Wednesday, August 6, 2014

8/6/14 Today's Inquiries

Many thanks to alert readers out there (really just Alex) who pointed out yesterday's bird poop on Putin was a hoax.

Here's the links:

This is what happens when we let big business lobby lawmakers and then staff the upper ranks of enforcement agencies. Community seed banks get shut down because they represent a threat to corporate ownership of all agriculture. Because seed libraries are a threat to the national food supply.


I don't much follow the politics of the immigration debate because the waters are quite muddy with dog whistles and emotional appeals. Basically I'm for open borders with easy pathways to citizenship. Still, it's funny to watch politicians get confronted by people who are living embodiments of what they oppose. What's extra funny here is watching Rand Paul run away at the start of the conversation. Run Rand, Run!

There's a pro gun children's book. I guess that's cool? I also thinks it's kind of self defeating. Most people who own guns and would buy a children's book about guns are probably taking their kids to the shooting range to learn about guns at an early age. For example, this guys like to bring his son with him when he open-carries his guns to the local airport

Mike the Mad Biologist points out that Republicans are pretty much creating the country they despise. He sees federal spending in the south, which is proportionately higher than elsewhere, as a large Keynesian stimulus. With Obamacare, they're actually rejecting money which would improve state budgets creating the circumstances which these "fiscal conservatives" claim they are in office to fix.




So, what's behind the growth in part time jobs? The Atlanta Fed's Ellyn Terry takes apart the numbers in their recent labor survey. We also get this wonderful chart:

Who identifies as a feminist? Not many. Although the numbers improve slightly when respondents are offered a broad definition of feminism as equally. 

The case against Cards Against Humanity. It's good background reading for the story until now. Basically, the guy who made CAH has been accused of rape and his response has been less than stellar. I think this specific example is exactly why it's so hard to have a conversation about sexual assault and rape accusations.
 Cards Against Humanity is the social version of this, getting us to trust that the other players at the table are decent people who share our values.
But what if they’re not? ...
Every time I play “Surprise sex” as a punchline in Cards Against Humanity I have no way of actually knowing why anyone in particular is laughing. I have no way of knowing if I’m making a rape joke with an actual rapist. 
Indeed. What if the people you're playing CAH with don't find rape funny at all? CAH, like many other games, relies on a specific white male set of social norms. Transgressing those norms is what makes the game "funny" but they're still very limited in scope. The game basically says, you're all just like me!

1. People form this dude's hometown. 
2. The Bay Area. 
3. New York City. 



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