In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Earthquake; death] Goddammit: "More than 100 people were reported killed Monday when a powerful earthquake centered in northeast Afghanistan triggered landslides, building collapses, stampedes, and panic from Central Asia to India. The U.S. Geological Survey reported the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.5 and was centered in the Hindu Kush mountains, 158 miles north-northeast of Kabul. The epicenter was near the Jarm district in the remote northeastern province of Badakhshan, one of Afghanistan's most inaccessible regions, where a massive landslide last May killed hundreds of people. The Pakistani military said 123 people were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and nearly 1,000 injured." The Guardian is providing live updates. Aid relief information will surely become available as the day goes on; please feel welcome and encouraged to share links to relief efforts in comments. If you are hoping to locate someone in the area, Google's dedicated Person Finder is a good resource.

[CN: Arson; racism; terrorism] A seventh church has been damaged by arson in the Ferguson area: "'Holy God...if we ever needed a wake-up call to believe that racism is alive in St. Louis—if this is not it, I don't know what it could be,. the Rev. Mike Kinman, an Episcopal priest at St. Louis' Christ Church Cathedral, told the Post." (Previously.)

This fucking guy: "Marco Rubio is a U.S. senator. And he just can't stand it anymore. 'I don't know that 'hate' is the right word,' Rubio said in an interview. 'I'm frustrated.' This year, as Rubio runs for president, he has cast the Senate—the very place that cemented him as a national politician—as a place he's given up on, after less than one term. It's too slow. Too rule-bound. So Rubio, 44, has decided not to run for his seat again. It's the White House or bust. 'That's why I’m missing votes. Because I am leaving the Senate. I am not running for reelection,' Rubio said in the last Republican debate, after Donald Trump had mocked him for his unusual number of absences during Senate votes." Um, okay. Except you're still meant to be representing the people who elected you, dipshit. And also? If you think the Senate is slow and frustrating, you might want to talk to President Obama about whether the presidency is a high-octane thrillfest when it comes to enacting an agenda which depends on Congress for passage. Do any of the Republicans running for president understand how the government actually works?!

[CN: Privilege] GOOD GRIEF Donald Trump's rags to riches story: "'It has not been easy for me. It has not been easy for me. I started off in Brooklyn. My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars,' Trump remarked. 'I came into Manhattan, and I had to pay him back, and I had to pay him back with interest. But I came into Manhattan and I started buying properties, and I did great.'" He pulled himself up by his gold-plated bootstraps! What have YOU ever done?!

Welp! "In April, Dan Price, CEO of the credit card payment processor Gravity Payments, announced that he will eventually raise minimum pay for all employees to at least $70,000 a year. The move sparked not just a firestorm of media attention, but also a lawsuit from Price's brother and co-founder Lucas, claiming that the pay raise violated his rights as a minority shareholder. But six months later, the financial results are starting to come in: Price told Inc. Magazine that revenue is now growing at double the rate before the raises began and profits have also doubled since then."

I love this with one million hearts: "Every afternoon, the students riding on bus 7 in Arlington, Washington, receive warm waves from an elderly woman as they pass by her home... Known as 'the grandma in the window,' she is a daily staple for this group of kids, as well as for the bus driver, Carol Mitzelfeldt. So, when one morning in September, the window was empty, the students on the bus were concerned and wanted to make sure their 'grandma' was OK. ...Mitzelfeldt learned from the elderly woman's husband, Dave, that her name is Louise Edlen, she'd had a stroke a few days prior and was being cared for at a local rehabilitation center. ...The students then posed for a photo of themselves waving out the windows of the bus, just as Edlen sees them each afternoon. Mitzelfeldt had the picture mounted on a large foam board, signed it on behalf of bus 7, and delivered it to Edlen at the care center. Though she struggled to speak because of the stroke, Edlen was able to tell Mitzelfeldt that she loved the children and they mean a lot to her. Fortunately, last Tuesday, Edlen returned home. And fanfare awaited her—Mitzelfeldt and a large group of students put together colorful signs welcoming their 'grandma in the window' back home, cheering from the windows and honking horns." ♥♥♥

YESSSSSSSSSS! "A spokesperson for David Bowie has confirmed that his new album will be released in January 2016. Entitled Blackstar, the album will also feature a single of the same name." I AM SO EXCITED!!!

In case you were wondering why Adele uses a flip phone in her new video, now you know!

[CN: Racism; misogyny; homophobia] Oh for fuck's sake just SHUT UP, Roger Moore: "I have heard people talk about how there should be a lady Bond or a gay Bond. But they wouldn't be Bond for the simple reason that wasn't what Ian Fleming wrote... It is not about being homophobic or, for that matter, racist—it is simply about being true to the character." (Previously.)

!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Mega-shark teeth wash ashore in North Carolina: Recent storms and high tides have unearthed a prehistoric marvel on the coast of North Carolina. Fossilized shark teeth, some as big as an adult hand, have been plucked from the sand by beachgoers in North Topsail Beach and Surf City, North Carolina... The teeth are immense and immensely old: Researchers say the teeth once belonged to a Megalodon, the largest shark ever to live. Megalodon went extinct some 2.6 million years ago."

[CN: Moving gifs at link] And finally! Baby deer rescue and rehabilitation! Adorbz! And what a terrific success. Yay!