Honestly? I would expect that to be handled the same way, in the same situation (non-native speaker who didn't know any better); told that it's not appropriate language and instructed on what terminology to use in future. What do you suggest, pistols at dawn? Get a grip.

"I don't really enjoy hanging out with men; I don't give a shit about dumb things like sports and Star Trek."

Except the current wave of Christian fundamentalism in the USA began in the late 60's and early 70's and went on to become the neo-evangelical Christian right that now hold sway over so much of the political landscape, so I'm not sure how you can make the claim that your generation didn't manage to turn into zealots.

And when people start using A Charlie Brown Christmas or Lord of the Rings as the basis to strip minorities of their rights and control women's bodies, then you might have a point.

Yeah, but the ancient Greeks and Persians aren't currently trying to ban contraception/getting dragged through the courts for touching up kids/trying to keep gays from getting married. Christian myth comes with a whole bunch of current political baggage, so I can totally understand why non-Christians would feel…

Except we have tons of evidence that the Holocaust happened, including eye-witness accounts, meticulously kept Nazi records, photos, not to mention the actual physical human bodies and the physical death camps and gas chambers. You can go to Auschwitz today and see all this stuff for yourself. There is very little…

You can't use the Bible as evidence to support the Bible. Logic doesn't work that way. If you have any other "evidence" of Christs resurrection, do feel free to share it.

I beg to differ. My 82 year old grandmother is a passionate advocate of gay marriage and will talk politics till your ears fall off and her friends are all the same. They serve dick shaped pasta at their lunches and are the rudest, most hilarious women. I'm 35 and I don't know any of these stereotypical women either.…

Maybe the other women just don't want to put in the effort with her because she's sending off total judgemental dick vibes?

"Waaah, why won't all these women just accept my bitching about how boring women are without getting all shitty about it?"

So bring up the new Wes Anderson film then! No one is forcing you to talk about juicing. It's called steering the conversation. If the people you're talking to are dead set on talking about juicing, then go talk to the interesting people. And I've heard plenty of dude-only conversations where the topic was how much…

Seriously, just wait for a lull in the conversation and then bring up your topic. You don't have to be all "Eh, babies, not interested." I don't have kids or a relationship and I still get on with women fine because even women with babies and relationships have other stuff they want to talk about.

Well since you're a scientist, you should understand the meaning of "confirmation bias" and how this pertains to your situation.

I think women take umbrage at it, because they can never just say "I generally enjoy the company of men more than women", they always have to belittle women at the same time in an effort to make themselves seem not like all the rest of us stupid, vacuous broads who only talk about nail polish and Sex and the City…

I'm the biggest bleeding heart liberal feminist around and I didn't empathise with her at all. I mean, you don't need a crystal ball to realise that carrying around a loaded gun and drinking is going to end in disaster. But then again, I'm not American so the kind of "NEED GUN AT ALL TIMES!" mentality is totally…

There are two?

Except further reports have come out about how one of the kids faces was covered in bruises and the child who was killed had a huge piece of his lip hanging off. So yeah, the shelter workers clearly missed some pretty significant signs here and they should be held accountable.

God yes, this. I'm imagining this poor guy/girl working long hours, doing a physically demanding job, just trying to get some peoples lost luggage back to them and writing a hastily scribbled note in their non-native language and then they get shit all over for it? I mean, I read this article expecting the person to…

Considering Aristotle didn't speak English, I find that very hard to believe.

Who are these "extreme liberals" I keep hearing about? Do they have their own version of the Tea Party? Do they influence public policy at all? Do they manage to shut down government? Please elaborate, I'm all ears.