Sunday Link Encyclopedia and Self-Promotion

Policing pregnant women. It is beyond annoying to see all these instances of folks policing women’s bodies instead of concentrating on their own severe psychological issues.

I completely agree with this blogger in that looking for your “second half” in a romantic relationship is unhealthy and counter-productive.

“So far the message most Americans are receiving from this Keystone Kops style campaign is, “Hey I’m Mitt Romney, and I can’t do shit right. But hey hire me to run the country, and I promise I will figure it out somehow.”

“”Values” Voters: Life Still Begins at Conception and Ends at Birth.”

“According to a Pew research study, two-thirds of women say that career success is one of the most important things or very important in their lives, while 59% of men say that career success is one of the most important things or very important. That’s right: women are more likely to prioritize their career.”

“The conservative fried chicken restaurant chain Chick-fil-A has agreed to stop funding groups opposing rights for LGBT people, some of which have been labeled as hate groups.” That’s fantastic! Although the food there is still crap.

And this is what happens to excruciatingly ugly people who can’t get anybody to touch them (a short answer for those who are too lazy to click: they become completely nuts.)

Feminists shrink penises. Which is probably what happened to the author of the previous link.

Does the status of the press where you publish your book matter? Of course, now I need somebody to teach me how to choose a good press.

I’m also starting to suspect that “Mitt Romney is throwing the presidential race.”

“”They,” of course, would be those meanie Democrats who dared to point out that Ann’s super-fancy, super-expensive dressage horse, who competed (and lost) in the Olympics this year because that is somehow the recommended treatment for Ann’s MS, is one of many reasons that Ann is not actually like the average American who doesn’t have the means to pay their medical bills, let alone purchase six-figure horses.” Actually, it is a great treatment for MS and a host of other medical issues. And you don’t need to buy horses, you can just spend time with them. It is very annoying to see how the elections are turning people on all sides of the issue into jerks.

“The mantra that ‘schizophrenia is a brain disease’ and only needs to be understood in terms of brain function has been most strongly championed in the United States.” It’s all true. Nobody else believes this shit. Only in the US have the pharmaceutical companies managed to brainwash people into buying the “chemical imbalances in the brain” mantra.

“And fuck that, i don’t want to be forced to be a parasite, I don’t want to be the fragile pixie who’s character is defined be her romantic entanglement, I actually want to be allowed to be a person who loves another person, and is that actually too much to ask?” Not much at all. And since you need permission to all these things, I grant it to you. Here, you are hereby allowed. On a serious note, whenever you feel like a rant of this kind is coming on, try to identify who you are addressing it to. Whose face do you see while you are ranting? Whose voice do you need to hear say, “I allow you to do this”? (Hint: “society” is not the right answer.) Rants are useful but only when you know how to make them productive.

And here is an example of a productive rant. Causes are identified, the problem is explained, advice is sought.

Do feminists care about men’s issues? A great list of useful resources.

And here is a post provoked by the controversy surrounding the previous link. I’m linking to it even though I’m jealous that its author never dedicated any posts to me as the perfect example of the correct feminism. Yes, this is a hint.

Steve Hayes finally moved his great blog to WordPress. I’m happy because it will be much easier for me to comment.

The Man Booker short list has been announced. Like I wasn’t drowning in reading already. Don’t listen to me, people. I love Man Booker lists. I’m just grumpy.

And the post of the week from one of my favorite bloggers: on research as relaxation. Very inspirational.