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Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Alison Rose: "What is one of your most memorable live music experiences?"
I spent so many years going to zillions of concerts that my brainz short out even trying to filter through all of them to pick just one, so, given today's TMNS, I'll just say that among the many memorable live music experiences I've had was a Cure show at the World Music Theater in 1992. And all you have to do is watch that video to understand why!
(Got a suggestion for a Question of the Day? Let me know here!)
The Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by whiskers.
Recommended Reading:
Kenrya: [Content Note: Death; police misconduct] Native Woman Sarah Lee Circle Bear Died in Police Custody in South Dakota
Alexandra: [CN: Rape culture] "I certainly didn't expect the policy to change my behavior, but it has."
TLC: [CN: Transphobia; misgendering; carcerality] Guardian Series Examines Barriers to Transition in U.S.
Lindsay: [CN: Misogyny; hostility to consent; moving GIFs at link] It's Time to Retire the "Lovable Misogynist" Movie Hero
Valerio: Stella Lux: The Solar-Powered Family Car That Creates More Energy Than It Uses
Mustang Bobby: Going to 10
Xeni: Breaking Bad Fans—Jesse Pinkman's House Is for Sale: $1.6 million
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
For the Lonely
[Content Note: Isolation.]
There have been a lot of stories about loneliness in the news lately. Stories about people who live in big communities, but can't find meaningful friendships. Stories about people who feel alone at work. Stories about how social media can create feelings of isolation, as much as it can create community. Stories about how loneliness can have physical effects on the people who suffer from it.
Loneliness is different from being lonesome. Plenty of people are lonesome, but not lonely. Plenty of people who are lonely aren't lonesome; they may be surrounded by people, but nonetheless feel isolated, longing for meaningful connections that elude them.
I'm a lonesome person. I like lots of time to myself, and I have even more time to myself than would be my preference, by virtue of this job. Many days, Iain is the only other person to whom I speak, face-to-face. But my days are filled with interactions with terrific people. The contributors and moderators, who give me air in my lungs every day. Distant friends, who offer laughter and support. Local friends, with whom I meet for coffee and boozy brunches. We often have visitors, who seek a getaway filled with friendship and furry snuggles. And no one can feel truly lonely when they regularly receive packages of Garbage Treasures in the mail from Deeky.
So I'm not lonely, most of the time, despite being lonesome.
But sometimes I get lonely, in a way I didn't when I worked in an office and thus had lots more face-to-face interactions with other people every day. Even though many of those interactions were undesirable ones, heh.
Loneliness hurts, for me, in a way that it hard to describe. It reverberates intensely, and it puts me completely out of balance—and out of sorts.
I feel deeply for people who are lonely in a sustained way, and don't want to be.
There is community in this space, like many spaces, but it isn't always easy to get what you need to alleviate loneliness, even in a non-virtual room filled with people. Because sometimes it isn't company we need; it's to be seen. To matter.
I don't know what it would look like to subtly create the space to be "seen" within this one. So here is a not-subtle thread, for anyone who needs to ask for something that can be provided here to ask for it. Maybe you just want to say hi, and see some likes on your comment. (I promise you will get at least one!) Maybe you want to ask that people see you, and get replies that you are seen. Maybe you just want to express that you're lonely, and have a safe space to talk about it with other people who feel the same, in the hope of feeling a little less alone.
And maybe you can't bring yourself to comment, but I hope just having the option lets you know that you are not alone and that you matter to me.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Misogynoir; appropriation; war on agency.]
"When it comes to advocating for policies that would actually support Black women and help them raise healthy children, far too many anti-choice activists are silent. But when it comes to using Black women as a cudgel to make a point about the evils of abortion and Planned Parenthood, it's damn near impossible to shut these activists up. The latest coordinated smear against Planned Parenthood—that they traffic in black-market fetal parts—is one of the most despicable attacks mounted by anti-choice fanatics in their long history of vilifying Planned Parenthood. And simmering just below the surface of this smear campaign is their go-to tactic: using Black women as chess pawns in their ideological campaign to end legal abortion care in this country."—Imani Gandy, in a must-read piece about anti-choice activists' cynical exploitation of Black women, whom they shame for their abortion choices even as they refuse to support policies that enable having and raising children in a safe environment.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Anti-choice terrorism; war on agency] Yeah, the thing about terrorist campaigns is that they terrorize and harm people: "In a letter to California Attorney General Kamala Harris, 32 attorneys from across the country asked that her investigation of the anti-choice front group behind the Planned Parenthood attack videos be conducted with the 'utmost urgency,' due to what they call 'a real threat to abortion provider safety.' ...On Tuesday, the group of attorneys argued that in exposing the identities of abortion providers, CMP may have put them at risk of harassment, intimidation, or worse. ...Writing for RH Reality Check, David S. Cohen, one of the letter's signatories, discusses the threat of violence abortion providers must live with: 'This kind of individual targeting takes on a variety of forms—from hate mail and death threats, to regular large-scale demonstrations in front of people's homes and stalking providers outside of work. At its most extreme, this kind of targeting has resulted in eight abortion providers murdered since 1993, the most recent being Dr. George Tiller in the foyer of his Wichita, Kansas church in May 2009.'"
[continued CN; graphic anti-choice image at link] And it's incredible that anti-choice terrorists are trying to sway opinion with a new variation on "the oldest tactic in the book: Distributing graphic images of fetuses to construe abortion as a barbaric procedure that Americans cannot in good conscience allow to continue," given that what they are doing turns my stomach more than any abortion ever could.
[CN: War; terrorism; death] The Afghanistan government said today that "Mullah Omar, elusive leader of the Taliban movement behind an escalating insurgency against the government in Kabul, died more than two years ago. The announcement came a day or so before a second round of peace talks had been tentatively scheduled, and news of [his fate] could deepen Taliban divisions over whether to pursue negotiations and who should replace him. ...'The government...based on credible information, confirms that Mullah Mohammad Omar, leader of the Taliban, died in April 2013 in Pakistan,' the presidential palace said in a brief statement, without specifying what the information was. 'The government of Afghanistan believes that grounds for the Afghan peace talks are more paved now than before, and thus calls on all armed opposition groups to seize the opportunity and join the peace process.'"
[CN: Homophobia] Good Maude Almighty! "Two rabidly anti-gay billionaire brothers from Texas have made a record contribution to Sen. Ted Cruz's presidential campaign. Dan and Farris Wilks, who made their fortune in the West Texas fracking boom, have contributed $15 million to Keep the Promise, a super PAC supporting Cruz. According to AllGov.com, it's the largest contribution so far in the 2016 race, and represents nearly half of the $38 million raised by Keep the Promise." What. The. Fuck.
[CN: Hunting for sport; animal abuse] The dentist who killed Cecil the Lion has a history of sexual harassment and once "pleaded guilty to a federal charge of making false statements in relation to a bear hunting incident." He was also a Romney supporter, probably because Romney treats animals terribly and lies about it, too. He seems great. (That was sarcasm.)
Twitter, you are not Facebook. Why are you even imagining that you are, or should be?! "Twitter is in trouble. With user growth stalled, staff fleeing the company by the hundreds, and the company's stock still at the bottom of the cliff it fell from in April, sources say the company's futile obsession with matching its biggest competitor for scale is costing it dearly. ...'Honestly, I think part of the fundamental issue is their relentless fixation on how they compare to Facebook, and I think that's in some ways a fatal posture,' one former Twitter executive told the Guardian. 'I mean, no one will say on the record 'We compare ourselves relentlessly to Facebook,' because that's a losing position, but of course they do.'"
[CN: Image of insect at link] Neat-o! "Scientists in Israel have discovered how ants co-operate to move big chunks of food back to their nests. A large team of ants does the heavy lifting but they lack direction, while a small number of 'scouts' intervene and steer for short periods. They appear to have a mathematically perfect balance between individuality and conformism, the researchers said."
This is so cool: "Facebook-owned Oculus VR on Tuesday presented Henry [a short animated film about a lonely hedgehog who just wants a hug] to an exclusive audience during an invite-only event in Beverly Hills. Attendees strapped on consumer versions of the Oculus Rift headset, and were immersed in a 360-degree view of Henry's world as he made his birthday wish." The potential applications for this technology are extraordinary. Iain got a chance to try one and it BLEW HIS MIND. I can't wait to try one myself!
Are you a major Married with Children-head? Then you might be excited to hear that David Faustino (Bud) is reportedly developing a spin-off of the series, in which the other lead actors will have at least bit parts.
And finally! A border collie on a sheep farm helps save a newborn lamb. Oh dogs!
Daily Dose of Cute
This face. Irresistible!
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Samuel Dubose Updates
[Content Note: Police brutality; racism; death.]
Last Friday, I mentioned the police killing of Samuel Dubose, a 43-year-old black man in Cincinnati, who was shot in the head by University of Cincinnati Campus Police Officer Ray Tensing following an altercation during a traffic stop for a missing front license plate.
Today, the Hamilton County's prosecutor "will hold a news conference on the investigation into a fatal officer-involved shooting and body camera video of the shooting will be released."
Prosecutor Joe Deters will hold the news conference on the Samuel Dubose case at 1 p.m., a news release stated. Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell, UC President Santa Ono and City Manager Harry Black will hold a 2 p.m. news conference.Dubose's family has been asking for the body cam footage to be released. There has been little public comment from authorities on the video being considered by the grand jury, but what comment there has been has indicated that it will generate public outrage, especially if the grand jury does not return an indictment after viewing it.
...A grand jury has been looking at evidence, including a body camera that University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing was wearing during the July 19 traffic stop.
Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell said he's seen the unreleased footage from a University of Cincinnati officer's body camera during last week's fatal shooting and "it's not good."Not that video of someone being killed could ever be "good," but obviously this sounds particularly bad.
"The video is not good," Blackwell said. "I think the city manager has said that also publicly. I'll leave it there."
...City Manager Harry Black also spoke about the unreleased body camera video of the shooting.
"It's not a good situation," Black said. "It's a tragic situation, someone has died that did not necessarily need to die."
...Black said he hasn't seen the video but that his understanding is the video "is not good."
A spokesperson for Black Lives Matter [CN: video autoplays at link] has said that "the group will take action no matter what the grand jury decides."
"If there is no indictment clearly we'll be calling up to talk about the injustice of that and making demands that are related to that injustice. If there is an indictment, as we know around the country, they don't automatically lead to convictions, so we will be pushing for a conviction," Taylor said. "Our plan is to honor the aggravation and the desire for justice from the community and to give a vehicle for people to be able to express their discontent."Because I don't have any other words, once again I want to recommend this piece by Prison Culture, who wisely notes that, even if this officer is indicted and even if he is convicted and even if he is sentenced, it will not truly be justice. Meaningful justice will only be achieved by dismantling the (in)justice system which is catastrophically contaminated by white supremacy.
Black Lives Matter said it stands with the Dubose family and is working with them closely as this case unfolds.
"Anybody to come out and go out there on the battlefield with us, I love them people because they fighting for a good cause. They're standing with me for my son," Audrey Dubose said.
Which is a daunting task to contemplate, but the enormity of the task before us shouldn't let us treat as justice what will be, at best, limited individual accountability in a comprehensively corrupt system.
Mychal Denzel Smith once wrote: "Justice for Renisha would have looked like Michael Brown being able to attend college. Justice for Trayvon would have looked like Renisha McBride getting the help she needed the night of her accident. Justice for Oscar Grant would have looked like Trayvon Martin making it home to finish watching the NBA All-Star game, Skittles and iced tea in tow. And so on, and so on. Justice should be the affirmation of our existence."
Real justice will be no more death.
UPDATE: Officer Tensing has been indicted for murder. Prosecutor Joe Deters said "the act was the most 'asinine' thing he had seen a police office do in 30 years, and he said Tensing's actions were so inexcusable he 'should never have been a police officer.'"
"This is without question a murder," Deters said.
He said Dubose slowly rolls away from the officer, but he said Tensing was never in danger and escalated the encounter quickly and unnecessarily.
"He lost his temper because Mr. Dubose wouldn't get out of his car," the prosecutor continued. "When you see this you won't believe how quickly he pulls his gun. Maybe a second — it's incredible."
Trump: Still Terrible
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
Another day, another eleventy-seven pieces of news about how Donald Trump is fucking terrible. The highlights:
1. Yesterday, a tweet from April which Trump immediately deleted, but was screen-grabbed by Lenny Jacobson, was making the rounds again: "If Hillary Clinton can't satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?" Charming.
2. The New York Times highlights some of Trump's bullshit that he's said under oath, including calling a female lawyer who needed a break to pump breast milk "disgusting."
3. Donald Trump says that everyone loves Sarah Palin and he would totally find a place for her in his imaginary presidential administration:
Yesterday, Donald Trump appeared on "The Palin Update," a show dedicated to all things Palin. After Trump hailed Palin as a "tough and smart" leader who bravely stood up to "disgusting lies," host Kevin Scholla asked the GOP presidential candidate, "If there is a Trump administration, could you see picking up the phone, giving the governor a call and picking her brain on some things, or perhaps having her along in some official capacity."Here, too, is an example of how Trump is not actually outside the GOP mainstream, but perfectly centered within it. Sarah Palin was, after all, a vice-presidential candidate on the Republican ticket. And the GOP might have since disowned her, but once they rallied around her like the second coming of Reagan.
"I'd love that," Trump replied. "Because she really is somebody who knows what's happening and she's a special person, she's really a special person and I think people know that."
"Everybody loves her," he added. Trump went on to say that unlike the former half-term Alaska governor, his current Republican rivals are "weak" and "ineffective" leaders "to a degree that's actually almost hard to believe."
Voters, Trump explained, "like the Sarah Palin kind of strength, you just don't see very much of it anymore."
And the "strength" to which Trump is referring is Palin's penchant for the same unvarnished rhetoric that he uses. That is, they don't couch their hideous policy positions in six layers of focus group tested language; they just say ugly shit as the ugly shit it is and don't try to dress it up as anything else.
Which appeals to a certain (and not small) segment of conservative voters, specifically because it does reflect their views. Here is, for example, billionaire asshole Mark Cuban on Trump: "I don't care what his actual positions are. I don't care if he says the wrong thing. He says what's on his mind. He gives honest answers rather than prepared answers. This is more important than anything any candidate has done in years."
Welp.
Amazing
[Content Note: Illness; surgery.]
Last night on the news, I saw a story about this remarkable little boy who just received new hands during a groundbreaking surgery. Eight-year-old Zion Harvey lost both his hands and both his feet following a serious and mysterious infection that he got at two years old. He also needed a kidney transplant, for which he mother volunteered. The transplant was successful, and, because he was already on anti-rejection drugs for his kidney, he was a great candidate for the dual hand transplant surgery, the first in the world, done by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who offered to do the surgery for no cost beyond what their insurance would cover.
Zion was as active as any other eight-year-old, using prosthetics on his legs and even learning to play video games and use a smartphone with no hands. But he really wanted hands to be able to do all the things he couldn't do without them. So when the opportunity came up, his mother assessed whether she thought the surgery would be safe for him and then asked him if he wanted to do it. He did.
During the operation, a 40-person medical team, including 12 surgeons, used steel plates and screws to attach the old and new bones. Surgeons then painstakingly reconnected Zion's arteries, veins, muscles, tendons and nerves.Zion is currently in physical therapy, and his casts will come off soon.
The entire operation took nearly 11 hours.
"He woke up smiling," Dr. L. Scott Levin, who heads the hand transplant program, said Tuesday at a news conference at the hospital. "There hasn't been one whimper, one tear, one complaint."
Zion himself was in attendance at the news conference. His forearms heavily bandaged, he was beaming as he told everyone about his new hands.
During the event, Zion asked the many family members in attendance to stand and be recognized, telling them: "I want to say to you guys, thank you for helping me through this bumpy road."
He said that, for him, "family means trust hope support and if you fall down they always catch you."
His mother, Pattie Ray, called her son "amazing."
"For me it is a blessing," she said. "I have been blessed with a son and an angel. He is my strength."
Now that Zion has his new hands, he's most excited to be able to play with his little sister. He's also hoping for a new dog.
"I'll take care of it," he told his mother after the press conference. "You don't have to walk it. I will take care of it."
[CN: video autoplays at link] Here is the NBC News report I saw last night, if you are able and want to view it.
I am just overwhelmed by this entire story. In awe of the medical advances that made this possible, thrilled for Zion, hopeful that the surgery works and that he remains free of complications, deeply admiring of his mother, who just seems like about the most awesome person on the planet, and happy for his whole family. Wow.
Not everyone who is missing a hand or hands via birth or circumstance would want a surgery like this, and certainly not everyone has access to it, and nor should anyone ever be made to feel less than if they don't want or can't get a surgery like the one Zion got. But Zion wanted it, and because he was willing to subject himself to an extensive surgery with lots of (continuing) risks, he (and his incredible medical team) have moved us one step closer toward making sure this sort of surgery becomes available to more people who want it.
Question of the Day
It's that time again: What would you like to see asked as a future Question of the Day? Either something that's never been asked, or something that I haven't asked for awhile and you really enjoyed the first time around.
TV Corner: So You Think You Can Dance
[Content Note: Spoilers for last night's episode of So You Think You Can Dance.]
Since a bunch of us are watching this season's SYTYCD, I thought I'd open up a thread to discuss last night's episode.
My two favorite routines were the last two (aside from the group numbers) of the evening:
Video Description: Kate, a young white female contemporary dancer, and Neptune, a young black male freestyle dancer, perform a contemporary routine choreographed by Justine Giles and set to "Promise" by Ben Howard. In the video package before the performance, Giles explained the story is about a married couple who experience anxiety every time before the husband has to leave for days at a time for dangerous work.
[CN: Strobe effect in following video.]
Video Description: Hailee, a young white female contemporary dancer, and Virgl, a young black male hiphop dancer, perform a hip hop routine choreographed by Pharside and Phoenix and set to "Runnin'" by Noahplause. In the video package before the performance, we learn that the two characters are alien robots.
* * *
Overall, I thought it was a pretty solid episode—but can we talk about the judges' decision to save Asaf? Frankly, I find the entire narrative around Asaf hugely annoying. He had a shitty attitude during auditions; he only got into the competition because someone else got injured and had to drop out; he can't pick up choreography for shit; his more talented partners have to scale down their performances so as not to embarrass him (and then the judges lecture them for not bringing it); and yet he's constantly coddled and congratulated for "trying so hard."
Listen, judges: I don't watch SYTYCD because it looks like an episode of Dancing with the Stars—one professional dancer and someone who "tries really hard." I'm not interested in watching Asaf turn into a butterfly, or whatever garbage metaphor Nigel enlists week to week.
This guy isn't any good; I don't find him charming; and when the choreographers are obliged to water down their routines to accommodate him, don't keep scolding the choreographers about it—get rid of him already!
Harrumph.
Lying Liars
[Content Note: War on agency; privacy violations; identity theft; anti-choice harassment.]
Sharona Coutts and Sofia Resnick, two members of RH Reality Check's investigative team, have written a great piece, "The Faces and Fake Names of People Behind Planned Parenthood Attack Videos," in which they detail how the anti-choice operatives posing as employees of a fake company called BioMax "may have violated California and federal law on forgery, credit card fraud, and identity theft" by using apparently false identities. And, among their findings is this fuckery, detailed in an incredibly creepy passage:
[A]nother detail from the a/k/a Bistro video suggests [David Daleiden]'s group may have gone beyond simply concocting identities, and might have co-opted the identity of a real person—one who shares the name of a California woman who went to the same elementary and high schools as the leader of this attack campaign.These fucking people.
Toward the end of the film, the woman who identifies herself as Susan can be seen removing a Bank of America card from her wallet, and using it to pay the bill.
Yet the name on the credit card is not Susan Tennenbaum, but rather, appears to be Brianna Allen.
BioMax's alleged employees refer to "Brianna" in the three videos that have been released so far. RH Reality Check emailed the address provided by the BioMax operative who called herself Brianna Allen but received no response. BioMax has not connected RH Reality Check with any real person who will publicly identify herself as Brianna Allen.
However, RH Reality Check has obtained evidence that suggests the group's leader, Daleiden, does know a woman named Brianna Allen.
After seeing her name referenced in our earlier reporting, Brianna M. Allen of Davis, California, contacted RH Reality Check to let us know that she had no ties to Daleiden's organization and has not been in contact with him for 15 years.
Allen was the president of the student feminist club at Davis Senior High School at the same time that Daleiden was a student there, she said.
"Even in high school I knew he was adamantly against it [abortion]. He was very outspoken about being Catholic and more conservative. And we were very open about being liberal and pro-choice," she told RH Reality Check. "Last night I just thought, 'Oh God, what if that's why he chose my name?' But I kind of wrote it off as, 'No, that's ridiculous.'"
If Daleiden's group used Brianna M. Allen's information to open a credit card account, they could have violated state or federal laws that prohibit credit card fraud, which carries a potential three-year prison sentence and would be easy to prove, Kraut said.
Allen stressed that she does not feel any ill will toward Daleiden personally, nor does she have definitive proof that Daleiden created a credit card in her name. Indeed, Brianna Allen is a fairly common name in the United States. Yet, Allen has been unable to access her credit reports online in the past few days, despite having been able to do so in the past.
"If it is just a weird coincidence, it would be a really, really weird coincidence," Allen said.
My contempt for this shit cannot be measured on a scale fathomable by human intellect.
Social Media Etiquette 101
[Content Note: Rape culture; harassment.]
So, I write a lot of criticism of public figures, especially male public figures, especially around topics like rape culture.
This, as you may have noticed, tends to evoke a lot of harassment, from those public figures' defenders and from defenders of the rape culture. Or white supremacy. Or fat hatred. Or whatever.
When I link the things I write about these public figures on Twitter, I tend not to tag (or @) the public figures, if they have Twitter accounts, for a couple of reasons:
1. I'm generally under the impression that the public figures about whom I'm writing aren't interested in learning or doing better. (When I believe they are, then I do @ them. See, for example, my tweets at John Oliver, over a segment with which I took issue.)
2. I have no interest in getting into a protracted Twitter war with these fools.
3. I have even less interest in garnering the attention of their fans, who aggressively defend them in the most heinous ways, sometimes including threatening me. Sometimes this escalates to the point where they spill out of my mentions on Twitter and into comments at the blog, creating extra moderating work.
So I have a few solid reasons for not @-ing these dudes when I write pieces about them. Because I don't write them for their attention; I write them for my existing audience, or people desperately googling resources to push back on this kind of shit, to help tease out what's wrong with something that's problematic, or to be one voice saying something is wrong, or to provide a space for people to collectively process some bit of harm.
But there's always gotta be one asshole on Twitter who quotes my tweet and then tags the person about whom I'm writing. Because they just want them to see it so bad. They're mad about whatever it is about which I've written, but they don't want to personally engage with that person, so they send them my work instead.
(And, sometimes, people do it specifically to try to target me: "Look what she's writing about you!")
DON'T DO THIS.
If I really want someone about whom I'm writing to see what I'm writing, then I'm perfectly capable of @-ing them myself. And if I haven't @-ed them, then there's a reason for that.
Don't do it to me, and don't do it to anyone else. You're not the one who has to deal with the fallout that creates.
If a critic wants a person to see their criticism, let that be their choice.
And, if you don't, own the fact that you're potentially harming us by exposing us in a way we didn't seek to be exposed. It's not a neutral act, elevating someone's criticism with the express intent of bringing it to the attention of people with sometimes millions of followers.
I don't not know how to @ people. I'm just thoughtful about it, for good reason.
If you follow anyone who similarly has reason to be thoughtful about it (any woman, for a start), then I urge you to be thoughtful about it, too.
Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime
[Content Note: There's some flickery editing in this video, so you may want to avoid it if you're sensitive to that sort of thing.]
The Cure: "Pictures of You"
Your Best Photograph
If you're a photographer, even if a very amateur one (like myself), and you've got a photo or photos you'd like to share, here's your thread for that!
It doesn't really have to be your best photograph—just one you like!
Please be sure if your photo contains people other than yourself, that you have the explicit consent of the people in the photos before posting them.
* * *
Here's one I took recently of a weird and beautiful stump next to which we were parked while stopped by a train:
Daily Dose of Cute
"What?"
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Anti-choice harassment; privacy violations; war on agency] Anti-choice hackers have attacked Planned Parenthood's website and "released Planned Parenthood's website databases as well as names and email addresses of the organization's employees. It does not appear that the breach exposed the personal data of patients or employees of Planned Parenthood's affiliate organizations. ...One of the hackers, who goes by the pseudonym 'E,' told the Daily Dot that the cyberattack was politically motivated. 'Trying to mold an atrocious monstrosity into socially acceptable behaviors is repulsive,' said E. 'Obviously what [Planned Parenthood] does is a very ominous practice. It'll be interesting to see what surfaces when [Planned Parenthood] is stripped naked and exposed to the public.' ...On the website featuring the database dump, the hackers gave some insight into their possible motivations. 'We've noticed quite a lot of attention has been diverted to a supposedly malicious organization known as Planned Parenthood. The actions of this 'federation' are not seen as right in the eyes of the public. So here we are, the social justice warriors, seeking to reclaim some sort of lulz for the years and thousands of dollars that Planned Parenthood have wasted and made harvesting your babies.'" Jesus fucking Jones.
[continued CN] Meanwhile, this is how the Washington Post opens their story on this attack: "Planned Parenthood has been swept up in a storm of controversy in recent weeks, after an antiabortion group started to release undercover videos of officials at the organization discussing how it provides organs from aborted fetuses for research. Now, even the group's Web site is on the defense." FUCK YOU. That is not how any responsible news organization should talk about the latest attacks in what is the most brazen, unapologetic terrorist campaign in the US.
[continued CN] In good news: "California Attorney General Kamala Harris will review whether the group behind the Planned Parenthood attack videos violated any laws in making the deceitful recordings, which depict Planned Parenthood officials talking about the organization's legal fetal tissue donation program."
In other "liberal media" news, the New York Times has published the most absurdly anodyne "Editors' Note" about their terrible and irresponsible coverage of Clinton's personal email account usage while serving as Secretary of State.
[CN: Violence; death; assault] A woman who is a sex worker killed a client in self-defense after he assaulted her, and police suspect the man she killed may have been a serial killer responsible for the deaths of other women. I grieve that she was placed in that situation, but she may not have just saved her own life, but the lives of many others. Wow.
Congratulations to Jen Welter, who has been hired by the Arizona Cardinals football team as an assistant coaching intern, making her "the first woman to hold a coaching position of any kind in the NFL." I don't give the tiniest shit about the NFL, nor am I inclined to give their foul organization an ounce of credit for hiring a woman, but good for her for achieving something she really wants!
[CN: Hunting; animal abuse; images of killed animals] As if hunting for sport isn't repulsive enough, these big game hunters who don't even "hunt" so much as walk up to lured, drugged, or captured animals and shoot them are disgusting human beings: "Cecil the lion—the most famous creature in one of Zimbabwe's national parks—was killed by an American hunter who has boasted about shooting a menagerie of animals with his bow and arrow... Conservation groups in Zimbabwe reacted angrily to the news that the 13-year-old animal had been killed: partly because the lion was known to visitors and seemingly enjoyed human contact, and partly because of the way in which he was killed. He was lured out of the national park [using bait] and shot. ...Animals cannot be killed within the confines of the park." Sob.
[CN: Homophobia] Honestly, if it weren't the Pride flag that had accidentally been flown in place of the US flag, would anyone have even noticed and would the Mayor of Reno be expected to apologize? Good grief.
[CN: Climate change; disablist language] Well played, Hillary Clinton. Well played.
Boo: Rihanna wasn't allowed to walk with protesters in Baltimore and give a free concert. The permit was denied, or never granted. Shitty.
Wow: "Europe's Sentinel-2a satellite is on course to go into full operation in early or mid-October. The spacecraft, which takes visible and infrared pictures of the Earth, was launched in June and is now undergoing a period of commissioning." There are some sample images at the link, and they are pretty incredible.
[CN: Gifs at links] Tom Hardy and a baby elephant! I repeat: TOM HARDY AND A BABY ELEPHANT!!!!!!!
And finally! Animals who want to be photographers. Aww, lol.
