Lucky

317 posts
Lucky is not a literary critic.

Alan Turing Denied Official Pardon for Being Gay

The British government rejected a request today to pardon renowned English mathematician, codebreaker, and computing innovator Alan Turing, who was convicted of gross indecency in 1952. The request for a pardon was initiated by scientists and mathematicians around the world as well as a publicly circulated petition to the government in London.

The online government petition, which was started last year, asked for a pardon that “may act as an apology to many of the other gay men, not as well known as Alan Turing, who were subjected to these laws.” It currently has close to 24,000 signatures. An earlier petition calling for a formal apology prompted then Prime Minister Gordon Brown to write such an apology on behalf of the British government in 2009. Continue reading →

Woody Harrelson Demonstrates How Not to Use Social Media

Woody Harrelson[‘s PR person] provoked the anger of Redditors on Friday while attempting to promote Harrelson’s latest movie, Rampart. While Reddit AMAs (Ask Me Anything) have been well-received in the past coming from celebrities, Harrelson[‘s PR rep] clearly didn’t do his research.

Things quickly turned sour when participants realized that whoever was behind Harrelson’s account had no intention of answering any questions that didn’t concern Rampart and quickly disappeared. The highlight (or lowlight)? Redditor AndyRooney asked if Harrelson remembered crashing his prom party in LA and “taking the virginity of a girl named Roseanna. You didn’t call her afterward. She cried a lot.” The Harrelson account replied with, “First of off, its not true, and second off, I don’t want to answer questions about that. Lets focus on the film people,” an instruction sure to please internet commenters everywhere. Continue reading →