In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Policing] So now Hillary Clinton is a monster because her southern accent came out during an appearance in a southern state. Never mind that she lived in Arkansas for 18 years and has been married to a man with a southern accent for four decades, and that most human beings experience a "hidden" accent becoming more prominent when they're around people with a similar accent. Clinton's just a pretending bitch, because human standards don't apply to monsters.

I am so exhausted with this shit. When I was learning how to speak, my NYC-born and -raised mother still had a more prominent New York accent, which filtered into my language, and when I visit New York, it comes right back. After Iain visited Scotland for a week, his brogue was much more apparent after he returned home than it had been when he left. This is just human nature. For fuck's sake.

[CN: Death] Oh dear: "Rescuers searched on Tuesday for more than 400 people, many of them elderly Chinese tourists, missing after a cruise boat was hit by a freak tornado and capsized on the Yangtze River in what may become China's worst shipping disaster in nearly 70 years. Battling bad weather, divers and other rescue workers pulled five people they found trapped in the upturned hull of the four-deck Eastern Star, a small fraction of the 458 people state media said were on board when the ship capsized on Monday night." I feel so sad for the people who are waiting to hear news about missing loved ones.

[CN: Police killing] "Anti-terror police have shot and killed a man who was under surveillance in a car park in Boston. Police say he attacked officers with a large knife after being approached by a Boston police officer and an FBI agent. ...Officials have not yet released the man's identity or the reason he was under surveillance. 'Our officers tried their best to get him to put down the knife,' Boston Police Commissioner William B Evans told the Boston Globe newspaper. 'Unfortunately, they had to take a life.'" Well. That's one way of putting it.

[CN: Racism] The fucking stupid rules that govern what kids can and cannot wear at graduation. Conformity until the bitter end! "A Clovis High School senior who wants to wear an eagle feather at his graduation ceremony this week plans to file an emergency lawsuit against Clovis Unified School District, which he says is prohibiting him from wearing the cultural, religious and academic symbol that was given to him by his father. The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California says it will file a complaint in Fresno County Superior Court on Monday on behalf of Christian Titman, 18, and his family. The legal rights organization plans to file a motion on Tuesday asking for a same-day hearing in advance of Titman’s commencement ceremony on Thursday."

[CN: Racism] New research has confirmed what anyone paying the slightest bit of attention already knew: "Media stories on African-American athletes focus primarily on criminal actions while stories about white athletes are overwhelmingly positive."

[CN: Rape culture] As I noted yesterday, the Duggars have scheduled an appearance on Fox News because of course they have, and Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly promises it's not going to be a "tough...cross-examination." Like who expected it would be?!

THE FEMINIZATION OF NATURE! "Scientists have discovered that female sawfish appear to be routinely reproducing without any male input through an alternative form of reproduction known as parthenogenesis. ...In the latest study, DNA fingerprinting showed that about 3% of a sawfish population in Florida appeared to have been created through female-only reproduction, suggesting that parthenogenesis may play an important role in the survival of certain critically endangered species."

[CN: Bullying] Paul Feig on one of the many reasons he likes working with funny women: "I don't like snarky stuff. I like a positive attitude. ...Men's comedy can get very aggressive. I think I was bullied enough when I was a kid that I'm like oh, they're name calling, and that's not funny to me. I feel like I'm back in high school, in the locker room, and people are threatening to beat me up."

And finally! A video of a dog having SO MUCH FUN in a fountain! Aww lol.