Newsy things normally slow down around this time of the year, as the important people who do newsworthy things go on holidays. Not so much this year as we're now midway through the spectacle that is convention season in the US presidential election – one down, one to go. Shootings in shopping malls in Europe, shootings of unarmed black men in America, they're still ongoing.
The Washington Post has taken the apparently unprecedented step of not endorsing Donald Trump in a stinging piece from its editorial board. Twitter banned Milo Yiannopolous. Laurie Penny wrote a piece about hanging out with Milo at the Republican Convention, just after the ban had been handed down. Lots of people liked Penny's piece, but Shanley Kane didn't. Someone in The Irish Times got wind that there was a disturbance in the force relating to freedom of expression on the internet. The resulting column was remarkably free of context and even facts.
Pokémon Go continues to provide not just news stories but also extensive opportunities for takes of all temperatures.
There were serious privacy concerns, which have already led to threats of legal action in Germany. The app featured an even more labyrinthine EULA than usual, with binding arbitration that a user has to opt out of. Marketing folks and local businesses blessed by the geolocation gods are enthusiastic. Reporters have been scolded in press briefings for playing it. Players in Bosnia were warned about the dangers of wandering into minefields while playing it. A chap in Brooklyn caught them all. Some youths made an illegal border crossing in Montana because of it.
Such was the volume of takes that Medium, now the undisputed unofficial home of hot takes added a Pokémon Go section to its navigation bar.
The most interesting of the lot to me was this, on the history of letterboxing, or your great-grandad's Pokémon Go. 'What Each Pokemon Would Taste Like And How To Eat It' wasn't half bad either.
Worth Pondering
Eye Candy
Totally Confused
Napoleonic battlefield scavenging, crow funerals, cathedral by hand, accidental movie star and the woman who put men on the moon.
Yours etc., @loughlin
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