Tag: News

Weekend Links

“We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late. ” 
― Edward R. Murrow

Another riotous week of political news, but never fear! I shan’t let the confirmation that the President probably tried to fire the man investigating him derail our good humor this weekend. There is much to celebrate and cheer on, kittens, in spite of the fact that the Doomsday Clock hasn’t been this close to midnight since before I was born.

We are defiant, unbowed, and full of confidence. Let this gif of Judge Aquilina’s handling of Larry Nassar’s letter, stating how distressing it was for him to hear the stories of his victims, be your moodboard for this weekend and all of 2018:

Greatist put together a list of resources and content for survivors of sexual assault and the people who want to care for them.

This piece on Buzzfeed of life after a polygamous FLDS cult is hard to read but powerful.

No shit.

Whoa, bad news for the Y chromosome, scientifically speaking…

So, we’re doing this every year now, yes? Regardless of the party in power, yes? Good.

Irony is dead.

I am so excited for this return, as much as I’m apprehensive of the emotional roller coaster it’s going to send me on.

Waiting for them to get to Gemini!

UGH. (Update, the reaction to this piece has been so extraordinary that the Financial Times has removed the paywall. Good. The only treatment for systemic bullshit hidden in shadows is sunlight. Follow up is still rolling out.)

So you want to write a nonfiction book? Let Friend of the Blog Caitlin Kelly walk you through the process.

It’s weirdly charming to me to think of a leader who doesn’t default to Twitter. I mean, no excuse for the collective heart attack, though!

The FBI Director threatened to resign this week in our perfectly normal and functioning democracy, thank you very much.

Inclusivity in beauty pays. Literally.

There was another awful school shooting incident, made more awful by confirmation that it’s the 11th such event so far this year. We’re not out of January yet.

You can take the girl out of Utah, but you’ll pry the RadioWest podcast from Salt Lake City’s public radio station from my cold, dead fingers. This past week they covered the Sundance Film Festival with a series of filmmakers and subjects in interviews worth listening to. My favorites were Believer, about a major poprock artist who seeks to find a way to advocate for LGBT communities without alienating his own Mormon people, and Won’t You Be My Neighbor, a film about the life of Fred Rogers.

Suck a shedload of lemons, dude.

Weekend Links

“Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.” 
― Robert J. Hanlon

Another wild week of news, with Russian-linked Twitter bots pressuring politicians, the presidential porn star affair continues apace while no one seems to care about it, and as I put the finishing touches on this post the fight is raging on about whether the government will shut down or not since our Master Negotiator has managed to destabilize even good faith efforts at compromise by revealing the animus that underpins his policy. Or at least his advisers’ animus, that bit is unclear. Steve Bannon has been subpoenaed, Hawaii was scared to death by a fake missile launch warning and kind of revealed how poorly prepared we are in the event of a real strike,

Oh and the government shut down, it turns out. So things are going great.

The #MeToo backlash has well and truly started, but Sam Bee has some thoughts:

This Buzzfeed deep dive into the world of Trump’s property deals in individual detail is also an interesting glimpse into how wealth moves around the world.

I loved this interview with Dapper Dan which dives into a lot of issues through the lens of fashion. “Everybody thinks about buying a house or a car, but an outfit transforms you the next day.”

Spring is coming…right? Whatever, here’s a warm weather bag of the absurd variety that I’m loving.

Here’s a #MeToo story that ends with an apology and forgiveness done, in my opinion, the right way. Let’s learn.

Go Oxfam! Shop second hand, people, the world opens up to you.

I have been receiving the best texts from my pals thanks to this app!

This link between Russia and American lobbying groups is incredible and needs to continue to be reported on.

The Awl is going away, and that matters.

David Frum’s excerpted new book in The Atlantic was a somber read for me. He gives his perspective on what current “conservatism” looks like and has become in recent years, and lays out his hope for what it should be instead. He also asks readers to consider what happens after Mr. Trump and the kind of ardent and mobilized anger he rode to power on dissipates? All very important questions, but the following quote is what stood out to me and landed like a lead weight in my stomach. A few years ago this would have read has hysterical hyperbole to me. These days, I wonder if it’s possible, if not probable.

That animus I mentioned, it runs deep. And it is ugly to think how much more widespread it is than I ever realized. I know I keep saying that, but the emotion continues to batter me.

So, who’s are they?!

A question for all the guys out there who are good dudes and more importantly, want to be.

Weekend Update

“No, it wasn’t an accident, I didn’t say that. It was carefully planned, down to the tiniest mechanical and emotional detail. But it was a mistake.” 
― John Paxton, On the Beach (1959)

It’s hard to convey how much I stress about when to publish the weekend links post these days because I know the moment I do, something newsworthy will happen.

Like Hawaii sending a false alarm nuclear attack warning to the population. By mistake. It took three quarters of an hour to clear the misinformation up, about the same time it would apparently take for an actual missile from the Korean Peninsula to hit.

If we don’t actually get tweeted or accidentally stumble into a war at some point this year, the stress may yet end us all.

Weekend Links: We Aren’t Even Halfway Through January Edition

“I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” 
― James Baldwin

Kittens, what a week. This could be written about any week for the past calendar year and a half but once again, it was a doozy and I’m not even going to attempt a recap. Who would have thought we’d get Oprah trending and yet more vulgarities from our vulgarian in chief? As I put the finishing touches on this post I glimpsed something from the Washington Post about an adult film star and Trump hush money? Whatever, I’m not clicking.

God, this man is humiliating. NPR had to send out a briefing memo to its news team today instructing them on the proper usage of the word “shithole” throughout the day. What a world.

MUST READ: If you wanted to avoid our rage, perhaps you shouldn’t have left us with so little to lose.

Many women wore black gowns for the Golden Globes as a statement of solidarity, protest, and attention direction this year. And to anyone who naysays fashion as frivolous, I say it has always been used as social and political statement, especially by women. As Tom and Lorenzo point out, far more articulately than I could, fashion and style choices are some of the most potent weapons some of these women can use in an industry that traffics in their images. I loved that several women also brought activists as guests. More of this in 2018, please.

Oprah Winfrey’s speech knocked it out of the bloody park at the Golden Globe Awards.

WGSN’s trend forecast for beauty this year is nicely optimistic to me.

I am poised and ready for the future discoveries of these documents in someone’s attic or in some abandoned vault. You all know I LIVE for those stories.

For your reading consideration this year.

Bad feminist confession, I adore the film The Women and love but have always questioned the technicolor fashion montage that appears halfway through it. Well, color me educated (see what I did there?).

David Frum cautions that the real threat to our democracy is not in, “…corrosion, not crisis. In a crisis, of course we’ll all be heroes—or so we assure ourselves. But in the muddy complexity of the slow misappropriation of the state for self-interested purposes, occasions for heroism do not present themselves.”

So help me god, 2018, if you take Trebek from us

In Mormon news, the president of the LDS church passed away last week, and this write up from Harvard Divinity School is an excellent explanation as to why his ministry was important to the faith, what happens next in the organization, and what happened during his stewardship of the church.

Truly, which of us couldn’t use some more executive time?

This story on literal muckraking is great.

Senator Feinstein released transcripts of the interview of the man whose research firm was behind the infamous Steele Dossier, it’s a long read but political junkies should read it. Here’s ongoing NPR analysis for the pressed-for-time.

This take on the whole Fire and Fury situation and what the book reveals (he argues, whatever errors or faults in contains) by Ezra Klein of Vox *feels* fundamentally correct to me. It’s also weirdly sad, or it would be were not the stakes so damn high.

Wow, Steve. 2018 came at you fast, huh?

Hey! Some good news about the planet!

I like this list of things to declutter from your life in 2018.

A while back, as the sexual assault conversation was ramping up, a list made headlines. Created by an anonymous founder it was called the “Shitty Media Men” list and documented anonymous woman-to-woman heads up about potential bosses or work situations they might want to avoid. It broke into wider consciousness when it was discovered and shared on reddit. The thinkpieces, attacks, and defenses flowed. This past week on Twitter reports surfaced that the magazine Harper’s intended to publish a piece that revealed or “doxxed” the identity of the original creator. Feminist Twitter flew into a frenzy with writers pulling their pieces from the magazine and calls to protect the identity of this woman since backlashes against women have been so historically vicious and awful (see: Gamergate). But then…the creator of the list unveiled herself instead in The Cut. I have no idea what the backlash is going to be but I choose to read something into this decision and attribute it to the moment where women are collectively deciding that past terror cannot dictate future action.

And finally the president managed yet another revealing statement when he apparently referred to immigrant hopefuls from the global south, and Haiti and African nations in particular, as undesirable candidates for citizenship. I’m of course cleaning up his own language which was news-breakingly vulgar. 

All I can say is that I’m thrilled Mr. Trump cancelled his visit to London, as I was fully intending to protest and now I don’t need to request time off for that. I’m also endlessly bemused at how he lacks even the most basic grasp of history and facts (in this case regarding the plans and timeline of the new US embassy). I didn’t expect much from him, but does no one on his staff brief him on anything? At least one ambassador has resigned and several more have been summoned to their various host governments to explain the inexplicable.

And finally, Roxanne Gay has a word of warning.

Weekend Links

“The more wonderful the means of communication, the more trivial, tawdry, or depressing its contents seemed to be.” 
― Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey

Season Two of the Trump Show kicked off this week! Will he pick a fight with Pakistan? Will he get in a metaphorical **** measuring competition with a global leader via nuclear warfare and the various buttons associated thereto? Will he deride climate change just before a weather pattern classified as a “bomb cyclone” (because even the weather is being extra now) hits the East Coast? Will a scandalous exposé drop, written by a questionable author, about a questionably honest man, featuring questionably honest sources? Will his former arch rival’s house catch fire?

Plot twist! The answer to all of these questions is yes!

Buckle up, we’ve got 51 weeks still to go!

I really liked this piece from Medium on how one millenial guy took steps to combat the oft-cited malaise many my age report experiencing. His ending on euthymia really touched something for me.

This list of little pleasures to seek in 2018 was nice to read.

This technology news seems…super not great?

The Trump-breaks-with-Bannon-or-maybe-vice-versa news moved quick, as did Mr. Trump’s lawyers. They went after the publisher as well. The publisher subsequently (ie, a few hours later) decided to release the book early due to skyrocketing demands.

Welp

WELP

“I am the picture of Dorian Kardashian,” writes R. Eric Thomas satirically, channeling us all in this strange pop-culture-political moment. I laugh cried reading this.

I am VERY here for the throwback vibe of the latest Bruno Mars and Cardi B!

More reasons to get excited about Black Panther, team.

Why women don’t speak up, part seven million. Here’s her verified GoFundMe campaign, if you are so inclined.

Color me enraged but not shocked to read that a female politician may be too flagrantly ambitious or openly want the job…to have the job…? God damn it, people, we just did this!

I’m on Team Remnick here. It was an open secret that Harvey Weinstein was trash, it’s an equally open secret that Mr. Trump is unfit for the office. We may bicker about the technicalities of that unfitness…but that to me only reinforces just HOW unfit he is that there are OPTIONS to choose from.

Weekend Links: Come at Us Edition

“Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, 
Whispering ‘it will be happier’…” 
― Alfred Tennyson

Well, kittens, here we are: the last links of the year. It’s been a wild ride.

I had a nice long chat with Katarina the other day (a weekly occurrence and quite necessary to my happiness) and we were reflecting on the year that was. She mentioned, and I agree that 2017 really feels like a companion piece or sequel to 2016 which was, we agreed, a totally shit year. From the ridiculousness of global politics to the slew of pop culture deaths to my own personal background challenges, 2016 felt like something to be endured. Everyone just hunkered down as the blows kept raining down, never quite certain when the next one was going to land.

2017 by comparison, for all it has been awash in its own unrelenting ridiculousness, has felt like a response. From the Women’s Marches to #MeToo, a lot of simmering rage and pain on the part of women has gone from “open secrets” and back room whispers to full on mobilization. Communities of color, minority groups and faiths found themselves under siege from some quarters and in turn also mobilized in their own defense from kneeling at football games to showing up for elections. Allies and support systems coalesced when it became clear that they needed to be built. Hard conversations and revelations have been had across the social landscape. A lot of people like me who like to consider themselves “woke” realized that it’s not enough to have opinions, they must be married to actions and effort and put volunteer work, money, and talk into public spaces and areas where they may not have felt comfortable to do so before.

2016 felt like a siege, but 2017 feels like a counter strike. I have no idea what 2018 will bring, but in spite of the roller coaster of emotions of this past year, I’m not worn out thinking of it: I’m energized. I like to think that the forces that may be counting on our/my apathy or exhaustion–whether personal issues I deal with in the background, the global state of affairs swirling around us, or any other challenges–will be sorely disappointed.

I hope the end of the year is treating you kindly, ducklings, and that you are looking ahead with if not wide eyed hope, then at least steely eyed determination. You are going to rock this year.

That’s right, we’re being positive!

A post written for me: book and lipstick pairings.

This is not only a correct summation of 2017, but could also be the title of my autobiography.

NPR’s list of the top 100 songs of 2018 makes a great playlist, if you are so inclined.

Hey, fellow political junkies, here are 100 women of color running for office next year to support.

My body is ready!

That is certainly one tax plan

Headline of the week.

I find this to be a pretty fairminded assessment of the President’s learning curve one year into the job: namely that (unusual for a man who won the White House) he simply didn’t really understand a lot of aspects of the job and is having to learn by doing. Ditto for much of his staff. Whatever I think of his behavior or policies, I can empathize (briefly) with a whole administrative team being badly, badly out of their depth.

#MeToo rolls on.

As a former Mormon, polygamy fascinates, disturbs, and challenges me. This piece on its link to violence is not surprising to me, but is deeply interesting.

And suddenly, I want to bathe in Pitbull’s perfume. Who knew? As someone who knows herself to be a sucker for branding, I love the idea of this shop!

Gucci’s new ad campaign is even more gloriously extra than usual.

Well, thank goodness for late awakenings. Seriously, I applaud this, even if his last paragraph reveals he (and by extension a lot of us) still have a long way to go.

I’m among those who think automation may very well prove the next “industrial revolution,” probably to include the massive social upheaval that went along with the last one. I’m therefore very interested in programs or ideas built around minimizing the human cost of this potential change, and there is an interesting piece in the NYT about this worth reading if this is also something that keeps you up and night. …Just me?

Album of the week: Acoustic, by Betsy (and with this, I’ve met my goal of listening to one new album a week for a full year) 

Weekend Links

“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

Weekend Links

When we shall hear
The rain and wind beat dark December, how,
In this our pinching cave, shall we discourse
The freezing hours away? 
– William Shakespeare

Another week, another round of resignations by dude outed as absolute creeps, another round of Brexit talks…the news continues to be a bit grim. Remember how we all were sick of 2016 and looking forward to 2017? LOLZ, as the kids say.

But hey! It wasn’t all bad! I did some Christmas shopping and shipping this week, I had our first ever proper Christmas tree delivered, and I have grand ambitions for holiday-style cooking this weekend. We’re also trying a new grocery delivery service (I know, very decadent times in the Small Dog residence), so I’m interested in sourcing opinions of minions who have tried similar services. Let me know how you source your holiday food in the comments, along with anything else on the internet worth sharing!

Helena Fitzgerald knocks it out of the park again.

Living the actual dream.

The Meghan Effect has commenced and honestly, I’m not mad. She seems to have lovely taste.

The New York Times released their list of the best books of 2017, and for a change I’ve read only one of them! Can anyone report back from any of the picks?

Mother McGrath shares her manifesto, and I’m ready for it!

I don’t see what the problem is here

The murder of Heather Heyer by white supremacists was a preventable one. I mean, no kidding, but nice to have it confirmed anyway.

How to worry better. Seriously.

The trifecta: teaching girls to defend themselves, boys to be allies, and everyone what health consent is.

I love this: cinematic archaeology!

The Atlantic asks, will Mr. Pence and the religious right be (divinely?) rewarded for backing Mr. Trump?

There’s a lot to be mad about. Here’s something else: according to Moms Demand Action, this is the 57th school shooting in the US this year.

The Weinstein story got WORSE this week, if you can believe it.

What the hell is this?! I mean, boy bye, but we are officially in the Upside Down.

Luckily there was a tiny bit of redemption that the #MeToo movement and the “Silence Breakers” were awarded “Person of the Year.”

Anyone want to buy me this for Christmas?

2018’s color of the year is

Album of the week last week (which I forgot to add): Rest by Charlotte Gainsbourg

Album of the week: Everyday is Christmas, by Sia 

Weekend Links: What a Week

“Nothing burns like the cold.” 
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

This week the president offended first nation peoples (while generally being a dick with his usual nickname schtick), retweeted racist British nationalistic and Islamphobic propaganda (quite literally creating and perpetuating fake news), and vilified a news organisations (resulting in their international significant reporting on slavery being undermined). ALL BY WEDNESDAY.

Meanwhile a troll tried to plant a rape story, a war criminal literally drank poison and died at his trial, the Secretary of State might be getting fired, and yet another Dude On Television was fired for sexual assault allegations. ALL BY THURSDAY. The poison story was barely a blip.

And on FRIDAY, this news broke, all while the conservative faction is trying to rush through a tax vote because after all, that’s why they’ve tolerated this administration and its garbage. I’m publishing this post now because one more news cycle will officially make this links post about a mile long. Good god, I even forgot the launch of another missile by North Korea…

I loved this article on when “vintage shopping” really kicked off in the 20th century and why it was so radical. Though I wept to see the photography. Jeans for $2.5o… (Sidenote, I’ve read The Cut for years, but it really is knocking it out of the park recently with its redesign and reporting.)

A short documentary on the history and development of Japanese horror cinema. The YouTube channel it comes from is also nicely interesting (and not all quite as, er, horrific).

Here, have a read of a MUCH better profile on a Nazi. Their satire is pretty good too.

Oops. Idiot. The latest stunt by O’Keefe, who has a history of shooting himself in his wannabe-sting-operator food, would be a hilarious self-own…if not for the hideousness of his plan. To wit: pay someone to pretend she was raped, in order to undermine and discredit actual sex crimes victims for the explicit purpose of getting an accused sex offender elected to the highest representative body in the nation.

Hm. Are we excited, guys? I think I’m excited, but this is an enormous cast and I wonder how they are going to keep the story together.

He is a national embarrassment, and embarrasses me as a citizen abroad every day...

Cotton? COTTON?!

Let us please remember that as so many of these men are brought to the account they deserve, there is collateral damage for other people.

The whole debutante tradition is strange to me, is there a place for it in 2017?

“That the legacy of the first black president could be erased by a birther, that the woman who could have been the first female president was foiled by a man who confessed to sexual assault on tape—these were not drawbacks to Trump’s candidacy, but central to understanding how he would wield power, and on whose behalf.” Read the whole thing. Every last, awful word.

Fire him. And yes, Coyner too.

What I’d like is a redo, a retroactive version of the past two years and all the coverage leading up to Trump’s election — the past 20 years, really — where the seemingly nonpartisan, bias-free men who shaped our national news culture weren’t also men who sexually harassed and assaulted women.”

Mariah has a lesson for all of us.

THANK GOD FOR SOME HAPPY NEWS THIS WEEK.

Here. Have one more heartwarming thing. God knows we need it.

Weekend Links

“Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.” 
― Charles M. Schulz

Happy Thanksgiving weekend, American kittens. This past week was amazing, my best friend X came into town with her boyfriend to celebrate Friendsgiving with us, and we had a blast! We brunched, we shopped, we stayed up late talking about life–pretty much our MO for the last twenty years. Most importantly, we watched the news together. She’s a woman in media and is one of many dealing personally with the ripple effects of the various sexual harassment revelations and exposes which kept rolling this week. I’m very glad she was here this week.

I’m also very glad it is now socially acceptable to listen to Christmas music! The holiday season is in full swing and I am ready for a bit of good tidings and joy right about now. We could use ’em. Here are your links let me know what you’re up to this weekend in the comments.

 

On the one hand, there are already too many sequels. On the other, EDNA!

Lest you thought I was alone in my obsession, the New York Times delves into the mutual love between millennials and makeup.

Hey, it’s not just millennials! Whales need good skincare too!

Filing this under Things That Don’t Help My Puppy Lust.

This limited series podcast about the US Civil War is interesting, but this episode on how the narrative came to be framed as a fight for states’ rights against an encroaching power hungry government (only true if you concede that the war was about the right of states to have and spread slavery) is required listening.

This is a men problem, worldwide.

Does anyone want to lend me an obscene amount of money? I need a thing.

Heartbreaking news from Egypt…if anyone has any news about donation opportunities or relief funds, please share in the comment.

Roxane Gay is in all ways, literal goals.

Craig Ferguson’s latest project with Gant is a video series with his wife, and I particularly enjoyed this episode on astrophysics, space travel, and the nature of the cosmos.

Men are cancelled.

Think a profile of a translator of ancient Greek wouldn’t be interesting to read? You’d be wrong!

I find this argument both terrifying and compelling “While other factors also led to Trump’s victory…had racism been toxic to the American electorate, Trump’s candidacy would not have been viable… That the legacy of the first black president could be erased by a birther, that the woman who could have been the first female president was foiled by a man who confessed to sexual assault on tape—these were not drawbacks to Trump’s candidacy, but central to understanding how he would wield power, and on whose behalf.”

Album of the week: BLUE LIPS (lady wood phase II), by Tove Lo