Weekend Reading: The Post Roller Rink Edition

My kids had today off school. Our school district makes Presidents Day into a four day weekend for some reason. So Mr. Snarky will work from home with them on Monday, and I had them today. I worked in the morning, and then took them to the rollerskating rink this afternoon. We had a great time. Petunia likes me to skate with her, so I spent a couple of hours skating slowly next to her. Actually, by the end of our time there, she was moving at a decent rate. Pumpkin ran into some friends from school and basically ignored me and Petunia, except when she wanted money for a snack. But that was OK, too. It is fun to see her having fun with her friends.

And now it is time to get my links posted before I go make dinner. I have a good mix for you this week:

First, the news about our slow-moving national catastrophe:

Josh Marshall on the weird and dangerous ground we're on with all of the leaks from the intelligence community.

Brian Beutler on that press conference and the government meltdown.

Shakesville has a good letter to the people who are complaining that Hillary Clinton should be doing something different right now.

And a music student took the words from Clinton's concession speech and made a song, and it is music student earnest but it might make you cry:

I can't decide whether voter ID laws are the biggest threat to our democracy, or if gerrymandering is.  Arnie (who helped change how CA draws our districts) has an ad out against gerrymandering. And a new study shows that voter ID laws do indeed suppress the votes of minorities, even though the type of voter fraud they aim to prevent is essentially non-existent.

Renewable energy is picking up more support from Republican governors. 

What the narrowly averted crisis at the Oroville dam says about our future with climate change. It is raining again, but so far, officials think things will be OK.

We can try to ignore truth, but nature will not, and people will suffer for it as they have in the past.

The husband of one of my friends is an artist, and he has a new print out and will be donating a portion of the proceeds to the ACLU.

I didn't know who PewDiePie is, but apparently that is because I am old. Even if you don't know who he is, either, this BuzzFeed piece from Jacob Clifton about his fall from grace is worth your time. It is also about why hate seems to be breeding so vigorously in some corners of the internet.

Speaking of BuzzFeed, they are doing something interesting to let you see "outside your bubble" on some stories.

Here's a nice story about the success of roundabouts in one of San Diego's neighborhoods. I lived in north Pacific Beach, which is the community just south of Bird Rock, at the time of this change, and it was indeed amazing. It made the walk along that stretch of road so much nicer, and although we worried the drive would be slower, it really wasn't. Or if it was, the fact that it was more pleasant made up for it.

The Eagles vs. Chickens episode of the Planet Money podcast is wonderful.

This is ridiculously cute:

This clip of a baby #koala taking his 1st climb might be the most #adorable thing you'll see all day. https://t.co/v2CGewMxw5 pic.twitter.com/oj5xFNGo5f

— Smithsonian Earth (@SmithsonianErth) February 16, 2017

But bunnies are cuter:

pic.twitter.com/zKkDee50Gx

— うさぎ島の写真bot (@rabbit_isle_bot) February 13, 2017

And now, I am off to make dinner. Happy weekend, everyone!