In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Guns; shooting; death] Four people, including the shooter, are dead in Colorado Springs after a man walked out onto the street and started shooting. He killed one man and two women. This has barely made a blip in the national news. That's how inured we've become to these sorts of shootings. Three people killed by a shooter who was then killed by police, in the middle of the road, and it's just routine. Another day in the USA. My deepest condolences to the victims' families, friends, and colleagues, and to the Colorado Springs community.

[CN: Descriptions of violence and sexual assault; police brutality] Think of this story next time you hear some asshole insisting that survivors of sexual violence are obliged to report their assault to police: "In a yearlong investigation of sexual misconduct by U.S. law enforcement, The Associated Press uncovered about 1,000 officers who lost their badges in a six-year period for rape, sodomy, and other sexual assault; sex crimes that included possession of child pornography; or sexual misconduct such as propositioning citizens or having consensual but prohibited on-duty intercourse. ...[A] simple question—how many law enforcement officers are accused of sexual misconduct—has no definitive answer. The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, which collects police data from around the country, doesn't track officer arrests, and states aren't required to collect or share that information. To measure the problem, the AP obtained records from 41 states on police decertification, an administrative process in which an officer's law enforcement license is revoked. ...The AP's findings, coupled with other research and interviews with experts, suggest that sexual misconduct is among the most prevalent type of complaint against law officers."

[CN: Guns; vigilantism] Welp: "A customer with a concealed carry license shot and killed an armed man [allegedly] attempting to rob a Chicago neighborhood store, police said Sunday. ...No one else was hurt during the incident. It wasn't immediately clear whether the customer, who has not been identified, will face charges. Guglielmi said preliminary details suggest the customer was not at fault, but that the case was under review by local prosecutors. ...Meanwhile, a relative of the dead man expressed doubt about the police account of what occurred, the Chicago Tribune reported. 'Something doesn't seem right,' said Igbinosa Oronsaye, whose mother was married to Gildersleeve. 'Reggie doesn't even own a gun. He couldn't own a gun if he wanted to.'"

[CN: Homophobia] Damn: "The Parliament of Northern Ireland on Monday passed, then vetoed, a resolution that would have legalized same-sex marriage. Northern Ireland remains the only part of the UK where same-sex marriage is not legal. Assembly members passed the marriage equality legislation by a slim majority only to have it vetoed because of a parliamentary procedure that is allowed under the region's coalition government. While the vote failed to enact lasting change for same-sex couples in the region, it did however show that political support had increased for marriage equality in Northern Ireland."

[CN: Misogynist terrorism] This woman is so brave: "Afghanistan hosted an international marathon this month—the first marathon ever to be held in the country. ...More than 60 amateur and professional runners participated, including people from the United States and Canada, as well as runners from Afghanistan. Although about a dozen local schoolgirls participated in the shorter 10 kilometer race, only one Afghan woman ran the entire marathon. Zainab, who is 25, spoke out about the her experience running in the marathon and the backlash she faced. "It is not easy for a woman to leave the house by herself, let alone running outside," Zainab said, admitting that she faced a lot of street harassment during the year she spent training for this event. ...'I have plans for the future—I have goals,' Zainab said. She spoke of her time visiting women in colleges in Afghanistan, 'The girls—all of them are really quiet, and they don't laugh. I invited them to laugh, to be happy.' Afghan women have participated in marathons in foreign countries before, but this was the first time an Afghan woman ran in a marathon within her own country."

Get ready to be excited! "Battered by weeks of negative headlines, Republican Jeb Bush launches a campaign reboot on Monday with a 'Jeb Can Fix It' tour and release of an e-book that reveals a more personal side to a 2016 candidate who has struggled on the public stage." Jeb Can Fix It? Woof.

In other Republican dude news: RIP Fred Thompson. My condolences to the people who cared for and admired him.

Yuck: "Dozens of Chipotle restaurants in Washington and Oregon are temporarily closing due to an outbreak of E. coli. Health officials have linked 19 cases in Washington and three in Oregon to Chipotles in those states. Eight people have been hospitalized: Seven from Washington, one from Oregon. According to the Washington State Department of Health, though the outbreak appears to be connected to food served at Chipotle, the specific source of contamination has yet to be determined and is still under investigation. The restaurants have closed voluntarily while awaiting updated information."

Wowwwwww these pictures of Saturn's Icy Moon Enceladus taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft! Amazing!

LOLOLOLOLOL: "President Obama Couldn't Handle This Kid's Adorable Pope Halloween Costume." Perfection.

And finally! Dog in a baby swing. Never not cute.