Politics

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Wednesday Link-Off: Money and Politics

sarah-silverman-hfpagrants15-01I know that I usually have a lot of links about politics in these posts but I’m throwing a few economics links in for good measure. You’d be amazed how dependent economic confidence is on just who is in office. You’d think that what they do would be the key factor but who is in charge and what they might do seem to be the biggest driving forces of the market.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday and that was a terrible intro so I suppose I should placate you with some links. Let’s start with Sarah Silverman.

Stock markets around the world have gone for a nasty drop over the last few days. The problem is that there aren’t many options left for governments worldwide to make a quick course correction. (Daily Intelligencer)

The trouble with lobbyists is how frightening their influence can be. H&R Block and Intuit got US Congress to make filing taxes harder for the layperson. (Vox)

Canadian defense minister Jason Kenney is a pretty key player in the Conservative government. He might actually help the election campaign if he was capable of regularly telling the truth on a more regular basis. (Press Progress)

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Sunday Link-Off: Takeover

beyonce-vogue15-01While I realize that SummerSlam is tonight and that’s what most casual wrestling fans will be paying attention to tonight. Folks who watch a bit more than the PPVs were probably watching NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn which was pretty damn good. Like the last TakeOver, it’s worth going out of your way to watch the women’s title match. It’s amazing what good storytelling can do to supplement good wrestling. Too bad the main roster bosses don’t get that.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for the links. I’m trying to go thematic but not doing so well. Since Jay-Z is a prominent New Yorker, kicking off with Beyonce seems appropriate.

White collar work definitely isn’t as glamorous as some would believe. Just ask those being pushed to the breaking point at Amazon. (New York Times)

For the sake of fairness, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos says the above Times story isn’t entirely accurate. (Geek Wire)

Public Health England says that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking cigarettes. Vaping probably shouldn’t be allowed in public spaces (just like smoking) but at least it’s a step in the right direction. (The Guardian)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Freedom of Speech

You know, Freedom of Speech might be the one concept that seems so simple that everyone should understand but few actually comprehend. Freedom of Speech doesn’t mean that people can’t tell you to shut up for being an idiot. That means the government can’t arrest you for saying things they don’t agree with. This distinction will play into some of today’s links.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday so it’s time for the links. Let’s kick things off with the return of Britney Spears.

Inside the shady world of for-pay Wikipedia editing. (The Atlantic)

The battle over free speech continues but few really seem to understand what free speech and the First Amendment actually mean. (The New Yorker)

The Ashley Madison hackers just released all of their data in a 10 GB data dump. Things are about to get very interesting for a fair number of people. (Wired)

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Sunday Link-Off: On the Trail

nina-agdal-beachbunny15-12I’d say that the election campaigns north and south of the border are heating up but we’re in a bit of a lull. That’s to be expected, though. There is still two months until the Canadian federal election (#elxn42) and fifteen until the American one. With campaign happening constantly, albeit in an informal way, do we really need these mega campaigns?

Anyway, it’s time for us to do the links. Considering the heatwave that is sweeping through Canada right now, let’s start the post with Nina Agdal.

“Stephen Harper, the prime minister of Canada, is creating a legacy of secrecy and ignorance.” (New York Times)

Now that America has reopened diplomatic relations with Cuba, how will this affect Cuba? (The Atlantic)

Canadian negotiators of the Trans-Pacific Partnership went to Hawaii with a number of demands for the TPP. They caved on all of them. (Toronto Star)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Putting on the Links

miranda-kerr-trendshealth15-02It’s been a long time since I’ve put together a sports-heavy set of links but that seems to be where the good links are for the early part of this week. There are a lot of sports stories this week that go beyond the field and that’s where most of the interesting and impactful stories come from. We can’t do politics all the time, right?

Anyway, if it’s Wednesday, then we must be starting the day with the links. Let’s kick things off with Miranda Kerr.

A Bernie Sanders rally in Seattle was cancelled after it was overrun by Black Lives Matter protesters. Of all the candidates running for President, isn’t Sanders the best friend that movement has? (Gawker)

We can laugh all we want at Donald Trump but he has a good team behind him. (National Journal)

Here’s an NDP tax policy I can get behind: The NDP say they will enact a special tax credit for craft breweries. (CBC News)

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Sunday Link-Off: Hangover Helper

sarah-hyland-mmva15-01bA few hours late and probably a few links short, it’s time for us do bring you the Sunday links. I tried writing this up on Saturday morning because I had a busy Saturday evening and was in no state to be writing this morning. Yeah, that plan seemed to work out well.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so we better do the links. Let’s start off with Sarah Hyland.

The Canadian leaders debate was last week. Here is the requisite fact-checking. (Toronto Star)

Donald Trump might be polling on top of the Republican Presidential hopefuls but there are many things that could happen to him that could derail his campaign. (FiveThirtyEight)

After the debate, Donald Trump went to war on Fox News’ Megyn Kelly. Could going after the face of Fox News lead to his undoing? (WP – The Fix)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The Electoral Marathon

anna-kendrick-instagram15-01bI told you that there would be an election call in Canada on Sunday and here we are. The Prime Minister has called an election that will have a campaign period of over double the standard length. We have some links that go into that problem and other issues.

Anyway, it’s time for us to do the very political links. Let’s kick things off with Anna Kendrick in Hawaii from her Instagram. As if you needed another reason to go there.

So the longest federal election campaign in history kicked off on Sunday. How do we have a long campaign, you might wonder? Well, the Prime Minister has timed things to his advantage using his fixed election date law. (The Globe and Mail)

A new autobiography says that Prime Minister Harper’s legendary temper has been frequently turned towards the Supreme Court of Canada. If you are getting your wrists slapped that frequently by the Supreme Court… (National Post)

The economics of failure have failed. It’s time for someone new to save the day. (CBC News)

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Sunday Link-Off: Election Call?

minka-kelly-zimmerman15-01Just when I thought that this might be a quiet week in the news, the Conservative government sounds ready to dissolve Parliament and put us on a long road to an election where they’ll attack ad their way to victory. Granted, polls and projections say Canadians would be happy with an NDP-Liberal coalition to topple the Blues. I’m all for that too.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for us to do the links. Making an all too rare appearance from Parts Unknown, here’s Minka Kelly.

Rumour has it that Prime Minister Harper could call an election as early as today. That would kickstart the longest campaign in Canadian history which would be only to the Conservatives’ advantage. (CBC – The House)

Stephen Harper will run on his economic record but his economic record pegs him as the worst Prime Minister on the economy since World War II. (Press Progress)

If the Trans-Pacific Partnership goes through, the CBC and Canada Post could be required to operate as for-profit businesses. We’re in a hell of a lot of trouble if this is approved. (Huffington Post)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Whatcha Gonna Do, Hulkster?

So I’m not that bright at times. I thought I had finished this post when I went to bed last night (my Fitbit hesitates to call it sleep) but it turns out that I didn’t. All the links were picked and intros written. I just missed all the preamble stuff so I scrambled this together just now.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday and it’s link time. I don’t have anyone to lead off the post with but watch for a ninja edit tonight.

Another set of links, another story about Hulk Hogan. It seems as though his racist comments may not be an isolated incident on his sex tapes. He used the n-word in talking about his daughter’s music producer before turning his salty language on her (Radar Online)

And the Hulkster raised his racist comments with homophobic ones. (Radar Online)

The Hulkster doesn’t have the mortgage on scandal. The Daily Beast dug up a quote from Trump’s first wife in a 1993 book about The Donald that certainly got Trump’s lawyers up in arms. (The Daily Beast)

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Sunday Link-Off: We Coming For You, Hulkster

arianny-celeste-solkissed15-01Well, this was certainly an interesting week in the world of news. I thought that I would be running the usual politics and news links. Instead, we’re talking about a man who admitted on video to being racist while everyone else says that it’s an isolated incident. I’m not sure what to believe but I’ll probably believe the guy who says “I’m a racist” on tape.

Anyway, it’s time for the Sunday links. Let’s stay sort of to theme with UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste.

So the big story of the weekend is Hulk Hogan’s n-word laden rant in his sex tape. (National Enquirer)

Hulk Hogan doesn’t have the best reputation in the wrestling world at this point. Even his apologies are probably questionable considering his history of lying. (Vice Sports)

Outside of downtown Toronto, nobody else is quite seeing the benefit of the Pan-Am Games. (Oshawa This Week)

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