Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Baltimore did not need more negative publicity this week. But in a bit of fateful timing, the Equality of Opportunity Project of Harvard University has released two papers concluding that the income mobility for poor children in Baltimore City is worse than in any large county in America. Every year spent in Baltimore “reduces a…
[Editor’s Note: The author of this piece is a former Marvel employee and wishes to remain anonymous.] Disney does not care about Marvel’s female market, which makes us virtually invisible. I could probably populate Pluto with the amount of Princess items Disney makes. But where are Gamora and Black Widow? This exclusion of women from Marvel…
The arguments over Black Widow have gotten ugly. Last night, Joss Whedon quit Twitter, with an image that pointed the blame at Twitter haters. But there’s a real issue with Black Widow, and her role in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and it’s worth talking about. It’s worth talking about it like adults. After Whedon abandoned…
By now you’ve probably noticed that a lot of prominent feminists on Twitter have new hand-drawn avatars on their accounts. It’s no accident that they all have a similar style. All the art has been created by the hand of one talented artist: Kiva Bay. The Mary Sue recently had a chance to chat with…
Today in “This is why we can’t have nice things” — Joss Whedon has left Twitter. After a blockbuster weekend for “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the writer and director took an abrupt leave of social media Monday. In his final two tweets, he posted, “Now I may me down to sleep, I pray the lord…
May 5, 2015 2:27 PM “If I could put time in a bottle,” Jim Croce once sang, creating yet another musical idea that could then be sampled by Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs. And it took Sean “P. Diddy” Combs many years and countless dollars he earned from dead rappers, but at last he did put…
When Oscar Grant was shot by transit cop Johannes Mehserle in Oakland in the early hours of January 1, 2009, a week passed with no institutional response, while videos of Grant’s murder spread on YouTube like a prairie fire. Then people rebelled, rioted, and took over the streets of Oakland twice—on January 7 and January 14—and just…
If you aren’t a moron idiot, you probably enjoyed the first Avengers movie from 2012, because it was great. The sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, came out this past weekend, and it’s pretty good, but also, in parts, incredibly fucking stupid. Here are many of the ways that it sucks. Tony Stark is an idiot…
U2 seems to enjoy forcing their music on people unexpectedly, and yesterday, straphangers navigating Grand Central’s subway labyrinth were coerced into attending a concert with Bono & Friends, who performed “Angel of Harlem” by the 42nd Street S shuttle. Cute that you thought you’d be able to read in peace. Stereogum reports the surprise concert…
Amid unfounded, Internet-fueled rumors that U.S. Special Operations Forces might be trying to take over parts of the southwest, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texas State Guard forces under his control to keep an eye on the U.S. military during a large upcoming training exercise. The exercise is called Jade Helm 15. “It is important…