“After luncheon the sun, conscious that it was Saturday, would blaze an hour longer in the zenith,…” 
― Marcel Proust, Swann’s Way

Good lord, it’s been another massive news week, so what follows is the links added in mostly chronological order. I started before the Alabama election, the FCC vote, before the rumors that Paul Ryan might be contemplating retirement, before Omarosa was fired/quit… Regardless, I think the lesson of not just this past week but the whole past year is that journalism–investigative, exhausting reporting–matters. Less punditry, more reporting, please.

But fear not, kittens, there are fun links this week too! We need to finalize some Christmas shopping this weekend, enjoy our Christmas tree, probably see the new Star Wars film, and stay bundled up because London is cold these days. Let me know what your plans are for the weekend in the comments, and I hope they are merry and bright.

An attempted terrorist attack in New York City.

While we’re talking about Alabama, let’s talk about this! There is a long an ugly history of voter suppression of people of color and it must be fought.

Reminder: there are 16 separate accusations on record.

I am on the one hand, very pleased that trans people who are already serving in our military will be allowed to continue to serve (until the inevitable court cases at least), and that others who come after and wish to serve will be able to do so. However. The precedent of the Pentagon overruling a president should chill us, regardless who sits in the Oval Office. Generals side stepping or disregarding elected officials is an historically dangerous move with a several thousand year history.

This is a fascinating piece about whether Vladmir Putin is the mastermind his is often credited as, or a man trying desperately to stay one step ahead of crisis who has occasionally gotten lucky with a ploy or two.

The Creep Purge of 2017 hits the food world.

Also a bit chilled that people think this is how juries work. A bit more chilled to consider they may be right.

The president (probably deliberately) sends a tweet out which could easily be read to imply that a senator may have given sexual favors for campaign contributions. Because he is the literal worst.

Lipstick is the answer.

Cat Person exploded all over the internet, as did the think pieces. I liked this Man Repeller one a lot.

As the Alabama election was still in full swing, this writer looked into and pondered on the zealotry of Roy Moore’s version of Christianity.

Speaking of, this interview clip was extraordinary, sad, and a bit scary.

The jewels are stunning, but more importantly, I need to learn to recreate this beauty look for the rest of the winter.

This pop culture thread? Completely hilarious.

Oh my god, Alabama come through!

There was immediately a huge amount of praise for the black community for the political mobilization, particularly women, but others saw this as perpetuating the “magical negro” trope. It’s an important discussion to have. In the meantime, how to truly support women of color and thank them for political action and involvement. Talk and tweets are cheap.

God damn it. So few heroes left to root for…

The FCC voted on Net Neutrality.

If this is true, he is an arsonist who helped to set a country on fire and then first looked then ran the other way.

The #MeToo backlash is here, here’s some thoughts on fighting back.

Rebecca Traister knocks it out of the park again: this moment is not (just) about sex.

Interesting piece on millennials and buying expensive jewelry. Spoiler: we’re buying less of it. Double Spoiler: we have nothing like the disposable income our parents had and this continues to shock people somehow.

Goodreads have released their reader-picked list of the best books of 2017!

Album of the week: Revival by Eminem