That Wikipedia has been systematically aggregating data on people killed by American police agencies from jurisdictions all over the country was completely unknown to me quite until recently.
Riot police withdraw as ‘Umbrella Revolution’ grows in Hong Kong
ALJAZEERA: …Riot police withdrew from the extraordinary scene of clashes that erupted the evening before, and the government asked the student-led protesters to disperse peacefully. But the protesters — whose use of umbrellas, plastic wrap and other improvised defenses against tear gas has led some to dub their movement the Umbrella Revolution — remained camped […]
US poised to become world’s leading liquid petroleum producer
FINANCIAL TIMES: …With US production continuing to boom, its output is set to exceed Saudi Arabia’s this month or next for the first time since 1991. Riyadh has stressed that the rise of the US should not detract from its own critical role in oil markets. It says it has the ability to increase its […]
Joseph D. McNamara, Father of Community Policing, Dies at 79
NEW YORK TIMES: ….Mr. McNamara, who headed police departments in San Jose, Calif., from 1976 to 1991, and in Kansas City, Mo., for three years in the ’70s, was known for the farsighted policies he implemented and for his iconoclastic outspokenness on law enforcement topics, often decades ahead of the pack. Since the 1980s, he […]
Factory construction boosts economy
USA TODAY: … A 12.6% surge in spending on non-residential structures — notably new and expanding factories — was a big reason for last week’s upward revision of second quarter economic growth. The Commerce Department said the economy expanded at a 4.6% annual rate, up from its previous 4.2% estimate and the strongest growth in […]
Hong Kong: Protesters defiant amid stand-off
BBC: Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters are blocking Hong Kong’s streets, shutting down its business hub and ignoring appeals to leave. The demonstrations have spread to other areas including a shopping district and a residential area. Riot police withdrew on Monday after overnight clashes in which they used batons and fired volleys of tear […]
Former Congressman Jim Traficant: one-of-a-kind
Traficant strode on stage in his cowboy boots, skinny tie, far out-of-style polyester suit and a “bouffant mound of hair that seemed to defy gravity,” as Matt Schudel of the Washington Post wrote. For nearly two hours, he answered questions, took heat and promised to fight for the employees.
HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS
“Pa. attorney general’s office was stuck in a sexist time-warp: Editorial” goes on to huff:
“Reading that, knowing it was being circulated on state time, among people in the agency that is supposed to enforce state laws and put bad guys like Jerry Sandusky away, should blow the dials off any thinking person’s outrage meter.
Trial over AIG bailout set to open Monday
USA TODAY: … Starr International, the investment firm of former AIG CEO Maurice Greenberg, 89, alleges in the lawsuit that the government broke the law by taking control of AIG as part of the bailout… Government lawyers deny the Court of Federal Claims allegations. They contend Starr lacks legal standing to bring the case on […]
Christie rallies GOP troops for Corbett
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Gov. Christie’s travels brought him closer to home Friday night when he stopped in the Harrisburg area to exhort Pennsylvania Republicans to ramp up their efforts to reelect Gov. Corbett. In his 25-minute keynote speech at the Pennsylvania GOP’s Fall Meeting, Christie used humor, anger, and Jersey-style threats to rouse more than 600 […]
Control of state Senate up for grabs
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: …Democrats are hoping Gov. Tom Corbett’s unpopularity in recent polls, combined with several contests in the eastern part of the state that might be more favorable to Democratic candidates, will translate to Democratic wins in November
Putin turns to from Europe to China. Will China turn on Russia?
“We are enabling China to exploit our gold and silver deposits, strategic raw materials of tungsten, molybdenum, copper and vanadium. It’s all will come back to Russia in the form of tanks, planes, missiles. The housing built by Chinese in Siberia will be used in future by Chinese citizens. Because China comes here strong and forever.”
Where political activism is unlikely to succeed
Support for most issues bundled into the War on Drugs had support a mile wide and a quarter of an inch thick. It took a couple of decades of informing the pubic, but over time and bombardment of factual information, national attitudes changed.
California Defelonization Initiative Appears Poised for Victory
The initiative would attempt to address the state’s chronic over-incarceration problems by moving six low-level, nonviolent crimes from felony/wobblers to misdemeanors. A “wobbler” is an offense that can be charged as either a felony or misdemeanor. Among the included offenses is simple drug possession. (The others include shoplifting under $950, check forgery under $950, and petty theft or receipt of stolen property under $950.)