Politics

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Wednesday Link-Off: Where’s the Money?

anne-v-gqmexico13-03Sorry about the week starting off a little slow on posts. A lot of time went into last week so we’re a bit behind on this week. There are a couple of good gaming posts to close the week that I’m sure you’ll like. For now, here’s the most featured woman in SI Swimsuit history, Anne V.

The big story of the week is NBA player Jason Collins coming out of the closet to make him the first player in an American team sports league to “come out of the closet” as gay. (Sports Illustrated)

President Obama is having trouble getting his agenda through Congress. Compromising isn’t getting him far. He may just have to use his charisma to get his policy proposals through. (Washington Post)

The Harper Conservatives swept to power promising fiscal responsibility. Good luck running the on that when you’ve just lost $3.1 billion that was supposed to go to an anti-terror program. (CBC News)

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Sunday Link-Off: Taking Control

nina-agdal-nicholasroutzen13-02It’s the end of the week. It’s been a busy one at Lowdown HQ too with all the work we did for Canadian Gaming Week. Maybe we’ll do that again in the future but for now we’ll resume normal programming. So let’s start today’s links with Nina Agdal.

The week before last was about two things: Terrorism and gun control. At first, those were two separate issues. Now, you can actually link the two as bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev was on an FBI watch list but was still able to buy high-powered firearms. (Bloomberg)

Midterm elections in the US Congress is still a ways away but gun control could be the biggest issue in 2014. (The New Republic)

Australia banned all semi-automatic and automatic firearms despite concerns over the effect it might have over people’s safety. Almost 20 years later, Australia is one of the safest places in the world to live. To be honest, I felt safer in Australia than I did in Toronto or Ottawa. (Uproxx)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Dealing with Problems

emilia-clarke-gq13-01Hope you’ve enjoyed the racing coverage over the last couple of days because there isn’t much chance of a racing post through next week. We’re working on some neat things over the next stretch, though, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, since Game of Thrones (AKA Game of Owns! [I’ll show myself out]) is back this weekend, here’s Emilia Clarke.

Senator Rob Portman was against gay marriage until his son came out to him. After that, Portman had to toe the party line during the 2012 election campaign. His son, Will, talks about coming out to his father and the effect it had on both of them. (Yale Daily News)

Matt Lauer is both the most popular and most hated man on The Today Show. He might be the face of the show but not everyone is happy with how he made that happen. (New York Magazine)

Rob Ford’s alcohol problem may be getting him in trouble and his staff is getting concerned. (Toronto Star)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Out of the News

kim-cloutier-femilet13-01Well, I haven’t heard many good things about yesterday’s gaming column about how gamers rights are virtually non-existent. I’ve heard that I’m a bit of a whiner for thinking that gamers deserve to be treated like everyone else and trying to keep people from being hosed by terrible games. Like I said yesterday, that’s the sort of in-fighting that will hurt us all in the long-run.

Anyway, one thing I won’t get complaints about is featuring Kim Cloutier.

The legendary free weekly newspaper The Boston Phoenix is closing its doors. File this one under why we can’t have nice things. (Gawker)

It’s not just small local papers that might be on the way out. It seems as though local TV newscasts could soon follow in their print brethren’s footsteps. (New York Times)

The two Steubenville football players charged with rape were convicted. While most people weren’t exactly sympathetic to those guys, CNN treated them like victims. (BuzzFeed)

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Sunday Link-Off: Playing Favourites

olivia-wilde-marieclaire13-05It’s the end of a long week of writing. From Monday to Friday, we posted over 9,000 words. Doing a thorough week of blogging is a bit tiring so I’ll apologize in advance if next week is a bit quieter. However, we have the F1 race recap (assuming that it didn’t get rained out overnight while I was asleep) and a new gaming column coming up this week. I’m hoping to get a review for The Showdown Effect done this week too.

Right, you’re not here to hear me ramble on about blog stuff. Since Jackie didn’t feature her yesterday, here’s Olivia Wilde.

What is the Republicans’ game with the sequester? They’re actually looking to cut any specific thing. They just want cuts, wherever they may come from. (Think Progress)

Watch out, celebrity tweeters. The Federal Trade Commission is thinking about cracking down on paid ads that you post on Twitter. (Wall Street Journal)

Cardinal Bergoglio came from absolutely nowhere to become Pope Francis. After Cardinal Ratzinger won the Papacy as the favourite the last time out, you’d be forgiven if you thought that the favourite winning was the norm. However, it’s really the exception and long shots winning are the norm. (FiveThirtyEight)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Hoaxed

danielle-fishel-maxim13-02It’s time to take a break from F1 preview week to take a look at everything else that’s been happening in the world so far this week with our set of Wednesday links. Let’s start this off with Topanga- I mean, Danielle Fishel.

And you thought that Manti Te’o was catfished bad. A theoretical particle physicist and UNC professor was duped into believing that he was talking to model Denise Milani. (New York Times)

George W. Bush’s lasting legacy in the GOP might not be the economic crisis but starting the Iraq War which might have directly led to the Republican Party getting annihilated in the 2008 election. (Washington Post)

What happens when BC Premier Christy Clark shows some personality? She gets criticized. Damn uptight media. (Political Points)

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Sunday Link-Off: Sequestered

jennifer-love-hewitt-shape13-07While the US government may have been sequestered (or maybe it’s just the collective sanity of the Congress that’s been sequestered), we’re still in action. Also still in action, Jennifer Love Hewitt. Terrible segue but still a great picture even if she’s looking a little thin/Photoshopped in this one.

The NRA will bully people, especially the news media, if they try to access records of people who are registered gun owners. However, they access that info regularly for fundraising. Hypocrites much? (Gawker)

In the latest case of the US Congress playing chicken with the global economy, the mandatory spending cuts negotiated in 2010 called “the sequester” started this week. So what exactly is it? (Washington Post)

I’ve probably put this post too far up in the post but I found it interesting just the same. Folks are accusing Budweiser of watering down its beer. (The Week)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The Medium is the Message

cintia-dicker-si13-08I know updates have been a little random lately but I hope to have things back to normal by next week. Granted, sometimes I’m not sure what normal is around these parts but I’m sure we’ll all sort it out eventually. In the meantime, here’s my favourite SI Swimsuit model Cintia Dicker.

Just to prove that I’m very fair and balanced with my dissemination of political links, here’s a not at all right-leaning article about how the Obama White House is able to control the message out of 1600 Penn. (Politico)

You thought the possibility of Ashley Judd running for the Senate was all a big laugh didn’t you? Well, the GOP is taking it seriously. They’ve already created an attack ad against her. (New York Times)

A recent Gallup poll says that only 3.5% of Americans are gay. Could that number possibly be accurate? (The Atlantic Wire)

After the jump, the evil of Bleacher Report, trolling the Beliebers and Vanna White on The Price is Right. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: State of the Union

kate-upton-si13-17Alright, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue came out yesterday and Kate Upton was on the cover. That means that we are sort of obligated to feature her today.

A day after I give Esquire a hard time over its content over on et geekera, they turn around and do a pretty good profile of the man who shot Osama bin Laden. (Esquire)

One of the big stories to come out that Esquire profile is the state of benefits for veterans. Regardless of what the truth is for the shooter, Obamacare is still a good deal. (Wonkblog)

Last night’s GOP response to the State of the Union was made by Marco Rubio. Is he the future of the Republican Party? (Washington Post)

After the jump, was the Battle of Hoth a strategic blunder, how to find Matt Damon in Morocco and zombies invade Montana. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: What If…

nina-agdal-aerie13-11Well, it’s official. I was wrong about this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover. I thought SI would pass on Kate Upton for the second-straight time because she might have been overexposed and they could make waves and bigger headlines with a fresh face like Nina Agdal. Turns out that I was wrong and they think that Kate will sell more copies than the other options. So, for no particular reason, including bitterness, here’s Nina Agdal.

We’re less than a year from the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and it sure looks like the Russians have been taking some liberties with their workforce while trying to get venues ready. (The Economist)

One of the most unexpected big topics in American politics this week was who the President can order to be killed. If Nixon was alive, he would certainly be an expert on that. (The New Yorker)

Speaking of Presidents of the United States, in his retirement, George W. Bush has become a bit of an artist. (Gawker)

After the jump, the what ifs of sports, a look at the greatness of Community and the President does Pokemon. Continue reading →