Link-Off

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Wednesday Link-Off: More than PR

camille-rowe-next14-01There’s no getting around the way the Ray Rice story blew up. While we all agreed the suspension was far too light, past precedent notwithstanding. However, we didn’t suspect that the NFL had never really bothered with its due diligence in the matter. Now they’re scrambling, not to make it right, but to save themselves from a complete PR meltdown. What a sad state of affairs when PR trumps doing what’s right.

So let’s get this post underway. Here’s Camille Rowe.

Toronto mayor Rob Ford has scored a key endorsement in his re-election campaign: Mike Tyson. (Yahoo!)

If you’re a Politico reader, their executive editor just left over strategic differences with the site’s founders. (New York Times)

Several months after the incident occurred, the full video of Ray Rice beating his wife made its way to TMZ. Suffice to say that his two-game suspension became a massive PR nightmare for both Rice’s now-former team and the NFL. But that’s all this was about. It’s all about PR. (Sports of Earth)

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Sunday Link-Off: Common Sense Revolution

hailey-clauson-guess14-02I don’t want to say that it’s been a boring week in the world of news but it’s kinda felt very much the same as the week before. Maybe our attention spans are getting slightly longer when it comes to big news. Then again, maybe there is nothing of note happening this week.

So with that happy thought in mind, it’s time for us to do the weekend links. Let’s start with Hailey Clauson.

The continuing attempts to portray Michael Brown as a thug may have run into a snag called “facts.” Unlike the latest right-wing assertion, he wasn’t a felon. (Think Progress)

The current crisis in the Middle East is a leftover of the 2003 Bush campaign against Saddam Hussein. However, President Obama has to treat this crisis differently than his predecessor if he has any hope of succeeding. (National Journal)

But just to show that I’m an equal opportunity windbag, here’s a [adjective redacted] saying that America is still the world’s freedom police. (Daily Telegraph)

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Wednesday Link-Off: A Happening

erin-heatherton-oceandrive14-01It’s a slightly abbreviated edition of the Wednesday links today. Today’s linkdump is basically about one thing. Whether you call it CelebGate or The Fappening or the biggest leak of celebrity nude pictures in the history of the internet, it’s been dominating the news and we have a fairly in-depth set of links about the story. No, there aren’t any links to the pictures but I’m sure that you don’t need help finding them.

Anyway, let’s get to the links with someone not in the scandal. Here’s Erin Heatherton.

While the original story is that The Fappening was a massive iCloud hack, that may not be true. The latest story is that this was a leak from an underground celebrity nude pic trading ring. The funny thing is that’s somehow more plausible than a massive hack of iCloud. (Gawker)

Even though The Fappening caught everyone off guard, warning signs were out there for weeks. Deadspin was approached by someone who had been offered Jennifer Lawrence nude pictures in an exchange. (Deadspin)

Members of Reddit’s CelebGate subreddit, /r/TheFappening, raised money for cancer research because it was supposedly a supported charity of Jennifer Lawrence. Instead, the Prostate Cancer Foundation gave back over $6,000 of donations because of who it came from. According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, these guys are actually worse than cancer. (Mashable)

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Sunday Link-Off: Working for the (Long) Weekend

danielle-knudson-bodycentral14-06It’s time for the final long weekend of the summer. Get your white wearing done this weekend because it’s Labour Day weekend. I’d say that you should also get some barbecuing in this weekend but the weather is shit now but it’s really been kinda poor all summer.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so that means that we’re here to do the links. Let’s kick things off with Canadian model Danielle Knudson.

Writing a gaming blog, I’ve been reading all about misogyny in gaming for the last couple of weeks and it got to the point that there was no other news people were reporting so I’ve taken a short break to let the news refresh itself. However, gaming is far from the only remaining home of misogyny. One US Senator has revealed that she’s being sexually harassed by fellow lawmakers. (Think Progress)

Rob Ford is back in the Toronto mayoral race. Could he make the comeback of the century. (ThreeHundredEight)

The sad state of Frosh Week at my old haunt of UWO… Move-in volunteers aren’t allowed to touch a box with alcohol branding on it for fear of the photo being spun against UWO by saying university students drink. (National Post) Oh, and The Gazette was drivel when I went to Western and it should surprise anyone that it’s still pissing people off now.

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Wednesday Link-Off: Two Sides to Every Border

emily-ratajkowski-oceandrive14-02There are lots of big news stories on both sides of the border. In Canada, Tim Horton’s is going to become quasi-American which is worse than us burning down the White House. Meanwhile America is still going through problems with police and media dealing with black men, especially when it comes to Ferguson, Missouri.

Anyway, it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s start with the return of Emily Ratajkowski.

The New York Times’ article about Michael Brown and their portrayal of him in said article shows the problem with how black men are portrayed by the American media. (Mic)

While Deadspin looks into police killing data, D. Brian Burghart has already attempted to do so himself. He’s found it quite hard to gather objective data but has come up with a few conclusions that should surprise no one. (Gawker)

We all have this romanticized vision of the undercover cop and spy. However, the sentiment isn’t so romantic when you’re the one being had by an undercover cop. Here’s the tale of an undercover cop who walked out on his fake family. (The New Yorker)

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Sunday Link-Off: Data Tracker

sabriane-brandao-wonderbra14-03Good news! Doctor Who returned last night with a new Doctor! Even better news! Formula One is back from its summer break this morning. Actually, barring a monsoon, a safety car or a red flag, they should be two-thirds of the way through the race. I’ll have the latter written up tomorrow and the former later this week.

For now, it’s Sunday so that means that we’re going to do the links. Let’s start with Canadian model Sabriane Brandao.

Given what’s happening in Ferguson, Missouri, it might surprise you to hear that statistics on police killings are surprisingly sparse. (FiveThirtyEight)

To help with that lack of police killing data, the folks at Deadspin are crowdsourcing data to answer that question. (Regressing)

Fark is trying to ban misogyny from the website. It’s not going particularly well. (Washington Post)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The Important Questions

jenna-coleman-london14-02I haven’t thrown it in the links today but did anyone else see that epic SummerSlam main event. It was a 20-minute masterclass in professional wrestling and it will go down as the match of the year. Of course, no one in Canada watched it because the state of the WWE Network in Canada is terrible because they can’t just do the same digital offering as they do in America even though they own all the content.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. Since Doctor Who is back on Saturday (and reviews of the new Doctor Who season are coming next week), here’s Jenna Coleman.

How bad are things getting in Ferguson, Missouri? Amnesty International is deploying a human rights team in the US for the first time ever. (The Independent)

Now police in Ferguson are going around without any identification on. How can police be held accountable when the only way they can be identified is by saying the pudgy, balding, middle-aged white one? (Vox)

Time Inc. has found a new way to evaluate its writers. They’re rating them based on value to advertisers. The sad state of journalism in 2014. (Gawker)

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Sunday Link-Off: Well, That Was a Week

martha-hunt-victoriassecret14-11Just when I thought that everything was happening at the start of the week, it just kept going. You didn’t have to the type of person to closely follow the news to know that there was all sorts of things happening in the world this week. We’ll do our best to keep you posted with this week’s links.

Since we have a lot of links from America this week, let’s start with American model Martha Hunt.

Reporter Wesley Lowery was arrested for being a reporter in Ferguson, Missouri. Here’s his account of the arrest. (Washington Post)

A reporter took to the ground in Ferguson as part of the protest movement. This is what happened. (Grantland)

Despite all the riots in Ferguson, Missouri, one question remains unanswered. Why did Michael Brown really die? (The New Yorker)

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Entertainment Link-Off: Newsbeat

Hello folks. I don’t want to cause a panic but I’ve drawn in for Jackie this week. He’s off to the Melbourne International Film Festival this weekend. Hopefully he has a few reviews and quick thoughts on some of the movies he sees this weekend. As we know from his 2013 Brisbane International Film Festival coverage, he certainly gets his money worth at these festivals.

So it’s time for this week’s best links from the worlds of entertainment and pop culture. We have more about the death of Robin Williams, the juxtaposition of a new release and the protests in Ferguson, and more TV and movie news.

First, since The Expendables 3 premieres this weekend, here’s new star Ronda Rousey. Hopefully we eventually get her female Expendables movie.

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Wednesday Link-Off: And It’s Only Wednesday

michea-crawford-agentprovocateur14-08So I was having a conversation at my day job yesterday talking about plans for the rest of the week. However, my rest of the week plans were only for Thursday and Friday because I was convinced that yesterday was Wednesday. You would think that working on my usual Wednesday post yesterday would have tipped me off but I’ve had a long week this week and it’s only Wednesday.

But since it’s Wednesday, it’s time for the links. Let’s start with Canadian model Michea Crawford.

It doesn’t matter where you work or what you do, you have a right to a safe workplace, both mentally and physically. Writers at Jezebel have seen their mental well-being come under threat as anonymous accounts are posting rape GIFs on their website but Gawker won’t do anything to deal with it. (Jezebel)

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford received a bomb threat telling him to resign or be blown up. Smoking crack on camera multiple times didn’t stop him. A bomb threat didn’t either. (National Post)

Education might not be the great equalizer after all. A recent study shows black men need more education than their white counterparts to get a job. (The Atlantic)

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