In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Shooting; death; self-harm] Yesterday at UCLA, a student shot and killed his former professor before killing himself. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the extent of his violence: "Police said Thursday that the gunman...had a 'kill list' with other names, including that of a woman who was found dead in Minnesota. The gunman—Mainak Sarkar, 38—apparently had a grudge against the professor, which prompted him to drive to California from his home in Minnesota with two handguns and extra ammunition, said Charlie Beck, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department." The professor who was killed, William Klug, 39, who was a professor in UCLA's engineering department, was also named on that list, according to Charlie Beck, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. Beck also said "that the shooting appeared to be 'tied to a dispute over intellectual property.' Sarkar apparently felt that Klug had released some kind of information that harmed him, Beck said. But Beck added that school officials called this 'absolutely not true and this is the workings of his imagination.'" Already, the disablist narratives that Sarkar was "deranged" have begun. But this seems to be a pretty classic case of an aggrieved, entitled man who uses a gun to get vengeance against people he believes have crossed him.

[CN: Toxic water] Damn: "At least 33 cities across 17 US states have used water testing 'cheats' that potentially conceal dangerous levels of lead, a Guardian investigation launched in the wake of the toxic water crisis in Flint, Michigan, has found. Of these cities, 21 used the same water testing methods that prompted criminal charges against three government employees in Flint over their role in one of the worst public health disasters in US history. ...The Guardian's investigation demonstrates that similar testing regimes were in place in cities including Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Milwaukee." Unsurprising, but still infuriating.

[CN: Transphobia] "During a PBS town hall, President Obama made a strong show of support for transgender rights and debunked the idea that he is forcing the issue onto the country. President Obama was asked by a person in the town hall in Elkhart, Indiana, 'With all the pressing issues that you have before you right now, why is the issue of which bathroom a person uses such an issue?' President Obama responded: 'Somehow people think I made it an issue; I didn't make it an issue. What happened and what continues to happen is you have transgender kids in schools. And they get bullied. And they get ostracized. And it's tough for them.'" Damn right. It wouldn't be an issue if there weren't bigoted bullies. After all, trans people having been peeing in public for a long time.

[CN: Police brutality; death; racism] "Back in March, the Hennepin County attorney declined to indict the two Minneapolis Police Department officers who were involved in the shooting death of Jamar Clark. Today (June 1), the federal government also opted not to charge Officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze for killing the unarmed Black man. According to the Associated Press, Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger decided not to file criminal civil rights charges against the officers, citing insufficient evidence to prove that they employed excessive force to intentionally violate Clark's rights." By way of reminder: Witnesses reported that Clark was handcuffed when he was shot, but Luger says the evidence (?) shows otherwise.

You know we've reached the nadir of media coverage when CNN actually fact-checking Donald Trump is newsworthy.

[CN: Domestic violence; video may autoplay at link] If these texts between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp's personal assistant are indeed real, everyone who rushed to defend Depp is going to feel like a fucking asshole. Or would, if they had any integrity or shame in the first place.

[CN: Addiction] "Tests show that Prince died of an opioid overdose, a law-enforcement official told the Associated Press on Thursday. ...The official, who is close to the investigation, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The findings confirm suspicions that opioids played a role in the musician's death. After he died, authorities began reviewing whether an overdose was to blame and whether he had been prescribed drugs in the preceding weeks." I'm sharing this because it will be all over the news, but it doesn't really matter. Or shouldn't. He died of a disease that is very difficult to treat.

Oh dear: "Paris' Louvre museum halted entries on Thursday and will be closed to the public on Friday to allow priceless artworks to be removed if the swollen river Seine keeps rising, according to an internal email to staff. 'The museum will remain closed to the public tomorrow out of precaution: there is no danger to the public or our staff but will allow us to calmly remove certain art collections should it be necessary,' the email, seen by Reuters, stated. After days of torrential rains, the French government has issued an orange alert for central Paris, with the Seine's water level bursting through five metres." I'm not familiar with that area of Paris, so I don't know how residential it is. I hope everyone who has businesses and/or homes in that area will be okay, too.

Whoa! "Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the universe is expanding 5 percent to 9 percent faster than expected. 'This surprising finding may be an important clue to understanding those mysterious parts of the universe that make up 95 percent of everything and don't emit light, such as dark energy, dark matter, and dark radiation,' said study leader and Nobel Laureate Adam Riess of the Space Telescope Science Institute and The Johns Hopkins University, both in Baltimore, Maryland. The results will appear in an upcoming issue of The Astrophysical Journal."

And finally! Oh just a GIANT alligator strolling along on a golf course. LOL yikes!