Politics:
Donald Trump is withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement - here's Brookings on what it means, the reaction by former President Obama - "The nations that remain in the Paris agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created.", a theory as good as any by Noah Smith about why the Republicans oppose any kind of action on climate change in spite of the fact that a majority of voters supports the climate deal, and an astonishing reaction by US cities to commit to the Paris Accord regardless of what their Federal Government is doing.
Rebecca Solnit, beautifully, on Donald Trump -
"A man who wished to become the most powerful man in the world, and by happenstance and intervention and a series of disasters was granted his wish. Surely he must have imagined that more power meant more flattery, a grander image, a greater hall of mirrors reflecting back his magnificence. But he misunderstood power and prominence. This man had bullied friends and acquaintances, wives and servants, and he bullied facts and truths, insistent that he was more than they were, than it is, that it too must yield to his will. It did not, but the people he bullied pretended that it did. Or perhaps it was that he was a salesman, throwing out one pitch after another, abandoning each one as soon as it left his mouth. A hungry ghost always wants the next thing, not the last thing."
Lit Hub: The Loneliness of Donald Trump, May 30, 2017
A report by Data Society on misinformation and manipulation online, particularly how it pertains to right-wing radicalisation online (in short, maybe one of the most important things to read these days, considering how emboldended and dangerous right-wing terrorists are) - "The far-right exploits young men’s rebellion and dislike of “political correctness” to spread white supremacist thought, Islamophobia, and misogyny through irony and knowledge of internet culture." Full report here.
And here's some information on the dark history of Portland, and a historical context to the horrifying attacks.
Matt Taibbi eulogises Roger Ailes, founder of FOX news, who shaped the US newscape and the right-wing into what it is today:
"And when Ailes died this morning, he left behind an America perfectly in his image, frightened out of its mind and pouring its money hand over fist into television companies, who are gleefully selling the unraveling of our political system as an entertainment product.
The extent to which we hate and fear each other now – that's not any one person's fault. But no one person was more at fault than Roger Ailes. He never had a soul to sell, so he sold ours. It may take 50 years or a century for us to recover. Even dictators rarely have that kind of impact. Enjoy the next life, you monster."
Rolling Stone: Roger Ailes Was One of the Worst Americans Ever, May 18, 2017
In Australia, where treaties between the Indigineous communities and the settlers were never signed, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are asking for sovereignty instead of merely symbolic constitutional recognition. Here is the original statement. Here is the historical context. And a beautiful essay about what it means to have stories told about you but not being allowed to tell your own stories, in Meanjin.
Migrating from Central America is becoming increasingly precarious.
Pop Culture:
Sad news all around - WGN has cancelled Underground, which has proven to be one of the best current television shows in its second season (allegedly because the network was purchased by conservatives who are "changing the direction"), and Netflix literally waited until the first day of Pride month to give Sense8 (which oscillated wildly, as it did in its first season, between joyful and profoundly problematic) the boot. Both didn't have anything close to a resolution at the end of their respective second seasons, so lets hope someone gives them a second life in a different network/shape and form.
Not only has the ever-elusive Runaways tv series been cast, the original cast will also make a return after an endless hiatus in comic book form. IT'S BEEN ONE THOUSAND YEARS.
Ghost World is receiving a director-approved remastered Criterion edition, so Atlantic looks back on it.
An interview with John Waters, with many very good quotes:
Well, now you should be like Valerie Solanas when she told women to get jobs and unwork until you get caught, and then get another job and unwork, which means you go and you act normal but you fuck up every single thing you can while you work there. This is a good time in the Trump White House to get somebody in there to unwork.
Lenny: John Waters: I Love Women Who Hate Men and Hate Men Who Hate Women, May 26, 2017
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