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tax

A Taxing Time

So I’m seeing a lot of discontent from readers about the impact the new EU tax laws are having on the price of ebooks. These rules came into effect on the 1st January this year, and for many readers, the first they knew of them was when they tried to buy a book and found the cost had increased by somewhere in the region of 20%. Authors should be less surprised, because we all had warning weeks or even months ago that this was going to happen.

So for those who don’t know, here’s the skinny on what went down. (more…)

By Kate Aaron, ago
facebook

Facebook, Redux #Namegate

Following on from yesterday’s saga…

The email I sent bounced back with a generic “We don’t deal with this, go to the Help pages” response. I found a page that let me file a dispute to an account being disabled. Hurrah! Except… they want me to scan my ID (drivers’ licence, passport) and upload it as a JPEG. I decided to send this instead. (more…)

By Kate Aaron, ago
facebook

WTF, Facebook?

So, I’m sure you’ve heard how certain trans performers and drag artists have recently fallen victim to Facebook’s sudden insistence that everybody on its site uses their full, legal name. I’m sure you’ve read all about the potential pitfalls and repercussions attendant with such a stipulation, especially in a country where in most states you can still be dismissed from your job and evicted from your home for being LGBT. Plus, y’know, the very real risk some people face of being physically harmed, were their identities known. (more…)

By Kate Aaron, ago
scotus supreme court

Why the Hobby Lobby Ruling Should Worry Us All

I blogged about the Hobby Lobby case while it was being heard in the US Supreme Court. Back then, I was annoyed that it had even got that far, but I had faith. Faith in a Constitution which guaranteed the separation of church and state, and faith in the nine Justices who almost a year ago to the day handed down two massive human rights rulings concerning Prop8 and DOMA. It was utterly ludicrous for a company to claim any sort of religious right, and even crazier to think that right would supersede the medical needs of its employees. Yet that is exactly what SCOTUS just ruled. (more…)

By Kate Aaron, ago
cross religion

The Truth About Religious Freedom

I keep seeing news stories centered around the protection of religious freedom in America: indeed, there’s a case being heard by SCOTUS right now, brought by the chain Hobby Lobby, who want to exclude the provision of two contraceptive pills from their mandatory health care plan as the owners deem them abortifacients which  violate their religious beliefs.

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By Kate Aaron, ago
heart

Looking After Our Allies

I’ve seen a lot of negativity from the LGBT community this week, following Jared Leto’s acceptance speech at the Oscars. Sadly, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before, and I’m not going to address the specifics of that instance here. Suffice it to say, sometimes we in the queer community have a problem accepting that there are cis straight people in the world who give a shit. And, no, they don’t always get everything quite right, but let’s cut them a little bit of slack. They’re trying, they’re learning, and sometimes they’re gonna make mistakes because our experience is not theirs.

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By Kate Aaron, ago