In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Refugee crisis; violence] Goddammit: "Hungarian riot police in the border town of Röszke have used water cannon and teargas against refugees wanting to enter the country from Serbia. The refugees were on the other side of a razor-wire fence built by Hungary's rightwing government and completed in tandem with the introduction of tough new laws on Tuesday aiming to keep refugees out. Hungarian police issued a statement accusing 'aggressive' migrants of breaking through the fence, but a United Nations official at the scene said the barrier did not appear to have been breached. A Reuters reporter in Röszke said hundreds of riot police, backed by special anti-terrorist units with armoured vehicles and water cannon, advanced towards a crowd of refugees. A spokesman for the Hungarian government said the migrants were 'armed with pipes and sticks.' Television pictures showed people in Horgoš, on the Serbian side, throwing plastic water bottles at rows of helmeted riot police and chanting demands that the border be reopened." Does this sound familiar? It should, since it follows almost exactly the same narrative as militarized police interactions with protesters in the US.

[CN: Flooding; death] Awful: "Flash flooding in Utah has claimed the lives of 16 people, including 12 who died after vehicles packed with families who had gone to watch torrential waters ran into a 'wall of water' filled with debris on Monday. Four Zion National Park visitors also died in the flooding, and another three people who were at the park are still missing, park spokeswoman Aly Baltrus told the Salt Lake Tribune." I hope the missing will be rescued. My condolences to those who lost family, friends, or colleagues in the flooding.

[CN: Sexual harassment and assault] A good outcome to a terrible injustice: "In a landmark victory, a federal jury unanimously decided to award a $17 million settlement to five women farmworkers who were subjected to sexual harassment and intimidation. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, three male supervisors at Moreno Farms 'engaged in graphic acts of sexual harassment' within the Florida packing house that included rape, attempted rape, propositioning, and groping."

[CN: Racism; police misconduct] I suppose retirement means he gets to keep his pension: "Surf City Police Chief Mike Halstead has retired effective immediately following an emergency meeting called in reference to a Facebook post he made [in which he referred to #BlackLivesMatter as "nothing more than an American born terrorist group brought on by the lie of the hands up don't shoot during the criminal thug Michael Brown incident"]. Major Ron Shanahan will take over as interim chief. Town leaders and Halstead have agreed on severance pay following his decision to retire." Severance pay. For fuck's sake.

[CN: Racism] Tell 'em, Joe: "Vice President Joe Biden took aim at Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Tuesday, blasting the real estate mogul for 'absolutely denigrating an entire group of people' [and] 'appealing to the baser side of human nature.'" He called Trump's message "xenophobic" and "sick." Facts!

[CN: Class warfare] YES! Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Steve Cohen have introduced legislation that "would prohibit hiring managers from seeking credit information on potential employees unless state law requires a credit check or the job in question requires a security clearance." Cue state legislators introducing legislation to require credit checks, lolsob.

[CN: Environmental and animal harm] Damn: "The number of fish and other species in the sea has been almost halved since 1970, according to a new report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Numbers dropped some 49% between 1970 and 2012, the report says, with global population sizes of the Scombridae family of food fish that includes tunas, mackerel, and bonitos falling by 74%. ...They identify overfishing as the main threat to ocean biodiversity, but also conclude that climate change is causing the ocean to change faster than it has for millions of years."

[CN: 9/11 and rape references] What the everloving shit? "Best known for playing Kevin on seven seasons of The League, [comedian Steve Rannazzisi] first told the story about leaving his office in the south tower just before the second plane hit in an interview with podcast host Marc Maron in 2009. Rannazzisi explained that the incident is what lead him to follow his acting dreams, a near-death experience narrative that seems all too familiar. But on Tuesday, as The New York Times reports, his publicist revealed in a statement that the comedian actually made the whole thing up. 'I was not at the Trade Center on that day. I don't know why I said this. This was inexcusable. I am truly, truly sorry,' the statement read." Meanwhile: "At least one company he has a working relationship with, Buffalo Wild Wings (Rannazzisi has appeared in a string of commercials for the chain), has backpedaled on their association with him." He should have just raped a few women. Then no one would have cared.

Facebook is adding a "dislike" button.

Neat! "We've known there is water on Enceladus for a while now, but NASA has just confirmed a more recent theory about the icy moon of Saturn: it has a subsurface ocean that spans the entire globe. ...Enceladus is not alone when it comes to subsurface oceans. Europa—one of Jupiter's moons—also contains a subsurface ocean, and is the target of one of NASA's next flagship science missions. And this past March, NASA confirmed that Ganymede, another moon of Jupiter's, also has a subsurface ocean. Evidence of water and water ice exists on many other moons and planets, too. It seems as if no matter where we look, we see water—even if it takes a while to find it."

Okay! "NBC is remaking the late '70s TV drama/romance Hart to Hart, which starred Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, a wealthy couple who also happened to be amateur detectives and solved international crimes while enjoying their luxurious lifestyle. The remake revolves around a gay couple... 'by the book' attorney Jonathan Hart and free-spirited investigator Dan Hartman, who must balance the two sides of their life: action-packed crime-solving in the midst of newly found domesticity."

[CN: Video autoplays at link] And finally! A cat is totally freaked out when her doggy pal wears a zebra mask lol!