Check out our slate of Daily Kos-endorsed candidates

Think about what we know about the death of Michael Brown.

Actually, we know very damned little. We know a man is dead, Michael Brown, shot by a police officer with the smallest digital footprint known to man. The dead man was black, the cop white.

People have said that Michael Brown was actively surrendering, with his hands raised, when he was shot, after having been shot in the back. We don't know that to be true. Largely the same people characterized Michael Brown as a "Gentle Giant", and the video from the store could certainly reasonably call that characterization into question.

What appears to be something resembling the cop's version has also been floated, claiming Michael Brown attacked the cop in his vehicle, attempted to take his sidearm resulting in at least one discharge, moved some distance from the vehicle and them "Bum Rushed" the cop, at which time he was shot an unspecified number of times. We do not know that to be true either. There is, however, audio on a video, (starting about 6:25 here) shot very shortly after the shooting wherein an apparent witness describes to another person what he saw, and his description is pretty consistent with the cop's apparent version, and the video was posted to YouTube well before the radio appearance in Dallas. We don't know that version to be true either.

I am cognizant that this is from a right-wing radio show, so pointing that out really isn't necessary.

Link

“He pulled up ahead of them. And then he got a call-in that there was a strong-arm robbery. And, they gave a description. And, he’s looking at them and they got something in their hands and it looks like it could be what, you know those cigars or whatever. So he goes in reverse back to them. Tries to get out of his car. They slam his door shut violently. I think he said Michael did. And, then he opened the car again. He tried to get out. He stands up.

And then Michael just bum-rushes him and shoves him back into his car. Punches him in the face and them Darren grabs for his gun. Michael grabbed for the gun. At one point he got the gun entirely turned against his hip. And he shoves it away. And the gun goes off.

Well, then Michael takes off and gets to be about 35 feet away. And, Darren’s first protocol is to pursue. So, he stands up and yells, “Freeze!” Michael and his friend turn around. And Michael taunts him… And then all the sudden he just started bumrushing him. He just started coming at him full speed. And, so he just started shooting. And, he just kept coming. And, so he really thinks he was on something.”

I think this must have gotten missed in all the excitement (if it has been Diaried I couldn't find it), but the results of Republican gerrymandering are startling:

221 of 234 House districts currently held by a Republican are majority White (non-Hispanic).

Another factor behind Republican recalcitrance on immigration and similar issues is the simple racial math underlying many House congressional districts. According to U.S. Census data, only 13 out of 234 Republican-held districts are majority-minority (that is, districts where white non-Hispanics make up less than 50 percent of the population). That's about 5 percent of all Republican districts. In contrast, fully 49 percent of Democrat-held districts are majority-minority.

A Fox News station's Twitter Feed Link

Looks like the feed is dead, sorry.

Trying another feed Link

Ran across this at Reason (yes, I go everywhere) and found it interesting:

The latest from the "most transparent administration in history," a letter in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, signed by Taylor D. August, whose job title at the Department of Education is "FOIA Denial Officer."

I don't follow S.C. nearly closely enough to know the significance of this:

COLUMBIA, SC — Onetime Republican Thomas Ravenel officially is running for the U.S. Senate again, this time as a petition candidate.

The S.C. Election Commission certified the 10,000 signatures required for the former S.C. treasurer and reality TV star to be on the ballot in November as a challenger for the seat held by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

I can't speak for everybody here at DailyKos, and won't presume to try, but I CAN state without reservation I didn't torture some folks.

I didn't refrain from torturing some folks because of my superior moral standing. I am perfectly capable of making a hyena squeamish given the right circumstances, and hyenas commonly eat prey alive.

I didn't refrain from torturing some folks because it is against a long list of Laws. Laws don't prevent anybody from doing anything, they merely prescribe various sanctions for doing so. Plus, obviously, Laws only apply to those of us who don't happen to be government officials, or government contractors, or bankers.

Okay, so that Title is CNNesque...

(CNN) -- The fear began just after news broke Thursday that a long-range business jet with an isolation pod left the United States for Liberia, where it will evacuate two Americans infected with Ebola.

Twitter exploded with questions about the deadly virus, which according to the World Health Organization is believed to have killed hundreds in four West African nations. And with reaction to news that two infected Americans would soon be on their way back to the United States.

Speaking of sticky wickets...

Faith Bronson is a 34 year old woman who was recently attacked by her mentally unstable boyfriend Ross Bonaddio. Bonaddio had assaulted and kidnapped her, and was holding her against her will. Bonaddio was allegedly under a delusion that aliens were inside of Faith, and he planned to extract them.

According to a police report, he screwed the doors of his home shut, so she could not leave.  After three days, she escaped to a neighbor’s house where the police were called. When the police arrived, Bronson had already returned to her boyfriends house, where they found her covered in bruises.

A weird one from Propublica:

Just how badly does the American Red Cross want to keep secret how it raised and spent over $300 million after Hurricane Sandy?

The charity has hired a fancy law firm to fight a public request we filed with New York state, arguing that information about its Sandy activities is a "trade secret."

The Red Cross' "trade secret" argument has persuaded the state to redact some material, though it's not clear yet how much since the documents haven't yet been released.

With the Teabaggers in Mississippi foaming at the mouth slightly more than usual after Thad Cochran won the run-off with Democratic help, trying anything their lawyers can bill for to overturn the outcome, it is incumbent on us to help our more
insane brethren out.

Mississippi Republicans reliably cast about 55% of all votes in Misssissippi; evenly split between Cochran and McDaniel would yield about 28% each, where Democrats can fairly easily muster 40%.

Most Kossacks don't live in or near Mississippi, but that doesn't mean they can't play...

A Wisconsin insurance executive and Republican donor was charged with voting illegally more than a dozen times in four elections.

The Journal-Sentinel reported that 50-year-old Robert Monroe was caught as a result of an investigation into a possible illegal voting by his son in Waukesha County. But after his son denied requesting an absentee ballot from his father’s address in Shorewood, suspicion turned to Monroe.