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As Police Commander's Trial Nears, a `Black in Blue' Legacy is in the Spotlight

Glenn Reedus Chicago Reporter
The trial of Police Commander Glenn Evans, which is scheduled to begin in December, highlights divisions in neighborhoods where crime is often highest and police misconduct complaints are frequent. Evans, a 28-year veteran of the Police Department, is accused of shoving the barrel of a gun down a man’s throat while simultaneously holding a stun gun to his genitals.

Even Avogadro Didn’t Know Avogadro’s Number

Rhett Allain Wired
Avogadro's number is sort of like a bridge. It bridges chemistry and atomic physics. In chemistry we measure bulk properties like mass, pressure, volume, temperature. However, when we consider these things from an atomic perspective we look at individual atoms and the momentum, velocity of these particles. Avogadro's number connects these two ideas and allows us to explore atomic-level things by measuring macroscopic level quantities. It’s a big deal.

Argentina: Major Structural Challenges As It Elects Its Next President

Charles Dolph North American Congress on Latin America
Voters in Argentina’s October 25th national elections will help define the future of Latin America’s third largest economy. While the three main Presidential candidates and their parties are all seeking to lay claim to the populist legacy of former President Juan Domingo Perón, voters will nonetheless be choosing between candidates with sharply different views on the role of the state as Argentina faces major structural economic challenges.

South Africa Freezes Tuition Fees After Student Protests

NORIMITSU ONISHI New York Times
Protests have erupted across many of South Africa’s public universities this year, with anger focusing on the deep-rooted economic and racial cleavages remaining a generation after the end of apartheid.

ColoradoCare Backers Collect 156,000 Signatures for Single-Payer Plan

Joey Bunch Denver Post
She said supporters will attempt to dispel the impression it's government-run health care — the insurance program eventually would be run by an elected 21-member board — and claimed it would provide more help for more people, by cutting bureaucracy, waste and unreasonable profits.

Higher Ed for Bernie

Adolph Reed Jr., Heather Gautney Common Dreams
The 2016 presidential race can be our opportunity to turn the tide. The Bernie Sanders campaign is committed to a clear and emphatic reassertion of the importance of public goods and the public sector that provides them, including public higher education in particular.

Inoculating Against Science Denial

John Cook The Conversation
Ironically, throwing more science at science denial ignores the social science research into denial. You can’t adequately address science denial without considering the root cause: the ideology driving the rejection. The way to inoculate people against anti-scientific myths is to explain the fallacy employed by the myth. Once people understand the techniques used to distort the science, they can reconcile the myth with the fact.

Minimum Wage 2016: Here It Comes

Lydia DePillis The Washington Post
Labor unions are working to build tools at scale to support the spate of ballot initiatives voters will face next year.

Friday Nite Videos -- October 23, 2015

Portside
Music Is My Ammunition | Playing For Change. What Republicans Hear When Bernie Speaks. Documentary: India's Daughter. Medea Benjamin on System Change. Could We Actually Live on Mars?