In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Terrorism; war] "France has launched its first missions against Islamic State (IS) militants from its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, military sources said. The newly-deployed carrier has 26 fighters, tripling French capacity. ...France stepped up its bombings of IS following the attacks on Paris, in which 130 people were killed. On Monday, Mr Hollande met British Prime Minister David Cameron for talks as part of a fresh diplomatic push. He will also meet the leaders of the US, Germany, and Russia this week. Mr Hollande said: 'We will intensify our strikes, choosing targets that will do the most damage possible to this army of terrorists.'"

[CN: Refugee crisis; hunger strike; images at link may be upsetting] "Moroccans, Iranians, and Pakistanis on Greece's northern border with Macedonia blocked rail traffic and demanded passage to western Europe on Monday, stranded by a policy of filtering migrants in the Balkans that has raised human rights concerns. One Iranian man, declaring a hunger strike, stripped to the waist, sewed his lips together with nylon and sat down in front of lines of Macedonian riot police. Asked by Reuters where he wanted to go, the man, a 34-year-old electrical engineer named Hamid, said: 'To any free country in the world. I cannot go back. I will be hanged.'" Blub.

[CN: Anti-choice terrorism] Meanwhile, as Republicans continue to fearmonger about imaginary refugee terrorism: "Kentucky's last remaining full-time abortion clinic has been vandalized twice in less than one month. On the night of October 26, EMW Women's Surgical Center in Louisville suffered a broken window when an unidentified man bolted past protestors across the street and threw his body into the clinic's window. The clinic's executive director, Anne, who withheld her name for security reasons, said following the incident, the man walked away calmly, leaving the window in pieces. Just three weeks later on November 11, surveillance cameras captured a male perpetrator kneeling and praying in front of the clinic. According to Anne, forty-five minutes later, the man returned, this time with 'a blanket over his head' and in a matter of minutes, hurled a rock through the office's window before walking away. ...Last month, an intruder wielding a hatchet destroyed telephones and other office equipment in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Claremont, New Hampshire. In September, two clinic were set ablaze by arsonists in Washington state and California respectively. This summer, two clinics in Louisiana suffered property damage in separate incidents of vandalism and in March, trespassers destroyed security cameras and a power generator at Mississippi's Jackson Women's Health Center."

[CN: Refugee crisis; Islamophobia] President Obama met with some refugee children, most of whom "are Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic group. Tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar to escape persecution by the country's Buddhist majority, with many ending up in Malaysia, where Obama was attending a regional economic summit." There are pictures at the link, and they are exactly what you expect when you prepare to look at pictures of President Obama with kids.

[CN: Guns; injury. Video may autoplay at link.] "A shooting in a New Orleans park left 16 people injured, police said. Several hundred people had gathered at Bunny Friend Playground for an impromptu music video filming late Sunday when two groups began firing on each other, the New Orleans Police Department said in a statement." Thank Maude no one was killed. I hope the people who were injured have access to the resources they need to heal.

[CN: Transphobic violence; police misconduct] "Just weeks after Houston voters rejected an equal rights ordinance, a transgender resident says he was assaulted by neighbors with a gun and a knife. Lucas Young, a trans man, also says police responding to the attack mocked him due to his gender identity and failed to arrest the perpetrators, prompting him to file an internal affairs complaint. ...Police aren't commenting on the incident due to the ongoing internal affairs investigation." Of course they aren't.

[CN: Racism; carcerality] Martin O'Malley, what are you even doing? "Republican candidates have largely embraced the myth of the 'Ferguson effect,' which theorizes that police are more hesitant to do their jobs after high-profile police protests in Ferguson and other cities, driving up crime rates. But Democratic candidate and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley also seemed to entertain the idea at a criminal justice forum on Saturday. O'Malley spoke at length about his record of criminal justice reform at the forum, arguing that his policies as mayor of Baltimore and governor of Maryland drove down crime and decreased incarceration rates." Uhhhhh.

Only 8 points?! "Hillary Clinton has an 8-point lead over Donald Trump in response to question, 'Who would you trust more to handle the threat of terrorism,' according to ABC News/Washington Post poll."

This weekend, "Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America" aired on A&E, History, Lifetime, FYI, LMN, and H2. I watched some of it (until I fell asleep, because I am old) and what I saw was good. (Someone give John Legend a medal for his "conversation" with a white dude about "colorblindness.") Anyway, Colorlines has a few highlights, if you missed it.

[CN: Video autoplays at link] And finally! A snuggly hamster lazily eating a carrot! OMGSQUEEEEEE.