In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

Democratic Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel won the run-off election with challenger Chuy Garcia. Boo. BOOOOOOOOOOO.

In other election news: "The Ferguson City Council will have three black members for the first time in the city's history, now that voters elected two new black members to the council on Tuesday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported."

[Content Note: War on agency] Goddammit: "Kansas became the first state to ban a common second trimester abortion procedure when Governor Sam Brownback, a Republican, on Tuesday signed into a law an act to halt what lawmakers said are 'dismemberment abortions.' The law that goes into effect on July 1 prohibits the use of dilation and evacuation. The bill says the procedure can result in the fetus being extracted in pieces. Supporters in Kansas have called the procedure horrifying while women's healthcare groups have said it is considered the safest way to terminate a pregnancy in the second trimester." OH WELL TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY I GUESS.

[CN: Surveillance] "Human rights campaigners have prepared a federal lawsuit aiming to permanently shut down the bulk collection of billions of US phone records–not, this time, by the National Security Agency, but by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Human Rights Watch, represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, filed their lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court on Wednesday morning to stop the DEA from hoovering up billions of records of Americans' international calls without a warrant. The reach of the program, exposed by USA Today, lasted for two decades and served as a template for the NSA's gigantic and ongoing bulk surveillance of US phone data after 9/11." The "war on drugs," long supported by both Republicans and Democrats, has been used in countless ways to usher in a police and carceral state. And we are going to have a devil of a time unwinding the damage, if it can even be unwound at all.

[CN: Misogyny] Hey, remember when Rand Paul had that supercool interview with CNBC Anchor Kelly Evans where he yelled at her about being biased? Well, he did the same thing again, during an interview with Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie! Looking good, Mr. Presidential Candidate!

[CN: Homophobia] Tom DeLay, who is apparently still talking, says he has the right to refuse to serve a gay person, because "if he comes in and asks me to undermine my values, what I believe in, undermine my religious liberty, then I have the right to stand up for what I believe in and not serve him." Because: "We love people who have chosen to be homosexuals. The problem is, we abhor the sin." Okay. But all human beings are "sinners," and Protestant Christian doctrine says all sins are equally abhorrent in the eyes of their god, so this is bullshit. Even if it weren't just ethically indecent, it's unjustifiable rubbish.

Sarah Thomas has been chosen as the NFL's first female full-time game official. Congratulations to her, and may the NFL still go rot.

The Golden Girls Lego Set Might Soon Be Reality. THE GOLDEN GIRLS LEGO SET MIGHT SOON BE REALITY!!!

Awwwww, lol: Twin Peaks cast makes a video saying that Twin Peaks without David Lynch is like... And it is very sweet! (Also true.)

And finally! Chester the Shelter Dog was finally adopted after five years at the shelter, after a picture of him holding a sign asking why no one wanted him went viral. Joyblub forever.