Greetings Webtaculators! On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: The Approximation Of Justice
Why: Because Derek Chauvin was convicted. This is not the culmination of the end of police brutality against Black Americans (see the number of stories about people killed by police just last week), but it is an important turning point – police are no longer de facto immune from their actions while on the job. There is still much work to be done.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: It’s The Climate, Stupid
Why: Because there is a staggering cost associated with humanity’s inability to understand and deal with how current actions lead to destruction in the not-so-far future. At least we’re finally trying again.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: Who Polices The Policemen?
Why: Because AG Garland is investigating the Minneapolis PD.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Out Of The Frying Pan
Why: Because just as we’re all getting ready to emerge from our COVID nightmare, those of us who live in California are about to be living in drought conditions. Hooray…

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Well That Was Fast
Why: Because the Super League super failed.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (long look)
What: The Oscars!
Why: Because I’m sure you’re definitely watching this, since you obviously saw all of these movies this year… Or you’re just laughing out loud because you just watched someone get chopped in half by a spinning hat in the perfectly stupid Mortal Kombat movie. One thing to note that the Oscars is finally getting right is acknowledging the work of non-white male actors and directors (FINALLY).

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Break Out Your Flannel
Why: Because Dinosaur Jr.’s new album does an excellent job of transporting listeners right back to 1995.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: What COVID Does
Why: Because India is being ravaged by the disease in a catastrophic second wave. We are not through this yet.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Super Black
Why: Because Blackness in comics is coming to the forefront.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK ()
What: Revisit The Beginning
Why: Because Nier Replicant was re-released as in an updated version of the mostly overlooked masterpiece. The reason why this game still matters is because its sequel – NieR:Automata, remains one of the most affecting games I have ever played. It’s very strange playing a new game that originally came out over a decade ago, since it still carries a lot of the baggage of those older design choices (some of which are made even more awkward due to the way the game purposefully examines and cribs from even OLDER games – being stuck in a haunted house that utilizes the Resident Evil 1 camera and movement is no longer something that should be considered fun!). However, the whole thing is worth it just to feel triumphs and despair that can be told so well through the medium.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Bunster Posey; Levar Burton Is A Treasure; So Is Jack Black
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: A Baseball Loving Therapy Rabbit
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 a year’s worth these posts. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: 20 Years In Afghanistan
Why: Because it remains entirely unclear of what long term goals America accomplished.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: All Your Base Are Belong To Coin
Why: Because the cryptocurrency’s IPO hit a market cap of $85 billion on its debut.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Fixing What Doesn’t Want To Be Fixed
Why: Because policing in America remains fundamentally broken, but too much of the population remains OK with the status quo for that to change. Even when it results in the death of children.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: RIP To The Inventor Of The PDF
Why: Because the part of his life story that needs more explanation is how Charles Geschke survived his kidnapping.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Rocking The Biggest Boat
Why: Because this proposal would completely upend the parity of European soccer.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Nobody Call Bob
Why: Because Bob Odenkirk successfully transformed himself from an alt-comedian to an action star.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: Broken Record
Why: Because Taylor Swift upended the Beatles’ long-standing record by charting three number one records in less than a year.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: YBCA 10
Why: Because SF’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts just launched an artist collective to develop creativity through health in wellbeing in various communities.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Some Stories Do Not Need To Be Told
Why: Because the man who killed Breonna Taylor does not need to be able to profit for ending a person’s life.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: The 2000’s Are Alive
Why: Because Outriders continues the tradition of completely stupid stories somehow working as long as the game play is good enough.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Honk; Hog Wild; Steph Curry Remains Fun To Watch
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: A Better Normal
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Greetings Webtaculators! I was lucky enough to get my first Pfizer COVID shot this past week. I was given a drug made in by American and German companies for free in a local junior college gymnasium by a nurse from Tennessee. Humanity can be good when we actually try. Let’s keep trying. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Same As It Ever Was
Why: Because tensions are flaring again between Israel and Iran after an apparent attack on Iranian nuclear capabilities.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Taxation With Representation
Why: Because the taxes are too damn low.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Slow Walk
Why: Because President Biden is creating a commission to study the possibility of expanding the Supreme Court. With rulings like this that put belief before public health concerns, they had better study quickly.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: The Plight Of The Modern Factory Worker
Why: Because Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama just voted against unionizing.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Racism And Golf
Why: Because golf is still a predominantly white game, even though Hideki Matsuyama just won the Masters.

TELEVISION THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Exterminate All The Brutes
Why: Because this visual essay is one of the most impactful discussions on how just how much European racism has tarnished the world over the last thousand years.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: RIP DMX
Why: Because I had forgotten how much I listened to DMX in the summer of 1998 until I replayed “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot” for the first time in decades and realized I still knew most of the words to almost every song. DMX was not a perfect human by any means, but considering the hell he went through in his life, it is surprising how far he came.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (11 min. listen)
What: Rock On
Why: Because Dave Grohl wrote a book about his life.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Ping-Pong Video Game Diplomacy
Why: Because it’s about time that the government realizes how much of the world plays together.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: I Don’t Know How I Feel About Mini Stay Puft, But I Feel Very OK About Paul Rudd; The Muppets: Ranked; The Most Prime Optimus
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Just A Real, Actual Transformer At This Point
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Greetings Webtaculators. Happy Easter! On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (long reads)
What: A Study In Contrasts
Why: Push for a trillion dollar infrastructure plan, or bilk your followers, be racist, and defend the trafficking of underage girls? 

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: How To Lose Billions Of Dollars
Why: Because a lack of financial disclosures allow banks and the wealthy to destroy markets.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: The Destruction Of Voting Rights
Why: Because voter suppression is on the rise around the US.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: And Winter Gave Spring And Summer A Miss
Why: Because it already looks like fire season is in full swing.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. reads)
What: Two Kinds Of Madness
Why: Because one is the good kind, with the UCLA / Gonzaga game being an instant classic, and the other being that the MLB had to move their All-Star Game because Georgia hates democracy.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. watch)
What: Jammin’ Like 1996
Why: Because Space Jam: A New Legacy’s trailer just dropped.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: Maybe Try Some Of These?
Why: Because I’ve got nothing for ya this week.

ART THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: A Return 
Why: Because museums are starting to reopen in California.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: The Motherlode
Why: Because someone finally decided to write about the history of women in hip-hop.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Subscription To Fun
Why: Because both Apple and Microsoft pushed huge new releases this month to their very similar philosophy of play anywhere for a few bucks a month.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Key And Peele And Babies; How Algorithms Discriminate;  Peeps – Revisited
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: A Week Without Mass Murder
Why: Because Brian deserves it. I know I have asked for this multiple times, but we can’t seem to stop ourselves.

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