Quickies
Skepchick Quickies 11.26
Happy Monday everyone! And Happy Birthday to Mary Edwards Walker, a noted feminist and surgeon born in 1832.
- Fox News Publishes Shocking Exposé on the War on Men – Nothing new here, just something to add to my hate-read list.
- Doctors take aim at ‘vaccine objectors’ – Good for you, Australia! From Jack99.
- Namib Desert beetle inspires self-filling water bottle – I just wished for something like this but I was sure it was magic! From Mark H.
- NPR’s Science Friday goes after creationist mimic – From Bug.
- 5 Historical Myths About Real Scientific Discoveries – Add your favorite historical myth in the comments. From CriticalDragon1177.
- An Important Public Service Announcement About Fake Geek Girls: The Emotional Economics of Scarcity – From Kammy.
- Swedish Toy Catalogue Delightfully Reverses Genders in Toy Ads – Thanks, Sweden, for being awesome and making me country-jealous.
Mary,
I’m surprised that you gals liked the story I sent you about Historical myths about real scientific discoveries so much that you featured it both here and on Teen Skepchick.
Mary,
I hope NPR wins its lawsuit against Bob Enyart
I was in Walmart this weekend (in Canada, where that doesn’t involve risking my life). Surfing the toy section for christmas Lego, I passed by the games aisle.
There were two signs over the shelves: “Games for Boys”; “Games for Girls.”
I was temporarily disheartened, but was quickly reheartened when I saw what the stockers had put under the signs.
Twilight Trivia was under “Boy games” and “Stratego” was under “Girl Games”.
The stockers did it this way, I assume, because “Fuck you, that’s why.”
That PSA video was giggle-worthy.
I am happy that they’re FINALLY speaking out publically about vaccines, I think the lack of commentary from the scientific community was kind of fueling the crazies. Of course you can never predict what will fuel the crazies.
If I had money I would order from that toy company just to support their awesomeness.
Like you I welcome the long overdue statements by the AMA and the Academy of Science in support of vaccination.
I think you are right that the silence until now has been deafening and has encouraged the denial of reality.
Perhaps the grand Poo Bahs of the medical establishment have had more important fish to fry, but this sort of thing is their job!
Meanwhile it has been left to private individuals like our dear Elyse to carry on the campaign for vaccination in the face of ridicule, vilification and outright hatred.
I wait with bated breath for similar statements from the equivalent bodies in the USA and Europe.
I’m quite sick of Phyllis Schlafly and her ilk (Suzanne Venker is her niece). Like, having eaten spoiled fruit kind of vomitously ill. Maybe add in a touch of the flu.
The claims in the “War on Men” article seems like typical cries from the MRA crowd. Do those guys think with the type of claims they make that they’ll be taken seriously?
The article on the “Fake Geek Girls” is good.
I always imagine the guys making such claims to, on a mental level, be nothing more than scared little boys that never learned to share.
Fun stuff on the science myths. I loved the illustration with Ben Franklin! Good stuff.
You can see the Swedish toy catalog here: http://www.top-toy.com/singleview/article/swedish-toy-catalogues-for-christmas-are-more-gender-neutral/?
You can also compare it to the Danish version, which doesn’t seem to have been given the gender balance. One way the Swedish catalog did this was by sometimes removing the image of a child from the page. I guess this removed the implication that the toys on those pages were for a particular type of child.