In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today!

Yesterday, the House passed the budget bill, but failed to pass the farm bill (which includes food stamp funding). "But an agreement remained elusive on the farm bill, the subject of continuing disagreements between Republicans and Democrats over spending for food stamps and expanding crop insurance for farmers, among other issues. All the House could pass on Thursday was a simple one-month extension of the current law, which Senate Democrats oppose because they think it will distract from the completion of a new bill." OH WELL TIME FOR VACATION!

[Content Note: Drones; killing] "Fifteen people on their way to a wedding in Yemen were killed in an air strike after their party was mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy, local security officials said on Thursday. The officials did not identify the plane in the strike in central al-Bayda province, but tribal and local media sources said that it was a drone. ...The United States has stepped up drone strikes as part of a campaign against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), regarded by Washington as the most active wing of the militant network."

Following the implosion of the filibuster, two female judges, Patricia Millett and Nina Pillard, were confirmed by the US Senate to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit this week. This makes "the first time the court has had five active female judges."

[CN: Driving while intoxicated; killing; class warfare] Here is how the defense for 16-year-old Ethan Couch, who killed four people while drunk driving, used his wealth as a defense for his crimes, ultimately resulting in his getting nothing but probation.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee keeps threatening to run for president again. Okay. I can stand to watch him lose again.

Would you like to know why eight ladies got their tattoos? Well, then you should definitely read this!

Y'all, I am so over Benedict Cumberbatch and his lectures on how women should do feminism. Kaiser is so right here: "This is getting to be less about Benedict's 'feminism' and more like he's uncomfortable with the idea that women get to decide what our own [fandom] name should be."