Men Who Get It

In the light of tragedy, a couple of good pieces on privilege have shown up.  These pieces strike me all the more because they are written by males.  The general perspective is that, while most men are not jerks/creepy/violent, violence against women stems from certain manifestations of male privilege, and so to change things, men must change.

Your Duty

It is not your duty to complete the work of repairing the world but neither are you free to desist from it. ~Rabbi Tarfon, Pirke Avot 2:21

Skewing the Data

According to Mark Twain, Benjamin Disraeli once said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”  People use statistics all the time to make claims that the stats, in fact, do not support.  Worse than that is the idea that they are just plain false.

For Extra Credit: Go On a Date

For your entertainment, my 3.14 readers, try this story about a professor who gives students extra credit for going on dates.  Actual dates, but ones involving no physical intimacy:*

The date has to be 45 to 90 minutes long with a person of legitimate romantic interest.

Right Now the Most Peaceful Thing Is for Me to Punch You

I know I just posted, but that was before I saw a fantastic nun on Colbert!  He is talking to Nigerian Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe about the kidnapped girls in Africa.  I can’t say it better than the two of them do together, so watch both the clips below.

Mary, Undoer of Knots

I get emails reminding me to pray novenas, from Pray More Novenas.  (They send prayers to your inbox each morning -- helpful, though I still sometimes fail.)  Today is the beginning of the Novena to Mary, Undoer of Knots.

I always have intentions for novenas, but this one asks for a specific type of intention -- knots that need undoing.

The US Military Will Save Us All from Zombies

In case you were wondering, the government does know what it would do in the case of a zombie apocalypse*:

Under "Zombie Threat Summary," the plan highlights the different kinds of zombie adversaries one might find in such an attack.

How Target Targets

In honor of a very slow day at the office: Look!  Two posts in one day!

A few months ago, Percy told me a story about how Target identifies pregnant women by their shopping habits in order to market to them.  I found this tidbit fascinating, but when today I followed a rabbit trail from the Dominicans to a story on the science of this marketing tactic, I found it was even better.

A Tidy Lawn, But No Food

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So many people are away from the office today, that my normally quiet corner is eerily still.  Do you know what this means?  (Hint: you should check back today for another post.)

Cinderella Ate My Daughter

I was going to write an insightful piece on privilege… but it turns out Jezebel already said everything I wanted to say, although I would have done it with considerably more politeness and the presumption of charity to the poor soul who sparked the debate.  It's a shame, because I was going to be insightful and witty, but there is no point to yelling on the interwebz the same things that everyone else is yelling on the interwebz.

So I will channel my pent-up feminist energy into a quick and dirty review of a book

A Calm Feminist Discussion

Once upon a time, there was a feminist movement.  And it was needed because a woman could not buy a house without a man.  She could not get a credit card without a man.  She would make less pay because she was not a man or be refused jobs because she was not a man.  She could be fired if she got pregnant and was refused admittance into many colleges and universities because she was not a man.

Things to Click On

Rather than short stories, you are about to get seven fascinating links:

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I take too many BuzzFeed quizzes, but this one is necessary: which play does the Shakespeare quote come from?