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Ferguson officer who shot and killed Michael Brown will not be indicted, grand jury rules
The officer, Darren Wilson, who shot and killed Michael Brown on August 9 of this year in Ferguson, Missouri will not be indicted, a grand jury ruled Monday. People angry over the decision have set buildings on fire throughout the night, marched, and St. Louis County police estimate hearing about 150 gunshots. As of 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, Manitoba time, 29 arrests have been made, but the rage continues; a rage even the national guard could not quell. “Unless we bring 10,000 policemen in here, I don’t think we can prevent folks that are destroying a community,” said police chief Joe Belmar. In an article published in Slate, author Jamelle Bouie writes about the injustice and how difficult it is for a police officer to receive indictment. “Unfortunately, we don’t live in a society that gives dignity and respect to people like Michael Brown and John Crawford and Rekia Boyd. Instead, we’ve organized our country to deny it wherever possible, through negative stereotypes of criminality, through segregation and neglect, and through the spectacle we see in Ferguson and the greater St. Louis area, where police are empowered to terrorize without consequence, and residents are condemned and attacked when they try to resist.” The grand jury heard varying accounts of what happened the night that Wilson confronted Brown. Some witness accounts say Brown was hunched over and moving slowly when Wilson shot him. Wilson told the grand jury what was going through his head at the time: “It looks like a demon. That’s how angry he looked.” Brown was allegedly approached by Wilson for matching the description of a grocery story thief that was being broadcast over police radio. The U.S. President Barrack Obama addressed the nation yesterday, as did a few others. It’s bloody sad. And bloody ridiculous. Follow the story live here. [Source: The Guardian]
The sound of Philae landing on comet
It’s only two second long. But it’s something that happened about 330-million miles away. The European Space Agency has released audio of the Philae probe making first contact with the comet it’s still clinging to.
According to the Atlantic, the two-second clip is the second ESA audio release of the Rosetta mission. The second recording, below, was taken by Rosetta itself, and it captures a “song” sung through the comet’s magnetic field.
Scientists currently don’t know where Philae is, and they haven’t since the lander powered down on Nov. 14. They’ve narrowed the search to a 1,150-foot-long stretch. [Source: The Atlantic]
Twin explosions kill at least 30 in northern Nigeria
At least 30 people were killed after two teenage girls detonated the explosives wrapped around their bodies at a market in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, according to the BBC. The second blast came as bystanders were helping victims of the first, witness Sani Adamau told Reuters. Extremist group Boko Haram is currently at war with Nigeria, having kidnapped many schoolgirls in its Islamic revolt against what it condemns as western education. The group has not yet taken responsibility for the attack, though it’s widely feared the group is fixed on seizing Maiduguri. [Source: BBC]
Winter will be cold again for Manitobans
Unless you smarten up, buy some x-country skis, take up skating, and be less of a douche about the inevitable, this winter, like the last, is going to suck, according to Weather Network’s chief meteorologist Chris Scott. It’ll be a colder than average winter for Manitoba, and a few other non-Prairie provinces. And Alberta and Saskatchewan should brace for what the Globe paraphrased Scott as saying, wildly swinging temperatures that average out to near seasonal norms. The warmer waters in the central Pacific are slightly warmer than usual – an effect known as El Nino – and are the driving force behind Scott’s predictions. “We’re not locked into winter just yet. We think that December is going to have a rather different personality to it than January and February,” Scott told the Globe. “We’re seeing signs that December is going to be a very tumultuous month. A lot of roller-coaster weather patterns, ups and downs in temperatures. That’s a continuation of what we’ve seen so far in November, and this is right from coast to coast.” [Source: Globe and Mail]
Spectator Tribune to host event on racism and reconciliation in Winnipeg
This is happening tomorrow, Wednesday, and we’d love you all to attend: There can be no denying that many in Winnipeg’s aboriginal population face racism and unfair treatment on a daily basis. Facebook images of missing aboriginal teenage girls are a daily occurrence, and there is collective shock and outrage, but not surprise, when an act of violence – sexual or otherwise – is perpetrated against an aboriginal woman or child. Aboriginal men make up a disproportionately high number of the jail population. All of these factors combine to make a city that appears to be “us” versus “them,” and this needs to change.
On the eve of this past election, an article was published in The Guardian that outlined the great divide in our city. It wasn’t the first time these things had been said, but it was timely, and it started, or added to, a conversation. We would like to continue that conversation.
Join us at the University of Winnipeg’s Eckhardt Gramatté hall as we host a respectful, important, and interactive panel discussion on our divided city. Moderated by Shannon Sampert (Editor at the Free Press); Damon Johnston (President of the Aboriginal Council of Winnipeg), Shannon Buck (Owner/Lead Trainer of EastWind Training and Consulting), Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair (activist and professor, University of Manitoba), Rosanna Deerchild (author, and host on CBC) and Bartley Kives (writer at large for the Winnipeg Free Press) will discuss issues facing our city, and constructive ways to move forward. Audience members can add their voice to the discussion by tweeting questions under #tribtalks.
Doors are at 6:30, discussion starts at 7. Admission is by donation. Check out the event listing here.
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Follow Toban Dyck at @tobandyck.
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