Link Me Up, Scotty - All guns, all the time edition

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

My favorite sarcastic attorneys on the topic of gun control and the need for precise, defined terms when discussing gun control legislation. This is one of the reasons I've been disengaged from social media and the Internet of late. Neither side of this argument seem to have cogent, defined arguments with terms that everyone can agree on. Instead what I hear is "Freedom!" and "The Children!" Both of these are knee-jerk, emotional responses, and neither provides a meaningful descriptor of what solutions (if any) the speaker proposes. You want better laws and regulations? Engage in better rhetoric.
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The life of a transgender Dad in pictures. It makes my heart happy to see members of a group who are often ridiculed, marginalized, and ostracized living happy, healthy, productive lives.
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Things you can do to be happier. I try to practice nine of these things in my own life for the purposes of managing my own mental health.
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Colorado Mom saves her son from a Mountain Lion with her bare hands. Are you listening, all you people who are considering moving to Colorado because it's such a wonderful place to live? The WILDLIFE HERE WILL LITERALLY TRY TO EAT YOUR CHILDREN. So unless your badassery is equal to fighting them off with your bare hands, you should probably reconsider. Just sayin'. 
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Houston celebrates Juneteeth with a parade and remembrance. I learned about this Texas tradition from my high school chum's amazing and authentic book, Tomlinson Hill, by Chris Tomlinson.
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From the archives: In the summer of 2013, NPR explored our nation's public libraries. Their legacy, traditions, and challenges. Love your local library, people - it's there for your benefit, and offers much more than just books.
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The "parent happiness gap" is real, and is directly related to a series of social policies that help parents care for, raise, and support their children in ways that doesn't make them want to light their hair on fire.
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Google employees are fighting sexism by adding "Lady" to their titles. I have been referred to as a "Lady/Female/Woman Engineer" so many times that I don't really find this funny.
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The President's opinion on radical Islam. The money quote:
The fundamental difference between Obama and Trump on issues related to Islamist extremism (apart from the obvious, such as that, unlike Trump, Obama a) has killed Islamist terrorists; b) regularly studies the problem and allows himself to be briefed by serious people about the problem; and c) is not racist or temperamentally unsuitable for national leadership) is that Trump apparently believes that two civilizations are in conflict. Obama believes that the clash is taking place within a single civilization, and that Americans are sometimes collateral damage in this fight between Muslim modernizers and Muslim fundamentalists.
I never thought of the conflict in the terms described, so this has given me something new to think about. I love The Atlantic. 

H/T Brother Eric
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Video of my Heart: Young Khloe provides a lesson in humanity, compassion and courage. THERE'S SOMETHING IN MY EYE.

H/T Random Michelle


2 comments:

Anne C. said...

What a lovely article/set of photos about the transgender dad. So comfortable in her own skin. :)

Random Michelle K said...

Of course, it's important to practice "real smiles" where you use your eye sockets. (You've seen fake smiles that don't reach the person's eyes. Try it. Smile with just your mouth. Then smile naturally; your eyes narrow. There's a huge difference between a fake smile and a genuine smile.)

Oh! Does that mean it's not just me? I have always thought I look weird in pictures, because my eyes are all squinty. Is it just because I'm actually smiling?

Cool!

And when I work with married professional couples (common in academia), I often use "Mister Dr X" so as not to get them confused with their wife, Dr X. ;)