Category: uncategorized

Male Privilege: Case # 32,564,978

So I recently read a book written by a grassroots activist advocating government reform.  It wasn’t excellent, but it did have a few good insights, and, frankly, I’m happy to see any books by activists and any books advocating government reform.  That said, the book really grabbed my attention when I read the lengthy acknowledgements …

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This is Not The Truman Show

I live in a cabin on a lake in a forest (purchased back when people like me, not-rich people, could afford such things).  There are about ten permanent residences; about ten cottages owned by people who may (or may not) be there during any given weekend or week; and, now, oh the horror, about ten …

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The replacement of journalism

“The replacement of journalism by rumor aggregators …”  (Zendegi, Greg Egan).  Yes.  That.  Precisely.

Truth and Negotiation

“Caitlin knew she was not a good negotiator, not like Annelise or Rachel.  Sicence didn’t negotiate truth; it tried to discover and prove it.” The Eleventh Gate, Nancy Kress Ah.  The less regard for truth, the greater one’s negotiation skills.  Explains politics.  The state of the world.

Who should pay for housework?

“In strict economic terms, the almighty free market theoretically considers the work of women in the home to be without value, to be worthless.  It is recognized nowhere in the free market economic model” (The High Road, Terry Fallis). Also true for the work of men in (and around) the home. But I would not …

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“None of the Above” Ballot Idea

NANCY MOUNT BILL PASSES IN HOUSE Proposes “None of the Above” Be Added to Ballot Thirty Percent of the Votes Would Trigger New Election     Excellent idea.  from Jack McDevitt’s The Long Sunset

James White’s Sector General series

James White’s Sector General series should be required reading for ANYONE assigned to first contact missions.  Note in the first paragraph below (from Alien Emergencies), the inclusion of specialists in communications, philosophy, and psychology.  Note the exclusion of specialists in any of the hard sciences.  And the military.  (Note also, the more effective way.) “The …

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Everything turned into entertainment

“Look at the world around you, David.  What do you see?  An endless theme part, with everything turned into entertainment.  Science, politics, education–they’re so many fairground rides.  Sadly, people are happy to buy their tickets and climb aboard.”  The Millennium People, J. G. Ballard

Mimicry?

Read mention in a Lionel Shriver novel (The Motion of the Body through Space) about “white readers [the main, white, character read for audiobooks] pretending to talk like [members of] marginalized communities is ‘mimicry’ and … cultural appropriation” (p31). But I can’t help thinking that if she were not to use an accent other than …

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Invisible Women, Caroline Criado Perez

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men is a must-read. (And although she soft-pedals this, surely the persistent failure to consider women is evidence of what they think of us: we’re unimportant, we’re not worth consideration. Or perhaps it’s simply evidence of their persistent failure to consider anyone but themselves. Either way …

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