Country music is locked in an ideological valence, it has no room for anything other than right-wing dogma, usually expressed through bro-country anthems of drinking and pretty girls and pick-up trucks. The genre basically kicked out progressive singers like Kacey Musgraves, even as she released multiple critically acclaimed and successful albums. And there isn't much room for female country artists right now; in 2022 there was one ONE female solo country artist (Miranda Lambert) that managed to crack the top 100 country songs on country radio. Only two others scored hits by recording duets with male country singers. All the rest were male acts. There just isn't a future for female country artists right now.
Maren Morris has a good voice and great songwriting chops, she already proved she can cross over with "The Middle," so this seems like a logical move.
Starlight has already quietly let slip a massive reduction in prize money, from €50,000 for the race winner to only €2,000. The race’s social media has been silent since July 12, 2022, and the route announcement for the 2023 edition went completely off the radar, with only a Google link posted to the website and no announcements whatsoever.
The organizers are also having trouble scraping together the money to broadcast 90 minutes of each stage. Not good.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General has launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the destruction of Secret Service text messages that may have been relevant to inquiries about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
I, like many gamers, grew up playing Pokémon Red and Nintendo 64 and was obsessed with Nintendo products. I graduated to a PS2 and PS3 and became super into Metal Gear Solid and Call of Duty and Fallout. Also spent a ton of time with the Guitar Hero series. I loved the escape gaming brought me and it genuinely helped me relax....
Same here, they're like a palate cleanser, and they fit a busier schedule better than a 200+ hour open-world immersive experience. There's a place for each, but I really have become fond of pleasant little indie games.
This was a pretty weird article. I understand her frustration in learning the language, I've done it before and it's rough. And I understand her frustration with not having support from the military due to her status, as well as the natural human experience of being far from family and missing home. But those aren't Germany problems, those are either universal in any place you might move to, or they are the products of her own choices.
It also seems obvious that she brings her North American assumptions with her and is partly disappointed that Germany isn't more like what she's used to. She mentions driving, but yeah, it's expensive to drive in Germany. If she chose a small town to live in that didn't have good access to transit, that might be necessary, but it's part of the cost of living there. She mentions big box store shopping, which made me laugh out loud, that's a very North American perspective and even in the U.S. a lot of people would disagree.
Are there cultures more welcoming than Germany? Probably. My German isn't great, I've definitely been criticized for my accent and lack of vocabulary. It felt harsh, but it was also true, and they weren't impolite about it. Is it a reasonable expectation to land in a place and get free language lessons and be welcomed with open arms? Not really, and I would note that Americans probably wouldn't do that either. Heck, in some parts of the country, your welcome would be considerably less polite.
A recent ProPublica investigation showed how ICWA was being unevenly applied in some states, breaking up Native American families that should have received additional protections under the law. There’s still room for improvement, advocates say.
In 2020, along with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a dramatic spike in murders in the United States. This increase in lethal violence, understandably, was covered extensively in national and local media outlets. Yet, much of this coverage lacked critical context. While the increase in murders was significant, the...
For anyone interested, the State Bar of California will livestream John Eastman’s disciplinary hearing tomorrow, June 20 at 10 AM PT. #law #lawfedi #lawprofs #lawyers #democracy #politics #USpol...
In the scramble before the recent end of Texas’s legislative session, a must-pass bill was amended to impose new costs upon renewable energy. This came amid a barrage of anti-solar and wind power measures pushed forward by Republicans to reshape a state that has become the US’s powerhouse of clean energy....
According to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 60% of trips are less than six miles, and three-quarters of all trips are less than 10 miles. We have noted before that this is the fastest ride to zero-carbon; almost anyone can ride an e-bike for six miles under almost any conditions. If there were safe places...
This week, the local gas utility, Eversource, broke ground on a networked geothermal system that will connect to around 40 buildings, including low-income apartments, single-family homes, small businesses, and the neighborhood fire station. Instead of burning fossil fuels for heat, the buildings will rely on zero-emissions heat...
I'm interested in this work because I think utility companies are often standing in the way of the shift to cheaper and cleaner renewable energy. Electric utilities at least have a clearer path towards renewables by installing solar and/or wind farms in most areas, and maybe hydroelectric or geothermal projects if conditions are right. But existing natural gas utilities usually seem to see renewables as the enemy and their executives oppose renewable energy projects in a misguided attempt to keep their "market share," even though it's a market that needs to end.
But if more gas utilities put their expertise to work in drilling and laying pipe for projects like these, I think there would be a good market for it and it could be the future of the utilities to create and service geothermal networks. I hope this project works, and I hope to see more of it.
It really was unlike anything made then or now. The hand-painted backgrounds were so campy and fun, and the costumes and colors were just as outlandish as in the comic, but it went full-bore on the violence and stunts. The case is phenomenal—pretty much everyone but Warren Beatty is amazing—but even Beatty deserves the credit for bringing it to the screen, it was a labor of love for him. I love that it was made, I saw it again last year and it was better than I remembered.
Perhaps most controversially, the government believes it can “persistently” track the phones of “millions of Americans” without a warrant, so long as it pays for the information, a newly declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, ODNI, reveals. Were the government to simply demand...
Man, this is deeply dystopian. While state and federal regulators are having a conniption about TikTok/ByteDance gathering information on Americans, that same information is hoovered up by all the other social media companies and freely sold by data brokers. The response should be sweeping privacy legislation and regulatory reform, but I have very little confidence that will happen in the near future.
Maren Morris Says She’s Leaving Country Music: ‘Chosen to Step Outside’ of ‘Drama Within the Community’ (people.com)
"I’m trying to mature here and realize I can just walk away from the parts of this that no longer make me happy” said the singer-songwriter...
Is the Giro Donne even happening? Well, it looks like it is! (escapecollective.com)
A quiet yet significant reduction in the prize money on offer is just one sign that the situation isn't great.
Apple Is Taking On Apples in a Truly Weird Trademark Battle (www.wired.com)
Apple, the company, wants rights to the image of apples, the fruit, in Switzerland—one of dozens of countries where it’s flexing its legal muscles.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General has DHS watchdog has launched criminal probe into destruction of Jan. 6 Secret Service text messages, sources say (www.nbcnews.com)
The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General has launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the destruction of Secret Service text messages that may have been relevant to inquiries about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
I’ve fallen into a deep gaming rut lately. What helped “get you back into” gaming and rediscover the magic of video games?
I, like many gamers, grew up playing Pokémon Red and Nintendo 64 and was obsessed with Nintendo products. I graduated to a PS2 and PS3 and became super into Metal Gear Solid and Call of Duty and Fallout. Also spent a ton of time with the Guitar Hero series. I loved the escape gaming brought me and it genuinely helped me relax....
I moved to Germany and regret it. I've felt unwelcome by the people, and not even the great healthcare can convince me to stay. (www.businessinsider.com) German
The Supreme Court Upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act. The Long Struggle to Implement the Law Continues. (www.propublica.org)
A recent ProPublica investigation showed how ICWA was being unevenly applied in some states, breaking up Native American families that should have received additional protections under the law. There’s still room for improvement, advocates say.
US murder rate declines dramatically in 2023 — but you probably haven't heard about it (popular.info)
In 2020, along with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a dramatic spike in murders in the United States. This increase in lethal violence, understandably, was covered extensively in national and local media outlets. Yet, much of this coverage lacked critical context. While the increase in murders was significant, the...
For anyone interested, the State Bar of California will livestream John Eastman’s disciplinary hearing tomorrow, June 20 at 10 AM PT. (awscommunity.social)
For anyone interested, the State Bar of California will livestream John Eastman’s disciplinary hearing tomorrow, June 20 at 10 AM PT. #law #lawfedi #lawprofs #lawyers #democracy #politics #USpol...
The Koch-Funded Group Undermining US Clean Energy Goals (www.motherjones.com)
In the scramble before the recent end of Texas’s legislative session, a must-pass bill was amended to impose new costs upon renewable energy. This came amid a barrage of anti-solar and wind power measures pushed forward by Republicans to reshape a state that has become the US’s powerhouse of clean energy....
It's Time For Everyone to Stop Ignoring E-Bikes (www.treehugger.com)
According to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 60% of trips are less than six miles, and three-quarters of all trips are less than 10 miles. We have noted before that this is the fastest ride to zero-carbon; almost anyone can ride an e-bike for six miles under almost any conditions. If there were safe places...
In this Massachusetts neighborhood, nearly every home is switching to geothermal energy (www.fastcompany.com)
This week, the local gas utility, Eversource, broke ground on a networked geothermal system that will connect to around 40 buildings, including low-income apartments, single-family homes, small businesses, and the neighborhood fire station. Instead of burning fossil fuels for heat, the buildings will rely on zero-emissions heat...
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Declassified report reveals that the US government is buying troves of data about its citizens (web.archive.org)
Perhaps most controversially, the government believes it can “persistently” track the phones of “millions of Americans” without a warrant, so long as it pays for the information, a newly declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, ODNI, reveals. Were the government to simply demand...