In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Sexual violence] You know how anti-rape advocates like Lauren Chief Elk, and I, and others often talk about how maybe police aren't always the best answer for survivors of sexual violence? And how there are people who then accuse us of hating survivors, as if we aren't survivors ourselves? And talk to us like we just love rape and hate police and are such stupid-headed dum-dums? Yeah. Well. This is one reason we say things like that: "Manhattan SVU detective investigated for sex assault of rape accuser: 'You're my favorite victim.'" Note: This was a Special Victims Unit detective. You know—the unit tasked with helping victims of sexual assault.

I honestly thought this was a joke story when I first saw people tweeting about it: "Secretary of State John Kerry is in Paris after the White House apologized for not sending a high-ranking official to a massive unity rally after the terrorist attacks there. And he brought a friend by the name of James Taylor." To sing "You've Got a Friend." Seriously.

[CN: Climate change] 2014 was the hottest year on record, because of course it was. But the jury is still out on climate change!

Just blub: "Police in Florida are honoring a teenager whose quick thinking is being credited with helping to save the life of the officer who arrested him. While Officer Franklin Foulks was booking Jamal Rutledge, 17, [on a violation of juvenile probation] last September, Foulks suddenly collapsed and Rutledge began kicking the security fence and yelled to alert others to what had happened. ...[M]edical staff later said that Rutledge's actions and the officers' quick response were largely responsible for Officer Foulks surviving the incident." Rutledge, a black teen, had to kick the fence because he was already handcuffed.

Oh terrific: "Wisconsin's Republican governor Scott Walker hints he'll run for president." NO THANK YOU.

There is apparently not "a groundswell of support" for a third Mitt Romney presidential run. Huh. I'm so shocked by that. I thought everyone would be super excited about it.

Great heaving sigh: "I had friends that were writing on Lost... And I was watching football with one of them and I was telling them how much I loved the show…and I'm like, 'How are you going to pay all this stuff off?' And he looked at me and goes, 'We're not.' And I go, 'What do you mean you're not?' He said, 'We literally just think of the weirdest most f*cked up thing and write it and we're never going to pay it off.' And I look at him and I'm like, 'That's such bullshi*t! You are completely f*cking with the audience.' I want to bring a class-action lawsuit on behalf of everyone who watched Lost all those years."

Everything you ever wanted to know about eyeball tattooing!

Because everyone in the multiverse (and thanks to each and every one of you!) has sent this to me, here is an amazing collection of mini-portraits of David Bowie through the years. And, by the same artist, here is David Bowie through the years in one moving gif. Extraordinary.

And finally! This is an amazing story about Masha the Tabby Cat who saved an abandoned baby by keeping him warm for hours, until he was discovered: "After hearing loud cries, one of the residents opened her front door and spotted the baby on the floor, with the cat sitting beside it, licking it and trying to warm it, TV Zvezda reported. 'The residents are certain, if the cat hadn't taken care of it, the baby wouldn't have had a chance,' the channel's anchor said. ...When paramedics arrived and took the baby into the ambulance, Masha ran after them, REN TV reported. Vera Ivanina, a paramedic, told REN TV: 'She was so worried about where we were taking the baby. She ran right behind us, miaowing.'" Oh cats. You are the best.