In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Police brutality] Welp, looks like everything's going great the World Cup already.

[CN: War on agency] Republican Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed legislation yesterday "that is expected to close four of the state’s five abortion clinics. The new law is directly modeled on similar clinic restrictions in Texas that are already wreaking havoc on women's access to abortion services in the Lone Star State. Jindal also signed a measure that will ban Planned Parenthood employees from providing any material about sexual health in public schools. After approving the two pieces of legislation in a Baptist church, the governor released a statement saying he's 'proud to sign these bills because they will help us continue to protect women and the life of the unborn in our state.'" Protect women. Fuck off.

[CN: Food insecurity] This is very good news: "The U.S. Department of Agriculture has extended the deadline for applying for community eligibility in the National School Lunch and breakfast programs to Aug. 31, the agency said in a letter to state nutrition program directors this week. ...The USDA estimates that more than 22,000 schools are eligible for the program. 'CEP has the potential to offer more than 8 million low-income children free meals each school day,' Cynthia Long, a deputy administrator for child nutrition programs, wrote in the letter."

Speaking of public schools, this was passed on to me by a friend of mine who is an excellent teacher but left the classroom at the end of this year, and I'm guessing it will resonate with a lot of you in public education: "A teacher's tough decision to leave the classroom."

RIP Ruby Dee, "one of the most enduring actresses of theater and film, whose public profile and activist passions made her, along with her husband, Ossie Davis, a leading advocate for civil rights both in show business and in the wider world." What an amazing person she was. A great actress, a great activist, a great woman.

This is a pretty remarkable discovery: "After decades of searching, scientists have discovered that a vast reservoir of water, enough to fill the Earth's oceans three times over, may be trapped hundreds of miles beneath the surface, potentially transforming our understanding of how the planet was formed." Yowza.

[CN: Misogyny; abuse] Tobey Maguire sounds like a real d-bag: "Tobey went on to humiliate Bloom in front of the [other high-stakes poker] players, loudly offering her a thousand-dollar chip if she did 'something to earn these thousand dollars. ...Bark like a seal who wants a fish.' Bloom writes that she tried to laugh it off, but Tobey continued: 'I'm not kidding. What's wrong? You're too rich now? You won't bark for a thousand dollars? Wowwww...you must be really rich. ...C'mon,' he said, holding the chip above my head. 'BARK.' 'No,' I said quietly. 'No?' he asked. 'Tobey,' I said, 'I'm not going to bark like a seal. Keep your chip.'"

Aidy Bryant, one of the writers (and stars) of one of my favorite SNL digital shorts of all time, "(Do It on My) Twin Bed," about getting in on in your childhood bedroom while you're home for the holidays, made her first late-night chat show appearance earlier this week on Late Night with Seth Meyers, and she was fucking hilarious. [CN for two instances of use of "insane" in its increasingly common colloquial use as an emphatic modifier.] Part One; Part Two. I love her. Please put her in all the movies. Thank you.