Greetings Webtaculators! I hope everyone had a safe and spooky Halloween. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: The First
Why: Because the first charge in the investigation of Russian interference in the election will be announced on Monday. This is one week following the delivery of Jeff Flake’s speech against Trump.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: How Not To Rebuild
Why: Because Puerto Rico just canceled this highly suspect deal due to connections with Ryan Zinke, the current Interior Secretary under Trump.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: The March Towards The Dismantling Of Rights
Why: Because the lengths the government went to in order to attempt to deny a person their right over their body , while at the same time highlighting the multiple problems with the treatment of immigrant detainees.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Just Letting Myself In
Why: Because it isn’t good enough that Amazon already listens to everything you do, now they want to physically be there as well.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: 58 Runs And Counting
Why: Because this has been the best baseball to watch in a long time. And I’m not just saying that because the Dodgers are losing (sorry!).

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: How To Not Be Yourself
Why: Because Andy Serkis is best known for playing characters that he could never actually be.

TELEVISION THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Even Stranger Things
Why: Because Stranger Things was back. I’m assuming everyone already binge watched over the weekend.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Take A Plunge
Why: Because Fever Ray (one half of The Knife) just came out with her first new album in 8 years. Or, if you want lighter, nerdier pop, Weezer released a perfectly OK new album as well.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: A Good List Of Books
Why: Because these are the books that you will probably never get around to reading, even though you probably should.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Pick your Poison
Why: Because three very well reviewed games were released on Friday. If you want to kill Nazis, play Wolfenstein 2. If you want to explore ancient Egypt, play Assassins Creed: Origins. Finally, if you want to play one of the most creative and endearing takes on one of the most beloved games franchises ever, play Super Mario Odyssey.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: David S. Pumpkins Forever; Doing Halloween Right; Eat Your Art
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Furniture For My Cat
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™

Greetings Webtaculators! The best thing about this week was that it had the lowest amount of Trump driven news in a while. Sure, I guess he disrespected yet another military family, regarding the death of a soldier in Niger (why US forces were killed in Niger [which is here] is a country US soldiers really have no business being killed in, and is a whole different problem that will probably not be answered any time soon). This is especially strange considering he just finished spending a few weeks yelling at the NFL about disrespecting the military and proposing mandatory flag worship to show respect, but whatever. The man obviously contains multitudes. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Remembering What Presidential Means
Why: Because while our current version went golfing, (definitely for his 31st time, and likely for his 59th), our five living past presidents got together to do a fundraiser for all of the US’ hurricane victims.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: Economics 101
Why: Because theoretically, people should be willing to pay whatever the price the market will bear for a given product. In the real world, people will riot.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Do The Math
Why: Because I realize that a bunch of lawyers went to law school because they hated math, but it is not an excuse not to utilize quantitative data where it is available.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The Power Of #
Why: Because the #MeToo movement has been one of the most powerful ways for women to explicitly communicate just how widespread sexual harassment is. It is an extremely brave thing to do. The absolutely insane part is that there are apologists who just do not get it. For my own part, I am sorry, I support you, and I will do better.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: Sports Day
Why: Because all the sports were on the television. Sadly, the Dodgers are going to the World Series.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (39 min. listen)
What: Rare Feeling
Why: Because I know that I already posted about Twain a few weeks ago, but Mt.’s album just came out, and I’ve been letting it take me to another place on continuous repeat. This is essential music.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: A Return To Daemons
Why: Because I spent the last few weeks re-reading His Dark Materials in preparation for the release of The Book of Dust, Phillip Pullman’s followup trilogy. Revisiting these as an adult has given me a much greater appreciation to the themes of free will and spirituality that are presented in the first novels, and I’m glad that someone is still speaking to children in such a direct manner.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: A Walk Through South Park
Why: Because the kids of South Park are still in 4th grade, even though the rest of us have grown up.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Only The Best; More Twain; HA-HA, Nelson’s A Girl!
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Vinyl Rare Feeling
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™

Greetings Webtaculators. We just can’t catch a break this year, can we? As most of you are aware, the areas of Sonoma and Napa Counties in California are engulfed in flames. I grew up in the county immediately south of Sonoma and Napa, and currently live close by in the East Bay. The national news coverage has mostly focused on the “wine country” aspect of this disaster, but Napa and Sonoma, especially the parts that were hit hardest, consist of working class homes, schools, and communities. I have many friends and colleagues who no longer have homes, because they burned to the ground. I have been living in a surreal haze for the past week, coming home every day under a setting blood red sun due to the smoke saturated sky.  If you can help, please feel free to donate here. If you’re reading this and have been affected by the fires and need help, please feel free to reach out. I will gladly bring meals, donate necessities, or help out in any way I can. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: Tubbs Fire
Why: Because this is what global warming looks like – unprecedented floods and fires.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Destabilizing The Health Market For Fun
Why: Because Trump is opening up the healthcare market to low-premium policies. While this sounds good in theory (I’m healthy! Why should I pay a lot of money for something I don’t need?), it really means that when, let’s say you, I don’t know, have a freak brain issue that sends you to the emergency room and requires multiple visits to specialists, multiple MRIs, a spinal tap, and plenty of drugs, you can bet that your cheap coverage will not pay for most of it. Have fun in forever debt. Oh – that’s not even mentioning people with pre-existing conditions – but you don’t have to worry about them, because they will be dead. In other health related news, Republican Senators teamed up with drug companies to kill Americans with opioids. If I sound angry, that’s because I am.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (Long read)
What: The Case Against Trump
Why: Because the Brookings Institute compiled 100+ pages of information regarding what is currently known about Trump’s potential obstruction of justice.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: VR Round 2
Why: Because people hate wires (see phones without wires).

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: I Believe That We Will… Oh. Shit. Nevermind.
Why: Because America is definitely far from #1 in the only sport that the entire world seems to agree is the most important sport. Here’s who you should root for in the World Cup instead.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: Good
Why: Because the fallout from Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment is only just beginning.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. watch)
What: Protest Song
Why: Because Marshall Mathers spits hot fire. For something non-political, check out the new St. Vincent or Beck. Both are very good escapes.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. look)
What: What The Apocalypse Looks Like
Why: Because the fires are still not under control.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. look)
What: Good Books
Why: Because the National Book Awards people know a good book when they read one.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The Ethics Of Orc Murder
Why: Because the new Lord of the Rings game is really fun, aside from the troubling premise that your character enslaves members of a fictional race for the purpose of making them kill each other for your entertainment and profit. Or you can just spend your time killing Kumail Nanjiani.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Line Of The Mountain King;  Take On Me; Walk Off
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Rain
Why: Because The North Bay deserves it.

Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™

Greetings Webtaculators. This week was bad. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Stop. Shooting. People.
Why: Because last weekend, as I was finishing up the previous edition of Webtacular World, I saw a tweet about a potential shooter in Las Vegas. I did not go to bed until around 3AM, and am not even sure how much I actually slept. I was too busy trying to make sense of the fact that a cowardly, wealthy white man decided to amass an arsenal and then unload hundreds of rounds into a concert. Over the following days, and after the first deluge of misinformation, I felt a continued numbness for a country that still widely thinks that someone’s ability to own weapons capable of such destruction are somehow paramount to their freedom. But I’ve already been through my thoughts on this before. So let’s just look on the bright side, right? Hey, at least mass shootings are profitable. Who cares that our country has a deep sickness regarding our actual care for each other? We should just roll over, give up, and accept these sort of things as the new normal, after we tweet our “warmest condolences,” of course. Nothing can be done to fix this, don’t politicize this, but still go to Vegas and party and drink and gamble and shoot your fears away. Everything will be just fine.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Do Not Pass Go, Equifax
Why: Because the Monopoly Man is the best thing to happen to protesting in a while.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: The Kennedy Question
Why: Because a lot of the way our future elections will be determined will be based on this gerrymandering case.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Get Your Politics Out Of My Sports
Why: Because this administration is full of stupid children. Pence wasted $250,000 of taxpayer money for this bullshit.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: A Movie Titan’s Downfall
Why: Because much like the shooting, I am no longer surprised by the behavior of “powerful” men.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: RIP Tom
Why: Because I am lucky that I was able to see Tom Petty perform multiple times. He was truly one of the greats.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: Scary Book Covers For Scary Times
Why: Because all of the art in Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark is terrifying.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Pay To Win
Why: Because a number of modern games are relying on people buying in game items in a gambling-type fashion in order to make their character perform better.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Fan 1, Dude 0; Hot Wings 1, Terry Crews 0; Goose 1, Farmer 0; Rick And Morty 1, Customers, 0.
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Future Jacket
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™

Greetings Webtaculators. Thanks for sticking around for 200 weeks of the news I think is important (at least I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person who’s reading these… Hello? Is anyone else out there? [Crickets]). Well, at least I’m keeping myself entertained, busy, and out of trouble. I think it’s fitting that something I partially started as a method of procrastination for doing other useful things has become something that requires me to not to procrastinate in order to get done. I’m sure there’s a perfect Yiddish or German word out there that describes that exact situation, but sadly I don’t know it yet (there’s probably a Yiddish or German word for not knowing the perfect word for a situation, too). Anyways, here’s to hopefully a few hundred more of these, because why not? On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (10 min. reads)
What: Something Is Wrong With Democracy
Why: Because right now we have a President of supposedly one of the most democratic societies in the world throwing a tantrum as a part of that society in dire need of assistance, and all he can think to do is offer them a participation trophy, while at the same time undercutting his staff who are trying to avoid nuclear war. Meanwhile, in Europe, the Catalan independence movement voted in referendum to separate themselves from Spain, which violently opposed the vote.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Tax Me
Why: Because cutting taxes for people who don’t need tax cuts will not help the United States, regardless of how hard you want to believe trickle down economics is actually a thing that works. Also, stop arguing that people in the U.S. pay in more taxes than people in other countries. It’s wrong.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Fly Into The Fired Zone
Why:Also, disgraced former Heath Secretary for using over $1,000,000 of taxpayer funded money for using private jets.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: The Real Rocket Man
Why: Because why should’t we be able to take a rocket to New York?

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (don’t read)
What: No Sports News Today
Why: Because all of my teams suck and basketball is bad and baseball is bad and football is bad football is bad and football is bad and football is bad.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: The Real Darkest Timeline
Why: Because it’s good to remember that great science fiction can always be worse than reality. Annihilation looks pretty good, too.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: New Sounds
Why: Because I’m mostly excited for new St. Vincent, especially if it continues to sound what she’s released so far.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (long look)
What: Go Somewhere, Shoot Something
Why: Because a few of my friends have just got back from amazing trips where they have taken amazing pictures, and it makes me want to go to those places and take pictures, but I can’t because I have to work, so I’ll just look at these.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: The Death Of A Playboy
Why: Because people claim to have read Playboy for the articles.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: Longing For SNEStalgia
Why: Because the old stuff is good. So is the new old stuff.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: All Night Long; SNL’s Back; Back Again
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Super Lazy Bike Wheel
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™