I think it is worth pointing out that the article selected for 'review' is not entirely typical of the site (most articles seem to discuss lived experience, activism activities and how to get by in unfriendly circumstances rather than philosophy or logic per se).

Additionally, the Facebook thread for the article has a lot of discussion, dominated (in my view) by self-described "SJW"s who had big problems with the anti-rationality stance of the article and made strong arguments in favour of logic and reason.

This article show that the bias of some SJWs against reason is impossible to strawman.

The emphasis is mine.

I think PhilGoetz does not strawman the author of the reviewed article, but by going on to say:

But it isn't just a sign of how irrational the social justice movement is...

does strawman the social justice movement as a whole.

Note: Edited in the first couple of minutes to fix formatting problems.

Beeminder : +6 : Using it for nearly 2 years with good success in most areas I select to 'Beemind'. Yet to have to pay out on any goals (though I have derailed on no-pledge goals on 2 occasions).

RememberTheMilk : +2 : using it for several years. Best use is to keep track of tasks I have and have not done, but not great on committing me to action. Best suited to keeping track of minor tasks, especially recurring ones.

Trello : +2 : Used for perhaps a year. Similar experience to RememberTheMilk, but better suited to more complex tasks and projects.

At a guess, it's a precaution: very young children may eat it down as a kind of candy. (Don't all flouridated toothpastes come with warnings against swallowing?)

Snape's plotting here is interesting, but I'm not sure what he is actually trying to accomplish.

Quick rundown of what we know:

1. Snape was the one who sent Hermione the notes on where to find bullies.
2. Snape destroyed those notes when asked to look for them.
3. He went through great efforts to obliviate everyone at SPHEW's final battle.
4. Snape had a conversation with Quirrel where he had his ass handed to him. (either he was stupid when dealing with Quirrel, or wanted Quirrel to think he was stupid)
5. He is probably working outside of Dumbledore's ordersl, and is definitely hiding things from Dumbledore.
6. After the SPHEW girls kept on winning he stopped the Slytherin bullies from advancing any farther.

So I suspect a few things:

1. Snape was the one who was forcing the repeated escalation of the SPHEW situation
2. Snape is actually working to help Harry somehow. (Because of his love for Lily)
3. Snape is not nearly so biased against muggleborns as he pretends to be. (Remember Lily was a muggleborn)
4. Snape is trying to restore the reputation of Slytherin house in much the same way as Harry. (He's cutting down on bullying and is, in a way consistant with his character, making the hatred of muggleborns look stupid)

Now, if we ascribe his love for Lily as his primary motivation (Which "Sunk Costs" seems to support) , his support of Hermione, and his plotting to restore the reputation of Slytherin makes sense. What I don't understand is why he needs to hide this from Dumbledore. Even if his motivations are counter to those of Dumbledore (I.E. He's actually evil), all of these actions would cement Dumbledore's trust in him. I can think of a few possible reasons:

1. Dumbledore thinks Hogwarts needs an evil racist Slytherin.
2. Dumbledore is a control freak and any plots that are not his are to be distrusted. (Seriously, this is Hogwarts, ancestral home of the gambit pileup)
3. Dumbledore doesn't have the best interests of Hogwarts in mind.
4. Dumbledore would think that Snape's methods (Making Slytherin look stupid in its current form, and hurting little girls in the process) are wrong.
5. Dumbledore is insane. (Like a pie)

None of these are particularly satisfying or convincing, hence why i'm throwing the question out there.

Edit: People have repeatedly pointed out that Snape's attachment to Lily was either broken or reduced by Harry's analysis of the situation, and that Snape's kiss in Sunk Costs was a reflection of that, and I can't help but agree.

Nice. I like your explanation much better than mine. Keeping in mind that Lucius knows very little at this point about what Harry is like — and that Harry is only eleven! — I guess it's reasonable for Lucius to assume that such an observation by a fellow student of Draco's would require some adult tutelage.

I don't understand Draco's exchange with Lucius at the end of Chapter 7. Anyone know what's going on?

Here are my thoughts, which of course may easily be completely wrong.

Facts: 1) Harry states, "So during the Incident at the Potions Shop, while Professor McGonagall was busy talking to the shopkeeper and trying to get everything under control, I grabbed one of the customers and asked them about Lucius."

2) Harry states, "So you really are his one weak point. Huh."

3) Draco's letter to his father asks about Harry's "weak point" comment, Lucius's reply reads, "I would say that you had been so fortunate as to meet someone who enjoys the intimate confidence of our friend and valuable ally, Severus Snape."

--

Conclusions:

• The wording of Harry's statement in fact 2 suggests that Harry's source put him on to the "weak point" assertion. The "so you really are" bit sounds like a hypothesis that has just been confirmed.

• A bit of a reach: Harry's source in the potions shop was Severus Snape, and Snape is allied with Lucius. If the first conclusion is true, then this would explain the speed of Lucius's response to Draco. That is, Snape tells Harry about Lucius, including that Draco is his only weak point, and then reports the conversation to Lucius; when Draco reports the "weak point" comment, Lucius understands that Harry has spoken to Draco.

• Snape is the potions teacher and hence might reasonably be found in the potions store.

--

This is not very satisfying to me because Harry doesn't later recognize Snape as being someone he has seen before, and his appearance is quite distinctive to Harry. Polyjuice seems like a stretch.

I don't understand Draco's exchange with Lucius at the end of Chapter 7. Anyone know what's going on?

Here are my thoughts, which of course may easily be completely wrong.

Facts: 1) Harry states, "So during the Incident at the Potions Shop, while Professor McGonagall was busy talking to the shopkeeper and trying to get everything under control, I grabbed one of the customers and asked them about Lucius."

2) Harry states, "So you really are his one weak point. Huh."

3) Draco's letter to his father asks about Harry's "weak point" comment, Lucius's reply reads, "I would say that you had been so fortunate as to meet someone who enjoys the intimate confidence of our friend and valuable ally, Severus Snape."

--

Conclusions:

• The wording of Harry's statement in fact 2 suggests that Harry's source put him on to the "weak point" assertion. The "so you really are" bit sounds like a hypothesis that has just been confirmed.

• A bit of a reach: Harry's source in the potions shop was Severus Snape, and Snape is allied with Lucius. If the first conclusion is true, then this would explain the speed of Lucius's response to Draco. That is, Snape tells Harry about Lucius, including that Draco is his only weak point, and then reports the conversation to Lucius; when Draco reports the "weak point" comment, Lucius understands that Harry has spoken to Draco.

• Snape is the potions teacher and hence might reasonably be found in the potions store.

--

This is not very satisfying to me because Harry doesn't later recognize Snape as being someone he has seen before, and his appearance is quite distinctive to Harry. Polyjuice seems like a stretch.

Love it. Alarm set for a month (or so).

And, yes, testimonials are, well, cheap talk. But our testimonials aren't like that, baby, I swear it... http://beeminder.com/testimonials

As I get into some more complicated sections, it's becoming clear that the piece-meal way I'm posting this may not be the best for readers. I'm considering holding off on posting more until I've completed the tutorial section, so that I can edit it as a whole and better optimize the order than information is presented. If I go that route it'll probably be a month before new content goes up.

Edit: I would still wait a few days between sections, so people aren't bombarded with a lot of information at once.

Anyone have strong opinions on that, one way or another?

You're welcome! Glad you're finding it useful. Mind if we excerpt this high praise as a testimonial?

Also that's really an interesting insight about the difference between Beeminding things you want to do vs things you know you should. I've noticed that too, for me reading falls under the former, and pretty much everything else under the latter. With reading it is like a matter of inertia -- once I start reading I'm happy to keep doing it, but it is hard to start. But losing weight I never want to do, I only ever want to have done it.