Saturday, October 25, 2014

Saturday roundup

Helene Cooper's beautiful reflection on Liberia.

China's war on corruption is messy.

Factory farms are even worst than you thought, and so are antibiotics in meat. Worry about that, among other things, instead of ebola. And be angry that nobody's doing anything about it.

I love that Roxane Gay declined to write about Gaza because she didn't know a lot about it. It's not surprising that people kept asking her to. The most beautiful words in the English language may be "I don't know enough about this topic to have an informed opinion." You can (and should) still be horrified by violence and carnage, but leave the analysis to those who actually know enough for the analysis to be valuable.


What is settled science?

The Farm Bureau gets all pissy about living wages for farmers.

Speaking of douchebags... they're getting a lot of press these days. Not just the ones renting out apartments in the Halsteads of this world (like my ex-bf), but even more so the ones who feel entitled to women's time (like my ex-RM). And the ones who not only don't understand the difference between being friendly to women and cornering them, but don't seem to understand that the world that women inhabit doesn't lend itself to friendliness. Just like I wished (initially) that I could be nice to RM--but I couldn't, because he'd immediately take that as an opening for conversation that he made it very difficult to close, so I had no choice but to be cold--I wish we lived in a world where women could let their guard down in public. And it's adorable that (some) guys think that we do. Do read Lindy West's piece and see if it reminds you of RM at all:
I was sitting there thinking about how women’s time is treated like a public commodity (yes, I am available for wedding toasts and bar mitzvahs) when, coincidentally, another young blonde woman came and sat down in the same chair. And then a completely different annoying old dude plunked himself down and launched into – I am not joking – a 30-minute, condescending lecture about the history of sampling in popular music. It happened all over again. He wanted her attention, so he took it. Because there’s no law against talking to a pretty woman. And, again, she sat through it.
Why is it that interrupting someone in a quiet moment, wilfully oblivious to their verbal and physical cues, is considered friendly, but rebuffing such an interruption is considered rude? Interrupting is objectively worse than not wanting to be interrupted. We only get one life. Wasting someone’s time is the subtlest form of murder. So why do we let this bizarre inversion dictate so many of our interactions?

We were all wrong about Gamergate.

Growing up is about being foolish and getting drunk and making mistakes. Why are young women held to different standards?

Annie Lennox is confused about a lot of things.

Bonoir and Hax on body issues.

I'm so grateful that very few of my friends--maybe one or two--would ever be in an STFU-parents situation (especially this one). I went to the ballet with a friend who's a new parent the other night, and she hasn't changed a bit. She talked a little about her baby (of course, I asked her) but she was still fully capable of and interested in talking about other things.

Great, balanced advice about cooking oils (contrast to all-or-nothing nutrition advice).

Don't inadvertently give your kid a stripper name.


Did anybody celebrate Mole Day?

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