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Wednesday Link-Off: The Fool or the Fool Who Follows Him

Keep your eyes open and don’t believe anything that happens today. It’s April Fools’ Day which means that you’re likely to see or be victim to a prank or bad joke or two. I’m working on something but I’m not holding out hope that it’ll go well. Call me a terrible person but I’m hoping that a coworker’s attempted prank doesn’t go well today if only because it’s terribly unoriginal and generic.

Anyway, today is Wednesday which means that it’s time for the links. Here’s Christina Hendricks.

Despite what Republicans in the Senate may want, two-thirds of Americans support the nuclear deal with Iran. (Washington Post)

You’ve probably never heard of feticide but it’s a relatively new law that reproductive rights activists are up in arms about. You would be too if you knew a woman in Indiana was sentenced to 20 years in prison for having a miscarriage. (NBC News)

There’s a time and place for certain things. Outside a building explosion is not the time or place for taking selfies. (New York Post)

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Sunday Link-Off: A Slamming Good Time

gigi-hadid-guess15-01Just when you thought it was safe to go outside again, there was snow in Northern Ontario over the weekend. I guess we were spoiled by above zero weather. And I suppose there’s this WrestleMania thing happening in a week that’s a big part of this Sunday’s linkdump. I suppose that’s worth mentioning and covering on top of the usual stuff.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for the links. Let’s kick things off with Gigi Hadid. I can finally understand why she was a frontrunner for this year’s SI Swimsuit cover.

How will possible Republican Presidential hopeful and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker help the state’s budget problems? Not paying back the state’s debt. (Washington Post)

Just to make things worse for the Republicans, it turns out that Obamacare isn’t too back for the creation of new jobs. (Bloomberg)

SXSW is ongoing right now. What is SXSW? No one’s really sure anymore. (Fusion)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Election Blues

lights-junos15-01I’m a little disappointed I don’t have enough time in the morning to prep the links at the last minute. I’d love to have some links about the Israeli election included in the post but that was still a dead heat last I heard. I suppose that’s what I have the Sunday links for.

Anyway, if it’s Wednesday, it’s time for the links. Let’s kick things off with Lights.

I don’t know (or care) what this Hilary Clinton email scandal is but it’s gotten her presidential aspirations off to a rocky start with two years of campaigning still to go. (Rolling Stone)

Political parties often put a lot of time and effort into finding the right candidate. For the Democrats, if they put that much effort in getting people out to vote, they’d never lose. (Al Jazeera America)

This time of year brings up plenty of questions about why college “student-athletes” don’t get paid but they aren’t the only cogs in a multi-million dollar machine going unpaid. Canada is going through the same thing in junior hockey. (Vice Sports)

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Sunday Link-Off: The News and the Fools Who Follow It

jessica-alba-braun15-01We’re about to kick off a busy few weeks here at Lowdown HQ. This week is Formula One 2015 preview week. Tuesday’s rules change post is written. Wednesday’s drivers and teams preview is in progress. The predictions and power rankings posts will be fairly straight-forward. However, Monday’s news update hasn’t been started yet. Hopefully I get all that done quickly so I can move onto the next week’s Hottest Canadian bracket. There’s lots of work to be done around the blog over the next couple of weeks.

Anyway, it’s Sunday which means that it’s time for us to do the links. After a couple straight linkdumps with Alison Brie (not that there’s anything wrong with that), let’s kick things off with Jessica Alba.

About one in six Canadians think they’re better off now than this time last year. One-third of Canadians think they’re worse off. Sounds like Harper’s Canada is working out well for all of us. (Press Progress)

A scandal is brewing in Britain but won’t get the coverage over here that it should get. An investigation has turned up what is being called a “VIP pedophile ring” in the British government under Thatcher. (The Daily Beast)

Republican Washington State Senator Jim Honeyford says that poor and “coloured” people are more likely to commit crimes. And this is a party that thinks they’re fit to lead a whole country. (The Stranger)

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Wednesday Link-Off: In Like a Lion

alison-brie-gqmexico15-04So the old saying goes that if March comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb. Well, last evening, I snowblowed about eight inches of snow. I don’t know how much fell overnight or how much I shoveled out of the end of the driveway this morning because I’m writing this Tuesday night. So I’m hoping the old adage holds true because I’ve had enough of winter at this point.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday which means that it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick things off with Alison Brie from her GQ Mexico shoot.

For the second time, Fox News has apologized for Bill O’Reilly has apologized for lying about what he witnessed as a reporter. He’s still on air though. (The Guardian)

The daughter of the BTK serial killer is the focus of a long article about her coming to terms with finding out her father was a murderer. (The Wichita Eagle)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a speech to a joint session of the US Congress yesterday. Israel is likely to be a hot topic in the upcoming Presidential election. So that’s why Rand Paul is backtracking on wanting to cut foreign aid to Israel. (BuzzFeed)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Lies, Damned Lies and the News Media

amy-adams-jennifer-aniston-vfoscars15-01Just when you though that Brian Williams was the only member in the media in the middle of a scandal, I happened across a bunch of stories about news media scandals. Welcome my friends to the show that never ends. And there’s a whole bunch of legitimately interesting stories if that’s more your speed.

Anyway, it’s time for us to do the links. Because the Oscars were this weekend, let’s kickoff with something special. Here’s Amy Adams and Jennifer Aniston.

The right often complains about the war on Christmas or the war on religion but they ignore their war on science. For some reason, science is under attack from people who should know better. (National Geographic)

“Among African-American men aged fifteen to forty-four, 88.7 percent of gun deaths are homicides; among white American men aged thirty-five to sixty-four, 89.2 percent of gun deaths are suicides.: (Harper’s Magazine)

Naturally, Bill O’Reilly went to town on Brian Williams for his lying scandal. Little did he know that he was about to get caught up in a scandal of his own. (Mother Jones)

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Sunday Link-Off: Valentine’s Hangover

Good news, guys! Valentine’s Day has come and gone and it’s safe to come out of hiding again. Hopefully you didn’t screw it up and if you did, we’ll need your ex’s phone number. For research purposes only, of course… I think everyone bought that.

Anyway, it’s Sunday which means that it’s time for the links. Let’s continue going through some of the SI Swimsuit issue with Canada’s Kate Bock.

Global News was going to run a report on the Koch brothers’ connections to Canada. Then it was suddenly killed. What happened? (Canadaland)

Even more of Brian Williams’ reports are being questioned in the aftermath of his suspension. (Gawker)

How much is the legal weed market in Colorado? Only $700 million. (Washington Post)

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Wednesday Link-Off: At Least The Game Was Good

alessandra-ambrosio-oceandrive15-05It’s been a long week for me IRL and we’re only two days in. I was hoping to write an IndyCar news update for yesterday but I didn’t have any time to do that. I’m lucky I pulled this post together. Maybe I’ll get the IndyCar update tomorrow or Friday. I do have a game review to cover you off one day this week so that should be fun. Remember when I used to do some topical opining at the start of these posts?

Anyway, since it’s Wednesday, that must mean that it’s links time. You might have missed her but fresh off her Super Bowl ad appearance, here’s Alessandra Ambrosio.

You may not know but Albuquerque has one of the highest rates of fatal police shootings in America. So why has no one noticed? (New Yorker)

DJ Esco went to Abu Dhabi to perform at the season ending F1 Grand Prix. His stay included 56 days in jail. This is his story. (The Fader)

Back in 2002, Germany legalized prostitution. Over a decade later, the fallout is still being felt. (The Telegraph)

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Sunday Link-Off: Let’s Get Ready to Rumble

jennifer-lopez-complex15-01A little late but not any links short, it’s time for the Sunday edition of the links. I’ve been busy working IRL and on the blogs yesterday and I didn’t have as much time as I’d like. But for only a few more hours in the day. Star Trek said there were 26-hour days. Can we do that now?

Anyway, no more waiting. Let’s kick off today’s links with Jennifer Lopez.

Another week, another story about the CBC from Canadaland. This time, we learned they stonewalled Edward Snowden’s story. (Canadaland)

The Beer Store claims that it operates on a breakeven basis. Technically, that’s true. But it’s not like the owners aren’t making money hand over fist. (Toronto Star)

Modern technology was supposed to make life better for all of us. In many ways it has. However, the modern world is taking a toll on your brain. (The Guardian)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The State of Every Other Union

shay-mitchell-maxim15-05I know on Sunday that I said that the hardest part of doing a linkdump is coming up with a title but doing these intros isn’t much better. That’s especially true when you have to think of a bunch of links that really have nothing to do with each other. So I just killed a little bit of time by rambling on about that.

So that means we can get to the links. Here’s Canadian actress Shay Mitchell.

Justin Trudeau is ramping up for his first campaign as Liberal leader. Here’s a look at the economic advisory team he’s assembled that will likely prove the key to any success. (MacLean’s)

Fox News is being taken to task. The City of Paris is planning to sue Fox News over statements it made about the city. (CNN)

Printed pornography is dying. The likes of Playboy are being replaced by magazines that push art over just straight titillation. (New York Times)

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