‘Sup. Monday, amirite? (I am right.) Fix those blues with a dose of Skepchick Network awesome.
Science Sunday: UV Light vs Bacteria
Xe’nedra shares here experiment with UV light.
Suspension of Disbelief: Pacific Rim
Lauren’s flatmate dragged her to Pacific Rim, and she’s glad he did.
You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock
Xe’nedra celebrates National Women’s Day in South Africa.
“You Have No Power Over Me.” The Labyrinth ‘Fan Theory’ Which Failed to Blow My Mind
“Labyrinth” is one of the few movies in which a teenage girl gets to be the hero. Don’t take that away.
I Spy wit My Little Eye…
Gigi analyzes two studies that claim that the eyes are the window to the soul.
Not Just a Plot Twist: Why Queer Gaming Matters
It’s time for gaming to be more accepting of queer identities.
About the “If it’s not for me, it’s not for anyone” Argument (på svenska)
A columnist doesn’t understand how people do polyamory and Technicolor takes her to task.
Nobody Named, Everything Forgotten (på svenska)
Felicia summarizes recent events regarding sexual harassment, etc, within the US skeptic movement, and what it means for Swedes.
A Journey through Virginity and Purity (en español)
Lulú walks us through her experience growing up Christian in Chile and trying to wait until marriage.
Fuck that Comic
Queer culture should not be consumed by heteronormative culture.
Myths About Sex Workers
Laurelai busts some myths about sex work.
Why Do Straight Feminists Hate Lesbian and Trans Feminists?
Anna re-writes a HuffPo article and makes it more inclusive.
About School Church Services (på norsk)
Veronica discusses the problems with the Norwegian tradition of having church services in public schools
Guns in School May Mean No Insurance. Oops! Awkward.
Kansas schools that allow staff to carry guns are dropped from a major insurance company. Who could have seen this coming?
Pop Quiz: Richard Dawkins Says You Can’t Handle the Truth
What do you think of Dawkins’ recent Twitter faux pas?
Fling Your Wisdom at Students in Teacher Story
If you miss teaching, you can play a long-suffering professor in this browser-based RPG.
What Grief Means to Me as an Atheist, by Dan Marshall
A guest post by Dan Marshall on how he deals with loss as an atheist.
Science and Secularity: An Interview with PZ Myers
Courtney talks with PZ Myers about science and secularism.
Featured image credit: Charles Knowles
On Pacific Rim, Daily Kos has a good article analyzing it for political elements. (Left-wing political elements, of course. Hey, we even have a WoW clan. Kossacks are nerdy.)
On games, it depends. I think the gaming medium by its nature promotes stereotypes. (Think about it: All the mooks of a particular type look exactly alike.) I mean, what annoys me is, to use a racial example, look at Nightwolf. When Mortal Kombat: Deception came out, they tried fleshing out Nightwolf, so Nightwolf’s backstory included a “sin eater” ritual. You may recognize the term as the title of a Sherman Alexie dystopian short story which is…unsettling, but not an actual ritual. Like, they did just enough research to come up with something new…that was as stupid as the whole idea was. I assume that videogame designers will be just as sensitive about sexual orientation as they are about race.
On Dawkins, this reminds me of a troll on one (now overrun by trolls, possibly completely defunct) indigenous issues forum I used to be on. He would always post about “White Paleo-Americans” and alleged evidence for it (including archaeological sites from about 7000 years ago with not a single skeleton present). Then he would say that we were just using religious evidence and his evidence was scientific. Yes, even when yours truly pointed out that applying racial typing to the distant past is impossible because of evolution.