Doctor Monica Wehby, staring upward at Senator Jeff Merkley in the polls, isn’t quite the darling of the arch-conservative Koch Brothers she used to be—now that their vaunted ad buy for Wehby’s been reduced so their money can head to other states. Instead? After pivoting to the right, she’s pointedly spinning herself back to the center—issuing a new ad in which she endorses same-sex marriage and celebrates the support of one of the couples (a Democrat-Republican household, even) who sued to overturn Oregon’s 2004 voter-approved ban.
The elected government of Ferguson, Missouri—still roiling after the controversial police shooting of an unarmed black teenager—meets for the first time since Michael Brown’s killing. And they’re considering some… changes. A citizen review board will be created to advise the town’s police department. And a punitive municipal court system that targets and traps African Americans in a cycle of poverty and payments will be reined in, potentially through capping how much cash the city can collect through court fines.
President Obama’s not terribly popular these days. But bombing the Islamic State? Gangbusters, according to a new national poll.
Penn State University—punished because administrators and (now-dead) football coach Joe Paterno put their heads in the sand and allowed a longtime assistant coach to go on raping young boys—is out of trouble with the NCAA. Students responded by filling the streets and chanting Paterno’s name.
Surprise, surprise, surprise! A preliminary investigation into what brought down a Malaysian Airlines flight over Ukraine blames “objects penetrating from outside the aircraft.” In other words? Missiles.
In Peru, one of the country’s most revered conservationists—an indigenous man who railed against illegal logging in his people’s traditional lands—was shot to death, allegedly by suspected illegal loggers.
The number of Ebola patients flown back to American hospital since the African outbreak dawned this summer has risen to four. Half of the 240 healthcare workers who’ve contracted the disease have died.
A scathing Senate report on CIA torture, all 600 pages, was supposed to be released last month. Because of ongoing “redactions,” it will now wait, like everything important, until after the November midterm elections.
If you’ve shopped at Home Depot at any point since April, you’d do well to start keeping an eye on your bank statements. (And patronizing local hardwares, too, while you’re at it.)
Europe’s unease with America’s tech dominance (and the easy snooping that comes with it) has increasingly found a convenient target: Google.
Here’s an example of a counterproductive—but incredibly cathartic—strategy for fighting gentrification.
FROG CLOSED HIS EYES WHEN TOAD CAME OUT FROM BEHIND THE ROCKS. TOAD WAS WEARING HIS BATHING SUIT. “DON’T PEEK,” HE SAID.