In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today!

Today is the anniversary of the terrorist attack of 9/11/01. Because the events of that day remain very triggering for a number of our readers and at least one of our contributors who was living in NYC at the time, I'm not going to be sharing images or writing anything evocative about what happened that day. There are plenty of other places to find that, if you are so inclined to mark the day that way. If you would like to read something that I wrote another year to mark the day, I will simply direct you here.

[Content Note: Guns; violence. Please note that video begins to play automatically at second link.] Police say that either George Zimmerman or his attorney are lying about Zimmerman having a gun at the scene of the attack on Zimmerman's estranged wife Shellie and her father. Rather, his former attorney. Because Mark O'Mara has quit.

In related news, the attorney for the medical examiner in the Trayvon Martin case, Dr. Shiping Bao, is preparing a $100 million lawsuit against the office of the medical examiner, the state attorney's office, and the Sanford Police Department, who he asserts were all biased against Martin. He alleges he was "wrongfully fired from the medical examiner's office" after being told to withhold testimony that did not favor Zimmerman.

[CN: Guns] Two Colorado state senators, John Morse and Angela Giron, both Democrats, have been voted out of office in a recall vote after they "provided crucial support for a slate of tough new gun-control laws. ...The election, which came five months after the United States Senate defeated several gun restrictions, handed another loss to gun-control supporters. It also gave moderate lawmakers across the country a warning about the political risks of voting for tougher gun laws." Swell.

Brittney Cooper has some great ideas about black women who are excellent candidates the be the next president of the NAACP.

[CN: Rape culture] Democratic California Governor Jerry Brown has signed three new anti-predation laws: "The first bill, AB 65, closes a loophole in California rape law by clarifying that someone who impersonates another person in order to coerce someone into sexual activity can be prosecuted for rape. ...Brown also signed AB 157, which will make false impersonation on the internet a criminal act of domestic violence, and AB 161, which will allow courts to ban domestic abusers from changing any insurance policies shared with their partners."

Congratulations to the US men's soccer team on earning another trip to the World Cup! The men's World Cup is next year; the next women's World Cup is in 2015.

[CN: Child abuse; sexual abuse; racism; disablism; exploitation] Reuters has an incredible five-part series on the United States' underground market for adopted children—specifically parents who have adopted internationally and now want to offload the child, or "disrupt" the adoption, which is accomplished in violation of laws that are not enforced, often by simply placing ads on the internet seeking to "re-home" the child, like an unwanted pet. It is tough but important reading.

AMC has canceled The Killing again. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! BUT IT WAS SO GREAT LAST SEASON! Dammit.