Matt Taibbi's New Book

Read a little bit about Insane Clown President at Rolling Stone.

Kattomic Energy Book Club pick for January

The phrase "rape culture" has recently resurfaced in American discourse--fueled by the charges against predators as diverse as Bill Cosby, Bill O'Reilly, and Bill Clinton and the boasts of our president elect--but this book does the best job of clarifying the "problem" and offering solutions.
This is from the product page:

Every seven minutes, someone in America commits a rape. And whether that's a football star, beloved celebrity, elected official, member of the clergy, or just an average Joe (or Joanna), there's probably a community eager to make excuses for that person.

In Asking for It, Kate Harding combines in-depth research with an in-your-face voice to make the case that twenty-first-century America supports rapists more effectively than it supports victims. Drawing on real-world examples of what feminists call "rape culture"—from politicos' revealing gaffes to institutional failures in higher education and the military—Harding offers ideas and suggestions for how we, as a society, can take sexual violence much more seriously without compromising the rights of the accused.

Read the Rolling Stone interview with Kate Harding here.

Investigative Journalism is not Dead

“Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it, so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the jest is over, and the tale hath had its effect: like a man, who hath thought of a good repartee when the discourse is changed, or the company parted; or like a physician, who hath found out an infallible medicine, after the patient is dead.”
― Jonathan Swift

Fake news is everywhere today. The PEOTUS blames the press itself, labeling reporters "dishonest" (at best) or "scum" (at worst). Delegitimizing the press, trying to muzzle it, is a familiar first step on the road to autocracy, which makes it all the more important to seek out information and compare notes and think.

Don't believe every Tweet you read. Instead, seek out real news, which is currently coming from a variety of unlikely sources, including Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and Teen Vogue.  The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), founded by the Center for Public Integrity, is a group of 165 investigative journalists in more than 65 countries. Most famous for breaking the "Panama Papers" story, they have also exposed smuggling, trafficking, and dirty dealings in a number of industries, including Big Tobacco and Asbestos. You can find their website here.

The organization cherishes its role as "global muckraker" and is dedicated to:  ensuring all reports we publish are accurate. If you believe you have found an inaccuracy let us know.