Today's news round-up

Good News

• North Carolina to lose college championships over transgender law
• Instagram lets users filter offensive comments
• Ohio University removing Ailes' name, returning gift

Bad News

• Study details sugar industry attempt to shape science
• Official: Circumstances suggest hate crime in mosque fire

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Facebook co-founder pledging $20 million to defeat Trump
• Supreme Court rejects Michigan straight-ticket voting appeal
• Facebook allows postings of 'napalm girl' photo after debate
• Deputy who tossed student wants job back; sheriff says no
• CEO cuts 'Creationism' from Youngstown school classrooms

Bad News

• Foiled Paris attack 'was directed by IS'
• Report cites growing evidence of extremists reviving slavery

Another tiny news round-up

Good News

• Ex-Detective’s New Assignment: Investigating the Science of the Brain

Recent news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• 2 years in prison for man who sent spam to Facebook users
• Bill Gates endorses genetically modified mosquitoes to combat malaria
• Apple cites Trump as it turns its back on GOP convention, says report

Bad News

• Obama says climate change already damaging national parks
• Egyptian court sentences 2 Al-Jazeera employees to death
• Radiohead fans attacked at Istanbul record shop

Animal headline of the day

Large Hadron Collider: Weasel causes shutdown

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Original ‘Hamilton’ Actors Will Bank On Profits From Broadway’s Blockbuster Musical
• Nellis base welcomes 57th Wing's first woman commander
• Here’s What Happened When A Group Of Scientists Went To Confront Their Congressional Tormentors The problem here is really poor communication. Scientists need to learn how to describe their research in terms that the lay-person can understand. But critics should get explanations from the scientists before publishing. 

Bad News

• Pakistani religious group demands execution of blasphemers Blasphemy should not be a crime.
• Police: 4-year-old girl fatally shot by 5-year-old sibling UPDATE: Police: Parent says he accidentally shot, killed 4-year-old

Cartoon of the day

From xkcd, of course

Recent news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• For Transgender New Yorkers, a Center of Their Own in the Bronx
• XKCD’s Randall Munroe is providing illustrations for science textbooks I love XKCD (as seen below)--though I don't always understand it.

Bad News

• Employers fight rule that could broaden transgender rights
• NC lawmakers heading for special session Wednesday to discuss LGBT ordinance
• The End of Research in Wisconsin I'm sad for my alma mater, despite the victory of the men's basketball game on Sunday. I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone to attend or to work for. 
• Tennis tourney director: Women 'ride on coattails of men' However: WTA Tour CEO assails 'alarming' criticism of female players Moore did apologize. I am guessing it was after he sobered up. UPDATE: Tennis tourney director quits after criticizing women pros

Today's news round-up

Bad News

• Officer fired for threatening tweets back on force
• Gender Bias in the Classroom Is Pushing Women Out of STEM Programs
• Clashes in jihadist-held Iraq city halt after residents seized
• IS bombings kill nearly 120 as US presses Syria truce

Yesterday's news round-up

Good News

• New York Implements Statewide Regulations to Protect Trans People While this is welcome news, we still need a law to protect us.
• Oregon governor calls on feds to act against armed group
• Biden urges U.S. business in Davos to lean on anti-gay states
• Scientists ID new genus of tree frogs long thought extinct
• Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court outlaws child marriage
• Obama Relaxes Rules for Striking ISIS in Afghanistan

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Montana Gov. Steve Bullock signs executive order protecting LGBT state employees
• Is There Something Unique about the Transgender Brain?  It seems to be a good summary of the current scientific thinking. (I do think that this is yet another misuse of the word "unique," as well as the term "transgender"--it is not a synonym for "transexual.")
• Sorry, grammar nerds. The singular ‘they’ has been declared Word of the Year.
• Tech at the symphony: Boston orchestra loaning patrons iPads I don't know how well the iPads would work, but I'd love to have a view of the conductor's from the front, instead of just the rear. Views of the soloists wouldn't be bad either.

Bad News

• Four dead in suicide attack at Cameroon mosque
• Six Niger soldiers killed by mine near Nigerian border: reports
• Islamic State offensive raises risk for Libya’s oil sector
• Top Chinese university hacked by IS infiltrator: reports

Recent news round-up, Part 2

Good News

• Democrat wins Louisiana governor election in upset for Republicans
• UMaine debuting ocean simulator to test sea-bound technology
• Dartmouth on track in implementing changes
• Ohio Memorial Highway Named for Transgender Teen Leelah Alcorn
• From Tokyo to Taipei, a growing acceptance for LGBT people
• Syrian rebels retake two villages in Aleppo from Islamic State
• US special forces traveling 'very soon' to Syria
• U.S., allies conduct 16 strikes in Iraq, nine in Syria: U.S. military

Bad News

• IS claims deadly Iraq mosque attack
• Eight killed in NE Nigeria suicide bombing: relief agency
• Suspected militants kill 10 in Cameroon suicide bombing

Yesterday's news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• All drones to require federal registration
• Apple ordered to pay $234 million to university for infringing patent
• Treasure trove of late Triassic fossils discovered in Utah
• Canada's Girl Guides say all transgender girls are welcome
• US to conduct counter-Boko Haram ops in Nigeria
• U.S. judge rules Maryland can ditch Confederate flag license plates

Bad News

• New IS branch claims Saudi shooting that killed 5
• 2 bombs explode by Nigerian mosque, killing at least 30
• IS pays recruiters $10,000 per person: UN

Recent news round-up

Good News

• Alabama Adds Evolution Requirement, Climate Study For Schools
• Court again denies Kim Davis' bid to delay marriage licenses
• Missouri House fails to override veto of bill limiting union powers
• Judge: Arrest for cursing on ticket is a rights violation
• Wyoming couple charged in 16-year-old's alcohol death

Bad News

• Defiant Baruch Fraternity Pledge Fought Back in Fatal Hazing, Report Says But it's good they are prosecuting.
• Teen Stabs Her Mom to Death After Watching Hours of ISIS Videos

Cartoon of the day

H/T to Lynette Nusbacher

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Asteroid will not destroy Earth next month: NASA
• White House: Islamic State second-in-command killed in U.S. air strike
• Appeals court reinstates wage rules for home care workers
• Nashville hotel cancels reservations for hate group CCC, cited by Dylann Roof

Bad News

• IS destroys ancient monastery in central Syria
• Test of Islamic State mortar fragments shows chemical arms traces: U.S. general
• Google ordered to remove news links by UK authority
• Two Nigerian soldiers killed by Boko Haram land mine
• Tens of thousands displaced by Boko Haram in two weeks in Chad

Yesterday's news round-up

Good News

• Tanks from retired shuttle Endeavour going to space station It's good to see the government economizing.
• Justice Dept. Presses Civil Rights Agenda in Local Courts
• Extended 2nd Life for a Mosaic Mural That Was Lost for Years
• Matisyahu row: Jewish singer invited back to festival
• Planned Parenthood Florida says it will resume abortions

Bad News

• California prosecutors say Uber's background checks missed convicts
• India police say 2 brothers behead sister for alleged affair

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Space vegetables are on the menu for the first time at the International Space Station
• New York, Combating Worker Abuse, Will Require Salon Owners to Secure Wage Bonds
• Pregnant Officer Denied Chance to Take Sergeant’s Exam Fights Back
• Bahrain lifts ban on pro-opposition newspaper

Bad News

• Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kill four in road ambush in Nigeria's Borno state
• Zimbabwe police bar trade union protests over job losses
• Bomb in Egypt's Sinai kills two police

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Kurds oust IS from Syria's Kobane as civilian toll mounts
• Latin American women fight back against harassment
• Cuomo demanding state Education Department to better protect transgender students
• Shouting Obscenities at Police Not Disorderly Conduct Top NY Court Rules

Bad News

• Turkish police use water cannons to clear gay pride rally and Istanbul police use teargas to break up Gay Pride parade

• SpaceX rocket explodes after launch

Today's news round-up

Good News

• U.S. top court throws out Los Angeles ordinance giving police access to hotel records
• First-timers buy more homes as hiring picks up
• Syrian Kurds, on the offensive, push deeper into Islamic State territory
• White House Takes Huge Step Forward In Fight Over Marijuana Research
• Supreme Court Sides With Inmate In Excessive Force Case