In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Toxic water; racism; classism] East Chicago, Indiana, is poised to become the next Flint: "The unfolding health emergency in East Chicago is a window into a larger environmental justice crisis playing out in neighborhoods across the country. And the historically minority, lower-income residents of the Calumet neighborhood will suffer the consequences." Rage. Seethe. Boil. Alongside a total lack of surprise.

[CN: Police brutality; racism; death] This terrible case in the UK is a necessary and terrible reminder that Tasers are deadly, too: "The former Aston Villa footballer Dalian Atkinson has died after police Tasered him near his father's home in Telford. West Mercia police said a 48-year-old man had died. It is understood the man was Atkinson, who also played for Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town. He is believed to have been visiting his 85-year-old father, Ernest. ...Neighbours said the former footballer had made frequent visits in his Porsche. Matthew Bothwell said: 'Every time he would come he would have crowds around him. It's a close-knit community. I just can't bear to think what his family are going through.' Tina Bothwell said: 'He was loving, caring and got on with everybody in the street. He always got on with the kids because they absolutely loved his car.' Another resident, Paula Quinn, said Atkinson appeared to be 'almost staggering' in the street before he was Tasered. She said he went down 'like a lead balloon' after being hit by the stun gun." Fucking hell.

[CN: Police brutality; guns; racism] Meanwhile, in Milwaukee: "Shots have been fired during new protests in the US city of Milwaukee, police say, as demonstrators took to the streets for a second night. Protests erupted on Saturday after Sylville Smith, 23, was shot dead in a police chase. Mayor Tom Barrett said Smith, an African-American, did not drop a gun he was holding when told to do so. ...Milwaukee police chief Edward Flynn did not say what prompted officers to stop Smith's car, saying only that he was 'behaving suspiciously'."

[CN: Islamophobia] "The mayor of Cannes has banned overtly religious clothing on the beach and in public swimming pools... Muslim women who opt for modest dress but still wish to be integrated in public space have in recent years adopted full-body swimsuits, known as 'burkinis.' This decree, however, compromises the freedom of Muslim women, and more specifically, those who have decided to adopt a modest attire. So what's the reason Cannes Mayor David Lisnard decided to ban burkinis? The order states: 'Beachwear which ostentatiously displays religious affiliation, when France and places of worship are currently the target of terrorist attacks, is liable to create risks of disrupting public order.' Lisnard also described the full-body swimsuit as a 'symbol of Islamic extremism.' This suggests that Muslim women who choose to wear headscarves and cover their bodies are symbols of extremist groups such as the Islamic State, and are therefore enemies of France." This is appalling.

[CN: War on agency] The Guttmacher Institute has published a new report, "Time to Appointment and Delays in Accessing Care Among U.S. Abortion Patients," which has explored the pressures which contribute to "the time lapsed between making an appointment and obtaining abortion services," the average for which is 7.6 days. A highly recommended read.

Welp: "Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for [Donald Trump's campaign chair Paul] Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych's pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine's newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials." Naturally, Manafort denies it.

Eric Boehlert: "How Clinton Emails Became the New Whitewater: A 'Scandal' in Search of a Crime. ...Today, the only lynch pin still holding this non-story together is the media's beloved 'optics': the story doesn't look good. The story has 'raise[d] questions.' You know what else 'raise[d] questions'? The fact that in 2013 Donald Trump wrote a $25,000 check to help reelect Florida Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi just six days after her office announced it was reviewing allegations of fraud against the Trump University enterprise. After the generous check arrived, the Florida attorney general said the state wasn't going to investigate Trump University. That's a political access story worthy of extraordinarily focus and coverage. But few news organizations seem interested: Since that story broke in June, The Washington Post and New York Times have published just a handful of articles noting Trump's convenient $25,000 donation to Bondi, according to Nexis. By contrast, since June the Times and Post have published more than 200 Clinton email stories."

[CN: Misogynist slur, but used positively] RuPaul's endorsement of Hillary Clinton is pretty terrific: "If you're a politician—not just in Washington but in business and industry, you have to be a politician—there are a lot of things that you have to do that you're not proud of. There are a lot of compromises you have to make because it means that you can get this other thing over here. And if you think that you can go to fucking Washington and be rainbows and butterflies the whole time, you're living in a fucking fantasy world. So now, having said that, think about what a female has to do with that: All of those compromises, all of that shit, double it by ten. And you get to understand who this woman is and how powerful, persuasive, brilliant, and resilient she is. Any female executive, anybody who has been put to the side—women, blacks, gays—for them to succeed in a white-male-dominated culture is an act of brilliance. Of resilience, of grit, of everything you can imagine. So, what do I think of Hillary? I think she's fucking awesome. Is she in bed with Wall Street? Goddammit, I should hope so! You've got to dance with the devil. So which of the horrible people do you want? That's more of the question. Do you want a pompous braggart who doesn't know anything about diplomacy? Or do you want a badass bitch who knows how to get shit done? That's really the question."

Umm. "Ivanka Trump on Sunday took an afternoon of her family vacation in Croatia to walk through the scenic city of Dubrovnik with Wendi Deng Murdoch. Deng, who was divorced from Rupert Murdoch in 2013 and who has been linked romantically to Russian strongman Vladimir Putin in recent months, was pictured in an Instagram photo alongside the GOP nominee's daughter posted to Trump's account."

RIP Fyvush Finkel: "Fyvush Finkel, a longtime bastion of Yiddish theatre and actor who appeared on the stage of vaudeville, Broadway, television and film, died Sunday at his Manhattan home. He was 93." My condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, and fans.

[CN: Bugs; image of cockroaches at link] Good grief—like the heat isn't bad enough on its own: "Apparently, a delightful side effect of New York City in the summertime is that it's the perfect weather for inspiring American Cockroaches to take flight, experts said. 'In hot steam tunnels, something with the temperature and the humidity encourages them to fly,' said Ken Schumann, an entomologist at Bell Environmental Services. 'When it's warm and steamy that seems to be what they like.' The American Museum of Natural History's resident bug expert, Louis Sorkin, added that 'with more heat they have more use of their muscles.'"

And finally! An adorable "swimming" chihuahua! LOL!