Offering asides, recommended links, blogworthy quotations, and more, In Brief is the Northwest Progressive Institute's microblog of world, national, and local politics.
Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest’s facility in Pullman, Washington (the home of Washington State University) was severely damaged by fire earlier today. Fire investigators have now concluded the blaze was deliberately set, no doubt by right wing militant extremists who want to destroy the organization.
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This is the M.O. of this administration… Anytime there is an accident like this, the president is clear: He doesn’t like for Americans to have
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Jon Stewart opened last night’s episode of The Daily Show with commentary in place of comedy following a white supremacist’s terrorist attack on a black
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Before mass murder at Mother Emanuel, a long history of attacks in Charleston South Carolina’s capital city has an ugly history of racially-motivated violence, writes
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Nebraska lawmakers vote to abolish executions Legislators in one of the most conservative states in the Union have just done something remarkable: they’ve overwhelmingly voted
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They ought to demonstrate a little humanity… Killing a teenager’s not going to do anything. I think it’s just a kind of visceral revenge. I
LaunchThat said, my greater source of personal concern, outrage and sympathy beyond this particular case is focused neither upon one night’s property damage nor upon
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We are all just here for a time – whether in this building or even on this earth. But the values we hold dear will
LaunchIt’s a fair verdict. It’s a victory of justice. This was a mistake from the beginning. — Carlo Dalla Vedova, Amanda Knox’s lawyer, speaking to
LaunchItaly’s highest court acquits Amanda Knox of murder; case closed The highest court in Italy has acquitted Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito of murdering British
LaunchPope Francis calls death penalty ‘unacceptable,’ urges abolition The Holy Father released a statement emphatically calling for an end to the barbaric practice of executions
LaunchNot a joke: Utah Republicans want to bring back firing squads So much for family values and the sanctity of life: Republicans in Utah have
LaunchIn joint editorial, Catholic publications call for end to capital punishment Four Catholic publications, including the conservative Our Sunday Visitor and the progressive Jesuit magazine
LaunchRussia’s Boris Nemtsov, a prominent critic of Vladimir Putin, shot dead An opposition leader to Russian President Vladimir Putin has been murdered while crossing a
LaunchSelma is now… The struggle for justice is now. The Voting Rights Act that they fought for fifty years ago is being compromised right now
LaunchThe failure to indict is a stunning miscarriage of justice, and makes clear that equal protection under the law does not exist for all Americans…
LaunchDemonstrators are pictured in Seattle protesting a Missouri grand jury’s failure to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown (Photo: Tiffany Von Arnim/Reproduced under a Creative Commons license)
LaunchEarlier this evening, St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch held a long, self-serving press conference to disclose that the grand jury he decided to make
LaunchI realize this may sound harsh… but as a father and former lawman, I really don’t care if it’s by lethal injection, by the electric
LaunchIt looks like a street-level drug deal. And they’re keeping all the information secret from us… They don’t need to be carrying out any more
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