In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Terrorism; war] Well fuck: "President Vladimir Putin vowed to hunt down those responsible for blowing up a Russian airliner over Egypt and intensified air strikes against militants in Syria, after the Kremlin concluded a bomb had destroyed the plane last month, killing 224 people. Putin ordered the Russian navy in the eastern Mediterranean to coordinate its actions on the sea and in the air with the French navy, after the Kremlin used long-range bombers and cruise missiles in Syria and announced it would expand its strike force by 37 planes. 'We will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them,' Putin said of the plane bombers at a somber Kremlin meeting broadcast on Tuesday. The FSB security service swiftly announced a $50 million bounty in a global manhunt for the bombers." It's impossible to overstate how miserable terrorists are making life for Syrian civilians.

[CN: Police brutality; racism] Jamar Clark was taken off life support last night and died. My condolences to his family, friends, and community. Also last night: "More than 50 people were arrested during a Black Lives Matter protest that shut down I-94W in Minneapolis for over two hours. ...At one point a driver nearly hit some of the protesters. Other drivers got into arguments with protesters as the crowd marched down an I-94 ramp. Eventually, police gave the crowd a 15-minute warning calling the assembly unlawful. They then began arresting those who refused to leave."

[CN: Police brutality; sexual violence; misogynoir] Kanya D'Almeida on the Holtzclaw trial: "When local activists learned last August that a 27-year-old Oklahoma City police officer had been arrested on 16 charges of sexual assault against multiple Black women, they expected the case to garner national headlines. ...But as Daniel Holtzclaw's trial entered its third week Monday, with over two dozen out of an estimated 175 witnesses for the prosecution having testified so far, residents like [Grace Franklin, co-founder of OKC Artists for Justice] are still waiting for the story to grab nationwide attention. Advocates who've been closely following the case say the lack of media coverage reveals a pattern erasing the specific experiences of Black women from conversations around race and police brutality, which the Black Lives Matter movement propelled into national prominence last year." Again I will note that Holtzclaw carefully and deliberately chose victims he believed no one would care about or believe. And the yawning indifference to his trial rewards his cynical exploitation of the particularly vulnerable black women he assaulted.

Welp: "The costs of food, gasoline, shelter, and medical care rose last month, yet inflation continues to run at low levels ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting in December to consider raising short-term interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. ...Much of the inflation within the economy stems from higher rents and home values. ...Fed officials have been carefully monitoring the economy for an upturn in inflation as part of its plan to eventually raise short-term interest rates from historic lows."

No surprises here: PRRI's annual "American Values Survey" results are out, and "Strong majorities of both Democrats and Republicans name health care (71% and 61%, respectively) and jobs and unemployment (66% and 59%, respectively) as critical issues. However, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to name the cost of education (62% vs. 33% respectively) and the growing gap between the rich and the poor (62% vs. 29%, respectively) as critical issues. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to name terrorism (79% vs. 53%, respectively) and immigration (59% vs. 43%, respectively) as critical issues." Of course.

[CN: Climate change] This is pretty terrifying: "Runoff from snowmelt is regarded as a vital water source for people and ecosystems throughout the Northern Hemisphere (NH). Numerous studies point to the threat global warming poses to the timing and magnitude of snow accumulation and melt. ...Using a multi-model ensemble of climate change projections, we find that these basins—which together have a present population of ~2 billion people—are exposed to a 67% risk of decreased snow supply this coming century."

Whut: Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2015 is the laugh-crying emoji. Okay.

Do you want to hear Adele's second single "When We Were Young" in its entirety? Well, here you go!

And finally! All the blubs forever: "Marine Corps Veteran Frank Giarmida has a new best friend. He was surprised with the gift of a therapy dog, while on the field at MetLife Stadium during a Giants game. All of this was in an effort to thank Giarmida for his service in the Iraq War. 'I see the dog come out and I'm looking at the screen, and I see a dog and I'm looking around and I didn't even hear what the commentator said anymore,' Giarmida said. 'The last 10 years have been a struggle. Six months ago, I recently lost my fiance to a brain aneurysm. So this service dog is going to do a lot for me. ...This is going to be my best friend. I need a friend." ♥