In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Racism; police harassment] This is an absolute must-read piece by Desmond Cole: "The Skin I'm In." Cole, a black man, recounts how he has been stopped by police more than 50 times, and the effect it has had on him. "After years of being stopped by police, I've started to internalize their scrutiny. I've doubted myself, wondered if I've actually done something to provoke them. Once you're accused enough times, you begin to assume your own guilt, to stand in for your oppressor. It's exhausting to have to justify your freedoms in a supposedly free society. I don't talk about race for attention or personal gain. I would much rather write about sports or theatre or music than carding and incarceration. But I talk about race to survive." This is an extraordinary piece of writing.

[CN: Class warfare] Imani Gandy on the gross welfare legislation in Kansas (background), which Republican Governor Sam Brownback has signed into law, that "prohibits people who rely on government assistance to make ends meet from using the money in the way it was intended. It treats poor people like they're stupid or wasteful, and siphons government funds from them and diverts it into banks' coffers. The new law is, essentially, a tax on the poor."

[CN: Racism; disablism; over-policing] David Perry on how zero-tolerance policies in schools are getting out of control and harming kids: "For those like Kayleb who live at the intersection of race and disability, these manifestations of what I call the cult of compliance can destroy lives. It threatens anyone who might fall outside the dominant norms. The cultural forces that punish diversity aren't new. In the past, however, such perceived deviance might have met with bullying from peers or various forms of exclusion by teachers and other staffers. Today, jail beckons."

[CN: War on agency; trafficking] Emily Crockett on how the compromise Democrats struck with Republicans on the anti-trafficking bill, to secure Loretta Lynch's nomination as Attorney General, will deny abortion funding to survivors.

[CN: Class warfare] A cook in the US Senate explains why he is going on strike: "Every day, I serve food to some of the most powerful people on earth–including many of the senators who are running for president: I'm a cook for the federal contractor that runs the US Senate cafeteria. But today, they'll have to get their meals from someone else's hands, because I'm on strike. ...I'm a single father and I only make $12 an hour; I had to take a second job at a grocery store to make ends meet. But even though I work seven days a week–putting in 70 hours between my two jobs–I can't manage to pay the rent, buy school supplies for my kids, or even put food on the table. I hate to admit it, but I have to use food stamps so that my kids don't go to bed hungry."

[CN: Racism; police brutality; video may autoplay at link] Protesters are demanding accountability on behalf of Freddie Gray, who was killed while in Baltimore Police custody. "Speaking to CNN's 'Anderson Cooper 360,' Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she understands where the protesters are coming from. She understands their frustration. 'Mr. Gray's family deserves justice, and our community deserves an opportunity to heal, to get better, and to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again,' she said." Words we have heard before. But when do these words translate into meaningful action, across the entire nation?

In news from the Conservative Legislation Lab: Indiana State Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz's days are numbered. Again, I want to underline that this is what happens when Hoosiers vote in Democrats. The Republicans just remove them, because they don't give a fuck about democracy or the people's will.

Here's what you can expect from the new book on Hillary Clinton and foreign donations.

Right now, plastic waste has the same non-hazardous ranking as "food scraps or glass clippings," and a new study has questioned that ranking, based on plastic's environmental impact. Good.

[CN: Misogyny] David Letterman continues to be a misogynist dirtbag: "David Letterman silenced his Late Show audience at his studio on Monday... Letterman, 68, was first asked by a college staffer what kind of advice he would give to the class of 2015. 'Treat a lady like a whore,' the longtime late-night host suggested. 'And a whore like a lady.' The quote's origins come from Wilson Mizner, a screenwriter from the 1930s. The insider told Page Six that Letterman's joke was met with ice-cold silence." Jesus Jones. I really love the idea that a woman who does sex work and a woman who is "a lady" are mutually exclusive. Almost as much as I love that Letterman thinks a joke from the 1930s is "edgy."

Christopher Nolan says his favorite sequence from all of his films is the airplane abduction scene from The Dark Knight Rises. WELL OBVIOUSLY! Although: "Any and all scenes with Tom Hardy" would have been an acceptable answer, too.

And finally! Here is a terrific story about a program in Indiana that pairs shelter cats with people in prison. "'No matter what your stress is, I always look forward to coming here for those nine hours. It takes a lot of stress away. It keeps my mind on good things, positive things, rather than just sitting in a cell for the majority of the time, pondering on things that may have happened to you. It's definitely a stress reliever,' said offender Lamar Hall, who works with the cats. 'Love will change characteristics from anybody's tortured past. That goes for animals and humans, really.'" Blub.