All this frivolous debate underscores the ouroborosian nature of web discourse in 2016. Because who cares, really? How often do you even need to say “read receipts” aloud? Adrienne LaFrance on the state of language and pronunciation on the internet. ↩︎ The Atlantic, posted Nov. 8, 2016 How do you translate
Zuma is on the outs South African President Robert Zuma is placed at the scene of the crime several times in a report on statewide corruption. His fate as President hangs with the opinion the African National Congress has of him, but their opinion may be forced: Pretoria shut down
More cops in schools, more kids in jail Thanks to increased funds from Obama’s Justice Department (that he later regretted), there are increasing amounts of police officers in public schools—often disguised behind the benign term “school resource officers”—resulting in an even easier access point for the school-
Hyperemployment doesn’t come with better benefits Keynes thought we’d replace work with recreation; tech critic Ian Bogost says we’ve replaced recreation with work. He calls digital labor “hyperemployment,” and says even if it’s not strictly unpaid, we agree to it only because our contributions are recast
In the last decade, 40 states have cut the budgets of their environmental departments, with four—Illinois, New Mexico, Georgia, and North Carolina—slashing 30 percent or more. ↩︎ posted Nov. 1, 2016 Air pollution affects different American populations differently—and guess who’s safest? The air quality in most of
Riveting story of a diver who survived in an air pocket for two days after being trapped in an underwater cave. ↩︎ BBC, posted July 18, 2017 The deadliest American maritime disaster in decades In case you wanted to know what a helicopter rescue at sea is like, this frightening long-
You know it’s happening but it’s almost impossible to prove. It’s all over the place. Trump’s “poll watchers” all sound like conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. ↩︎ The Wall Street Journal, posted Oct. 28, 2016 Zombie voters haven’t been effective since the Civil War Dead people “voting”
Assange attacked by dating site An obscure Christian dating website called ToddAndClare.com is waging a legal war on Julian Assange based on Swedish rape and sexual assault charges against him. WikiLeaks has denounced the campaign as a “smear,” as expected, but even a a modicum of thread-pulling at
Republicans may spend a lot of money to lose races in the Senate The GOP could lose Senate races in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Missouri, which would end two brief years of Republican control of Congress. Senate aides say “the reason we don’t hold the
In time for Halloween, here’s some occult art history: The first known depiction of a witch on a broom is from the 15th century—and no, it’s not exactly a coincidence that the broom is a phallic symbol. ↩︎ posted Oct. 26, 2016 Our childhood was…weird, in a
