The week of October 27, 2018 was calling 1-844-WYT-FEAR; adding lithium to our drinking water, nbd; and the best internet wormhole in awhile.

Mash-Ups In The News:

Kit Kats: Big In Japan

There’s chocolate, strawberry, matcha, wasabi, strawberry hazelnut, Tokyo banana, caramel macchiato, Mt. Fuji blueberry cheesecake, Mt Fuji STRAWBERRY cheesecake— Japan does everything better and that includes Kit Kats. How did this British product explode into a Japanese phenomenon? It’s all about those flavors.

Meanwhile, Colombia’s got their Bon Bon Bum, Feria, Choco Disks, and Tiger Pops. Here for it all.

via NY Times

Sofia Vergara Still Makes More Money Than All The Dudes On TV

Sofia Vergara makes BANK and has been making more bank than anyone on TV for seven years in a row. In an industry where Latina actors get only 7% of female speaking roles, a Latina is topping the highest paid actors list and she’s beating the white guys of Big Bang by eight figures.

via Jezebel

How Drag Performers In Los Angeles And Moscow, Idaho, Spend Their Money

What’s included in a drag performer’s budget? Lashes, makeup, prosthetics, costumes, Christian Louboutins, Valentino capes, wigs wigs wigs — the numbers add up differently for different drag queens and kings but the results always slay.

via Marketplace

The Far Right Represents Only 6% Of U.S. Citizens, Study Says. 67% Make Up The ‘Exhausted Majority.’

On the LEFT, only 8% of Americans are “Progressive Activists.” The largest grouping is “Politically Disengaged” at 26%. Our country is polarized, but we can all agree about being exhausted and cranky.

via Fortune

How To Get A Friend Out Of An MLM

Is your friend or family member trying to sell you colorful leggings or essential oils on Facebook? No need to panic, but they may be involved in a cult of Multi-Level Marketing. In 2017, more than 18.6 million people in the U.S. were “employed” by MLM companies and almost none of them made their money back, but there’s hope! Follow these tips to get your friend to freedom.

via Vice

Against A Federal Registry Of Genitals

The Trump administration is literally trying to “define transgender out of existence” and completely ignore the increasing population of those of us who don’t fit a gender or sex binary. It’s an attack, it’s bait, and it better be the push you needed to vote these bastards out of office. Donate to Trans Lifeline or Trevor Project to support our mashy fam.

via The Atlantic

From Lithuania, With Love

Journalist and foreign correspondent Ann Cooper received an email from around the globe and across 28 years that would bring her back through time and space to one of the most extraordinary days of her life in Vilnius, Lithuania. August 23, 1987.

via Roads & Kingdoms

Climate Change Is Already Damaging American Democracy

It’s like a dystopian sci-fi scenario, expect it’s real and our world and happening now. Major disasters and weather conditions caused by climate change are weakening local governments, increasing racial and class inequality, and widening the cracks of American democracy as we know it.

via The Atlantic

Los Angeles Will Wipe Out Nearly $90 Million Worth Of Debt Incurred By Juvenile Offenders

You might be asking: Debt for juvie?? Yes, that is a thing. A thing with huge consequences for the teens trying to rehabilitate, which disproportionately impacts families who are poor and Black. The Good News: All that debt is now wiped out in LA.

via CNBC