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"Within the pages of her books, she made the ordinary seem extraordinary. She created a place where weird lonely kids would be told they were special, where kids who had survived abuse were more than just fundamentally broken. Since 2019 though, the once-beloved children’s author has—well, she’s had some opinions. About people like me. And whether or not we should exist. She’s even gone as far as to suggest that we’re inherently dangerous, a threat to real (ouch) women everywhere. [...]

"When I was a kid, every word that flowed from J. K. Rowling’s pen wrote magic into my world, but now every word she puts out just hurts my heart. Every homophobic or transphobic thing q***r kids hear growing up becomes a voice that follows them for a long time. We hear relatives, friends, and parents say awful things about us and to us. For a lot of us, we fight those voices every day. When one of those voices comes from the author who taught you about accepting yourself, a person you thought truly saw you and kids like you, it hurts in a way I honestly hope she never understands. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone."

Review: There Is No Magic in 'Hogwarts Legacy' The game is mid at best, and its real-world harms are impossible to ignore.

"Since taking the bench, Kacsmaryk has “gained a reputation as perhaps the most lawless jurist in the country.” Over the last three years, he “has seized control over border policy, repeatedly defied the Supreme Court’s decision protecting LGBTQ employees, and restricted minors’ access to birth control.”

"It’s not an accident that the lawsuit to ban abortion medication ended up in Kacsmaryk’s court. Congress has divided up the 94 federal district courts into smaller divisions but “left it to each district court to decide how to divvy up cases among its divisions.” Texas has “distributed their judges unevenly” in these divisions, with nine divisions assigned only one judge. This means that any case filed in Amarillo, Texas is a lock to be assigned to Kacsmaryk."

Inside the push for a nationwide ban on abortion medication Right-wing officials insisted their push to overturn Roe v. Wade was an effort to respect states' rights and the democratic process. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R), who represented her state in its successful effort to invalidate Roe, wrote a November 2021 op-ed in the Washington Post c...

"It’s a strangely benign message for an ad campaign without a product or overt political cause to promote. But it’s very well-funded: The 30-second and minute-long 'He Gets Us' ad spots that will run during the Super Bowl should amount to a total cost of $20 million, according to Ad Age. And the campaign’s backers have said they plan on spending a total of $1 billion over the next three years.

"The campaign is being run by something called The Signatry, a Kansas-based Christian foundation that exists, essentially, to connect donors (and their financial advisors) with causes in order to 'inspire and facilitate revolutionary, biblical generosity.' According to Ministry Watch, an evangelical watchdog organization that scrutinizes the finances of Christian charities, in 2018, the foundation reported more than $1 billion in contributions. The foundation itself seems to be apolitical and nondenominational."

The Backstory to That Jesus Ad at the Super Bowl The political underpinnings of this campaign are hiding beneath the surface.

"As for the timing of Tonko’s bill, well, if you want eyeballs, shoot for the eyes. It is Super Bowl Week, and $800 gobbledyzillions are being bet even as you read this on some hideously unreachable parlay because it’s fun to tell your pals at the rendering house you put $20 at plus-1700 on Haason Reddick eating Isiah Pacheco and picking his teeth with the femur before rather than after halftime, and consuming what internal organ first. In that way, the Betting On Our Future Act could not have been birthed at a more propitious time—which is what makes it feel as oily as it may be beneficial.

"Frankly, like everything else we produce. Equal parts yes and no, for a measure that will produce equal parts pain and pleasure. And as any gambler will tell you, if you’re hitting 50 percent, you’re losing because the vig will eat you alive."

You Are Now Free To Complain To Your Congressional Rep About Sports Betting Ads | Defector The Super Bowl is one of the great magnets of American culture because of its place as Backup Christmas. Everyone gathers around the multiple gods of wings, beer, M&Ms in the colors of the competing teams, ads, betting squares, strangers passing as friends and occasional flickers of sport, and it al...

"The U.S. News Best Law Schools ranking system 'is systematically flawed and harmful to both legal education and the legal profession,' interim Pitt Law dean Haider Ala Hamoudi said in a statement obtained by the Tribune-Review.

"'Some aspects of the U.S. News rankings are inconsistent with Pitt Law’s mission and values, including our longstanding commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging,' he wrote in explaining the school’s decision to suspend its participation."

Pitt withdraws from participating in U.S. News & World Report law school rankings The University of Pittsburgh said Friday it will withdraw from participating in the U.S. News & World Report law school rankings, joining a revolt now spreading nationally among public and private schools over the rankings’ methodology. The U.S. News Best Law Schools ranking system “is s...