In the News

Here's some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Terrorism; war; death] "Turkey has begun security operations against Kurdish rebels in the country's south-east and in Iraq. The moves come as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed a crackdown on terror after Sunday's attack in Ankara that killed at least 37 people. ...Four people were held over the bombings in the south-eastern city of Sanliurfa, according to Turkish media. Officials were quoted as saying the car used in the bombing was traced to a showroom there. A curfew was declared in three towns in south-east Turkey, while warplanes struck PKK camps in Iraqi Kurdistan. Eleven warplanes carried out air strikes on 18 targets including ammunition dumps and shelters in the Qandil and Gara sectors, the army said. The PKK (the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party) confirmed the strikes." Fucking hell.

[CN: Child explotation and violence] "We do not yet know who President Obama will name to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia. We do know, however, that anyone the president names will be subjected to a brutal campaign to discredit them in the eyes of the public. A conservative advocacy group called the Judicial Crisis Network (JCN) reportedly hired 'a team of about 10 researchers, including a number of lawyers' to conduct opposition research into potential nominees. Viewers watching Sunday morning's news shows got a taste of what these researchers have uncovered this past weekend. An ad funded by JCN attacked federal appellate Judge Jane Kelly, a potential Supreme Court nominee and former public defender, for representing one of her former clients. The inmate described in JCN's ad is Casey Frederiksen, who Kelly represented in 2005 during her career as a public defender. Frederiksen is unquestionably a terrible human being. [He was tried and convicted on child p0rnography charges and for the murder of a 5-year-old girl.] In the United States, however, criminal trials are governed by the Constitution, and that Constitution guarantees all people accused of a crime 'the assistance of counsel for his defense.' So JCN's ad is more than just an attack on Jane Kelly. It is an attack on a constitutional right."

[CN: Assault] "Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields and editor-at-large Ben Shapiro are resigning from the company over the site's handling of Donald Trump's campaign manager's alleged assault on Fields, BuzzFeed News has learned." Breaking News: Garbage news outlet run by garbage people.

This story is a few days old, but I only saw it this morning: "Finland and the Netherlands have already shown their interest in giving people a regular monthly allowance regardless of working status, and now Ontario, Canada is onboard. Ontario's government announced in February that a pilot program will be coming to the Canadian province sometime later this year. The premise: send people monthly checks to cover living expenses such as food, transportation, clothing, and utilities—no questions asked. It's a radical idea, and one that has been around since the 1960s. It's called 'basic income.'" Yes!

[CN: Union-busting] Goddammit: "When West Virginia's so-called right-to-work law takes effect in May, the majority of states will have laws designed to strip labor unions of their collective bargaining rights. West Virginia Republican lawmakers in February overrode Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's (D) veto of SB 1, which prohibits employers from requiring workers to pay union dues as a condition of their employment. Opponents of 'right-to-work' policies argue that they allow workers who are not union members—known as free riders—to benefit from the union's bargaining without having to contribute financially. Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall) said during floor debate before the veto override vote that the legislation was an attack on people who work and their families. 'Some would say this is a historic day for West Virginia,' Kessler said, reported the Gazette-Mail. 'I submit to you that it is a horrific day. This is not based on any empirical evidence; this is based on a political attack upon unions, upon workers, upon families, upon our communities.' West Virginia joins Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin as states that have passed laws targeting labor unions in recent years."

[CN: Racism; appropriation; transphobia] Courtney Demone writes a reflective piece about her culturally appropriative tattoo: "Over the years, I began to feel there was something wrong with a white person sporting an Indigenous symbol as a tattoo and developed a quiet, passive shame. ...Despite my shame, I did nothing to address my appropriation. I intended to get the tattoo removed or covered, but it was never a high priority. I never learned more about Maya people and cultures. I never learned more about the symbol. I just let my ignorance fester. When my topless photos from the 'Do I have boobs now?' project went viral, I was finally forced to address my ignorance and appropriation. ...My intention for the project was to challenge systems of oppression and our complicity in them. In the process, I exposed my own unchallenged complicity in oppression and colonialism."

[CN: Misogyny] "By manipulating familiar images of historical moments, often in politics but also in other realms popular culture, [director Alyssa Boni of RSA Films] erases the many men pictured, leaving only their lonesome—and often singular—female counterparts."

"Air Force One Shielded by Double Rainbow Force Field in Austin." ♥

[CN: Video autoplays at link] The ladies of Saturday Night Live with another terrific digital short: "This Is Not a Feminist Song."

And finally! "Service Dog and Teenage Owner Dress Alike for Formal Dance." LOVE WITH ONE MILLION HEARTS.