In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

Welp, tomorrow is the midterm election in the US, and the big news (from the future!) is that the Republicans are definitely going to win! So why even bother voting? HA HA DO NOT LET THAT STOP YOU FROM VOTING. Even the media coverage of elections is profoundly anti-democratic in this country. Fucking hell.

[Content Note: Police bruality; racism] Of course: "The U.S. government agreed to a police request to restrict more than 37 square miles of airspace surrounding Ferguson, Missouri, for 12 days in August for safety, but audio recordings show that local authorities privately acknowledged the purpose was to keep away news helicopters during violent street protests. ...The AP obtained the recordings under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. They raise serious questions about whether police were trying to suppress aerial images of the demonstrations and the police response by violating the constitutional rights of journalists with tacit assistance by federal officials. Such images would have offered an unvarnished view of one of the most serious episodes of civil violence in recent memory."

[CN: Racism; appropriation] The protest this weekend against the Washington NFL team's name that is a Native American slur was massive. And activists are not going to let up: "Buoyed by thousands of protesters from Minnesota and at least 10 other states who converged on TCF Stadium on Sunday, activists determined to retire the Washington [redacted] nickname vowed to take their campaign to every remaining Washington NFL game this season." Right on!

Here comes winter with a terrific howdoyoudo: "Thousands of people in Maine woke up in the dark Monday morning after an icy blast knocked out power and buried parts of the state in almost two feet of snow seven weeks ahead of winter. More than 130,000 homes and businesses were left without electricity as of Sunday night and Maine Gov. Paul LePage declared a state of emergency. Although Monday was expected to bring warmer weather across the East, snow was still set to fall until lunchtime in parts of northeast Maine. As much as 21 inches fell in Cary, near the border with Canada, and double-digit totals peppered the Maine map." I am really hoping that everyone is able to stay safe and warm, and that electricity is restored promptly.

Something something highwire stunt in Chicago. Watching Wallenda praying with prosperity gospel huckster Joel Osteen afterwards was a major news story on the local Chicago news last night. Just imagine my face.

I don't know how I feel about this: "An federal district court in Oregon has declared Secular Humanism a religion, paving the way for the non-theistic community to obtain the same legal rights as groups such as Christianity." I feel like I'd rather a federal umbrella category have been created, which encompasses all belief groups, instead of treating "religion" as the default and alternative belief groups as ersatz religions.

[CN: Sexual assault; misogyny] Soraya Nadia McDonald writes an interesting piece for the Washington Post about how it takes a famous man condemning famous male sexual predators before the world will even begin to listen, no matter how many female victims speak out.

According to preliminary research, plants supposedly know when they're being eaten (at least by caterpillars) and don't like it! Damn. My childhood self would have been completely horrified to hear this, as I was always convinced plants knew they were being eaten—although my theory was that vegetables knew their destiny was to be eaten, so I felt terrible for the vegetables I was letting down if I couldn't eat all of them and had to throw some of them away. I GUESS NOT!

[CN: Animal endangerment] The fanged deer is back! Woot! Unfortunately, it is still critically endangered. Boo.

This story of a pit bull who found a new home is pretty much the best. ♥