A thought experiment... (2013/03/18)
As commented previously, there’s a lot of outrage because a couple of kids who raped underage girls got sentenced as though they had comitted a crime.
[read more...]Rape culture in a nutshell (2013/03/17)
I used to be pretty skeptical of the notion of “rape culture”. The idea that there was a strong cultural bias towards excusing, justifying, and overlooking rape struck me as, frankly, insane. I have since been reminded: Humans are, in fact, generally insane.
[read more...]Sex-obsessed gay guys, privileged white males, and the fallacy of division (2013/03/11)
I was, at one point, derided for attempting to explain intersectionality (the awareness that people might be “privileged” in one category, but “opppressed” in another) to someone who was, I was informed, an autistic female person of color, and thus presumably aware of it. But given that I was explaining it in response to an allegation that white males cannot comprehend oppression, I somehow suspect the awareness had not quite percolated through to application.
[read more...]Humor and apologies... (2013/02/25)
The Onion recently did something they have, so far as I know, never done before in their entire history. They apologized. Specifically, they apologized for a tweet in which they called a nine-year-old girl a “cunt”. Well, okay, that does sort of merit an apology, but I think commentary on this is missing something important.
[read more...]How rules break down, and how to use them anyway. (2013/01/28)
The world does not lend itself to simple, absolute rules. Mathematicians have known this for a long time; politicians have never really accepted it. Unfortunately, the mathematicians are right. Perhaps more unfortunately, the politicians are in charge.
[read more...]The Swartz case appears to be turning more disturbing. (2013/01/26)
Well, that’s not quite fair. I mean, everyone already knew that the only reason serious charges were ever considered was because Carmen Ortiz wanted to make an example of some guy. But it’s one thing for everyone to “know” that, and another entirely to find the paper trail confirming it.
[read more...]How to deal with prosecutorial abuses... (2013/01/20)
This one seems easy enough. As recently observed, prosecutors have a lot to gain from pursuing high-profile cases, going for lots of charges even if some might not stick, and bullying people.
[read more...]How to improve political dialogue (2013/01/13)
So, I have complained in the past about the poor tone of political dialogue. But shouldn’t I offer solutions? Yes, yes I should.
[read more...]Technological solutions to social problems don't work... (2012/12/25)
General observation: Most of the time, a social problem can’t be effectively solved by technology.
[read more...]Media bias, media coverage, and voting discrepancies... (2012/11/25)
Glenn Reynolds points out some interesting discrepancies in state and federal divisions between Republican and Democrat, which John Hinderaker says is probably not because of the national media bias, but because of differences in how people view governance.
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