In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Violence] The teen who stabbed 20 classmates and a security guard at his high school yesterday will be charged as an adult and faces "four counts of attempted homicide and 21 counts of aggravated assault." His motive is still unclear.

[CN: Choice policing] Meanwhile, one of the students who was hurt, and who reportedly is the person who pulled the fire alarm thus potentially preventing additional victims, is being criticized for taking and sharing a selfie from the hospital following treatment for his stab wound. I can't even begin to say how contemptuous I am that anyone would criticize someone for documenting what happened to him, particularly since that's one way to process trauma, not to mention that posting a pic on social media amidst chaos is a way of letting lots of people know at once that you're okay. Some people have defended the teen, but with the qualification that "he wasn't doing it to seek fame." I don't give a fuck if he was. The only time I have a problem with someone taking a selfie is when it's done with the express purpose of causing harm, e.g. to mock a person in the background who doesn't know zie's being photographed.

Well done, Attorney Eric Holder for calling out the cavernous disrespect Republicans show members of the Obama administration.

Speaking of terrible Republicans: "Senate Republicans Filibuster Paycheck Fairness Act." Because of course they did.

In better news: "Senate Votes to Extend Unemployment Benefits." However, restoring unemployment benefits to the 2.4 million USians who have been out of work for at least six months still depends on the good will of the House and: "Speaker John Boehner has already expressed concern about the bill and has previously stated that the Republicans would be willing to extend unemployment benefits only if the bill included job creation provisions." By which he means hand-outs to corporations.

Relatedly: This is a good picture of what lots of older unemployed USians are facing when they get laid off, can't get hired, and are too young to retire. And it's important to remember that there are lots of people who, for various reasons of oppression and luck, never get the chance to have a career in the first place, and their entire employment histories look like this.

Mashable has a list of some major sites that have been affected by the Heartbleed bug, and whether you need to change your password, and whether it's safe to do so now.

[CN: Sexual violence] A new UN report details the breadth of rape as a weapon of war in Congo, and how it continues as a result of a failure of the government to take action: "More than 3,600 women, children and men were subjected to rape and other sexual violence in Congo over a four-year period by the country's defense and security forces or armed rebels, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday. The report by the U.N.'s human rights office in Congo said the period from 2010 through 2013 'has been characterized by the persistence of incidents of sexual violence that were extremely serious due to their scale, their systematic nature and the number of victims.' About half the 3,645 attacks were by rebel groups and half by government forces, though the percentages varied year by year, the report said. The victims ranged in age from 2 to 80 years old, and 73 percent were women, 25 percent were children and 2 percent were men, it said."

[CN: Guns; violence] I watched just a piece of the Pistorius trial yesterday, a clip of Oscar Pistorius' testimony, and he was so awful. As the prosecutor challenged him to take responsibility for killing Reeva Steenkamp, he just kept saying over and over, "I made a mistake." And the prosecutor is really just over this fucking guy.

All the blubs: "Dog Rescued from Face of Cliff Adopted by New Jersey Firefighter."