In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Disaster; death; injury] In what is likely Turkey's worst ever industrial disaster, a fire at a coal mine in Soma has killed at least 238 workers, and 120 more are trapped or missing. "The disaster highlighted Turkey's poor record on worker safety and drew renewed opposition calls for an inquiry into a drop in safety standards at previously state-run mines. The International Labor Organization ranked the EU candidate nation third worst in the world for worker deaths in 2012." There had apparently been repeated warnings about the safety of the mine. Violent protests are now erupting in Soma, criticizing the government's inaction.

[CN: Abduction; terrorism; misogyny; abuse] In Nigeria, the government "has signalled it is ready to negotiate with the Islamist militants who are holding more than 200 schoolgirls captive... In Abuja, the special duties minister, Taminu Turaki, said the government was open to talks with Boko Haram, the Islamist group that abducted the girls a month ago from their school in Chibok, in the north-east of the country. ...The Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, said the girls could be released in exchange for jailed militants. 'I swear to almighty Allah, you will not see them again until you release our brothers that you have captured,' he said in the video." Fuck.

[CN: Transphobia] The Pentagon is considering transferring Pfc. Chelsea Manning to a civilian prison so she can have access to the healthcare she needs as a trans woman. That would be a very good thing, provided the civilian prison is capable of keeping Manning safe.

LOL: "Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was unable to name a single source when asked on Tuesday to name the information he is reading that has led him to recently further cement himself as a denier of human-caused climate change." Whoooooooooops!

This is a very interesting review of riding in Google's driverless car. I am very pro-driverless car, even though I love driving. Safety first!

[CN: Racism; racist slurs] Here is the gross racist history of the song that, if you live in the US, you might associate with the ice cream truck. !!!

And finally! Here are three stories about dogs being awesome: Jack saves his guardian from a house fire and Maverick finds a missing boy and Cooper protects a missing toddler. GOOD DOGS!