I actually teach about Online Disinhibition in my media studies courses, and I almost always end the lecture with that Penny Arcade GIFT comic.

For all the folks making snarky comments about how he probably wasn't even exaggerating, I'm going to go there and say that's taking hyperbole too far.

Honestly, the strange wording makes me more convinced that this is real - it has that whole "who could possibly make this up" vibe to it.

That 10% isn't just religious, I suspect - I've met a few anti-GMO, anti-vaccine, etc. folks who felt that science as a whole was more trouble than it was worth and wanted to go back to a pre-Industrial Age (or even pre-agrarian) society.

(his ex wife, who is 55, is rumored to live in solitude in a monastery)

This particular one had a very distant ancestor who was repeatedly harassed by Pope Innocent I.

It was this video that finally convinced me years ago that YouTube could serve a legitimate purpose.

Some of bleeps are a lot better than the others, it's worth watching all the way through.

Now that the scales seem to have finally tipped in the struggle for gay rights and acceptance (we're far from over, but it seems like a more foregone conclusion than it once did), it's very, very refreshing to be able to have discussions about this.

The thing to remember about the whole "Indian tribes" category is that there are a huge number of different tribes ("Indian" and "Hindu" are categories that are more a result of British colonialism that anything else), many with core values that are vastly at odd with their neighbors. It makes a certain amount of…

Much agreed! Incentive-based systems are usually a much better way to encourage social change than punitive-based ones. And while taking a mandated class isn't punitive per se, people are bound to see it that way if they don't get anything positive out of it.

Now I want to try this as an exercise in my Gender & Media class!

You do know that saying that something is offensive and you'd prefer that people stop saying it and advocating that the government prevent people from saying it are two completely different things, right?

I can't even.

Guh. Just got my flight from Minneapolis to Providence canceled an hour ago. The clerk was all, "You're in luck, though! I've got you on a flight to Philadelphia leaving at 4, then from there to Providence."