Link Me Up, Scotty - Sticking it to the Man Edition

Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Ta-Nahisi Coates takes on the issue of Authority versus Power as it relates to changing police culture in this country. Thoughtful as always.
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George Lucas has decided to build hundreds of units of affordable housing in his home county of Marin in California. His fellow residents have been fighting him tooth and nail, so he decided to just fund the entire project on his own to the tune of $200 million. A fine rebuttal to the NIMBY phenomenon that seems to run rampant in the upper class in this country. Well done, Mr. Lucas. Well done, indeed.

H/T Brother Eric.
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I found the Photos of the Week over at The Atlantic's In Focus to be especially meaningful this week.
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The American Library Association has published its 2014 list of the most challenged and banned books, and also notes that "attempts to remove books by authors of color and books with themes about issues concerning communities of color are disproportionately challenged and banned." There isn't a single book on that list that I would vote to take off the shelves on our local library if the challenge came before our Board.
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In the lovely town of Parma, Missouri, they recently elected and swore in a new mayor. Mayor Tyrus Byrd is a woman of color, and has lived in the Parma her entire life. What to guess what happened next? Five out of six of the towns police officers resigned, as well as a number of other city employees, citing "safety concerns." Because having a woman of color running their town is obviously AN INVITATION TO THE APOCALYPSE. Or they don't want to work for a woman, or a person of color, or (even worse) BOTH. Good riddance, jerkwads, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

H/T Brother Vince.
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How to be a good wife in the 50's. This totally made me throw up in my mouth. My personal fave: "Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him."

Yeah. How's that "Master of the House" thing working out for you?
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An interesting commentary on Internet trolls and their habits. The money quote:
The researchers were looking for ways to anticipate trolls, who were referred to as FBU (future banned users), by studying their habits. The study examined over 10,000 FBUs and found that their commenting life began with a lower level of literacy or clarity in comparison to the rest of the group that they were conversing with. They were generally semi-literate, provocative, and fairly persistent before they eventually got banned.

1 comments:

Beatrice Desper said...

That Lucas story is great. I'd love to make 80% of 90 grand.