Tell Us Your Favorite Pizza Toppings And We'll Tell You Which Spice Girl You Are! Tabs, Fri., Feb. 24
It's Scary!
Marianne Williamson has officially confirmed that she will be running against Biden in the 2024 Democratic primary. I think this means that at least one other person has to run because the idea of having debates with just the two of them is one of the most awkward things I can possibly imagine. [ The Hill ]
A neo-Nazi homeschooling couple is very sad that antifa destroyed their neo-Nazi, pro-Hitler homeschool network. [ VICE ]
What? A McDonald's franchise violated child labor laws? Who could imagine? [ DOL ]
Republicans are gearing up to attack the eternally prematurely correct Rep. Barbara Lee, who is running for Senate in California, over her support for political prisoners Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal. It seems as though they keep trying to make this a thing a lot, particularly now that Peltier and Abu Jamal's cases are no longer cause celebres, which allows them to run their own narratives on the two men's cases. As such, it's always good to do a quick refresher, just to have it in your back pocket if needed. I recommend Incident at Oglala - The Leonard Peltier Story(which is available for $3.99 most places), Warrior: The Life of Leonard Peltier , Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case For Reasonable Doubt? and In Prison My Whole Life . [ Yahoo ]
Former Nebraska county attorney Oliver J. Glass has been sentenced to 9 months for Conspiracy to Commit Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law after using his position to send police officers to basically stalk the guy his ex-wife dumped his ass for in hopes of finding something that would allow him to send the guy to prison. Hard to imagine why any woman would ever leave a charmer like that. [ FBI ]
Ridiculous people are being ridiculous about an episode of Finding Your Roots in which Angela Davis finds out that she is descended from people who got off the Mayflower, acting as if she's the Black version of Craig Cobb finding out that he is part Black, as if Angela Fucking Davis of all people doesn't understand the history of slavery and rape in this country. [ Twitter ]
A bunch of Indiana Republicans voted to defund the Kinsey Sex Institute because of how they hate sex and/or are for once terrified that they're not a bunch of zeros. [ AP ]
Merck pharmaceuticals has slightly tweaked the formula for cancer drug Keytruda and is now hoping to get a brand new patent so that they can continue selling it to Americans for $165,000 a year at its non-discounted price until 2036. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, along with Reps. Pramila Jayapal are pretty sure that's called "patent abuse." The lawmakers have sent a letter to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office asking them to look into this very obvious scam. [ Elizabeth Warren ]
Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced by a Los Angeles County court to another 16 years in prison for a rape he committed in 2013, which the 70-year-old movie producer will serve when his 23-year term is up for another sexual assault in New York. [ CNN ]
On a similar note, R. Kelly has been sentenced to 20 years on top of his 30-year sentence, which means he too will likely die in prison. [ Paper ]
Phil Davis, an actor who is in every show that I like, has quit BAFTA because he didn't like how the awards show went the other night. I don't know about that, but I would very much like there to be more seasons of both "Whitechapel" and "Rose and Maloney," please and thank you. [ Hollywood Reporter ]
The Tennessee legislature voted to outlaw drag shows, specifically barring “male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to prurient interest" either in public or in the presence of a minor. The language in the bill could not only bar drag queens from performing at pride parades, but could ostensibly bar all transgender people from leaving their homes. Why? Because the Tennessee legislature just hates free speech and good times and other human beings. [ The New Republic ]
Rebecca told me that some of you enjoyed the little departure I took a few weeks ago to go on about Leontyne Price for a hot minute — so here's some new operatic hot goss for you: On March 24, Decca Records is releasing a box set of previously unheard Jessye Norman recordings ... much of which the soprano did not approve to be released while she was alive. This includes a recording of highlights from Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, which is an especially big deal as she never performed the complete opera in her lifetime. They are doing so with the approval of her estate, which will be using the proceeds to benefit her philanthropic efforts.
Norman was a notorious perfectionist and would refuse to release something if she felt even one note was off, which means a lot of excellent recordings that would sound incredible to the rest of us were not ever released. This raises some pretty important ethical issues — primarily to what extent an artist ought to have control over things considered to be of great artistic significance after their death. Admittedly, it feels a little dirty but I still really want to hear those recordings, particularly Haydn's Scena Di Berenice (which she did actually approve for release).
Here she is singing "Im Abendrot" from Strauss's Four Last Songs . It's pretty fucking awesome.
The Great Jessye Norman (Strauss Im Abendrot -- VIDEO) www.youtube.com
[ NYT ]
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