In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: War] "A ceasefire in eastern Ukraine intended to pave the way for a comprehensive political settlement of the country's crisis has been agreed in Minsk following a fraught 16 hours of overnight negotiations between the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France. The marathon summit in the Belarus capital resulted in a pact early on Thursday providing for a ceasefire between Ukrainian government troops and Russian-backed separatists from Sunday, the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the battle zone, which is to be demilitarised, amnesties on both sides and exchanges of prisoners and hostages. The agreement is clearly fragile. Previous attempts at a truce have utterly failed... The Germany chancellor, Angela Merkel, spoke of a glimmer of hope that the agreement might take the edge off what has quickly become the worst security crisis in Europe since the end of the cold war, with the potential to assume much more dangerous dimensions." I hope like hell this agreement holds.

[CN: Video may autoplay at link] RIP Bob Simon, longtime CBS correspondent, who died last night in a car accident in New York City at age 73. "Bob was a reporter's reporter. He was driven by a natural curiosity that took him all over the world covering every kind of story imaginable," 60 Minutes Executive Producer Jeff Fager said. "There is no one else like Bob Simon. All of us at CBS News and particularly at 60 Minutes will miss him very much."

Here's just a great story in the Wall Street Journal, which is a publication that definitely always has the best interest of liberal politicians in mind: "Unease Grows as Hillary Clinton Stays on Sidelines: Some Democrats Want the Former Secretary of State to Begin Actively Campaigning for the Presidential Nomination." Hahaha this is a NEWS STORY. A bunch of powerful men want a woman to bend to their will. Film at 11.

[CN: Police brutality; misogyny; miscarriage] Kenya Harris is suing the City of Albany, Georgia; police chief John Proctor; and officers Ryan Jenkins and Richard Brown, Jr. in federal court for excessive force, assault and battery, and infliction of emotional distress after Officer Jenkins allegedly assaulted her because he "did not appreciate the tone in which she was communicating with him," which later resulted in Harris having a miscarriage. Fucking hell.

[CN: Police brutality; racism; death] Also in Georgia: "Police in Georgia are to review why a man who was fatally shot by an officer at his home was handcuffed to his hospital bed for the last two days of his life and barred from visits by his family, who allege that he was isolated to stop him disclosing full details of the shooting. ...His sister, Delisa, spent his final hours begging police to allow her to see him, but they refused until he died. 'They denied us access to him because they didn't want him telling us what really happened that night,' she told the Guardian. In his last known remarks, Davis told a medic that an officer simply arrived at his home 'and began shooting.'"

[CN: Anti-vaxxing] Although some of these numbers of unvaccinated children in Silicon Valley may be explained by outdated data, not all of it can. This is terrifying.

[CN: Environmental hazard] Oh dear: "About 40,000 residents in the towns of Igualada and Odena were ordered to stay indoors and keep their windows shut after an explosion at a nearby chemical company sent a massive orange cloud of potentially toxic fumes into the sky."

[CN: Body shaming; choice policing; rape culture] I've seen an awful lot of jokes about Republican Montana State Representative David Moore's campaign against revealing clothing (and yoga pants), and it is fucking hilarious because OMFG THESE DUDES, but there's also a serious aspect to this: This is rape culture. This is the idea that men can't contain themselves around women wearing certain types of clothes. The old "wolf with uncovered meat" chestnut. And it's super gross.

In other Republican Dude News, Governor Scott Walker, who wants to be president, is touring Britain and literally got fucking laughed at by an interviewer when he refused to say whether he believes in evolution. "Nooooooooo! Really?!" Welcome to the Republican Party, friends across the pond. Yes, really.

[CN: Racism; privilege] Vince Vaughn says incredibly stupid shit about affirmative action. Kaiser's commentary made me LOL: "It's always nice to hear from a white man who has been given tons of opportunities to succeed–even after failing spectacularly many times–discuss how level the playing field is for minorities. Thank you, Vince Vaughn."

[CN: Ad may autoplay at link] "Genetic Code Behind Evolution of Beaks in Darwin's Finches Found." Neat!

And finally! This video of a tiny tortoise eating a bean sprout might be the cutest thing you'll see all day! Unlikely but true!