Today's news round-up

Good News

• Mayor Roberts: Charlotte City Council won’t consider LGBT ordinance repeal Monday
• Chicago police to undergo mandatory 'de-escalation' training
• Boy who wanted to try on skirts found ‘Justice’ in this North Carolina store
• Seattle passes new scheduling rules for hourly workers

Bad News

• L.A. Woman Gender-Profiled & Escorted From Female Bathroom
• Federal court OKs Christian prayers at county board meetings

My 20th warning about Wal-Mart

Police: Suspect shot amid reported shooting at Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart is a dangerous place. Stay out of them.

Recent news round-up

Good News

• The Latest: Target to hold moment of silence for workers
• London’s Mayor Bans Body-Shaming Ads on Public Transport
• Ukraine holds its first major gay pride march in Kiev

Bad News

• Qatar convicts Dutch woman held 'after being raped' Qatar is a dangerous place for women. No woman should go there.

Today's news round-up

Good News

• FDA will regulate e-cigarettes like all other tobacco products
• Officials take custody of kids who went to Oregon standoff

Somewhat Bad, Somewhat Good News

• NYC lawmakers impose 5-cent charge for plastic bags I know it's good for the environment, and will save the city some money, but I suspect that most of the time my wife and I will just buy the bags. As one person said, in NYC we shop on foot, frequently on our way home from something, and it's a pain to carry bags all over.

Yesterday's news round-up

I'm devoting this week to cleaning up my office, so I'm not spending too much time on the internet. My news round-ups may be intermittent and abbreviated.

Good News

• U.S. Supreme Court rejects challenge to Seattle minimum wage law
• U.S. top court upholds cop's conviction in auto repair scheme
• Transgender pride flag raised at Boston City Hall
• Amazon launches a Prime Now website
• Turkey and US-led coalition pound IS group in Syria

Bad News

• Ban on Arizona Sheriff Arpaio's workplace raids lifted: court

My 19th warning about Walmart

2 officers shot, suspect dead at Walmart in Phoenix suburb

Walmarts are dangerous. Stay out of them.

Today's news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• Retailer Target to let transgender people use bathroom of their choice
• In U.S. bathroom battles, Florida transgender student fights for equality
• Visa: new technology for chip cards to speed checkout times
• Harriet Tubman to be featured on U.S. $20 bill
• Rembrandt's earliest masterpiece coming to US for 1st time
• Creator of malware used to drain bank accounts gets 9 years
• NHL suspends Blackhawks' Shaw 1 game for anti-gay slur
• UK alerts LGBT travelers to North Carolina, Mississippi laws

My 18th warning about Walmart

State police shoot, wound man armed with shotgun at Wal-Mart

Walmart is a dangerous place. Stay out.

Living with coyotes XXXVI

Indiana: Consumerist coyote's Kohl's shopping trip ends prematurely

Today's news round-up

Good News

• U.S. appeals court upholds core of N.Y., Connecticut gun laws
• Crackdown: Amazon sues to stop phony product reviews
• Facebook Will Now Warn You If Another Country Is Spying on You
• Philadelphia Orchestra approves 1-year musicians contract
• Most states show increase in high school graduation rates
• Charges filed against woman who shot at fleeing shoplifters in Home Depot parking lot I missed this when it came out a few days ago.

Part Good, Part Bad News

• Texas defunds Planned Parenthood clinics but Louisiana ordered to pay, Federal judge blocks Bobby Jindal's Planned Parenthood defunding

My 17th warning about Walmart

Walmart is a dangerous place. Stay out.

New Orleans Walmart evacuated, armed suspects inside

My 16th warning about Walmart

Police Chief Papania: Open carry situation could have turned into 'violent misunderstanding'

Walmart has no policy against carrying guns into its stores. It's a dangerous place.

Recent news round-up, Part 3

Good News

• Jury awards patient $500k after anesthesiologist mocked him

Bad News

• Employees Say Zara's Racism Isn't Limited to Swastika Purses and Fashion Fiascoes

Recent news round-up

Good News

• Army eases ban on transgender soldiers
• Man trolls lawyer on Web, lawyer sues (guess who wins)
• Female Islamic State recruiter arrested at Barcelona airport
• Kurdish forces attack Islamic State west of Kirkuk
• Air strike on Islamic State-run refinery in Syria kills 30: monitor
• IS executes 20 opponents in northern Iraq: officials
• Gunmen kill more than 12 Islamic State militants in eastern Syria
• Slovenia allows same-sex couples to marry, adopt children
• The Eiffel Tower Is Now a Powerful Wind Energy Machine

Bad News

• 9 foreigners unaccounted for after IS attack on oil field
• Nigeria's Boko Haram pledges allegiance to Islamic State: video text
• Four bombs in Nigeria's Maiduguri city kill at least 50
• Fear, violence, kidnapping: life for women under Boko Haram
• In Turkey, criticizing the president can land you in jail
• Supreme Court revives Notre Dame's Obamacare contraception objections
• Florida bans use of 'climate change' by state agency: report
• Foreigners seized by Islamic State in Libya: Austria
• Hungarians face new ban on shopping most Sundays and nights

Recent news round-up

Good News

• Syrian Kurds attack Islamic State in northeast
• France seizes passports of would-be jihadists
• French carrier joins fight as US reviews anti-IS effort
• Nigerian forces retake border town of Baga from Boko Haram

Bad News

• Somalia extremists urge attacks on US shopping malls
• Report: Saudi men detained for dancing at birthday party
• Boko Haram attacks island on Niger side of Lake Chad
• Thai pair jailed for more than two years for royal slur in play

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Reclassify Internet providers for 'net neutrality': NY Times
• U.S. Military Eases Hairstyle Rules After Outcry From Black Recruits
• U.S. sovereign group's leader convicted of selling fake IDs
• US reporter vows to 'keep fighting' to protect source
• Museums team up to digitize Warhol films
• Man faces sentencing for beating girlfriend's son
• Final pair convicted in Aryan Brotherhood of Texas case: prosecutors
• Oregon Health Authority To Cover Hormones, Surgery for Transgender People
• NY State fines upstate farm that rebuffed same-sex wedding

Bad News

• Apple Store insults customer with awful anti-gay slur printed on receipt I hope the employee is fired.
• Chattanooga Voters Repeal LGBT Protections, Domestic Partner Benefits For City Workers

Living with mountain lions XIII

Mountain lion scares shoppers in Utah

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Police commissioner asked to quit over Obama slur
• Portland jettisons Walmart investments from city portfolio I'm proud to say I've never set foot in a Walmart. 
• Man gets 20 years for role in cybercrime syndicate
• O’Malley signs Md. transgender rights bill I wish we could get the NY version of this, GENDA, passed. I've been working on it for several years.
• Pentagon weighs Chelsea Manning’s request for gender treatment

Bad News

• Sudanese woman sentenced to death for apostasy

Plats du jour--guest submission

Everyone shops at Costco.

Found next to each other in the Costco parking lot by Joanne.

Today's news round-up

Good News

• U.S. Senate confirmation marathon approves two more Obama nominees
• Belgian Senate votes to extend euthanasia to children
• Guard Acts to Issue IDs to Members’ Gay Spouses
• Medicare to examine ban on gender reassignment surgery

Bad News

• Gay rights rewind: India criminalizes homosexuality again
• U.S. judge approves retail credit card fee settlement I'm suspicious of the litigation release.