In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Homophobia] An Arizona state judiciary ethics advisory committee has advised that "Arizona judges who perform wedding ceremonies...cannot turn away [same-sex] couples who want to marry. [The] committee said rejecting same-sex couples would violate a judicial-conduct rule against bias or prejudice based on sexual orientation. The decision generated outrage from a leading conservative lawmaker and organization opposed to gay marriage." Of course it did. Tough shit.

[CN: Sexual violence; homophobia; racism; self-harm] The new Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart film Get Hard sounds terrific: "Get Hard may be the most high-profile comedy ever made about the subject of prison rape." Swell. And Kevin Hart is responding well to the criticism: "Hart introduced his latest comedy Get Hard at SXSW on Monday night by telling fans to give him their reviews on Twitter. 'If you don't like it,' Hart said with a sarcastic bite, 'what I want you to do is go in the middle of the street and kill yourself.'"

[CN: Rape culture; sexual assault] This is rape culture: "A Pennsylvania State University fraternity was suspended after police discovered that members were using Facebook to post nude photos of women, Pennsylvania television station WJAC reported on Monday. WJAC obtained a copy of the search warrant, which claimed that several members of the fraternity were accused of taking photos of women while they were asleep or passed out and posting them to secret Facebook groups. Members of the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity created a Facebook group called 'Covert Business Transactions,' according to WJAC. A victim allegedly found out about the group, and it was shut down. The frat then created a group called '2.0,' according to the warrant. State College police said that about 150 students and alumni joined the groups." Just a few bad apples, naturally.

[CN: Injury] This is pretty remarkable: "After just one season in the NFL, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland on Monday told ESPN's Outside The Lines that he was retiring amid concerns about future brain injuries. Borland, 24, was one of the league's top rookies last season and was expected to be a key contributor for a San Francisco team that had already lost linebacker Patrick Willis to an unexpectedly early retirement. 'I just honestly want to do what's best for my health,' Borland told OTL's Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru. “From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk. ...I feel largely the same, as sharp as I've ever been. For me, it's wanting to be proactive. I'm concerned that if you wait 'til you have symptoms, it's too late. ...There are a lot of unknowns. I can't claim that X will happen. I just want to live a long, healthy life, and I don't want to have any neurological diseases or die younger than I would otherwise.'" Wow.

[CN: Animal endangerment] Oh no: "Animal rescue centers in California are being inundated with stranded, starving sea lion pups, raising the possibility that the facilities could soon be overwhelmed, the federal agency coordinating the rescue said. The precise cause is not clear, but scientists believe the sea lions are suffering from a scarcity of natural prey that forces nursing mothers to venture farther out to sea for food, leaving their young behind for longer periods. 'As facilities reach capacity, it will likely not be possible to rescue and rehabilitate every impacted animal,' said Justin Viezbecke, stranding coordinator for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration." Suffering from a scarcity of natural prey is a nice way of saying human beings are fucking up the ecosystem with climate change and/or overfishing.

Mitt Romney "is slated to fight former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield...during a several-bout evening at the Rail Event Center near the Union Pacific Depot in Salt Lake City on May 15." For charity. Okay, player. Good luck! You are super weird!

And finally! This video of a husky mama playing with her puppies might just be the cutest thing I see all day! ♥