A round-up of non-fashion news links and political actions from the past week.


News

“Rather than disavowing those with whom we disagree, this line of reasoning goes, we must understand them, and see the humanity in their anxieties… But in the rush to be radically empathetic, and reckon with another’s disaffection, a different kind of normalization occurs: We validate an identity politics that is often rooted in denying other people’s right to the same.”

The New Yorker: What Normalization Means

“The Solution to Online Harassment Is Simple: Woman Should Just Log Off”

Gizmodo: 10 Headlines About Science and Tech From the White House’s New Chief Strategist

“We thought he was leaving that world of entertainment and climbing over the wall into politics. In fact, what he did was he pulled the world of politics into the world of reality television… He understood the dynamics of the new media system better than the people who ran the old media system. You don’t get fewer followers saying outrageous stuff on Twitter. You don’t get lower ratings playing the villain on reality TV. Playing the villain gets you higher ratings on reality TV and saying outrageous stuff on Twitter gets you more followers.”

Mother Jones: Van Jones: “Hope for the Best, Expect and Prepare for the Worst”

“In a democracy, we’re making choices that govern each other. So yes, we all have an obligation to understand each other. Rural parts of the United States have to understand that the people in cities are humans too, that they are working hard to make ends meet, that they have families and struggles of their own… But I think the fact that most of our information is produced in the cities means that we have to put special effort to understand what is going on in rural places. I think the way this election caught many of us by surprise is a case in point.”

The Washington Post: Donald Trump Didn’t ‘Hoodwink’ His Voters, Says Professor Who Has Spent Nearly a Decade Researching Them

“Of the 20 top-performing false election stories identified in the analysis, all but three were overtly pro-Donald Trump or anti-Hillary Clinton. Two of the biggest false hits were a story claiming Clinton sold weapons to ISIS and a hoax claiming the pope endorsed Trump.”

Buzzfeed: Viral Fake Election News Outperformed Real News on Facebook in Final Months of the Us Election

Action

Southern Poverty Law Center: Stephen Bannon Nas No Business in the White House

NextGen Climate: Tell President Obama to Permanently Protect the Arctic and Atlantic From Offshore Drilling

Ultra Violet: Tell The Media: Do Your Job!