In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Misogynist terrorism] Mo Ryan: "The Threats Against Anita Sarkeesian Expose the Darkest Aspects of Online Misogyny."

[CN: Illness] There are lots of stories today—like this one, headlined "Ebola Is a Midterm Issue, and It's Not Helping Democrats"—about how Ebola and Ebola preparedness may cost Democrats seats in the midterm elections. (Never mind that individual state preparedness largely comes down to state legislatures, many of which have Republican majorities.) And all I can say is: Well, if you think the Democrats aren't doing a good job, voting for the party who doesn't care about access to healthcare or funding federal disease research and prevention is probably not a wise move.

[CN: War on agency; criminalizing addiction] Andrea Grimes examines the increasing incidents in Texas of women being charged with child endangerment for taking drugs while pregnant, even though it's not against the law.

Heads-up: If you own a Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep vehicle, you may want to see if it's part of this massive recall "for alternators that can fail and heated power mirror wiring that can short and cause minor fires. ...The problem also can cause the electrical system to fail, as well as knock out power-assisted steering, antilock brakes and electronic stability control."

RIP Elizabeth Peña. So sad. She was terrific. The first thing in which I ever saw her was the abysmal I Married Dora, which debuted when I was 13 and I watched it because it starred Daniel Hugh Kelly from Hardcastle & McCormick, on whom I had a huge crush. But I ended up caring way more about Elizabeth Peña, who I just thought was the coolest.

Congratulations to Pittsburgh's Sahil Doshi, the 14-year-old inventor of "an eco-friendly battery that harnesses carbon dioxide to generate electricity," who "has been named 'Top Young Scientist' in this year's Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge." Kids these days! Get ON my lawn!

Aviva Shen says this is "the absolute weirdest thing ever to happen at a political debate," and I think that's correct: "The Florida gubernatorial debate got off to a rocky start Wednesday night when Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) refused to come out because his Democratic opponent, former Gov. Charlie Crist, asked for and received a fan under his podium."

MST3K alums + Paul Feig = I'M IN. It's just basic math, friends.

Sleepy whale waking up from a nap! SLEEPY WHALE WAKING UP FROM A NAP!

Welp, this is definitely my favorite headline of the day: "Huge prehistoric kangaroo was more the sauntering type, say scientists."