Everybody's Linking for the Weekend

I know that a lot of other sites do a link roundup of some of the most interesting news of the week, and I thought this might be a fun thing to do each week, as there are a lot of topics I would like to discuss or continuations of topics we've been discussing on the blog, but either don't warrant a solo article or that have already been summed up beautifully by another blogger or writer...

In the world of Politics...

State Sen. Wendy Davis (D-TX)

The Huffington Post: State Sen. Wendy Davis seems poised to enter the race for Governor of Texas.  I'm a bit mixed on this one.  On the one hand, Wendy's become something of a personal hero of mine, and I'd be through-the-moon if she got in.  She's clearly never going to have this sort of momentum for such a race again, and I personally don't see the fundraising as an issue here (considering how frequently Emily's List tweets about her, they're going to bringing major cash to the table).  On the other hand, a Democrat has not won statewide in Texas since 1994 and the money that would go into Davis's long shot bid by Emily's List or the DNC might make the difference in more winnable races in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, or Florida.  It's a tough coin toss, but it sure will be exciting (and even Hillary would be considering Wendy for the Veep slot if she were to win).

Rothenblog: The Democrats are potentially looking at a solid recruit in California-21.  As I wrote earlier this month, the Democrats have had trouble recruiting here, one of the most liberal districts in the country currently held by a Republican.  I think that the Democrats may be a bit too optimistic right now-Rentaria's roots in Washington seem impressive (Chief of Staff to a U.S. Senator is nothing to shake a stick at), but she doesn't quite have the roots in the actual district.  If the Democrats spend and campaign a bit better than 2012 here, though, this could be a race worth investigating.

New York Times: This new pope has me so intrigued-I think that he's breaking the wave for a new generation of Catholics to, while not necessarily accept gay marriage (that seems a pretty far off dream), at least have a level of understanding that has been absent in the Catholic Church's public rhetoric for a while now.  I'm a fan, and as someone who is Catholic-curious (I go to Saturday mass on a semi-regular basis), this is a step in the right direction if you ask me.

Time Tech: In the most disturbing news of the week (this may be old news to the lot of you, but the political angle isn't which is why I'm just learning about it-I'm not a techie), Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) is challenging Apple's new fingerprint technology on the iPhone 5S.  I'm completely onboard with the senator.  What was wrong with password technology?  Are we really so lazy we can't type in three other keys, and instead open up a Pandora's Box of privacy and hacking concerns?  I do not want any company having access to something as personal as my fingerprints.

In the world of the Arts...

Cosmo Guy Darren Criss

Cosmopolitan: As I probably haven't read an issue of Cosmo since college, I'm as shocked as you that I'm linking it, but Darren Criss is October's Cosmo Guy, so you know I had to go there.

LA Times: Pixar has moved back The Good Dinosaur to 2015, meaning that if they keep all of their release dates, both The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out (easily the film on their docket I'm most looking forward to in the future) will now be competing against each other at the 2015 Box Office and awards season.  Bob Peterson was also yanked as the film's director.  I have to admit, Pixar's golden standard hasn't carried as much weight with me since 2010 (kind of like Standard & Poor's and the U.S. Economy), but this does mean that next year's Animated Feature Race starts without a frontrunner.

Vulture: Mad Men is moving to two split seasons.  I know the internet has already had its collective fit about this, but I personally am in the camp of they should have just kept them together.  This does result in one extra Mad Men episode, yes, but split seasons annoy me in multiple senses-you have to pay twice for the DVD's (I still buy DVD's), you don't get as much time to develop a story in a shorter season, and there's not enough room to have those little moments that make a series great (the side stories, the one-episode-only side plots).  Final seasons already have this problem (trying to get everything in), so why would we exacerbate it?  At the very least, this might mean Mad Men could pick up another Emmy for its actors at some point.

BuzzFeed: The entire internet, for whatever reason, has decided to have a collective orgasm over Scott Eastwood (son of Clint).  He's most definitely super hot, but what caused this?  He doesn't seem to have a movie coming out (nor does his pop).  His television series is a midseason replacement.  Did he tweet something particularly interesting?  Is he dating Miley Cyrus?  Or is it just that everyone suddenly noticed he's a babe?  Click on the link and decide for yourself.

The moon Io, as seen from Voyager 1

And just one more...

L.A. Times: This is a little bit old, but I just find this completely and totally amazing.  The Voyager 1 has left our solar system, which means that a man-made object has officially left space.  One of my big political gripes (it ranks right up there with gay rights and goes hand-in-hand with my environmental concerns) is that as a nation we don't spend more on the new frontiers of science.  Stories like this always make me hopeful that the government will see the benefits of investing more in space travel, medicine, and the environment.