Friday, January 27, 2017

Friday Links (first they came for edition)

Well, it's Friday. The first Friday since a white-supremacist appointing authoritarian ignoramous was sworn in as the (illegitimate) president of the United States, and the number of assaults on my rights has been rather overwhelming.

Anyway, here are the links I found interesting this week, sorted into categories.

Links of the Week


The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2017. Scroll down to 86 and see how you ought to handle describing a movie made by a director who is also a convicted child molester...

To Everyone Who Just Had Their Heart Broken For the First Time. Time to repost this...

How to #StayOutraged Without Losing Your Mind.

Doomsday Clock: Humanity might be edging closer to its end.

News for queers and our allies:


How we overcame Aids against all the odds.

Place a tribute fan bench for George Michael in Hampstead Heath. A place where he loved.

The Trojan Horse of Pop. "Pop music, for me, became intellectual foreplay, the only current I heard on a daily basis running counter to the message from the pulpit."

Coming Out, I Thought I’d Never Get To Be A Dad.

Coming out to your kids.

N. Carolina women gymnasts wear pro-LGBT shirts at meet.

Science!


A radical new hypothesis claims to have a simple explanation for dark energy.

This awesome periodic table shows the origins of every atom in your body.

1000-year old windmills still in use.
v Fecal transplant improves autism symptoms.

Wolf-sized otters prowled prehistoric China.

100-million-year-old 'alien' insect discovered trapped in amber.

Humans Killed Australia’s Megafauna.

Trump slams the author of a report he hasn’t read, doesn’t understand. I've heard more sophisticated arguments on playgrounds from children...

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculation!


3 Reasons It’s Okay to Stop Reading That Boo.

The Death Star and the Final Trench Run.

This week in Writing


Minnesota author Kelly Barnhill wins Newbery Medal.

This week in Words


Does Trump Really Have the Best Words?

This Week in Tech


Putting teeth into enforcing Internet of Things security, but for how long?

Indie Microblogging: owning your short-form writing.

This Week in Covering the News


Google bans 200 publishers in crackdown on fake news. Too little, too late, IMHO

Four more journalists get felony charges after covering inauguration unrest.

This Week in Inclusion


Maybe Consider Not Being an Asshole.

Culture war news:


White fear of demographic change is a powerful psychological force.

Compromise does not work with our political opponents. When will we learn?

The religious right have been using 'alternative facts' against the lgbt community for years.

Voter fraud suspect arrested in Des Moines. Caught, it was the first case in years, and it's a trump voter

http://www.salon.com/2017/01/26/while-trump-grabs-headlines-texas-republicans-launch-new-wave-of-assaults-on-lgbt-rights/.

TEXAS IS ALREADY TRYING TO REVOKE SOME SAME-SEX MARRIAGE RIGHTS.

These are the states most at risk for anti-LGBTQ policies in 2017.

Politician Wants To Make It A Crime To Call Pat McCrory Out As A Bigot.

This Week in Fighting Back in the Culture War:


Apple, Samsung, IBM and More Will Protest Texas 'Bathroom Bill'.

This Week in the Resistance:


Voices from Friday's Student Walkout in Seattle.

The Women’s March on Washington, and Around the World.

Photos and Video: The Womxn's March on Seattle.

'Pussyhat' knitters join long tradition of crafty activism.

Thousands of Alaskans join Women's March in solidarity with national events.

Uplifting, Heartbreaking, Enormous Crowds at Women's Marches Around The World.

Impeach the Mofo Already. Raise money for ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and the International Refugee Assistance Project by buying buttons, hats, t-shirts that spread the message.

Women's March Street Style: See the Photos.

News about the Fascist


Trump immediately revokes price break for mortgages.

White House press secretary attacks media for accurately reporting inauguration crowds.

Trump’s inaugural cake was commissioned to look exactly like Obama’s, baker says.

Trump Brought Personal Cheerleading Squad to CIA Meeting.

Iraqis Are Pissed That Trump Said The US Might Try To Seize Their Oil, Again.

How Trump’s perverted populism could translate into a second term.

American carnage: Donald Trump becomes America’s 45th president, delivers bleak inaugural address. "But there was nothing for those hoping to see a more pragmatic, moderate President Trump take office, or to hear him admit that the world is complex and less pliable than he pretended on the campaign trail. All populists are at heart conspiracy theorists, who pretend that easy solutions exist to society’s woes and have only not been tried to date because elites are wicked and deaf to the sturdy common-sense of decent, ordinary folk. That was the Trump approach."

ON THE INAUGURATION OF DONALD TRUMP: PRESERVE, PROTECT, AND DEFEND. "...while we go on waiting for such miracles of personal and intellectual evolution, there is every reason to be on guard against a President whose attachment to constitutional norms seems episodic at best."

The first days inside Trump’s White House: Fury, tumult and a rebootv.

Congratulations, America — you did it! An actual fascist is now your official president.

Trump’s Voter Fraud Example? A Troubled Tale .

America could build over 500 elementary schools for the price of Trump’s wall. or hire 16,500 elementary school teachers and pay them for a decade

This week in Politics:


Voting in 2016 US Presidential Election — Visualizing Economics.

Marco Rubio Caves on Rex Tillerson. Asshole

Two Former Press Secretaries Slam Sean Spicer For Telling Massive Lie .

DISPATCHES FROM THE WOMXN’S MARCH: DOES THE MAYOR UNDERSTAND WHAT INTERSECTIONALISM MEANS?.

Democrats delay vote on Sessions nomination.

The State Department’s entire senior administrative team just resigned. Note: we don't know if this was voluntary or if they were pushed out.

This Week in Racists, White Nationalists, and the deplorables


Manners Police Tomi Lahren APPALLED You SNOWFLAKES Are PROTESTING Like GAAAAAH LOUD NOISES

What Really Happened at the Milo Yiannopoulos Protest at UW on Friday Night.

Shooter sent Facebook message to Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos before gunfire at UW protest, policey.

Trump’s federal hiring freeze will kneecap veterans more than perhaps any other group.

Neo-Nazi Richard Spencer Got Punched—You Can Thank the Black Bloc.

Things I wrote:


Weekend Update 1/21/2017: Kind is the new sexy.

Uplifting, heartbreaking, and enormous.

Punching villains.

Why I hate hay fever reason #6481.

One person’s fave is another’s wtf – more of why I love sf/f.

Videos!


Russian President Vladimir Putin (Beck Bennett) and Olya Povlatsky (Kate McKinnon) assure Americans that everything will be fine under President Donald Trump.:



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



Jimmy Kimmel Presents The Troompa Loompas!:



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



Trump’s Devious Plan to Destroy the White House Press Corps | The Resistance with Keith Olberman:



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)

Friday, January 20, 2017

Friday Links (sad day edition)

Well, it's Friday. Yep, Friday.

I'm already exhausted, and the corrupt reality TV star hasn't even been sworn in, yet! I've decided to separate my usually Friday Links into two posts: a regular Friday Links posts with most of the usual topics, and a second Resistance Report post where I'll put most of the links related to the corrupt one.

I don't think I'll do this every week, because assembling the Friday Links post is already a lot of work. But at least for now, below you will find many of the links I found interesting this week, with less outrage-inducing news.

Links of the Week


Millions in his firing squad. The Chicago Daily News published this column April 5, 1968, after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Seattle, Island of Blue: The next four years will challenge Seattle. Are we up to the task?

The Obama Administration Digital Transition: Moving Forward. Here's the latest on how you can continue to follow and engage with President Obama, the First Lady, and other Obama White House officials moving forward.

This week in privilege


Why Poor People Make Expensive Financial Decisions: Often, the banking options available for low-income Americans are all fundamentally flawed.

This week in what the Frak?


Thousands of Skittles end up on an icy road. But that's not the surprising par.

This week in awful news


Pulse Shooter's Wife Arrested by FBI.

Trade school fires president after he let homeless student stay in library during sub-zero weather.

This week in awful people


Dennis Hastert demands hush money back from alleged sex abuse victim. I never wanted to link to another story about this child molester and Republican politician again, unless it was a story about his death from a painful lingering disease...

News for queers and our allies:


CMT's Cody Alan Comes Out As Gay.

The Story Behind Gay Bob, the World's First Out-And-Proud Dol.

We don’t need more out pro athletes to advance the cause, but they sure would help.

“We were heard for the first time”: President Obama leaves an incredible legacy on LGBTQ rights.

'Love is love': Birmingham business apologizes for sign LGBTQ group described as 'anti-trans'.

When straight men kiss, is it good for LGBT equality or a step back?

LGBTQ-owned businesses add $1.7 trillion to the U.S. economy.

Home of LGBTQ activist becomes historic landmark in North Carolina.

The LGBT Rights Miniseries 'When We Rise' Has An Unfortunate Timeliness.

Science!


Ancient Recipe in Edwin Smith Papyrus Yields Surprise.

Where Have All the Giants Gone? How Animals Deal with the Problem of Size.

Why Hell Can't Freeze Over: Quantum Physics And Absolute Zero.

Newly-discovered protein keeps your biological clock running.

Why 4.5 billion years of fluctuating global temperatures can’t explain climate change today.

Zebra Shark Has Babies Without a Male After Years of Isolation.

Milky Way Weighs in Light, Using a Well-Worn Technique.

NASA’s Mars Rover Curiosity Is Examining What Could Be Cracks In Mud Over 3 Billion Years Old.

Shark study reveals taste buds were key to evolution of teeth.

First Pictures of Earth and Moon Taken from Mars and Saturn.

Odd Football-Size Armored Creatures Solve Ancient Footprint Mystery.

Conditions right for complex life may have come and gone in Earth’s distant past.

2016 Warmest Year Ever - Largely Due To Human Emissions | Video.

Mystery Object in Cygnus A Galaxy.

We can't directly see black holes. But this time lapse shows the awesome power of their gravity.

The moon is older than scientists thought, UCLA-led research team reports.

Physicists say they've manipulated 'pure nothingness' and observed the fallout.

This is the closest-ever photo of a 'wavemaker moon' that hides out in Saturn's rings.

IT'S NOT IN YOUR HEAD: THE WEATHER IS WEIRDER, AND CLIMATE CHANGE IS THE REASON WHY.

Scientists discover that white rhino dung has a lot in common with a Facebook post.

Mysterious fossils find place on the tree of life.

Palaeontologists reveal 350m-year-old tropical Scotland bursting with life.

Researchers Uncover Fossils of 52-Million-Year-Old Tomatillos.

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculation!


Strange Horizons: ON COLLECTIVE RESISTANCE.

Tropes, trolls and Trump: the fantasy writer who inspired George RR Martin.

All I really need to know I learned from science fiction and fantasy stories.

Hugo Nominees 2017 Wikia.

This week in Writing


The criminal neglect of detective fiction. I'm a bit skeptical when a review of academic papers looks at nothing published more recently than 40 years ago and claims to make conclusions about how academic look at the genre now.

This week in Words


Literally Everything You'll Ever Need To Know About Semantic Bleaching.

This Week in Tech


Wide Impact: Highly Effective Gmail Phishing Technique Being Exploited. Yes, I posted this last weekend. Worth repeating!

How to kill the evercookie and supercookie, the cockroaches of tracking.

The backdoor that never was, and how to improve your security with WhatsApp.

This Week in Covering the News


STUDY: Watching Only Fox News Makes You Less Informed Than Watching No News At All. An oldie, but worth remembering!

This Guy Tricked Infowars Into Publishing A Completely Fake Report On Trump.

This Week in Inclusion


Goodreads M/M Romance Member’s Choice Awards Best of 2016.

Culture war news:


I Call Bulls**t On HGTV Star Chip Gaines’ Blog About Anti-Gay Controversy.

No Middle Ground: Evangelical Leaders Reject Compromise on LGBT and Religious Rights.

GET RICH OR DIE TRYING — ON REPEALING THE ACA.

Lone Rabbi at Center of Montana’s Neo-Nazi Storm.

Being Gay Doesn’t Make My Family Dysfunctional.

Christians Denounce Footwear Ad Featuring Frolicking Nude and Gay Models.

Religious Right Leaders Are Furious at Right Wing Watch for Quoting Them Verbatim.

Virginia kills anti-trans bathroom bill without debate.

This week in the Planned Parenthood end of the Culture War:



U.S. Abortion Rate Falls To Lowest Level Since Roe v. Wade.

The Abortion Rate Is Falling Because Fewer Women Are Getting Pregnant. "the data shows that better contraception — combined with a bad economy and a falling teen pregnancy rate — is largely responsible."

Study Shows Free Birth Control Reduces Abortions.

Abstinence-only education programs are not effective at delaying the initiation of sexual activity or in reducing teen pregnancy.

This Week in Fighting Back in the Culture War:


LGBT Activists Had a Dance Party Protest in Mike Pence’s Neighborhood.

Hope and Resistance in Seattle: We might not all be happy with who’s running the country for the next four years. But those years don’t have to be hopeless.

This week in Politics:


Things I'm Going to Miss About President Barack Obama.

House bill introduced to block government from forcing tech companies to build Muslim registry.

Chelsea Manning's win not necessarily a big win for trans rights.

'School choice' undermines public system.

Killing ObamaCare will literally kill people.

'The Boss' Gives a Show to Obama Staffers.

This Week in Hate Crimes


Some 30 Jewish institutions across US targeted in second wave of bomb threats.

Farewells:


Eugene Cernan, Last Human to Walk on Moon, Dies at 82.

'An Outstanding Crewmate': Gene Cernan, Last Man on the Moon, Remembered.

Gene Cernan's Drive To Inspire Recalled By NASA Chief.

Wayne Barrett, Fierce Muckraker at The Village Voice, Dies at 71.

In Unmourned Departures:


Eddie Long, Megachurch Pastor Embroiled in Scandal, Dies.

Bishop Eddie Long Is Not the Only One Who’s Dead.

In case you don't know why Long's death shouldn't be mourned: No Forgiveness For Megachurch Leader In Sexual Abuse Case.

Things I wrote:


Hacking and phishing and spying, oh my!

Sunday Funnies, part 21.

Myths about bigotry: respectful disagreement.

Maybe just a little bit of schadenfreude.

Shiny new toy: my new Macbook Pro.

If you want thousands, you have to fight for one — more of why I love sf/f.

Videos!


NSFW: Andrew Christian - Freshman Car Wash / Wow - Kylie Minogue:



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



We Didn't Start The Fire parody - Billy Joel - Sherry Vine:



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



Troye Sivan - HEAVEN ft. Betty Who:



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



Ellen Degeneres breaks the record for most People's Choice Awards!:



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



Bright Light Bright Light feat. Elton John 'Running Back To You':



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



Ellen's Tribute to the Obamas:



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



Cage The Elephant - Cold Cold Cold:

(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)

Friday, January 13, 2017

Friday Links (queens of the underworld edition)

It's Friday! The second Friday in a new year. And it's hard to get excited when so much of the news is so outrageous

We're having a worse than usual flu epidemic in our area. Several people I know either have pneumonia or had it over the holiday. And my husband and I are still trying to shake off the cold/flu or whatever it is we've been fighting for weeks.

Anyway, here are links to stories I found interesting, sorted by category.

Links of the Week


Rejected Princesses: The Queens of the Sydney Underworld.

I Want to Take My Womb Out of Retirement and Give Birth to a Black Daughter So That She Can See Hidden Figures.

Florida activists continue to feed homeless, despite arrests by police.

This Week in Friendship


Obama throws Joe Biden the best surprise party ever.

This Week in Weather


Portland experiences the heaviest snowfall in a decade.

This Week in Difficult to Classify


Punitive Practices Do Not Keep Children Safer at School. We Need More Supportive Policies.

4 Ridiculous Questions People Asked Me When My 11-Year-Old Came Out as Gay.

This week in awful news


Victims of Fort Lauderdale airport mass shooting that killed five, wounded six had minds on family vacations.

A Nevada woman dies of a superbug resistant to every available antibiotic in the US.

News for queers and our allies:


Cynthia Nixon Reminds The World That LGBT Families are Just Families.

9 Books to Better Understand Today's Sexual Landscape.

George Michael Was the Kind of Gay Man We Now Whisper About.

KERRY SORRY FOR PAST STATE DEP'T DISCRIMINATION AGAINST GAYS.

Moonlight Named Best Picture by National Society of Film Critics.

IBM Just Debuted a New Logo and the Reasoning Will Make You Smile.

Science!


A Massive Tunnel Tree in California Has Fallen.

Earliest, Brightest Galaxies Shine A Ghostly Green In Surprising New Find.

NASA just explained why Moon dust is 'levitating' above the lunar surface.

The Milky Way's black hole is spewing out planet-size 'spitballs'.

Your appendix might serve an important biological function after all.

Obama is the first US president to author an article in Science magazine.

A star heading this way could knock millions of asteroids towards Earth.

There's A Massive Metal Dragon Hiding Inside Earth's Outer Core.

We always knew our ancestors were microbes. Now we found them.

Flipping A Switch In The Brain Turns Lab Rodents Into Killer Mice.

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculation!


The CW Renews The Flash, Supernatural, Crazy Ex and 4 Others.

Disturbed by Lovecraft, whose racism and hate weren't merely a product of his times.

Hugo Nominees 2017 Wikia.

Turns Out, 'Young Justice' Had Gay Superheroes All Along. Except this is, once again, a creator claiming it afterward, trying to get credit while being too timid to actually represent...

The Hugo Awards (2016 - 2017).

Tech 100: How Princess Leia Influenced This Woman in STEM.

Chuck Tingle Launches Buttbart, a Lovecraftian, Anus-Rich Parody of Breitbart.

The Future Alternative Past: this dystopian hope. Nisi Shawl, an author I greatly admire, is now doing a regular sf/f column for the Seattle Review of Books. Check out this, her third monthly column!

Did Inadequate Women’s Healthcare Destroy Star Wars’ Old Republic?

This week in Writing


The Rise of the Word Police.

Four Literary Questions.

This week in Words


The Largest Historical Dictionary of English Slang Now Free Online: Covers 500 Years of the “Vulgar Tongue”.

Do You Need a New Language Peeve? Sure, it's popular to complain about words ending in '-ize'. But what about words ending in '-ate'?

Transgender vs. Transsexual: What’s the Difference?

This Week in Tech


Keep the Internet Weird.

Using real names online ‘leads to discrimination and harrassment’.

This Week in Inclusion


How not to write about gay guys in 2017.

Behind the Scenes of Queer, Latina Remake of 'One Day at a Time'.

Culture war news:


Nearly a quarter of Americans are not religious: Why doesn’t that diversity show up in politics? About 1 in 4 Americans has no religious affiliation — but only 1of 538 members of Congress admits to that

HRC Mourns India Monroe, Misgendered After December Murder.

What's Behind the New Wave of Transgender 'Bathroom Bills'.

Virginia bathroom bill is even worse than North Carolina’s.

NO GOOD, VERY BAD BIGOTS DO EXACTLY WHAT THEY PROMISED THEY WOULD DO, FILE ANTI-TRANS BATHROOM BALLOT INITIATIVE.

Black LGBT Ministers Speak Out About Kim Burrell, Shirley Caesar.

Please Note: The Legislator Behind Virginia’s New Anti-Trans Bill Is Completely Nuts.

Republicans plan to overwhelm you so you don’t know what’s going on. And it’s going to work.

Watch Cory Booker Reprimand Jeff Sessions for Years of Voting Against Marginalized Americans.

This Week in Fighting Back in the Culture War:


Graphic essay: What the Civil Rights Movement can teach us about surviving Trump.

WHO IS TO RECEIVE GOD’S LOVE? A RESPONSE TO KIM BURRELL’S HOMOPHOBIC SERMON.

News of Orange Julius Ceasar


BBC's Paul Wood: There Are Four Sources For Claims of Possible Trump-Russia Blackmail.

Trump's Plan To Isolate Himself From Company During Presidency Falls Short Of Blind Trust.

Donald Trump Is Very Upset That The Media And American People Are Mocking Him.

This week in Politics:


Major Christian group condemns Trump’s cabinet picks, policy agenda. In a statement, the group calls his cabinet picks “morally inconsistent with Christian principles.”

Sanders urges Dems against obstructing Trump. I... have no words.

State Department Apologizes for 1950s Anti-LGBT Witch Hunt.

Chuck Wendig on "Why We Need the Affordable Care Act".

Trump's best option on Obamacare is to get Democrats to walk the plank with him.

This Week in Racists, White Nationalists, and the deplorables


Searching for Richard Spencer: What I Found in a Small Montana Town at the Center of a Neo-Nazi Troll Storm. Pulitzer-winning local author Eli Sanders spent Christmas with relatives in Whitefish, which has become embroiled in a dispute with the guy who literally invented the term "alt-right" to rebrand white supremacists.

Jeff Sessions Wanted to ‘Drop the Case’ Against KKK Lynching, Attorney Testified.

Donald Trump and the Tainted Presidency.

D.C. Dress Shops Dispute Trump's Claim That They Are 'Sold-Out' for Inauguration: 'There's Never Been Less Demand'.

Activists catch James O’Keefe’s group bribing people to riot at Trump’s inauguration.

Intel chiefs presented Trump with claims of Russian efforts to compromise him.

Kellyanne Conway dispatched to scare up money after Trump ‘struggled’ to pay for transition team.

Nazi Group Fails To Raise $125 Permit Fee For Planned Rally, Claims Event Will Be Rescheduled.


This Week in Hate Crimes


Dylann Roof Is Sentenced to Death in Charleston Church Massacre.

Farewells:


Clare Hollingworth, Reporter Who Broke News of World War II, Dies at 105.

Utah artist James C. Christensen dies at age 74.

Tony Rosato, cast member on both SNL and SCTV, dead at 62.

Bronski Beat keyboardist Larry Steinbachek dies at 56.

Things I wrote:


Weekend Update 1/7/2017: Funeral for our favorite general and other stories….

More social media thoughts.

Living in a bubble–more thoughts on social medi.

Bubbles and misinformation (going way beyond confirmation bias).

Writing Concoctions: scenes, chapters, and other artifices.

Videos!


Oregon Zoo polar bear Nora and other animals in the Portland zoo play in snow 2017:


(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy ORIGINAL VIDEO:


(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



Michael Is Alive: Official Trailer #2 | Season 5 | PRISON BREAK:


(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)

Friday, January 6, 2017

Friday Links (prepare for the resistance)

It's Friday! The first Friday in a new year. Are we supposed to be excited?

So much of the news was either too depressing. I mean, how do I pick among all the outrages that the rightwing is lining up? I know that part of what they're counting on is making us feel overwhelmed, but there' just so much they're already doing! So this is going to be, once again, a shorter links post than usual.

Anyway, here are links to stories I found interesting, sorted by category.

Links of the Week


The Media’s Favorite ‘Millennial’ Is 55 Years Old - Dan Nainan is known as a 35-year-old former Intel engineer who now makes millions as a comedian. The fact that he’s 20 years older is the least weird part of his story.

Revenge. A poem.

This week in awful people



Milo Yiannopoulos’s book deal with Simon & Schuster, explained.

News for queers and our allies:


The Big Secret I've Been Keeping from My Skater Bro Friends: It's Taken Me a Long Time to Say This.

Orlando City Soccer Club Unveils Permanent Seating Section Dedicated to Pulse Nightclub Victims: WATCH.

Dustin Lance Black has no patience for A-listers who lie about their sexuality.

the forgotten history of california’s queer hip hop scene.

FAVE FIVE: INTERRACIAL F/F ROMANCES IN SFF YA.

Science!



A Fantastic Optical Illusion: Just Another Brick in the Wall?

Oldest known orca believed dead.

Americans — especially but not exclusively Trump voters — believe crazy, wrong things.

Why bullshit is no laughing matter.

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculation!



Inferior Beasts. This review of fantastic beasts puts in excellent words what bothered several people I know about it.

Midweek there was a very badly written transphobic (among other things) review of Uncanny Magazine's latest issue up, and I was trying to decide whether to do anything other than extend my subscription to Uncanny in response to it. Fortunately, Jim C. Hines came to me rescue: SF Crowsnest: For All Your Whiny, Cloud-Pissing Needs.

Lucasfilm had big plans for Princess Leia (spoilers).

This week in Writing



Writers Club: The Evils of Self Editing. This article is not about grammar or spelling...

Deciding Where to Put Chapter Breaks.

This week in Words


As society evolves, so do our curse words. Here's how some of the most famous ones developed -- and a few new ones.

This Week in Covering the News



Lindy West Quits Twitter: "It Is Unusable for Anyone But Trolls, Robots and Dictators". I love Lindy's writing; I'm linking to this article before getting to Lindy's op-ed, because of the some things he says about the way many of us use social media: “Twitter is my connection to what's happening moment to moment in the world... Twitter is where I find a vast array of things I'm interested in reading—poems, essays, stories, reporting—that I would never find on my own...”

I’ve left Twitter. It is unusable for anyone but trolls, robots and dictators. “The white supremacist, anti-feminist, isolationist, transphobic “alt-right” movement has been beta-testing its propaganda and intimidation machine on marginalised Twitter communities for years now – how much hate speech will bystanders ignore? When will Twitter intervene and start protecting its users? – and discovered, to its leering delight, that the limit did not exist. No one cared. Twitter abuse was a grand-scale normalisation project... ”

This Week in Inclusion


Diversity in gaming, but with a happy ending.

Starting in 2019, if Your Film Isn’t Diverse, It Won’t Be Eligible for a BAFTA Award.

This week in Politics:



At least 50 Donald Trump electors were illegally seated as Electoral College members: report.

To Stop Trump, Democrats Can Learn From the Tea Party.

New Republican Congress reverses ethics move after outcry.

To Stop Trump, Democrats Can Learn From the Tea Party.

Farewells:


John Berger, Provocative Art Critic, Dies at 90.

William Christopher, 84; played Father Mulcahy on ‘M*A*S*H’. He was also pretty good as Private Lester Hummel in _Gomer Pyle, USMC_ many years earlier

George Kosana, played sheriff in ‘Night of the Living Dead’.

Things I wrote:


It’s The End Of The Year As We Know It.

My New Year’s Wish for You, 2017.

Unresolved resolution tension.

One last Chubby and Tubby Story.

What’s wrong with enjoying sleep?

Blogging sites of yore and related news.

Videos!


James Corden Reflects On George Michael and How He Inspired Carpool Karaoke:



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



Stefan Alexander - Skeleton (Music Video):



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



Ben Hazlewood - Drive On (Official Video):



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



Roosevelt - Belong (Official Video):



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)



'All I Want for Christmas' Carpool Karaoke (Mariah Carrey, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Adele, and many, many many more join James):



(If embedding doesn't work, click here.)