In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Guns] "Hillary Clinton is attempting to make gun control and reducing gun violence a key part of her presidential campaign, as a once politically sensitive campaign issue moves front and center in the wake of the Charleston church massacre in June. 'Thirty-three thousand people a year die from [gun violence],' the Democratic frontrunner said at a campaign event at Grinnell College in Iowa on Tuesday night. 'Shame on us if we don't respond.' ...During an earlier campaign event in Coralville, Iowa, Clinton vowed to challenge the powerful US gun lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA), and pledged to make gun control a 'voting issue' that motivates Democrats in the same way gun rights motivates Republicans to vote. 'We're going to make this a voting issue—just like the other side does,' Clinton said on Tuesday afternoon." GOOD.

In good election news: "Jackie Biskupski became Salt Lake City and the state of Utah’s first openly gay mayor last night, defeating Mayor Ralph Becker by 52.19 percent to 47.81 percent. ...Said Utah Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, also openly gay: 'Generations of LGBT people could've only dreamed of this. Jackie is now an iconic gay leader. This is a great moment for Salt Lake City—we're not the stereotype people across the country think we are.'"

[CN: Self-harm; video may autoplay at link] Susan Williams, the widow of actor Robin Williams, has disclosed that an autopsy revealed her husband was suffering from Lewy body dementia: "Though not nearly as well known (or talked about) as Alzheimer's disease, which accounts for more than half of dementia diagnoses in the United States, Lewy body dementia, or LBD, is the second most common type of progressive dementia. ...LBD is caused when normal proteins in the brain begin to aggregate, forming clumps called Lewy bodies that, as they spread, 'muck up the ability for the brain to transmit signals,' said Dr. James Leverenz of the Cleveland Clinic. Like Alzheimer's disease, symptoms of LBD include cognitive problems like confusion, reduced attention span, and memory loss, [Angela Taylor, director of programming for the Lewy Body Dementia Association] said. But LBD also affects a patient's movements, as well as their mood, making it a 'triple threat,' Taylor said. 'It's not just memory, it's not just movement, and it's not just behavior. It's a combination of all three, which makes it difficult to diagnose and difficult to treat,' Leverenz said." I really admire that she is speaking publicly about this, which must be so difficult, in order to raise awareness about the disease.

[CN: Transphobia] Goddammit: "Two Wisconsin Republican lawmakers proposed a bill this month that would keep transgender students from using the restrooms designated for the gender with which they identify. ...The bill, which has yet to be introduced, would require school boards to designate bathrooms and locker rooms as being exclusively for one gender. It defines gender as being 'the physical condition of being male or female, as determined by an individual's chromosomes and identified at birth by that individual's anatomy.' Under the bill, schools will be required to make special accommodations for transgender students if they request them, meaning a gender neutral bathroom will have to be provided." Fucking reprehensible, othering, unjustifiable horseshit.

Holy moly: "Volkswagen on Tuesday said it had understated the fuel consumption of 800,000 cars sold in Europe, while majority stakeholder Porsche Automobil Holding SE warned that VW's latest findings could further weigh on its results. The latest revelation about fuel economy and carbon dioxide emissions, which Germany's largest automaker said represented a roughly 2 billion euro ($2.19 billion) economic risk, deepened the crisis at VW. ...'VW is leaving us all speechless,' said Arndt Ellinghorst of banking advisory firm Evercore ISI. 'It seems to us that this is another issue triggered by VW's internal investigation and potentially related to Europe.' The carmaker said it would immediately start talking to 'responsible authorities' about what to do about the latest findings."

Here's a cool headline: "GOP campaigns fail to unite around debate demands." Hahaha! Who could have predicted the bickeringest bickersons that ever bickered would have trouble uniting?!

Neat: "NASA is showing off high-res images of the 400-meter-wide (1,300 feet) asteroid that zipped past Earth on Halloween, revealing its eerie skull-like face. Nicknamed 'Spooky' for its skull-resembling shape, the asteroid—otherwise known by its NASA classification as 2015 TB145—was flying 480,000 kilometers from Earth when it passed on October 31. It was impossible to see that far away, but now NASA pictures allow us to take a closer peek."

Well HELLO indeed! "Adele's 'Hello' Debuts at No. 1 with a Record-Shattering 1 Million Downloads." Damn!

And finally! "Taronga Western Plains Zoo is thrilled to announce the birth of Australia's first Greater One-horned Rhino calf! The male calf was born early on the morning of October 25th, to first-time mother Amala. Zoo Keepers are closely monitoring both mother and calf, and although it is still early days, report that both are doing well." If you're wondering whether there are ridiculously adorbz pictures of the baby rhino at the link, the answer is YESSSSSSS.