In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Racism; misogyny] David Letterman is retiring. And now the search begins for the white dude to replace him! Cosmo, however, helpfully suggested "17 Women Who Should Replace David Letterman When He Retires in 2015." Amadi noted, "of course 1 & 2 on the list are racist embarrassments." (Which is obviously not the only problem with some of their suggestions.) To which I replied, "And for many of the women on that list, a late-night hosting gig would be a professional step backwards. Well done, Cosmo!" It's literally like they just threw together a suitably diverse list of women, without any regard whatsoever for their actual talents or careers.

(Like, for example, the suggestion of Melissa McCarthy. Yes, Cosmo, I have seen her blockbuster films, which is why I know that suggesting she host a late-night talkshow is a fucking insult. On the other hand, if you were aware that there are many hilarious fat ladies on the planet, including those whose current career trajectory would trend upwards by the gig, maybe you would have suggested Aidy Bryant.)

[CN: Disablism; racism; death] "The Boy Who Ran: The Life and Death of Avonte Oquendo." I have no words for the catastrophic failing of Avonte's tendency to run having not been communicated to the people charged with his care. Such a profoundly sad and infuriating case.

[CN: Homophobia] Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich "resigned from his post Thursday after an almost two weeks-long public backlash against his controversial appointment. Mozilla, which owns the popular Web browser Firefox, immediately came under fire for promoting Eich, who donated $1,000 to support California's Proposition 8 campaign to ban same-sex marriage in 2008." Eich had promised to keep his personal politics separate from his work, but, somehow, lots of people weren't convinced that someone who actively donated to a campaign of discrimination would be willing and able to do that.

[CN: Misogyny; reproductive coercion] I don't even know where to begin with this garbage: Boomer Esiason says Mets' player David Murphy, who missed Opening Day because he was using his union-negotiated paternity leave to be with his wife Tori and their new baby, "should have insisted his wife 'have a C-section before the season starts. I need to be at Opening Day, I'm sorry.'" Yeah. You are sorry, Esiason. Fuck you.

[CN: Racism; worker exploitation] Uncle Bubba's, the restaurant owned by Paula Deen and her brother, has closed. I don't feel a single shred of sympathy for Deen or her brother, but I do feel sad for the employees who are now out of a job. Even if it was a shitty job.

There's water up in that moon: "Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, 850 million miles away from Earth in the outer solar system, seems an unlikely place for liquid water. But the small body orbiting the giant ringed planet can be added to the growing list of places beyond Earth that have oceans—and prospects for hosting life—according to research published Thursday in the journal Science. Gravity measurements taken by NASA's Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft indicate the moon contains an underground ocean in its southern hemisphere. The ocean is believed to be at least as big as Lake Superior—almost 32,000 square miles, according to the research." Neat!

Would you like to see some of former president George W. Bush's paintings of world leaders? Art is subjective, but I think they are terrific! I especially love his self-portrait!

[Note: Video may begin to play automatically at link] And finally: "Hometown Heroes: Dog credited with saving the life of ex-soldier who adopted him." I mean. Blub.