Arrested Development returns, Star Trek analysis, Facebook's free speech, and more

• ​This Sunday 15 new episodes of cult-favorite TV comedy Arrested Development will become available on Netflix. In anticipation of the show's return NPR posted an impressive guide to the running gags throughout all three original seasons. Poynter has an article about the app and creator Adam Cole, the NPR reporter who pored over the episodes to track the jokes.
  
• I haven't seen the new Star Trek movie, and am already tired of hearing about it, but David Banks's article at Cyborgology is worth reading if you are interested in analyzing the political overtones (i.e. 9/11 and the War on Terror) of the film or just a fan of the franchise. My favorite bit from the post:
  

The cosmopolitan multiculturalism of Deep Space Nine and the late second wave feminism of Voyager are one 14-season-long transgression of the never-ending-present that The Next Generation sets up. Q, the omnipresent trickster god that saw it fit to put all of humanity on trial is now physically assaulted by Benjamin Sisko and romantically rejected by Kathryn Janeway. Janeway goes one step further and, in a deeply underappreciated series, stands in literal judgment of the Q continuum itself for its desire to keep one of its own from committing suicide. In a trial of her own, reminiscent of the time Data defends his sentience and Spock is tried for treason, Janeway actually rules in favor of individual autonomy over the Foucauldian power of the state to regulate life and death:

• Posting at memeburn Graeme Lipschitz discusses the assertion made recently by Facebook attorneys that clicking the "Like" button is "vital" to free speech.​

The court ruling states that “likes” do not amount to a “substantive statement” where “substantive” can mean “real” or “independent in existence or function.” Many have said that “liking” something on Facebook is similar to putting up a sign on your lawn endorsing a particular point of view — this is protected by free speech in the US. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a brief which cites examples like re-tweeting, signing a petition, and donating to a campaign online as examples of media that are created by “one-click” that are similar to Facebook’s “like” that are protected by free speech. It is thought that if the ruling is upheld, these forms of expression will be under threat too.

• Lastly, this is an older post I just came across on Mediaknowall about race and class in Django Unchained.​