Every morning, we scour the Internet and vet what we believe are the five things you absolutely need to know for the day. Join this mailing list to receive 5 things you absolutely must know today every morning, Monday to Friday.
***
Liquor store employees vote 97% in favour of strike
Manitoba’s liquor store employees have voted in favour of a strike, said the representing Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, adding that turnout was “historically high” and that 97 per cent of the 868 members who showed up Wednesday were for the action. Cool your jets. This does not mean a strike will happen. The union is still sitting at the bargaining table with Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, attempting to negotiate a conclusion that does not interrupt our holiday booze purchasing. What such a vote does, or did, rather, is provide leverage for the union and allow for the setting of a strike date if their offer of a two per cent wage hike and other contract changes are not met. Both sides are scheduled to meet today, with an official union statement expected on Friday. [Source: CBC]
Best books of 2014, according to NYTimes
The New York Times has released its 10 Best Books of 2104, as chosen by its editors. Here are the selections:
ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr
DEPT. OF SPECULATION by Jenny Offill
EUPHORIA by Lily King
FAMILY LIFE by Akhil Sharma
REDEPLOYMENT by Phil Klay
Nonfiction
CAN WE TALK ABOUT SOMETHING MORE PLEASANT? by Roz Chast
ON IMMUNITY: An Inoculation by Eula Biss
PENELOPE FITZGERALD: A Life by Hermione Lee
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
THIRTEEN DAYS IN SEPTEMBER: Carter, Begin, and Sadat at Camp David by Lawrence Wright [Source: New York Times]
Protests following grand jury decision not to indict Daniel Panteleo
A grand jury has decided not to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo for allegedly putting Eric Garner, black, in a chokehold that led to his death. Protests have erupted in the area and are scheduled to continue, perhaps intensified by the still fresh controversy surrounding the similarly racial in appearance case of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The U.S. justice department is set to launch a civil rights investigation into Garner’s death. Pantaleo reportedly placed Garner, 43, under arrest on July 17 for selling individual, untaxed cigarettes. There was a physical skirmish, and Pantaleo wrestled him to the ground restraining him in the hold. Garner became unresponsive and later died. Meanwhile Gretchen Carlson of Fox News hopes the protests currently underway don’t interrupt the city’s tree-lighting ceremony. “I certainly hope nothing is going to happen in New York City today. And we’ve got the tree-lighting ceremony.”[Source: BBC]
North Korea hates South Korea’s Christmas tower, threatens to bomb it
South Korea has announced to once again erect a tower in the shape of a Christmas tree near in Gimpo, a town near the North Korean border. The tree is apparently visible to North Koreans, teasing and taunting them with things like happiness, freedom, electricity. Kim Jong-un likens the holiday act to a declaration of war and has threatened to bomb it. South Korea has obliged in previous years and not put up the tree – ‘cause they’re nice: In 2010, they didn’t; in 2012 they did. And now, in 2014, they will again. The Kim Jong-un government has already spoken out against the ceremony: It “is not just a means for religious events but a symbol of madcap confrontation racket for escalating tensions.” [Source: Death and Taxes]
Homo Erectus were artistic, in case you thought otherwise
An engraving discovered on a mussel’s shell on a riverbank in Indonesia may be at least 430,000 years old, researchers suggest, making it the earliest evidence of art, a title previously held by rock etchings dating back 70,000 to 100,000 years ago. The shell markings were not made by humans, according to researchers. Rather, they were made by our beetle-browed and hair ancestors Homo Erectus, an evolutionary stage not known to have the upper-level thinking required for art. “The origin of such cognition, such abilities,” said archaeologist Josephine Joordens, “is much further back in time than we thought.” The finding has profound implications and has the team at the forefront of the discovery quite excited. [Source: National Geographic]
***
Follow Toban Dyck at @tobandyck.
For more interesting stuff, follow @spectatortrib on Twitter. And find us on Instagram, too: @spectatortribune.
Follow this link to subscribe to 5 things you absolutely must know today: http://eepurl.com/5LBjD