‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Rockets To Top Of Amazon Best-Seller List

Another day, another politically charged book claiming the top spot on Amazon’s hourly updated best-seller list. In the horse race of literary sales, classic speculative dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, by renowned Canadian author Margaret Atwood, is currently nosing ahead. With a little help from spine-tingling Super Bowl teasers for the upcoming Hulu series adaptation of the book, Atwood’s foreboding tale of a society that regresses into religiously driven totalitarianism took the top spot from Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos’ Dangerous. Margaret Atwood’s modern classic has nudged Milo Yiannopoulos’s Dangerous out of No. 1 on Amazon. The Handmaid’s Tale, which was originally published in 1985, envisions a region, currently known as the United States, governed by an oppressive theocratic oligarchy called The Republic of Gilead. When the regime took power, women in a then-egalitarian society quickly lost the right to hold jobs, own property or money, or choose their destinies. Instead, the women are shunted into roles subservient to male needs. The heroine, Offred, becomes a handmaiden, whose calling it is to conceive and bear children for a high-level government official whose wife is infertile. In April, a series adaptation of the book starring Elisabeth Moss as Offred will premiere on Hulu. The show has stirred up ample anticipation, boasting a stellar cast, a striking premise, and beloved source material. Handmaid’s Tale, with its chilling, artful depiction of women’s rights ripped away by a fundamentalist regime, often appears on feminist reading lists and English class syllabuses alike. On Sunday, the annual Super Bowl ad bonanza featured a new trailer for the show, which played up themes of oppression and resistance. “We only wanted to make the world better,” Offred’s master (Joseph Fiennes) tells her in one scene. “Better never means better for everyone.” In a voiceover concluding the teaser, Offred declares, “I intend to survive.” (Watch the full trailer above.) As the series won’t be out for some time, it’s no wonder intrigued viewers might be turning to the book upon which its based first, or gearing up for the streaming event by rereading the novel. And it seems they did, in droves. As of Monday morning, the book wasn’t just in the top spot on Amazon ― the paperback edition was in restocking limbo: The paperback edition of The Handmaid’s Tale will be in stock on Amazon on Wednesday. Then again, maybe it’s not just excitement over the TV show. According to Amazon’s Frequently Bought Together widget, customers who picked up a copy of Handmaid’s Tale most often bought two other classic novels enjoying a surge in popularity during this political moment: George Orwell’s 1984 and Sinclair Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here. Books of a feather?

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I’m A Liberal, And I Want Milo Yiannopoulos On My Campus

Image Via Facebook Just last week, Breitbart News editor and public speaker Milo Yiannopoulos saw one of his speaking engagements canceled when a protest against him at UC Berkeley turned into a violent riot. Rioters broke windows and even took part in brutal beatings of Milo’s supporters. I am not on the same side politically as Milo. I am a liberal because I believe in liberty. First and foremost, my most cherished liberty is freedom of speech. The entire idea of freedom of speech is predicated on the notion that one must protect not only speech which they agree with, but also speech they disagree with. That also extends to speech which *gasp* offends you. The violent rioters at UC Berkeley are representative of a phenomenon I and other actual liberals call the “regressive left.” The regressive left doesn’t truly stand for liberty. Instead, they stand for the idea that anyone that says anything which offends them or doesn’t fit their narrative can and should be silenced. This regressive mindset is not only wrong, it is incredibly dangerous. A healthy public debate of ideas never silences anyone who wishes to engage in an open and honest dialogue about important issues. Unlike many of his critic and the bulk of these rioters, I have actually listened to Milo speak. When Milo is faced with a tantrum from a protester who disrupts his events, he mercilessly mocks them to no end. However, and this is crucial to my view of Yiannopoulos, when faced with a respectful challenge to his ideas, he’s extremely polite and gives very well thought out answers to genuine questions from liberals. This is what public discourse between people who disagree is supposed to look like. It’s not supposed to look like the absolute temper tantrum that many regressive leftists throw at his events. And when they’re not throwing tantrums, these regressives resort to the next most destructive thing, name-calling. You’ve all heard it over the course of the past year. Conservatives are racist, sexist, islamophobic etc. Despite my progressive views and liberal credentials as a youth leader in the Democratic Party, I’ve been called all of these things when I speak freely about political issues. The one thing I have not been called is the utterly hyperbolic “neo-Nazi.” Milo has been called a neo-Nazi by many of his most fervent critics. He is also a half Jewish, openly gay man. I will refer to my ethnic heritage when I say that calling Milo a Nazi is incredibly insulting to the memory of my ancestors and the millions of others who suffered during the holocaust. Milo is not an oppressor, he’s a messenger. I don’t agree with every aspect of his message. However, I must admit, I agree with some of it. And that’s important. It’s important for people from different sides of the isle to listen to one another. That’s how you find common ground and come to a consensus. It’s how you change minds and strengthen your […]

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Kellyanne Conway Has Referred To The Fake ‘Bowling Green Massacre’ Before

WASHINGTON ― Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said she made an “honest mistake” on MSNBC last week when she invoked the “Bowling Green massacre” ― a purported terrorist attack that never happened ― in defense of the president’s immigration ban. But the Feb. 3 “Hardball” interview wasn’t the first time Conway had mentioned the nonexistent attack. She had referred to the “Bowling Green massacre” in more detail several days earlier in an interview with Cosmopolitan magazine, in which she wrongly claimed that President Barack Obama had called for a “ban on Iraqi refugees” after the incident. “He did, it’s a fact,” Conway said of Obama. “Why did he do that? He did that for exactly the same reasons. He did that because two Iraqi nationals came to this country, joined ISIS, traveled back to the Middle East to get trained and refine their terrorism skills and come back here and were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre of taking innocent soldiers’ lives away.” Days later, Conway told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that most Americans hadn’t heard of the invented massacre because “it didn’t get covered.” Conway’s appears to be basing her story on an actual incident in which two Iraqi men entered the U.S. as refugees in 2009, settled in Kentucky, and were arrested in 2011 for attempting to send weapons and money to the terrorist group al Qaeda for the purpose of killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The men reportedly didn’t kill or plot to kill anyone in Kentucky, nor did they return to the Middle East to “get trained and refine their terrorism skills,” as Conway asserted. Conway was widely mocked last week when she mentioned the “Bowling Green massacre” on MSNBC, and people held fake vigils across the country for the nonexistent victims of the attack. She later walked back her remarks on Twitter, saying she “misspoke” and that “honest mistakes abound.” She wrote that she “meant to say ‘Bowling Green terrorists,’” citing an ABC News report from 2013 about the incident. When Cosmopolitan reached out to Conway about having previously referred to the fake “massacre” in a separate interview, she said, “It was a plot to massacre and they were Bowling Green terrorists. That’s what I should have said.” “At least this got clear-thinking people to focus on what did happen in Bowling Green,” she continued. “I gave new life to that ABC News investigative report and the fact that these two Iraqi nationals came to the U.S. with a plan of death and destruction.”

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Nancy Pelosi Slaps Down Trump Impeachment Talk

Aaron P. Bernstein via Getty Images WASHINGTON ― House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) does not think President Donald Trump has committed any impeachable offenses ― yet. Pelosi held a press conference on Monday with the top Democrats on the Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters of California and other Democrats to discuss Trump’s recent efforts to undermine financial regulations. Waters got a question about a recent comment where she said her “greatest desire is to lead him right into impeachment.” Asked if it was appropriate to be talking about impeachment, Waters said she had not called for impeachment yet. “He’s doing it himself,” she said. Waters mentioned Trump’s travel ban and his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “He is leading himself into that kind of position, where folks will begin to ask, ‘What are we going to do?’ And the answer is going to be, eventually, ‘We’ve got to do something about it.’” Waters said. “We cannot continue to have a president who’s acting in this manner. It is dangerous to the United States of America.” Pelosi was then asked if she agreed with Waters, and while she agreed that Waters’ litany of complaints were “grounds for displeasure,” she stopped short of advocating impeachment. Pelosi said Trump had acted in a way that is “strategically incoherent, that is incompetent, and that is reckless.” “And that is not grounds for impeachment,” Pelosi continued. “When and if he breaks the law, that is grounds for when something like that would come up.” Pelosi then tried to get back on the subject of Trump slashing banking regulations and targeting the Dodd-Frank banking law passed in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Democrats dinged Trump for signing two items on Friday ― one directive that curtails elements of Dodd-Frank, and another memoranda that allows financial advisers to steer investments toward products that benefit them, not the consumer. Democrats argued that Trump had campaigned on the message that he would be tough on Wall Street, but now was cozying up to bankers and trying to aid their interests at the expense of another potential market collapse. As Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) said, “On the issues of Wall Street and big banks, Trump sounded like he was Bernie Sanders. He’s now creating an administration that looks like Goldman Sachs.” “Instead of fighting for hardworking families abused by our economy as he promised in the campaign,” Pelosi said, “the president and his billionaire cabinet have abandoned Main Street to enable Wall Street’s corrosive profiteering of the banks on the back of hardworking Americans.”

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Nat Geo Just Developed A Groundbreaking Educational Resource About Gender

National Geographic is debuting a powerful and evocative new film tonight that is offering a comprehensive exploration of gender that its producers hope will act as a resource for furthering public compassion and understanding. The “Gender Revolution” is a two-hour documentary released in conjunction with the magazine’s January issue of the same name that made history by featuring a 9-year-old transgender girl on its cover. Produced by Katie Couric, National Geographic and World of Wonder, the film is a nuanced, complex and tender look at the way gender shapes our lives and experiences and the ongoing cultural conversation surrounding the spectrum of gender identity. “It’s hard to avoid hearing about some aspect of gender these days,” Couric said in a press release sent to The Huffington Post. “Every time you check your phone, turn on the TV or scan Twitter, there’s another story that’s challenging our preconceived notions of what gender is, how it’s determined and the impact these new definitions are having on society,” Couric added. “I set out on a journey to try to educate myself about a topic that young people are living with so effortlessly — and get to know the real people behind the headlines. Because the first step to inclusiveness and tolerance is understanding.” Throughout the course of the film, Couric meets a number of different activists, entertainers and everyday people whose lives are shaped by our culture’s understanding of gender in a multitude of ways. “Gender Revolution” opens with a discussion about intersex identity ― a set of experiences that inherently destabilize the gender binary ― and moves into a discussion dialogue about the lives of gender-variant children. One of these children is a transgender girl named Ellie, whose parents, JR and Vanessa Ford, also appear in the film. “Through our story and other people who participated in this documentary, I hope viewers come away with stories that they may be able to relate to because we believe if you are able to connect yourself to someone going through a situation, viewers may find a new sense of compassion, understanding, inquiry into learning more about gender,” the pair told The Huffington Post. “We hope this sparks people’s interest into thinking outside of their world and taking a glimpse into something that may challenge how they have perceived the LGBTQ community. “ National Geographic For Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, Executive Producers and founders of World of Wonder production company, the film builds on a rich history of projects they’ve overseen that focus on gender exploration. “It’s been ten years since we produced ‘Transgeneration’ with Jeremy Simmons, and since then we are proud to have created a world of documentaries and series exploring gender,” the pair told The Huffington Post. “Over the years we have seen the mainstream open its mind and heart to gender. Katie Couric’s curiosity and National Geographic’s commitment is an important step in continuing down that path, and more important now than ever.” They also emphasized that the film highlights […]

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The battle against FGM is yet to be won

Today, in recognition of the UN’s International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, we reflect upon female genital mutilation (FGM), defining this cultural practice, addressing its harmful implications, and seeking resolution on this dangerous, damaging and sadly all too prevalent issue. FGM, also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is the ritual removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is common across much of Africa and the Middle East, and is practiced in some parts of Asia, and among diaspora populations in Western countries. Somalia is thought to have the highest prevalence of FGM in the world, with 98% of girls affected. In my homeland of Nigeria, it is believed around 20 million girls and women have undergone the procedure. Globally this figure rises to 200 million. FGM as a cultural practice, is often perceived as a rite of passage into the maturity of womanhood, but evidently conceived to contain and control a young woman, or even a girl’s sexuality, to ensure virginity before marriage and fidelity after, by the brutal method of limiting a woman’s sexual pleasure. This is a blatant violation of a female’s rights, and the embodiment of female subordination, as FGM quite unusually, is visited upon the female gender, by the female gender, towards a misguided but sadly reinforced sense of community affirmation. In addition to the enduring psychological effects of the practice, FGM presents severe medical risks to its victims. In the short-term, excruciating pain, excessive bleeding and shock are commonplace. Anesthetics are rarely used, and many women recall the procedure as an enduring trauma. Infection is also common, as FGM often takes place in un-sterile environments. This prolongs the suffering of the procedure, and can be fatal if left untreated. The long-term complications are extensive; chronic infection, menstrual problems, painful urination, obstetric complications and peri-natal risks all arise as a direct result of FGM. It must be stopped. As the founder and CEO of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, a maternal health charity based in Nigeria, I have seen with my own eyes the harm caused by this archaic practice. Women who have undergone the procedure commonly experience complications during birth, and are at a greater risk of caesarian section, hemorrhage, obstetric lacerations and prolonged labour. In low and middle income economic regions with poor coverage of quality maternal healthcare such as Nigeria, the heightened risk that FGM imposes on expectant mothers presents an added danger to childbirth. Last year I participated in a United National Population Fund conference in Nigeria that called for collective action to eliminate Female Genital Mutilation by 2030. FGM is a dangerous, harmful and unnecessary cultural practice, a physical assault that causes grievous bodily harm – it is therefore the responsibility of the international community, domestic governments and civil society to work together in fighting to protect girls of the future from such inhumane practice. The UN estimates that if current trends continue, 15 million more girls between 15 and 19 […]

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Torture Memo Author John Yoo Has ‘Grave Concerns’ Over Trump’s Use Of Executive Power

Former Justice Department official John Yoo, best known for writing the memos authorizing the George W. Bush administration’s use of torture during interrogations, says even he thinks President Donald Trump is going too far with his executive orders. In a New York Times op-ed titled “Executive Power Run Amok,” Yoo says while he supports a “robust vision” of the executive branch, he believes Trump fundamentally misunderstands the separation of powers laid out in the U.S. Constitution. “Even I have grave concerns about Mr. Trump’s uses of presidential power,” he writes. Yoo has long advocated for largely unchecked presidential power in times of crisis, such as the Bush administration’s war on terror. He wrote several legal opinions that were used to justify the CIA’s use of waterboarding and broad surveillance programs, and he even said presidential power protected the executive’s right to crush a child’s testicles if the president believed it would help him obtain information. He also defended former President Barack Obama’s use of armed drones. But in his op-ed, Yoo argues Trump lacks constitutional restraint. He specifically questions Trump’s executive orders calling for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and renegotiating NAFTA, and his firing of acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she said she wouldn’t defend his executive order on immigration. Yoo also criticizes Trump’s executive order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, arguing the policy could have been constitutional if he had sought proper counsel on the matter. Bush-era official John Yoo says Trump’s use of executive power has gone too far. “Had Mr. Trump taken advantage of the resources of the executive branch as a whole, not just a few White House advisers, he would not have rushed out an ill-conceived policy made vulnerable to judicial challenge,” Yoo writes. “A successful president need not have a degree in constitutional law. But he should understand the Constitution’s grant of executive power,” he writes. “Otherwise, our new president will spend his days overreacting to the latest events, dissipating his political capital and haphazardly wasting the executive’s powers.” Yoo previously criticized Trump’s remarks on torture, telling Fox News last year he believes Trump doesn’t understand what waterboarding is used for. “I’m afraid Mr. Trump thinks of waterboarding, or worse, as a kind of punishment, like a sentence ― as you said, revenge or reprisals,” Yoo said. “That’s not what its purpose is. The purpose of it is not to take revenge for past acts. It’s to figure out what to do now to get intelligence to stop future attacks.” Yoo also took issue with Obama’s 2016 executive orders on gun safety, calling them an effort to “extend the reach of the regulatory state.” How will Trump’s first 100 days impact you? Sign up for our weekly newsletter and get breaking updates on Trump’s presidency by messaging us here.

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