Sunday Link-Off: Don’t Sweat the Lawsuit

taylor-swift-instagram16-01Well, this has been an interesting week for the press. Over in the gaming world, you have Jim Sterling facing a $10 million lawsuit for being a games critics. Gawker just lost a $100 million lawsuit over its interpretation of the First Amendment. It makes you wonder why little outlets like this exist. All you have to do is say the wrong thing and someone could try to ruin your life with a multimillion lawsuit. Of course, when you’re a small site, you should probably get a nice letter first because the Streisand Effect is real.

Anyway, it’s Sunday which means it’s time for the links. Let’s kick off with the picture that took Reddit by storm and start with Taylor Swift.

Hulk Hogan won $115 million in his sex tape lawsuit against Gawker. Interestingly, the matter of the First Amendment as it relates to Hogan’s privacy wasn’t really considered by the trial judge. (Reuters)

Gawker is planning to appeal because a number of matters that were a part of an FBI investigation related to the sextape were sealed and not permitted to be shown in evidence to the jury. Now that they have been unsealed, Gawker has a stronger case. (New York Magazine)

Whether he takes the Oath of Office or not, Donald Trump has already had a major impact on American politics. (The Atlantic)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Delegating Madness

chrissy-teigen-si16-01Well, it looks like we’re ever closer to a Presidential battle between Hilary Clinton and former Clinton supporter Donald Trump. This could be one of the most interesting or infuriating campaigns in recorded history. If you thought 2012 was painful, this one will be worse. At least it’ll provide a lot of fodder for links over the next few months.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday which means that it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick things off with Chrissy Teigen.

A reporter on the Trump campaign got tossed aside by the candidate’s campaign manager when she asked a question that they probably didn’t like. (BuzzFeed)

Why is Ben Carson backing Donald Trump? Because he just might have offered Carson a job in his administration. (Gawker)

The relationship between Donald Trump and Chris Christie reminds one columnist of Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth. (Trentonian)

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Wednesday Link-Off: A Voice from the Past

olivia-wilde-oscars16-03Joining yours and mine. Adding up the layers of harmony. And so it goes, on and on… Final Fantasy fans know how that one finishes. I’ve had a long day writing before writing this post and could really use Square Enix hustling the FF9 PC release out the door. It would be nice to unwind with a game that I absolutely love. It’s like they’re Blizzard with the Soon™ release date.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick off with Olivia Wilde.

You can call them Generation Y’ers. You can call them Millennials. But you can definitely call them worse off than the generations the preceded them. (The Guardian)

The Washington Post is backing Hilary Clinton. Well, it appears that way after they ran 16 stories that are perceived to be negative towards Bernie Sanders. (Fair.org)

The German Vice-Chancellor said that Donald Trump is a “threat to peace and prosperity.” When one of the leaders of the free world says that, people may just listen. (International Business Times)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Make Donald Drumpf Again

sophie-turner-oscars16-03bIf you don’t watch Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, you probably don’t know why people keep talking about Donald Drumpf. Well, Oliver did a feature story on Trump’s candidacy (which we have in the post) which included research for a Trump biography that mentions his original family name was Drumpf. So will he be running as future President Trump or Drumpf?

Anyway, it’s Wednesday which means that it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick things off with Sophie Turner who stole the show on the Oscars red carpet.

The Flint water crisis isn’t a new problem. Staff in Governor Snyder’s office were talking about bottled water programs twelve months ago. (Detroit Free Press)

Joe Scarborough is considered too Trump friendly for MSNBC. Yet he’s come out strongly against Trump for pretending to not know about the KKK and its leader. (Washington Post)

I’m writing this last night and assuming this won’t need a re-write: Donald Trump has pretty well wrapped up the Republican Presidential nomination. The Democrats aren’t the only ones concerned by this. Many Republicans are considering alternatives to voting red in November. (Bloomberg)

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Sunday Link-Off: The Big Prize

jennifer-garner-vanityfair16-02Did you come here looking for Oscars coverage? Well, here’s Magary’s annual Hater’s Guide to the Oscars. The most of the rest of this post will be about politics. After all, when you have people battling it out to be the leader of the free world (that isn’t Angela Merkel), it’s kind of the fight for the real big prize.

Anyway, it’s Sunday which means that it’s time for the links. Let’s kick things off with Jennifer Garner.

Who ordered Flint to switch to water from the Flint River? It doesn’t look like Flint City Council did. (M Live)

Here’s the first I’ve heard of this frighteningly apt comparison. Donald Trump is quite a bit like former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. (Quartz)

About 38% of Florida voters think that Ted Cruz could be the Zodiac Killer. I give up on this election… And the electorate. (UPI)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Get Out The Vote

natalie-dormer-zoolander16-03The New Hampshire primaries were last night. The Sanders win probably wasn’t a huge surprise but the GOP was probably a shock with Trump winning by doubling up on John Kasich who was a shock second place. I guess the Rubio challenge was short-lived. Granted, we do have a long way to go until November.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday so it’s time for the links. Let’s kick things off with Natalie Dormer.

I find it slightly ironic that FX Canada is showing a mini-series about the OJ Simpson trial at the same time as the Jian Ghomeshi trial takes place in Canada. These two cases could have some amazing parallels when it’s all said and done because of how much of a disaster this case is becoming for the Crown. (The Globe and Mail)

Donald Trump won the GOP New Hampshire Primary. The Huffington Post didn’t mince words. (The Hill)

The press isn’t just dishing it out to Trump. They’re taking it from him too. (Washington Post)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Eve Eve

You know, I really think that this Christmas Eve Eve and yesterday’s Christmas Eve Eve Eve shit is just dumb. Today is December 23rd. If you need help remembering that it’s the day before the day before Christmas, I’m not sure that calling it Christmas Eve Eve will be that much of a benefit to you in the long run. I probably sound like a surly old bastard but kids these days just don’t make any sense. I wonder if they think they’re being funny. That’s not how humour works.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday so it’s time for us to do the links. Normally, I’d kick off with someone but I didn’t find anyone before I dozed off watching StarCraft last night. More on that at the bottom of the post.

Donald Trump could win the Republican primary but could he beat anyone in an election. A new poll has Bernie Sanders 13 points ahead of Trump. (The Hill)

Many Canadians can’t afford homes and blame foreign buyers. Will banning them help at all? (Quartz)

PostMedia is disintegrating from the inside. Maybe if they focused a bit on journalism and being a news organization, things would be different right now. (iPolitics)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Trump Card

nina-dobrev-interview15-02At what point does the laughing stop and the worrying begin? The world has had a laugh at a reality TV star running for President but his rhetoric has gone from generally false to quite possibly dangerous. At what point do people wonder if he can actually lead America and the world or if he’s just spouting policy rather than a plan?

Anyway, it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s get started with Nina Dobrev.

After Donald Trump announced his plans to ban Muslims from entering America, Arianna Huffington changed her publication’s stance on Trump coverage. Instead of treating him as a sideshow, the full might of the politics team would be devoted to unbiased coverage of the Republican frontrunner. The truth won’t set the GOP free, though. (Huffington Post)

For all the fear-mongering that Trump does when it comes to Muslims, he sure likes to do business with them. (Washington Post)

Also convenient omitted from stories following the San Bernardino shooting is that Saudi Arabia has once again managed to not be mentioned in the narrative about terrorism. (CBC News)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Truthiness

giada-de-laurentiis-campari15-02Is the truth really a matter of perspective? I know there are two sides to every story and the truth often lies somewhere in the middle. It almost seems like politicians are rewarded more as they stray farther from the truth. It’s not any one side, either. It’s as if the farther you get from the political centre on either end of the spectrum, the farther you get from the truth.

We’ll have more on that in a minute as we do the Wednesday set of links. Let’s kick things off today with Giada de Laurentiis.

The PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter goes from True to Pants On Fire. The Donald’s claim that thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheered when the World Trade Center buildings came down could break the scale. (PolitiFact)

On that note, Bernie Sanders wants his shot at Trump to challenge his “facts.” The trick with people who have no facts is that they’ll force people to spend so long debunking made up stuff that they’ll never have the time to make their own points. (The Hill)

It’s all because Trump is trying to appeal to the GOP base to win a primary. Will this help him win an election? Most of the world hopes not. (The Guardian)

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Sunday Link-Off: Trumping the Unexpected

emma-roberts-aerie15-01I know that today’s post was a little bit later than usual but that might be a little bit too common over the next couple of weeks. I’m going to have a busy couple of weeks upcoming so I’m hoping to get posts done every day but we’ll see how long they actually end up being.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick is off with some unexpected Emma Roberts.

One of the quiet stories in both the Canadian and American elections is student debt. The crippling student debt many post-secondary graduates have might come back to haunt the economy. (LA Times)

One thing that American voters have that Canadians don’t is electronic voting machines. Part of the reason for that may be because these voting machines aren’t that reliable. (Huffington Post)

Political spin isn’t just for those in or seeking office. We’re many, many years removed from the flawed campaign to launch the US’ war in Iraq but Dick Cheney is still trying to change how people remember it. (Salon)

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