John Oliver: Helen Mirren Reads the Most Horrible Parts of the Torture Report and What the Internet Does to Women.
The Internet Age of Mean.
11 Ways White America Avoids Taking Responsibility for its Racism. “The pernicious impact of ‘white fragility.'” Slurs: Who Can Say Them, When, and Why. And Churches Are Burning Again in America.
President Obama’s extraordinary eulogy in Charleston, SC.
A black man and a white woman switch mics, and show us a thing or two about privilege.
Using music in political campaigns: what you should know.
This is actual content from the Supreme Court decision by Elena Kagan in Kimble v. Marvel Enterprises, Inc., decided June 22, 2015.
Bobby Jindal’s bizarre hidden camera announcement to his kids that he’s running for President.
Meh, cisgender, jeggings, and other new words added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Arthur shares the Father’s Day message from Upworthy.
For Adults, Coloring Invites Creativity And Brings Comfort.
This School Was SHOCKED By What They Found Hidden Behind The Chalkboard. Might I say, though, that the phrase “my mind is blown” is highly overused.
Anti-Slavery Hamilton Gets Pushed Off The $10 Bill, While Genocidal Slaver Jackson Stays On The $20 and Here’s Why Andrew Jackson Stays and Alexander Hamilton Goes. I’m not happy about it, especially since I’m a member of the church Hamilton once attended. And I’m still pulling for Harriet Tubman to get on some bill, preferably on the larger denomination.
Serena Williams Is America’s Greatest Athlete. It was true last September when the article was written, and after her French Open win, still applicable.
Now I Know: It’s Not Pepto Bismol Lake and King Friday XIII.
Meryl explains Beanworld.
Two Weeks of Status Updates from Your Vague Friend on Facebook.
Evanier points to the 27 shows have been announced for the coming season featuring Audra McDonald, Bruce Willis, and Al Pacino.
Comedy Central in the Post-TV Era: “What’s the difference between a segment on a TV show and the exact same segment on a YouTube channel? Tens of thousands of dollars.”
Comedy Central is running every Daily Show since the day Jon Stewart began, on January 11, 1999, in a 42-day marathon over on this site. It started on June 26.
Eddie rambles about his health & Emmylou Harris’ cool award, among other things.
Evanier’s Patrick MacNee stories.
Farewell, James Horner, who composed a lot of music for movies I’ve seen.
Jim Ed Brown of the Browns singing trio (“The Three Bells”) passed away at the age of 81.
From 2012: The making of Disraeli Gears, my favorite album by Cream.
SamuraiFrog ranks Weird Al: 50-41.
Tosy ranks the songs of U2’s Songs of Innocence.
Bohemian Rhapsody on a fairground “player” organ that is more than 100 years old.
Just for you, Dan: The Tremeloes, who covered Good Day Sunshine.
A Stevie Wonder cover: Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing – Jacob Collier.
Muppets: Thor, God of Thunder.
GOOGLE ALERT (me)
Bloggers ADD has met, including yours truly.
Arthur takes the ‘I Side With’ quiz.
SamuraiFrog’s dad and Carly Simon.
GOOGLE ALERT (not me)
Roger Green lost both of his children, Amanda and Lance, in separate DUI crashes. “Green and his wife Anita raised their children in rural Oklahoma.”
The whole meanness on the internet thing: I see some of it, mostly third-hand. It distresses me. A lot of stuff that is said is NOT something a person would say to another person face-to-face.
(And while I try to avoid being mean, at times I have snarked about things, and I feel bad about that)
I don’t find I get meanness directed at me, despite the much-ballyhooed observation that women on the Web are targets. I don’t know if it’s that I tend to avoid most of the places where vitriol flows freely, or if I keep my profile low (a blog that relatively few read and with moderated comments – though I’ve never got a mean comment that I have to think about “do I post this or not?”, a “secured” (or whatever you call it) Twitter account, and Ravelry, where the people by and large are nice). I don’t know if my tendency to generally be civil to others and to back away when the feces really start to be flung has anything to do with it, either.
I admit I grind my teeth a little when some commentator talks about how the internet is “bad” because it allows people to be mean to each other or some such. The internet is a tool, like a hammer. You can use a hammer to help build a house for someone or you can use it to bash their toes; how you use it is up to you. The internet isn’t bad; it’s the bad behavior of some people on the internet.
I like the internet because I’m shy and some of my interests are a little specialized (I know very few other people in town who knit, for example) and it allows me to have some form of friendship with people far from me (and people v. different from me, which is nice too)
Fillyjonk -I think it’s worse in some arenas than others. The gaming community has had some notorious examples. And any field where women are well outnumbered by men, those “uppity” women are often intimidated and even threatened.
Before the Internet, there were [your choice of pejorative] who simply had to have the last word. They’re just easier to find today.