Good news! The American Academy of Pediatrics has tightened its recommendations on corporal punishment, clarifying its position and coming down more decisively against the practice. As the Chicago Tribune reports: In a new policy statement released Monday, the organization explicitly advises parents not to spank their children. The new policy is an update from the 1998 version, which stated, “Parents should be encouraged and assisted in developing methods other than spanking in response to undesired behaviors.” “The main difference (between the two… Read more

The Friendly Atheist recently shared a spreadsheet of secular candidates, most of them at the state level. I’m often skeptical of such lists, given the reality that secular individuals, like anyone else, can be misogynists and white supremacists. Indeed, “incel” terrorists tend to be nonreligious. Still, this list seems pretty solid—these are individuals with solid progressive credentials. And, I noticed almost immediately, a lot of them are women. 56 out of the 141 state legislature candidates listed, to be precise. This started… Read more