• With No Warning, House Republicans Vote to Gut Independent Ethics Office. In other words, they know they’re going to get up to some shady shit and don’t want to be held accountable. This is bullshit. The full House votes on it today. If you have time, please call your representative to lodge your protest.
• America Becomes a Stan. “Cults of personality are actually the norm in the “stans,” the Central Asian countries that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union, all of which are ruled by strongmen who surround themselves with tiny cliques of wealthy crony capitalists. Americans used to find the antics of these regimes, with their tinpot dictators, funny. But who’s laughing now?”
• The New Year and the Bend of the Arc.
• 7 bad science and health ideas that should die with 2016.
• The extinction crisis is far worse than you think.
• What Kids Need From Grown-Ups (But Aren’t Getting).
• The Stanford professor who pioneered praising kids for effort says we’ve totally missed the point.
• What Happens to the Economy if Young People Never Buy Homes?
• Why Some Filmmakers Make Viewers Work To Figure Out What’s Going On. I happen to enjoy movies that don’t cater to the lowest common denominator, including the one discussed here.

Things of Note:

Day 3 of the new year, and it’s gone pretty much as expected (personally, politically, etc.). New Years Eve was spent in a glittery dress, with the hubs and friends. It was low-key. It was the first year I haven’t seen the ball drop (on TV) in Times Square, though, so it kind of feels unreal, or unfinished.

There are some really good things coming in 2017, on a personal level. I’m hoping all of the very worrying political nonsense doesn’t shade my whole year with stress and anxiety. Time will tell.

How did you ring in the new year?
 

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