Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Tuesday evening roundup

A local perspective on the massacre in Nairobi.

High-speed rail is revolutionizing China.

Revenge posts are perpetrated by serious douche bags.

Carolyn's beautiful, remarkably reasoned response to very difficult situation.

Wild animals are adapting to cities.

A libertarian makes the case for embracing evidence over ideology.

Wow, Sunday Times!
This is a much better response to the Thought Catalogue privilege cluelessness than the one I linked to yesterday. In fact, it's an excellent discussion of privilege as a concept. On that topic, this--while a very valid discussion of the racist aspects of MC's twerking--is not a pretty offensive and silly discussion of privilege. Let's start with the statement, "Being suitably marriageable privileges white women’s relation to white male wealth and power." Huh? If she made, rather than assumed, a connection between the "normative cultural beauty ideal" and marriageability, I missed it.

On the topic of overreacting or not, I agree that the Vows column in question is annoying in and of itself, but I can't take issue with the blogger's condemnation of the bride or her technique for dealing with a very difficult event in her life, which, from as far as we can tell, was not her fault even if she wasn't the center of the resulting tragedy. It's not about whom to blame, but you can't blame someone driving down a highway for not being able to brake in time or swerve effectively. She found a healthy way to cope with a devastating situation that clearly affected her; what's so wrong about that? Her not coping healthily wouldn't have brought the child back. Perhaps it's insensitive to showcase her being at peace with herself in a Vows column, but that's an issue for the publication, not for her.

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