In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: War on agency] Today is the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade. And Republicans in Congress are celebrating it by trying to push through an anti-abortion bill so extreme that female members of their own caucus have forced them to pull it (for now). And, in case you missed it the first time I linked it, this Guttmacher piece on the state of abortion rights in the US paints a grim but clear picture of how anti-choicers have endeavored to render Roe an empty statute.

[CN: Police brutality; racism; death] And again: "Jerame C. Reid was unarmed and had his hands in the air when he was shot and killed by city police officers the evening of Dec. 30, police video shows. Video taken by a Bridgeton police cruiser's dashboard camera also shows Officers Braheme Days and Roger Worley shooting at Reid several times after an apparently unarmed Reid got out of the car in which he was a passenger." This happened in New Jersey.

[CN: State violence; torture; religious intolerance] This is so fucking awful: "Saudi Arabia has postponed the flogging of blogger Raif Badawi for the second week running, according to human rights group Amnesty International. Amnesty said the decision was made after doctors advised against this week's 50 lashes on health grounds. Mr. Badawi was sentenced last May to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for 'insulting Islam' and disobedience. He was due to receive the lashes over 20 weeks and was given the first round on 9 January." He's not healthy enough to be flogged, so the next session has been postponed to let him regain his strength, not because flogging is cruel and indecent. "Earlier this week, the BBC learned that Mr. Badawi's case had been referred to the Supreme Court by the king's office." Let us fervently hope that the decision is made to end this reprehensible torture.

[CN: Racism] Dr. Brittney Cooper takes on Maureen Dowd's latest garbage column about Selma and Ava DuVernay's "artful falsehood" against LBJ. I love how many of the arguments defending LBJ are predicated on acting as though he sprang from the womb fully supportive of black people's civil rights. If you agree that he probably had to do some learning on the issue at some point in his life, what difference does it make if he's shown to do that learning in the White House? So many white people are pissed about this because they think it's shameful to have to examine your white privilege (instead of the truth: that it's shameful not to examine it), and that is very revealing. Anyway, go read Professor Crunk, because she is awesome.

Watch out, Utah! "Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney are set to meet in Utah this week for a meeting that Bush scheduled before Romney announced this month that he's seriously considering a third presidential run. ...[The meeting] was requested by Bush as a gesture of respect for Romney's leadership role in the party... And now? 'Well obviously Governor Romney has changed the dynamics,' the source said." LOL!

This definitely doesn't sound like a trainwreck: "Nicolas Cage to Star in Osama Bin Laden Satire From Borat Director."

And finally! GOOD DOGS: "Two dogs saved two different families alerting them to fires in their homes in the early morning hours." Human rescue, y'all.