Lazy linking - post-exam edition

Sorry for the lack of activity lately, but I've been bsuy reading for an exam yesterday , which I passed, so it wasn't a waste of time. I'm mostly going to try to get my apartment into some kind of order before going to a concert tonight (Beth Hart), so don't expect much activity.

There are some comments that I should answer, and some papers that I should read (among them, those framing articles that Nisbet sent me), but it'll have to wait till some other day. Sorry.

Instead, I'll just link to some articles and blogposts that I thought might be of interest to people. Enjoy your weekend everyone.

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Civil rights and politics

Our Prejudices, Ourselves by Harvey Fierstein (NY Times op-ed)

AMERICA is watching Don Imus’s self-immolation in a state of shock and awe. And I’m watching America with wry amusement.

Since I’m a second-class citizen — a gay man — my seats for the ballgame of American discourse are way back in the bleachers. I don’t have to wait long for a shock jock or stand-up comedian to slip up with hateful epithets aimed at me and mine. Hate speak against homosexuals is as commonplace as spam. It’s daily traffic for those who profess themselves to be regular Joes, men of God, public servants who live off my tax dollars, as well as any number of celebrities.

David Neiwert has an excellent post up at Orcinus about an amicus brief filed on behalf of Muslims detained by the federal government after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It was filed by Japanese Americans, who certainly have a good knowledge of how injustice can happen in the US.
Doing the Right Thing

It is always a bitterly telling commentary on any government when the only people who seem capable of standing up and stopping them from doing something that nearly everyone with a sense of basic decency understands is wrong are just plain, ordinary citizens -- the kind willing to stand up in the face of immense social pressures, as well as the sheer inertia created by bad leadership, and say no.

But it says even more about those citizens, because standing up in this fashion requires a special kind of common-sensical courage, the kind we often take for granted. Over the history of the United States, individual citizens -- the people who made up the ranks of the abolitionists and the suffragettes and the civil rights movement, and all the Walt Woodwards and John Henry Faulks in between -- have done a duty the rest of us have shirked, and we all owe them an immense debt. Even when they did not succeed at the time, their legacy has shaped us and, in the end, played a critical role in preserving democracy in America.

Also at Orcinus, Sara Robinson writes about her experiences with Regent University. My Regent Semester

Over at Alas, A Blog, Ampersand points out something most of us probably have missed: Bush Administration Very, Very Quietly Releases Abstinence-Only Study.
Guess what? The abstinence-only program has no effect what-so-ever.

Over at Salon, First Amendment martyr?

Josh Wolf tells Salon why he spent 226 days in prison rather than comply with a subpoena, and gives his take on what a "journalist" is.

Lauren has a list of links to good reading that I'd recommend people to check out as well.

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Skepticism and science

Skeptic's Circle # 58 is up at Geek Counterpoint

ERV has a good science post up: The Ancient Virus World and Evolution of Cells: Part One, Intro. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

Orac writes about the risks of not wearing a seatbelt - NJ Governor Jon Corzine: The consequences of not wearing seatbelts
Please follow his advice, and use the seatbelts. They are a known lifesaver.

Shelley at Retrospectacle writes about some new research results: Sour Milk Chemical May Be New Brain Fuel

The always great science writer Carl Zimmer has a really good post up: Meet the Monkey Cousins

Afarensis writes a little about several new finds: Gosh, Wow, Sense of Wonder Science News

At Alison blogs here, Alison explains a thing or two to the Pope.
Pope Benedict, Evolution Scholar!