Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Airline disaster] "Signals have been detected from one of the black boxes of the EgyptAir plane that crashed last month, French investigators have confirmed. They were picked up by the French vessel Laplace as it was searching the Mediterranean Sea. ...'The signal from a beacon from a flight recorder has been detected,' said Remi Jouty of France's Bureau of Investigations and Analysis. A priority search area has been established, he added. Laplace is using acoustic detection systems to listen to the locator 'pings' given off by the black boxes underwater. A specialist vessel carrying robots able to dive to 3,000 metres (3,280 yards) is due to arrive next week to help retrieve the devices." Fingers crossed that this will help provide much-desired answers for the family and friends of those lost.
[CN: War on agency] Restricting access to abortion doesn't stop abortion. It just forces pregnant people to turn to other methods of ending their pregnancies. "Five years into a wave of anti-abortion legislation that is without historical precedent, Johnston is not surprised. In fact, she is part of a rising chorus of abortion providers and activists who wonder if they are witnessing, as a direct result of those laws, a spike in women who are attempting to take matters into their own hands. ...Until recently, abortion rights activists treated stories like these as harbingers of the future if states continued to erode abortion rights. Thirty-eight states have passed more than 300 new abortion restrictions since 2010, laws that have shuttered dozens of abortion clinics across the south, west and midwest. But a growing number now reject the idea that these anecdotes represent the worst-case scenarios. And a small body of research has emerged to support them. Among the most eye-catching is a report, released in November, projecting that anywhere from 100,000 to 240,000 women of childbearing age in Texas—the site of the nation's most bruising abortion fight—have at some point attempted to induce their own abortions." Fucking hell.
In good news: "An influential body of rabbis passed a resolution last week calling for synagogues to be 'explicitly welcoming' to transgender people. As the country debates which bathrooms transgender people can use, the rabbis of Conservative Judaism officially declared their support of transgender rights. ...The Rabbinical Assembly called on synagogues, camps, schools, and other institutions affiliated with the Conservative movement to make sure their facilities meet the needs of transgender people and to use the names and pronouns that people prefer. It also encouraged Conservative institutions to advocate for national and local policies on behalf of transgender people. 'That is always the first job of the religious community, the faith community: to bring our Jewish values to bear on our real-life situations and the real people around us,' said Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, the executive vice president of the organization of 1,700 rabbis."
Relatedly: "Should it reach his desk, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, says he'll sign the House version of a transgender rights bill which has been stalled in the legislature for several months. ...'The bill approved by the Senate and the version that is set to be passed by the House on Wednesday would allow people to use the restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity and would protect transgender people from discrimination in barber shops, malls, libraries, restaurants, and other public accommodations.'"
In more (qualified) good news: "US survey shows dramatic rise in acceptance of same-sex relationships: US public acceptance of sexual activity between two adults of the same sex has nearly quadrupled since 1990. According to a national survey of more than 30,000 Americans, those who view sexual activity between two adults of the same sex as being 'not wrong at all' increased from 13% in 1990 to 49% in 2014. The shift was even greater for adults under the age of 30, with the proportion rising from 15% to 63% during the same time period." The qualification, of course, is that it's still not 100%. But quadrupled acceptance is still pretty terrific!
[CN: Police brutality; racism; death] "Just over a month after a jury found him guilty of killing Eric Harris, an unarmed Black man, former Tulsa County Reserve Sheriff's Deputy Robert Bates has been sentenced to four years in prison. Tulsa World reports that yesterday (May 31), District Judge William Musseman concluded a four-hour hearing by following the jury's sentencing recommendation of four years for the second-degree manslaughter conviction. It is the maximum punishment allowed for the charge." But real justice will not come until no more Black people are murdered by police.
[CN: Racism; class warfare; homelessness] "While the path from kindergarten through college can be tough for anyone, two government reports released this month outline the particular difficulties facing poor black and Hispanic students, as well as the higher education hurdles confronting homeless and foster youth. One Government Accountability Office (GAO) study shows increasing isolation of poor students of color in K-12 education. And, their schools have fewer resources. Another GAO report says homeless and foster youth graduate from college at a sharply lower rate than other students. The two groups also have a difficult time navigating bureaucratic rules that make it harder for them to secure financial aid for college." Only in a nation of bootstraps fairytales could we even imagine that it could be any other way.
[CN: Rape culture] Baylor University chancellor Ken Starr is reportedly resigning "as a matter of conscience." Oh. I guess that means he feels pretty guilty that he got busted not giving a shit about football players raping people.
Hillary Clinton is going after Donald Trump as a con man. That is a pretty good and also very accurate strategy!
Good grief: "Donald Trump Actually Does Not Know What Brexit Is." Of course he doesn't.
Neat! "Close-up imagery of Pluto's surface has scientists wondering how the dwarf planet's terrain came to be. The photos, which show expansive mountain ranges and valleys, were taken by the New Horizons probe in July 2015 and were released by NASA this week. 'We traveled 3,000 miles and found something a lot like the Earth,' says Alan Stern, New Horizons' principal investigator from Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. 'It was a big surprise.'" (What Stern means is that they traveled 3,000 miles around Pluto, I believe, since Pluto is 4.67 billion miles from Earth, lol.)
And finally! A compilation of joyous cats greeting their humans after long separations. Because dogs shouldn't get all the attention for loving their people!
In the News
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Airline disaster; death] "Egypt said on Friday its navy had found human remains, wreckage and the personal belongings of passengers floating in the Mediterranean, confirmation that an EgyptAir jet had plunged into the sea with 66 people on board. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi offered condolences for those on board, amounting to Egypt's official acknowledgement of their deaths, although there was still no explanation of why the Airbus had crashed. ...The navy was searching an area about 290 km (180 miles) north of the port city of Alexandria, just south of where the signal from the plane was lost early on Thursday.There was no sign of the bulk of the wreckage, or of a location signal from the 'black box' flight recorders." My condolences once again to the people who lost loved ones. I hope they will get some answers soon.
[CN: Extreme heat; death] My god: "A city in India's Rajasthan state has broken the country's temperature records after registering 51C, the highest since records began, the weather office says." That's 124 degrees Fahrenheit. "The heatwave has hit much of northern India, where temperatures have exceeded 40C for weeks. The run-up to the Indian monsoon season is always characterised by weeks of strong sunshine and increasing heat but life-threatening temperature levels topping 50C are unusual. Murari Lal Thanvi, an eyewitness in Phalodi, told the BBC he had struggled to stay outdoors on Friday. 'Even my mobile phone gave up and stopped working when I was trying to take pictures today,' he said." Dozens of people have already died in the heatwave. Absolutely awful.
[CN: Illness] Fuck: "More than 270 pregnant women in the U.S. are infected with the Zika virus and worry about whether their babies will be born with birth defects, federal health officials announced Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated the way it reports Zika-affected pregnancies, and said the new numbers show 279 women who tested positive for the virus. This includes 157 women in the 50 states and Washington, D.C, plus 122 in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other U.S. territories. So far, fewer than a dozen have had an 'adverse event,' such as a miscarriage or evidence that the fetus has a birth defect, CDC officials said." Still, the CDC continues to encourage pregnant people who have themselves or whose partners have traveled to Zika-affected areas to get tested for the virus.
[CN: Anti-immigrationism; doxxing] "A federal judge with a history of anti-immigrant sentiment ordered the federal government to turn over the names, addresses and 'all available contact information' of over 100,000 immigrants living within the United States. He does so in a strange order that quotes extensively from movie scripts and that alleges a conspiracy of attorneys 'somewhere in the halls of the Justice Department whose identities are unknown to this Court.' It appears to be, as several immigration advocates noted shortly after the order was handed down, an effort to intimidate immigrants who benefit from certain Obama administration programs from participating in those programs, lest their personal information be turned over to people who wish them harm. As Greisa Martinez, Advocacy Director for United We Dream, said in a statement, the judge is 'asking for the personal information of young people just to whip up fear'—fear, no doubt, of what could happen if anti-immigrant state officials got their hands on this information. Or if the information became public." I don't even have words. What the fuck.
[CN: Misogyny; harassment; threats; abuse] "When Will the Internet Be Safe for Women?" The opening of that story details the swatting of a Massachusetts state congresswoman in retribution for introducing legislation to try to address swatting and online harassment. Which pretty much sums up the state of affairs.
[CN: Threats; harassment] Krystal Lake, a black woman from Long Island, "said she received death threats after photos of her wearing a cap with the message 'America Was Never Great' were posted widely on social media." Obviously, this was a response to Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan, and, the truth is, the country has not been great (and still isn't) for lots and lots of people. And the fact that a black woman got death threats for expressing that opinion really kind of proves her point.
[CN: Fat hatred; bullying] I mean, this is how Donald Trump treats his friends: "Donald Trump teased New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie about his weight while speaking at a fundraiser to pay off Christie's presidential campaign debt. Trump, when mentioning that the Nabisco cookie plant was leaving Chicago for Mexico, pointed to Christie and told the crowd the governor would stop eating Nabisco cookies. 'I'm not eating Oreos anymore, you know that—but neither is Chris,' Trump said. 'You're not eating Oreos anymore. No more Oreos. For either of us, Chris. Don't feel bad.'" This fucking guy.
[CN: Fat hatred; bullying] Hey, speaking of Trump and his disgusting fat hatred, remember the former Miss Universe who said that Trump had called her Miss Piggy? Well, she just got her US citizenship, and Hillary Clinton tweeted at her: "Congratulations on becoming a U.S. citizen, Alicia. Enjoy casting that vote." HAHA YES!
No kidding: "The last time information from Donald Trump's income-tax returns was made public, the bottom line was striking: He had paid the federal government $0 in income taxes." Which is exactly what I predicted his current tax returns will show.
RIP John Berry: "John Berry, an original member of hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, died Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m. at a hospice in Danvers, Massachusetts. He was 52."
Trees sleep? "In research both charming and groundbreaking (sorry for the pun), scientists from Austria, Finland and Hungary used lasers to measure the overnight movements of birch trees. Their unexpected finding: During the hours of darkness, the trees appeared to relax, or droop, their branches at the tips by as much as four inches." Oh trees. You are a delightful mystery!
And finally! Big man and tiny dog! LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
EgyptAir A320
[Content Note: Airline disaster]
EgyptAir jet missing:
An EgyptAir jet carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar over the Mediterranean sea on Thursday after swerving in mid-air and plunging from cruising height. French President Francois Hollande confirmed the aircraft "came down and is lost".The Guardian has live updates as new information becomes available.
Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail announced a search was under way for the missing Airbus A320 but it was too early to rule out any explanation, including an attack like the one blamed for bringing down a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai peninsula last year.
Officials with the airline and the Egyptian civil aviation department told Reuters they believed the Airbus had crashed into the Mediterranean between Greece and Egypt.
In Athens, Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the Airbus had first swerved 90 degrees to the left, then spun through 360 degrees to the right. After plunging from 37,000 feet to 15,000, it vanished from Greek radar screens.
Greece deployed aircraft and a frigate to the area to help with the search.
...In Paris, Hollande also said the cause remained unknown. "Unfortunately the information we have ... confirms to us that the plane came down and is lost," he said. "No hypothesis can be ruled out, nor can any be favored over another."
My sincerest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the people lost in the crash.
As always, let's keep this an image-free thread, if and when images of the crash and/or grieving survivors are published.
