Friday News Bites: Boston Olympic Bid, Free College + More

Happy Friday, friends. It’s more or less politics and entertainment this week, including a rare moment where I actually agree with something David Cameron said. Huh. I feel funny. Let’s get that story out of the way first…

After a Fox News talking head called Birmingham, England, a “totally Muslim city,” Prime Minister David Cameron called him an idiot, and it inspired people to come up with #foxnewsfacts on Twitter. Can more politicians get in the habit of calling out the Murdoch-machine’s ridiculousness?

The Hamburger Morgenpost, a German newspaper, was firebombed after they reprinted the cartoons from Charlie Hebdo. Though two rooms were damaged, no one was injured.

In other international news: Same-sex weddings are now legal in Vietnam, but that’s different from full-on legal marriage. Still, I suppose it’s progress.

Unlike in Texas, where employees could lose their salaries if they issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple. That punishment is only a proposed law and not an official policy, but -sigh.-

In other government WTF-ery: Notoriously anti-science Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX, surprise, surprise) has been appointed to chair the Senate subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness, which includes NASA.

Better governmental news: South Dakota could be next in line for marriage equality, as a judge has ruled the state’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

And you may have heard that President Obama is proposing a program that would make 2 years of community college free to anyone “willing to work for it.”

Under the proposal, students who attend at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA while in college, and make steady progress toward completing their programs would have their tuition eliminated.

In Other News:

Boston has won the U.S. Olympic Committee bid for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, but some are not too happy about the cost and upheaval involved.

Normally, I probably wouldn’t link to a story like this as noteworthy, but hey, it’s in my home state, so why not? Jody Kinsey and her husband, Jase, from Miles City, Montana just had identical triplet boys, or as this Jezebel headline puts it: Montana Woman Gives Birth to Terrifying Identical Triplets.

Did you hear about the solo bus-riding dog in Seattle? She’s pretty great.

R.I.P.

Actor Rod Taylor, best known for his roles in The Birds and The Time Machine, died this week from a heart attack. He was 84.

Perhaps one of the best “That Guy”s from TV and film, Taylor Negron died last week from cancer, age 54.

In Entertainment:

After the Sony hack revealed how much more co-star Chris Hemsworth was being paid, Charlize Theron negotiated herself a $10M pay raise for The Huntsman.

Doctor Who Season 9 has begun filming! Hooray!

And finally… Have this hypnotizing David Bowie hair-gif by Helen Green, in honor of his birthday (Jan. 8)… even though it has the wrong eye colors. (His eyes aren’t two different colors; one eye just has a larger pupil than the other due to an injury when he was young.)

Until next time!