August 2, 2018
A felony arrest and jailing. The crime? Voting.
12 people in Alamance County, NC, have been charged with voting illegally. (SL NYT) All were on probation or parole for felony convictions, which in North Carolina and many other states disqualifies a person from voting. If convicted, they face up to two years in prison. The case began after North Carolina elections officials ran an audit that found 441 felons had voted improperly in the 2016 election. While most local prosecutors did not pursue these cases, the Almance County DA decided to file felony charges.
Girl Powder
It can be argued that Amka’s story doesn’t completely avoid potentially problematic stereotypes. Her transformation from a normal Inuk teenager into a magical shape-shifter is reminiscent of what Michael A. Sheyahshe, in his 2008 book Native Americans in Comic Books, calls the stereotype of the “instant shaman.” This stereotype, writes Sheyahshe, imagines all Indigenous peoples as inherently magical, while ignoring the fact that, within real Indigenous cultures, becoming a shaman “requires a lifetime of knowledge, learning, and practice.”Anna F. Peppard on How Marvel Created Its New Inuk Superhero
Backwards in high heels isn't enough
Medical university rigged exams against women:
Informed sources say Tokyo Medical University has for years rigged entrance exams to limit its intake of women students, slashing their scores by well over 10 percent across-the-board.[more inside]
Madame Leviathan
For nine days now, a grieving mother has refused to part with the body of her infant. Her people have been suffering from want, now that the salmon are failing them; one of her relatives is starving to death. Nonetheless, her family members are helping her to carry her burden. This was the first newborn among them in three years.
The mother, an orca called J35 or Tahlequah, has captured sympathy and attention across the world, and inspired a poem: "How to Swim an Elegy."
The mother, an orca called J35 or Tahlequah, has captured sympathy and attention across the world, and inspired a poem: "How to Swim an Elegy."
Bang f*cking bang, The mighty Fall: looking at their last few decades
Webzine Perfect Sound Forever takes a look at The Fall's post-2000 studio LPs (all 11 of 'em - previous releases are reviewed here), plus an interview with the final Fall lineup (minus their frontman) and an Mark E Smith tribute from earlier this year. Previously.
“Thank You Mario, But Our Portfolio is in Another Castle”
The Trader Who Made a Massive Short Bet Against Nintendo [Bloomberg] [Autoplay Video] “There’s a new villain in the world of Nintendo Co. Gabriel Plotkin, head of New York hedge fund Melvin Capital Management, has accumulated a $400 million short bet against the Japanese game maker, according to regulatory filings. The former star trader at SAC Capital Advisors accounted for as much as 7 percent of Nintendo’s daily volume in recent weeks, contributing to stock declines since May that have stunned analysts. Investors have been baffled by the sudden swoon and Plotkin’s position may add to their concerns.” [more inside]
"An attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person"
Pope Francis has changed the Catechism on the death penalty, declaring it 'inadmissible' in all cases. This represents a change for the church where past popes presided over executions when they governed the Papal States. Today, much media coverage has focused on prominent Catholic politicians, religious leaders, and the Catholic public where their work and/or opinions support the death penalty in at least some cases. More than two-thirds of the countries in the world have abolished the practice. [more inside]
History forgets a dying king, or why was it so hard to find old movies?
"Why was it so difficult to stream or rent a thirty-year old movie with four major stars?" In Search of the Last Great Video Store -- what started as Kate Hagen's search for a favorite film from the late 1980s turned into an investigation into what streaming platforms don't offer and why, then finding that the few remaining video rental businesses are more often curators and libraries for rare materials, and how the last stores standing are surviving in the age of instant-access streaming content, such as the Vidiot Foundation's Harry Dean Stanton Award, with the first award being given (by David Lynch, naturally) to its namesake. Also, Hagen started a Google Map collection of video stores around the world. (via I'm always feeling, Blue)
A list with more records (by women) than the K.G.B.
Last summer (and previously discussed here), the NPR music team put forward a "correction of the historical record" and a new canon, with the top 150 albums by women. It was awesome, and we had a great time mentioning all the other women that they could have mentioned.
For an encore, this summer, they have produced The 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women+, a new list focusing on work by women and non-binary artists whose debut albums or most substantial contributions came after January 1, 2000.
The series includes an introduction by Marissa Lorusso as well as additional articles/interviews on curating the list, the stylistic diversity on the list, the foundations laid in the late 1990s, the importance of black and latina artists.
You can stream the playlist on your service of choice with the links here.
The full list is below the fold. [more inside]
The fascinating gory details of how purple dye used to be made
"This is a colour that pretends to transcend the vulgar vagaries of this world, all the while remaining mired in its muck." This piece by Kelly Grovier stood out for me, because of his lyrical writing, and artfully-composed phrases, like:
"Though purple may have symbolised a higher order, it reeked of a lower ordure."
THEIR FACES: DEFENDERS ON THE FRONTLINE
Meet the brave men and women standing up for their land and our environment in the face of violence and threats [more inside]
As Muslim-American as bean pie
If you’ve never had a bean pie, you’re missing out on a lot more than a dessert. Made from navy beans, it was developed by black Muslims in the Nation of Islam in the 1930s. The history of why they created it, and what it represents, tells one of the most essential stories about Muslims in America. And as you’ll see, it is extremely delicious. [more inside]
"Her name is Batfink."
San Francisco's Officer Edith (previously) tweets
This is my dog. Her name is Batfink. Her named has evolved from Batfink to batfinger>fingers>fingerling potato>fangers>fang fang and forever onwards to more ridiculous names. Show me your pets and their name evolutions because we need a little respite.(Pet name evolution previously)
can you believe this freakin' Alexander Graham Bell guy
look at this telephone-inventing-ass dude with his tetrahedral kites, all flying Sierpinski pyramids around like he owns the place
Do the rich taste best when baked, or when cooked over an open flame?
It's Basically Just Immoral to be Rich. "Because every dollar you have is a dollar you’re not giving to somebody else, the decision to retain wealth is a decision to deprive others."
The Problem of Production
Burberry has destroyed more than £28m of its fashion and cosmetic products over the past year. How does the company justify it? (The Guardian) Clothing companies are trashing unsold merchandise instead of donating it. 26 billion pounds of clothing ends up in US landfills each year. (The Outline) Multiple studies have shown synthetic fibers to make up the lion’s share of microplastics found in oceans, rivers and lakes, and clothes made from synthetics (polyester, nylon, and so on) are widely implicated as the source of that pollution. Seabirds are pooping out plastic. (Hakai)
Introducing the Jargon Index
Professional services company Grant Thornton unveils the Jargon Index It’s easy to fall into the status quo trap of relying on business jargon to make your case. These buzzwords are so prevalent that we decided to track them in our new Jargon Index to help you avoid the most overused corporate-speak. Are you tired of smoke and mirrors and looking to reinvent the wheel? We guarantee paying attention to this index will help you move the needle the next time you’re in a meeting. [more inside]
Yes, you're gonna need a TV for this list.
The Ringer has come out with their 100 Best TV Episodes of the Century. The list is all encompassing, including not just the usual subjects, but genres like animation and reality/competition shows. You can join the conversation on Twitter with #100BestEps.
Straight to the 'bool room
Trompe l'oeil wombat graffito expertly preserved by former graffito removal tech in coastal Victorian town. The local Warnambool Council is happy for it to stay.
Morrisey, Mark Lamarr, Terry Christian, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ray Liotta...
... Todd Carty, Mark Fowler from EastEnders, Ali Campbell, Marty Stuart, General Ratko Mladic, 1930s Tarzan, and Morrisey again, have let themselves go. After being ditched by the BBC, Stewart Lee took a new show, Content Provider on the road. Slightly ironically a filmed version of the show has been broadcast by the BBC and is now available on IPlayer (and no doubt elsewhere). Lee also published a collection of this newspaper columns, slightly confusingly also called, Content Provider. As part of his mandatory digital marketing he talks about it with, Gandalf, Father Christmas, 'a wizard' etc have let themselves go etc... Alan Moore.
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