Friday Links (lessons from history edition)

Kim Davis protested at work, refusing to do her job as county clerk and denied her fellow citizens their right to marry. And she was a conservative here. But let some football players protest the murders of unarmed people of color by police (who are never held to account) and that's unconscionable! — Kim Davis protested at work, refusing to do her job as county clerk and denied her fellow citizens their right to marry. And she was a conservative here. But let some football players protest the murders of unarmed people of color by police (who are never held to account) and that’s unconscionable!

It’s the fifth Friday in September. We are fast running out of the superior month that his the home of superior babies.

This has been a really weird week in part for reasons I can’t go into here. But the weather turned hotter than I like for a few days, and that seems to send plants into another frenzy of pollenating, so we both had nasty sinus symptoms. On the other hand, I’ve been getting a lot of writing done.

Anyway, here are the links I gathered this week, sorted into categories as accurately as I could.

This week in Seattle

FBI: Violent crime up in Seattle and Washington in 2016, but murders specifically down.
“While violent crime increased in Seattle and Washington state last year compared to 2015, the city and state both saw double-digit decreases in the number of murders and non-negligent manslaughters committed during the same time period… criminologists warned the new numbers may not indicate the start of a long-term trend because violent crime remains well below rates seen in the 1980s and early 1990s. And even compared to a decade ago, violent crime in 2016 is 18 percent lower than it was in 2007, and the murder rate is 6 percent lower than it was then…”

The Sorriest Bus Stop Championship: Seattle vs. Munhall.

And “winner” is: Congrats, Seattle — You Have the Sorriest Bus Stop in America.

The Origami Butterflies Around Seattle Parks Appear to Be an Anti-Choice Campaign.

This week in awful people

Four People Charged In Relation To Death And Mutilation Of Transgender Teen.

News for queers and our allies:

Andrew Garfield thinks it’s ‘outrageous’ we still have to fight for LGBT rights.

This week in Writing

Self-Editing Tips: Because No One’s Perfect.

Making Your Characters Want Something ~ It’s Important.

This Week in Tech

This Web Service Banned The Daily Stormer. Why Won’t It Drop Another Neo-Nazi Recruitment Forum?.
“In this country, you’re allowed to be as hateful as you and want that is protected. But that doesn’t mean you’re allowed to use every private company’s service to promote that hatred.”

Culture war news:

A very interesting letter from another team owner back in the days when Donald was a sports team owner. (Click to embiggen)

Why the Overrepresentation of Black Americans in Professional Sports Is Not a Good Thing.
“…anyone who has taught in a US high-school system knows that this balance is strictly imposed on black males. Intellectuality is not just discouraged but not even recognized. When you reinforce this attitude by underfunding education, the remaining opportunities for black success are not found in the classroom but in the gym.”

Nearly a quarter of Americans think homosexuality should still be illegal.

ACLU sues Michigan over gay adoption screening.

This Week Regarding the Lying Liar:

“A billionaire makes up pay for his gold weekends and tells us we can't have food, health, science, or art.” — “A billionaire makes up pay for his gold weekends and tells us we can’t have food, health, science, or art.”

George Clooney just slammed President Trump in a very NSFW fashion.

Trump’s failed Puerto Rico golf course has cost the territory’s taxpayers more than $32 million.

News about the Fascist Regime:

Joke’s over: Sean Spicer hires a defense lawyer with a particularly interesting set of skills.

This week in Politics:

Dine and Dash: Santa Fe restaurant manager says Gov. Susana Martinez skipped out on bill.

For Mitch McConnell, it’s the beginning of the end.

Senators prepare subpoena Manafort to appear at hearing.

This Week in Racists, White Nationalists, and other deplorables:

FBI: White nationalism is as much of a threat as ISIS.

Farewells:

Hugh Hefner, Who Built Playboy Empire and Embodied It, Dies at 91.

What Is Playboy Without Hugh Hefner?.

How Hugh Hefner’s Incredibly Complicated Legacy Got Cast as Female Sexual Liberation.
“He published features that supported abortion rights years before Roe v. Wade, and his Playboy Foundation made gifts to rape crisis centers, abortion support services, and the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project. Hefner also fought for First Amendment protections—a predictable cause for the publisher of a nudie magazine—ran some brilliant interviews, and gave money to civil-rights causes… At the same time, Hef’s magazine explicitly trashed women who stepped outside his feminine ideal.”

Hugh Hefner Championed Gay Rights And Racial Equality When Few Others Would.

Things I wrote:

Happy Fall to All of Y’all!.

If he talks like a racist, tweets like a racist, defends other racists….

Confessions of an aging homo devil.

Confessions of a sentimental fool.

The Night Was Sultry, part 1—adventures in opening lines.

Videos!

Stranger Things | Love in the Upside Down:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

“Toys” Official Video (Parody of “Boys” by Charli XCX) (very, very NFSW):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Seth Meyers Mocks Trump’s Lie That There Wasn’t A Trumpcare Vote Because A Senator Is Hospitalized:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Font Folly

Ramblings from the desk of the Script Doctor