Dreamer Easy

I have the rampaging thoughts tonight. Parking some of them here, just to get them out of my system.

1. Bullying is not a useful way of opposing racism, sexism, and other bigotry. In particular, social aggression between girls and women - malicious gossip, ridicule, exclusion - is profoundly anti-woman, a byproduct of patriarchy. It should not be confused with, nor is it justified by, honest anger, frustration, assertiveness, disagreement: things which girls and women are taught to suppress, but which are the real tools for dismantling oppression. Bullying will slow and confuse our efforts until online progressives reject it.

2. Why am I not an atheist? I'm a naturalist and a rationalist, so why am I up to my elbows in gods? Is this something to do with how the human brain makes sense of the world through narrative?

3. Dear Mr Dawkins et al, regardless of how much praying I and others may do during takeoff, the Bernoulli Effect is not magic. Please make a note of this.

4. The Ten Commandment Boogie helpfully reminds us that the Bible is "full of incredible tools". Surely you cannot be down-with-the-kids while simultaneously pastiching "Kokomo".

Via fritters: cat shower. Wet head! Towel off, eh.

silverblue tweeted: Nuns on counseling condom use and AIDs prevention in PNG: "We are getting very old and hard of hearing, and Rome is a long way away."

Via qthewetsprocket: A FREAKING ENORMOUS SPIDER and many amusing responses thereunto. Don't click if you know it'll freak you out! (Oops - you need to join whatwasthatone to see it!)

Rubbish attempts at feminism in 70s superhero comics. (Did anyone in the real world ever actually say "male chauvinist pig"?)

1950 anti-health care reform ad.

Sesame Street's Roscoe Orman. A lost relative?

RTD action figure. (It's the facial expressions, on both doll and packaging, that make this. I nearly perished of laff.)

Panting Boston Terriers

Maru's fat little legs

World Air Traffic 24 Hour Period

Australian judge: it's OK to rape an unconscious woman. SMH columnist defends him against mean old feminists. Peachy.

Let's have some cheering crap:

Advice on finding a lost cat

Via fritters, here's a baby deer washing a very happy cat.

The exact link between obesity and diabetes may have been found - a protein secreted by fat cells.

More helpful science on teenagers' brains. "You constantly hear parents saying to their teens, 'What were you thinking?' but the truth is, they're not thinking at all. They are controlled by the emotional part of their brain. The frontal lobe, which is responsible for rational thought, is under construction. The limbic system, which is responsible for emotional thought, is running the show. That's why teens are moody and why they take risks and engage in excessive behaviour. They simply can't put the brakes on." We mock and sneer but the truth is we couldn't really help it.

The Catholic Church in Australia is auditing its carbon footprint with a view to reducing it. (I typed that as "crabon footprint", which is probably what New New York has to audit.)

Literary cat makes library visits

Cat recruited to patrol station

Tom Gauld toons for the Guardian Saturday Review letters page

It's a Small Word: newspaper corrections ("Norma Adams-Wade’s June 15 column incorrectly called Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk a socialist. She is a socialite.") From the same Columbia Journalism Review Column: The Wrath of Khan, some lolarious fanboy corrections. :)

Cross-cultural variation in creationism

Death Note: Fell Asleep

42 Essential Third Act Twists

Native American placename map of the US

Cookie Monster informs us about Healthy Food

Cassini has sent home some holiday snaps from Saturn. Wish I was there.

When Cats Attack

The latest Zero Punctuation, a review of Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., made me laugh my bum off.

Richard Glover on the Revenge of the word nerds: "The language police have no interest in the content of what is being said; they don't even have much interest in language itself, in all its slippery, transgressive glory. They just lie in wait, like cats before a mouse hole, waiting for an error to occur."

The Scottish Falsetto Sockpuppet Theatre are a bit of a curate's egg, but We Will Sock You gave me the lol.

Ten Amazing Hybrid Animals

SPOILERS for The Next Doctor: Repressed Memories

Tweenbots

Creative graffiti! Advertising Under Attack

Obama in the Sea of Hope

Via marydell: Fireman dresses as Spider-Man to rescue boy

"Who created your ass, Satan? The Devil is a motherfuckin' liar. So you know I ain't worried, beeyotch!" Public Access TV: home of the incoherent rant. (I think the preacher is addressing a cheeky caller. I think the camera operator is taking the piss.)

James Marsters comments on John Barrowman's junk. "If things get too weird, and people start taking themselves too seriously, if people get too tense and start fighting with each other, he'll just drop trou... The rumours are true. I told him, 'How do you find anyone who's willing to do anything?'"

Gameboy Who

Star Wars vs Saul Bass

The US election as a D&D session. "KUCINICH: YOU GUYS I AM TOTALLY CASTING A CANTRIP".

Dance offs:

Pocoyo. Do not miss Elly's arrival on the dancefloor, around the 5 minute 30 second mark.

Black Books

We Are People People

(You can grab the track at iTunes - just search for thepeoplepeople, all one word.)