Jan 29

Jan 29 Weekly Roundup #13: Gymnastics and Hollywood

There ended up being lots of time for reading this week so scroll down for topics from nuclear blasts to the SAG award's "bulge."

Reading

Find Her, Lisa Gardner. I don't know if I've talked about how much I love thrillers, but this is the first one of 2018 and I'm excited to be back.

The Hopefuls, Jennifer Close. This was on my massive "to read" list, but I honestly didn't know much about it before opening. You’ll have to wait for my review though!

Trump Ordered Mueller Fired, but Backed Off When White House Counsel Threatened to Quit, New York Times. You self-serving fool. Obviously that’s going to look bad.

'It Ends Today': The Survivors of Larry Nassar, In Their Own Words, Glamour. Just read it.

Judge sentences Larry Nassar to up to 175 years in prison for decades of sexual misconduct, CNN. Hallelujah, justice lives! Again. I bow down to the bravery of the OVER 150 women who gave their statements.

Kentucky school shooting: 2 dead, 15 more shot at Marshall County High School, CBS. This is so horrific and tragic. HOW people still think we don't need stricter gun control blows my mind. Look, I enjoy learning to shoot a gun and have done so at various shooting ranges. But, a teenager should NEVER be able to get their hands on a gun, unless they are in a monitored shooting range with responsible adults.

Fossil shows modern humans left Africa earlier than thought, AP. This is now the oldest human fossil by 50 to 100 THOUSAND years!

The 2018 Vanity Fair Hollywood Portfolio: 12 Extraordinary Stars, One Momentous Year, Vanity Fair. Entertaining read and a break from the heavier news. Until you read the link below...sorry!

James Franco Was Edited Out of Vanity Fair Cover Over Misconduct Claims, The Cut. Good. But seriously, was anyone really surprised about him?

Minutes to Live: When the Nuclear Push Alert is Not a Mistake, Esquire. Basically, treat it like a tornado—get inside and as underground as you can, away from any windows or doors. There's a helpful little chart in the article in case our Cheeto-in-Chief decides to piss off the equally insane "Rocket Man" enough.

The U.S. Can No Longer Hide From Its Deep Poverty Problem, New York Times. I was thoroughly naive about this topic.

TV Writers, Actors Push for Pay Parity With Anonymous Survey via Google Doc, Variety. YES! Ladies, talk about your salary!

Vine successor may arrive this summer with focus on community building, The Verge. Oh god, I wasted so much time on Vine in the early days...I do not want to be tempted into that black hole again.

This U.S. City Will Give Its Poorest People $500 a Month — No Strings Attached, Time. Oh, conservatives will haaaate this, but I like it. Basic economic security for those who are truly struggling? I'm all for it. And for those of you who will say this will be an incentive for people to just take the money and not work...guess we'll see, but past experiments have shown it doesn't negatively affect work ethic. I mean, for a single mother, $500 isn't going to do much, her family couldn't comfortable live off of it. It could be just an extra cushion so she doesn't feel so constantly beaten down by her circumstances.

Hong Kong is so expensive that architects are building 100-square-foot 'tube homes' made from concrete water pipes, Business Insider. So this is a thing...

Before You Ask Why Women Don't "Just Say No," Consider This, Refinery29. Thank you! But that this even needed to be said says so much about our society...

Philadelphia Pushes Forward With Creating Drug Safe-Injection Sites as Part of Fight Against Opioid Crisis, NBC Philadelphia. Of course this will be hugely controversial, but I think it's a really interesting attempt to decrease the number overdoses and guide people to getting help.

I Made the Pizza Cinnamon Rolls from Mario Batali’s Sexual Misconduct Apology Letter, The Everywhereist. An awesome response to a shitty apology.

Snap lays off two dozen employees, including some from branded content teams, The Verge. Oof. That redesign really didn't go over well.

Remembering Heath Ledger in 35 Unforgettable Photos, Esquire. My heart.

Amazon Go, a high-tech version of a 7-Eleven, will finally open on Monday — with no checkout lines and no cashiers, Recode. I don't like lines at all, but I also don't want hundreds of thousands of grocery store cashiers to lose their jobs...but, even without that possibility, this honestly doesn't appeal to me at all. It'd be such a dry, "Black Mirror"-esque scenario.

What Women's March Co-Chairs Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez, & Linda Sarsour Are Doing Next, Elle. From Carmen Perez: "I just couldn't believe that in 2018, as we are preparing for the one-year anniversary, we still had white women trying to make things about themselves. It’s exhausting.” Seriously though, my fellow white women out there, can we just STOP?? Yes, we want equality, we want equal rights, equal pay, respect, but women of color, trans women, gay women, they have it so much harder than us. Let's just do what we can to uplift them and, thus, lift all of us up. We're not the only ones.

The Oscars Have an Intense, Six-Step Plan to Avoid Another Envelope Disaster, Vanity Fair. Smart.

Hello? Is It a President You're Looking for?, Esquire. "We would only like to say that this is the person that millions of Americans genuinely thought would do this job well. And boy is he doing it." Pahaha.

Will millennials kill Costco?, The Washington Post. Realistically? Probably. I used to go to Costco or Sam's Club, depending on the state we were living, with my mom and I haven't been back once since leaving for college. Now, I also don't buy toilet paper online. Personally, I'm not a big bulk buying fan, not excessive bulk at least. Those stores always reminded me of those TLC type shows, Hoarders or Extreme Couponers, and made me uneasy and sad. But I don't know a single one of my friends, in any state, that has a membership to these stores.

Trump went to Pittsburgh to fire his initial salvo in the most important political race so far in 2018, Business Insider. Here's hoping there's another Alabama-like upset.

Natalie Portman Experienced “Sexual Terrorism” At 13, Nylon. I can't even imagine...

Your City Has a Gender and It's Male, Nautilus. Can we just all be like Sweden? But this is a really thought-provoking read on why women instinctively feel less comfortable walking around cities as men, and, hopefully, a look to the future and how we can fix this.

We Were Wrong About Rats Spreading The Black Death Plague, Science Alert. My seventh grade teachers were wrong!

The opposite of a narcissist is an 'empath' — here are the signs you could be one, Business Insider. Sounds exhausting.

Here's What It Takes to Be a Full-Time Disney Princess, Buzzfeed. I could never do it, it's be so sweaty and grumpy.

Congressman removed from ethics committee amid reports he used taxpayer money to settle sexual misconduct complaint, Business Insider. I mean, come ON, people!

Being A Woman Is Terrifying, So Why Does True Crime Make Me Feel Better?, Huffington Post. Yes. Yes. Shout out to the MFM fam!

Tom Brady vs. Everyone, The Ringer. This was rough to read as an avid-Brady hater, but still interesting.

Morgan Freeman Takes Issue With the SAG Award's Bulge, Elle. I love Morgan Freeman.