folklore of Abraham Lincoln in the South – The Atlantic
    “They said he came in disguise as a beggar or a peddler, bummed free meals off his unsuspecting white hosts, snooped around to find out what slavery was like, and told the slaves they would soon be free.”
31. Trump slump? Remington files for bankruptcy amid declining gun sales. – The Washington Post
32. What’s the difference between sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment and rape?
33. And another twitter rant from me: A thread about the misuse of trans suicide statistics by Ryan Anderson. Anderson just wrote a book about (well, against) trans issues, called “When Harry Became Sally,” so it would have been nice if he’d at least read the studies he cites.
34. Woman Adopts Senior Dog, Who Turns Out To Be Her Childhood Pet – The Dodo
35. Trump concocted a story about a border agent’s death. The truth won’t catch up. – The Washington Post
36. We had a great day at the park with our autistic son, until someone called the police – The Washington Post
    His hair wasn’t brushed and someone was worried that his parents weren’t taking good care of him.
37. You Can Call Yourself Fat – Kiva Bay – Medium
    “I worry that fat activism has begun to build a new version of the Good Fatty, that within fat activism there is a certain excessive pushback against fat people who don’t perform their fatness with as much purity as we would prefer.”
38. Artist creates bizarre characters by getting models to bend over and drawing faces on them

1. To understand why America’s opioid epidemic keeps getting worse, just look at this map – Vox
   The existing medical treatments we have for opiod addiction aren’t available in huge swathes of the country.
2. Moira Donegan: I Started the Media Men List
   “In October, I created a Google spreadsheet called “Shitty Media Men” that collected a range of rumors and allegations of sexual misconduct, much of it violent, by men in magazines and publishing…”
3. Everyone Can Make AI-Generated Fake Porn Now – Motherboard
   What worries me about this software isn’t just the ability for people to convincingly put person x’s face on porn star y’s body, but what this will mean for the future of “fake news” – both the ability of people to create convincing fake videos, and the ability of people to convincingly claim that real videos are fake.
4. Dan Harmon’s apology for sexually harassing Megan Gatz is worth listening to, and actually helped Gatz feel relief and vindication.
5. In The Midst Of #MeToo, What Type Of Man Do You Want To Be?
6. The reaction to the Aziz Ansari allegations shows #MeToo is more measured than its critics claim.
7. Dr. Larry Nassar Sentenced to 40 to 175 Years for Sexual Abuse – The New York Times
   “The sentencing hearing itself garnered much attention for extending over several days, streamed live on the internet, to allow for what are known as victim impact statements from girls and women who he is accused of molesting over the years…. The final three of 156 victims spoke on Wednesday.”
8. Gymnastics scandal: 8 times Larry Nassar could have been stopped – NBC News
   “I told somebody,” Boyce said. “Instead of being protected, I was humiliated and told that I was the problem.”
9. Bring on the Conservative Debate for Immigration | The American Conservative
   “Many of Western civilization’s great thinkers believed in the free movement of peoples.”
10. Do We Code-Switch Our Laughter? (Yes.) – Atlas Obscura
11. Over the past 18 months, the New York Times has dedicated 21 columns and articles to the subject of conservatives’ free speech on campus, while only three covered the silencing of college liberals or leftists.
12. Where Did Animals With Tail Weapons Go? Here’s a Back Story – The New York Times
13. (75) The Actual Forgotten Working Class |Full Frontal on TBS – YouTube
    Did you know that many working class people aren’t white? If so, you know more than the media seems to.
14. BBC – Future – Do men and women really have different personalities?
    A slightly more detailed discussion of some of the research Gracchi referred to in the “Toxic Masculinity Stew” comments.
15. Vulgarity Isn’t Praxis | Noah Berlatsky on Patreon
    “The fantasy of stuffed shirt effeminate wealthy pearl clutchers opposed by virile brave cursing truth tellers is in fact a fantasy—and a dangerous one. Once you’ve convinced yourself that vulgarity is a sign of authenticity, then anyone who uses vulgarity becomes an avatar of the working class.”
16. Stop Listening to Seth Abramson’s Hack Trump-Russia Theories :: Paste
17. BITTER HARVEST – The Washington Post
    The WW2 Japanese Interment camps were motivated as much by profit as by anything else.
18. Pennsylvania’s Death Row Prisoners Argue That the Right to Execute Does Not Include the Right to…
19. State by state, here are the most binge-watched TV shows of 2017 | The Seattle Times
    The most binged watched on Netflix, anyhow. Still, it’s interesting. Several most-binged shows are ones that I hadn’t heard of, but which sound really neat (like “American Vandal”).
20. Why don’t dreamers just become legal citizens?
21. How the far right has perfected the art of deniable racism | Gary Younge | Opinion | The Guardian
22. Scott Walker Is Literally Preventing Wisconsinites From Voting | The Nation
    Scott Walker is refusing to call elections to fill empty seats in the legislature, presumably because he’s worried that Democrats could win those seats. Given Walker’s enormous prominence, the lack of Republican party opposition to Walkers anti-democracy policies should be seen as approval.
23. 12news.com | Border Patrol arrests ASU instructor who gave food, water to immigrants
    The instructor is part of “No More Deaths,” an activist group that, shortly before the arrest, released video of border patrol agents deliberately destroying water meant for migrants. He was arrested for harboring. This is just sheer evil.
24. Cow runs away from farm and spends the winter with a herd of bison – BBC News
25. Why You Shouldn’t Think for Yourself | Noah Berlatsky
26. Don’t Be Accountable to Nazis | Noah Berlatsky on Patreon

The amazing photos accompanying this Open Thread are by Andreas Hemb and Christian Vizl.

1. “The three most popular movies at theaters in the United States and Canada in 2017 — “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Wonder Woman” — were each driven by female characters, something that has not happened in at least 37 years, as far back as full box office data is available.”
2. What Research Tells Us About How Women Are Treated at Work
3. Well-adjusted man with good priorities sues Iliza Shlesinger over women-only comedy show 
   “Shlesinger’s “Girls Night In” is described as “a hybrid stand up show and interactive discussion between Iliza and the women in the audience aimed at giving women a place to vent in a supportive, fun and inclusive environment.”
4. In the heart of Anti-Trump Country, voters still pine for an America better than its president | Will Bunch
5. The Partisanship of Feminism – The Atlantic
   “A liberal woman’s emergence as a serious presidential contender in 2008, and then as her party’s nominee eight years later, drove feminists of both genders toward the Democratic Party and anti-feminists of both genders toward the GOP.”
6. The Elusive Backfire Effect: Mass Attitudes’ Steadfast Factual Adherence by Thomas Wood, Ethan Porter :: SSRN
   A new study finds that citizens are more open to facts that go against their partisan preferences than some other studies have found. One possible reason for the difference, according to the paper: previous studies have used undergraduate samples rather than general population samples.
7. The past year of research has made it very clear: Trump won because of racial resentment – Vox
8. Trump’s Pick to Run 2020 Census Has Defended Racial Gerrymandering and Voter Suppression Laws – Mother Jones
9. Sarah Silverman’s response to a Twitter troll is a master class in compassion – Blog | q | CBC Radio
10. What Liberals Get Wrong About Identity Politics | New Republic
11. #NotYourModelMinority: Asian Americans in the affirmative action debate | Urban Institute
12. Justice Department inquiry renews debate over whether top colleges hold some applicants to an unfair standard — and what the data say about Asian-American applicants.
13. The Uncomfortable Truth About Affirmative Action and Asian-Americans | The New Yorker
14. Investigating Whether Affirmative Action Hurts Asians – The Atlantic
15. What the Trans Moment Has to Offer Radical Feminism – The TransAdvocate
    “For to describe accurately the class of potential and actual victims of rape would necessarily mean including people who are trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, intersex, and otherwise not specifically cisgender.”
16. How a Nearly Successful Slave Revolt Was Intentionally Lost to History | Smart News | Smithsonian
17. Why dolphins are deep thinkers | Science | The Guardian
    Dolphins make plans and use tools.
18. No, #MeToo Is Not a Witch Hunt – Pacific Standard
19. This might be the best map of the 2016 election you ever see – Vox
20. These are the arguments against net neutrality and why they’re wrong | TechCrunch