In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

The results of Nigeria's election are in: "Muhammadu Buhari beat outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan by 2.5 million votes. Mr Buhari, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), became the first opposition candidate to win a presidential election in Nigeria."

[Content Note: Homophobia; Christian Supremacy] Memories Pizza in Walterton, Indiana, has become the first business to promise to deny service to gay customers: "'If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no,' says Crystal O'Connor of Memories Pizza. ...'We are a Christian establishment,' says O'Connor. The O'Connor family prides themselves in owning a business that reflects their religious beliefs. 'We're not discriminating against anyone, that's just our belief and anyone has the right to believe in anything,' says O'Connor." Have fun going out of business!

[CN: Description of airline crash] A video recovered from the Germanwings crash wreckage confirms what the investigation has suspected about the final moments of the flight, as does "the information from the 'Cockpit Voice Recorder,' one of the A320's two black boxes," on which the captain can be heard shouting, "For the love of God, open this door!"

Senator Elizabeth Warren on not running for president and Hillary Clinton's possible campaign: "No. I'm not running and I'm not going to run. I'm in Washington. I've got this really great job and a chance to try and make a difference on things that really matter. ...I think we need to give [Clinton] a chance to decide if she's going to run and to lay out what she wants to run on." I like her.

[CN: Rape culture; guns] I don't even know: "National Rifle Association News host Cam Edwards lashed out at a Daily Tar Heel editorial that argued guns are not the solution to campus sexual assault by claiming that the 'burden' of stopping sexual assaults and other violent crimes as they occur 'is on the victim.' According to Edwards, 'it is the truth that if you are the victim of violent crime or the victim of an attempted violent crime, it is not the patriarchy that puts the burden on you to defend yourself, it is not rigid gender roles, it is—it's a fact of life.'" He seems nice.

[CN: Anti-choice terrorism] These fucking people: "Anti-choice activists staged a protest Sunday that included large graphic images outside of Jackson, Mississippi, churches during Palm Sunday services. ...Protesters held graphic images of supposedly aborted fetuses and attempted to hand out pamphlets and shouted at church members as they arrived for Sunday services." Why? Because Jackson is home to the state's last abortion clinic.

Fascinating: "Solo planets may be surprisingly common: Out among the stars, toward the constellation Capricornus, a red sphere floats freely through space. It doesn't have enough mass to fuse atoms for fuel, as stars do, and it's too small to be a failed star. In nearly every way, this drifter, known as PSO J318.5-22, is like a planet. Except it fails one key test for planethood: It does not orbit a star. PSO J318.5-22 is homeless. With no parent star to give it heat or light, it drifts in eternal darkness, a rogue of the Milky Way."

And finally! This cat really wants a hug, y'all. ♥