Shakesville: Michael Brown

Showing posts with label Michael Brown. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Michael Brown. Show all posts

"We can never forget this."

[Content Note: White supremacy; police brutality; death.]

Today is the three-year anniversary of Michael Brown being fatally shot in the street by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, whom a grand jury refused to indict for the killing.

Breanna Edwards at the Root: 'This Is Ground Zero': Ferguson, Mo., Remembers Mike Brown on 3rd Anniversary of His Killing.

On Tuesday night, more than two dozen people gathered near the spot where Michael Brown Jr. was gunned down three years ago on Aug. 9, 2014, to mourn and remember the 18-year-old whose life was taken from him and to reconstruct a makeshift memorial in the spot where he died.

"We can never forget this," activist Meldon Moffitt told a group of residents and other community activists as they stood on the site. "This is ground zero."

Brown's death sparked months of protests and served as the catalyst to the Black Lives Matter movement.

...Moffitt has been a part of the demonstrations at the site where Brown was killed since the beginning, and he laments that despite all the cries of protest and demands for change, not much has changed.

"Where are the police and politicians tonight?" he said. "If they cared about the community, about making a difference, they would be here with us. They're a part of this, too."

Systems of oppression and violence cannot change unless people change — and it can't just be the people who are targeted for harm by those systems. It must be the people who enforce them. And the people of privilege who abet them, consciously and actively or via indifference.

It isn't enough for the powerful and privileged to remember. We must take action.

3 years ago, we went to the streets & stayed there for over 300 days because the Ferguson PD killed #MikeBrown. He should be alive today.
— deray mckesson (@deray) August 9, 2017

We owe it to #MikeBrown to dismantle systems/structures that harm people & to build systems/structures of equity & justice. Do the work.
— deray mckesson (@deray) August 9, 2017

Do the work.

In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Police force; sexual assault; racism; video may autoplay at link] AP: "Federal report blasts Baltimore police over bias, force." Federal report confirms what Black people have been saying about their lived experiences for decades, but has been ignored because we don't regard marginalized people as authorities on their own lives. Don't get me wrong: This report is necessary so that meaningful changes can be implemented. Still. It is horrifying and infuriating that it took so long for officials to listen. The Washington Post has excerpts from the report, and they are deeply troubling and rage-making and difficult, but important, to read.

[CN: Police brutality; death] Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of Michael Brown being killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri. I highly recommend this October 2015 piece by Sarah Kendzior: "Ferguson in Focus." And, at Colorlines, Akiba Solomon has a Q&A with Marc Lamont Hill on "Michael Brown, Imperfect Victims, and Getting Past Survival Mode."

[CN: Racial wealth gap] Goddamn: "The wealth gap between blacks and whites in America will take hundreds of years to close—if ever. If current trends persist, it will take 228 years for black families to accumulate the same amount of wealth as whites, according to a report released this week from the Corporation for Economic Development and the Institute for Policy Studies. For Latino families, it will take 84 years. Over the past 30 years, the average household wealth of white families has grown 85% to $656,000, while that of blacks has climbed just 27% to $85,000 and Latinos 69% to $98,000. 'We're seeing wealth concentrating in fewer and fewer hands and those hands are overwhelmingly white,' said Josh Hoxie, who leads the project on opportunity and taxation at the Institute for Policy Studies."

[CN: Police shooting; death] How the hell did this happen? "A 73-year old woman was killed during a police community seminar on Tuesday in Punta Gorda, Florida, during a routine training exercise. Mary Knowlton was taking part in a police-hosted informational meeting by the Punta Gorda police academy, when she was fatally shot during an exercise that was supposed to simulate a hypothetical crisis situation. The 'shoot/don't shoot' scenario—a demonstration that was part of a two-hour-long citizens' police academy event—is intended give guidance about how police determine when to use lethal force in a potentially deadly, real-world confrontation. ...It is not clear why a loaded weapon was used in the exercise, given that such demonstrations are often conducted with fake or unloaded weapons." Incompetence? Carelessness? Indifference?

[CN: Street harassment] "You can now call into a hotline and talk to someone about your experience with street harassment, in the same way as you might call a national hotline to turn to someone for support after a sexual assault. The organization Stop Street Harassment has partnered with Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) and Defend Yourself to create the first-ever national street harassment hotline. The phone hotline launched last month and the online hotline, which you can find on the SSH website, launched on Wednesday. The new tool is evidence of how much the conversation around street harassment has recently changed—from one that accepts harassment as a fact of life (mostly for women) to one that challenges the assumption that harassment is simply an inevitable and harmless part of life."

[CN: Homophobia] Seethe: "Female athletes at the Olympic games in Rio are being taunted by crowds chanting 'bicha,' a homophobic slur comparable to 'faggot.' According to the LA Times, journalists said it was the first time they heard 'bicha' being used at a women's game in Brazil. During the opening games of the soccer tournament on August 3rd, fans on the sidelines chanted the slur—often used during men's soccer in Brazil—directed at Australian keeper Lydia Williams, Canadian goalie Stephanie Labbe, and other players."

Submitted without comment: "Bernie Sanders now has one thing in common with the millionaires and billionaires and other 1 percenters he so frequently attacked on the campaign trail: he now owns his very own summer home. Vermont magazine Seven Days reported Tuesday that the 74-year-old senator and his wife, Jane Sanders, have purchased a four-bedroom house on the shore of Lake Champlain for roughly $600,000. Jane told Seven Days that they had recently sold a house in Maine that had belonged to her family since the 1900s, and used the proceeds to purchase the new property, which is located in North Hero (population 803, as of the 2010 census). With this purchase, Sanders now owns at least three houses, the others being in Burlington, VT, and Capitol Hill in D.C."

Whoa: "Surviving in the wilderness of space takes more than a sleeping bag and a packet of wet wipes, and so to explore how humanity can stay alive in the cold dark beyond, NASA is canvassing designs for new deep space habitats. The agency's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program ask private companies to build ground-based prototypes of various modules, meeting a number of criteria from basic life support to fire safety tech and radiation mitigation. ...NASA is hoping these habitats will eventually be part of its crewed mission to Mars in the 2030s, an ambition that has occupied the space agency for the last six years."

And finally! This is wonderful: "A missing Kansas City dog was recently reunited with her family largely thanks to herself. ...Tabitha was safe and being cared for by a family who believed she didn't have a home. As fate would have it, the woman caring for her had the news on when this story aired, and Tabitha heard it. She started going bonkers, responding to Kelly's description of how she called for Tabitha. The woman knew instantly because of the dog's reaction and her photos that this was definitely Tabitha. The temporary caregiver contacted the Schaefers and a reunion was soon underway." ♥

In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Death penalty; disablism; descriptions of violence at link] "Ernest Lee Johnson is scheduled to die on Tuesday for the 1994 killing of three convenience store workers in Missouri. He would be the 26th person executed in the US this year and the seventh in Missouri. Only Texas, with 12, has performed more executions. ...Johnson grew up in a troubled home and his attorney, Jeremy Weis, said his IQ was measured at 63 while still in elementary school." Additionally, Johnson has had significant brain surgery that puts him at risk for "a violent and painful seizure upon injection." End the death penalty now.

USians are becoming less religious, but many of the people who are still religious are becoming even more so: "An extensive new survey of more than 35,000 U.S. adults finds that the percentages who say they believe in God, pray daily and regularly go to church or other religious services all have declined modestly in recent years. ...The share of U.S. adults who say they believe in God, while still remarkably high by comparison with other advanced industrial countries, has declined modestly, from approximately 92% to 89%, since Pew Research Center conducted its first Landscape Study in 2007.1 The share of Americans who say they are 'absolutely certain' God exists has dropped more sharply, from 71% in 2007 to 63% in 2014. And the percentages who say they pray every day, attend religious services regularly, and consider religion to be very important in their lives also have ticked down by small but statistically significant margins. ...Among the roughly three-quarters of U.S. adults who do claim a religion, there has been no discernible drop in most measures of religious commitment. Indeed, by some conventional measures, religiously affiliated Americans are, on average, even more devout than they were a few years ago."

[CN: Police brutality; guns; racism; video may autoplay at link] "Hillary Clinton met Monday with a collection of parents whose African-American children have died in shootings at a local Chicago cafe, discussing their loss and outlining her criminal justice reform and gun control plans. The two-hour gathering included the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice. All African-American women who lost their young children in shootings, the group formed a 'motherhood' in the wake of their losses. ...According to the women, Clinton did not make any explicit promises to them, but did pledge to stay engaged in their causes and work on criminal justice reform. All of them women described the meeting as productive and said Clinton appeared earnest and trustworthy. 'She is a mother and she is a woman and I felt she understood where we were coming from,' said Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice. 'It doesn't matter what color we are, I felt that she really understand where we are coming from.' ...Clinton tweeted about the meeting afterward, saying that she was 'grateful to spend time today with mothers who have lost a child to violence and turned their grief into a national call to action.'" Please, Maude, whoever becomes the next president, do something meaningful for these women; do something so that their 'motherhood' has no new members. Blub.

[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Ben Carson is now the GOP front runner, according to the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll: "Ben Carson has surged into the lead of the Republican presidential race, getting support from 29 percent of GOP primary voters... Carson's 29 percent is followed by Donald Trump at 23 percent, Marco Rubio at 11 percent, Ted Cruz at 10 percent, and Jeb Bush at 8 percent."

Meanwhile, Larry Lessig has ended his joke of a presidential campaign. Okay.

Senator Al Franken is getting serious about Democrats taking back the Senate majority. GOOD!

[CN: Transphobia] "Federal education authorities, staking out their firmest position yet on an increasingly contentious issue, found Monday that an Illinois school district violated anti-discrimination laws when it did not allow a transgender student who identifies as a girl and participates on a girls' sports team to change and shower in the girls' locker room without restrictions. ...The Education Department gave 30 days to the officials of Township High School District 211 to reach a solution or face enforcement, which could include administrative law proceedings or a Justice Department court action. The district could lose some or all of its Title IX funding." They claim to care so much about protecting (cis) girls that they're willing to risk their Title IX funding to defend a transphobic policy. Cool priorities.

(And just because this can't be said enough: If you claim to care about girls, but exclude trans girls, then you don't care about girls. You care about cis privilege.)

[CN: Racism] Planes, trains, and automobiles: "A discussion about an overbooked seat led to six black passengers being kicked off a Spirit Airlines plane at Los Angeles International Airport Monday, and those passengers are claiming discrimination. According to CBS News Los Angeles, a flight attendant asked a couple to change seats because the airline had overbooked. Witnesses say the couple told the attendant that asking them to move was unfair because they'd done nothing wrong. The flight attendant reportedly called the police to have the couple escorted off the plane. When some passengers protested the couple's treatment, the flight attendant asked police to remove them from the plane, too." For fuck's sake.

Twitter has replaced favorite stars with like hearts. Oh.

Neat! "Rare Omura's whale caught on camera for the first time ever."

YES: "Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller says 'we'll definitely see more' of Tom Hardy in the film's sequels. But, no Mel Gibson." That is a perfect calculation thank you.

LOVE: "Man Built Custom Kayak So He Could Take His Dogs on Adventures." Obviously!

Ferguson

[Content Note: Police brutality; racism.]

Yesterday in Ferguson, a day of peaceful protest marking the one-year anniversary of the police killing of Michael Brown came to an end when police allege an 18-year-old black protester named Tyrone Harris shot at plainclothes detectives in an SUV and police shot back, critically injuring Harris, who is now out of surgery and fighting for his life.

Tyrone Harris identified the victim as his son, Tyrone Harris Jr., 18, of St. Louis. Harris said shortly after 3 a.m. that his son had just gotten out of surgery.

He said his son graduated from Normandy High School and that he and Michael Brown Jr. "were real close."

"We think there's a lot more to this than what's being said," Harris Sr. said.

...Belmar said two groups of people exchanged gunfire on the west side of West Florissant Avenue at the same time the shooting took place, about 11 p.m. Shots were heard for 40-50 seconds, Belmar said. "It was a remarkable amount of gunfire," he said.

The people doing the shooting "were criminals," Belmar said. "They were not protesters."

Investigators recovered a 9 mm Sig Sauer that had been stolen in Cape Girardeau, Belmar said.

Protesters had blocked West Florissant Avenue north of Ferguson Avenue, and the detectives were tracking a man they believed was armed, along with several of his acquaintances, whom they also thought were armed.

In a chaotic scene, police officers, reporters and protesters ran for cover. People sprinted across the street and dived behind parked cars.

The four detectives, who have six to 12 years of experience, will be placed on administrative leave, a standard practice after a police-involved shooting. They were not wearing body cameras, Belmar said.

A coalition calling itself the Ferguson Action Council criticized St. Louis County for putting plainclothes officers without body cameras in Ferguson. The coalition includes the Don't Shoot Coalition, Hands Up United, Organization for Black Struggle and others. In a news release Monday morning, the coalition said in part: "After a year of protest and conversation around police accountability, having plain clothes officers without body cameras and proper identification in the protest setting leaves us with only the officer's account of the incident, which is clearly problematic."

That is indeed problematic. Further, police threatened to arrest protesters and told "those gathered by Canfield that they needed to disperse or police could use 'chemical munitions' against them. Smoke bombs appeared to be fired at about 2 a.m."

This is just intolerable.

What we have seen a year on in Ferguson is that things haven't changed, not because people are not passionately advocating for change, but because the people holding the institutional power are not listening, are not inclined to yield any of that power—which is the only way that meaningful change can happen.

In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Domestic violence] Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy has been suspended for 10 games following an investigation after Hardy's domestic violence case was dismissed in North Carolina state court. I like (ahem) how he was suspended because his "conduct [was] detrimental to the league." THE LEAGUE. "Detrimental to the league" essentially translates to: He wasn't suspended for committing domestic violence, but because it made the papers.

[CN: Police brutality; stalking; racism] The Baltimore police officer who chased Freddie Gray, who later died in police custody, has a history of violence and intimidation. "Lieutenant Brian Rice was ordered to stay away from the man [who sought a restraining order] after a series of alleged confrontations, including one armed standoff that led to a 911 call and officers from two police departments spending 90 minutes defusing the situation, according to court filings. 'I am seeking protection immediately,' the man wrote to a court in Carroll County, Maryland, in January 2013. He alleged Rice's behaviour had caused him 'to have constant fear for my personal safety' and a 'fear of imminent harm or death from Brian Rice.'" Whyyyyyy was this asshole still on the job?! (That question is, of course, rhetorical.)

[CN: Police brutality; racism] Michael Brown's family is suing the city of Ferguson: "The family of Michael Brown plans to file a civil lawsuit against the city of Ferguson, Mo., for his death last summer. Members of Brown's family will announce the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit on Thursday at the St. Louis County courthouse, attorneys for the Brown family said Wednesday night." There will be people who make all kinds of gross accusations against this family about attention- and money-seeking, without a single shred of regard that they were denied accountability by the criminal courts.

Clinton charities will have to refile tax returns: "Hillary Clinton's family's charities are refiling at least five annual tax returns after a Reuters review found errors in how they reported donations from governments, and said they may audit other Clinton Foundation returns in case of other errors. ...The charities' errors generally take the form of under-reporting or over-reporting, by millions of dollars, donations from foreign governments, or in other instances omitting to break out government donations entirely when reporting revenue, the charities confirmed to Reuters. ...The unsettled numbers on the tax returns are not evidence of wrongdoing but tend to undermine the 990s role as a form of public accountability, experts in charity law and transparency advocates interview told Reuters."

A vaccination bill in California may, if passed, influence vaccination laws across the nation: "Vaccine laws across the nation may be toughened, observers say, if California passes a fervently debated bill that would strip parents' rights to exempt kids from immunizations based on personal beliefs. A potential end to California's opt-out provision gained ground Wednesday when the state senate's education committee voted 7-2 to require full vaccinations for almost all public school students. ...'Other states will be looking carefully at the California experience if this goes through,' said Dr. Eric Kodish, director of the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Ethics, Humanities and Spiritual Care. 'If they become a place where, as I would predict, fewer children get sick and die, it's something other states would want to look at.'"

[CN: Class warfare; environmental contamination] Every person in this country should have the right to safe drinking water: "Sherry Gobble has been wary of drinking the tap water in her neighborhood for more than a year. 'I feel like I've become very suspicious of all water,' she told ThinkProgress in November. 'When I go to a friend's house, and they offer coffee or tea, I don't drink it because I don't know where it came from.' On Monday, her fears were confirmed. Nineteen households and a church in her community of Dukeville, North Carolina were sent letters by the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) warning them not to drink or cook with well water due to elevated levels of toxic heavy metals, the Associated Press reported. Like Gobble's home, each is located within a quarter mile of a coal ash pond owned by Duke Energy."

[CN: Fat hatred; death] Fat hatred kills: "A 21-year-old woman died recently after she ingested diet pills made with an 'extremely dangerous' industrial chemical. On April 12, Eloise Aimee Parry of Shrewsbury, England, took eight diet pills containing dinitrophenol or DNP, according to a statement from her mom, Fiona Parry, released Monday by the West Mercia Police. The pills were purchased online. 'She had taken even more of these 'slimming tablets' than recommended on the pack and had no idea just how dangerous they really were,' Fiona Parry said." My condolences to Eloise's family and friends.

[CN: Anti-feminism; misogyny] Soraya Chemaly with "50 Reasons Everyone Is Now an 'Offensive' Feminist," in response to an eighth-grade girl having her t-shirt reading "feminist" censored in the class photo.

Stunning: "The Hubble Space Telescope has celebrated its silver anniversary with a picture featuring a spectacular vista of young stars blazing across a dense cloud of gas and dust. The 'Westerlund 2' cluster of stars is located about 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Carina." Happy Birthday, Hubble!

Mattel has announced a new line of female action figures: "The toymaker announced today that it is partnering with DC Comics and Warner Bros. to launch a new franchise centered on teenage female superheroes. The initial lineup will include heroes such as Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Batgirl, as well as prominent female villains, including Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn (both of Batman fame)." Also in the line-up: Bumble Bee and Katana!

And finally! This is one the cutest rescue/adoption stories ever: A kitten left in a mailbox is rescued and eventually adopted by—wait for it!—a retired mail carrier. "Dan Shaw says, 'I took one look at her and I knew right away that I wanted her.'" Blub!

Justice Department Investigation Finds Pattern of Police Bias in Ferguson, MO

[Content Note: Police brutality; racism.]

Although a separate investigation by the US Department of Justice is expected to find no civil rights violations against Officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, last year (much like the investigation into George Zimmerman's shooting of Trayvon Martin), the simultaneous investigation into the Ferguson Police Department, by whom Wilson was employed, has found a pattern of bias and excessive force:

Police officers in Ferguson, Mo., have routinely violated the constitutional rights of the city's black residents, the Justice Department has concluded in a scathing report that accuses the officers of using excessive force and making unjustified traffic stops for years.

The Justice Department, which opened its investigation after a white Ferguson police officer shot and killed a black teenager last summer, says the discrimination was fueled in part by racial stereotypes held by city officials. Investigators say the officials made racist jokes about blacks on their city email accounts.

...The report's findings were summarized by a federal law enforcement official. The full report is expected to be released on Wednesday.

...Ferguson officials now face the choice of either negotiating a settlement with the Justice Department or potentially being sued by it on charges of violating the Constitution.

In compiling the report, federal investigators conducted hundreds of interviews, reviewed 35,000 pages of police records and analyzed race data compiled for every police stop. They concluded that, over the past two years, African-Americans — who make up about two-thirds of the city's population — accounted for 85 percent of traffic stops, 90 percent of citations, 93 percent of arrests and 88 percent of cases in which the police used force.

Black motorists were twice as likely as whites to be searched but were less likely to be found in possession of contraband such as drugs or guns.

The findings reinforce what the city's African-American residents have been saying publicly for the past year: that years of discrimination and mistrust created the volatile environment that erupted after Mr. Brown's shooting.

Now the question is: Is this official finding, which reflects the reported lived experiences of Ferguson's black community, going to be a catalyst for meaningful and lasting change, for something that looks even a little bit like justice, or will the Ferguson Police Department and the entrenched powers which have underwritten and abetted its patterns of abuse merely take this report and use it to justify greater attempts to conceal the same ugly dynamic?

I fervently hope for the former, and fear the latter. I am honestly not sure that meaningful and lasting change can happen within a system to which this sort of racist abuse is not a bug but a feature.

But I hope I'm wrong. I really do.

In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Terrorism; war] The fight against Boko Haram intensifies: "Nigerian forces have killed more than 300 Boko Haram fighters during an operation to recapture 11 towns and villages since the start of the week, the military said on Wednesday, as its war increasingly sucked in neighbors Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. The latest fighting comes as the tide has appeared to turn against Boko Haram, with neighboring countries plagued by cross-border attacks weighing in against the insurgents. Amid growing global concern, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Benin are preparing a 8,700-strong force to fight the Islamists." It continues to be incredible to me how little attention this multi-nation war is getting in Western media.

[CN: Terrorism; war] In President Obama's much-discussed op-ed on "Our Fight Against Violent Extremism," Boko Haram gets just a single sentence. The whole thing is worth a read, all the same. It's important for the US President to say things like: "In the face of this challenge, we must stand united internationally and here at home. We know that military force alone cannot solve this problem."

[CN: Police brutality; racism] Outgoing US Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice Department's investigation into Officer Darren Wilson's fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, is nearly complete: "My hope is, as I said, is that we will do this before I leave office, and I'm confident that we will do that... The reviews are under way. I was briefed on both of them, just last week, and I'm satisfied with the progress we have made and also comfortable in saying that I am going to be able to make those calls before I leave office." I fear that we're not going to like the outcome, and I hope I am wrong about that. But, again, the burden of proof for federal charges requires the establishment of intent, and I don't think they're going to find that here.

Good news in the fight against HIV/AIDS: "Scientists said Wednesday a new drug tested on monkeys provided an astonishingly effective shield against an animal version of the AIDS virus, a major gain in the quest for an HIV vaccine. ...The prototype drug, called eCD4-Ig, comprises two imitations of the receptors, or docking points, where HIV latches on to CD4 cells—the key defences of the immune cells. The mimics latch on to the virus, tricking it into prematurely launching the docking procedure. The virus can only execute the procedure once, rendering it unable to attach to CD4 cells thereafter."

[CN: Sexual harassment] Vice President Joe Biden has, once again, "gotten handsy" with a woman in public, this time the wife of recently confirmed Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, during his swearing in ceremony. We're always meant to understand "that's just how he is," but that is unacceptable no matter who the fuck is doing it. And it's truly embarrassing to me as a US woman that neither our presidents nor our vice-presidents seem to understand that.

Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, son of former president George H.W. Bush and brother of former president George W. Bush, wants us to know that "I love my father and my brother. I admire their service to the nation and the difficult decisions they had to make. But I am my own man—and my views are shaped by my own thinking and own experiences." You know, I respect that. Now I hope that Jeb Bush will afford the same respect to women who want to make choices which are shaped by our own thinking and own experiences. Ha ha he won't!

[CN: Christian supremacy] I don't even know: "An Oklahoma bill banning Advanced Placement U.S. History would also require schools to instruct students in a long list of 'foundational documents,' including the Ten Commandments, two sermons, and three speeches by Ronald Reagan." For fuck's sake.

[CN: Misogyny; harassment; assault] Keira Knightley talks a bit about what it was like to navigate the aggressive paparazzi in the early days of her career: "Having 20 to 30 men who you don't know on a 24-hour surveillance outside your house calling you a 'whore' every time you leave the door to try to get a reaction from you is quite a difficult thing to deal with... You'd walk down he street and you'd have men trying to get under your skirt to take pictures up your skirt and all the time calling you a 'whore' or all the time spitting at you or all the time trying to get a reaction from the guy you were with because it would make the price of that photograph quadruple." This should not be legal the end.

Neat! "Engineers in the UK have found that limpets' teeth consist of the strongest biological material ever tested. Limpets use a tongue bristling with tiny teeth to scrape food off rocks and into their mouths, often swallowing particles of rock in the process. The teeth are made of a mineral-protein composite, which the researchers tested in tiny fragments in the laboratory. They found it was stronger than spider silk, as well as all but the very strongest of man-made materials." Wow.

Do you want to nominate a dog for the American Humane Association's 2015 Hero Dog Awards? Then get busy, because the nominations are officially open!

Report: No Federal Charges for Darren Wilson

[Content Note: Racism; police brutality.]

This is not surprising, but it is incredibly disappointing and infuriating:

The Justice Department has begun work on a legal memo recommending no civil rights charges against a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., who killed an unarmed black teenager in August, law enforcement officials said.

That would close the politically charged case in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The investigation by the F.B.I., which is complete, found no evidence to support civil rights charges against the officer, Darren Wilson, the officials said.

...The state authorities concluded their investigation into Mr. Brown's death in November and similarly recommended no charges.

There is a high legal bar for bringing federal civil rights charges, and federal investigators had for months signaled that they were unlikely to do so. The Justice Department plans to release a report explaining its decision, though it is not clear when.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., has said that he plans to have it done before leaving office, probably in the next month or two if his successor is confirmed.

No official decision has been made, but it doesn't look good.

Black lives matter. Black lives have to matter to people in positions of power, to people empowered with making decisions about which lives matter under the law.

Quote of the Day

"The lawsuit claims that evidence was presented to the grand jury in a manner markedly different than in previous cases heard by the same grand jury, with the 'insinuation' that Brown was the 'wrongdoer' rather than Wilson."—From a Reuters article on the lawsuit brought by Grand Juror Doe against St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch, who the juror alleges misrepresented the case against Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Ferguson teenager Michael Brown.

The suit argues that state laws prohibiting the grand juror from talking about the case are unconstitutional. Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Missouri, said the Brown case is an important public policy issue and the grand juror should be allowed to speak about the proceedings.

After the Nov. 24 announcement by McCulloch that the grand jury decided not to indict Wilson, and the release by McCulloch of evidence presented, some critics accused the prosecutor of unfairly skewing the process in favor of the police officer.

A spokesman said McCulloch had no comment on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that evidence was presented to the grand jury in a manner markedly different than in previous cases heard by the same grand jury, with the "insinuation" that Brown was the "wrongdoer" rather than Wilson.

It also claims the prosecutor's office presented applicable laws to grand jurors "in a muddled and untimely manner" unlike presentations in other cases.

The grand juror also contends that McCulloch's public statements about the decision not to indict were not "entirely accurate," including the "implication that all grand jurors believed that there was no support for any charges," the lawsuit stated.

Two things: 1. McCulloch should be out of a job. Period. 2. There is no double jeopardy attached to a failure to indict. Conceivably, another prosecutor could bring the case to another grand jury, and Wilson could still be indicted for the crime. That is not likely, but it is possible. He was not acquitted; he was simply not charged.

Quote of the Day

[Content Note: Police bruality; racism.]

"Clearly some were not telling the truth."—St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch, admitting that some of the witnesses who appeared before the grand jury tasked with deciding whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson, who killed Michael Brown, lied during their testimony. McCulloch also noted that he would not be pursuing charges against any of the witnesses who lied under oath.

This would be bad enough, except that McCulloch says it doesn't matter, and he would have let them testify anyway:

In his first extensive interview since the grand jury decided not to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, McCulloch said he had no regrets about letting grand jury members hear from non-credible witnesses.

"Early on I decided that anyone who claimed to have witnessed anything would be presented to the grand jury," McCulloch said. He added that he would've been criticized no matter his decision.

Which is basically his saying that he would have been criticized by people who don't actually care about the truth if all he did was put on the stand witnesses who failed utterly to support Wilson's bullshit version of events, because they aren't liars.

So, you know, extend a little compassion for the poor man who might have had to hear criticisms from white supremacists if he'd actually done his fucking job.

[H/T to Adam Serwer.]

In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Racism; death] Franchesca Ramsey, aka chescaleigh, reflects upon the Ferguson grand jury decision and black lives mattering in a very good and very sad video: "To Mike Brown on My 31st Birthday." H/T to Shaker aforalpha.

[CN: Racism; police brutality] The St. Louis Police Officers Association is pissed off because five St. Louis Rams players—Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, Chris Givens, Kenny Britt, and Jared Cook, all of whom are black men—walked onto the field Sunday "during pre-game introductions with their hands raised above their heads in the 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' pose that has become a fixture of the protests that followed the police killing of teenager Michael Brown in August. ...Now, the St. Louis Police Officers Association wants the NFL to take action against the players, saying in a statement that it was 'profoundly disappointed with the members of the St. Louis Rams football team who chose to ignore the mountains of evidence released from the St. Louis County Grand Jury this week and engage in a display that police officers around the nation found tasteless, offensive. and inflammatory.'" Shut the fuck up. Just shut. the fuck. up.

[CN: Misogynist terrorism; violence; death] RIP Tuğçe Albayrak: "Thousands of German citizens are mourning a 23-year-old student who was murdered for sticking up for two teenage girls getting sexually harassed by a group of men. ...Earlier this month, Tuğçe Albayrak heard the screams of two girls being harassed in a McDonald's bathroom in the city of Offenbach. She confronted their attackers, allowing the teens to escape the situation. But later, in the parking lot of the fast food restaurant, the same men attacked her and allegedly beat her with a baseball bat—an assault that was captured on grainy video footage. Albayrak suffered a traumatic brain injury from the blows to her head, and has been in a coma for the past two weeks. After doctors told her parents that she would never recover from her injuries, they chose to take her off of life support on Friday. It was her 23rd birthday." Sob.

[CN: Sexual assault; rape culture] Jian Ghomeshi, who was arrested and charged last Wednesday with with four counts of sexual assault and one count for choking, is intending to plead not guilty, according to his attorney. In other news: "Certain CBC managers were aware back in June of allegations of 'assault'—including punching and choking—involving a 'series of women' by [Ghomeshi]. ...Chris Boyce, the head of CBC Radio and a central figure in the story, said 'in hindsight' it is a 'good question' whether CBC should have gone to the police at that time." It shouldn't be a "question" at all. For fuck's sake.

I loved First Daughters Sasha's and Malia's total contempt for the hokey White House Thanksgiving Turkey pardon SO MUCH. I laughed for fully one million years.

[CN: Racism; slut-shaming] Someone who DID NOT agree with me is this asshole Republican staffer, who has now resigned. Buh-bye!

Finland has legalized same-sex marriage. Huzzah! Finnish same-sex couples "have been able to enter into registered partnerships since 2002, but until now the country was the only in the Nordic region not to allow same-sex marriage. Finland is now the 12th European state to do so. ...The measure will end the distinction in Finland between same-sex unions and heterosexual marriages and give such couples equal rights to adopt children and share a surname."

[CN: Racism] Because OF COURSE a bunch of racist dipshits objected to a black Stormtrooper in the new teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, John Boyega, the actor cast in the role, responded thus: "To whom it may concern ... Get used to it. :)" Perfect.

Do you love Girl Scout cookies? Well then you might be excited to hear that Girl Scouts will now be able to sell their cookies online!

And finally! Dogs understand human language in ways we never expected. Well, I mean, we kind of expected it. At least those of us who can't say words like "walk" or "out" or "food" in any context at all ever without our dogs suddenly materializing at our sides with expectant looks on their adorable faces.

Ferguson

[Content Note: Police brutality; racism.]

Last week, the grand jury convened to decide whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown returned their decision: No indictment. Though the decision came early in the day, the announcement was scheduled for prime time, and, after a delay past its scheduled start, St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch gave a long, incredibly defensive, and totally inappropriate statement, essentially explaining the shitty and insufficient case he brought before the grand jury.

By way of reminder, McCulloch could have simply opted to indict Wilson. And there is no double jeopardy attached to convening a second grand jury in order to try to secure an indictment. This was not a trial. But the entire thing was a farce, designed specifically to absolve Wilson as thoroughly as possible.

Protests ensued. And continue, throughout the country.

The response to the failure to indict and the ongoing protests, especially among white people, has been predictably heinous.

Following days in which he refused to apologize to Michael Brown's family, and asserted he would not do anything differently given the chance, Wilson finally, begrudgingly, resigned. He will not get a severance package. Except, of course, for the $400,000 raised on his behalf by his supporters.

I've been commenting on these developments over the last week on Twitter. For those who don't follow me on Twitter, here is a collection of highlights of my tweets and retweets.

My tweeting has been visceral, reactive, angry. I want to let that stand as my primary commentary. I don't feel inclined to write a pallid thinkpiece, my rage carefully edited out to make it more palatable. On the other hand, as a white woman, the rage that I feel shouldn't be centered in this moment. This is a moment for listening.

There are pieces of recommended reading written by black women and men linked in the Storify. Read them.

And listen to Jay Smooth, who is brilliant as always:

Transcript here.
And, as always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share links to other pieces in comments.

This is, for white people, a moment to listen to black people. And it is a moment in which we are obliged to speak to one another. To challenge each other. To communicate, unequivocally, that we have a zero tolerance policy on racist rhetoric and behavior. To take the time, when we see opportunities and openings, to educate other white people, or at least give it a good goddamn try. To step up.

This is not the time (it never is) to be a bully under the guise of being an ally. To tone police black people. To mount bitter complaints about #BlackLivesMatter, because "all lives matter." To distance ourselves from white privilege, or to pretend that saying, "I would never behave that way" is a statement of solidarity and not a selfish petition to be recognized as "one of the Good Ones."

To paraphrase an old post, this is the time to stop obliging black people to reassure you that you're one of the Good Ones, and just start being one of them.

This is the time for white people who agree that #BlackLivesMatter to make sure it is not just a statement of fact, but an action we take every day.

How Magnanimous

[Content Note: Police brutality; racism.]

Officer Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, may resign from the force:

Officer Darren Wilson is close to resigning from the Ferguson Police Department as a grand jury continues to decide whether to indict him in the fatal shooting of an unarmed teen.

Various media outlets, including CNN, have reported that Wilson has told associates he would resign to help ease tensions and protect his fellow officers ahead of the grand jury announcement.

Oh fuck off forever.

First of all, why is his resignation even an option for him? He should have been fired months ago.

Secondly, there aren't instruments sufficient to measure my contempt for this guy positioning himself as some kind of martyr who will resign to protect other officers, allowing him to then claim responsibility for "easing tensions" if he is indicted and the world does not, in fact, blow up as he and every other asshole from Ferguson to Fartsville is predicting it will.

That is some kind of extraordinary chutzpah, right there. "If people don't riot, it will be because of my generous peacemaking gesture!" Dude. The only reason there is a possibility of riots is because you are a cruel murderous fuck.

Let us all take a second to appreciate that the officer who totally definitely for sure didn't shoot Michael Brown in the street because of racism is implying that he is a white savior who will sacrifice himself in order to protect other people from violent hordes of black protestors.

This fucking guy.

In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Extreme weather; death] At least five people have died as a result of a terrible snowstorm hitting the eastern US: "The first snowstorm of the season has resulted in five deaths in this area so far and possibly set an all-time U.S. record for snowfall. Three people had heart attacks from shoveling snow, officials said. The snow is still falling with more than 5 feet already on the ground, and some areas south of the city are expected to get a year's worth of snow—almost 6 feet—in just three days. Temperatures in all 50 states fell to freezing or below overnight. ...Crews say some areas have so much snow that it's like plowing a brick wall. Rescuers, who have been using snowmobiles, also have been walking car to car to try to dig out people stuck in their vehicles."

A picture is worth 1,000 words: Here is a dog greeting a literal wall of snow outside her front door.

[CN: Police brutality; racism] St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay says "he expects 'widespread civil disobedience' following the announcement on whether a white police officer will face criminal charges for killing an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri. Giving one of the starkest warnings so far by a regional official about what they expect to follow a grand jury decision that is anticipated in the coming days, Francis Slay also said he had asked for 400 national guard troops to protect his city during potential unrest." Again: This is unnecessarily antagonistic, and the government officials who keep saying these things will not, if something happens, be held accountable for their provocation, but will instead be hailed as prescient. Which is appalling.

[CN: Disablism; misogynoir; police brutality] Another person with mental illness is dead following an altercation with police, and, once again, the police account differs dramatically from the account of the victim's family.

[CN: Disablism; choice policing] David Perry, the father of a boy with Down syndrome and a journalist on disability issues, writes a thoughtful piece about false binaries in decisions regarding aborting fetuses with Down syndrome. Spoiler Alert: We need better support for people with disabilities, and for parents of children with disabilities.

[CN: Class warfare] A new study has found what all of us already knew: "Millennials are stuck between having a financially responsible mindset and having the resources and discipline to pull off long-term results." That's a nice way of putting it. The fact is, survival spending and savings are incompatible.

And finally! Here is a kitten in an epic battle with hir own reflection. LOL! Oh cats.

In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

Leslie Feinberg, who identified as an anti-racist white, working-class, secular Jewish, transgender, lesbian, female, revolutionary communist, has died at age 65. The Advocate has an obituary penned by hir partner and spouse Minnie Bruce Pratt here. Hir last words were: "Remember me as a revolutionary communist."

Alice Lee, influential Alabama lawyer and church leader, and sister of author Harper Lee, has died at age 103. She "practiced law until a few years ago. For a time she was Alabama's oldest practicing attorney. Lee also helped guard the privacy of her famous sister Harper Nelle, who in 1961 won the Pulitzer Prize for" To Kill a Mockingbird.

[Content Note: Police brutality; racism. Covers next two paragraphs.] The FBI has issued a warning that the grand jury decision regarding Officer Darren Wilson, who killed Michael Brown in August, is likely to "lead some extremist protesters to threaten and even attack police officers or federal agents." The warning is being reported in many outlets in a way that suggests the FBI is warning about Ferguson protestors, but that is not the case: "Peaceful protesters could be caught in the middle, and electrical facilities or water treatment plants could also become targets. In addition, so-called 'hacktivists' like the group 'Anonymous' could try to launch cyber-attacks against authorities. 'The announcement of the grand jury's decision … will likely be exploited by some individuals to justify threats and attacks against law enforcement and critical infrastructure,' the FBI says in an intelligence bulletin issued in recent days. 'This also poses a threat to those civilians engaged in lawful or otherwise constitutionally protected activities.' The FBI bulletin expresses concern only over those who would exploit peaceful protests, not the masses of demonstrators who will want to legitimately, lawfully and collectively express their views on the grand jury's decision."

Still, with Democratic Governor Jay Nixon having preemptively declared a state of emergency, and activating the National Guard, the message about protestors being communicated by local authorities is clear. Nixon declaring a state of emergency is also extremely antagonistic. If, if, something happens, it cannot be divorced from this decision. But it will be.

[CN: Violence; war] An attack was made on a Jerusalem synagogue this morning by two Palestinian men armed with axes, knives, and a gun. The two men, who were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, were killed in a shoot-out with police, after they killed four people and injured a number of others. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed a "heavy hand" response, starting with an order to demolish the homes of the attackers.

[CN: Class warfare] Income inequality in the United States continues to worsen. And, despite conservatives' incessant caterwauling about taxation, it's because taxes are not high enough in the US, and thus our social safety net is shit.

[CN: Heterocentrism; violence] Convicted murderer Charles Manson has been issued a marriage license. I don't believe in the "sanctity" of straight marriage, but, if I did, THIS would undermine it. This is what straight privilege looks like, folks: An imprisoned murderer with a swastika tattooed on his forehead can get a marriage license one week after legal marriage for same-sex couples was rolled BACKWARDS by a court who ruled that marriage was for the purposes of procreation. Fuck. This.

[CN: Voter suppression] The Republicans are already trying to figure out how to rework election law to rig the 2016 election. The Electoral College needs to go the way of the dodo altogether, like, yesterday.

[CN: Misogyny] While I spent the entirety of yesterday getting hammered for writing about sartorial misogyny, IN A SHOCKING TWIST, this white dude is getting ALL THE COOKIES for his commentary on the same subject, after revealing he wore the same suit to his job as a TV anchor every day for an entire year and no one noticed.

If you want to see the Leonid Meteor Shower tonight, but don't want to go out in the cold, you can watch it live care of The Slooh Community Observatory starting today at 8:00pm EST.

And finally: Jumping baby jumping dog! Hahahahahaha!

Quote of the Day

[Content Note: Police brutality; racism.]

"Something about the way Mike Brown was killed started a fire in me that I can't ignore. [People who say they're tired of the demonstrations] can turn this off and on with a TV screen. But this is my reality. This is my life."—Dhorbua Shakur, one of the organizers of the demonstration happening in Clayton, Missouri, where a grand jury is deliberating whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown.

The grand jury's decision is expected this week.

Today, Democratic Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and "authorized the state's National Guard to support police in case of violence" after the announcement of the grand jury's decision.

Ferguson: The Latest

[Content Note: Police brutality and militarization; racism.]

The grand jury convened to investigate Officer Darren Wilson's shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown is expected to conclude this week. It is anticipated that they will not indict Wilson.

Democratic Missouri Governor Jay Nixon just held a press conference at which he announced that the National Guard "will be on standby to deal with any protests after a grand jury announces its decision. ...Officials and police around St Louis have been making extensive preparations for renewed protests. James Knowles, Ferguson's mayor, said this month that they would 'prepare for the worst.' He told a local television station: 'There are expectations that demonstrations probably will break out in several places.'"

They are "preparing for the worst," and yet refuse to work with protest leaders to ensure peaceful protests.

At the presser, Nixon reiterated that some police officers had been injured in previous interactions with protestors (with no mention of injured protestors, naturally) and said that every precaution would be made to protect officers while "portraying the appearance of appropriateness."

And, when asked about the militarization of police, and how that exacerbates the situation, he said, and I am not making this up, that no one has yet been injured by a riot helmet.

That is literally one of the most mendacious things I have ever heard a politician say. Which is really saying something.

And speaking of keeping up appearances, this is how the presser was staged:

image of Governor Nixon, a middle-aged white man, flanked by two black officers, standing just behind him

Yeah. There ain't enough fuck you in the world for this shit.

Quote of the Day

[Content Note: Police brutality; racism.]

"I told [police] if there is no indictment, please only come through neighborhoods when called. Please do not continue to traumatize our community. They don't want to meet with the youth. I honestly believe they are planning to kill us in the streets."—Tory Russell, one of the founders of the Hands Up United group, which has been protesting the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and subsequent police actions.

Preparing for the likely eventuality that the grand jury fails to indict Officer Darren Wilson, Russell "said the group had been hoping to negotiate terms of engagement with law enforcement authorities that might help keep protests peaceful, but that such talks had gone nowhere."

This is something to bear in mind if and when the grand jury fails to indict and there are protests in response. Protestors, anticipating a failure of justice, are trying to work with police to ensure that protests are safe and peaceful, and police are refusing to engage.

Quote of the Day

[Content Note: Police brutality; police militarization; violence; racism.]

"The use of heavy-duty riot gear and military-grade weapons and equipment to police largely peaceful demonstrations intimidates protesters who are practicing their right to peaceful assembly and can actually lead to an escalation in violence. Equipping officers in a manner more appropriate for a battlefield may put them in the mindset that confrontation and conflict is inevitable rather than possible, escalating tensions between protesters and police."—From an Amnesty International report released today, "On the Streets of America: Human Rights Abuses in Ferguson," which details the killing of Michael Brown and the resultant police tactics in response to protests, and makes recommendations for meaningful change directed toward the Ferguson Police Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Governor of Missouri, the Department of Justice, and the United States Congress.

This Reuters Article Is Vile

[Content Note: Racism; violence.]

This morning, Reuters published an "exclusive" headlined: "Missouri police plan for possible riots if Brown cop not charged."

And it is a rank piece of racist shit, published under the auspices of detailing the strategizing between local and federal authorities in the event that Officer Darren Wilson, who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, is not indicted by the grand jury.

Here are just a few of the problems with this article:

1. There is not even a passing indication of the inherent problem with authorities spending an enormous amount of time and energy on "riot prevention" and comparatively little to social justice. This is a constant feature of US coverage of this case (and all others like it): "Race" is only a subject worthy of exploration, or even mention, when it's about, say, black people protesting, but not when it's about white people ignoring structural inequities.

2. "In differing accounts, police have said Brown struggled with Wilson before the fatal shots were fired. But some witnesses say Brown held up his hands and was surrendering when he was shot multiple times in the head and chest." Some witnesses say? Are there any other witnesses, beside the officer who shot him, who say otherwise? That is some real tricksy wording there, Reuters.

3. "A memorial to Brown on the spot where he died, and where his body lay uncollected for four hours, still stands, a crucifix surrounded by teddy bears, photographs, flowers and handwritten notes decrying his loss and the alleged brutality of police." No mention of the memorial having been destroyed by a fire.

4. "Riots" and "protests" are conflated throughout the article. Also treated as equivalent? Black protesters and white people buying guns: "Ferguson today is a city on the edge. While mostly black residents hold small protests outside the police station each night, gun store owners report a jump in sales to white residents."

5. Later: "Adam Weinstein, co-owner of County Guns, said sales were up 50 percent since Brown's shooting, mostly among white residents fearful of riots who are buying Glock, Springfield and Smith & Wesson handguns, and shotguns. 'They are afraid the city is going to explode,' Weinstein said, a former member of the U.S. Navy and St. Louis firefighter with heavily tattooed arms." Welp. I mean, seriously, lots of people have "heavily tattooed arms"—so many that it's hardly worth mention. Unless, perhaps, you're relying on an old stereotype about racist white men with tattooed arms, in order to actually use your "news" story to foment racial discord.

6. And just look at the all-caps section headings on that article: "SIMMERING ANGER" and "BLACK PANTHERS." Seriously? I mean: SERIOUSLY?

7. "Police and elected officials are meeting regularly with multi-racial citizen groups in a bid to improve community relations, tackle concerns about police discrimination, and avoid the turmoil that followed Brown's shooting. Civil unrest is still the 'worst case scenario', Ferguson Mayor James Knowles] said." Uh, really? Worse than communicating to white police officers that they can kill unarmed black people without consequence, and worse than communicating to black people that their lives don't matter? You know, maybe civil unrest in response to that shit isn't actually the worst case scenario, Mayor Knowles.

Knowles is one of five people quoted in the article. All of them are men. The others are the tattooed Weinstein and St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, who are white, and, finally, in the last paragraphs of the article, under the heading "BLACK PANTHERS," protest leader Tef Poe and "Mauricelm-Lei Millere, an advisor to the New Black Panthers," who is given no title, unlike the mayor and police chief, despite the fact that he is a psychotherapist and is publicly identified in all his public online spaces as Dr. Mauricelm-Lei Millere.

All of this, all of it, without a trace of irony that this kind of reporting is part of the exact reason that white racists expect the city to "explode." Reporting this irresponsible endangers black people's lives. I can't put it any more plainly than that.