In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

One of the neatest stories from the World Cup is how the Japanese fans, as part of their own soccer tradition, clean up the stadium after their national team's matches. That is a really terrific tradition, and I think USA fans should adopt it, with gratitude to the Japanese.

[Content Note: Misogynistic violence] Strong Support For IVAWA and CEDAW in Senate Hearing: "In an iconic display of support, eight women Senators testified [yesterday] at a Senate subcommittee hearing in support of the need to take action against violence against women globally. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women's Issues, made clear that to fully address violence against women the Senate must pass the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) and ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Testifying at the hearing [yesterday] were Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Patty Murray (D-WA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). ...The committee room was standing room only, packed with women leaders and activists, and a long line of supporters... The hearing, entitled 'Combating Violence and Discrimination Against Women: A Global Call to Action,' focused on the epidemic of violence against women around the world, and called on the Senate to take action on two tools to help reduce violence and advance the status of women: IVAWA and CEDAW."

[CN: Rape culture] Relatedly: "Law enforcement officers and campus administrators need better training in how to interview and assist students who report sexual assaults on college campuses. That was the takeaway on Monday from the final installment of three roundtable discussions on Capitol Hill about how to address the problem of campus sexual assaults. 'We are having way too many interviews of sexual assault victims by someone who does not know how to do a forensic interview,' said Sen. Claire McCaskill, in her opening remarks as host to the group of college administrators, advocates and campus and county police officers who convened to talk about colleges' adjudication processes for handling sexual assaults."

Here's some good news: "The US supreme court [has ruled] that the constitution does not allow police to conduct warrantless searches of cellphones carried by people they have arrested."

[CN: Dangerous weather] Tis the tornado season in the Midwest, and a tornado touched down in Indianapolis yesterday. It did some damage, but no one was injured, which is amazing and great. Yay!

Chicago has won the bidding war for the new $1 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which will be built on the city's lakefront museum campus "on a 17-acre site located on parking lots between Soldier Field and McCormick Place. It will open in 2018." Neat!

[CN: Antisemitism] Gary Oldman doubles-down on his fuckery with a weirdly belligerent and sarcastic-sounding apology for defending Mel Gibson and saying that the entertainment industry is "run by Jews."

RIP Eli Wallach. One of the great character actors, and a ubiquitous crossword puzzle answer. The 2006 rom-com The Holiday isn't a great film, but I love Eli Wallach's character in it so much. It's one I'll stop and watch if I see that it's on while I'm flipping channels, because he's so terrific in it.

A new study says that Breaking Bad is the most binge-watched show. I could have saved them the money and told them that, because OBVIOUSLY IT IS!!!


I hope Huell has Netflix.