I have to say, the racial disparity really did jump out at me when I saw the trailer for the new Ghostbusters.
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"As poverty and prostitution increase so does criminalisation. We are currently fighting legal cases with women imprisoned for brothel-keeping because they worked in a flat with friends – obviously much safer than working alone. We are also working with women street workers, who are having their IDs confiscated by police before being told that they can only get them back if they show plane tickets back to Romania. This is happening despite these women having the right to reside in the UK." Open Democracy
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"the mice were offered two sweet solutions, one with sugar, and one with artificial sweetener. The solution with the sweetener tasted sweeter—and so, one would think the more attractive of the two. And indeed, for the first day, the mice consistently drank the sweeter water. But then something happened: They began to ignore the artificial sweetener and instead focused exclusively on the real sugar solution. “Somehow the brain knows when something is purely sweet and good-tasting versus when that good taste comes along with energy,” de Araujo said. In other words, we have two separate systems that signal the value of food." New Republic
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Not sure how seriously to take the Sapir-Whorf thesis being applied in the article, but this is interesting.
"Every language first had a word for black and for white, or dark and light. The next word for a color to come into existence — in every language studied around the world — was red, the color of blood and wine.
After red, historically, yellow appears, and later, green (though in a couple of languages, yellow and green switch places). The last of these colors to appear in every language is blue."
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"When he first played the Google machine, he was ranked 633rd in the world. Now, he is up into the 300s. In the months since October, AlphaGo has taught him, a human, to be a better player. He sees things he didn’t see before. And that makes him happy. “So beautiful,” he says. “So beautiful.”" Wired
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I remember reading an article a while ago arguing that people are often willing to be led by men (mostly men) with antisocial behaviour traits, because those men are good at breaking rules to the benefit of their friends and followers. I think the example the author used was of someone who figures out a way to jump a queue and so gets everyone into a venue sooner. In this context, evidence of a willingness to be unethical can actually be seen as a positive recommendation for leadership positions.
Struck by this dynamic and the Trump phenomenon, where he has explicitly argued that he wants to be "greedy" on behalf of the American population.
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"Groups of signers will naturally form circles or arcs to include everyone. They avoid long, rectangular tables, which impede views. The least Deaf-supportive space Bauman could think of, when I asked him what it might be, was the traditional classroom with straight rows of desks; that layout breaks up lines of communication, except between student and teacher. Many classrooms at Gallaudet have round or horseshoe-shaped seating arrangements. Meeting rooms may have oval desks; lecture halls are raked, and ideally have multiple aisles so an audience member can easily take the stage when he or she wants to ask a question." Curbed
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Could chimpanzees be engaging in ritual?
"What we have found might be more symbolic than a male display, and perhaps more reminiscent of our own past. Marking pathways and territories with signposts such as piles of stones is an important stage in human history. Mapping chimps’ territories in relation to stone accumulation sites could give us insights into whether this is the case here."
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Wow, Los Angeles literally confiscating homes from homeless people on (completely spurious?) safety grounds.
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I find these kind of statistics so wonderful, but also feel strangely envious. Kids nowadays obviously feel much more supported in their identities than would have been possible for most people during my adolescence. Progress :)
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This is pretty good advice for all relationships, actually, not only those with kids. It's all to easy to let conflict devolve into a power struggle, rather than a calm negotiation over the best course of action.
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This article goes to something I've been thinking a lot about lately, about how we all need opportunities to fail early and often (and starting with low stakes), so we're able to learn about our own capabilities in a safe environment. So there's a good point in here about young girls and physical risk, but you could also write a piece about young boys and emotional risk, and lots of broadly analogous other issues.
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Climate change is proceeding at a breakneck pace... :/
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"Like the Manic Pixie Dream Girl before her, the Manic Pixie Dream Feminist is every brogressive's fantasy – an intelligent, socially aware woman whose liberal sexual politics mean she's also a freak in the sack. The MPDF is passionate, but not too passionate – she will never call you out on your shit, but patiently and gently hold your hand through the tricky maze of social justice, a human search engine with bottomless emotional labour available at your disposal.
This slimy fetishisation is a reconstitution of the male gaze for self-congratulating leftist men who loudly proclaim that they love smart, opinionated women, but are intimidated as hell when push comes to shove. Having their problematic views challenged or their offensive jokes called out tips the power balance scales away from the smug, comfortable patriarchal throne they've been sitting on all their lives – and boy, do they hate it."
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Fascinating history of Baghdad
"Under strict supervision [the Caliph] had workers trace the plans of his round city on the ground in lines of cinders. The perfect circle was a tribute to the geometric teachings of Euclid, whom he had studied and admired."
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