In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is being sued by consumer groups after advising pregnant women to eat more fish but failing to provide relevant indications on mercury content. "Without a labeling requirement, the draft advice issued Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency is unlikely to clear up confusion among shoppers about what seafood pregnant women, young children and other vulnerable groups should avoid. ...Consumer groups [say] the warnings over the last decade haven't been clear enough about what fish could pose a risk, and it's hard for people to remember what's good and what isn't. Those groups asked for labels on packages or at fish counters. For most people, accumulating mercury from eating seafood isn't a health risk. But for a decade, the FDA has warned that pregnant or breastfeeding women, those who may become pregnant, and young children avoid certain types of high-mercury fish because of concern that too much could harm a developing brain."

[Content Note: Police brutality; disablism] Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been the site of protests over the high number of police killings in the city, and now a judge has ruled that the city "must pay more than $6 million in connection with the wrongful death of a man with schizophrenia killed by Albuquerque police." Also, later this week, the Justice Department will release a draft "of a decree on how Albuquerque police must remedy what an April report called their excessive use of force, particularly against the mentally ill and people the report said posed a limited threat."

[CN: Misogyny] Here is a cool headline: "Hillary Clinton Explains Why She Might Not Run." Surprisingly, the entire text of the story is not: "Because she is a human being who is still weighing her options." Instead, it's the usual argle bargle she's obliged to give about living her life and becoming a grandmother, which I'm sure is true, but also it's just bullshit that we can't just leave it at whatever reasons she's got are legitimate. Including, for example, waiting to see how the midterms shake out. Which she could never admit publicly, because FATES FORFEND that a career politician actually admit that she's considering the politics of a huge political decision. THE RUTHLESSLY AMBITIOUS HARPY! etc.

This is an interesting piece on childhood athletics, and new research which has found that hyperspecialization (i.e. concentrating on one sport) can increase injury, whereas "kids who play a variety of sports before settling on one achieve higher levels of success and suffer fewer serious injuries."

[CN: Threats of violence] Everything about this story is so fucking disturbing: "Woman sets up fake Facebook account; learns that niece is planning her murder." Fuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh.

Here is just a terrific video of a woman proving that her cat definitely sits on her head every night when she brushes her teeth before bed.

And finally! I AM VERY VERY VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS NEWS: Oddworld is coming to Xbox One. YES!