Links #177

By Maggiemcneill @Maggie_McNeill

When I look at what we are proposing, it is simply good design.
-  Will Johnston

The competition for the top spot was very tight this week:  though Mike Siegel squeaked the others out, Jesse Walker contributed three (“bullshit”, “roots” and “Miami”) and four others two each.  The first video (via Lenore Skenazy) mocks people panicking over incredibly-unlikely events, and the second (via Neil Gaiman) is a performance of a unique musical instrument designed by Leonardo da Vinci but never before built until now.  The links between the videos were provided by Radley Balko (“mutants” & “update”),  Pencil Bloke (“headline”), Popehat (“burrito” & “doorknobs”), Walter Olson  (“Etsy”), Cop Block (“puppycide” & “watering”), Aspasia (“38″), Merkin O’Grady (“Yakety Sax”), Grace (“ticket” & “paraplegic”), and Jason Kuznicki  (“time machine”).

From the Archives

  • Cops, snitching, journalism, mind control, vampires, birds, weed, fans, zip ties, omnishambles, D&D, censorship, nuts and a haunted toaster.
  • Anyone who believes teenage boys are harmed by the sight of naked women should seek professional help immediately.
  • Californians who voted for Measure B had no idea what they supported.
  • Sex rays contaminate a district attorney’s office and a reading program.
  • It’s good to see another evil “controlling prostitution” charge defeated.
  • It takes perverse talent to fit so many myths into such a small space.
  • New York “officials” reduce women to infantilized, passive objects.
  • “White slavery”, the Shazam! fallacy and a Victorian Nick Kristof.
  • What James Bond can teach us about “sex trafficking” hysteria.
  • What forward and backward on sex work policy both look like.
  • The government of Denmark has rejected the Swedish model.
  • Young women do as they’ve always done.  Everybody panic!
  • The FBI’s plan to ensnare hundreds of sex workers is foiled.
  • Throwing tantrums is now considered a mental disorder.
  • An act of kindness morphs into a “child sex slave” panic.
  • The beginning of Super Bowl hysteria in Indianapolis.
  • Uganda’s harsh new law against homosexuality.
  • An incredible train wreck of a story from Nigeria.
  • How governments ruin bad date lines.
  • How I manage my prodigious output.
  • A mobile sex worker rights billboard.
  • The return of star chamber courts.
  • A leper tries to change its spots.
  • The truth about succubae.
  • “The Logical Song“.
  • The Night Walker.