YAY FOR THE GAY! THIS IS ONE WAY TO SEND A POINTED MESSAGE TO RUSSIA IN ADVANCE OF THE OLYMPICS. SCORE, U.S.A.!: “What’s more, note that the U.S. Olympic delegation is traditionally led by someone from the White House – current or former president, vice president, or member of the First Family. For Sochi, as Rachel noted on the show last night, Obama tapped former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, which means no one from the White House or even from the president’s cabinet will be on hand for the opening ceremony. National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden told reporters yesterday that the president’s schedule won’t allow him to attend the games in person, but he’ll be rooting for American Olympians from the White House. ‘He knows they will showcase to the world the best of America – diversity, determination and teamwork,’ Hayden said.” (via MSNBC)
SOMETIMES HAVING A PUSSY RIOT REALLY WORKS, EVEN ON PENIS PUTIN: “The Pussy Riot pair have been incarcerated since March 2012, a month after they staged a punk-prayer protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin inside Moscow's main cathedral. Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina and a third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, were convicted in August 2012 of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in prison. Samutsevich was later freed on appeal. The potential amnesty for the women comes just a week after Russia's Supreme Court ordered a review of the guilty verdicts that sent Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina to labor camps, citing legal errors by the trial court that convicted them. Earlier this year, Tolokonnikova staged a hunger strike to protest conditions at her penal colony before health concerns forced her to suspend the strike. She was later transferred to a new prison in Siberia, where she was hospitalized with an unspecified illness.” (via Rolling Stone)
SHAMELESS EXCUSE TO PLAY TEARS FOR FEARS' NEW COVER OF ANIMAL COLLECTIVE’S “MY GIRLS” HERE! (PRINCE’S PUSSY CONTROL IS YOUTUBE BLOCKED, NATCH):
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CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF MAKING YOUR FRIENDS (OR LOBBYIST OVERLORDS) DO YOUR FAKE DIRTY WORK. WELL PLAYED, SEA WORLD: “It is somewhat bizarre that bang in the middle of a particularly damaging PR crisis, the corporation that could and should possess the ability to defend itself, is lying down. Yet outside of a few carefully worded missives and statements, all requests for SeaWorld's ‘side of the story’ have been consistently declined, rejected and ignored. It is perhaps easier to label everyone not in agreement with their perspective a radical activist. So does SeaWorld have a credible answer for Blackfish the movie? If so, then it has not produced it yet. The company approach instead banks on reticence and ignorance and anticipates that the majority of media outlets — just like its many visitors, won't dig too deeply into either its history, or the inner workings of its operations.” (via Digital Journal)
UMM, WATCH WHERE YOU’RE WALKING
OR TAKE A LONG DIGITAL WALK OFF A SHORT PIER?: “She was still out in the water lying on her back in a floating position because she told us later that she couldn't swim," Senior Constable Dean Kelly of the state water police told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "She still had her mobile phone in her hand and initially she apologized and said sorry." (via ABC News)
FINALLY, TAKE A MINUTE TO READ THIS AMAZING ORAL HISTORY OF THE LAST EPISODE OF SIX FEET UNDER. IF NOT, JUST CRY ALONG TO THE LAST TEN MINUTES BELOW: “Somebody said, ‘We should just kill everybody’ — I wish I could remember which other writer it was who pitched this, because it wasn’t me — and everybody laughed. And then whoever it was said, ‘No, I’m serious. We should jump ahead in time and see everybody at the moment of their death.’ At which point I went, ‘Of course.’ I mean, that’s the perfect way to end this show. How else could you do it?” (via NYMag Vulture)
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