Periodic Musings

This used to be a blog about Scandal. But now it more reflects my broader interests: politics, pop culture, history, music, movies, media, interior design, style and food. Mostly I'm here to have fun and blow off some steam. Recently finished a second master's degree.

[liberalsarecool]

Vote! Caucus! Register! Be active!

[mediamattersforamerica]

Trevor Noah says what we’re all thinking. 

[newsheat]

President Barack Obama said on Thursday that he will not campaign for Democrats who don’t back gun reforms, part of his effort to make tougher gun laws a cause in the …

Via Reuters

[redrubied]

good.

[miltonsong]

Yep.  If you are a Dem and don’t back sensible gun control then you aren’t really a Dem.   I like that Obama is in fuck you mode about this because it is important to him.

[micdotcom]

Watch: President Obama has a simple and logical response to Cooper’s last point.

[mysharona1987]

from https://twitter.com/ashleylynch

[m-ardestani-deactivated20170216]

Cold…hard…facts.

[butterflyknyfe]

cnn cant even help yall this time

[torisoulphoenix]

[teenvogue]

I’m making up with myself. I’m making up for lost time. Making up for everything I ever did and never did. But I haven’t got time to hold onto the crumbs of my past like I used to.

Adele is back and she’s not messing around this time >>

This is not a drill.

(via teenvogue)

[corinnestark]

Joe Biden Made The Right Call

Joe Biden has — finally — announced that he’s not going to run for president. That’s a smart move; Biden had little shot at winning the Democratic nomination. Why? 1. It’s late … really late If…

Good. 

[baronessvondengler]

Yup

[geekydorknyc]

Honestly, I’m relieved. It would’ve been a nasty and ultimately futile fight.

[huffpost]

Joe Biden Is Not Running For President In 2016

[imjusthereforthenonhugs]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[lennybaby2]

Totally understandable.

[back-of-the-bus]

Somebody took him in a back room.  He was sending out trial balloons and got a little nasty and revisionist yesterday.  I think someone called and told him no.  It would be too divisive.

[geekydorknyc]

I didn’t like the tone I heard from him yesterday, claiming Republicans weren’t his enemy (a direct shot at Hillary) and that he approved the raid that killed bin Laden all along, which was plainly FALSE.  I’m glad cooler heads around him prevailed. He had me going there for a while.

[saywhat-politics]

Jeb Bush says we shouldn’t blame his brother George for 9/11

[liberalsarecool]

Jeb will tell you his brother kept the sub prime mortgage market safe after the housing bubble exploded, as well.

[salon]

If Americans agree about one thing, it’s that their favorite astrophysicist is Neil deGrasse Tyson. A ubiquitous presence on TV, radio and a host of other mediums, Tyson has become one of our greatest popularizers of science, this generation’s Carl Sagan (whose famous show “Cosmos” Tyson helped relaunch last year). Tyson is also an author and the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City.

In 2009, Tyson launched “StarTalk,” one of the first commercial radio programs devoted to science and all things space. The show has a unique format, featuring comic co-hosts and celebrity guests from the worlds of politics, science and entertainment. Earlier this year, Tyson’s podcast was developed into a late-night talk show by National Geographic Channel. The show was well-received, leading the network to pick up season two before the first episode of the first season aired.

In a Salon exclusive, the renowned astrophysicist discusses his show “StarTalk” and the state of science in America

[avaduvernayfans]

Ava DuVernay at the Elle Women in Hollywood event.She was one of the honorees and is one of the magazine cover women in november.

[loveniaimani]

[geekydorknyc]

Great to see Ava DuVernay honored.

[glamour]

Intelligence.

Via @alc_ltd on Instagram

[hauturely]

Elie Saab Couture Fall 2015

[the-perks-of-being-black]

This is not OK

The excerpt referenced by Jonathan Frandzone containing the quote by Emmeline Pankhurst (the role played by Meryl Streep in the feature film Suffragette) is from the book The Women’s Movements in the United States and Britain from the 1790s to the 1920s by Christine Bolt, The University of Massachusetts Press, 1993.

[iknowwhythesongbirdsings]

@geekydorknyc, I’m sure you’ve seen this. Thoughts? You nay have posted, but I’ve been out of the country and nay gave missed it…

[geekydorknyc]

Late responding to this as I’m not on social media everyday, and also unbeknownst to me, I was no longer following you @iknowwhythesongbirdsings. Thanks, tumblr! Thought it was weird I wasn’t seeing you on my dash lately. My apologies. :)

Well, as a lifelong Meryl Streep fan, I was deeply disappointed to see her caught up in this controversy, especially since she has led a mostly exemplary life in both word and deed, championing liberal causes and putting her money where her mouth is by funding a screenwriters lab for women over 40.  So it struck a dissonant chord with me that Meryl Streep of all people would be photographed wearing a t-shirt, along with her co-stars from the movie, Suffragette, with such a problematic slogan.

However, to be fair, this quote was taken from a speech by Emmerline Pankhurst, the British leader of the Suffragette movement, who was using the empirical definitions of “rebel” and “slave” at a time when women were considered the property of their husbands. Pankhurst was not referring to slavery in the American south nor did she have the same perspective as Americans do to the Confederacy, and the original sin of slavery. In this context, the quote is more easily understood as being specific to the British political movement to win (married) women, long considered legally to be the property and chattel of their husbands, the right to vote. So I understand the angle Time Out -- the magazine which commissioned this photoshoot -- was going for. It was to echo the theme of the movie.

However, I agree with Deray et al that Meryl should’ve known better. The fact that the slogan at first glance, appears to give moral equivalency to rebels and slaves, even if that wasn’t the editorial intent of the magazine or the actresses involved, should’ve been enough for someone -- either the film’s publicists or Meryl’s handlers -- to say the t-shirt was a bad idea and a bad look, period. It made her look insensitive at best, and a racist at worst, and that’s unfortunate because there’s absolutely nothing in the four decades she’s been in the public eye, to indicate she is either. I hope she and her publicists learn from this mistake.

[baawri]

[filleidealiste]

Michael Fassbender attends the “Steve Jobs” Closing Night Gala during the BFI London Film Festival, at Odeon Leicester Square on October 18, 2015 in London, England.(Oct. 17, 2015 - Source: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images Europe)

[geekydorknyc]

Looking forward to seeing Michael Fassbender in the title role. Reviews have been fantastic.