In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: War; terrorism] President Obama says the United States "does not yet have a 'complete strategy' for helping Iraq regain territory from Islamic State... He said the Pentagon was reviewing ways to help Iraq train and equip its forces. Mr Obama also said a full commitment to the process was needed by the Iraqis themselves. ...Mr Obama said that the 3,000 US service personnel in Iraq sometimes found themselves with 'more training capacity than we've got recruits'. 'We want to get more Iraqi security forces trained, fresh, well-equipped and focused and (Mr) Abadi wants the same thing so we're reviewing a range of plans for how we might do that,' Mr Obama told a news conference."

[CN: Police brutality; violence] Fucking hell: "A major hip-hop and R&B concert erupted into violence that included State Police lobbing tear gas at concertgoers who were throwing bottles at police in the parking lot. Witnesses say the disturbance began around 7 p.m. due to an altercation between concertgoers. That's when officials shut the gates to the show, the Hot 97 Summer Jam at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, causing a logjam of people at the MetLife gate, which in turn led to metal barriers being toppled and thrown. After concertgoers began throwing bottles in response, police then took up a defensive V-shaped position in front of the stadium gates as a barrage of bottles pelted the officers. ...Several rounds of tear gas were released into the crowd, and one concertgoer was Maced pepper-sprayed in the parking lot. Uniformed officers wearing helmets and gas masks and holding shields would briefly come out from behind the gates to make arrests before retreating."

[CN: Police brutality; racism] Officer Michael Slager, the police officer who killed Walter Scott then dropped a Taser by his dead body, has been indicted for murder. Again, I want to recommend this piece by Prison Culture, who wisely notes that, even when officers are convicted and even if they are sentenced, it will never truly be justice. Meaningful justice will only be achieved by dismantling the (in)justice system which is catastrophically contaminated by white supremacy. Which is a daunting task to contemplate, but the enormity of the task before us shouldn't let us treat as justice what will be, at best, limited individual accountability in a comprehensively corrupt system.

[CN: Police brutality; racism; self-harm] RIP Kalief Browder, who took his own life after spending "three years on Rikers Island without being convicted of a crime...waiting for a trial that never happened."

In good news, this tweet perfectly sums up why Serena Williams is THE FUCKING BEST.

Congratulations, Alison Bechdel! "The graphic novelist and recently-named MacArthur Genius [who] is the creator of the Bechdel Test, a 3-step checklist to determine whether or not a film does right by women [has] already made plenty of history. But last night she added to her list of accolades: Fun Home, a musical adaptation of Bechdel's 2006 best-selling graphic memoir of the same name, won five Tony Awards, including best new musical."

And in yet more good news for women: "Women Dominate The 2015 Nebula Awards: Last night in Chicago, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America announced the winners of the Nebula Awards. The Award is one of the major honors in the science fiction field and is voted on by members of SFWA. ...With the exception of the Best Novel award, women swept the slate in all other categories." Woot!

[CN: Misogyny; violent rhetoric] India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a speech yesterday: "I am happy that Bangladesh Prime Minister, despite being a woman, has declared zero tolerance for terrorism." Whoooooooooops your misogyny! Overnight, the hashtag #DespiteBeingAWoman became a beautiful rebuttal to this garbage.

[CN: Murder; domestic violence] Oh for fuck's sake: "Prison officials have recommended that Oscar Pistorius, the South African double-amputee Olympic athlete who killed [Reeva Steenkamp], be released from prison on 21 August for good behaviour after serving just 10 months and be moved to house arrest, the head of correctional services said on Monday. The news emerged on the same day the country's supreme court of appeal announced the prosecution's appeal against Pistorius's acquittal on a murder charge for killing Reeva Steenkamp would be heard in November."

Headline of the Day: "Westboro Baptist Church is a no-show at Gandalf and Dumbledore's magical wedding."

And finally! These pictures of an acrobatic Boston Terrier named Sadie are hilarious and amazing!