Greetings, Persephoneers. We have a varied roundup of news stories this week, but still quite a bit about police misconduct. Let’s get started, and we’ll end on an up-note, I promise.
The Senate Intelligence Committee finally confirmed what we long knew: The CIA tortures people.
Daniel Pantaleo, the police officer who was not indicted in the choke-hold death of Eric Brown, has a history of violating the constitutional rights of black citizens. He has been sued on three previous occasions for this misconduct.
A federal investigation reveals widespread, systemic violence used by the Cleveland Police Department. In other words, the killing of Tamir Rice is not an isolated incident.
Gawker has a list of unarmed people of color who have been killed by police since 1999.
It’s not all miscarriages of justice, I guess: South Carolina has indicted three police officers in the past four months.
In other human rights news:
Here are the hardest places to live in the U.S., and once you manage to no longer live in poverty, that doesn’t mean the old scars and habits disappear.
The U.N. has declared that abortion rights are human rights, which is a step in the right direction.
The International Olympic Committee added a non-discrimination clause to their rules protecting gay, lesbian, and bisexual athletes. The rules have yet to include protections for transgender people, but it’s progress.
In better news: Janet Mock has raised over $9000 for books that will be sent to transgender prisoners.
And MSNBC gave Rachel Maddow a title bump to News Anchor.
That post you saw floating around the interwubs about Michigan passing a law that would let emergency personnel discriminate against LGBT people is only partially true. Let’s hope it doesn’t stick.
This goes beyond a simple case of Design Fail: Hallmark somehow managed to sell Hanukkah wrapping paper with swastikas in the design. After a customer noticed and alerted the company, they apologized and pulled the wrapping paper from stores.
R.I.P.
Ralph Baer, the man who created the world’s first video game system, died this week at age 92. His creation was called Brown Box, which would later be sold as the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972.
Brian Goble, frontman for the band Subhumans, died from a heart attack at age 57. Goble, who sometimes performed under the names “Wimpy Roy” and “Sunny Boy Roy,” also performed in various Vancouver-based punk bands.
In Other News:
Not so fast on that whole “Jack the Ripper case solved” thing. Always be suspicious when the main source for a story is the Daily Mail.
Grumpy Cat has apparently earned over $100 million. There better be some premium cat treats for that indulgent animal, at the very least.
And finally… The BBC is in talks to develop a theme park that will feature Doctor Who, Sherlock, and Top Gear.
Well, that won’t rake in piles of cash or anything…
See you next time, friends.
3 replies on “Friday News Bites: Police Misconduct, Human Rights + More”
How can these HUGE companies still go ‘oopsie woopsie nobody noticed this cock up’? Come on now, how many people look at it?
I don’t know. I saw it right away, but it took the mister a minute to notice them in the design. A design team full of people like him? I guess?
I’ve looked at that story five times trying to figure it out, and I’ve only just now seen it. I was looking at the white spaces, not the blue lines.