Hey there, Meteor readers,

The first week of January is almost over; how are those resolutions coming along? Yeah. Mine too.

Tomorrow, as we all know, is the two-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection. I can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning, but I can still remember that day when someone told me there was a riot at the Capitol and I simply responded, “No, there’s not.”

A few moments later we were watching it unfold on CNN: thousands of people violently rushing into the Capitol building demanding that Mike Pence and Congress reject the results of the 2020 election.

Jan. 6 was a turning point in American history and politics. A group of people had a completely different understanding than most of the country of how democracy should work and they were being goaded on by a sitting President.

Alarmingly, not much has changed to ensure something like this can’t happen again. Yes, arrests were made and prison sentences were handed down to rioters—but election deniers still hold positions of power. More than ever ran for office in 2022 (though many lost). Donald Trump, who reveled in the event, still talks about a presidential run despite the January 6 Committee recommending he face criminal charges. We are truly in the Upside Down.

In today’s newsletter, we get into this year’s big mess, Kevin McCarthy, the latest on Andrew Tate, and a touching note from one of you. (If you’ve never sent us a message, try doing something new this year!)

Wondering how two years went by so fast,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

Don’t speak: It’s been a bad week for Representative Kevin McCarthy, who lost ten different rounds of voting in his attempt to become Speaker of the House. The fact that his own party is responsible for making McCarthy a national embarrassment is the kind of true-life comedy Judd Apatow wishes he could write. But beyond the extremely good tweets this event has produced (including this IG post) lies a more serious problem. The 118th Congress can’t be sworn in until a Speaker has been chosen, which means that because of this right-wing nonsense, the country has been running without a functional House all week (although how functional it’ll be when this all gets sorted is a question for another day).

So while we’re all enjoying a hearty laugh over this man’s desperation to get some votes (and some pizza), let’s not forget we need this matter to be resolved to get on with the work of governing. As Amanda Marcotte explained in Salon, it’s not really about McCarthy: “It's about the Republican Party's self-conception in its exciting new fascist iteration (which was forged under Donald Trump but doesn't really have much to do with him either).” In order for fascism to flourish, Republicans must, Marcotte writes, “bully” and “ritually purge a once-trusted insider” who’s failed to fall in line with the group.

What will the GOP choose? Implosion or compromise? My money’s on the former.

WHEN THE JOKE'S NOT THAT FUNNY BUT YOU KNOW THERE'S ANOTHER VOTE COMING. (IMAGE BY CHIP SOMODEVILLA VIA GETTY IMAGES)

More than words: During a televised conference on state-run IRNA news, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran made a comment about hijab that we’re extremely skeptical about: “Hijab is undoubtedly an inviolable necessity, but this inviolable necessity should not cause those who do not fully observe hijab to be accused of being irreligious or counter-revolutionary,” he said to a room full of women. The comment was an attempt, after four months of protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, to hint at some sort of directional shift or leniency on the government’s treatment of those not observing their interpretation of hijab. But given that the same government has handed down 26 death sentences for those who have been arrested at the protests, it’s not particularly inspiring anyone to believe that change is on the way.

It gets worse: Two women have come forward against influencer Andrew Tate claiming they were abused by him in the UK in 2015 and their cases were allegedly mishandled by UK police and Crown Prosecution who failed to bring any formal charges against Tate. (Not only was he not prosecuted, he was on Big Brother UK during the investigation.) According to Vice, Tate was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and physical abuse and was eventually released while the investigation into the women’s claims took four years to be handed over to CPS. During that time, Tate was allegedly running a “webcam sex business” with his brother.

AND: 

• Everyone is losing their minds over the latest royal tidbit from Harry’s memoir. Apparently, Prince William once shoved him to the ground during an argument. Yawn. I once took a glass candle base to the forehead during a rousing game of “two kids hitting each other in the car for no reason.” Where’s my book deal? The full memoir, Spare, drops on Monday. Although I am ready for this royal back-and-forth to come to an end, I look forward to finding out what other sibling things the Windsor boys got up to behind closed doors. (And all kidding aside, inter-familial hitting or shoving is not the way to go.)

• Since we’re on the topic of books, here are 62 books to read by women of color in 2023, as compiled by Electric Literature. (What, read more women of color isn’t on your resolution list?)

• Edward Norton is apparently a descendant of Pocahontas. This may come up at your local trivia night. You’re welcome.

• Here’s an interesting bit of women’s history brought to you by the fine folks at Jalopnik: Did you know that in 1909, New York City tried out a women’s-only train car on what is now the Manhattan-Hoboken PATH line? It was very short-lived.

OPENING OUR INBOX

This week we got an absolute gem of a letter from newsletter reader Sean who writes:

Let me first start by stating that my 24-year-old daughter is amazing!! I want her life to have an equal opportunity for happiness, health, career satisfaction, respect, and choice for her future life decisions. She is the reason I started reading your articles. In fact, she is the reason I’m able to love without boundaries. 

I believe that these freedoms dictate the ability to truly express love. And I don’t want a world where authentic love is stifled. I want love to abound....I want the most authentic love attainable for me, and all others. This defines a healthy world. Commonality is found across the globe (based on this).

I commend your education, to men like me, through thoughtful articles.

Sean, we’re so happy that you’ve found your way to us. And aren’t you a lucky guy for having an amazing daughter. Thanks so much for reading!

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Felicitous new year, Meteor readers,

Wow, we’re back at it again in 2023. I, for one, have been in a time freeze since the last time we chatted. The Meteor is coming off of a seven-day vacation during which I chose to live my best life—and by that, I mean I reorganized my closet and played several hours of God of War: Ragnarok. (She’s a gam3rgrl.) I hope your end-of-year was just as exciting.

In today’s newsletter, we’re easing ourselves into 2023 with our own version of what’s in and what is absolutely out (*cough* low-rise jeans *cough*). But first, let’s take a look at the news.

Typing from the floor of my extremely clean closet,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

Birth behind bars: According to the Arizona Republic, Perryville prison induced three incarcerated women before their due dates without their consent. While induction is safe in most cases, doing so before a due date is a decision between a patient and a care provider—and the women told reporters that they were not given the choice to refuse induction, and would have preferred to give birth without it. They’ve also claimed that prison medical providers insisted that the inductions were part of Arizona Department of Corrections policy—most likely as a way to decrease the prison’s liability—rather than a medical necessity, bringing an entirely new and frightening meaning to forced birth. (The ADOC did not comment on the situation, but NaphCare, the medical contractor working with the prison, denied the existence of any such policy.)

One of the women, Stephanie Pearson, told the Republic, “They just told me that someone on a different yard a few years ago went into labor in their cell, and had their baby in the cell, and that's why they induce everyone now.”

Desiree Romero, who was also induced, said she wasn’t surprised that she wasn’t being given any choices: “I’m quite used to the prison making all these decisions for us because we are still state property.”

AND:

• Groundbreaking tennis Hall of Famer and 18-time Grand Slam singles champion Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with throat and breast cancer at the age of 66. We wish her a quick recovery.

MARTINA PRESENTING THE WOMEN'S SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY AT LAST YEAR'S US OPEN. (IMAGE BY DIEGO SUOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES)

• The state of Missouri is set to carry out the execution of Amber McLaughlin, a transgender woman convicted of killing her girlfriend in 2003. If McLaughlin's clemency petition is denied, she will be the first openly transgender person to die by execution in U.S. history. The real thing to consider here is why the self-proclaimed greatest country in the world still conducts the medieval practice of executions in the first place.

• Anita Pointer of the Pointer Sisters died on New Year’s Eve after a lengthy battle with cancer. The Pointer Sisters were the first Black all-woman singing group to perform at Nashville’s Grand Ol’ Opry.

THE LAST IN/OUT LIST YOU'LL NEED THIS YEAR

You know what's always in? Winning free stuff. We're giving away tote bags to the first 10 people to click on the image below just as a thank you for sticking with us into the new year. 

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Hey Meteor readers,

I’m peeved this evening. I’ve been peeved all day, really. This morning, a new report detailing ongoing abuse in women’s soccer was released and I’ve been muttering obscenities under my breath about it all day. So as you can guess, we spend some time with what’s in it and what’s being done about it.

We’ve also got a quick cruise through today’s news. Let’s get into it.

Staring out the window,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

Continued abuse in women’s soccer: A new joint investigation conducted by the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and the NWSL Player’s Association confirmed widespread “sexual abuse, unwanted sexual advances…emotional abuse, cronyism, racist remarks” and retaliation against players who reported this behavior. If you’re wondering why this sounds so familiar, it’s because the Yates report, released in October of this year, arrived at a similar conclusion.

The new report examines the league as a whole and provides more detail on specific misconduct allegations, including those levied against former Gotham FC general manager Alyse LaHue, who was fired in 2021 to the surprise of team supporters. (LaHue was presented as the woman who would turn Gotham, the New Jersey area team,  around.) According to the unnamed player who made the allegations, not only did LaHue engage in sexual harassment, but she also practiced religious discrimination. LaHue’s lawyers deny the allegations.

The report also detailed the fallout from an incident that took place last year involving the Houston Dash’s Sarah Gorden. After a match in Chicago, Gorden had shared on Twitter that she and her boyfriend had been racially profiled by security staff. No disciplinary action was taken—but even more alarmingly, this latest report reveals that head coach James Clarkson asked Gorden’s teammates to apologize to the security staff for publicly supporting her claim. Clarkson even went so far as to hand out the phone numbers of the accused so that players could easily contact them.  

But even with these two bombshell reports, there might be more to uncover. Both U.S. Soccer and some NWSL teams “delayed providing key evidence,” citing legal privilege due to  “confidentiality or non-disparagement agreements with coaches fired for misconduct.”

Additionally, both reports make it a point to get at the larger issues at play: The NWSL didn’t have an anti-fraternization policy until 2018, which could have curbed the number of coaches who felt emboldened to pursue players romantically—nor was there an anti-harassment policy until 2021. (If you’re keeping track, that’s 30 years after Anita Hill and four years after #MeToo!) That means there was no structure for players on reporting or handling unwanted advances from coaches or other team staff. Instead, most accused coaches were quietly fired or transferred to different teams within the league to continue their careers undisturbed, as was explained both in the Yates report and this one.

While the entire report is infuriating, one section, in particular, made me want to yeet my computer into the Passaic. On top of having to deal with harassment, job insecurity, and retaliation, many players reported being treated like “charity cases” rather than professional athletes. Imagine for a moment spending your entire adolescent life training for a job, getting scholarships for your talent, eventually being signed to a professional team, being harassed and silenced in an effort to keep your job only to have the owner of that team act as if they’re doing you a favor.

One unnamed player explained, “[The owner] made it seem like his players were his kids which, if you had the owner of the Knicks saying that to one of his players, that’s weird.”

Two investigations into rampant, widespread abuse, and all anyone has to show for it are some lukewarm apologies and belated recommendations on strengthening a one-year-old anti-harassment policy and adding in sensitivity training? We need to do better.

AND: 

• Megan Thee Stallion testified this week in the case against Tory Lanez, who is on trial for three assault charges and one gun charge. In July 2020, Megan reported that Lanez allegedly shot at her feet. Since then the press and music industry has had a field day calling into question everything from her account of what happened to her sexual history, including one particularly unsavory lyric from Drake, who sang, “This bitch lie about getting shot but she still a stallion.” Classy. In part of Megan’s testimony, she stated that after the incident, Lanez offered her $1 million not to tell anyone what happened. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

• Investigative reporter Olivia Raisner went undercover at five “crisis pregnancy centers” to understand what these places—which lure pregnant people in with promises of help but are actually anti-abortion non-medical facilities—were telling their patients. The footage isn’t just alarming; it’s riddled with inaccuracies and scare tactics. In the video, staff can be heard claiming that people who get abortions may develop eating disorders, display an increased chance of depression, suicide, have difficulty becoming pregnant again, and sharing other lies about the supposed dangers of the (actually very safe) abortion pill.

• As of today, nurses in the UK are officially on strike for the first time in the 74-year history of the National Health Service. The nurses are calling for higher wages and an end to staffing shortages.

• The New York City Medical Examiner’s office has determined the cause of death for prominent journalist Grant Wahl, who died while covering the World Cup in Qatar. Wahl’s wife, Dr. Céline Gounder, wrote on his Substack that he died from an aortic aneurysm. 

• Today, to much Congressional fanfare, the House passed the Puerto Rico Status Act. The measure lays out a process through which Puerto Ricans will be able to vote between statehood, independence, and free association. That sounds like a leap forward—after all, as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said today, “for the first time in our nation’s history, the U.S. recognized its role as a colonizing force”—but lipstick on a pig is still lipstick on a pig. It remains unclear to those who need to cast their vote what exactly free association is and how the three choices would affect the hundreds of thousands living in poverty stemming from policies enacted by the U.S. Then there is the larger unanswered question of reparations, of which the PRSA makes no mention, a flaw that even AOC can’t ignore.

• Harvard has a new president: Claudine Gay. She will be the first ever Black woman to hold the position.

• As your Netflix queue has surely informed you, the final three episodes of the Harry and Meghan docuseries are now streaming. Though most of the chatter has been about whether it makes sense to film a whole TV series about how you want more privacy, the documentation of the vast media smear operation this couple had to deal with, and the extent to which no one who could help did, is fascinating. One of the strongest parts details the finding that the tsunami of social-media hate Meghan faced on Twitter was largely orchestrated by a small number of users, many of them “middle-aged Caucasian women,” according to the analyst of the tweets.

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Dear Meteor readers,

Today we reflect on the 10-year anniversary of Sandy Hook, which takes place December 14. What have we learned since then, and where do we go from here?

We also have some news. Let’s dive right in.

Praying for a different way,

Samhita Mukhopadhyay

WHAT'S GOING ON

Ten years ago: On December 14, 2012, an armed gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and killed 26 people—a majority of whom were children under the age of 10. It was the deadliest mass shooting in an elementary school in U.S. history.

Afterward, Americans seemed to agree: Sandy Hook needed to be a turning point. Kids should not be gunned down in their own classrooms.

Yet in just a four-year span after Sandy Hook, there was Taft Union High School in California. There was Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Georgia. Sparks Middle School in Nevada. Arapahoe High School in Colorado. Berrendo Middle School in New Mexico. North Thurston High School in Washington. South Macon Elementary in North Carolina. Harrisburg High School in South Dakota. Madison High School in Ohio. Antigo High School in Wisconsin. Mueller Park Junior High School in Utah. All incidents in which teenagers were either wounded or killed.

And these incidents aren’t flukes. Over the ten years since Sandy Hook, incidents of school-based gun violence have increased at an alarming rate. According to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security K-12 Shooting Database, 948 gun violence incidents have taken place on K-12 campuses since December 2012. “Gun violence incidents” include any incident where a gun is “brandished, fired, [or] a bullet hits school property for any reason regardless of the number of victims, time of day, or day of week.” As a result, 273 people have been killed, 722 have been wounded, and thousands have been traumatized by witnessing gun violence at school.

For the parents of Sandy Hook, the trauma of their loss was compounded by a new 21st-century ordeal: a mass disinformation campaign that sought to invalidate their experience. Alt-right radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones relentlessly spread lies claiming the shooting was a hoax. He called the parents “actors” and told his audience (who believed him) that Sandy Hook was a staged event intended to remove guns from the hands of law-abiding citizens. Courts ultimately found Jones guilty of defamation and ordered him to pay $965 million in damages to eight of the families. This reckoning wouldn’t have happened without the efforts of Sandy Hook families who, in the wake of this tragedy, refused to be silent about the twin plagues of gun violence and disinformation.

As for the direction we’re headed with gun violence: This year saw another series of incomprehensible mass shootings, including the murder of 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Like Sandy Hook, Uvalde was heralded as a turning point—and many gun reform advocates believe the turning is actually beginning to happen. In June, the Senate was able to reach a deal on gun reform that, while not banning assault rifles outright, did begin to limit who can access them.

But as National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman said, “It takes a monster to kill children. But to watch monsters kill children again and again and do nothing isn’t just insanity—it’s inhumanity.”

For the sake of the families of Sandy Hook, let’s not allow this anniversary to be an occasion where we simply mourn the murder of children as an inevitable part of American life. If you take one small action today to protect children from gun violence, consider a donation to Sandy Hook Promise, which works to end violence nationwide through education, gun reform, and (most crucially) a “Know the Signs” program geared toward caring for students who exhibit violent inclinations.

 Let’s fight for a better future—together.

AND: 

• This afternoon, in 2022, President Biden signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act, which grants federal protections to same-sex and interracial married couples. I know, it feels like an announcement we should have made long ago. But let’s not lose that loving feeling: this is still a joyous occasion.

• It’s a sad day for the BTS ARMY as the band’s oldest member, Jin, begins his mandatory service to the South Korean army. In accordance with his native country’s laws, Jin will complete basic training and 18 months of service before being able to return to the international pop star life.

• Ticketmaster has once again fucked with the wrong fan group. Mexican regulators are fining the company after over 1,600 people were turned away from a Bad Bunny concert in Mexico City despite having purchased authentic tickets on Ticketmaster. Initially, a rep for Ticketmaster claimed that all of those people must have purchased fake tickets. But regulators determined that Ticketmaster actually oversold the event. (Conejos and Swifties unite in a lawsuit???)

• Puerto Rico has become an “abortion haven” for visitors and tourists. But as is usually the case on the island, residents have not been able to reap the same benefits, largely due to cost and the fact that most insurance plans offered to residents do not cover abortion. “I have no doubt some people have stopped buying groceries for one or two weeks in order to afford [an abortion],” one doctor told The Cut.

• The body of sports journalist Grant Wahl has been returned to the United States. Wahl was in Doha, Qatar covering the World Cup when he collapsed on Friday and died shortly after. The cause of death is unknown, but he had written in his blog a few days earlier that he was being treated for symptoms similar to bronchitis. Grant Wahl was a champion for soccer in America, going beyond match recaps and player profiles to paint a full picture of the beautiful game. He was fearless in his coverage and unrelenting in his work to hold soccer’s governing bodies accountable for their actions. Personally, Wahl’s journalism inspired me to approach my own love of sports through a more critical, feminist lens. We lost one of the greats.

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Hey! Meteor readers!

*bursts through your inbox like the Kool-Aid Man*

SO MUCH IS HAPPENING! No time for banter. Let’s dive straight into it.

Typing like the wind,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

Long overdue homecoming: After 294 days, Brittney Griner has been released from prison and will soon be reunited with her loving wife, Cherelle. A rundown of how we got here: In February, Griner was detained in Russia after officials found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. Like most WNBA players of her caliber, Griner travels overseas to play for other leagues as a way to make more money during the U.S. off-season. In May, the U.S. government officially acknowledged that Griner had been wrongfully detained—but that move didn’t do her much good. The Russian government kept her in custody and proceeded with a drug trial in July. Griner, who maintained that she had had no intent to break the law, pleaded guilty and was handed the maximum sentence of nine years in a Russian penal colony.

Early this morning, President Biden announced that Griner was being safely returned home as a result of a prisoner swap. In exchange for her freedom, the U.S. returned convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout to Russia. Unfortunately, the news is not all good: Griner’s fellow detainee, Paul Whelan, was not included in the swap and remains imprisoned in Russia on suspicion of espionage. Whelan, a former Marine, has been in Russia since 2018. Both he and the U.S. government deny any allegations of espionage.

For those of us not directly connected to the Griner family, this ordeal has opened our eyes to so many things that I hope we don’t soon forget—for one thing, that professional women athletes deserve a level of pay that would allow them to do what their male peers do during their sports’ off-seasons: recover.

It’s also Latina Equal Pay Day: a day where I, a working Latina who loves to write about equal pay in sports, and all of my sistren are reminded of the astonishing wage gap that still exists for many of us. This day marks the length of time a Latina would need to work to make as much money as a white guy doing the same job in the previous year. Women on average need to work an additional three months, till March, but Black women until September, Native women until the end of November, and Latina women till today.  (But hey the gap for Latinas is closing and we’ll be on par with white men by *counts on fingers* the year 2206.)

But as Rebekah Barber and Jasmine Mithani of The 19th point out, Latinas face many other barriers which have contributed to the pay disparity.  Latinas are “overrepresented in lower-paid industries such as service and domestic work.” But those of us with undergraduate degrees are “the most underpaid—taking home 31 percent less than White men,” they write. Suffice it to say my student loan lender will get their money when I get mine. (Which, I repeat, could be in 2206.)

Are there solutions to close the pay gap? Plenty, like passing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act. But any long-term solutions also require systemic change in how we view Latina women’s labor, childcare, and sick leave. Did you know that 51 percent of working Latinas don’t even have access to paid sick leave?  And studies about gender-based pay gaps don’t often include undocumented workers or those who exist outside of the gender binary, leaving those populations’ needs largely unknown and unaddressed.

I guess you could say there’s a lot of work ahead if we want to feel better about…work.

AND: 

• If you ever need a reminder that it’s worth it to bet on yourself, here’s one. This week New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge signed a nine-year, $360 million contract to stay with the team. Last year Judge turned down a lower offer from the Yankees opting for free agency. He received another offer from the Giants and still said no believing he was worth more and lo and behold he now has 360 million reasons to stay dressed in those iconic (and booty-enhancing) pinstripes. ENERGY!!! Now go forth and be the Aaron Judge of your own career.

• A new lawsuit has been filed against Bill Cosby, accusing him—again—of sexual assault, battery, and false imprisonment.

• According to medical professionals who spoke to The Guardian, Iranian security forces have been aiming at women’s faces and genitals when shooting pellets into crowds during protests. One physician told the outlet, “I treated a woman in her early 20s who was shot in her genitals by two pellets. Ten other pellets were lodged in her inner thigh. These 10 pellets were easily removed, but those two pellets were…wedged in between her urethra and vaginal opening…She said she was protesting when a group of about 10 security agents circled around and shot her in her genitals and thighs.”

• On Tuesday evening, Raphael Warnock won the runoff election in Georgia, giving the Democrats a majority in the Senate. So a question for Democrats…what are y’all going to do with all this power?

• In a 258-169 vote, the House has approved legislation that would protect same-sex marriages across the country. If you want to know how your elected representative voted in this matter—so you can send them either spite or support—you can find that info here.

• Looking for something new to listen to while you clean this weekend? Check out ESPN’s latest 30 for 30 installment Pink Card, which tells the story of Iranian women fighting for the right to watch soccer matches in an actual stadium.

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Evenin’ Meteor readers,

Today we’re anxiously awaiting the results of the Georgia Senate run-off election which will decide if Herschel “what even is a pronoun” Walker or incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock will win the seat. We have reason to be optimistic—but there have already been documented instances of voter suppression and people struggling to get their absentee ballots, changing deadlines and more.

In today’s newsletter, we are sifting through the confusion of the recent headlines about the morality police in Iran, applauding some brave Swifties, and checking in on what else is going on in our world.

Watching the results come in,

Shannon Melero & Samhita Mukhopadhyay

WHAT'S GOING ON

Seriously, what is going on in Iran: Over the weekend, The New York Times sent out a breaking news alert announcing that Iran’s “Gasht-e Irshad,” commonly referred to as the “morality police,” had been abolished. The Wall Street Journal and CBS News repeated the headline as well.

But that’s not exactly what happened. It didn’t take long for Iranian journalists and those familiar with the situation to chime in with much-needed clarifications.

“This is at best a very unclear and inconclusive remark uttered in the middle of a presser,” wrote Arash Aziz on Twitter. Aziz, an author and NYU PhD candidate, explains what he saw in the press conference: Iran’s Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri made an off-hand comment that was widely reported as fact. As it turns out, Montazeri has no authority to make such a sweeping declaration.

Iranian state media eventually confirmed that Gasht-e Irshad has not been abolished, although citizens have reported a diminished presence of the force on the streets.

It’s not about a single misleading headline. The reality is that oppressive governments thrive on sowing seeds of confusion—and they have a strong incentive to do so, since their efforts to quiet the protests have failed. And given how fast stories spread on social media (and how much we desire good news), a misinterpreted quote or slightly inaccurate headline can quickly spiral into viral misinformation for Iranian officials to use to obscure what is happening in Iran. In this particular case, Iran’s state media can easily point to an error made by Western media and spin it into a narrative that outsiders are the ones really stoking the fires of revolution and pretend everything in Tehran is peachy.

In discussing the response to the Times article, Gissou Nia, an Iranian-American human rights lawyer, told CBC News, “I think it simply underscores that the global community wants a neat resolution to this story and is not realizing that the Iranian people want a full overhaul of the system—not just the morality police.”

But here’s what we know to be true: All of this is distracting from the bigger story. The sweeping movement in Iran continues against great odds with strikes, protests, and rallies planned for the majority of this week. The Iranian government is doing its utmost to brutally suppress these actions as well as any reporting on them. And while there may not be a ton of ways to help the women in Iran directly, we can continue to amplify the voices of the activists, agitators, and people on the ground risking their lives to fight theocratic rule and demand equal rights for all citizens.

AND: 

• The prophetess Taylor Swift once said, “There is nothing I do better than revenge.” And on Monday, her followers cleaved to this sacred portion of Swifture by filing a lawsuit against Ticketmaster for violating California’s antitrust and unfair competition laws. If you missed that particular debacle, there was an absolute excrement escapade during the pre-sale for tickets of Swift’s upcoming Eras tour. As a certified red-scarf-carrying Swiftie, I will be watching this case like a daughter-in-law waiting to kill you for the money.

• Anderson Lee Aldrich, the suspect arrested in connection with the Club Q shooting, has been formally charged with murder, hate crimes, and assault.

• Afghanistan’s national women’s soccer team, which fled to New Zealand when the Taliban returned to power last year, is no longer recognized as an official team by FIFA —meaning they may not be able to compete, let alone qualify, in the Women’s World Cup. It’s another devastating blow to a team without a home.

• Sixteen municipalities in Puerto Rico are suing a group of oil companies including Shell and Exxon for “downplaying the risks of their fossil-fuel products on climate change,” Latino Rebels reports. The plaintiffs are asking that the companies be held financially responsible for the 2017 hurricane season, which was worsened by climate change and particularly devastating for the island.

• The rise in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric—and in particular, the backlash against drag queens—has changed how venues prepare for family-friendly drag events. Even children’s bookstores, like this one in Virginia, had to decide between hiring a security presence or canceling their Drag Queen Story Hour. (They opted to hold the event and remain vigilant.)

• Amber Heard plans to appeal the verdict in the trial between her and ex Johnny Depp, which came to a close in June and found Heard guilty of defamation.

• News network Al-Jazeera has submitted new evidence in the investigation of the May killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Palestine. In a formal filing with The Hague, the network turned over video footage showing that, in their words, “Shireen and her colleagues were directly fired at by the [IDF]” and “confirms, without any doubt, that there was no firing in the area where Shireen was, other than the [IDF] shooting directly at her.” This is in direct opposition to the IDF’s initial statement that Abu Akleh was accidentally killed in a crossfire between Palestinian militants and IDF soldiers.

• Congratulations to Canada for finally starting its very own professional women’s soccer league!!

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Hola, Meteor readers,

Anyone else feel like time is moving at lightning speed and a snail’s pace all at the same time? Anyone? Just me? We are somehow approaching the end of this year, which I could have sworn just started three weeks ago. Either I've discovered time travel or Thanos has re-acquired the infinity stones again. Who knows!

In today’s newsletter: a disastrous contract extension in Puerto Rico, positive news out of Jackson, Mississippi, and a little time spent with the Harry and Meghan trailer.

Screaming “HOW IS IT DECEMBER?!”,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

Se fue la luz: After Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Fiona in September, we wrote about Luma, the private power distributor behind the crumbling energy grid leaving thousands of islanders without electricity. And now, despite massive outcries from the public, the board of Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority (PREPA) has chosen to extend Luma’s private contract with the island, giving the company control of the power system for an indefinite amount of time. According to AP, “Luma’s contract is expected to remain in place until the bankruptcy of Puerto Rico’s power company, which holds some $9 billion in debt, is resolved.”

What does this mean for all the American citizens living in Puerto Rico with no or unreliable access to electricity? I’ll put it as frankly as I possibly can: The PREPA board and Governor Pedro Pierluisi basically looked Puerto Ricans right in the eye and said, “Se pueden joder,” which loosely translates to they can go fuck themselves. During a news conference, Pierluisi said “canceling the contract makes no sense right now” due to how much it would cost to do so. And yet maintaining the contract, which ensures a payment of over $100 million to Luma, is the sensible option? There needs to be a plan C.

For an in-depth and comprehensive explanation of what’s happening and how it’s affecting citizens, consider watching the latest report on the power outages from independent reporter Bianca Graulau:

AND: 

• Almost a full three months after the collapse of the water system in Jackson, Mississippi, a judge has approved federal intervention to fix the problem and begin the process of restoring clean water to the city’s over 100,000 residents.

• Yesterday, music industry legend Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac died at home surrounded by her family. She was 79 years old. McVie was a beautiful, underappreciated vocalist and wrote, in my opinion, one of the greatest songs of all time:

   

• Cleveland Browns quarterback DeShaun Watson—who, if you’ve forgotten, was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women last year—is set to return to his day job this Sunday now that his measly 11-game suspension is complete. Ten of Watson’s accusers will be at the game, a move their attorney says is “a reminder that they are still here and they still matter.”

• A new ray of hope in the climate crisis: The Washington Post pinpointed 11 challenging but effective paths governments and corporations can take to prevent the globe from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above current temps—which is the number we need to avoid if we want to continue, you know, living on this planet.

• A reparations task force in California is set to present state-level recommendations next year, and it could be the proof needed for the viability of a federal program. “We are looking at reparations on a scale that is the largest since Reconstruction,” Professor Jovan Scott Lewis, a member of the task force, told The New York Times.

• Matthew McConaughey is now Professor McConaughey at the University of Texas, teaching a course on commercials. *resists the feminine urge to close this out with alrightalrightalright*

• Ever wonder who the GOP is talking about when they rail against abortion patients seeking late-term abortions? As Meteor collective member Jessica Valenti explains, they’re literally attacking children.

• Be honest: How many times have you watched the trailer for Harry and Meghan’s new Netflix docuseries? Let’s do it one more time.

• Christian Pulisic wants everyone to know he did NOT get hit in the nads during the Iran match, so please stop asking his teammates how his penis is doing.

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