Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Twitter’s decision to permanently ban conservative pundit and Breitbart Tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos has prompted a debate about free speech on Twitter under the hashtag #FreeMilo. Yiannopoulos, who tweeted under the handle @Nero, was suspended after his particularly negative review of the film Ghostbusters led to many racist comments directed at actress and comedian Leslie…
Science is in big trouble. Or so we’re told. In the past several years, many scientists have become afflicted with a serious case of doubt — doubt in the very institution of science. As reporters covering medicine, psychology, climate change, and other areas of research, we wanted to understand this epidemic of doubt. So we…
Pat Smith — the mother of Sean Smith, an information analyst who died in the attack on the American embassy in Benghazi — gave an impassioned, if factually sketchy, speech at the Republican National Convention in which she stated that she “blame[s] Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son.” An emotional Smith claimed…
Since the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of law enforcement officers earlier this month, millions have taken to the streets as well as social media to express their outrage. Tags like #BlackLivesMatter and #EndWhiteSilence have been trending consistently on Twitter and Facebook, and CBS News footage of Alton Sterling’s…
Monday’s attempted coup by forces loyal to Texas Senator Ted Cruz and a swirling plagiarism scandal notwithstanding, the Republican Party took its roll-call vote Tuesday afternoon and decided that Donald Trump will, in fact, still be the GOP presidential candidate in 2016. The nominating process began with House Speaker Paul Ryan welcoming Alabama Senator Jeff…
Have pity on a group of California GOP staffers in Ohio who have been vomiting uncontrollably from both ends of their bodies, not because of the plagiarism and open racism at the convention, but because of an apparent outbreak of norovirus. Stat News and the Los Angeles Times are reporting that as many as a…
On Tuesday the forces retook one the terror group’s headquarters, which was located in a hospital, being used as a command center and logistics hub. But progress into Manbij city has been slow, with landmines littering the roads in and snipers attacking advancing troops. Many Isil fighters are still holed up in the city, and…
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivers a speech on the second day of the Republican National Convention.Joe Raedle/Getty Images There is so much that is unprecedented in Donald Trump’s lurid, shambolic Republican convention that it is easy to become inured to each new low. On Tuesday night, the tweet ticker at the Quicken Loans…
Twitter has permanently suspended the account of Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos, a day after the infamous internet troll helped incite his followers to send a torrent of racist abuse to Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones. Twitter confirmed that Yiannopoulos would be kept off its service for good in the future, telling Recode and BuzzFeed that it would find…
I was ten years old when Ghostbusters came out in 1984, and it hit me hard. I loved that movie, which melded two of my geeky kid interests – horror movies and trying to stay up late to watch Saturday Night Live. Ghostbusters II was one of my earlier experiences with movie disappointment (it built on my foundational experiences, Howard…