RationalWiki:What is going on in the blogosphere?/June 2018

June 2018
Understanding Harvey: Power alone does not explain their abuses. [https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/06/03/cyrus-farivar-book-excerpt-stingray-218588 How a hacker proved cops used a secret government phone tracker to find him. And how it might change what cops can do with our smartphones.] Dementia complicates US gun ownership The War in the Desert

The US-China Trade War is increasing fears of a new recession amongst economists Ray Lakeman's sons died after taking ecstasy, but he says that had the drugs been legal and regulated, it might have saved them Just a reminder that the US isn't the only liberal democracy that treats immigrants appallingly

In which the LessWrong/effective altruism subculture appears to be having a bit of a #metoo - starting with this Twitter thread from one abused person, citing this public suicide note by a prominent EA person, and in full swing in this Reddit /r/sneerclub thread.

Right wingers decide to attack abortion rights to distract people from family separations at the border The Mediterranean diet study was flawed. The Lifespan of a Lie: Stanford Prison Experiment was a sham. LGBTQ videos are still being demonetized on YouTube. From the BBC: What were once referred to as the “thinly-veiled” elements of Gamergate are now fully visible. But it no longer matters. (Short version: if the sorts of games and characters spotlighted at the most recent E3 event are anything to go by, then Gamergate not only lost, it may have backfired.) Stay-at-Home Daughters are Rejecting Christian Patriarchy Scientific American: Can we trust crime forensics? CNN's experts weigh in on the U.S./North Korea peace summit thus far.

The Guardian: [https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jun/03/renters-union-shoddy-housing-cost-fortune-acorn-bristol?CMP=twt_gu&__twitter_impression=true Do you live in shoddy housing that costs a fortune? Time to join the renters' union.] Even with the best will, you can’t reform beauty contests – they just need to disappear. You can never have too many deconstructions of incels. Reason gives us some reasons not to support the Judge Persky recall. Vox makes the same arguments. The "Lizard People" conspiracy theory thrived in the days of lower-resolution video, but can't survive the close scrutiny of 4K. The epidemic of denial about sexual abuse in the evangelical church: Across the United States, evangelical churches are failing to protect victims of sexual abuse among their members.