I’m being buried under a couple feet of snow. Looks like a good time for some links!

Crime and Punishment

  * [Election year anti-crime posturing could derail even limited sentencing reform](https://theintercept.com/2016/01/11/sentencing-reform-mandatory-minimums-election-surveillance-drug-treatment/) -- Another election season, another round of politicians stressing how much they hate crime and criminals, as if "tough on crime" attitudes have accomplished anything other than decades of misery.

Transgender Issues

  * [Jewish transgender man gives birth and embraces life as a single "abba"](http://www.jta.org/2016/01/22/news-opinion/united-states/jewish-transgender-man-gives-birth-and-embraces-life-as-a-single-abba) -- OK, it's not really an "issue," but a very sweet story. Still, trying to go through a pregnancy and give birth, as a man, presented some challenges.
  * [Where have all the butches gone?](http://www.shewired.com/lifestyle/2013/09/05/op-ed-where-have-all-butches-gone) -- A discussion of an apparent trend in which more and more individuals who might have originally been considered butch lesbians are instead transitioning as men. Not something I feel qualified to comment on much more than that, but an interesting take nonetheless.

ISIS, Islam, European Migrants, and the Arab World

  * ["Algeria and Morocco must take back deportees": Berlin](http://www.thelocal.de/20160116/germany-wants-algeria-and-morocco-to-take-back-deportees) -- There seems to be a problem with migrants who've committed crimes having their governments refuse to repatriate them, despite existing treaties. Strange situation.
  * [Neither taharrush gamea nor sexism are Arab "cultural practices"](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-shams/sexism-isnt-an-arab-cultural-practice_b_9022056.html) -- An attack on European right-wing groups' effort to "knockout game" Arab refugees.
  * ["I wish I could die": meeting the man who helped trigger the Arab Spring](http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/self-immolation-survivor-looks-back-at-arab-spring-a-1072814.html) -- The sad story of Hosni Kaliya, one of two Tunisian men who set themselves on fire in protest of their treatment by authorities. Having barely survived the ordeal, and having seen what has come of the movements he inadvertently sparked, he regrets the entire experience.
  * [Mini-Republics: a Syrian village seeks to survive amid carnage](http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-village-in-syria-seeks-survival-amid-warfare-a-1070742.html) -- A small village in Syria, neither allied with Assad nor occupied by ISIS, tries to hold itself together while being cut off from the outside world.

Politics

  * [Palin blames son's domestic violence on Obama](http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/01/20/palin-blames-son-s-violence-on-obama.html) -- Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who just endorsed Donald Trump for President, says Obama's lack of respect for soldiers led to her veteran son Track's domestic violence arrest. I think this one speaks for itself.
  * [Hillary Clinton doesn't think she's part of the establishment](http://www.mediaite.com/tv/hillary-clinton-doesnt-think-shes-part-of-the-establishment/) -- Clinton clumsily dodges questions about whether she's part of the political establishment, and it's just silly. Of course you are.
  * [Top Clinton ally: "Black lives don't matter to Bernie Sanders"](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/01/21/david_brock_black_lives_don_t_matter_to_bernie_sanders.html) -- Another ridiculous statement out of the Clinton sphere. Her people seem to panic every time Sanders has a good poll, and it just makes her look foolish. Sanders' handling of racial issues is far from stellar, but accusing him of not caring about black lives is a bit ridiculous.
  * [This is a thing Donald Trump just said. For real. This is real life.](http://www.motherjones.com/contributor/2016/01/shorter-donald-trump-haha-my-supporters-are-so-stupid) -- "I can stand in the of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, okay? It's like, incredible." Self-aware Trump is the most terrifying Trump.

Film and TV

  * [Charlotte Rampling says Oscar diversity outcry is "racist against whites"](http://variety.com/2016/film/news/charlotte-rampling-oscar-boycott-racist-to-whites-1201686158/) -- You always know it's going to be a fun one when somebody claims anti-white racism.
  * [_Master of None_](http://www.vox.com/2016/1/19/10790572/master-of-none-critics-choice-speech)[ would like to thank white guys for their boring TV shows](http://www.vox.com/2016/1/19/10790572/master-of-none-critics-choice-speech) -- _Master of None_ is a great show, by the way, and has earned its accolades. It's true what producer Alan Yang said: if not for white guys making such boring TV shows, _Master of None_ might not get much attention.