In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Police killing; racism] As I mentioned earlier this week, black leaders in Cleveland had no faith that charges will be brought against the police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice last year, so they invoked "a seldom-used Ohio law" to directly petition a judge to recommend murder charges. And their request was granted: "A Cleveland Municipal Court judge has found probable cause that police officer Timothy Loehmann should face murder and other charges in the slaying of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. ...[Judge Ronald B. Adrine] found probable cause for charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, negligent homicide and dereliction of duty against Loehmann. He also found probable cause for charges of negligent homicide and dereliction of duty against [Officer Frank] Garmback. ...Adrine forwarded his opinion to city prosecutors and Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty." McGinty still has prosecutorial discretion over whether to move forward, but Adrine's opinion will surely weigh heavily in that decision.

[CN: Worker exploitation] This piece by William Finnegan for the New Yorker utterly reflects all my thoughts and questions about the Trans-Pacific Partnership and why President Obama is so intent on passing it, despite opposition from his own party and from organized labor. I don't get it. At all.

[CN: Misogyny] Hey, remember when Jamie Dimon was being a superfuck to Senator Elizabeth Warren? (Sure you do! I just reported it yesterday!) Well, Senator Warren offered a pretty excellent response to Dimon and his cronies: "The problem is not that I don't understand the global banking system. The problem for these guys is that I fully understand the system and I understand how they make their money. And that's what they don't like about me." BOOM.

[CN: Rape culture] Republican Representative from New York Peter King, commenting on the sexual abuse allegations against former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, says: "The only victim here is Denny Hastert." Wow. This entire party really just needs to fuck off, at this point.

[CN: Threatening vandalism] Speaking of how cool Republicans are: In Indiana, lots of people are putting up "Fire Mike Pence" signs, because our governor is a terrible garbage nightmare. And, in one neighborhood in Indianapolis, someone is burning the signs posted on people's lawns. So that's neat.

Awesome: "Three cheers for Samantha Cristoforetti, smasher of space records: Samantha Cristoforetti is back on Earth after a six-month stay on the International Space Station, and she carries a host of superlatives with her. At 11:04 a.m. ET on June 6, the 38-year-old Italian astronaut broke the record for the longest space mission ever completed by a woman."

Welp, this sounds perfect: "Paul Feig's all-female rehashing of Ghostbusters is still a work in progress, and newest to the cast is Chris Hemsworth, who will be playing the receptionist. This is a big change up from his usual roles, and keeps in step with Feig's gender reversed roles over the original film."

Melissa McCarthy talking about speaking to Sandra Bullock for the first time as they were preparing to make The Heat together is hilarious.

YES! Oculus finally revealed its consumer-end virtual reality Rift headset yesterday. TAKE MY MONEY!

And finally: "New Zealand and Quebec have both recently made huge leaps forward for animal welfare by determining that all animals—not just dolphins and chimpanzees—are sentient beings who feel emotions and pain. The new laws will be doling out much harsher punishments to abusers." Right on!