In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Misogyny; war on agency] Yesterday I posted a short representative clip of the rude-ass rude behavior of rude-ass rude Republicans toward Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards during her Congressional testimony, but if you'd like to see every single time a Republican interrupted Richards, here you go!

[CN: Death penalty] The state of Georgia has executed convicted killer Kelly Gissendaner despite appeals for a commutation of her sentence to life in prison, making Gissendaner the first woman executed in Georgia in 70 years. Gissendaner was convicted of conspiring with her former boyfriend to kill her husband. Her former boyfriend is the one who actually killed her husband, but he "was given life in prison as part of a plea bargain." Even Gissendaner's children with the victim begged for clemency, but to no avail. My condolences to them. End the death penalty now.

[CN: Guns; death; injury] The extraordinary number of shootings in Chicago has Mayor Rahm Emanuel (whose garbage policies are entrenching the poverty and desperation and marginalization in the communities in which most of these shootings are happening) calling again for stricter gun laws: "Fourteen people, including two young boys, were shot in Chicago over a 15-hour period from Monday night to Tuesday morning. Six people were killed and at least eight were wounded, following two consecutive weekends when more than 50 people were shot in the city. Chicago's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, and police officials repeated their calls for stricter gun laws and a more robust criminal justice system. 'I'm angry about what happened here and I think I speak for everybody,' Emanuel said on Tuesday. 'And I think I speak for everybody when I say enough is enough.'" Yes. But also? Stop investing in tourist garbage and start investing in neglected communities, Mr. Mayor.

[CN: Sexual harassment] OMFG I couldn't make this shit up: Indiana State Representative Jud McMillin, a "rising star" in the Republican Party and chair of the House Courts and Criminal Code committee (lololol), abruptly resigned yesterday "after a sexually explicit video was sent via text message from McMillin's cell phone. It's unclear who sent the text or how broadly it was distributed. [McMillan] sent a separate text message apologizing to his contacts for "anything offensive" they may have received after he said he lost control of his cell phone. ...McMillin said in a text message last week, 'My phone was stolen in Canada and out of my control for about 24 hours. I have just been able to reactivate it under my control. Please disregard any messages you received recently. I am truly sorry for anything offensive you may have received.'" LOL OKAY PLAYER. McMillan said he is resigning "to focus all of my attention on making my family's world a better place." Lucky them!

[CN: Infertility; fat bias; ageism; relationship policing] This is pretty amazing: "Ten British women without wombs will get the chance to carry their own babies after approval was granted by a special research committee which covers Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. A clinical trial will launch in the spring and more than 100 women have been identified as potential recipients of donor wombs. ...If the trial is successful, the first British baby born as a result of a womb transplant could arrive in late 2017 or 2018, with more in the future." Although naturally, fat women, older women, and women who don't want a partner need not apply: "The 10 women who will be selected for the trial must all meet strict criteria, which includes being 38 or under, having a long-term partner, and being a healthy weight."

What is Lawrence Lessig even talking about? "If you support Bernie, you're not going to get Hillary. If you support Hillary, you're not going to get Bernie. But if you support me, you could get Hillary or Bernie or Elizabeth Warren or somebody. This is two for the price of one." That assumes we want him. Facts not in evidence, Your Honor.

Here's a cool headline today: "Bill Gates Named America's Richest Person for 22nd Straight Year." Neat! How's everyone else doing?

[CN: Domestic violence] Good grief: Lena Dunham has had to apologize (sort of) for comparing being attacked online to an abusive relationship. "I wasn't making a joke about domestic violence—I was over emphatic in my attempt to capture how damaging the Internet can be (not just to celebrities.)" The thing is, internet abuse is bad enough and real enough on its own. There's no need to use metaphors that appropriate other types of abuse.

Cool: "Nicki Minaj is set to executive produce and appear in a scripted comedy series for ABC Family based on the rap star's life growing up in Queens, New York. The project, from Aaron Kaplan's Kapital Entertainment, will film a pilot episode in Minaj's hometown this winter, with the intention to continue to series."

Awesome: "Alden Kane, a Detroit high school student, created a custom adaptable stroller that will allow new mother Sharina Jones—who uses a wheelchair—to take her baby for a walk... The 16-year-old is a senior at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and began developing the apparatus in his STEM class in the spring, after receiving an assignment to create a device that would let a mother in a wheelchair easily carry her baby, according to a news release from the university. Jones was to be the recipient of the prototype. ...Kane consulted Jones during the design process, using her July due date as the motivating force to efficiently complete the project."

[CN: Injury; bullying] What a lovely story: "For 38 years, a few black-and-white photographs of a nurse cradling a baby provided comfort to a woman who suffered terrible burns and endured years of playground taunts and painful surgeries thereafter. For all that time, until Tuesday, she dreamed of meeting her again. The photos [shot for the Albany Medical Center's 1977 annual report] show Amanda Scarpinati at just 3 months old, her head thickly wrapped in gauze, resting calmly in the nurse's arms. ...'Growing up as a child, disfigured by the burns, I was bullied and picked on, tormented,' she said. 'I'd look at those pictures and talk to her, even though I didn't know who she was. I took comfort looking at this woman who seemed so sincere, caring for me.'" Scarpinati finally found the nurse, Susan Berger, via Facebook. "Preserved by the photos, their encounters in the pediatric recovery room turned out to have a lasting impact on both their lives. ...Both women were thrilled to see each other again Tuesday, sobbing and embracing as cameras clicked all around them in a medical center conference room. ...Someone asked if their reunion might be the start of a lifelong friendship. Scarpinati had a quick answer to that: 'It already has been a lifelong friendship. She just didn't know.'"

[CN: Disablist language] And finally! "25 Hilarious Tweets That Perfectly Capture Your Feelings About Animals." LOL.