In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Wildfires; animal death] Thinking about the people out west whose losses from the wildfires are just unimaginable: "Thousands of people driven from their homes by a massive northern California wildfire began to trickle back to their neighborhoods Thursday, and some saw what they most feared: nothing. 'All of it is gone. It's so surreal,' Layna Rivas said through tears in a phone interview just after she discovered her home in Clearlake Oaks had burned to the ground. 'It looked like a bomb went off everywhere. It's all black.' Rivas kept chickens and said she saw only one walking through the rubble. Forty-three homes were destroyed and 13,000 people were ordered or warned to evacuate as the blaze chewed through nearly 109 square miles of dry brush."

Oh damn: "New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the chamber's third-ranking Democrat, plans to announce his opposition to the nuclear deal negotiated by the U.S., Iran, and five world powers tomorrow, three people familiar with his thinking tell The Huffington Post. ...Schumer's support of a war footing over diplomacy puts him at odds with the Democratic caucus he intends to lead next term, though it is consistent with the position he has long taken. ...The New York Senator has a sizable Jewish constituency and has developed close ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the influential pro-Israel lobbying group that has pledged over $20 million to kill the nuclear accord. During his 34 years in Congress, Schumer has become fond of telling his voters that his surname is derived from 'shomer,' the Hebrew word for 'guardian.' 'I am a shomer for Israel and I will continue to be that with every bone in my body,' he said in 2010." A reminder: The US Jewish community is not a monolith, and there are Jewish people who support the Iran deal, and Jewish people who oppose it.

[CN: Whitewashing; transmisogyny] Roland Emmerich's new Stonewall film looks like a white/male/ciswashing trainwreck, and here he is responding to criticism that he has disappeared real life trans women of color like Marsha P. Johnson, Miss Major, and Sylvia Rivera behind a concocted narrative about a white cis gay man. Just trust him! It'll be great! Ahem.

[CN: Violence; death; sex work shaming] Last week I mentioned that a woman who is a sex worker killed a client in self-defense after he threatened to kill her, and he turned out to be a suspected serial killer. Here is how the woman, Heather, is pushing back on people trying to "help" her by shaming her.

So, apparently corporate power-failure Carly Fiorina was the resounding winner of the Didn't Qualify for the Main Event mini-debate last night. Fiorina "emerged from the relatively low-key contest with significant buzz after taking on not only Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton by name, but even her own party." She mentioned Hillary Clinton?! I'm SHOCKED. *epic eyeroll*

[CN: Homophobia] Meanwhile, Rick Santorum used the occasion to remind everyone that he is a humongous laughable hypocrite: "During Thursday night's Fox News second-tier GOP debate, notorious marriage equality opponent Rick Santorum momentarily forgot that he does not actually support equal rights for all Americans. 'The reason America is a great country, the reason is because our compassion is in our laws,' the former Pennsylvania senator said in response to a question asking whether or not he would separate immigrant families through deportation. 'When we treat everyone equally under the law, that's when we feel good about being Americans.'" What. An. Asshole.

[CN: Video autoplays at link] Speaking of assholes, Rick Perry pulled another Rick Perry last night at the Loser Forum, accidentally calling Ronald Reagan "Ronald Raven." Good grief this guy.

In other political news: President Obama has emotions with solar panels. Aww lol!

[CN: Reproductive policing] Salma Hayek is at it again with the motherhood thing, this time saying: "The only thing that is tough about the 40s is when you haven't had a child. This is awful." Except if you don't want children. Jesus Jones. I am in my 40s, haven't had a child, didn't want a child, and my 40s are PRETTY GREAT!

"Explore Mars with these new NASA simulators." Okay!

[CN: Moving GIFs at link] And finally! Tom Hardy cuddling with a sled dog. GOOD LORD.