In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Terrorism; death; descriptions of violence] Ahead of the Nigerian elections, which they're hoping to influence, Boko Haram has gone on an another viciously violent killing spree: "Militants from extremist group Boko Haram attacked several Nigerian towns, torching houses and fatally shooting those who fled before reportedly beheading some of the bodies with chainsaws. The string of terror attacks comes amid the presidential vote. At least 25 people were killed and more than 30 injured in the village of Buratai in Borno state, local officials confirmed. ...Meanwhile, at least 14 people were killed in separate attacks by the radical Islamist group in the towns of Biri and Dukku, located in Gombe state. The victims included a legislator, AP reported." Devastating.

[CN: Shooting] Something went down at Fort Meade this morning, although details are still sketchy: "One person was killed and at least one other was injured Monday when shots were fired after two people in a vehicle tried to ram a gate at Fort Meade, a military installation in Anne Arundel County that houses the National Security Agency, according to officials with knowledge of the investigation. Authorities did not release any details of exactly what happened, but law enforcement officials said police officers with the National Security Agency shot at the two people in the vehicle. One of them was killed, the officials said." Fuck.

[CN: Airline crash; self-harm] The latest in the investigation into the Germanwings pilot who downed a place last week: "'Several years ago before obtaining his pilot's licence the co-pilot was in a long period of psychotherapeutic treatment with noticeable suicidal tendencies,' the prosecutors' office in Duesseldorf, where the pilot Andreas Lubitz lived and where the flight from Barcelona was heading, said in the statement. The prosecutors' office, which quoted 'relevant medical documentation' as the basis for its findings, added that since that period Lubitz had not shown any signs of suicidal behaviour or aggressive tendencies towards others in visits to doctors. ...The prosecutors said on Monday that they had not found any evidence Lubitz was planning such an attack, nor his reason behind it. 'No special circumstances have come to light, whether in his personal life or his work life, that shed any plausible light on a possible motive,' the prosecutors' statement said."

[CN: Airline crash; misogyny; homophobia] Which naturally has not stopped wild speculation about his motives. Among my favorites (ahem): The Daily Mail: "Police will want to interview...his most recent girlfriend who he is said to have lived with in a smart flat on the outskirts of Dusseldorf. ...Lubitz had reportedly ordered two new Audis for them just before the tragedy in an apparent desperate last attempt to win her back. But she appeared to have rejected his offer, as only one car was ever delivered. It is not known why they split but it has been claimed their relationship broke down because he was secretly gay and was suffering torment over hiding his homosexuality." So, he might have killed a bunch of people because he's gay, but, if he's not, then it's because that bitch rejected him! Which still isn't even as bad as this MRA stain, who suggests that this might not have happened "if the sluts of the world were just a little less picky and a little more equitable in their distribution of blowjobs."

All right then: "Amazon is testing its drone delivery service at a secret site in Canada, following repeated warnings by the e-commerce giant that it would go outside the US to bypass what it sees as the US federal government's lethargic approach to the new technology. ...The end goal is to utilise what Amazon sees as a slice of virgin airspace—above 200ft, where most buildings end, and below 500ft, where general aviation begins. Into that aerial slice the company plans to pour highly autonomous drones of less than 55lbs, flying through corridors 10 miles or longer at 50mph and carrying payloads of up to 5lbs that account for 86% of all the company's packages."

Federal Communications Commission Chair Tom Wheeler says that Net Neutrality will survive, "despite [protestation] from broadband providers over the FCC's net neutrality regulations." I sure hope so!

[CN: Climate change; scarcity] This is so scary: "As California farms and cities drill deeper for groundwater in an era of drought and climate change, they no longer are tapping reserves that percolated into the soil over recent centuries. They are pumping water that fell to Earth during a much wetter climatic regime—the ice age. Such water is not just old. It's prehistoric. It is older than the earliest pyramids on the Nile, older than the world's oldest tree, the bristlecone pine. It was swirling down rivers and streams 15,000 to 20,000 years ago when humans were crossing the Bering Strait from Asia. Tapping such water is more than a scientific curiosity. It is one more sign that some parts of California are living beyond nature's means, with implications that could ripple into the next century and beyond as climate change turns the region warmer and robs moisture from the sky."

[CN: Animal abuse] This video of animals used in lab testing experiencing grass and sunlight for the first time is happy-making and sad-making a the same time.

Comedy Central has announced that Trevor Noah will replace Jon Stewart at The Daily Show. Okay. I like some of his stuff. I'm still not going to watch The Daily Show, but I hope that those of you who do/want to are excited by this news!

[CN: Image of creepy-crawly at link] This lede is amazing: "A newly discovered Cambrian predator with a wicked set of arms under its four-eyed face reveals that early arthropods were experimentalists when it came to using their limbs." LOL LOVE.

And finally! Meet Gluta—the happiest dog in the world. ♥