By now, you may have heard of Abigail Fisher, who currently has a case before the US Supreme Court regarding her denied admission to the University of Texas. If judged in her favor, the use of racial preferences in university admissions may well be outlawed. Per TruthDig: Fisher’s saga as a litigant began in 2005, when a former stockbroker and failed Republican congressional candidate named [Edward Blum](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-casemaker-idUSBRE8B30V220121204#Qg1SUWbJyVgm8hH6.9) (no relation to yours truly) founded the Project on Fair Representation (POFR) in Austin as a nonprofit legal defense fund under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

We Hunted the Mammoth is a blog that comments on online misogyny. This is a pool both wide and deep, so I’m sure they will have reliable material for years to come. Note: This post will have some upsetting quotes from (and links to) misogynists. Be warned. Case in point: Scott Adams, of Dilbert fame, had some pretty sexist things to say recently (not a new characteristic, for those keeping track), and when WHTM wrote some commentary about it, he sicced his fans on them.

So far this year, there have been at least 22 transgender people murdered in the US. Given that such numbers are gleaned from news sources–as far as I know, there is no coordinated national-level tracking–the real number is almost certainly higher. Of the 22 known for certain, 19 were people of color. Today is a day for remembering trans victims of violence. Transgender issues rarely get serious attention in the US.

Back in August, Amnesty International threw down a gauntlet. After significant pressure from different sides along with a lengthy (and sometimes heated) public debate, the global human rights organization adopted a policy and series of positions regarding the treatment of sex workers. If you’ve never heard the term “sex worker” before, you probably aren’t alone. The profession is more commonly called “prostitution,” but due to that word’s negative connotations, sex workers prefer not to be described thusly.

The kids are off school, the banks are closed, but most of us with jobs still have to work today. In that sense, the second Monday in October doesn’t always feel like a “real” holiday, so perhaps we don’t give it the amount of thought it deserves. Though it didn’t become a federal holiday until 1937, Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the so-called New World has been celebrated since not long after the first European colonies were established in the Americas.