Eva and I saw Coco today

Oh, my, you have to see it.

That is all.

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George Orwell: Boys' weeklies (The next person who tries to tell me that children's literature can be so vapid or so excellent that it doesn't have a political message is getting this in their inbox)

Learning to Write Fluffy, Glittery Violence from My Little Pony

Bees use invisible heat patterns to choose flowers

5 Totally WTF Myths That Pop Up In Every Culture Worldwide

FDA approves first gene therapy for an inherited disease

Rebelling Republican Suburbs Offer Democrats Path to House Control

Things they don’t tell you about being a first time wheelchair user in highschool

Both chimps and children found to be willing to pay to see bad players punished

What Elon Musk Doesn't Get About Urban Transit

Bitcoin is none of the things it was supposed to be

The grim reality of the brothels of Pompeii

For those of you who work in social media, I need to share the story of my friend who died, and I didn't know because algorithms.

Letter from Africa: Nigerian migrant dreams in the lap of the gods

Trump's approval rating just entered a league of its own

New Net Neutrality Bill Has Glaring Loopholes

Statement on Visit to the USA, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. (I have, of course, read about the report, but I didn't read it until just now.)

Trump Asks ‘How’s Your 401(k)?’ But Most Voters Don’t Have One

Trump celebrates tax bill with very creepy, cult-like cabinet meeting

The Tax Bill Shows the G.O.P.’s Contempt for Democracy

Urban killings rise in clusters, even as cities grow safer

The Growing Movement to Take Polluters to Court Over Climate Change

The White House says climate change isn't a national security threat. The military says it is.

Last night I watched TV with my mother

We saw an episode of Divided, which I think is possibly the cruelest game show I've ever seen, but it has potential to be hilarious. It never gets old watching three strangers squabble over how to divide up a $90 dollar pot, and all the while the timer is running down and the money with it. Edit: To be clear, they must divide it up 60/30/10. They may not divide it up evenly.

Anyway, yesterday the four contestants can be summed up as: White woman (she's the one who got voted off), guy-in-suit, black woman, nerdy guy. Guy-in-suit was super obnoxious (at one point, he condescended to white woman, causing black woman to jump in and defend her in no uncertain terms), but they racked up quite a sizeable potential win.

And now it's time to divide it up, 60/30/10. As is typical, each player thinks they deserve the biggest share - and now both the men turn around and try to convince black woman (white woman having been kicked off) that she should take the smallest share. "After all, it's still a lot of money, better than getting nothing!"

After hearing half a minute of their smarmy bullshit on this (meanwhile, neither of them noticed, btw, that they both were giving themselves the large share, because "after all, better than getting nothing" doesn't apply to either of them), she gave up. She folded her arms and stood there and let the clock run down, and she was so in the right.

It must be a year or more since that episode was filmed, and to this day, I doubt either of the two male contestants understand that they were the reason she made that choice. But they were the reason. They were such jerks by the end that she was happy to let them walk away with nothing, and she was right to do so. I would've made the exact same choice. (Then again, I would've voted off guy-in-the-suit. The woman who was voted off said he wouldn't want to compromise at the end, and boy, she called it.)

There is some sort of feminist moral here, but I'm not sure how to sum it up.

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Broadband over 'wet string' tested for fun

A Roma Circus Makes a Home, and Builds Bridges, in Paris

Watch a Dondurma Vendor Trick Customers Before Handing Them Treats

The images and gifs from A Step-by-Step Guide to Drawing Syntax Trees, in a format where you can click to enlarge.

Scientists Discover Grass Species With Intriguing 'Salt And Vinegar' Chip Flavor

Bringing the lightsaber from Star Wars—the ultimate toy—to life

In marine mammals’ battle of the sexes, vaginal folds can make the difference

First the jury convicted this 19-year-old maid for stealing. Then they took up a collection to pay her fine. (I'm not sure what I think about this!)

Can You Prove Your Innocence Without DNA?

Why the #MeToo Movement Should Be Ready for a Backlash

More than 10,000 Interior employees say they were harassed or intimidated.

Facebook admits it poses mental health risk – but says using site more can help

Will Robots Take Our Children’s Jobs?

Climate Change, Disease and the Fall of Rome

Yet Another Group of Scientists Just Said We Are the Ones Screwing the Weather

Where a Life-Saving Needle Exchange Operates in the Shadow of the Law

While world watches North Korea, China builds in the South China Sea

China’s Crazy Plan to Keep Sand From Swallowing the World

Will Ukraine Be Hit by Yet Another Holiday Power-Grid Hack?

Responding to Trump, Turkey says it will open an embassy in East Jerusalem — in support of Palestinians

Veterans Charity Raises Millions to Help Those Who’ve Served, But Telemarketers Are Pocketing Most of It.

‘The Basic Grossness of Humans’

America Is Heading for an Unprecedented Constitutional Crisis

If Trump Fires Mueller, We Must Impeach

Welfare reform moving to center of Republican agenda

Team Trump Is Slashing Programs That Help Prisoners Adapt to Life on the Outside

US cities dedicate resources to international negotiations on migrants and refugees

Puerto Rico warns GOP tax bill would hit its already reeling economy

How debt-ridden refugees are being forced to return to a war zone

In Malaysia, religious concerns stall child-bride reform