In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Terrorism; death; injury] Absolutely horrific: "Suspected Islamist militants [from the Islamist group al-Shabaab] have killed at least 48 people near a popular tourist resort in Kenya, officials said on Monday, the bloodiest attack in the country since the Westgate mall siege in Nairobi. Among the dead were men who had been watching a football World Cup match at a hotel in the coastal town of Mpeketoni, close to the island of Lamu. Gunmen pulled them aside and ordered women to watch as they killed them, a police commander told the Associated Press." It's really interesting how our "war on terror" doesn't seem to include giving a single shit about the terrorism going on in African states without major oil exports.

[CN: Torture; indefinite detention] In May, I mentioned that US District Judge Gladys Kessler had ordered Guantánamo Bay officials to hand over dozens of secret videos as part of a lawsuit regarding the force-feeding of hunger striker Abu Wa'el Dhiab. Twenty-eight videos have now been handed over, and three of them have been entered into evidence. And this: "Rabbani's affidavit says authorities have stopped filming all force-feeding sessions in response to Kessler's order to hand the tapes over to lawyers. 'It is a great shame as I would always describe loudly for the camera what was being done to me,' Rabbani said in the affidavit." So they have kept doing it, but just stopped recording it.

[CN: Wildfires] A wildfire near the Sequoia National Forest in central California is threatening more than 500 homes, as more than 1,100 firefighters race to contain it before weather conditions worsen. Fuck.

This is a great idea: "Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas will raise its own minimum wage to $10.25 an hour next month, paying for the increase with money originally devoted to executive bonuses." Except, it could have been greater, way greater, since $10.25 is still not a livable wage and: "The wage increase will cost the hospital about $350,000 a year. The expense will be covered with money from the upcoming quarter's bonus pool for the hospital's 60 vice presidents and top executives. That pool was between $750,000 and $1.2 million in the most recent quarter, and it's between $3 million and $5 million for the full year." MORE GENEROSITY PLEASE!

If you are a fan of Maya Rudolph, as I am, then here is some news about her upcoming film projects! Maya Rudolph and Catherine Keener in the same movie? YES PLEASE.

RIP Casey Kasem. His is the iconic voice that we all (well, probably not all of us, but A LOT OF US) try to channel when we're pretending to announce anything. And here's something you might not have known: "Casey Kasem's Secret Legacy: How He Used Scooby-Doo to Advance His Values."

And finally! Here is just a great video of a dog seeing his family for the first time after surgery to restore his vision. Yay!