Thursday roundup

Lawmakers agree that the prevalence of sexual assault is not okay.

 

What Snowden might have asked Putin.

 

This former mayor didn't even think his comments were anti-semitic.

This is pretty pathetic social science, but you still shouldn't idealize your partner.

Either babies are more scheming than you think, or evolutionary biology is a load of crap.

I finally got to watching "Cosmos," starting with the last episode (on lead), which is fascinating and infuriating. Never doubt industry's willingness to poison you while convincing you that their products are just fine. That's why it's important to understand the mistrust out there. But that mistrust shouldn't translate into anti-scientism. On that note, Bruni calls out Jenny McCarthy for chutzpah.

It is true that there's much misinformation flying around about every way of eating. The bottom line is, nutrition is complicated and no diet is a panacea. Veganism is one healthy option; there are compelling environmental and animal-welfare reasons for it; and it's doable. Even this woman who felt the need to say even vegetarians should have no trouble getting enough protein, acknowledges that "even" vegetarians should have no trouble getting enough protein.

I did not know that oranges were not original.

Speaking of NDGT, this piece (in its rush to defend Larry Summers) misrepresents his comments, in which his point is, start with all of those societal factors before you start attributing things to "innate" factors. I'd add that if you're going to talk about innate differences, look at other countries where the ratios for women in science are different.

Lots of take-downs of the Confidence Gap book. Rosa Brooks considers the consequences of overconfidence. Jessica Valenti points out that the world isn't quite safe for women to claim the confidence that reflects our real worth.

Until more men grow the f* up, it's advantageous for many women to parent solo.

 

Housing is expensive and minimum wage doesn't cover it.

I've been thinking about this a lot: there's so much to appreciate about my job, and there's quite a bit about it that also sucks. These are not mutually exclusive phenomena.

Things that are actually mutually exclusive: love and control.

   

I totally have a different personality in every language.

This creepy spoon reminds me of the bone church in Kutna Hora.

Naming your company? For maximum marketing value, go for the gutter.