In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note for next seven paragraphs: Anti-choice terrorism; disablism; transphobia] To put it politely, the Republican candidates have not covered themselves in glory in their responses to the Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado Springs. The only candidate who has even remotely conceded that inflammatory rhetoric might have played a role in creating the context in which this act of anti-choice terrorism happened is Dr. Ben Carson, and even then he had to be prompted by Meet the Press host Chuck Todd and gave an answer that invoked the old "both sides are just as bad" chestnut: "I think any hateful rhetoric directed at anyone from any source is too much. It's something that we need to get away from. We have to stop allowing ourselves to be pushed into different corners and then throwing hateful barbs at each other, you know." Weak sauce. But compared to the rest of them...

Ohio Governor John Kasich offered his prayers and said "senseless violence has brought tragedy to Colorado Springs." This violence was not "senseless." It makes a perfect, horrific sense within a culture of hostility to reproductive choice in which abortion providers are routinely called mass murderers even by presidential candidates.

Jeb Bush's statement came from the same garbage playbook: "There is no acceptable explanation for this violence, and I will continue to pray for those who have been impacted."

Donald Trump simply went for rank disablism, calling Robert Dear a "maniac" and "a sick person," while also claiming we don't know "the purpose" of his violent act. Yep, it's a real mystery lost to the sands of time.

Carly Fiorina, who has insistently been telling the lie that Planned Parenthood harvests fetal parts for profit, the very thing Robert Dear referenced upon his surrender, is shamelessly unapologetic, continuing the repeat the lie and further asserting: "What I would say to anyone who tries to link this terrible tragedy to anyone who opposes abortion, or opposes the sale of body parts, is this is typical left-wing tactics." Fiorina's got a bad case of projection where her accountability should be. Asshole.

Mike Huckabee just went for it, equating the deadly shooting to abortion: "There is no excuse for killing other people whether it's happening inside the Planned Parenthood headquarters, inside their clinics where many millions of babies die, or whether it's people attacking Planned Parenthood." My contempt for this shitlord and every piece of filth he disgorges from his toxic maw cannot be measured on a scale fathomable by human intellect. Fucker.

And Senator Ted Cruz is disseminating the ridiculous lie that Robert Dear is a "transgendered [sic] leftist activist," a falsehood based entirely on the fact that Dear's voter registration form was erroneously marked "female." Because an opportunity to demonize trans people while exploiting a heinous act of anti-choice terrorism is basically Ted Cruz's happiest fucking day. Shitlord.

What a truly reprehensible lot.

* * *

President Obama is at the COP21 climate change conference in Paris, along with leaders from 146 other nations, and he says: "Climate change could define the contours of this century more than any other (challenge). I came here personally to say the United States not only recognises the problem but is committed to do something about it." Well, some of us are! He also said "the UN climate conference in Paris could be a 'turning point' in global efforts to limit future temperature rises." I hope so!

[CN: Police brutality; racism; video may autoplay at link] "Jury selection was set to begin Monday in the first high-stakes trial for Baltimore police officers involved in the April arrest of Freddie Gray... The jury selection process for Officer William Porter is crucial because it could determine whether it is possible to select impartial juries in the city for each of six officers charged in connection with Gray's death. Lawyers for the officers have said it's not possible; Judge Barry Williams decided to try. Porter is charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, and assault in the death of Gray." Translation: Lawyers for the officers wanted a whiter jury pool.

[CN: Rape] I believe Stoya.

[CN: Misogyny] Um. "When Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters Dec. 18, audiences will be introduced to two new leads: Rey and Finn, played by newcomers Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, respectively. J.J. Abrams, who directed the movie, explained on Good Morning America Monday why he decided to make a woman one of the protagonists in the seventh installment in the franchise. ...'Star Wars was always a boys' thing and a movie that dads take their sons to, and though that's still very much the case, I was really hoping this could be a movie that mothers could take their daughters to as well.'" The fuck?! First of all, fuck off for implying no little girls got taken by their parents to see the original trilogy, and subsequent trilogy, and second of all, fuck off for disappearing all the female Star Wars fans who aren't mothers taking daughters or daughters being taken by mothers.

[CN: Transphobia; ciscentrism] Good grief: Eddie Redmayne, a cis man who is playing a transgender woman in the upcoming film The Danish Girl, "bravely" shares how ignorant he was about being transgender when he took on the role. "I fell into all the clichés of ignorance. I didn't realize that gender and sexuality weren't related. I confused the terms transvestitism and transgender. But what's lovely is, the second you understand the difference, you see how gigantic it is and how important it is that we educate ourselves." How lovely!

[CN: Terrorism] All right then: "In the fight against the Islamic State, the American government is being offered help from an unlikely source: the Mafia." Sure.

Zoinks! "It's official: Adele's 25 album sold 3.38 million copies in its first week in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music. That's the largest single sales week for an album since Nielsen began tracking point-of-sale music purchases in 1991. 25 is the first album to sell more than 3 million copies in a week in Nielsen history, and only the second to surpass 2 million sold in a single frame."

Welp: "The world's first anti-ageing drug will be tested on humans next year in trials which could result in people being able to live healthily well into their 120s. ...Although it might seem like science fiction, researchers have already proven that the diabetes drug metformin extends the life of animals, and the Food and Drug Administration in the US has now given the go-ahead for a trial to see if the same effects can be replicated in humans. ...Scientists think the best candidate for an anti-ageing drug is metformin, the world's most widely used diabetes drug which costs just 10 cents a day. ...The new clinical trial called Targeting Aging with Metformin, or TAME, is scheduled to begin in the US next winter. Scientists from a range of institutions are currently raising funds and recruiting 3,000 70 to 80-year-olds who have, or are at risk of, cancer, heart disease and dementia."

I love this: "Japan Railways Build Turtle Tunnels." Yes! A+

And finally! "Heroic brothers free a bald eagle from a trap and take the best selfie of all time." OMG. Perfection.