Morning Coffee (2/10/17)

Okay, time for some happy Friday links to distract us.

This Tom Hiddleston profile is just COMPLETELY delightful. COMPLETELY.

Perhaps you need a She Persisted shirt?

I'm very excited about the next season of Broadchurch.

Hahahaha. THIS SUNDAE.

Ooh, there are some interesting teases in this Star Trek: Discovery video.

This is the kind of heist movie I want to see.

The Chinese literary sensation who moved to Mayo for love

CHEESE SCIENCE!

I want them all: 30 Pairs of Excellent Bookish Earrings

Ooh, 6 Stops on the Hunt for the Holy Grail. I've been to one of them!

This is so cool: How an Antiquarian Horologist Brings Tiny Machines Back to Life

As is this: The Citrus Family Tree

Weird and Hilarious Illustrations from Victorian-Era Shakespeare Plays

Morning Coffee (2/9/17)

Yemen Withdraws Permission for U.S. Antiterror Ground Missions

Not ‘Lone Wolves’ After All: How ISIS Guides World’s Terror Plots From Afar

TSA screening program risks racial profiling amid shaky science – study

SIGH: Poll: One-Third Of Americans Don’t Know Obamacare, ACA Are The Same Thing

Ornery Senate Republicans Just Handed Elizabeth Warren Her Campaign Slogan

Today in things I hadn't even thought to worry about: The uncertain future of concussion research under Donald Trump

“Thank You Lord Jesus For President Trump” – Apostolic Theology And The Evangelical Vote

Why Angry White America Fell for Putin

Zuckerberg 2020?

A bit of good news: Cave Squeaker, Rare Frog Last Seen in 1962, Is Found in Zimbabwe

The Student and the Spy: How One Man’s Life Was Changed by the Cambridge Five

Heh. Let's go to the Hotel Angst.

Morning Coffee (2/8/17)

Did Congo’s crisis just get a lot worse?

"The problem America faces right now isn’t what Donald Trump will do, but what Republicans in Congress will let him do."

No, President Trump, negative polls are not 'fake news'

"More than being lampooned as a press secretary who makes up facts, it was Spicer’s portrayal by a woman that was most problematic in the president’s eyes, according to sources close to him."

A powerful member of the British Parliament just told Trump he’s not welcome

Stop pretending this is just about people following the law: Steve Bannon in 2016: legal immigration is the real “problem"

Australia’s inhumane refugee policies are not inhumane enough for Trump

Donald Trump has revealed himself to be a president who lacks empathy

What It Would Mean To Have Infowars In The White House Press Room

A 'Lost Continent' Has Been Found Under the Island of Mauritius

Finding America, Both Red and Blue, in the ‘Little House’ Books

The Couple Who Saved China's Ancient Architectural Treasures Before They Were Lost Forever

Morning Coffee (2/7/17)

There’s Something Very Weird Happening Inside Russia’s Cybersecurity World

Government by White Nationalism Is Upon Us

Bipartisan group of national security officials argue Trump’s Muslim ban makes America less safe

That MSNBC Interview Was Not the First Time Kellyanne Conway Referred to the "Bowling Green Massacre"

Melania Trump reveals plan to leverage presidency to ink ‘multi-million dollar’ endorsement deals

Eric Trump’s business trip to Uruguay cost taxpayers $97,830 in hotel bills (Note: I don't begrudge the money to protect presidents' families, regardless of whether I like them, but the issue here is that the trip was to do business things FOR THE TRUMP BUSINESS.)

Resistance from within: Federal workers push back against Trump

Do women matter to national security? The men who lead U.S. foreign policy don’t think so.

Breitbart News Tries to Go Mainstream

Daniel Ellsberg, Edward Snowden, and the Modern Whistle-Blower

Ancient Stonehenge-Like 'Calendar Rock' Aligns With Winter Solstice

How Beatrix Potter Invented Character Merchandising

Morning Coffee (2/6/17)

Me elsewhere: TV news.

Well... Russian critic Vladimir Kara-Murza suffers sudden organ failure

I think this is a very good case as to why just opposing everything isn't the way to go: The Left Needs to Get Real—and Get Ready to Lose Many Fights

Sort of related: Yes, the GOP broke Supreme Court nominations. But blocking Gorsuch won’t fix them.

There's a lot in this Trump story that's insane, specifically: "Aides confer in the dark because they cannot figure out how to operate the light switches in the cabinet room." But probably the most important part is that it says he's signing executive orders without knowing what they say.

Leaked Draft of Trump’s Religious Freedom Order Reveals Sweeping Plans to Legalize Discrimination

This is an important series: The FBI's Secret Rules

G.O.P. Campaign to Repeal Obamacare Stalls on the Details (or on, you know, having NO IDEA what to do)

Of... of course: Trump’s Budget Pick Didn’t Pay Taxes on His Nanny Because He Didn’t Think She Was Doing Real Work

Trump wants you to fear refugees and migrants. Here are eight books that push back.

'Tinder for orangutans': Dutch zoo to let female choose mate on a tablet

This 3,500-Year-Old Greek Tomb Upended What We Thought We Knew About the Roots of Western Civilization

Morning Coffee (2/5/17)

A bit of good news: Collin County Mayor Becomes Texas’ First Transgender Elected Official

UN chief decries discriminatory border bans in rebuke to Trump travel decree

European parliament leaders call on EU to reject Trump's likely ambassador pick

Foreigners Trapped in the United States by New Policy

Trust Records Show Trump Is Still Closely Tied to His Empire

Officials Warned Trump Against ‘Unprecedented’ Plan to Staff Cabinet Without Ethics Vetting

SIGH: Former Norwegian Prime Minister held for questioning at Dulles Airport

Interesting tactic: Anti-Violence Ads Pop Up in Specific Helsinki Neighborhoods Within Hours of 911 Calls There

I haven't seen the TV version of The Man in the High Castle yet, but this lines up with my experience of the book: Americans Under Occupation

Are we not suffering enough? Nikki Finke Is Returning to Deadline, Baby!

Ooh: Church to announce results of the examinations of “Yekaterinburg remains” in second quarter of 2017

The Female Space Sculptor Who Designed the Earliest Space and Aviation Helmets

Morning Coffee (2/4/17)

Good for Senator Hassan: Why I Won’t Vote for Betsy DeVos

And Senator Murphy: A Reckless Slide Toward War With Iran

How Assad Is Winning

Uh... Justice Dept. lawyer says 100,000 visas revoked under travel ban; State Dept. says about 60,000 Either way, that's way more than the supposed 109 people affected.

Wow: Inside the White House-Cabinet battle over Trump’s immigration order

Kellyanne Conway made up a fake terrorist attack to justify Trump’s “Muslim ban”

Dear Lord: White House Aide Won’t Say If Trump Even Considers Islam A Religion

Trump Vows to ‘Destroy’ Law Banning Political Endorsements by Churches

Hee: Sweden trolls Trump with all-female legislator photo

I can't believe this is a real headline: At the last reading of exiled Iranian poet Mohsen Emadi before he is barred from the U.S.

Curiosity Finds Fossilized Slab of Cracked Mud on Mars

Archaeologist defies sceptics in pursuit of lost city of Trellech

Morning Coffee (2/3/17)

It's Friday. Let's have some happy links.

Clinton's writing a book!

Biden's launching a foundation!

Aw: The story behind the viral photo of Muslim and Jewish children protesting at O'Hare

FINALLY. 19th-century female artist finally gets credit for works attributed to men

!! Westminster Dog Show to allow cats, even though “dog” is in the name

Ooh: Your Favorite TV Shows Brought To Life With Amazing 3D Floor Plans

Literary wine labels are great/terrible because then I just... pick by the label.

TOO REAL: 5 Absolutely Incredible Books By Female Authors That He’ll Say He Just Couldn’t Get Into

5 Groundhogs to Watch (Besides Punxsatawney Phil)

The Stunning Early Infographics and Maps of the 1800s

Some more history for Taboo viewers: The East India Company and Nootka Sound

Nights on ice in Sweden's Arctic wonderland

Morning Coffee (2/2/17)

I don't even know where to start these days. Here goes.

Eight-year-old American girl 'killed in Yemen raid approved by Trump'

Yesterday Trump antagonized Australia, AN IMPORTANT ALLY, and maybe threatened to invade Mexico? Who knows!

He ordered the CVE to focus solely on Islamic extremism and ignore white supremacists.

Evil and terrifying: Trump Pushes Dark View of Islam to Center of U.S. Policy-Making

White House refuses to condemn Bannon’s Islamophobic remarks

Senate Republicans just cheated Democrats out of a vote on controversial appointees

Trump used a Black History Month speech to talk about himself, how he did with black voters, and CNN (He maybe thinks Frederick Douglass is alive? McSweeney's published the actual speech as a "joke" monologue. Amazing.)

Fighting for the Poor Under Trump

Here's a good interview with Chris Hayes on what the media does now.

Whoa: A cheese factory goes high-design in Turkey

Shakespeare and the American oligarchy

How the 1963 'Career Girl Murders' Bolstered the Myth that Cities Aren’t Safe For Women

Morning Coffee (2/1/17)

ICYMI, I posted a book review for January under the wire yesterday.

This is horrifying: At least 17 bomb threats called in to JCCs nationwide in third wave of harassment

As is this: Priest tells anti-Trump protesters to commit suicide

Turmoil at DHS and State Department – “There Are People Literally Crying in the Office Here”

Under fire, Trump weighs new changes to refugee ban

Putin Is Using Spy Tactics To Split NATO From The Inside

The incompetence displayed by Trump's immigration orders will be terrifying in a crisis

Lying in the Face of Facts? Trump Did That for a Decade With Celebrity Apprentice Ratings

Huh: The US Army Wants Biodegradable Bullets That Sprout Plants

Is Ryan Murphy really going to inflict a Monica Lewinsky show on us, maybe just in time for the next election? SIGH.

'Goodnight Moon' Author Margaret Wise Brown Was No Old Lady Whispering Hush

The Obsessed, Feuding Searchers Still Looking for Amelia Earhart