Thursday, 9 June 2016

Links 9/6/16

Politics: 

The New York Times reported that Hillary Clinton has reached the necessary number of delegates to win the Democratic Presidential nomination, but Bernie Sanders' campaign is still going - but Elizabeth Warren, one of the most prominent figures of the party's left wing (and potential running mate contender) is expected to endorse Clinton in the near future. In the light of everything else that has been dominating this campaign, it is important to remember that this is a historical moment

Here's is an excellent profile of a campaign-trail Hillary Clinton: 
There are a lot of reasons — internal, external, historical — for the way Clinton deals with the public, and the way we respond to her. But there is something about the candidate that is getting lost in translation. The conviction that I was in the presence of a capable, charming politician who inspires tremendous excitement would fade and in fact clash dramatically with the impressions I’d get as soon as I left her circle: of a campaign imperiled, a message muddled, unfavorables scarily high. To be near her is to feel like the campaign is in steady hands; to be at any distance is to fear for the fate of the republic. 
New York Magazine: Hillary Clinton vs. Herself, May 30, 2016
Donald Trump, increasingly supported by a Republican Party caught up in its own spiral of self-destruction, is a racist

Muhammad Ali and Vietnam: 
On March 9, 1966, at the height of the war, Ali’s draft status was revised to make him eligible to fight in Vietnam, leading him to say that as a black Muslim he was a conscientious objector, and would not enter the U.S. military.
“My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America,” he said at the time. “And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father. … Shoot them for what? How can I shoot them poor people? Just take me to jail.” 
The Atlantic: Muhammad Ali and Vietnam, June 4, 2016

And a beautiful essay about understanding grandparents and parents through the lens of how they reacted to Muhammad Ali's politics. 

Maybe the future of Europe lies with her rebel cities



Pop Culture: 

In an odd moment of cultural serendipity, this philosophical debate about a Nick Bostrom mindtickler, picked up by Elon Musk, comes right when two popular television shows are basing their stories around similar theories. And AfterEllen has fantastic recaps of Person of Interest, which is going out in a blaze of glory but also with sadness. 

My other favourite show, and one that is in desperate need of being renewed, is Wynonna Earp. Here's an interview with creator Emily Andras about her show and the Bury Your Gays trope that has so sadly dominated this season of television. 



New The Kills, and this video by Kaytranada has a cat in it so well done.  

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