In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Reproductive rights] YES: "As President Obama makes official visits to Kenya and Ethiopia this week, a broad-based coalition of leading domestic and global organizations are calling on him to put an end to the incorrect implementation of the Helms Amendment in order to save women's lives and protect their health. In an open letter, the coalition asks President Obama to meet with the U.S. government's partners implementing health and gender-based violence programs in Kenya and Ethiopia, local community organizations, and the women they serve, in order to see why it's imperative that the Obama Administration address its flawed implementation of the Helms Amendment [which prohibits the use of U.S. foreign assistance funds 'to pay for the performance of abortions as a method of family planning']."

[CN: Racism] A terrific piece by Janessa Robinson for Salon: "Dear white progressives: Stop telling black people how to vote." She writes: "The reality is that no part of this political system truly benefits black liberation when our institutions are built on anti-blackness. The entire political system perpetuates systems of oppression and therefore each candidate and party cannot escape complicity in reinforcing the oppression of blacks. We are a people who were kidnapped, then stripped of our culture and humanity, and are now forced to make choices in circumstances we did not choose for ourselves. Having the 'lesser of two evils' argument about the political party system shoved down my throat by white moderates is infuriating and irrelevant, because quite frankly, I don't like evil—and neither candidate will free my people."

[CN: Racism] Relatedly, Imani Gandy writes "You're White and Marched With Dr. King: So What?" in which she correctly observes: "All it tells me is that Bernie Sanders was an adult sentient white liberal in the 1960s who had the time, money, and wherewithal to do the right thing—to join one of the many civil rights marches during that time period, along with scores of other adult sentient white liberals, and Black people who were literally fighting for their own lives." That's what Sanders should have been doing. It doesn't earn him cookies, and it sure as hell isn't a defense against failures on race now.

[CN: Abduction; sexual assault] Speaking of doing the right thing: Northern Virginia construction worker Kevin Huntington was doing roadwork along I-95 when he noticed a car careening toward the work zone and then saw an 18-year-old woman "jump out of the car; she came running up to us and you could tell she was pretty distraught and terrified. ...I asked the [woman] if she was okay and she said no, there was a man trying to kill her; I told her just stay behind me and I wouldn't let anything happen to her." And that's what he did: He called 911 and stood in between the teenager and the male driver of the car, who turned out to have kidnapped, strangled, and sexually assaulted her. Huntington almost certainly saved her life, because he believed her.

[CN: Class warfare] This sort of sounds like good news, but... "After more than a year of organized action, fast food workers in New York are about to get what they have been demanding: a $15 minimum wage. The Fast Food Wage Board appointed by New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday that they are recommending a new $15 an hour minimum wage for fast food workers employed by chains with 30 or more stores nationwide. Those working in New York City will see their wages increase to $15 an hour by December 2018, whereas those working in the rest of the state will see their wages increase at a slower pace and will reach $15 by July 2021." So, it will be more than three years before they see a $15 minimum wage. Terrific.

[CN: Homophobia] Rachel Maddow had Rick Santorum on her show last night, and he was obviously terrific: "Maddow [asked] Santorum about his infamous 'man on dog' remarks on homosexuality back in 2003 and managed to get a surprising admission from the career homophobe. 'It was a flippant comment that should not have come out of my mouth but the substance of what I said, which is what I've referred to, I stand by that. I wish I had not said it in the flippant term that I did and I know people were offended and wish I hadn't said it.' In other words, Santorum totally still thinks your gay marriage will lead to people f–king their pets. But he's sorry he was flippant about the whole thing." This fucking guy.

MORE PLUTO NEWS! (I am sorry if you are getting tired of Pluto news, but I will literally never be tired of Pluto news, lol.) "The latest images from the New Horizons spacecraft have revealed another range of ice mountains on Pluto. The frozen peaks were found on the lower-left edge of the dwarf world's 'heart' and are 1-1.5km-high. They sit between a patch of icy, flat terrain, called Sputnik Planum, which scientists believe is less than 100 million years old, and a dark area dating to billions of years ago. ...The newly spotted mountains are about 110km away from another range, which is now known as Norgay Montes, which appeared in some of the first images returned from last week's fly-by. Those peaks are much more lofty: standing at about 3.3km-high, they rival the Rocky Mountains in size."

[CN: Misogyny; male privilege] Welp: "Twitter threw a summer soiree to rival all soirees Tuesday. The microblogging site hosted a college-frat-party themed happy hour for its San Francisco employees complete with beer pong, a keg, those iconic red Solo cups synonymous with underage drinking, and a proud banner that read 'TWΦTTΣR ΓRΛT HΘVSΣ.' ...Twitter has since apologized for the party as spokesman Jim Prosser told Fusion, 'This social event organized by one team was in poor taste at best, and not reflective of the culture we are building here at Twitter. We've had discussions internally with the organizing team, and they recognize that this theme was ill-chosen.'" Fuck you.

Did you know that Queen guitarist Brian May is also an astrophysicist? He will never stop rocking you. Never!

Would you like to hear Kelly Clarkson do a great cover of 'N Sync's "Bye Bye Bye"? Well, here ya go!

OMG LOLOLOLOL: "Bob Cross of Lake Mary said he normally gets calls from his neighbors to catch nuisance critters. On Saturday, however, he said he got quite the unusual call from the lady next door. 'There was big bear in her backyard,' said Art Fischer, a resident. 'That's a big bear!' Fischer said. 'That's a huge bear.' When Cross rounded the corner, he knew he was going to leave this animal alone. As he got closer, he snapped pictures. In them, the bear is clearly having dinner with a 20 pound bag of dog food it had dragged from a nearby garage. The bear brought to the shade of a tree. After several minutes of watching from a safe distance, Cross said he couldn't keep the camera still because he started laughing. The bear, like a person who has eaten too much, was tossing and turning. '[It] repositioned three or four times and stretched out,' Fischer said. 'It just laid there.' Eventually, the animal dozed off." I love that the headline of this article is: "Bear snags 20 pounds of dog food, enters food coma on man's lawn."

And finally! An entire village in India came together to help rescue a baby elephant who'd fallen into a well. Yayayayayay! Joyblub.