Category: News

Let’s begin by saying there’s no one on the planet who wants COVID-19 to continue ravaging the world. The past year has been one of unspeakable tragedy and it will be years before we realize what effects it had on humanity’s collective physical and mental health.

But as we begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, some people aren’t so sure they want to return to life as it was before the pandemic. They may keep it to themselves, but the sentiment is definitely out there.

Many started working from home and now love the freedom that comes with having a five-second commute and loathe the idea of returning to a life where they have to waste an hour on “looking good” every morning.

For some, the idea of returning back to their old social habits seems uncomfortable. First, no matter how effective the vaccine is, it’s going to be incredibly disconcerting to be around maskless people in close quarters, like in a bar or at a concert. We’ve all developed natural knee-jerk reactions to people being too close and it’ll be really tough to unlearn what’s been ingrained for a year.

The vast majority of us went from having a healthy relationship with the world around us to living in a constant state of social distancing vigilance over the course of a week. That’s going to be hard to undo.

Many people are secretly relieved they’ve had the perfect excuse to avoid daily social interactions over the past year. They were able to avoid the relatives that get on their nerves or didn’t have to hang out with their significant other’s friends they never really liked in the first place.

How I Really Feel About “Going Back to Normal”

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For others, the lockdown was an eye-opening experience, because they realized they were happier not dealing with some of the toxic people in their lives. Going back to normal social life means having to either re-engage with people who might trigger us or suffer the discomfort that comes with ending the relationship.

Reentering the social world also means having to confront temptations that we were able to avoid for an entire year, whether it’s drugs, sex, smoking, gambling, or ordering an extra dessert while eating out.

“As horrible and tragic as this past year has been, I do believe it was a much-needed reset for so many people,” Kelsey Darragh, a filmmaker who suffers from anxiety and wrote a book about mental health during the pandemic called “Don’t F—ing Panic,” told Today. “We got to just be gentle with ourselves.”

A lot of people are feeling anxious about things returning to “normal” because they now realize they weren’t happy before the pandemic.

Whether you are hesitant for things to go back to normal or ready to rip your front door off its hinges, we should all take these (hopefully!) final few months of COVID-19 to recognize that we’ve all been through a severely traumatizing time. Now’s a great time to take some personal inventory, consider where we were before the pandemic, and where we’re headed.

What have you learned the past year that can help make your post-pandemic life even better than it was before?

“It becomes a very anxiety-producing moment in the life of a survivor when they return to normal,” Deborah Serani, a psychologist, and professor at Adelphi University told Today. “Except now, with the pandemic, we’re all doing that.”

“We are emerging from this together, globally,” Serani said. “It’s OK to be gentle with yourself. It’s OK to feel unsure. It’s OK to feel insecure. It’s OK to say, ‘How do I do this dance? I don’t remember.’ It’s OK to feel anxious and nervous. You’re not alone in that.”

If you’re feeling anxious about life returning to normal, take solace in the idea that you’re not the only one. In fact, everyone has to carry some anxiety about the big changes on the horizon.

Also, remember that you’re not in this alone. COVID-19 has affected everyone. So there will be plenty of people out there that you can throw your arm around tight — for the first time in months — and ask, “Ready to go out?”

Once again, Rand Paul tried to argue with Dr. Anthony Fauci over COVID-19 safety regulations, and once again, Fauci dropped the Kentucky senator into the fryer and cooked him nice and crispy. In yet another tense exchange, Paul kicked things off by attempting to downplay the severity of the pandemic by claiming that people who’ve already been infected by COVID-19 have little to no chance of being infected again, so they don’t need to get vaccinated or bother wearing a mask. He started in a hole right there. However, Paul then made things personal by attacking Fauci for wearing two masks even though he’s been vaccinated.

“What studies do you have that people that have had the vaccine or have had the infection or the vaccine are spreading the infection?” Paul asked. “If we’re not spreading the infection, isn’t that just theater? You’ve had the vaccine and you’re wearing two masks, isn’t that theater?”

Fauci, as always, was having none of it. Via Business Insider:

“No, it’s not — here we go again with the theater. Let’s get down to the facts,” Fauci responded, telling Paul that the studies he cited “look at in-vitro examination of memory immunity” and pointing out that the authors “specifically say, ‘this does not necessarily pertain to the actual protection, it’s in-vitro.”

Fauci said he agreed with Paul that those who have already been infected likely have six months of immunity against the strain of COVID-19 they were initially infected with, but not against emerging variants and mutations of concern, including the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants.

Fauci elaborated by noting cases in South Africa where people who were exposed to the first “wild type strain of COVID-19” were infected later by the new variant. However, Paul refused to listen and continued to demand to know what studies have shown hospitalizations for reinfections while ignoring Fauci’s repeated examples of the variants causing reinfection. Eventually, Paul retreated to his earlier accusation that Fauci is “parading around in two masks for show,” which prompted the infectious disease expert to inform the senator of the facts.

“Let me just state for the record that masks are not theater, they are protective,” Fauci said.

(Via Business Insider)

In early January, Armie Hammer became the subject of a social media firestorm after alleged Instagram DMs (a lot of them) circulated about his sex life and alleged cannibal fantasies. In response, he described the controversy as “bullsh*t” as he dropped out of an action-comedy movie called Shotgun Wedding. While the subject continued to swirl, Hammer’s agents and publicist dropped him. Fast forward a few months, and a woman named Effie (the same woman who initially anonymously posted allegations) has come forward to publicly accuse Hammer of rape.

The Hollywood Reporter reports word from a press conference led by attorney Gloria Allred. Her client stated that she was held captive by Hammer for four hours, during which Effie (who lives in Europe) stated that “I tried to get away but he wouldn’t let me. I thought he was going to kill me.” Here’s more from the press conference:

“On April 24, 2017, Armie Hammer violently raped me for over four hours in Los Angeles. During which he repeatedly slapped my head against a wall bruising my face. He also committed other acts of violence against me to which I did not consent.”

Effie further alleges that Hammer beat her feet with a riding crop, “so they would hurt” when she walked. She states that after four hours of violence, “[he] left with no concern for my well-being.” She alleges that the experience left her suicidal, and “I tried so hard to justify his actions, even to the point of responding to him in a way that did not reflect my true feelings.”

Variety has published a photo (shared by Allred) that shows Effie and Hammer posing together during an undisclosed time period. As for how Effie met Hammer, Effie explained that she first messaged with him in 2016 on Facebook, and the two had an on-and-off relationship fo four years. THR reports a statement from Hammer’s lawyer (Andrew Brettler), who says that his client denies the allegations against him. Hammer’s attorney states that Effie’s “own correspondence [through July 2020] with Mr. Hammer undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations.” The attorney also claims that Effie sent Hammer “hundreds” of “graphic” texts, to which Brettler says Hammer “responded making it clear that he did not want to maintain that type of relationship with her.”

During the press conference, Allred stated (via Variety) that Effie has provided photos of her “visible injuries” and other evidence of Hammer’s alleged abuse to police. TMZ notes that law enforcement is investigating Effie’s allegations against the actor. Deadline further reports, via LAPD Officer Drake Madison, “We can confirm that Armie Hammier is the named suspect in an alleged sexual assault investigation, initiated on February 3, 2021.” Additionally, Deadline details where the investigation may go from here:

The probe by the LAPD will be submitted to LA County D.A. George Gascón’s “fairly soon,” a law enforcement source said to Deadline, The D.A.’s office and its sex crimes unit would then have to assess the material and recommendations from the LAPD to see if they would proceed with criminal charges. Charges that could land Hammer behind bars for up to eight years if found guilty.

Recently, Vanity Fair reported that Hammer’s estranged wife, Elizabeth Chambers, filed for divorce after he sent her a raunchy text that he intended for another woman.

(Via Hollywood Reporter, Variety, TMZ & Deadline)

March Madness is here, and this weekend the first and second rounds of the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Tournaments will take place in their respective bubbles in Indianapolis and San Antonio. Putting on the tournaments and providing teams with the necessary court and workout space is an immense undertaking, but one the NCAA certainly has enough financial backing to do from the billions raked in by putting on the tournaments.

In Indianapolis, the men’s weight room is an expansive room filled with everything a team could need to stay at their best for the upcoming tournament, while in San Antonio, there is a very different story for the opening rounds. Ali Kershner, the Sports Performance Coach at Stanford, posted a side-by-side of the men’s room and the pitiful offering to women’s teams in the opening round, noting that the paltry rack of dumbbells (that go to a max of 30 pounds) and some thin yoga mats was what teams could use prior to making it to the Sweet 16.

It is ridiculous to see the stark difference in the men’s facilities compared to the women’s facilities, and the photo went viral on social media as stars from the WNBA took notice and called out the NCAA for what is sadly a fitting visual of the difference in investment put into the men’s game compared to the women’s game.

It seems like every month the internet brings a new cryptocurrency-related phenomenon that leaves the average person wondering, “am I missing out somehow?” Last month it was Dogecoin, this time around it’s the phenomenon of non-fungible tokens (henceforth called NFTs). The recent hype is due, in some part, to the fact that Christie’s Auction House recently sold its first-ever NFT artwork — a collage of digital images by the artist Beeple — for $69.3 million.

Now it seems like everyone (with some measure of fame) is getting in on the NFT trend. And yes, some people are making money from it.

Internet celebrities like Jack Dorsey, Ethan Klein, and Logan Paul; musicians like Grimes, Kings of Leon, and Shawn Mendes; brands like Taco Bell and the NBA — they’re all creating non-fungible tokens and selling them to whoever is interested and has the money. With a digital wallet and a purchase of the cryptocurrency Ethereum, you can create your own NFT and upload it to a marketplace where you too can sell it. If you’re virtually unknown that might not mean much, but if you’re an independent artist it might prove an exciting new source of revenue.

And if you’re rich and believe that the blockchain is the future… well then, this might be a fun way to spend your money!

“Okay great, but… what the f*ck is a non-fungible token?”

NFT’s are virtual collectibles that are one-of-a-kind and easily verifiable as such, due to a unique string of characters in the image’s metadata stored on the Blockchain, which if you’re unfamiliar, is the digital database that makes cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin safe and secure. When you own the NFT, you have what basically amounts to a digital certificate of authenticity for that image. It’s a way of showing ownership of something that is otherwise easily distributed. But unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, NFTs are non-fungible, which means they’re completely unique and, as such, are valued independently from one another.

In short: You could trade a dollar for 100 pennies or 4 quarters, but you’d still have a dollar. NFTs don’t work that way. Their value is self-defined — which makes them a natural fit for the art world.

According to CNN Business, NFTs were first popularized thanks to an online digital trading game related to Ethereum, called CyptoKitties. The game allowed people to purchase and sell unique gifs of virtual cats, with their purchases stored on the digital ledger of the Blockchain.

“Wait, so NFTs are basically just JPEGs?”

Right. Or a GIF. Or a PNG. Or a video clip. Any virtual real estate works.

“Can’t people just take screenshots of the NFTs?”

Yes, and you can screenshot the painting “Crown” by Jean-Michel Basquiat, but that doesn’t mean you own it. While anyone can screenshot your NFT, only one person has the unique code stored on the Blockchain that says that they own it, which means only one person can trade or sell that NFT on NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, Rarible, Nifty Gateway, and Mintable, to name a few.

“Wait, so this is just for clout?”

That’s really simplifying it but, yes, NFTs are very much a way for rich people and other investors to say “this digital thing I can’t hold is important enough for me to throw money at so that I can say that I own it.” It sounds almost stupid, but in an increasingly digital world, it’s certainly a way to create scarcity amongst something that is otherwise essentially infinitely available.

“And these things are actually valuable?”

Yes!

Not just to the people buying them, who can flip and trade them on the NFT marketplace much like a share in a stock, but to the people making them, too. Dapper Labs, which also made CryptoKitties, started a digital collectible line called NBA Top Shot that’s minting NFTs of basketball highlight videos as a sort of new-age digital trading card. As mentioned above, the digital artist Beeple just sold an NFT for nearly $70 million (the auction house will take a sizeable commission, but obviously the moment was life-changing). Pitchfork reports that electronic musician Grimes auctioned off $5.8 million worth of digital art pieces in just 20 minutes, a screenshot of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s first tweet just sold for $2.5 million and according to NBC News Shawn Mendes has been using NFTs to sell digital representations of his necklace and guitar to fans who can then use them on digital avatars.

NBC News also reports that features like royalties can be built into NFTs — so that whenever they are traded and sold, the original creator will get a cut of the sale. If done right, this might actually allow independent artists to make money off of their art as it changes hands. That’s pretty exciting!

“Wait so the value of this stuff is artificial?”

Yes, like, well everything, the value of an NFT is essentially based on the market’s interest in owning that NFT, which means at any time the value can diminish or skyrocket. So yes, this is just a fad that can fizzle out at any moment — like Beanie Babies or Pokemon cards — or it can make you rich. Or you can treat it like an asset, holding (or hopefully growing in) value.

While that still all sounds a little confusing, it’s important to note that all value measures are assigned by humans. Most are totally abstract. Diamonds are just rare rocks. Gold is a less-rare mineral. Real estate is tangible in some ways (it gives you shelter) but real estate speculation deals in all sorts of intangibles. Cash is paper with a dead person’s face on it. Collectibles are only worth money because there are people out there willing to pay for them. If no one wanted a Michael Jordan rookie card, it would be value-less.

That said, virtually anything can hold value if people in the marketplace are willing to assign it value. Whether it will hold that value is a different story. Who knows, maybe these NFT Pringles will be worth a fortune someday. Only time and the whims of chip lovers will tell.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League (HBO Max) — Fans hoped this day would come, and finally, “we live in a society” where the fabled “Snyder Cut” is fabled no more. This four-hour installment is a vast improvement on Joss Whedon’s much maligned theatrical cut, and there’s a smidge of Jared Leto’s Joker to add some “WTF” flavor. Finally, there’s loads of character development, which the hard-core nerds will appreciate, so even though Joss’ version remains canon, the Snyder Cut is here to satisfy the hearts and minds of DC Comics fans.

Nate Bargatze: The Greatest Average American (Netflix stand-up special) — The Tennessee-born funnyman launches his second Netflix special, which is chock full of Oregon Trail throwbacks and talking about all the ways he’s relatable as a father and husband.

The Unicorn (CBS, 9:30pm EST) — Wade starts dating again because Shannon wasn’t gonna stick around too long. Is the Justified reunion over? I’m sad, but also, Delia comes to grips with her controlling ways.

The Hustler (ABC, 10:00pm EST) — Host Craig Ferguson stands by while contestants compete for money, and “The Hustler” among them keeps doing his or her secretive and enigmatic thing.

Cake (FX, 10:00pm EST) — Season 4 begins for this assortment of bite-sized shorts, and this year, the diverse array of narratives is anchored by Nine Films About Technology from Peter Huang. Expect a loosely connected set of stories that get darkly comedic and explore human relationships in an era of (arguable) over-connectivity.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Lionel Richie, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chesca Ft. De La Ghetto And Offset

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Jared Leto, LANCO

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Michelle Obama, Guy Raz, Edie Brickell, New Bohemians

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Sarah Silverman, Nico Hiraga

In case you missed these recent picks:

Cold Courage (AMC+) — Two Nordic women find themselves drawn together during the investigation of a series of London-set murders. The story’s based upon Finnish journalist Pekka Hiltunen’s bestselling novels and aims to unite the two aforementioned women (a psychologist who favors underdogs and a graphic artist who’s fleeing from her abusive stalker. Together, the two women want to write wrongs that are committed to the powerful, and a charismatic politicians is promising to sort-of Make Great Britain Great Again. This show is dropping three initial episodes with subsequent weekly followups.

Genera+ion: Season 1 (HBO Max) — Get ready for a dark and playful half-hour series that revolves around high school students who are finding their coming-of-age exploration of sexuality complicated by the deeply held beliefs that persist throughout their conservative community. The series stars Chase Sui Wonders, Chloe East, Haley Sanchez, Lukita Maxwell, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Nathanya Alexander, Nava Mau, Uly Schlesinger, Justice Smith, and Martha Plimpton.

The NFL announced it had finally reached a new TV rights package with its network partners on Thursday, with a staggering $10 billion per year coming into the league from its various agreements, per John Ourand.

The deal, which is detailed in its entirety here, sees a lot of the same, with Fox and CBS re-upping for NFC and AFC Sunday afternoon games, as well as NBC and ESPN continuing on with Sunday and Monday Night Football, respectively. However, the biggest changes coming in the new package are the various streaming rights allowed now for the partners, who are paying a pretty penny for those. All CBS games will be available to Paramount+ subscribers, ESPN and ABC games (ABC adds two Super Bowls as part of the new deal) will be on ESPN+, NBC games will be on Peacock, and, most notably, the Thursday Night Football slate now moves exclusively to Amazon Prime Video.

The move to having a weekly game only on digital is a major shift for the NFL, which has had Amazon streaming Thursday Night games for some time, but as part of a deal split with NFL Network and Fox to broadcast games on TV. Now, it appears they are fully embracing the digital evolution of streaming, and will move games off of network TV for the first time. NFL Network will still get some games, but it’s unclear exactly which at this point.

The Super Bowl Schedule for the length of the new deal now looks as such:

CBS: 2023, 2027, 2031
FOX: 2024, 2028, 2032
NBC: 2025, 2029, 2033
ESPN/ABC: 2026, 2030

The big winners in the new deal are ESPN, which has for some time paid the most for the worst deal with the NFL. They now are in the Super Bowl rotation and, more importantly, get the flex scheduling deal alongside NBC to pivot bigger, better games into Monday Nights later in the season, which is a huge deal. There were rumblings that some changes could be coming to AT&T/DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket exclusivity, but that was not announced as part of this new deal, indicating that, at least for now, that will remain with the satellite TV giant.

If you’ve spent time on social media the past two weeks, you’ve undoubtedly seen a deluge of content about women feeling unsafe going about daily life. For some of us, especially those who have survived violence, the fear is constant. For others, it’s a hum in the background of our minds that gets louder in certain situations. But I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that most women think about their bodily safety far more often than men do.

Women have been sharing mental checklists we go through to navigate the world, and it’s a lot. Even those of us who have managed to get through life in a woman’s body without being assaulted still have to think about our safety all. the. time.

Obviously, the best thing men can do to help women feel safe is to actually be safe. Equally obvious is the fact that creeps who harass or molest or assault women aren’t looking for a list like this to change their behavior. But there’s a lot that good men can do to help ease the burden women feel when we’re out and about.

Here are some tips for men who genuinely want women to feel safe, who may not realize they’re inadvertently making us feel unsafe, and who understandably need some guidance on what actually helps.

1. Recognize that our wariness of you is not personal.

If I’m walking to my car after leaving the grocery store at night and you walk out behind me, I probably won’t think much of it. If your car happens to be parked near mine, and you’re walking behind me the whole time I’m headed there, my radar will probably go up. I’ll probably pull out my keys and be ready to gouge you in the eyes if I have to. It’s not you. I just have no way of knowing whether you’re a sweet, kind guy just going to his car or a predator who sees an opportunity. I want to believe the former, but I have to be prepared for the latter. We know it’s #notallmen. We just don’t know which men.

We already second-guess ourselves and wonder if we’re overreacting, every single time our guard goes up. When you take our wariness personally because you wouldn’t hurt a fly, it doesn’t help. What does help is knowing you understand why we feel the way we feel and why we take the precautions we take.

2. Keep your distance.

You may not realize it, but when we’re on the same block together, we are keenly aware of how close you are to us and how fast you are walking. When you’re behind us, we are constantly calculating whether we’re far enough away from you to be able to run if your speed picks up. When you’re walking toward us, we’re calculating your size and build to determine whether we could fend you off. Again, nothing personal.

Knowing this is what’s going through our minds, it’s helpful if you remain at a distance. If you need to pass us, make a wide enough berth to make it obvious that you’re avoiding getting close to us. Ideally, you’d cross the street, keep your face visible, and avoid looking our way too much. If we’re on a running trail or something, give us a verbal cue ahead of time that you’re just approaching to pass, like “Jogging up on your left!”

I know some good guys who will keep an eye on a woman who is walking alone to make sure no one else messes with her. That’s great—just give us plenty of space or walk ahead of us and keep your ears open rather than watching us from behind. And while you might think it’s polite to let a woman go first when exiting a bus or train or building, we generally feel safer with you in front of us than behind us.

3. Keep your hands to yourself, even in passing.

Some people are touchy-feely by nature, and some casual forms of touch are just automatic for some people. However, many women will have a visceral response to being touched by men they don’t know, even if there’s no weird or inappropriate intention behind it.

For example, a man will sometimes put his hand on a woman’s lower back while walking past her in a crowded place. Don’t do that. What may be a natural thing for you may feel like an invasion of body safety to the woman you’re touching. Not every woman will be bothered by this, but I know many women who are. Going out of your way to avoid touching a woman you don’t know signals that you’re aware of how women feel and want them to feel safe and comfortable and respected. We notice such things.

4. Offer to escort your female friends places.

Don’t act surprised or confused if a woman asks you to walk her home. Feel free to take it as a compliment that a woman feels fairly safe with you, but also don’t assume it means we’re hitting on you. We know we’re much less likely to be targeted if we have a man with us, so we’re using your presence as a deterrent more than seeing you as a superhero.

Keep in mind that most women are assaulted by someone she knows, not strangers. This is a reality we’re aware of when asking for you to walk us somewhere. Even if we know you, we’re only asking because we’ve weighed the potential risks and decided you’re safer than walking alone. But we may not feel 100% safe with you, either.

5. Intervene when women are being objectified or harassed.

Whether you’re hanging out with a group of guy friends when someone makes a sexist joke or you’re walking down the street and see a woman being cat-called, say something. “Don’t do that, man. Don’t be that guy,” can go a long way. And if you see a woman being harassed, physically putting yourself between her and the harasser and staying with her until the harasser leaves can be helpful.

If you’ve witnessed a woman being harassed or assaulted, approach her gently and offer assistance. “Are you okay? Would you like me to call a [friend, manager, security, police, etc.] for you? I’ll stay with you until they arrive. I saw what happened and am happy to serve as a witness.” Follow the woman’s lead, but understand she might be scared. Keep a bit of distance, but let her know you’re there to help however she needs it.

6. Don’t flirt with a woman who isn’t showing any interest.

The nuances of attraction and flirtation can be tricky to decipher sometimes, but not as tricky as we sometimes make them. When a woman isn’t interested at all, she’ll usually make it pretty clear. The “playing hard to get” idea is largely a myth, so if a woman is putting of signals that she’s not actively interested in you—answering your questions as briefly as possible, avoiding direct eye contact, excusing herself from a conversation, not initiating any contact—don’t flirt with her. It comes across as creepy.

Yes, she might just be extremely shy. But being overtly flirtatious isn’t going to go over well in that case, either. Basically, assume a woman doesn’t want to be flirted with unless she gives you some very clear signs that she’s interested in you.

7. Be an example and a mentor to younger men and boys.

What women are feeling and experiencing isn’t anything new. This stuff has been perpetuated for generations, and we need to break the cycle somehow. One of the best things men can do is to set an example for younger males. Show them what it looks like to listen to women. Talk to them about what they can do to be good men, safe men, supportive men. Nip bad behavior and attitudes toward women and girls in the bud early. Be aware of the messages they are getting from society, entertainment, media, etc. and counteract harmful messaging they’re hearing.

Women are tired. It’s exhausting to constantly be running imaginary scenarios through our heads and preparing ourselves for potential threats to our bodies. It’s exhausting to constantly wonder if we’re being overly paranoid, only to hear another story of a woman we know being assaulted. Thanks to the good men working to change that reality and doing what they can to help women walk through the world without fear.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a grim time in American life, with death and illness dominating the national consciousness. But there has been one thing notably absent from the nightly news: stories of public mass shootings.

A database compiled by USA Today, The Associated Press, and Northeastern University found there were only two public mass shootings in 2020 and both occurred before the lockdown. That’s a steep drop off from 2019 and 2018 when there were nine and 10 such shootings, respectively.

Public mass killings are defined by the database as events where four or more deaths occur, not including the shooter, and are not instances of domestic violence or associated with gang conflict, drug trade, or other criminal activity.

According to researchers, there were two major reasons for the decline. First, people have been leery about going out in public for the most part of 2020, creating fewer opportunities for slayings at schools, workplaces, or movie theaters.

Second, Americans were so focused on other tragedies that shooters were less likely to consider vicious acts.

“The thing about mass shooters is they tend to be people who feel that they are the victims of injustice. Well, lots of people now are suffering, not just them,” James Alan Fox, a criminologist, and professor at Northeastern University, told AP.

“It’s hard to say right now that your own plight is unique or unfair. It may not feel good, but there’s certainly reason for it. And it’s not because of something someone’s doing to you. It’s really the pandemic, which is a thing not a person,” Fox continued.

The murder of eight people at Atlanta massage spas on Tuesday was a grim reminder of the type of violence that was rampant in pre-pandemic America. It felt like a wake-up call to the country saying that a return to public life may mean a resurgence in these senseless acts of violence.

Former President Barack Obama, a staunch supporter of gun control measures, used the Atlanta tragedy to call on Americans to renew their commitment to gun-control policy.

“Even as we’ve battled the pandemic, we’ve continued to neglect the longer-lasting epidemic of gun violence in America,” Obama said on Twitter Wednesday.

“Although the shooter’s motive is not yet clear, the identity of the victims underscores an alarming rise in anti-Asian violence that must end,” he continued.

“Yesterday’s shootings are another tragic reminder that we have far more work to do to put in place common sense gun safety laws and root out the pervasive patterns of hatred and violence in our society,” he said.

Obama’s call for the country to enact sensible gun laws is a policy priority that reaches back to his days in the oval office. The 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Newton, Connecticut caused him incredible anguish.

The failure of Congress to address the gun violence problem with gun control measures caused him further frustration.

“I will say that was not only maybe the saddest day of my presidency, but when Congress failed to do anything in the aftermath of Sandy Hook was probably the angriest I ever was during my presidency,” Obama said.

“I was disgusted and appalled by the inaction because you had parents who had just lost their children sitting in front of senators and asking for very modest, reasonable approaches,” he continued.

Obama has an ally in the White House with his former Vice-President, President Joe Biden. Currently, a bipartisan group is pushing measures that would require background checks for all gun purchases.

Biden has also called for “universal background check legislation, requiring a background check for all gun sales with very limited exceptions, such as gifts between close family members.”

The president also wants to “keep guns out of dangerous hands” through background checks and by closing “other loopholes that allow people who should be prohibited from purchasing firearms from making those purchases.”

As the country prepares to get back to normal, let’s hope that one far-too-common aspect of American life, public mass shootings, is something we leave in the pre-pandemic past.

I always knew that Tom Nook was up to good.

In Don’t Peek, a young woman is playing quarantine time-killer Animal Crossing in her bedroom when she notices what happens in the game also happens in real life. If her villager turns off the light, the room in her light also goes out. But what about the creepy monster cackling just outside of her character’s house — will he cross over, too?

I won’t spoil what happens next, as you should watch Julian Terry’s short film for yourself. It’s only seven minutes long (and embedded above), but it’s about to be a bit longer: Deadline reports that Don’t Peek is being turned into a feature-length film from Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter director Timur Bekmambetov.

Don’t Peek made its world premiere March 15 on the first day of SXSW Online. The short follows a young woman discovering a frightening video game character intent on crossing into the real world. Produced last year during quarantine, Terry uploaded the short to YouTube before it was accepted into SXSW.

The short has over 1.3 million views on YouTube.

I assume Nintendo will have no official involvement with the feature, but I want Bekmambetov gets John Leguizamo to play the Don’t Peek monster, as a nod to the company’s glorious video game-turned-movie past. Throw a Power Glove in there, too, why not.

(Via Deadline)