In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Plane crash; death] Terrible news: "More than 100 people were feared dead after a military transport plane ploughed into a residential area shortly after take-off in northern Indonesia on Tuesday, in what may be the deadliest accident yet for an air force with a long history of crashes. 'For the moment we know there were 113 people (on board). It looks like there are no survivors,' Air Marshal Agus Supriatna told Metro TV in the Sumatra city of Medan, adding that some of the passengers were air force families." I feel so desperately sad for people who lost loved ones and colleagues in the crash, especially since there is a good chance it could have been avoided with better safety practices.

[CN: Sexual violence; torture; death] A new report from the UN mission in the Republic of South Sudan has "warned of 'widespread human rights abuses,' including gang-rape and torture in a report based on 115 victims and eyewitnesses from the northern state of Unity, scene of some of the heaviest recent fighting in the 18-month-long civil war. The military, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), launched a major offensive against rebel forces in April, with fierce fighting in Unity state's northern Mayom district, once a key oil-producing area." The civil war has displaced more than 100,000 people, and the South Sudan army has committed terrible atrocities, including raping then burning girls alive inside their homes. It has been extremely difficult to intervene: "The UN said it had tried to visit the sites of the atrocities described by witnesses, but was routinely denied access by the army."

[CN: Police brutality; racism] The Justice Department has found, as we all saw with our own damn eyes, that police in Ferguson, Missouri, violated protesters' rights and escalated violence: "A DOJ document obtained by the Post-Dispatch faults Ferguson police for their aggressive response to protesters last August. In a summary of its third Ferguson report, which is soon to be released, the DOJ contends officers from Ferguson, St. Louis County, St. Louis and Missouri Highway Patrol 'violated citizens' right to assembly and free speech, as determined by a U.S. federal court injunction.'"

[CN: War on agency] Fucking hell: "In a city of 700,000 people, Franz Theard is one of a kind: a doctor who performs abortions. He runs El Paso's sole remaining abortion provider, the Hilltop Women's Reproductive Clinic. Like other clinics in Texas, it was 48 hours away from being forced to stop offering abortions but was reprieved on Monday by the US supreme court's decision to allow facilities that don't meet the state's strict new standards to remain open while the justices consider whether to take the case on appeal. The vote keeps Hilltop fully operational at least through the summer, but Theard is unsure about the longer term. Even if the requirements—that clinics qualify as ambulatory surgical centers and doctors have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital—are struck down by the supreme court, he worries that it will be impossible to find a successor willing to work in a hostile and isolated environment."

[CN: War on agency; misogynist terrorism] Relatedly, the indispensable Robin Marty has just written a new piece about how the "harassment of doctors, legislation limiting where they live and work, and a slew of model bills that open them up to potential felony charges if a mistake is made while terminating a pregnancy" is creating a shortage of abortion providers.

[CN: Racism] This story about "How a Hawaiian mountaintop became a battleground between native activists and astronomers" is fucking incredible. By which I mean: Rage-making. I can't even believe (I can totally believe) how hostile scientists are being to native Hawaiians. And straight-up racist shitlords. You know how much I love love love space exploration done through mega-telescopes, since I post about it virtually every day, but FUCK THIS. Exploring the stars cannot come at the expense of being decent people on terra firma.

[CN: Anti-vaxxing] Welp: "California lawmakers have passed a bill that would impose one of the strictest school vaccination laws in the US. It would require most schoolchildren to be vaccinated against diseases including measles and whooping cough. Governor Jerry Brown must now decide whether to sign the bill, which has faced fierce criticism from some parents' groups, into law. ...Parents opposed to the bill have vowed to take legal action, even though the issue has been upheld in court, including by the Supreme Court. They argue that some vaccines are unsafe and claim the legislation is eliminating informed consent and trampling on parental rights." Children with health issues preventing them from getting vaccinated would be exempted by the law. I said pretty much all I'll ever say about this shit here.

[CN: Homophobia] Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has words for Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who has been calling for a federal amendment to undermine the Supreme Court's marriage ruling: "Well, Scott Walker, if you believe the next president's job is to encourage bigotry and to treat some families better than others, then I believe it is our job to make sure you aren't president." TELL HIM!

[CN: Homophobia] "A county clerk in Arkansas plans to resign effective Tuesday because of a moral objection to issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Cleburne County Clerk Dana Guffey said Monday she has notified the county judge of her plans to resign. She says she has a moral objection to issuing the marriage licenses following Friday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriages nationwide." Good decision! Bye!

Something something Chris Christie blah blah president. Also: He loves to lie. A lot.

These shooooooooooooooooooes! OMG SHOES!

[CN: Disablist language] Robert Zemeckis wants no part of any Back to the Future remakes, reboots, retools, reimaginings, or anything else! So you'll just have to wait until he's dead. If you really want one. Or, you know, just watch the classics. (Controversial!)

And finally! Uggy the French Bulldog Puppy playing in the sand! Squeeeee!