Quickies: What Anti-Vaxxers Sound Like, Racism in Schoolteachers, and Celebrating Single Women’s Lives

• This Is What Anti-Vaxxers Sound Like To Normal People – “We all know how ridiculous some of the more staunch anti-vaxxers sound, but this video by Girl Pants Productions highlights just how silly the whole thing really is. ‘I mean, I’m not a doctor, but I’ve done all the online research. I’m basically web certified….’ ” From Zara.
• Science Fiction’s White Boys’ Club Strikes Back – “Currently, the science fiction world is being torn asunder by a cultural war over diversity, with a hot battle going on over the Hugo Awards, the long-running and prestigious fan-selected awards given out every year at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon). Reflecting the demographics of the larger field, the Hugo Awards have traditionally gone to white men, but nominations for women and non-whites have risen in recent years. That trend has upset right-wing fans who say they’ve been marginalized by affirmative action gone mad—and who organized a successful nomination campaign to undo these gains in diversity, creating an unprecedented party-line slate which has led to the stacking of this year’s Hugo ballot largely with white men once again.”
• Model for Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter painting dies at 92 – “Although Keefe was petite, Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter had large arms, hands and shoulders. The painting shows the red-haired Rosie in blue jean work overalls sitting down, with a sandwich in her left hand, her right arm atop a lunchbox with the name ‘Rosie’ on it, a rivet gun on her lap and her feet resting on a copy of Adolf Hitler’s manifesto ‘Mein Kampf.’ The entire background is a waving American flag.” From Amy.

• Amen, Canada! – “The Canadian Supreme Court, unlike the United States’ Supreme Court, understands that sectarian prayer is sectarian.”
• Jon Stewart: why I quit The Daily Show – “Instead, he describes his decision to quit The Daily Show, the American satirical news programme he has hosted for 16 years, as something closer to the end of a long-term relationship. ‘It’s not like I thought the show wasn’t working any more, or that I didn’t know how to do it. It was more, “Yup, it’s working. But I’m not getting the same satisfaction.” ‘ He slaps his hands on his desk, conclusively.”
• The Whole Pantry author Belle Gibson admits she lied about having terminal cancer – “Ms Gibson launched her global business, which included the top-rating app and cookbook, off her controversial claims that she was a young mother healing herself naturally from terminal brain cancer. She came under fire after Fairfax Media revealed in March that she had raised money in the name of five charities that had no record of receiving a donation from her. Her story of survival was soon put under the spotlight and she admitted that multiple other cancers she claimed to have suffered from may have been based on a misdiagnosis.”
• Just How Racist Are Schoolteachers? – “It’s no secret that black kids are more likely to be suspended from school than white kids—three times more likely, according to a 2012 report from the Office of Civil Rights. And now a study published this week in Psychological Science may shed some light on just how much of a role racial bias on the part of educators may play.” From Jamie.
• Why astronomers hate the lawn-mowing Roomba – “You see, the new autonomous lawn-mowing technology — from iRobot, maker of the world famous vacuum robot Roomba — needs to communicate. To do so, iRobot is asking the FCC to grant their customers permission to use small, localized portions of the radio spectrum.”
• ‘Spinster’ Celebrates The Single Ladies – “It’s what every young girl is expected to do: Grow up, get married and have kids. Or is it? Writer Kate Bolick questions that social edict in her new memoir, Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own.”
• The Invisible Men… and Women: Many Native American Attorneys Harassed – “Native American attorneys often feel invisible and that their experiences are not valid or real, according to a ground-breaking study by the National Native American Bar Association (NNABA) and the NNABA Foundation.” From Jon.
• Amy Schumer Is the Comedic Genius We’ve All Been Waiting For – “Season 3 of Inside Amy Schumer is brashly feminist, timely, intelligent, and maybe the funniest thing on TV right now. If nothing else, it’s the most important. Here’s why.”
• GamerGate Booth Kicked Out Of Canadian Comic Expo – “The Honey Badger Brigade, a group of men and women sympathetic to men’s rights activism and calling itself a collective in favor of artistic expression, had its booth removed from the ongoing Calgary Expo today for reportedly disrupting panels and associating with GamerGate.”

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