In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Anti-choice terrorism] Today in anti-choice terrorism: "An unidentified person poured gasoline on a recently laid foundation and a security guard's car early Saturday morning at the construction site of the Planned Parenthood facility in New Orleans. ...Video surveillance reportedly captured the incident and law enforcement is investigating. ...Planned Parenthood cleared an administrative hurdle last month toward the construction of the facility, the Center for Choice, which would expand access to abortion in the New Orleans area, after the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals rescinded regulations that may have prevented it from opening such a facility."

[CN: Terrorism; abduction] Goddammit: "At least seven people were killed and about 20 others were kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram militants in an overnight raid on a village near Cameroon's northern border, a senior military officer said Tuesday." In better news: "The Nigerian army has freed 178 people being held hostage by Boko Haram jihadists including more than 100 children, it said late Sunday, as it carries out a regional offensive aimed at rooting out the insurgency."

[CN: Police misconduct; misogynoir] Sandra Bland's family has filed a civil rights lawsuit against state trooper Brian Encinia, who arrested and assaulted her, "and against other officials they believe contributed to her death in a small-town Texas jail on 13 July. The suit, filed on Tuesday, claims that Bland wrongfully died. 'Her constitutional rights were violated,' Cannon Lambert, the family's attorney, said. He said that the legal action is an attempt to force more transparency from officials."

[CN: Wildfires] More than 13,000 California residents have been evacuated "as firefighters struggle to contain some 20 wildfires. Some 9,000 firefighters worked throughout Monday in steep terrain and rugged conditions, officials said. The biggest blaze—the so-called Rocky fire north of San Francisco—has already consumed more than 90 square miles (233 sq km) of land." Fuck.

[CN: Police misconduct; racist violence; racist slurs] What the everloving shit: "A police officer in Alabama proposed murdering a black resident and creating bogus evidence to suggest the killing was in self-defence, the Guardian has learned. Officer Troy Middlebrooks kept his job and continues to patrol Alexander City after authorities there paid the man $35,000 to avoid being publicly sued over the incident. ...The payment was made to the black resident, Vincent Bias, after a secret recording of Middlebrooks's remarks was played to police chiefs and the mayor. Elected city councillors said they were not consulted. A copy of the recording was obtained by the Guardian. 'This town is ridiculous,' Bias, 49, said in an interview. 'The police here feel they can do what they want, and often they do.' Alexander City police chief Willie Robinson defended Middlebrooks. 'He was just talking. He didn't really mean that,' he said in an interview."

[CN: Homophobia] Speaking of Alabama: "An Alabama state senate committee approved a bill on Monday that would get the state's probate judges out of the marriage license business. ...'Sen. Greg Albritton, the bill's sponsor, says the bill could be a solution to lingering disputes over gay marriage.'" Of course.

[CN: Animal abuse] This is good news: "A federal judge on Monday struck down an Idaho law that banned documentation of animal abuse at livestock operations, ruling that it violated freedom of speech and other constitutionally guaranteed rights. The measure, approved by the Republican-controlled state legislature and signed into law by Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter in 2014, was crafted in response to a video released by animal-rights activists showing workers at an Idaho dairy [abusing cows]. But U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and other groups that sued to overturn the statute in finding that the so-called ag gag law violated protections of free speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution."

[CN: Religious Supremacy; child abuse] I would say this is unbelievable, but of course it's totally, rage-makingly believable: "A lawsuit recently filed against a teacher at Forest Park Elementary School in Indiana alleged that a 7-year-old student was 'banished' from sitting with other students at lunch after he revealed that he did not believe in God. ...The lawsuit is seeking damages and attorneys' fees. In a statement, the school district suggested that the teacher had been wrong to single out the child." Ya think?!

Whaaaaat: "In a world first, the US Food and Drug Administration has given the go-ahead for a 3D-printed pill to be produced. The FDA has previously approved medical devices—including prosthetics—that have been 3D printed. The new drug, dubbed Spritam, was developed by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals to control seizures brought on by epilepsy. The company said that it planned to develop other medications using its 3D platform. Printing the drugs allows layers of medication to be packaged more tightly in precise dosages." Wow.

And finally! "Watch the Best Puppy Sneeze of All Time." I can't even argue. That is definitely the best puppy sneeze of all time!