This episode is 94% Temple, 6% Beer. Mostly I talk about the throat-slitting penalty that was removed from the endowment ceremony in 1990, when I still had the (mis)fortune of experiencing it.
I would love to hear your feedback.

Update:
Most of my attributions got edited out (I had to seriously shorten my ramblings, believe it or not), [...]

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“Gender roles see a ‘conflict’ shift in work-life balance” at USAToday. Hat tip to @unapologeticfem (site) I’m not certain that anything in there is great news, but it does seem that there is some kind of cultural change at work, which is something.

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I’m not sure why, but this song (and its two video versions) sends massive warm fuzzies into my Asian-American heart:

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Behold (via link) The 2009 Hugo Nominees!
For Best Novel:

Way back in the 90s, I got into the habit of reading the stories nominated for literary SF’s premier awards: the Hugo and the Nebula. The Hugo nominees are chosen by the members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention, and the [...]

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One of the many reasons I don’t post with my IRL name here (I won’t say “real”, since xJane is just as real in many ways) is because I am attempting to manage my image. In our internet age, I still find it to be very important to not ruffle feathers in a public way [...]

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The Vermont Senate, finding (correctly) that Civil Unions for gay couples fall short of providing equal rights, voted overwhelmingly to approve Civil Marriage for gay couples. The matter still has to go before the Vermont House (and since I’m late to this, may already have gone), where it is expected to pass. The margin by [...]

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The flickr gnomes pulled three pictures from the Commons and put them up on my dashboard there:
Two Women Boxing (love the hats!):

I’m sure this is faked, but that doesn’t make it any less creepy:

Color photo of a real Rosie the Riveter type from WWII:

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Texas is reviewing its science standards, specifically with the desire to remove them altogether. Skepchick has a great discussion of exactly what this means, but here’s the short version:
Texas and California’s choices for scientific textbooks drives the availability of textbooks nationwide because of their massive marketshare
the Texas State Board of Education (TSBE) has been co-opted [...]

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Today, the Obama Administration signed onto the UN call for the decriminalization of homosexuality. In 77 countries, it is a crime to be attracted to members of the same sex, and in seven, merely being gay is punishable by death.
This UN declaration has nothing to do with visiting rights or adoption or insurance [...]

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I know this is a bit dated, but how often do you get a video that you can admire for both its music and its incredible information graphics? (warning: video embedding was disabled, so clicking on the image takes you to YouTube)

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