9 Questions I Want to Ask Whites Who Don't Believe in Institutional Racism

Today I got into a discussion about racism with a white woman on Facebook. She followed the predictable script: She asserted that Dr. King would abhor protests (she called them riots) against police brutality, and when I pointed her to literature indicating otherwise, she became incensed, insisted she was being bullied, and refused to engage any further. White skin sure can be thin skin.

No, Millennials Are Not Selfish, Lazy, and Narcissistic: Busting the Myths About Generation Y

It's cool to mock Millennials. We're the lazy products of helicopter parents. We have no work ethic. We're spoiled, deluded narcissists. The hysteria has grown shrill, hyperbolic, and completely unbelievable. So unbelievable, in fact, that I'd be inclined to ignore it altogether if it weren't for the fact that my generation's alleged--and often contradictory--faults serve as everything from an excuse not to hire us to a reason to ignore our political campaigns.

I'm Not a Cop, So I Don't Believe That Obnoxious Behavior Gives Me the Right to Kill People: A Response to Sunil Dutta

Police brutality is kind of a problem, and most people have begun to realize this, thanks to events in Ferguson and elsewhere in the country. But in response to criticism, authoritarian personalities tend to clamp down even harder than before, desperately searching for any explanation -- no matter how ridiculous -- for the savage, brutal behavior of some police officers.

Others have addressed the problem of police brutality far better than I ever could. The death penalty is not an appropriate penalty for shoplifting. Being maced or beaten is not an appropriate penalty for "talking back" or asserting your Constitutional rights. Black people are not inherently criminal and prone to rioting; people riot for a reason. I know this. You know this. All intelligent, decent people know this. So I'm not going to waste my time arguing that it's not ok for police officers to openly assault people. Instead, I think it's more important to address the problematic reasoning behind police violence.

The bullshit spewed forth by people who want to defend the trampling of basic Constitutional rights, though, is absolutely ceaseless. Enter Sunil Dutta, whose recent op-ed for the Washington Post endeavors, like so many other fluff pieces full of unsupported assertions, to defend the brutality of police officers. So let's slay some bullshit and attack each of Dutta's claims, point by point.

It's Not About Chivalry and Resisting Temptation: Here's What Good Men Really Do

The epitome of all that is masculine goodness: my husband.

Even the most cursory perusal of Facebook yields the conclusion that we have a serious problem of masculinity. Men are encouraged by popular culture, by other men, and by the women who let them get away with shitty behavior to act like overgrown manchildren. For some men, this cultural indoctrination turns abusive. Because there are so many men who just aren't up to being decent relationship partners, many women have learned to accept less than they deserve. The result is an entire cottage industry of blog posts telling women how to tell if a guy is a good one and encouraging them to only pick men who do relationships right.

We're Giving Lip Service to Mental Health Issues Again. And We'll Presumably Continue to Not Actually Do Anything.

Another person taught by society that human life is not valuable has gone on a killing spree. Now everyone will begin wringing their hands about how we need better mental health care for about five minutes, but no one will actually do anything. We'll go back to normal until the next shooting, and it will keep happening over and over and over again and we will all pretend to be shocked. Better mental health care -- not involuntary commitment, not violation of patient privacy rights, and certainly not a national mental health registry -- is the solution, and I am so fucking tired of not hearing anyone talk about what better mental health care means.

Here's What It's Like to Buy a Phone From Sprint

One of the great things about buying a phone from Sprint is that they make it clear from the very beginning that they do not give a fuck about you, your satisfaction, your needs, the company's reputation, basic decency, or the law. I appreciate that kind of honesty, and I appreciate even more the ability to imperiously give the middle finger to god damn everything. 

It's Time to Declare War on the Drug War

What do you call a country where the government imposes its will on the people against their will? Simple answer: A totalitarian state.

Snow in Atlanta: We're All Going to Die Because There's an Inch of Snow on the Ground

The view from our house on our last night on Earth.

There is something really satisfying about watching life devolve into a parody of its stereotypical self. And every few years, when the snow rains down its freezing flakes of death upon the city of Atlanta, that is precisely what happens.

Street Harassment: Take 2

Earlier today, I put my post on sexual harassment on Facebook, and I got a pretty overwhelming response. The reaction reminded me yet again that I have awesome friends. But we also ended up talking about self-defense strategies and the like quite a bit. I wrote my original piece not to garner sympathy, but to emphasize that this is a social problem that many -- if not all -- women struggle with at one time or another. I didn't do a particularly good job addressing some myths about street harassment in my first post, so thought I'd give it another go.

Lavish Me With Praise: I've Solved the Marriage Last-Name Problem

I didn't change my last name when I got married. My best friend did. I made a huge deal about not changing my name and threw fits every time someone addressed me as Mrs. Filipovits. My bestie insists that everyone refer to her by her married name. We're both dedicated feminists, and both of us had a cornucopia of good reasons for our decision; many of these reasons, but not all, were feminist ones.

Why You Can't Believe What the Government Tells You About Spying

This week, we learned that the NSA infiltrated Internet security and development companies so that it could weaken their encryption and security. If this doesn't make you fear your government, then you are remarkably immune to anxiety, and I applaud you for your zen-like nature. Meanwhile, I'm left feeling like I'm living in some strange world dreamed up by a meeting between Kafka, Orwell and perhaps the most vicious child leaders in Lord of the Flies. 

Why Attacking Syria is a Really Bad Idea

Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a country full of goldfish cleverly disguised as humans. "Oh, the President is insisting weapons of mass destruction were used by some foreign, evil nation? Never heard that before!" "The media insists that war is the only solution to human rights violations? Must be true!" A goldfish does, after all, have a memory that only lasts three seconds.