Morning Coffee (7/30/19)

Julián Castro Introduces Major Platform For Indigenous Peoples

The battle over extending the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, explained

Trump administration to reject generous Medicaid expansion funding for Utah

'Unprecedented': more than 100 Arctic wildfires burn in worst ever season

SIGH: Neil deGrasse Tyson was accused of sexual misconduct by 4 women. He’s keeping all his jobs.

‘It snuck up on us’: Scientists stunned by ‘city-killer’ asteroid that just missed Earth

I haven't read him yet, somehow, but I know it's a huge loss to the genre: Andrea Camilleri, Author of Inspector Montalbano Novels, Dies at 93

Lion Bones Are Profitable for Breeders, and Poachers

UGH: The Dalai Lama Still Thinks a Woman Successor Would Need to Be Hot

Mystery of Chedworth's 1,800-year-old Roman glass shard solved

Afternoon Tea (7/15/19)

"The United States women’s soccer team has become an excruciating example of a scenario we’ve seen play out for decades: Little girls are told to follow their dreams, and to excel, until they become women and expect be paid for it."

Julián Castro can’t speak Spanish. Here’s why that’s so authentic.

What the Measles Epidemic Really Says About America

International Nonbinary Day was... yesterday, oops, but here are some book recommendations for the occasion!

Why No One Can Agree on What George Washington Thought About the Relationship Between Church and State

Morning Coffee (7/1/19)

Me elsewhere: TV news for the week.

Protesters are trying to storm the Hong Kong government headquarters as I write this - here's the Guardian liveblog.

The Treatment of Migrants Likely ‘Meets the Definition of a Mass Atrocity’

There will be Close the Camps protests tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon. Find one near you.

Bolton Keeps Trying to Goad Iran Into War

The Census Case Is Shaping Up to Be the Biggest Travesty Since Bush v. Gore

Elizabeth Warren & Julián Castro Refused To Battle Each Other In The Debate. It Paid Off.

Gross: 2,495 Reports of Police Bias. Not One Was Deemed Valid by the N.Y.P.D.

This is extremely worrisome: New Study Shows Decline in LGBTQ Acceptance Among Young Americans

Good: Melvil Dewey's name stripped from top librarian award

Groundbreaking astronomer Kepler 'may have practised alchemy'

My Top Ten Takeaways from the First Round of Debates

1. I've been trying not to commit to a candidate too early, but it's time to stop pretending Warren hasn't completely won me over here. My "Warren Has a Plan for That" t-shirt arrives today. There is nothing in the world I love more than plans so I don't know why I though I could hold out.

(1b. Yes, I agree that her handling of the "Pocahontas" thing was Not Great, and I hope she does more to make things right with the Native American community, but there's SOMETHING I don't like about literally every candidate. Holding out for perfection is dangerous and counterproductive. And, you know, impossible.)

2. Of the rest, Castro and Harris did the best and seemed like the other adults on stage, and then probably Booker and Buttigieg. I'd be pretty happy with any of them as VP. Warren/Castro is my dream ticket at this point.

(2b. My main issue with Booker was the way he implied that Warren wanting good research and plans regarding gun violence meant she didn't CARE. Gross.)

3. Bernie did himself no favors but didn't really change my opinion of him in either direction. You know what you're getting with him and you either like it or you don't. I don't. I think he'd be bad at the job of being president and nothing he said made me think otherwise.

4. I miss when Joe Biden was someone I had mostly warm feelings about. (Not in this race, just in general.) He really, really, really needs to go.

5. Actually, let's just get rid of all the white cishet men. They are unnecessary. And it's great to have so many female candidates that we can be CHOOSY and deeply dislike at least two of them and still have options!

6. If one more person criticizes a (usually female) candidate for SEEMING TO HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT SOME OF THESE ISSUES BEFORE rather than being totally! spontaneous! I am going to murder someone.

7. I hope other candidates follow Castro's lead and use inclusive language when talking about abortion rights.

8. I woke up thinking about how many people I know would be really into Marianne Williamson's nonsense about "politics are icky, no need for plans or action or actually confronting difficult things, love will magically heal the world," and that's sad and scary.

9. So much yelling and interrupting and talking over each other! That is not helpful to anyone. Future moderators, please take a stronger stance on this. If the Oscars can cut mics, you can too.

10. I would ABSOLUTELY 100% vote for ANY of these candidates in the general election if they were the nominee, because they are all better than Trump, and if you do not do that you are a bad person.