Another week of having my brain slightly improved by other people providing links to articles that I found so interesting I had to share them with you. This week I’ve even managed to include something by a conservative. Now he’s critical of Trump so I can’t pat myself on the back for being all that diverse in my reading. I wonder what I’ll read when Trump loses in November? There’s a piece about polyamory too, so I suppose that can count as an antidote to the conservative one.
And as I always strive to be topical I included one about the Olympics.
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“The simple answer is that these people–my people–are really struggling, and there hasn’t been a single political candidate who speaks to those struggles in a long time. Donald Trump at least tries.” Trump: Tribune Of Poor White People
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“Money+votes = winning elections. Right now Trump doesn’t have nearly enough of either without big help from Republican Party resources and infrastructure.” Yes, the Republican Party could leave Donald Trump high and dry to save itself
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“But great wealth flowing from mines or wells allows a despotic government to grow rich — extremely rich — while ignoring the people’s development and repressing their political freedoms.” Why Do We Still Buy Oil From Thugs?
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“Today, Twitter is a well-known hunting ground for women and people of color, who are targeted by neo-Nazis, racists, misogynists, and trolls, often just for showing up.” “A Honeypot For Assholes”: Inside Twitter’s 10-Year Failure To Stop Harassment
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“Except, he’s not really heroic. He’s dragged kicking and screaming through heroics. Practically the only thing he ever does that’s heroic is not shoot first in that bar (see what I did there?). Let’s be clear. Han fights for himself first, and then everyone else. EVEN LEIA.” HAN SOLO: NOT THE ROMANCE HERO YOU’RE LOOKING FOR
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“Trying to imagine someone else’s reality, without removing yourself from the comforts of your own, breeds arrogance, not understanding.” Have a Little Empathy | If You’re Frightened By Feminism, You’re Seeing an Invisible Threat
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“Even if you previously granted consent, if you lose the ability to revoke that consent, from that moment on, there is no consent. And if someone takes that control over your consent from you, or ignores that you have lost your control over your consent, that is rape.” An Essay On Consent, From A Woman Who Hosts Huge Sex Parties
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“Having been polyamorous for almost a decade, I spend a good deal of time explaining what it all means. When I told my editor that I wanted to write about polyamory, she adjusted her monocle, puffed on her pipe and said, “In my day, young lady, we just called it shagging around.” So I consider it my duty to her and the rest of the unenlightened to explain what’s different about how the kids are doing it these days.” For many in my fearful, frustrated generation, “having it all” means opting out of monogamy
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“We all know this. We do. We don’t need numbers to see that, like everywhere in our society, marginalisation of black people is still a huge problem in publishing … The entire system is built to benefit whiteness – and to ignore that is to bury your head in the flaming garbage heap of history.” Black science fiction writers face ‘universal’ racism, study finds
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“The Classical era (c.480-323 BCE) of Greece was a time of increased status mixing among Olympic athletes as males from elite families competed alongside farmers. However, slaves were still kept out and the equestrian events added in the 7th century still remained largely the purview of the elites, much as it is today.” Yes, Ancient Olympic Athletes Had Sponsorship Deals, Too
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“Such is the life of the Greenland shark—a 5-meter-long predator that may live more than 400 years, according to a new study, making it the longest lived vertebrate by at least a century.” Greenland shark may live 400 years, smashing longevity record
