Links for October 14th from 09:25 to 16:56

This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on October 14, 2009). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.

Sometime between 09:25 and 16:56, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

  • Is Science Fiction Feminized Or Is It Sexist? Both.: "Women are being welcomed into science fiction, but it's though the back door. Let's not start patting ourselves on the back because we can recognize rank sexism when we see it written by an anonymous guy on a radical right wing opinion blog. We can celebrate how far we've come from our sexist past when women and men are equally represented in the pages of science fiction anthologies. And when the next big, blow-em-up spaceship movie is written and directed by a woman. Until then, we have a lot of work to do. Work that involves challenging people who actually have the power to alter the course of SF as a genre. Work that is a lot harder than ridiculing an anonymously published blog post." Interesting, thoughtful response to the "women are killing sci-fi" blog post that I linked to the other day.
  • Know Thy Enemy: They've introduced bigoted legislation, filed referendums, held rallies, and raised money—but they've never gotten around to explaining how gay couples actually hurt their marriages. They've also allegedly done things like failed to pay taxes, raised rents on the elderly, and beaten their wives. They say their battle is a righteous one, but these four crusaders are short on righteousness and long on catacombs in the closet.
  • Photos: Rare Snapshots From Early Star Trek Conventions: A fun collection of old Star Trek convention snapshots, with accompanying audio.
  • If God Had Wanted Me to Be Accepting of Gays, He Would Have Given Me the Warmth and Compassion to Do So: "I don't question God. The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall put none above Him. Which is why I know that if it were part of God's plan for me to stop viciously condemning others based solely on their sexual preference, He would have seen fit–in His infinite wisdom and all–to have given me the tiniest bit of human empathy necessary to do so. It's a simple matter of logic, really. God made me who I am, and who I am is a cold, anti-gay zealot. Thus, I abhor gay people because God made me that way. Why is that so hard to understand?" Oh, how I love the Onion.
  • Hey, Marriage-Minded Teens! It’s Teen-Time!: "Teen-Time demonstrates a delightfully astonishing lack of understanding of its target market. Hilarious generalizations abound. The playing field centers around — where else? — a mall and a video store. But let's just cut right to the exquisite central absurdity of Teen-Time… the object of the game is to get engaged to be married before your fellow teens do. Seriously."
  • I-1033 a Windfall for the Rich: "In August, the state Office of Financial Management estimated that in 2015, Eyman's initiative would force the state to refund $1.8 billion in property taxes. What the fiscal note didn't say — and which got no mention that I could find anywhere — is that the state only collects $1.8 billion in property taxes. It all goes to public schools. In Olympia they call it the 'state school levy.' What this means is that state economic forecasters have predicted Eyman's initiative would eliminate most if not all of the state school levy in five, maybe six years. That would be 25 percent of state school funding — gone."