In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Flooding; death] So awful: "A 'once-in-a-millennium' downpour has flooded large parts of South Carolina, causing at least seven deaths. The storm had dumped more than 18 inches (45 cm) of rain in parts of central South Carolina by early Sunday. The state climatologist forecast another 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 cm) through Monday as the rainfall began to slacken. The state's governor, Nikki Haley, said parts of the state were hit with rainfall that would be expected to occur once in 1,000 years, with the Congaree river running at its highest level since 1936. 'This is the worst flooding in the low country [the region around the South Carolina coast] for a thousand years, that's how big this is,' Haley told a news conference." My condolences to those who have lost loved ones, including pets, and to those who are facing rebuilding after such massive flooding.

[CN: War; death] In Afghanistan, a US airstrike "inadvertently" hit a Doctors Without Borders medical facility in Kunduz. The airstrike "killed 22 people, including 12 staff members, and destroyed the intensive care unit." Doctors Without Borders "was one of the last providers of medical services there," and now they are leaving Kunduz. US Army General John Campbell is promising to "acknowledge" errors, "if" they were committed, but also says that air support was called in by Afghan forces. So, yeah. Doctors Without Borders has called this "mistake" a war crime, and I sure can't say I disagree. This is too vast a fuckup to blame the fog of war. I am so angry and upset about this.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal: "I am disappointed but not surprised by the decision to move forward on the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that will hurt consumers and cost American jobs. Wall Street and other big corporations have won again. It is time for the rest of us to stop letting multinational corporations rig the system to pad their profits at our expense. ...In the Senate, I will do all that I can to defeat this agreement. We need trade policies that benefit American workers and consumers, not just CEOs of large multi-national corporations." GOOD. And thank you!

Vice President Joe Biden will reportedly make a decision about jumping into the presidential race this weekend or shortly thereafter. If he does jump in, people who are looking to him to be a great alternative to Hillary Clinton's corporatism and hawkishness are going to be sorely disappointed, I'm afraid. Unless, of course, that's just a bullshit cover for their misogyny. But hahahaha surely no one would do that in a post-feminist America! *thisface*

[CN: Guns; disablism] Here are more details on Hillary Clinton's gun reform proposals. I like all of it (aside from the requisite bullshit about people with mental illness), but this is the part I really like a whole lot: "Clinton, a longtime and staunch advocate for stricter gun laws, also embraced proposals to prevent domestic abusers...from acquiring firearms." YES.

[CN: Guns] Donald Trump, meanwhile, says there isn't much we can do to prevent mass shootings because "no matter what you do you will have problems and that's the way the world goes," and mass shootings are inevitable because the people who do them are "geniuses in a certain way. They are going to be able to break the system." This fucking guy.

[CN: Misogyny] In other Trump news, he defends his incessant insulting of women with this word salad: "I find that women fully get it. They understand me and they understand life and they're very sophisticated; they're very strong and they're great." Whut. Take it away, Kaiser: "What is there to 'get'? Does he really think that women watch him bully, insult and mock other women (for their appearances!) and those women think, 'Oh, I know what he's trying to say, I understand him'? We do understand him. We understand that he's an unrepentant misogynist." BOOM.

[CN: Transmisogyny; body policing; harassment] Courtney Demone is a privileged trans woman at the beginning of her physical transition, and is leveraging what privilege she has (including what she identifies as her fading cis male privilege) to do an incredibly brave thing: "So at what point in my breast development do I need to start covering my nipples? I already feel shameful about them being visible, but at what point does society say it's unacceptable for them to be out? To give me some idea, I have my good friends Facebook and Instagram to help answer that question. ...In the coming months, I'll be posting topless photos of myself on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms using the hashtag #DoIHaveBoobsNow until those networks decide that my breasts have developed enough to be sexualized and worthy of censorship. (If they change their policies in the meantime, even better!)" Wow. There's so much more at the link, and I encourage you to read the whole thing.

[CN: Homophobia] "Following the Kim Davis debacle, another Kentucky county clerk has announced that she will only issue marriage licenses to heterosexual couples. Along with Casey County Clerk Casey Davis, Whitley County Clerk Kay Schwartz stopped issuing marriage licenses because of her religious opposition to same-sex marriage." Do. Your. Jobs. Or. Fuck. Off.

[CN: Video autoplays at link] This video has been around awhile, but I only saw it for the first time this weekend, and IT IS PERFECTION. "90 Year Old Woman Does Double Backflip."

And finally! Pumpkin the Rescued Raccoon Makes Herself at Home. Too fucking cute! (But seriously: Taking wild babies to wildlife rescue is the best idea, y'all!)