In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today!

Happy 50th birthday, First Lady Michelle Obama!

[Content Note: Death penalty; torture] I can't even find the words to describe my horror at the execution of Dennis McGuire that took place in Ohio yesterday, during which the state tested a new cocktail of drugs that took nearly a half hour to kill the gasping McGuire. States keep looking for new alternatives, but the only alternative is to eradicate executions. The ACLU's Mike Brickner reports: "New Execution Methods Can't Disguise Same Old Death Penalty Problems."

[CN: Destruction; fire] Awful: "A fast-moving California wildfire, apparently started accidentally by three campers, roared out of control in the foothills above Los Angeles on Thursday, destroying five homes and forcing about 3,600 residents to flee, fire and law enforcement officials have said."

In case you needed another reason to support the Davis-Van de Putte ticket in Texas: "As sometimes happens at crowded political events with supporters standing long hours under hot stage lights, a woman had fainted. Van de Putte, a pharmacist who requires all her campaign staff to learn CPR, said it was instinct to step down into the crowd and assist EMTs, who were on site, to revive the woman."

The Polar Vortex is probably coming back. Oh for fuck's sake.

Janelle Monáe on Sesame Street. I repeat: Janelle Monáe on Sesame Street!

Google is working on a contact lens that will test the blood sugar of people with diabetes, as a less painful alternative to pricking fingers. Neat!

The CW abandons its Wonder Woman project. Boo.

RIP Russell Johnson, best known as the Professor from Gilligan's Island, and Dave Madden, best known as Reuben Kincaid from The Partridge Family.