Friday Links (foolish laws edition)

It's Friday. March is gone, we're into April. And once again my husband and I are not at NorWesCon with a bunch of our friends.

Anyway, here is a collection of some of the things that I ran across over the course of the week which struck me as worthy of being shared:

Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous.

A SMARTER TAKE ON SEX COULD HAVE SAVED 'LOOKING'.

Sociologist Michael Kimmel explores the history of the aggrieved American male, but fails to capture what drives our age's most prominent discontents: the men's rights movement.

Anglo-Saxon remedy kills hospital superbug MRSA.

A Truce in the War Over Family.

My personal Libertarian hell: How I enraged the movement — and paid the price.

When men are afraid to pee: The bizarre, scientific reason why urinals cause stage fright.

Gay Passion of Christ Envisioned and Attacked.

Alan Stern on Pluto’s Wonders, New Horizons’ Lost Twin, and That Whole “Dwarf Planet” Thing.

NC Lawmakers Want Hospitals To Be Able To Turn Away Gay Patients.

What Indiana Could Learn From Utah About Gay Tolerance.

Economic Inequality: It’s Far Worse Than You Think.

State Attorneys Tell Supreme Court That Gay People Are Too Powerful To Have Equal Rights.

How Conservatives Hijacked 'Religious Freedom'.

I'm a Transgender Woman, and This Is What It's Like.

US Senator: Hey Gays, Get Some 'Perspective' – 'In Iran They Hang You For The Crime Of Being Gay'.

Astronomers Solve Decades-Long Mystery of the "Lonely Old Stars."

Ted Cruz goes ballistic over “radical” idea that gay people should enjoy equality.

This infographic breaks down the top five misconceptions about evolution.

Oakland A's Pitcher Sean Doolittle & Girlfriend Buy Tickets To Fill Stadium On LGBT Night.

Anti-Gay Activists Furious People Joined Dan Savage's 'It Gets Better' Campaign Against Bullying.

The right’s made-up God: How bigots invented a white supremacist Jesus.

“You Were on the Right Side of History After All."

I wrote about Indiana's license to discriminate bill, Bullied bullies: Indiana’s license to discriminate hurts more than queers.

And followed up with Indiana law worse than ‘similar’ bans.

And pointed out that isn't the only assault worth figthing: Putting the bigotry into the school bathroom.

On a less dire note, I wrote about (among other things) my favorite writing tools: I’m the Cheerful Fairy (no joke)!

SPECTRE (next James Bond movie) - Domestic Trailer:



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Calling My Nanna #RingYourGranny Tag - JAMESMITCHELL[TV] (You'll need a kleenex):



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Eli Lieb - Lightning In A Bottle:



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A Capella Science - The Surface Of Light! (Lion King Parody):



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Beyonce End Of Time Target Flash Mob :



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Confessions of a re-blogger, part 2

I know a lot of people I follow on Tumblr have already reblogged this post Seanan McGuire put up this morning, but it hits on topics I have talked about, so:

Responding to this question: kerrykhat asked: What do you do when there's an author you absolutely adore on a short story anthology, but there's also an author that you don't want to give money to under any circumstances?

Well, first, I remind myself that all the authors in that anthology have already been paid, and that the majority of anthologies never earn out or make any additional revenue for the authors inside. It’s a small thing, but it salves my conscience. Beyond that…

Let’s say there are three authors whose careers I monitor. Jan, who is an absolute favorite, whom I would follow to the ends of the earth. Pat, who stepped on my foot once at a con and didn’t say sorry, and who I consequentially avoid whenever it doesn’t inconvenience me. And Robin, who actively lobbies for causes I find repugnant, and flat-out says that my friends and family are perverts and freaks of nature for loving the people that we love. Now let’s say that there’s a new anthology containing all three people.

This is a problem for me, obviously. I want to read Jan’s story. More, I know Jan makes a lot of money from anthologies, and since I want Jan to keep getting those invitations, I don’t want to pirate the story. I’m okay with giving a little money to Pat; there’s no hatred there, just mild annoyance. But what about Robin? Robin’s an asshole and a bigot and I am really uncomfortable with the idea of forking over a penny.

This is my solution, which obviously is not perfect:

I buy the anthology. And then I take an exacto knife, and excise as much of Robin’s story as I can, slicing carefully one page at a time to prevent damaging the spine. If I’m lucky, Robin’s story doesn’t share any pages with the stories around it, and I can get the damn thing completely out. And then I mail that story to the publisher of the anthology, with a letter explaining that they almost lost my money because of Robin’s presence.

I am not advocating censorship. Authors are people too, and they’re going to live their lives as they see fit. But I am saying that you have a right to live your life as you see fit, too, and that if people are going to put an author who says your life is wrong in an anthology, you have a right to comment on it.

Also: please don’t yell at authors who share an anthology with Robin, because odds are they had no input at all on who got invited. We’re all just trying to put food on the table however we can.

I think this is a great idea. I may have to go find some anthologies to buy paper copies of just for this purpose, now...

Note: I can't take credit for the above idea. Neither should anyone conclude from my re-blogging this that she agrees or endorses anything I may have previously blogged about authors who I refuse to give money to and that I discourage other people from giving money to because of their decades of advocacy against gay rights.

My endorsement of her suggestion is simple that, an endorsement of her idea of one way to support writers you like, while still commenting on those who contribute to oppression.

(I endorse her other writing, too. You can follow Seanan McGuire's blog here, learn about her books here and buy them here.)