A primer on RuPaul’s Drag Race for ignoramuses like us

A conversation with the amazing Kira Thurman. Plus, a brawl in the legislature and the inauguration tomorrow.

Hello readers, 

There was a spontaneous protest late Friday night outside of the Taiwanese legislature. It was sparked by one of the most intense fights that broke out on the legislative floor. Brawls are nothing new in Taiwanese politics, and of course we condemn all violence. But the most recent acts have been sparked by a series of outrageous norm-breaking moves, including not even revealing which version of the bill everybody was voting on, and not even requiring a roll call. Meanwhile, the bills that the KMT and TPP majority are trying to ram through are also outrageous. One is a clearly unfeasible and environmentally destructive bill that aims to drill a tunnel through the Central Mountain Range. It will cost 2 trillion NTD. Another bill expands the powers of the legislature to criminalize any private citizen or public official—literally anybody—who fails to appear for a subpoena. You can get charged for “contempt of congress”—yes, that’s disturbingly vague—and put in jail for th…