It’s common for the religious right to refer to evolutionary theory as “Darwinism,” implying it’s just some kind of cultish belief (it has “ism” on the end, just like Muhammedanism!). Jonah Goldberg not only uses the word, he accuses liberals of using evolution to “other” religious true believers. In other words conservatives are the real victims, as always.
•Lenovo laptops come with a pre-installed adware program that’s also a big security hole.
•A judge has ruled that American Express merchant agreements that prevent retailers from favoring cards with lower merchant fees violate antitrust law.
•Samantha Fields posts about consent, kink and boundaries for people who haven’t had much training or experience in them.
•The airline industry claims we love having fees for things like checking bags instead of one bulk price because that way we can carry onboard and save money. Consumerist disagrees.
•Echidne of the Snakes on sexist jokes.
•Despite the conviction of some conservatives that Obama not doing everything Israel wants from the US is some kind of abomination, Reagan was willing to disagree with the Israelis, vehemently. Although Franklin Graham still thinks the White House has been infiltrated by Muslims—why, they might have access to the president.
•No, the Republicans are not going to fix Obamacare if the Supreme Court kills it.
•Another non-Muslim terrorist plot.
•Even though we’re dropping bombs on ISIS, some conservatives insist we haven’t taken military action.
•Yesterday I linked to David Brooks’ column on how we need to teach the poor better morals. Of course he doesn’t seem to think big banks that file inaccurate documents (leading to a $50 million settlement) indicates an ethical flaw. Nor the ethics of gutting workers comp. Or preventing cities from requiring businesses offer sick leave. Echidne also dissects Brooks’ theories.
•A right-wing blogger insists Todd Akin was right that rape can’t get women pregnant. After citing one theory that only a few hundred rape victims get pregnant (rather than the thousands in some estimates), said blogger asserts that nobody knows the true number but obviously the smaller one is right. How does he know this if the true number is unknown? Don’t ask.
And while the implication, I think, is that with so few rape victims, it’s not a big deal, doesn’t that cut both ways? Wouldn’t that also mean that a few abortions would be no big deal? I’m sure if asked the writer would say no. It’s the same logic by which the deaths of 9/11 were an unimaginable tragedy, but the deaths of even more soldiers in the Iraq war were nothing (“That’s less people than die in traffic accidents every year!”).
•A really detailed analysis by Echidne of ISIS’ views on women. And part two on the group’s views of sexual slavery and rape.
