Saturday, August 20, 2016

Morning Coffee (8/20/16)

This is huge: Justice Department says it will end use of private prisons

And huge in another way: Gawker.com to End Operations Next Week (Gawker certainly always had its problems, but I can barely imagine the Internet without it.)

Wired's endorsement of Hillary Clinton is probably the best I've read, especially but not only if you're into tech stuff.

Paul Manafort's resignation shows Trump's problem is Trump

Jared Kushner's Second Act

YOU GUYS THERE IS A WALDEN VIDEO GAME. "As the writer, you’ll be able to take your laundry home to your mother and go put your feet up at Emerson’s house." Hahahahaha.

This essay by Sara Benincasa in response to an anonymous stranger asking why she'd gained weight is important and wonderfully written.

Jürgen Klopp Has Found His Tackling, Ball-Hunting, Overwhelming Secret Weapon

Aw: Runners Help Each Other After Fall: ‘Get Up. We Have to Finish This.’

The Forgotten History of Female Athletes Who Organized Their Own Olympics

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Friday, August 12, 2016

Morning Coffee (8/12/16)

Let's take a break for some fun Friday links.

The President made us summer playlists. God, I'm going to miss him. Also, I'd been vaguely meaning to make a playlist all week and never got to it, so I am impressed, as the President is much busier than I am.

Simone Biles Has a Life-size Zac Efron Cutout, and Honestly, Zac Efron Should Be Flattered

I have never related so much to Michelle Obama, in that if I had the power to do so I would absolutely make Matthew Rhys sit next to me. I would probably also make him speak Welsh but I assume the First Lady's manners are better than mine.

Important military news: Italian Sailor Uses Mouth-To-Mouth to Revive Kitten

I'm a little burned out on essays about Hamilton but this one by Todd VanDerWerff is so lovely and the one I would recommend you read.

Speaking of: Lin-Manuel Miranda & The Rock teamed up to belt out a 'Beauty and the Beast' ballad for you. Of course they did.

This is perfect: Let me translate my emails for you.

I am relieved to report that Tonga's shirtless flag bearer seems like a good guy, as well as being hot.

The swimmers' grandmas continue being quite something: Watch Ryan Lochte's Grandma Carry an Olympic Torch in Her Nursing Home, Weep

PIKACHURRO.

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Morning Coffee (8/11/16)

We got some Star Trek: Discovery news! Most excitingly: The lead will be female.

My friend Chris is in a horror movie called Found Footage 3D and the trailer is out. (If you like horror movies I very much think you should watch this one; I am a scaredycat who may not be able to handle it.)

Drop Everything: There Are 2 New Girl Scout Cookies And They’re Inspired By S’mores (They sound good but why do they have the same name??)

The Men in Blazers Premier League preview podcast is out! (People keep being surprised that I watch Premier League. What can I say? I appreciate a sport that airs on weekend mornings.)

Today in stories calibrated to my interests: When Tim Kaine met the Queen of England

This guy. Michael Phelps Tied A 2,168-Year-Old Olympic Record

Trump’s Wink Wink to ‘Second Amendment People’

This story about Hillary Clinton and money is fascinating on a number of levels, not least because of how baffling everyone (then and now) seems to find the idea of a woman whose husband's income is uncertain deciding to act based upon what would allow her to take care of herself and her child.

CNN's Brian Stelter: Fox News Sent A Staffer To Date Me And Spy On Me Ten Years Ago

Heh: What Would Happen if Aziz Ansari Narrated a BBC Nature Program?

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Morning Coffee (8/10/16)

Donald Trump: 'Second Amendment' gun advocates could deal with Hillary Clinton

Trump's Assassination Dog Whistle Was Even Scarier Than You Think

The Polls Aren’t Skewed: Trump Really Is Losing Badly (The "Nate Silver is an evil witch!" segment of campaigns is maybe my least favorite segment.)

Why Hillary Clinton wouldn’t be a foreign policy hawk as president

Please? How Trump’s poll decline could lead to a self-perpetuating death spiral for his campaign

How lucky we are to be alive right now: Martha Stewart, Snoop Dogg Partner for VH1 Dinner-Party Series

New Bon Iver music is coming! But this message is coming to us by way of, like, MURALS, and 2016 is exhausting enough, everyone, please just release your music in a normal fashion.

I am all in on Michael Phelps this time around - comeback story! cute baby! meme! - and this Times profile is pretty good until the weird off-putting ending.

Olympic swimmer Dana Vollmer’s tart, honest take on pregnancy

I hear Fox's new baseball drama Pitch is very good and they're doing a nifty preview screening thing at minor league ballparks and perhaps you'd like to go. (I SHOULD go but the closest one is a Sunday night and I am not a huge fan of watching TV outside, for various reasons.)

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Morning Coffee (8/9/16)

Wait, Ukraine did WHAT? (I haven't seen ANY gymnastics yet this year. It's very sad.)

Good for Susan Collins: "But the unpleasant reality that I have had to accept is that there will be no 'new' Donald Trump, just the same candidate who will slash and burn and trample anything and anyone he perceives as being in his way or an easy scapegoat."

Also: 50 G.O.P. Officials Warn Donald Trump Would Put Nation’s Security ‘at Risk’

Meanwhile, SIGH: About A Third Of Bernie Sanders’s Supporters Still Aren’t Backing Hillary Clinton

The Beauty of Joe Biden and Barack Obama’s Bromance

Whoa: From a Dacha Wall, a Clue to Raoul Wallenberg’s Cold War Fate

This piece was fascinating: The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’ Turns 50: A Psychedelic Masterpiece That Rewrote the Rules of Rock

Aw: Adam Peaty's grandmother is the cutest Olympic supporter

Interesting: 80 Years Ago: the Berlin Olympics in Words and Pictures

Nicole Cliffe, always a delight: "As you can imagine, I had a lot of feelings about this, and sometimes the best thing to do with too many feelings is to embark on an extremely grueling six-day-a-week workout regimen and refuse to eat any carbs that aren't sweet potatoes, a starch I personally loathe in all its forms."

Saturday, August 6, 2016

Friday, August 5, 2016

Morning Coffee (8/5/16)

It's been a REALLY long week, huh? Time to take a break from current events with some happy Friday links!

The Vice President tweeted about the President's birthday WITH FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS. Never tell me this friendship isn't real; I couldn't take it.

A Wrinkle in Time, which is exciting for any number of reasons, is also a milestone: it makes Ava DuVernay the first woman of color to direct a movie with a budget over $100 million.

Oldman et al. are INDEED continuing their Le Carre adaptations with Smiley's People and EVERYTHING IS AMAZING.

Teaser for Dunkirk!

Trailer for Victoria!!

GOOD QUESTION: Why Don’t I Ever Run Into Shirtless Justin Trudeau While Hiking? (I mean, I don't hike much, and certainly not in Canada, BUT STILL.)

DELIGHTFUL: I Made a Shipwreck Expert Watch The Little Mermaid And Judge Its Nautical Merits

I love real life Last Tango in Halifax stories. He let her go 60 years ago because she was in college and he didn't want to hold her back!

Ooh, pretty libraries.

It's Friday. Let's ogle superheroes.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Morning Coffee (8/4/16)

How a Secretive Branch of ISIS Built a Global Network of Killers

This gets at a lot of why I'm so excited about Hillary Clinton's candidacy, specifically, beyond obviously wanting to support the Democrat and stop Trump: Hillary Clinton's Nomination Is a Victory for the Smart Girls

The New York Times relaxed their normal rules about acceptable language to print/portray and put an uncensored video together from Trump rallies. It is disturbing and terrifying and you should watch it.

This is fine: Trump Campaign Changed Ukraine Platform, Lied About It

Nothing to see here: Donald Trump Is Reportedly Very Interested in Using Nuclear Weapons

I cannot believe this is a real interview with a prominent mainstream party's presidential nominee.

If this kind of thing ends up happening it will be... quite something to observe, from a historical sense: A likely GOP Electoral College member threatens to withhold his vote from Trump

Missouri has cut funding for public defenders severely... and the director of the department had the best reaction ever. (Warning: That's a PDF.)

Ohh, interesting question: Who Should Play Donald Trump During Hillary Clinton’s Mock-Debate Prep Sessions?

Members of Fundamentalist Mormon Sect Re-Arrested While Awaiting Trial for Food Stamp Fraud (Are you watching Escaping Polygamy? It is fascinating and has made this case even more interesting to follow.)

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Morning Coffee (8/3/16)

Me elsewhere: On this week's episode of The Fourth Wall, Holly and I - and special guest Katie Moest! - talk Comic-Con.

Here's how Khan's amazing speech happened.

!! Pope Appoints Commission To Study Possibility Of Women As Deacons

Trump’s already got an excuse for a November loss: the election will be “rigged"

Yesterday in Trump: He kicked a crying baby out of a rally, which is obviously a good punchline but the more important part here is that he humiliated and kicked out THE MOTHER just for having a baby who acts like a baby, which is yet another sign of his hatred and disdain for women.

Also yesterday: "I always wanted to get the Purple Heart — this was much easier."

And ICYMI on Monday he called Hillary Clinton the devil.

And so, it begins: The First Republican Member of Congress to Back Hillary Clinton

Also Meg Whitman. Meg Whitman!!

I'm angry about this: Some Bernie delegates say they sold their DNC credentials to anyone with enough cash after he officially lost, which means people could get onto the floor the night Clinton spoke without going through the normal security check. (There was still a metal detector, thank goodness.)

This is not how anything works.

Monday, August 1, 2016

Morning Coffee (8/1/16)

The political cats of Britain are really seizing their moment while the humans are in disarray, huh?

The Ice Bucket Challenge did not fund a breakthrough in ALS treatment. This is important: "There is real harm in trumpeting citizen fundraising campaigns as a source of scientific advancement, though: because of this long-term, incremental work, science requires sustained, long-term funding. As useful as the funds raised by the Ice Bucket Challenge are, they can't replace the big, institutional, steady spending that has been under assault since the Reagan era."

Why Michelle Obama's Convention Speech Was a Total Game Changer

The subtext of Bill Clinton’s speech: women have always done the invisible, thankless work

Three-fourths of evangelicals support Donald Trump. Blame the "prosperity gospel." (Vox always has me at "Max Weber.")

And/but: Trump Is Driving Catholic Voters Toward Clinton

So, the Alan Grayson campaign situation was weird to start with...

...AND THEN: Alan Grayson said he never hit his wife. Then he got physical with a reporter.

I have limited sympathy for people who do not get agreements regarding compensation IN WRITING in the first place, but this situation with child performers certainly reinforces how terrible Trump and his people are. (And, obviously, it's the adult who should have insisted on a contract and none of this is the children's fault.)

Cecile Richards was the first person to say "abortion" at the DNC. Democrats often don't.