Subway etiquette around the world – in pictures — highlights from an exhibition at the New York Transit Museum, one of Liz’s all-time favourite museums. It’s funny, men keep insisting that manspreading is not a thing, yet here are signs criticising it dating back decades!

Sesame Street’s new Muppet takes on the Taliban (and the trolls)

One guy asked if Zari would wear a suicide vest. Another said “Any ‘christian’ characters? If not, i am offended”. A user called MSM Is Corrupt said: “OMFG – no way in hell I will let my child watch this shit. Get all liberals out of TV they are poisonous to children.”

(Trolls Are Mad About Diversity In Children’s Media And It’s Hilarious is totally our new brand.)

Steph must read this book as soon as possible: An architect turned evil & became the greatest bank robber in history #lifespiration

The great escape: Inky the octopus legs it to freedom from New Zealand aquarium

Because octopuses have no bones they are able to fit into extremely small spaces, and have been filmed squeezing through gaps the size of coins. They are also understood to be extremely intelligent and capable of using tools.

High quality legal shenanigans: Council of the Law Society of NSW v Griffin [2016] NSWCATOD 40

Or, things you should never, ever say to a judge:

…you are not an expert in the English language and not qualified to make such a comment or give such an opinion while I have an Honours degree with distinction including honours cognates in English. I consider that this comment is clearly vindictive and naive and contrary to current theory regarding what non-erroneous expression is or what ‘correct’ expression should be. Neither you nor your Associate are qualified to make this comment and it displays infant school and pedantic understanding of what language actually is. I also consider that this comment evinces a purile and petty intention to belittle a person which is an attitude that has no place in the administration of justice.

Indigenous SF series Cleverman will debut here and in the US on 2 June! Here’s the trailer:

Cutting the climbing chains at Uluru

Closing the climb was meant to be revisited once suitable alternative activities had been developed and climbing numbers declined to less than 20 per cent of visitors. These conditions appear to have been met, yet still the climb remains open.

We live in a world featuring multiple thinkpieces comparing and contrasting Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s careers post-Daredevil. How is that possible? On the other hand, as an Alias fan who saw Elektra in the cinema on opening day (Frank Miller’s scripts and art for Elektra: the ultimate problematic fave), Liz is okay with this.

First, Anne Helen Petersen, whose deconstructions of both contemporary and classic Hollywood PR and image construction are amazing:

How Jennifer Garner Went Full “Minivan Majority” and The Unbearable Sadness Of Ben Affleck

And then Forbes (you’ll need to pause AdBlock for this to work): Ben Affleck Survived ‘Daredevil,’ But Jennifer Garner Never Recovered From ‘Elektra’

[Warnings: rape, sexual harassment] Tabletop Gaming has a White Male Terrorism Problem

Amid the rise of lone wolf terrorism it is important for the ethical, responsible members of the gaming community to address and put a stop to it before anyone is harmed. Credit for foiling a potential mass shooting at the Pokemon World Championship goes to an unnamed forum moderator who had the sense to notice the dangerous, violent rhetoric of his posters and alert the authorities. How many sexual assaults could be prevented in the gaming community by men extending that same concern to women?

An important post that is regrettably applicable to lots of hobbies, nerdy and otherwise.

The Chinese Singaporean Way of Death

The truth about WebMD, a hypochondriac’s nightmare and Big Pharma’s dream

The article includes a bunch of WebMD alternatives at the end, but they’re all American. For an okay Australian health site, Liz recommends the BetterHealth Channel, which is overseen by the Victorian government. (Obviously the internet is no substitute for a trained medical professional, but this is better than a lot of other sites.)

Stand up and be counted: on how boycotting the Census is only good if you don’t need to be counted

There’s Now A Website That Gives Practical Advice On Fighting Public Transport Fines

Hospital accused of ‘incompetence or racial profiling’ in Gurrumul treatment

“Why was he left for over eight hours when the reason for his admittance was clearly evident in Michele’s explanation to A&E staff and was clearly in all of his notes?” Grose wrote.

“There are two assumptions I can make which are both very disturbing but which need answering: Was Gurrumul Yunupingu’s level of A&E care related to assumptions based on his race or is there a serious fault in the system which allows someone to be largely ignored in A&E while seriously ill?”

Stephanie has SO MANY QUESTIONS: Curtin University students shot in New Orleans during drug deal. A) MINING GAMES?! B) Australians, why must you insist on buying drugs in countries where you don’t fully understand shit? Just leave the drug taking for domestic purchase! C) Can anyone tell me if there’s a racial component to the dodginess of Bourbon Street?

[Liz says, yes, almost definitely.]

NASA Is Considering The Use Of Soft Robotic Squids To Explore Europa

Liz: Soft robotic squid is my aesthetic.

Random GoodReads thread of the week: Did others notice that Easter was portrayed as being in the autumn with the leaves falling and soon after school began? I found this very disconcerting and it colored the book for me. Don’tbooks havemeditors anymore? [sic]

Dear Jess, I Could Not Be Saving The Universe Right Now If I Were Not So Morally Certain You Should Be Fucking Me And Not Your Husband

This is quite old — 2007 — but reads like an extraordinary Mallory Ortberg ur-text. Except that it seems to be real? No, it cannot possibly be.

Australia is in crisis: of the six nominees for the Gold Logie, two aren’t white. This is shockingly discriminatory against white people.

Waleed Aly, Lee Lin Chin, and the sad ‘jokes’ about the Gold Logie

Waleed and Lee Lin have been nominated by popular acclaim; Waleed despite not campaigning for it, Lee Lin no doubt because she has threatened to kill all of us if she doesn’t win. There is no factual or rational basis for pointing to the colour of their skin or their ethnicity as having played any role at all in their ending up on the list.

Finally, a tribute to Melbourne’s ugliest piece of public art:

Hidden Vault: Tributes to ‘Yellow Peril’ sculpture found in public places across Melbourne

(NEEDLESS TO SAY, No Award does not endorse “yellow peril” as a nickname for Vault, or indeed, any other works of art. But we are in favour of hiding copies of super-ugly art all over the city.)

All That Isn’t Said: Kaye M. talks Islamophobia in YA

The octopus that ruled London — sadly not a tale of literal cephalogarchy, but an account of octopus-mania that overtook London in the 1870s.

Surprise! Food cycle couriers in Australian cities probably aren’t being paid minimum wage: Deliveroo and foodora accused of using sham contracts for bicycle delivery riders

(And why is it called foodora? “M’dinner.” NO! Let’s not do that.)

A great article on the difficulty of simplicity when you’ve struggled to own anything; when you’re refugee, immigrant, escapee. Marie Kondo and the Privilege of Clutter

HELLO: Diversity in Australian Speculative Fiction : A Bibliographical Exhibition. It’s online, it’s extensive, it’s relevant to all of our interests, STEPH IS LINKED IN IT, go forth and bookmark it immediately. 

Why Australia lies to itself about its Indigenous history

Instead, we want to be praised, to be acknowledged as a success. It’s a kind of national supplication, a constant search for validation. And history’s fine, as long as it serves that purpose. But if it dares step out of line, it can expect to be slapped swiftly with the Sandilands dictum until it changes the subject: “you’re full of shit, just get on with life”. Then we can be comfortable again.

Old but excellent: Move over Shakespeare, teen girls are the real language disruptors

50 Shades of Rey — just an interesting, not-entirely-terrible look at Rey/Kylo Ren shippers and the fic-writing end of Star Wars fandom in general.

A NOTE FROM LIZ:

I have broken my foot!  Which means, alas, that I’m not going to Brisbane — while I’m cleared to fly, it’s a struggle just to get around my little flat. I’m pretty devastated, but FEAR NOT, No Award fans, Stephanie will be at Contact, probably shouting about racism and climate change (I assume).

Sugar taxes and porridge gospels

Gorge on the saturated irony content of this argument: obesity disproportionately affects the poor. The poor have just been made even poorer, therefore will soon be more obese. Therefore taxing their consumption is an even more logical step.

Liz is currently reading Niki Savva’s The Road To Ruin, the infamous book on the Abbott-Credlin team that includes such media-friendly highlights as that time Credlin fed Abbott from her fork, and that other time Abbott slapped her on the bum, and also they were just really terrible to work with.

Less media-friendly, but more interesting to me, is how it demonstrates that there’s a strong culture of bullying in the Liberal Party, particularly in its right wing. So I’m not particularly surprised to find Cory Bernardi sending emails like this to a constituent who objected to his rampant homo- and transphobia.

Put Fat Girls in Your SFF YA

Books are supposed to help us dream and dream big but you’re starting to feel like you’re just too big to dream. You’ve read a couple books where fat girls get to be loved in the real world, and that’s wonderful, but fat girls don’t get whisked away into alternate worlds and told they’re a long lost princess. Fat girls don’t get to see the magical underside of New York City. Fat girls don’t save planets.

Please Stop Saying You Want to Go to Cuba Before It’s Ruined 

I appreciate good art direction just as much as anyone else, and I see that Cuba looks like a beautifully destroyed photo op. But it’s not your photo op. The old cars are not kitschy; they are not a choice. It’s all they have.

ASIA PAC EUROVISION

Disgusting as anything: Police officer who dropped Ms Dhu on concrete floor thought she was “acting”

The Safe Schools Debate reminds LGBT Australians of when our childhood bullying was ignored.

Let’s consider another reading: here is a powerful group carefully but ferociously dismantling something of significance to vulnerable people. This is the behaviour of bullies.

(I like this article but I wish it didn’t include a moment of oppression olympics)

‘Making mistakes with people’s lives’: the ethics of orphanages and voluntourism

‘When you go on holidays to Australia or America or Europe, you don’t go and visit vulnerable people and vulnerable children. You don’t go to foster homes; you don’t go and visit struggling families who are supported by welfare. It’s not part of your holiday itinerary. And so we really have to question why it is here.’

 

Not Your Korean Sidekick: The Frustrating Career of John Cho

Mythbusting Princess Leia’s Hair

(This post really speaks to Liz, because I spent much of my teen years with hair to my waist, attempting to reproduce Captain Janeway’s buns. Speaking of things that need mythbusting — or are we meant to believe Janeway was wasting replicator credits on hairpieces? THERE’S COFFEE IN THAT HAIRDO.)

Steph is an aspiring futurist (you might have guessed), and is super intrigued this interview at Business Insider with Ford’s futurist, who is a WOMAN YAY. (It’s a total con, don’t get me wrong, but some of the predictions are super interesting. Self-driving cars because of aging Boomers? Car sharing investment by car companies because it’s in their best interests not to create a grid-lock universe? TELL ME MORE.)

Trove and the case for radical openness #fundTrove

The agents of racism

East is eden: the Hollywood hits heading for a Chinese remake – in pictures

We are 100% going to watch the Mandarin remake of The Devil Wears Prada when it comes out. (And is subbed, in Liz’s case.)

Space Invaders: Why white cis gay men should check their privilege

(To save everyone the trouble: Not All White Cis Gay Men.)