Lauren Lane is the co-founder of Skepticon, the Midwest's largest skeptic student-run conference and remains a lead organizer today. She has not one, but TWO fancy art degrees and is not afraid to use them.
A new documentary called The Invisible War by Academy Award-nominated director Kirby Dick has just come out in theaters. The film tackles the issue of sexual assault in the U.S. military, and how it has come to be a systemic concern. Check out the trailer here: From the MSNBC interview with the director and producer: Last year, 3,192 sexual assaults, from unwanted sexual touching to rape, were reported across all branches of the military. Based on anonymous surveys of active-duty… Read more
While many athletes are busy training for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, some female competitors are undergoing treatment to become less masculine. In an article at the Toronto Star, it has been revealed that the International Association of Athletics Federations have named themselves the gatekeepers of gender in sports: “…recent rule changes by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the governing body of track and field, state that for a woman to compete, her testosterone must not exceed the male… Read more
This week, Vice President Joe Biden (who has a history of advocating for women’s rights) released a new public service announcement about stopping violence against women. From the White House website: Despite the significant progress made in reducing violence against women, there is still a long way to go. Young women still face the highest rates of dating violence and sexual assault. In the last year, one in 10 teens have reported being physically hurt on purpose by a boyfriend… Read more
You know how large chain stores will pay people to be “secret shoppers” to see how well their employees perform? Well there’s a company that does this exclusively for churches. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. It’s called Faith Perceptions: The Mystery Guest Program tells church leaders what first-time visitors think and feel during the worship experience. We hire primarily “unchurched” individuals to attend church services and they provide numerical and written feedback on their experiences. Faith… Read more
Fledgling author Timothy Kurek has a new book coming out this fall entitled Jesus In Drag. The premise? The author (who is straight) came out to his conservative Christian friends and family to see how they would react and he kept the label for a year: Raised and educated in the heart of the Bible-belt, I didn’t look at certain groups of people as valid or respectable. Liberals, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, I was taught to convert them all. But there… Read more
