In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Police brutality] The Texas Department of Public Safety says that the dashcam footage of Sandra Bland's arrest was not edited but that the glitches are due to "technical issues." Okay. "[DPS spokesperson Tom Vinger] said some of the video during a conversation between the trooper and his sergeant after the arrest of Bland was 'affected in the upload and is being addressed,' and that DPS was working to repost it." Sure.

[CN: War on agency; hostility to consent. NB: Not only women need access to abortion.] The New York Times editors weigh in on the undercover videos being used to try to discredit Planned Parenthood and pull no punches, right from the headline: "The Campaign of Deception Against Planned Parenthood." They conclude, bluntly: "The Center for Medical Progress video campaign is a dishonest attempt to make legal, voluntary, and potentially lifesaving tissue donations appear nefarious and illegal. Lawmakers responding by promoting their own anti-choice agenda are rewarding deception and putting women's health and their constitutionally protected rights at risk." Boom.

In other reproductive rights news: Check out this interview with Erin Matson and Pam Merritt (aka Shark Fu) about Reproaction, their new reproductive justice advocacy organization. About which, by the way, I am SO EXCITED!

[CN: AME Shooting; racist violence] According to anonymous law enforcement sources, Dylann Roof is expected to be "indicted on federal hate crimes charges as soon as Wednesday afternoon. ...The federal charges come as Roof faces nine counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and a weapons charge, counts on which South Carolina prosecutors could choose to seek the death penalty. Roof cannot be charged with hate crimes in state court, however—South Carolina is among just five states, including the southern states of Georgia and Arkansas, that have no hate crimes laws."

[CN: Homophobia] All the mirthless laughter: "Two more Alabama counties have said they will resume issuing marriage licenses to all couple seeking them, including same-sex couples, admitting that all legal options to defy the Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage have been exhausted." That news again: "Losers finally admit defeat. Sad trombone noises."

[CN: Multiple bigotries] This is a really excellent, if profoundly troubling, piece about how Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker resides firmly in the pocket of ALEC, the odious American Legislative Exchange Council. We really cannot let this guy and his heinous puppet-masters anywhere near the Oval Office.

[CN: Misogyny] Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton visits a small business in Detroit and fields questions from the press (despite how she allegedly refuses to talk to the press), and she's asked about "how the Trans Pacific Partnership might affect Detroit workers," to which she replies, "First of all I'm going to wait to see what's in it. I've said that. And I'm going to judge whether or not it creates good jobs, whether it protects the jobs we have, and whether it's good for our national security. And I've made clear some of the specifics that I think need to be in there. When I was Secretary of State, we worked with both the auto companies and the UAW to make some changes in the South Korean trade deal. The jury is still out, but we listened and responded because we inherited a deal that neither the companies nor the workers were particularly excited about. So I saw first hand how we can bring people together and try to improve the opportunity for American companies and American unions and American workers to get a better deal." And this reporter comments: "Nice dodge." I MEAN.

[CN: War] Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul, whom I'm supposed to love because FREEDOM (but no abortion) and LIBERTY (but more jails) and LESS WAR, advocates "military action against Iran to prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon, even though he says it would only delay Iran getting a bomb." He seems terrific. And highly principled!

[CN: Rape culture] Judd Apatow calls Bill Cosby "one of the most awful people that you've ever heard of" and says Cosby's serial assault is "the worst thing that's ever happened in show business." You know what, Judd Apatow? I seriously do not want to hear a fucking thing about Cosby from the producer of Superbad, the entire premise of which is two losers fixing to get ladies drunk to "have sex with" them, not to mention the producer, director, and/or writer on a number of other projects that contain scenes of rape, rape culture tropes, and rape jokes. Fuck off, hypocrite.

[CN: Sexual abuse] The Duggars are unbelievable: According to "a source who has worked closely with" the family, they are all broken up that TLC has canceled their show. The Duggars, says the source, are "heartbroken that they've now lost that platform. "The Duggars want to return to TV because they truly believe it was part of God's plan for them to spread the word about their faith. ...I think Jim Bob and Michelle honestly did expect people to just move on from this. Their thinking is, they put this behind them ages ago, so why wouldn't the rest of the world?" Rage seethe boil.

Wowowowowow: "For the first time, astronomers in Europe have observed star-forming gas clouds in the early universe—the building blocks of the first galaxies. The faint glow of ionized carbon was spotted by the European Southern Observatory's ALMA telescope, located in Chile. ...'This is the most distant detection ever of this kind of emission from a 'normal' galaxy, seen less than one billion years after the Big Bang,' Andrea Ferrara, an astronomer with Italy's Scuola Normale Superiore and co-author of a new study on the findings, said in a press release. 'It gives us the opportunity to watch the build-up of the first galaxies,' Ferrara explained. 'For the first time we are seeing early galaxies not merely as tiny blobs, but as objects with internal structure!'"

Here's another terrific story about a rescued dog saving his guardian's life. "What's even more amazing is the fact that John Boy had been adopted and returned to a shelter three times before he was adopted by his forever family." Blub.

And finally! This kitty likes being lulled to sleep with a toothbrush gently massaging his head. Hey, who doesn't?