In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Terrorism; death] "Nineteen people, including 17 foreign tourists, have been killed after gunmen targeted a museum in the Tunisian capital, the Prime Minister says. ...The attack happened at the Bardo Museum, which is next to the parliament building in central Tunis. ...Earlier, interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui told journalists that the attack involved 'two or more terrorists armed with Kalashnikovs.' A museum employee told Reuters the two attackers 'opened fire on the tourists as they were getting off the buses before fleeing into the museum.' French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he condemned the 'terrorist attack in the strongest terms... We are very alert about how the situation is evolving,' he added." Fucking hell.

[CN: Hazing] Here we go again: "The University of Houston president suspended the Sigma Chi fraternity at the school following allegations of hazing that jeopardized students' health and safety. University President Renu Khator said in a statement Tuesday that she's 'shocked, dismayed, and deeply disappointed' by the allegations. The statement provides no details of what is alleged to have happened, but Khator says the university has suspended five students. She says if the allegations prove to be true, the five 'will be subject to immediate disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion.' Khator describes hazing as 'a criminal act' and a violation of university policy, for which consent is not a defense." I really hope the students who were hazed are okay, and getting whatever help and support they need.

[CN: Homophobia; Christian Supremacy] In news from the Conservative Legislation Lab: "An Indiana House committee today approved controversial religious freedom legislation that could protect business owners who don't want to provide services for same-sex weddings. Despite better organized opposition to the measure, the House Judiciary Committee voted 9-4 to send the measure to the full House for consideration." Previously: My thoughts on this garbage.

[CN: War] Whoooooooooooooops: "The Pentagon is unable to account for more than $500 million in U.S. military aid given to Yemen, amid fears that the weaponry, aircraft and equipment is at risk of being seized by Iranian-backed rebels or al-Qaeda, according to U.S. officials." Terrific.

[CN: Misogynist terrorism] Actress Ashley Judd is taking on misogynist harassers: "Judd has said she will inform police about Twitter users who sexually harass her, and press charges against them. [She] told the US show Today: 'The amount of gender violence I experience is absolutely extraordinary, and a significant part of my day today will be spent filing police reports at home about gender violence that's directed at me on social media.' 'That many people?' asked the Today interviewer Craig Melvin. 'That many people, that explicit, that overt,' replied Judd." Good luck to her. Maybe since she's a famous straight white cis woman, police will actually give a fuck.

Solar Storm! "A geomagnetic storm is currently lashing the Earth's atmosphere, creating the potential for brilliant auroras over the top and bottom of the planet, including large sections of Northern Europe, and even dipping as far south into the United States as Tennessee, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The cause of the increase in auroral activity is a pair of coronal mass ejections from the sun that started heading our way on Sunday and arrived early Monday evening, resulting in what the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in Boulder, Colorado described as a level G4 geomagnetic storm, the most intense seen in the current solar cycle. A G4 storm is considered severe and has the potential to disrupt some communications infrastructure and parts of the power grid, but is generally not considered dangerous to people on the surface of the Earth." You're safe for NOW, Earthlings!

Something something Donald Trump. No more Apprentice. Exploratory committee. Farrrrrrt.

Gwyneth Paltrow is "incredibly close to the common woman." LOLOLOL. Good grief.

And finally! OMG LOL this baby bulldog crawling into hir tote. RIDICULOUS!!! ♥