In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

House Republicans have passed legislation that forbids scientists from advising the Environmental Protection Agency on their own research: "In what might be the most ridiculous aspect of the whole thing, the bill forbids scientific experts from participating in 'advisory activities' that either directly or indirectly involve their own work. In case that wasn't clear: experts would be forbidden from sharing their expertise in their own research—the bizarre assumption, apparently, being that having conducted peer-reviewed studies on a topic would constitute a conflict of interest. 'In other words,' wrote Union of Concerned Scientists director Andrew A. Rosenberg in an editorial for RollCall, 'academic scientists who know the most about a subject can't weigh in, but experts paid by corporations who want to block regulations can.'" Perfect.

[Content Note: Guns; death] Three students at Florida State University were wounded during a shooting on campus, one of whom is in critical condition. The gunman was killed by police. So far, there are no additional details about the shooting.

[CN: Sexual assault] Another woman has disclosed that she was sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby.

[CN: Extreme weather; death] Areas already hammered by massive snowfall have been hit again: "A second band of lake-effect snow pounded the cities and towns near Buffalo, New York, on Thursday, heaping more misery on people whose cars and even houses were already buried. Authorities confirmed an eighth death blamed on the storm, a 60-year-old man who had a heart attack while retrieving his snowblower. The storm had already dumped more snow than many places see in a full season—even in wintry western New York. Some homes had the equivalent weight of two or three pickup trucks bearing down on their roofs." Fuck.

The US Senate takes a small (and thus insufficient) step to improve childcare for low-income families by reauthorizing the Child Care and Development Block Grant.

RIP Mike Nichols. I just watched Working Girl for about the billionth time last weekend. Sigh.

The Associated Press FTW: "Two presidents have acted unilaterally on immigration—and both were Republican. Ronald Reagan and his successor George H.W. Bush extended amnesty to family members who were not covered by the last major overhaul of immigration law in 1986. Neither faced the political uproar widely anticipated if and when President Barack Obama uses his executive authority to protect millions of immigrants from deportation." Seriously, go read that whole article. It's amazing.

The universe is huge and we are very tiny.

This video of grandmas smoking weed for the first time is my new favorite thing. Spoiler alert: They do know what dildos are. They do not know what queefing is. ...Well, they do now.

Russian photographer Ivan Kislov, who works in Russia's remote north-eastern Chukotka region as a mining engineer, spends his spare time photographing local wildlife, and foxes are some of his most amenable and photogenic subjects. Adorbz!