Wednesday Link-Off: Going Right

natalie-dormer-womenshealth15-01“Fair and balanced” is a buzz phrase that is really an excuse to skew hard to one side of the political spectrum to counter-act a message they perceive as supporting the opposite end of the spectrum. Both the left and right are guilty of it but it seems to be more often the right because they’re the ones shouting loudest about needing to present their perspective as balance. Both the left and right are engaged in a self-aggrandizing circlejerk in the name of some sort of superiority complex. I don’t know what that has to do with the links or the title of this post but this needs to be said.

Anyway, let’s just get to the links and move on with our lives. Let’s kick off with Natalie Dormer.

Despite allegations that the Planned Parenthood shooter was a transgender liberal, the man’s ex-wife says that the shooter is conservative, religious and anti-abortion. (Raw Story)

Remember when people liked Chris Christie? That was before he realized that having good relations with the White House was actually detrimental to his own White House aspirations. His Syrian refugee plans are just more evidence of how far to the right he’s going to win the nomination. (Esquire)

And while everyone on the right is willing to ban Syrian refugees, statistically, you’re seven times more likely to be killed by a gun nut than a terrorist. (Think Progress)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The World This Week

angelina-jolie-vogue15-01We didn’t have too much on the Paris attacks on Sunday but there has been a lot of new articles and analysis about the attacks since then. There is a lot of interesting insight into the politics of a terrorist attack in today’s links.

So I think it’s time to conclude the introduction and commence the Wednesday links. Let’s kick off with Angelina Jolie.

Naturally, intelligence agencies are using the Paris disaster to try to get more powers. They’re ignoring that story that just came out that said that the pre-9/11 CIA didn’t need massive privacy invasions to find out that it was going to happen. (The Guardian)

A French Redditor tells the tale of how he was so desperate to escape the Bataclan that he crawled over bodies to get away. (Upvoted)

To America, France has always seemed something like a political pawn. After years of bashing the French, the political right is now embracing them as friends for political gain. (IBT)

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Wednesday Link-Off: You Require More Minerals

salma-hayek-lacma15-01So this week is kind of big in gaming. Yesterday saw the release of Fallout 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider and StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. I’m spending my time with SC2 and I’m hoping to do a two-part review starting with the campaign in a couple of weeks followed by a look at the multiplayer modes. But there looks to be a lot of campaign to sink my teeth into.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday which means that it’s time for the links. Let’s kick this off with Salma Hayek.

The chair of the board of the Toronto Star takes the CEO of Postmedia to task for interfering with editorial during the recent election. (Toronto Star)

“Calling the TPP a free-trade agreement overplays its benefits, plays down its problematic aspects and fundamentally misunderstands what the deal is actually about.” (The Globe & Mail)

Kim Davis keeps fighting marriage equality and keeps losing. (Advocate)

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Sunday Link-Off: Power of Politics

stana-katic-ema15-03While Donald Trump was off doing SNL, Ben Carson was taking command of the GOP Presidential polls. That’s a pretty frightening thought to many people. But there are a lot of scary things in this Sunday’s set of links.

So let’s not waste any more time and get to your weekend-ending linkdump. Let’s kick off with Stana Katic. Have you watched Castle lately? I haven’t but it might get interesting again eventually.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is not a fan of Ben Carson. In fact, he goes as far to say that Carson is bad for African-Americans. (Time)

Wonder what’s in the Trans-Pacific Partnership no more. The Government of New Zealand posted the whole thing online. (New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)

It’s not that football stars get away with things like domestic assault, the problem is that there are seemingly few, if any consequences. Take Dallas player Greg Hardy whose domestic violence charges were expunged despite all the evidence backing up the original charges. (Deadspin)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Insane in the Brain

allison-williams-harpersbazaar15-01Happy Wednesday, interwebs. I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m having one of those weeks were happiness is but a fleeting moment. Just when I think I can be content, BAM, something hits me and tries to convince me otherwise. Monday started terribly and snowballed. Tuesday went well until the end when one unhappy interaction put a pall on my afternoon and evening. Let’s see how today goes though I hope yours is better than my week.

Anyway, enough deep-rooted self-loathing. We’re here on Wednesdays to do the links. Let’s kick things off with Allison Williams.

A new study suggests that extensive media coverage of mass shootings causes more mass shootings. (CNN)

Ben Carson might be one of two Republican frontrunners but for every bit as good as he is at medicine, he’s bad at economics. (Fortune)

And then there are the views held by his church. His denomination believes that the US government will bring about the Antichrist or some such like that. Does it still happen if Carson is President? (The Daily Beast)

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Sunday Link-Off: My Time is Now

jessica-lowndes-halloween15-01Does everybody know what time it is? I’m serious. That’s the one thing about time changes that I hate. I’m trying to watch F1 this afternoon but is it on at 2:00 PM EDT or 2:00 PM EST when it’s scheduled for 1:00 PM local time. And there’s StarCraft to be watched this afternoon too but at least I think that’s scheduled in Pacific Time. Time changes make sense but you always feel like no one else knows what they’re doing.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for us to do the links. Since last night was Halloween, it’s only appropriate to kick off with Jessica Lowndes as what I would assume is Harley Quinn.

Wiretaps in Italy suggest Toronto is on the verge of a mafia war breaking out. (Canada.com)

The two frontrunners for the GOP Presidential nomination are amateur politicians. Everywhere else, people look to professionals. Why is politics so different? (Vox)

The latest Republican debate was another edition of the GOP versus the media. The media should be criticized but it should be for seldom holding anyone accountable. (Washington Post)

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Sunday Link-Off: The Calm Before the Storm

yvonne-strahovski-rosenthal15-05bI hope you aren’t coming here today looking for election links. We’re trying something different for #elxn42. Tomorrow, we have a special Election Link-Off that will cover everything you need to know ahead of voting. So if you’re looking for election info, tomorrow is the day to come by the blog.

But before tomorrow’s E(lection)LO, it’s Sunday so it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick things off with Yvonne Strahovski.

A book from inside city hall in Toronto has been written about Rob Ford. Here’s an excerpt. (Politico)

Did you know that Canada is sending its waste to the Philippines and using the country as a dump? (Vice)

It’s not wrong to say that big money buys elections and political favour. Half of the money in the 2016 Presidential campaign so far have come from just 158 families. (New York Times)

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Sunday Link-Off: Taking Control

Another week, another mass shooting in America. By some analysis, there have been as many mass shootings in the US so far this year as there have been days this year. Sure, America loves their guns but at a certain point, they have to admit that they may have a problem that can’t be solved by just throwing more guns at it.

Anyway, it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick off this post with Salma Hayek who I wasn’t able to see at TIFF. That reminds me that I still owe you guys some film festival reviews.

The last known photos of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo were taken by a French tourist who also found himself making eye contact with the shooter. (Ottawa Citizen)

There was another mass shooting in America this week. Mass shootings illustrate many problems, including what’s wrong with news reporters in America. (The Concourse)

And that mass shooting also gave us another chance to see what’s wrong with America’s gun culture. (Vox)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Time Off

adriana-lima-gigi-hadid-nyfw15-01After a weekend off to get incredibly drunk and surprisingly less hungover than I was expecting, I’m back to do the links. The sad thing is that I’m not really sure how much I missed in the world of news. It feels like nothing happened and yet I somehow ended up for more links than usual. Whatever works, I guess.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. Let’s kick off with personal favourite Adriana Lima and up and coming model Gigi Hadid.

Looking for strategic voting info. There’s a site for that. (Anyone But Harper)

Former Prime Minister Jean Cretien spit hot fire about Stephen Harper. (CBC News)

Paul Watson’s report on the search for the Franklin Expedition by the Canadian government was published. It has a lot of info about the inner workings of the search and the Canadian government. (BuzzFeed)

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Sunday Link-Off: Spoilers

jessica-lowndes-bretterickson15-01Despite the fact that I wrote way too much about the current state of women’s wrestling in the WWE, I actually have quite a few links for today’s linkdump. As usual, it’s a lot about politics but there isn’t much about gun control this time. I’m hoping to pull together those links for the next post.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for links. Since we have a lot of Canadian themed links, I think that it’s only appropriate to kick-off with Canadian actress Jessica Lowndes.

George Bush doesn’t care about black people: The Definitive History (Huffington Post)

The Canadian military is part of operations against IS in the Middle East. Don’t ask the Kurds what Canada has been up to because Canadian involvement is a surprise to them. (MacLean’s)

What’s the most underplayed story in this year’s Canadian election? The destruction of Canadian election laws and Elections Canada by the current government. (The Guardian)

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