Recent news round-up

Good News

• Justice Department prods Ferguson police to improve
• Thousands of Brazilians march in gay rights parade
• New US-led strikes on Syria's Kobane: monitor
• Botswana gay rights group wins legal recognition

Bad News

• Friends mourn apparent beheading of US aid worker
• How Boko Haram Captured Missing Nigerian Schoolgirls' Hometown
• Lebanon bans film on Iran's 'Green Movement' protests
• Pakistan police arrest Christian in hiding for 'blasphemy' Blasphemy should not be a crime.
• Russia Cuts Sentence For "Occupy Pedophilia" Leader

Plat du jour--guest submission

Found by Joanne.

Today's news round-up, Part 2

Good News

• Mexico City lawmakers approve trans rights bill
• Iraq's forces drive IS militants from key town
• Colorado hands out $975,000 in pot funds to schools for health workers
• After girls' jihadi quest, a focus on outreach

Bad News

• Antiabortion Activists to Planned Parenthood: ‘We’re Moving In’

Today's news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• AT&T stops adding Web tracking codes on cellphones
• Yale Medical School Removes Cardiologist Accused of Sexual Harassment
• Challenge to Obamacare on contraceptives rejected

Bad News

• Top Turkish TV soap rebuked over 'erotic' kiss
• Militants seize hometown of kidnapped schoolgirls

Recent news round-up, Part 2

Good News

• Court won't overturn ruling on Arizona no-bail law
• Massey Energy chief indicted after deadly 2010 mine blast
• US bombs Al-Qaeda offshoot Khorasan for third time
• Pentagon pursuing changes in surplus gear program
• UK woman jailed for sending cash to jihadist husband in Syria
• Ed Department to extend No Child waivers into 2018
• US says air strikes cutting militants oil revenues

Semi-good, Semi-bad News

• 5 years for officer who shot handcuffed suspect He should have gotten a much longer sentence.

Bad News

• Appeals court dismisses clergy housing lawsuit
• Turkey frees 12 radicals after 'ugly' attack on US sailors Stay away from Turkey. 

Recent news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• Hachette, Amazon end nasty feud with deal on book sales
• Democrat Warren promoted as U.S. Congress selects party leaders
• Texas A&M students drown out antigay Westboro protesters with 'yell practice'
• Teacher suspended for Ferguson tweets to resign
• NY Port Authority Looks to 19th-Century Technology to Cope With a 21st-Century Problem
• Frenchman Flavien Moreau jailed for Syria jihad
• Canada to extradite accused Paris bomber to France

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Apple must face U.S. lawsuit over vanishing iPhone text messages
• Brooklyn Landlord Pleads Guilty to Negligent Homicide in 2010 Fire
• Kurds gain ground but not control in struggle for Syrian border town
• US troops in Iraq's Anbar as anti-IS campaign expands
• U.S. transgender people welcome easier path to amend birth papers

Bad News

• Malaysia's Sharia law costs non-Muslims their kids
• Economic inequality in the US reaches levels not seen since Great Depression
• California students held in Russia headed home

Sweet 16!

Today is the 16th anniversary of my first time appearing as Caprice.

Recent news round-up, Part 2

Good News

• TV campaign for gay equality starting in Miss
• Thousands march for gay pride in Hong Kong
• Drunken party costs 9 rookie cops their jobs Earlier reports said they claimed they could do anything they wanted because they were cops. This is not the type of person who should be a police officer.
• Egypt arrests suspect over threats to American schools
• Self-ruling region in Syria issues women's rights decree: monitor
• Gay rights in eastern Europe just took a big step forward

Bad News

• Russian lawmaker Vitaly Milonov angry at 'same-sex wedding'
• Uganda draws up new anti-gay law: activists
• Boko Haram said to seize another town in northern Nigeria
• FBI says it impersonated AP reporter in 2007 case
• Insurgents seize strategic city in southwest Syria from army

Recent news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• Judge voids Arizona human smuggling law, finding it infringes on U.S. government
• U.S. Airstrikes in Iraq Target ISIS Leaders
• Ebola nurse to remain a voice against quarantines
• Atlanta Symphony Orchestra players ratify contract
• After 12 years, damaged statue restored to view

Bad News

• Manhattan Speeder Says He Has Fled to Canada At least we won't have to worry about him coming back to America and endangering us again.
• How a Libyan city joined the Islamic State group
• Video captures NY deputy slapping, cursing at man He should be fired. All police officers should be required to wear cameras.

Today's news round-up, Part 2

Good News

• U.S. Army apologizes, will drop term 'Negro' from policy document
• Dallas Strengthens LGBT Protections
• Maura Healey Becomes First Openly Gay Attorney General In The Country

Today's news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• U.S. top court leaves intact New York City pregnancy center rule
• Saudi council urges easing ban on women driving
• Interpol, cruise firms share jihadi watch lists
• Judge rules Missouri ban on gay marriage violates Constitution
• U.S., European authorities arrest 16 online drug, weapons traders
• 3 Malaysian Muslims win court bid to cross-dress
• In rare case, NYC cops charged with assault over teen's arrest

Bad News

• Concern as Morocco blocks human rights groups
• Nigerians flee as Islamic extremists dig in
• Pakistani police officer axes man to death over blasphemy

Animal headline of the day

Owl attacks hawk at Vermont LL Bean store display

Today's news round-up

Good News

• U.S. shuts down Silk Road 2.0 website, charges alleged owner
• Guilty Verdict for Driver Known as Afroduck Who Raced Around Manhattan
• U.S. launches fresh strikes on Khorasan group in Syria

Bad News

• Appeals court upholds bans on same-sex marriage in four states
• Jihadists 'using cruise ships' to reach Middle East war zones
• 'Irish alcoholism nature' reason for job rejection for Irish teacher in South Korea

Recent news round-up

Good News

• Oklahoma Supreme Court halts certain abortion restrictions
• Many Broadway shows offer kids-for-free program
• Pirate Bay co-founder 'TiAMO' arrested in Thailand
• Peshmerga, Syrian rebels battle Islamic State in besieged Kobani
• Canada conducts first airstrikes on IS targets in Iraq
• Kansas ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional: judge

Bad News

• IS jihadists tortured Kobane child hostages: HRW
• IS beheads 8 Syria rebels who surrendered: monitor
• Why the Russian iPhone monument to Steve Jobs was torn down
• Thai man convicted of defaming king on Facebook

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Iraqi Kurds join fight against Islamic State in Kobani
• Some 100 march in conservative Montenegro's gay pride parade
• Egypt journalists defy editors on freedoms
• Justice Department issues use of force reforms for Albuquerque Police

Bad News

• IS jihadists carry out mass killings of Iraqi tribe A bunch of bloodthirsty thugs.
• Ferguson no-fly zone aimed at media
• Nigerian extremist says kidnapped girls married
• Gays fear new law will drive them out of Kyrgyzstan
• British-Iranian volleyball woman gets one year in jail
• Russia's top radio station slapped by government

Plat du jour

Recent news round-up

Good News

• Judge rejects strict limits on nurse who treated Ebola patients
• Girl, 7, Barred From a Connecticut School Over Ebola Concerns Goes Back to Class
• Pirate Bay co-founder sentenced to 42 months in jail in Denmark
• Estonian man faces cyber scam charges in US
• NYC Police Unions Can’t Intervene in Stop-and-Frisk Cases, Appeals Panel Rules
• Hungary internet tax cancelled after mass protests
• Apple CEO publicly acknowledges that he's gay

Bad News

• Boko Haram says kidnapped schoolgirls 'married off'

Living with moose IX

Alaska mayor vetoes law aimed at protecting moose

New York: Moose spotted by shopping center

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Orson Welles' last film may finally be released
• Ky. man who posted song lyrics won't face charges
• Islamic State conflict: Kurdish fighters arrive in Turkey
• Arizona sheriff ordered to undergo training to stop racial profiling
• Jail for Ivory Coast dad who tried to marry off 11-year-old daughter
• Ohio trooper pleads guilty to civil rights charges

Animal headline of the day

X-ray shows sick tortoise swallowed turtle pendant

Recent news round-up

Good News

• Connecticut father sues after Ebola fears keep daughter from school It's good that he's suing.
• Peshmerga fighters head to Turkey
• Minister Defrocked for Officiating at Gay Son`s Wedding Officially Reinstated

Bad News

• North Dakota court bans use of drug in abortions
• Army unlawfully discriminated against transgender employee, report finds Of course it's good that the army is doing something about it.

Plat du jour--guest submission

Found by Joanne.

Recent news round-up

Good News

• More U.S. air strikes target Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq
• Kurds thwart new IS bid to cut off Syria's Kobane
• US to recognize gay marriage in another six states
• Afghan cleric jailed for raping 11-year-old girl

Bad News

• Thirty adolescents abducted in northeast Nigeria: local chief
• Egyptian court jails 23 activists for violating protest law
• Judge rules Oklahoma abortion law can take effect
• ISIS Urging 'Lone Wolves' to Launch Attacks
• Iran re-arrests leading human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh
• NYC Judge Presiding Over ‘Silk Road’ Case Receiving Online Death Threats

Animal headline of the day

Fugitive NJ Bobcat Found, Possible He Knows How To Open Doors

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Pennsylvania high school's football season canceled over hazing The coach should be fired also.
• Ted Bishop resigns as PGA president
• UN authorizes ship inspections for Somali charcoal
• NBCUniversal settles with unpaid interns for $6.4M
• France announces big air raid against Islamic State in Iraq

Bad News

• Despite Protests, Smith College Still Won’t Admit Transgender Women
• Saudi to deal 'strictly' with female drivers

Throwback Thursday

Veronica Vera and me, about 2005.

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Wyoming gay couples get marriage licenses
• Iraqi Kurds approve sending fighters to aid Syrian town
• Syria says shoots down two of three 'IS warplanes'
• Mount Holyoke's New Transgender Policy Redefines Women's Education
• NBC Is Ready to Name Weir and Lipinski as Its Top Figure Skating Broadcast Team
• Honoring George Carlin With His Own Manhattan Block

Bad News

• Koch Brothers Super PAC adds another $6.5 million in TV ads
• Jamaican gays, transgenders face unchecked abuse
• Lawsuit: Detained transgender teen treated as boy
• Man, woman stoned to death for adultery in Syria: monitor

Living with bears XLVI

Oregon: Baby bear caught roaming the halls of RiteAid in Ashland

Wyoming: Black bear euthanized after breaking into house

Utah: Young bear relocated after roaming through neighborhood

California: Bear cub reunited with mama after getting stuck

Colorado: Black Bear Gets Trapped Inside Car, and Car Damage Ensues

Today's news round-up

Good News

• CVS reportedly wants to punish other pharmacies that still sell tobacco
• Turkey shifts strategy to help Iraqi Kurdish fighters into Kobane
• Deal agreed for Australia forces to deploy in Iraq
• Alabama state House speaker indicted on corruption charges Another Republican in trouble.

Bad News

• Police: Man spray-paints on NYC museum wall
• Malaysia's Sedition Act crackdown 'chilling' free speech
• Islamic State insurgents advance into Iraqi town of Qara Tappa

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Mental Health Issues Put 34,500 on New York’s No-Guns List
• Palau legalizes gay sex
• Estonia: Parliament Passes Cohabitation Act; President Proclaims It

Bad News

• Soldiers' rights activist jailed in Russia Russia is not a democracy.
• Top Iranian human rights lawyer barred for three years Neither is Iran.
• 'Bad hijab' link to acid attacks on Iranian women
• Anti-gay law passed in Kyrgyzstan in landslide vote

Plat du jour

Today's news round-up, Part 2

Bad News

• Sensing subversion, China throws the book at kids' libraries
• Suspected Boko Haram fighters mount deadly attacks after Nigeria 'ceasefire'

Today's news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• School District on Long Island Is Told It Must Teach Immigrants
• U.S. bans Hungarians from entry over corruption charges
• Rome mayor defiantly registers 16 gay marriages
• Kurds thwart new jihadist bid to cut off Syria town
• Fla. man gets life in prison in loud music killing

Bad News

• Supreme Court denies request to block Texas voter ID law
• Paris sculpture removed after vandals strike

Plat du jour--guest submission

Found by Joanne.

Recent news round-up, Part 2

Good News

• Cameroon says troops kill 107 Boko Haram militants

Bad News

• Bahrain activist detained for 'insulting' the king
• Pennsylvania legislature passes bill to limit inmate public statements
• Pakistan court upholds death penalty in Christian woman's blasphemy case

Recent news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• Courts knock down gay marriage bans in Arizona, Alaska and Wyoming
• Kosovo 'jihad' boy home from Syria after secret operation
• Facebook unfriends federal drug agency
• Joni Ernst faces big problem in Iowa Senate race: women voters
• Gay marriage: North Carolina official resigns
• New York judge finds Donald Trump liable for unlicensed school
• High court clears bullet train but problems remain
• Arkansas high court strikes down voter ID law
• Courts reject another Arizona immigration law Immigration is a federal matter. State and local governments should stay out.

Bad News

• F.B.I. Director Hints at Action as Cellphone Data Is Locked
• Activists: Islamic State group may have warplanes

Throwback Thursday

Hedda Lettuce and me, about 2001-2002--before she went green, and I went auburn, er, blonde, um, black.

Animal headline of the day

Illinois pet dubbed world's tallest cow

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Justices stop parts of Texas abortion law
• Activists: Airstrikes hit jihadi targets in Syria
• Jurors find deputies used excessive force in death
• Meet the First Trans Homecoming King in Texas
• Charges filed against 5 teens in ice bucket prank

Bad News

• Supreme Court leaves California foie gras ban intact
• Girls at risk as Bangladesh mulls lowering age of marriage, says HRW
• Russian LGBT advocates detained during Moscow protest 
• Appeals court reinstates Texas voter ID law

Animal headline of the day

Parrot missing for years returns speaking Spanish

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Guerrilla groups hunt down Islamic State in Syria

Bad News

• Islamic State seeks to justify enslaving Yazidi women and girls in Iraq
• Turkey: No new deal with US on using air base
• 3 refugees say they've been hacked by Bahrain

Plat du jour--guest submission

Found by Joanne.

Today's news round-up

Good News

• US says Turkey OKs use of bases against militants
• Former UBS high-flier set for US tax fraud trial
• Alaska ban on same-sex marriage ruled unconstitutional

Bad News

• Teen Moroccan rapper charged over videos

My sober poem

I'm going so batty.
I'm singing the blues.
My liver is fatty.
I can't drink my booze.

Today's news round-up

Good News

• 7 charged in high school football hazing case It's good that they're being charged. It's also good, maybe even better, that the rest of their football season was cancelled. Bullying will not end until there is peer pressure against it.
• 7 plaintiffs in no-fly list lawsuit cleared to fly

Bad News

• Kansas Supreme Court temporarily blocks gay marriages
• IS jihadists execute Iraqi journalist, 12 other people
• Russia extends house arrest for leading Putin critic Russia is not a democracy.

Animal headline of the day

Hawk attacks drone in a battle of claw versus machine

Recent news round-up

Good News

• U.S. Supreme Court lifts hold on gay marriage in Idaho
• Judge strikes down NC gay marriage ban
• Virginia tells agencies to clear way for adoptions by gay couples
• U.S. reaches $30 million settlement with vice president of Equatorial Guinea
• Federal judge strikes down Texas law requiring voter ID at polls
• U.S. Supreme Court blocks Wisconsin voter ID law
• Al-Qaeda convoy en route to Mali 'destroyed' by French
• Teacher whose gun fired in bathroom charged Teachers shouldn't be carrying guns in schools.
• Occupy Wall Street Protester Found Not Guilty of Obstruction Charge

Bad News

• Ads Paid for by Secret Money Flood the Midterm Elections
• How 2 French girls were lured to jihad online
• Japan court orders Google to remove search results
• Rights group: Saudi officials on ruthless campaign
• Supreme Court reinstates controversial North Carolina voting measures Yet they seemed to do the opposite with Wisconsin's law. Frankly, I don't understand.
• Police dog dies after left in cruiser for 4 hours

Living with wild turkeys XVI

New York: Zelda, the Resident Turkey of Battery Park, Is Feared Dead

Today's news round-up

Good News

• US Supreme Court clears way for gay marriage in more states
• Woman who defected from the Islamic State says she was duped It's good she has escaped and is speaking out. These guys are using religion as an excuse to be murderous, sexist thugs.
• U.S. uses helicopters for first time to hit Islamic State rebels
• Ambitious Plan to Treat Mentally Ill Inmates, Built on a Father’s Anguish

Bad News

• Appeals court says Wisconsin voter ID law constitutional
• Islamic State group publicly kills 6 Iraqi troops

Question of the day

Why is it that being neither soft-headed nor hard-headed is considered a good thing?

Today's news round-up

Good News

• U.S. Is Trying to Counter ISIS’ Efforts to Lure Alienated Young Muslims
• Missouri must recognize same-sex marriages from other areas: judge
• Afghanistan to allow return of expelled NYT reporter
• In a first, 3 women pass Marines Combat Endurance Test, toting 80-lb. packs
• Egyptian police arrest militants accused of recruiting for Islamic State
• Basketball: US women rout Spain for second straight gold medal

Bad News

• Paul Revere of Raiders rock band dies at 76
• Arson attack suspected on South Africa's first gay-friendly mosque
• Tens of thousands march for 'family values' in France
• Islamic State fighters shell Syrian Kurdish town
• Pakistani Taliban vows to send fighters to help IS group
• Town falls to Islamic State in Iraq's Anbar province

Animal headline of the day

Pig in Australia Steals 18 Beers from Campers, Gets Drunk, Fights Cow

H/T to Jenny Boylan

Only a few good Texts From Last Night this time

(720): Plus, I have my cousin, the dominatrix, to help me out if things get out of hand http://tfl.nu/lbum

(801): At the end of the night i was really thirsty and tied to a bedpost http://tfl.nu/j4xa

(647): The only downside to doctor sex is that getting choked with a stethoscope leaves marks. http://tfl.nu/cwoi

Today's news round-up, Part 2

Good News

• California Bans Gay and Trans Panic Defense
• Marriott to pay $600,000 settlement for jamming Wi-Fi hotspots
• In rare alliance, Shi'ites join Sunnis to defend Iraqi towns

Bad News

• Boko Haram video shows beheading of Nigeria pilot
• Catholic University of America postpones screening of 'Milk'
• Video: Islamic State group beheads British hostage

Today's news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• Top court overturns law tightening Turkey's Internet controls
• Australia says it will launch airstrikes in Iraq
• U.S. hiring accelerates, jobless rate hits six-year low

Bad News

• School board OKs controversial curriculum review 
• U.S. appeals court lets Texas enforce abortion clinic rules
• Officials: Islamic State group downs Iraqi chopper
• 'Top Gear' crew flee Argentina after 'Falklands' stoning Stay away from Argentina.

Animal headline of the day

Reports: China body-searched 10,000 pigeons

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Turkey approves military operations in Iraq, Syria
• Georgia woman gets 30-year prison term in daughter's malnutrition death
• Gun foes plan to match NRA spending in fall races
• Bratton Vows to Root Out Bad New York Police Officers It would be very nice if it happens. However I think the percentage of bad ones is much greater than 1%.

Bad News

• Syria Kurds say American joins fight against Islamic State
• CDC: Heroin deaths doubled in much of the country

Animal headline of the day

Invasion of voracious bullfrogs spreads in Montana

Runner-up: Kitsap County road crews battling persistent beaver

Today's news round-up, Part 2

Good News

• Nigeria court martials soldiers for balking at taking on Boko Haram
• British jets strike IS jihadists west of Baghdad
• Notorious Florida speed trap ended as city closes police department
• Living wage: New York mayor gives thousands of workers raise
• U.S. judge dismisses Republican challenge to SEC pay-to-play rule
• Kurds seize Iraq/Syria border post; Sunni tribe joins fight against Islamic State
• California governor signs 'gun violence restraining order' law
• California bans political fundraising parties at lobbyists' homes
• New Law Gives Trans Californians Respect After Death

Bad News

• Russia scraps US exchange scheme, says teen put in gay couple's care
• Desktop device to make key gun part goes on sale in US

Today's news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• Facebook Apologizes For Discriminatory "Real Name" Policy Also: Facebook apologizes to drag queens for name policy
• Court blocks part of new North Carolina voting law
• Court: Democrats don't need Kansas Senate nominee
• Man convicted of murder in killing over loud music
• GLAAD study: Gay depictions increase on TV

Bad News

• Oslo latest city to drop out of 2022 Olympic race
• Colorado man wants to bring gun into post office
• Islamic State beheads seven men, three women in Syria: monitor
• A $37,000 Newspaper Ad Just Attacked Transgender Athletes

Micro movie review

The Hundred-Foot Journey: Totally predictable, sometimes absurd, it is a very well-made and enjoyable piece of fluff.

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Judge recommends six officers be fired from New York jail for beating
• Belgium tries 46 over Syria jihadist links
• U.S., Kurds strike at Islamic State in Syria

Bad News

• U.S. Supreme Court votes 5-4 to delay start of early Ohio voting
• Rights group: Turkey rolling back human rights
• California governor vetoes drone warrant bill
• Ferguson demands high fees to turn over city files
• IS jihadists close in on key Syria border town

Some more Texts from Last Night

(518): Packing for college has become a game of where did I hide my sex toys. http://tfl.nu/ykpm

(908): I was about to google "rabies and sexual activity." Then I realized I was at work. http://tfl.nu/aq0t

(304): JUST BECAUSE I LIKE TO BE TIED UP AND SPANKED DOESNT MEAN IM GOING TO LIKE TO BE TIED UP AND SPANKED AT WORK http://tfl.nu/yt7k

(615): I just want somewhere where I can sit down, without changing my clothes, that will serve me breakfast food and booze. Is that too much to ask? http://tfl.nu/0fir

(409): I wish our county sheriff had a comment section for their mugshots. http://tfl.nu/9ntb

(517): Woke up pants less in the vacant apartment across the hall. It was unlocked because they were showing it to someone. When they walked in I woke up and said "this is a great place to live" and walked out http://tfl.nu/rbge

(609): The cops spotted my on my walk of shame down the boardwalk and gave me a ride home. I'm starting to make a name for myself here. http://tfl.nu/fl13

Recent news round-up

Good News

• U.S., Defending Kurds in Syria, Expands Airstrikes Against Islamic State Militants
• Turkey Inching Toward Alliance With U.S. in Syria Conflict
• Justice Department tells Ferguson police to stop wearing bracelets
• UN rights body calls for end to anti-gay discrimination
• FBI agents invented a defendant to catch a judge It's good to know that the FBI is going after corrupt judges.
• Serbia Gay Pride march returns after four years
• California adopts 'yes means yes' sex-assault rule

Bad News

• Somali militants stone woman to death

Living with bears XLV

Canada: This Mailman Gives the Greatest Excuse Of All Time For Not Delivering a Package, Bear hanging around Port Coquitlam home concerns residents

Massachusetts: Bear kills Chelmsford man's chickens, duck My sister's office is only 2 or 3 miles from there!

Today's news round-up

Good News

• California governor signs inmate sterilization ban
• Western Muslims, troubled, rally against extremism
• Small towns rescuing, restoring movie theaters
• Teacher gets 10 years in custody in student rape
• Hornets' Taylor banned from team activities
• Belgrade to host first Gay Pride parade since 2010
• Nigerian schoolgirl freed by extremists comes home
• Female UAE pilot 'leads strikes' on jihadists

Bad News

• Court tosses Air Force trainer's rape conviction
• Taliban behead 12 people in remote Afghan province
• Teen Worker Forced to Wear Homophobic Slur on Name Tag at Popular Taco Chain

Semi-random thoughts

• I sign few of the online petitions that I am presented with, because most of them are addressed to people who couldn't care less what the general public thinks about what they are doing. Almost all the ones that I do sign are addressed to businesses. But even some of those fail to gain my support. For instance, I got one addressed to a bank which asks that it absolve a co-signer of a loan from his responsibility to pay it, because the primary debtor died. No. Not even though this was a student loan, and the student was his daughter. He was not just "helping his daughter" take out the loan--he promised to pay off the loan if she didn't, for whatever reason. It makes no difference that federal student loans are forgiven in such circumstances. He made a deal, he has to stick to it. 
• It's amazing how many of my entertainer friends had pictures with Joan Rivers to post. 
• I got some spam titled, "Would you sleep with a Married Woman?" Of course I would. I sleep with my wife every night.
• I'm flabbergasted by the recent jump in readers of my glob from Japan and New Zealand. I haven't written anything about either country. 

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Muslim scholars present religious rebuttal to Islamic State
• Iraqi forces restoring control of besieged area in west: police chief
• Dashboard video shows shooting of unarmed driver It's good there was video, that the cop was fired, and that he was faces 20 years in jail.
• French, U.S. planes strike Islamic State, Britain to join coalition
• France introduces plain packs for smokes

Bad News

• Feds say transgender workers illegally fired It's bad they were fired, good that the EEOC is taking action.
• Iraqi woman activist killed by Islamic State

Animal headline of the day

Harpist's mellow tone soothes apes at St. Paul zoo

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Drill sergeant found guilty of sex assaults 
• Da Vinci masterpiece emerging in all its beauty
• Report: Admission of uninsured at hospitals dips
• Appeals court upholds Ohio ruling on early voting
• U.S. imposes financial sanctions on Islamist fighters
• L.A. City Council votes for minimum-wage hike to $15.37 at big hotels
• US strikes IS oil refineries in Syria
• Google Announces Plans to Cut Ties With ALEC

Bad News

• French hostage Herve Gourdel beheaded in Algeria

Happy National Punctuation Day!

It's National Punctuation Day. I'd link you to the official site, but it's exceeded its bandwidth. (Please notice how I properly used "it's" and "its" in that sentence.) So I'll just give you Victor Borge's punctuation routine.

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Denver area students walk out of school in protest
• Utah man pleads guilty to hate crime for threatening interracial family
• 2 men, 1 woman face charges in gay couple beating
• Federal prison population drops by roughly 4,800
• Arab Bank Liable for Supporting Terrorist Efforts, Jury Finds
• Spain scraps abortion plan, justice chief quits

Bad News

• Nadal's coach criticizes female Davis Cup captain He admitted he didn't know her capabilities, but he was still against her appointment. That is the definition of prejudice.
• New ISIS Recording Urges Muslims to Kill Civilians in US-Led Coalition Countries
• After ISIS’s Call, Frenchman Kidnapped, Threatened With Beheading
• Head of Serb church denounces gay pride march
• New Laos web decree bans criticism of government policy: media The only thing surprising about this is that they didn't have this before.
• Chinese court jails Uighur scholar for life for separatism

Animal headline of the day

Ohio college president backs skunk safety

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Thousands march in Moscow against Ukraine fighting
• Egypt court suspends top activist's jail sentence
• India court sends 13 men to jail over gang-rape of tribal woman
• Iraqi forces battle militants near Fallujah

Bad News

• Black prevails in Syria jihadist stronghold
• Turkey disappoints West with low-key role in IS fight
• California governor rejects bills to help men change diapers

Living with moose VIII

South Dakota: Moose on loose near the post office causes a stir in Aberdeen

Today's news round-up

Good News

• 3 guilty in Ga. salmonella-tainted peanut trial
• Defiant Singaporeans view banned film in Malaysia
• Coach tied to beating of gay couple leaves job
• Austrian town officials resign after Nazi basement film
• Congress OKs bill to cut rape evidence backlog
• U.S. targets IS training camp in Iraq for first time: Centcom

Bad News

• Islamic State creates police force in northwest Iraq
• Ten Commandments marker can stay at Oklahoma Capitol: judge
• Six killed in Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon
• Iranian youth behind 'Happy' video sentenced
• Russia eyes measures to fend off Western Internet threat: Kremlin

This is literally funny

From sixteencandlesband on Facebook

Today's news round-up, Part 2

Good News

• Florida city reverses ban on saggy pants that threatened jail time I can't say I like the style, but there's no need for the real police to be fashion police.
• Iraqi army launches offensive on Islamic State in three cities
• Kansas court: Remove Democrat from Senate ballot Strangely, this is good for the Democrats.
• Web Filter Lifts Block on Gay Sites

Today's news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• France to carry out airstrikes in Iraq
• U.S. court rules Navy wrongfully monitored computers in child porn probe
• MTV to air documentary about transgender youths
• NYC: Police Accept Restrictions on Using Decoy Purses
• Royal & Ancient votes to admit female members
• Fan heckling Harper in Atlanta ejected by umpire

Bad News

• BBC team under attack in southern Russia
• Boko Haram blamed as 13 die in Nigeria college shooting, blast

Animal headline of the day

George the goldfish gets life-saving tumor surgery

Today's news round-up, Part 2

Good News

• US labor board orders CNN to rehire fired workers
• Social Security resumes mailing benefit statements
• Kurds retake Christian villages from Iraq jihadists
• FIBA: Players can wear religious head coverings
• New York State Judiciary Adopts Rules to Protect Debtors
• Wal-Mart fined by NY for Coca-Cola sale
• Princeton Faculty Members Approve Stronger Sexual Misconduct Policies

Today's news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• Vice chairman of Arizona Republican Party resigns over birth control comments
• ‘A National Admissions Office’ for Low-Income Strivers
• Number of Americans Without Health Insurance Falls, Survey Shows
• Angela Lansbury reprising 'Blithe Spirit' on tour I saw her doing this in London in May. She's wonderful and the play is a lot of fun.
• Feds launch policing bias study
• Judge Convicts Police Officers in 2011 Assault on a Teenager I hope they're fired. This is why cops should be wearing video cameras.
• New Hydroelectric Plant to Be Built for New York

Bad News

• With Winter Fast Approaching, Three Governors Slash Funding for Heat and Food All Republicans, of course.

Living with moose VII

New York: Moose spotted in Fleischmanns

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Conservative Experiment Faces Revolt in Reliably Red Kansas
• Arab Nations Offer to Fight ISIS From Air
• Chinese city creates cellphone sidewalk lane
• A minimum-wage hike finds hope in U.S. heartland
• Kurdish fighters advance against jihadis in Syria
• Belgian murderer Van Den Bleeken wins 'right to die'

Animal headline of the day

It's a Cat-Eat-Dog World, Leopard Poop Reveals

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Building Legacy, Obama Reshapes Appellate Bench Now if he could only do that with the Supreme Court.
• Homecoming queen Scarlett Lenh puts transgender issues front and center

Sort of Good News

• Briton's beheading boosts resolve of anti-IS coalition

Bad News

• Boko Haram attack market in northeast Nigeria
• Islamic State group's war chest is growing daily
• Islamic State executes eight Sunnis in northern Iraq
• Splinter group breaks from al Qaeda in North Africa

A fringe benefit of a burlesque show

I got Minx Arcana's lollipop during her Lolita burlesque number--from her mouth to mine. I licked it the rest of the evening.

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Nigeria says army repels militants outside northeast city

Bad News

• German gay rights activist beaten in Belgrade
• Erdogan approves law tightening Turkey's Internet controls
• Islamic State destroys Sufi shrines in eastern Syria: watchdog
• Chick-fil-A demotes breast cancer survivor after she takes medical leave for double mastectomy 
• Prisons director canceled $98,000 fine imposed on Aramark

Plat du jour--guest submission

Found by Joanne.

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Man wins fight to get same-sex union recognized
• Democrats Are Seeing More Daylight in Path to Senate Control
• Malala's attackers arrested in Pakistan: army

Bad News

• Appeals court reinstates Wisconsin's voter ID law
• Missouri teachers can become armed safety officers under new law

Plat du jour

A police officer, firefighter or serviceperson, I assume.

Today's news round-up, Part 2

Good News

• New Jersey ban on 'gay conversion therapy' is upheld
• South Korea to hike cigarette price by 80%
• Incumbent's loss upends Massachusetts' House race
• Federal judge rejects Ohio campaign statements law
• More trouble for Mars Hill: cutting jobs, merging churches

Bad News

• Atheist must swear to God -- or leave US Air Force The Constitution says that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." This should be a slam dunk lawsuit.
• Philippines plans to give Muslims autonomous zone
• Boko Haram have 'surrounded' Nigeria's Maiduguri, say elders

Today's news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• UN: 45 Fijian peacekeepers freed in Syria
• Catholic League quits New York City's St. Patrick parade after gay decision
• Pandora cozies up to music-rights group BMG with US license deal
• Indicted South Carolina House speaker suspends himself from office Another Republican in trouble.

Bad News

• Teacher accidentally shoots self in leg at school Teachers shouldn't be carrying guns in school.
• Missouri lawmakers override Governor's veto on '72-hour' abortion law
• Missouri Lawmaker Sues to Stop His Daughters' Access to Obamacare Birth Control

Correction of the day

An earlier version of this article misstated the location of the Hudson Valley. It is in southern New York, not western.

From the New York Times

Today's news round-up, Part 2

Good News

• Retraining the NYPD after chokehold death
• Broadway League backs down, agrees to honor Rivers
• City to become first in Mississippi to grant same-sex spouse benefits: report
• Ferguson plans reforms after fatal police shooting
• Canada finds 1 of 2 explorer ships lost in Arctic
• Two women in their 90s marry in Iowa, seven decades after meeting
• Nebraska Lt. Gov. Heidemann resigns office, ticket Another Republican politician gone.
• California governor to sign mandatory sick leave bill
• Artist cancels exhibition of nude pictures stolen from Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton

Bad News 

• Judge won't disband polygamous sect police
• Killing and preaching, Nigerian militants carve out 'caliphate'

Today's news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• Renouncing U.S. citizenship is about to get a lot more expensive
• French Muslims support Mideast Christians against Islamic State
• Ravens cut RB Ray Rice after release of video
• Nike, others end business relationship with Rice
• Hawks discipline GM Ferry for racist comments

Sort of Good, Sort of Bad, News

• In high-tech battle, Washington and Islamic State compete over hearts and minds

Bad News

• Once a force for good, Nigeria's military, through militias, crosses border into darkness
• Turkey to give telecoms body more powers over Internet

Plat du jour--guest submission

Found by Joanne.

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Some Retail Workers Find Better Deals With Unions
• Bryan brothers win 100th tennis title, will keep playing
• Afghan rape gang sentenced to death after national outrage
• Syracuse district fires white school guard for 'joke' having black child assume the position
• Some big Obamacare news: premiums will fall in seven big cities
• BBC2 commissions first transgender sitcom

Bad News

• Egypt orders arrest of men over "gay marriage" video
• Qatar confirms detention of rights group workers
• Islamic extremists grab towns in northeast Nigeria
• Lesbian teacher says fired by Detroit Catholic school over pregnancy

Animal headline of the day

Penn State student gains rep as squirrel whisperer