good edison

Reporter, crafter, bird law expert

[sparklejamesysparkle]

Ginger Rogers by John Mehle, 1935.

[funnyordie]

Star Wars Group Therapy

Star Wars fans are known to forcefully express their opinions on the famous film franchise, but a small subset must seek group therapy counseling for crippling depression and anxiety related to the unmet expectations of the prequels.

[goodedison]

i appreciated the hell out of this bc on fb i was like the new star wars is my favorite star wars and some dude was like i bet it’s the only one you’ve seen and i was like lol i’ve seen them all but irl i was not like lol i was like how many penises do i need to have in order to have a valid opinion on star wars bc btw it doesn’t seem like these star wars bros are using theirs so maybe i can like get one on loan

[big-iftrue-blog]

It’s official: Congress has passed a massively unpopular tax plan that will add more than a trillion dollars to the deficit and essentially redistribute wealth, which Americans are apparently cool with if it’s being redistributed to people who are already tremendously wealthy. Merry Christmas, everyone!

How can a bill that one poll found only a third of Americans support make its way to the president’s desk for a bit of the old John Hancock? Your guess is as good as mine. But it does leave room for some wild speculation about what kinds of idiocy our elected officials will undertake next. I’m referring to the types of actions that defy logic, reality and the wishes of their constituents, who elected them to one of the highest public offices in the country with the foolish assumption that those politicians had their best interest at heart. Like Mr. Smith, these lawmakers have gone to Washington, and also like that Jimmy Stewart character, their integrity is pure fiction.

It makes you wonder: What will those crazy kids come up with next?

Read Big If True’s terrible ideas for Congress here.

[pbsamericanmasters]

It’s time to meet the real Lorraine Hansberry. Tune in Jan. 19 on @pbstv. 

[goodedison]

Ooh, this looks good.

[goodedison]

‘Silicon Valley’ Star T.J. Miller Accused of Sexually Assaulting and Punching a Woman

Ever since his college days, allegations of sexual violence have followed the acclaimed comic and ‘Silicon Valley’ actor. Now, his accuser comes forward.

Among other things, this story highlights how university courts are a total joke.

[goodedison]

How Charlie Brown killed the aluminum Christmas tree

Aluminum Specialty was running three shifts a day, 10 months out of the year just to keep up on tree orders. Then the Peanuts gang came to town.

watch out, I have the Christmas spirit

[thefilmlistandi-blog]

92. Wait Until Dark (1967) STARRING Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Jack Weston, Julie Herrod, and Samantha Jones.

[archive-archives]

streaming in HD on Warner Archive Instant

[big-iftrue-blog]

Neo-Nazis want your short, stupid attention, youth of America. And in this equation, any attention you pay them, good or bad, is giving them exactly what they want.

That’s according to both reality and a style guide for white nationalist site The Daily Stormer that The Huffington Post published this week. The document presents an almost humorous juxtaposition of basic format instructions with strategies to mask the “raging vitriol” of white supremacy with sarcasm and humor. The ultimate goals are to entice the “ADHD demographic” and circumvent social media restrictions.

Take this window into Nazi humor: “The unindoctrinated should not be able to tell if we are joking or not. There should also be a conscious awareness of mocking stereotypes of hateful racists. I usually think of this as self deprecating humor – I am a racist making fun of stereotype of racists, because I don’t take myself super-seriously. This is obviously a ploy and I actually do want to gas kikes. But that’s neither here nor there.”

Read more here.

[goodedison]

The genius of Riverdale and the teenage girls who love it

This show is amazing. But why should we be surprised? Teenage girls have long been cultural catalysts.

ugh yes

[msmildred]

Audrey Hepburn hair test for “Love in the Afternoon”, 1956. [x]

[goodedison]

After Newtown, mourning parents enter into the lonely quiet

After the shooting and the politics, the Barden family suffers all that’s been lost since the day their son died.

This story about one family’s loss and grief six months after the Newtown shooting makes my heart ache.

[goodedison]

Human Feet Still Washing Up In Pacific Northwest, But Don't Panic

For years, human feet have been bobbing ashore in Washington State and British Columbia. Last week another was found on Vancouver Island. No foul play has ever been uncovered.

"For the record, ... if you find a foot on the shore, you should call the authorities and they'll retrieve it — no need to hand-carry the foot home."

[theweekmagazine]

The genius of Riverdale and the teenage girls who love it

Though Riverdale’s first season was one of the first bona fide ratings bonanzas of 2017, and season two’s debut only expanded its audience (in part, thanks to The CW’s savvy streaming arrangement with Netflix), the show is still often called a “guilty pleasure”: As in, “the best guilty pleasure on TV today”; “a guilty pleasure with a conscience;” and, most ubiquitously, “your new guilty pleasure.” The implication here is that the show’s compulsive watchability, and, most pertinently, its target demographic of young women, makes it inherently less thoughtful or nuanced than more conventionally serious-minded, “adult” fare. But let’s not forget: Teenage girls have been cultural catalysts many times before. The Bobby Soxers who fainted over Sinatra; the girls who formed the earliest fan clubs for Elvis, The Beatles, Leo DiCaprio, or James Dean; and the teenagers who were obsessed with Daria, My So-Called Life, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer long before they became the “cult classics,” were early champions of artists, and art works, that are now seen as significant, even indelible. It’s long past time we started taking teenage girls — and their favorite shows — more seriously.

[goodedison]

I love this show & I’m 31.

[bobbycaputo]

Charming Café Looks Like It’s Straight Out of a Wes Anderson Film

[goodedison]

Merriam-Webster's 2017 Words of the Year

Feminism, dotard, gaffe, syzygy, and 6 more of the top lookups in 2017

Feminism is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year:

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year for 2017 is feminism. The word was a top lookup throughout the year, with several spikes that corresponded to various news reports and events. The general rise in lookups tells us that many people are interested in this word; specific spikes give us insight into some of the reasons why.

Feminism spiked following news coverage of the Women's March on Washington, DC in January (and other related marches held around the country and internationally), and follow-up discussions regarding whether the march was feminist, and what kind of feminism was represented by organizers and attendees. The word spiked again when Kellyanne Conway said during an interview that she didn't consider herself a feminist. In this case, the definition of feminism was itself the subject of the news story—an invitation for many people to look up the word.

Interest in the dictionary definition of feminism was also driven by entertainment this year: we saw increased lookups after the release of both Hulu’s series The Handmaid's Tale and the film Wonder Woman.

Read more here.

[politico]

As Russia probes progress, one name is missing: Bannon's

People close to the probe say the former campaign and White House strategist will be a key witness for prosecutors and Hill investigators. By DARREN SAMUELSOHN

As special Russia counsel Robert Mueller wraps up interviews with senior current and former White House staff, one name has been conspicuously absent from public chatter surrounding the probe: Steve Bannon.

President Donald Trump’s former White House chief strategist and campaign chief executive played critical roles in episodes that have become central to Mueller’s probe as well as to multiple Hill investigations.

Bannon was a key bystander when Trump decided to fire national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to lying to federal investigators about his contacts with foreign officials. He was among those Trump consulted before firing FBI Director James Comey, whose dismissal prompted Mueller’s appointment — a decision Bannon subsequently described to “60 Minutes” as the biggest mistake “in modern political history.”

And during the campaign, Bannon was the one who offered the introduction to data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica, whose CEO has since acknowledged trying to coordinate with WikiLeaks on the release of emails from Hillary Clinton’s time as secretary of state.

Yet Bannon hasn’t faced anywhere near the degree of public scrutiny in connection to the probe as others in Trump’s inner circle, including son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner — who was recently interviewed by Mueller’s team — or Donald Trump Jr., who was interviewed on Capitol Hill last week about his own Russian connections.

People close to Bannon, who left the White House in August and returned to his former perch as head of Breitbart News, say he’s told them he doesn’t have a lawyer and isn’t worried about potential exposure. But others say it’s inevitable he’ll be called in as a witness in the ongoing investigations. He has not been publicly accused of any wrongdoing or named as a target of the investigations.

Congressional investigators say he’s already on their list.

Read more here

[big-iftrue-blog]

Republicans have long set their sights on cutting back safety net programs. With help from the Trump administration, they may get their chance.