Quickies
Skepchick Quickies 5.20

On May 20, 1932, Amelia Earhart began the world’s first solo nonstop flight (by a woman) across the Atlantic, starting in Newfoundland and ending in Ireland.
- Lyndon Baty and the Robot That Saved Him – The story of a young man (born with PKD) who uses a robot to attend school. If you need to read some good news, check this out.
- Is Homosexuality Natural? Yes. So is male lactation – Check out this informative (and arty) series! From CriticalDragon1177.
- An Open Letter to Felicia Day About the Value of Trans Women’s Lives – From Elyse.
- Disney Exec Defends Brave Princess Merida’s Makeover – So, they made her look less badass by using previous art? Still not cool.
- 10 Ridiculous Christian Right Prophesies – Ten seems like a pretty low limit. From CriticalDragon1177.
- Why is violent crime so rare in Iceland? – On a related note, I would love to visit Iceland. If any of you have been, what are your thoughts?
BONUS: “It’s Great to Be Alive!”
Sam and Dean Winchester will save us from Obamasatan, so I’m not worried about #10 on the prophecy list.
BCmystery,
LOL!
Yes, I remember that Bible prophecy! Sam and Dean Winchester will return from the dead with their guns blazing, to fight the evil satanic, Marxist Muslim Lizard Obama! It was in the book of the National Rifle Association Holy Second Amendment. : )
Mary
I’m so glad the Disney executives undid their makeover for Merida despite their lousy excuses.
I had heard that Jim Sterling called Anna’s partner a feminazi, but I didn’t know he called her a slut, too. That’s what Anna calls her. I’ve had that experience and it feels gross, like a violation. I hope Felicia Day helps out, but I’m pretty sure there’s an army of MRAs just waiting for the chance to make her regret it.
Just to be historically pedantic, Amelia Earhart was the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic, Charles Lindburgh having done it in 1927.
Thanks, I had checked Wikipedia but the one sentence I looked at failed to specify that.
I haven’t been to Iceland, but a close friend of mine went on his own for the “Millenium” and he had a blast. That was a while ago, but I just listened to a podcast where some gaming journalists went for the big EVE Online con. Seemed like not much had changed. Friendly people, nearby natural wonders, great nightlife, a tad expensive :)
It’s such a (relatively) short plane ride from where I live. I know the natural wonders are supposed to be beautiful, but I’m more of a city person and so I expect I would be spending my time in town. I can get cheap hotel rooms, I just have to worry about plane tickets and food expenses.
The best part is that the mayor of Reykjavik is this guy:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/jon-gnarr-reykjavik-mayor-jedi-election_n_3178974.html
I’ve never been myself, either, but I dearly want to go. Everyone I’ve ever spoken to who has been to Iceland says it is the most amazing place. I can’t imagine going for the city attractions, though; to me, the whole point of it is the landscape.
And, given how inexpensive it is to get there from Europe (or are you in Canada?), it’s pretty hard to resist.
I’m in New England, so I think it’s just a four hour flight.
Oh, and the Scientific American article was really interesting and beautiful — as long as you stay completely away from the comments. SciAm — and its audience — just isn’t what it used to be.
Nomaduk
I didn’t even read the comments on that article until you mentioned it now. I was shocked to see that many of them were downright homophobic. I would have thought that their readership would be better than that. I’m tempted to go over there tomorrow and refute some of the stupidity in those comments. One of them through, I just have to comment on,
A person going by the name of “StutterinSam” wrote,
“I missed the connection between the title and the rest of the article. While I certainly don’t argue that maternal submission of testosterone expression in the womb retards the masculinization of certain parts of certain males’ brains, what part of this article has anything to do with the naturalness (or not) of homosexuality?”
Wow, did he not even read any of it, except for the title? If he still doesn’t get it, he might also want to read the book itself, that specifically points out that homosexual sex is normal for many species in the animal kingdom, not just humans.
http://www.gwennseemel.com/index.php/pages/from/category/nature_book/
“I love my children. I love my friends, my brother. Heck, I even love my mother-in-law. Should we call these relationships marriage, too?” Is Santorum really pretending that he doesn’t understand that gay couples have sex?
Rick Santorum is such a supressed fart, I hate him.
That said, having sex really shouldn’t be a prerequisite for civil marriage.