Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, wader, Doctor RJ, rfall, JML9999 and Man Oh Man. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Interceptor7, BentLiberal, Oke and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00AM Eastern Time.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
From CNN: Photo shows one tiny victim of Europe's refugee crisis
He's maybe a year old, maybe a little older. Lying face down, his head to one side with his bottom slightly up -- the way very young children like to sleep.
But the water is lapping around his face and his body is lifeless.
The boy, in a red T-shirt, blue pants and tiny shoes with Velcro straps, was one of 12 people who drowned off Turkey and washed up on a beach Wednesday.
A photo of him lying alone and being approached by an official has been shared widely around the world, often with the Twitter hashtag #KıyıyaVuranİnsanlık or "Flotsam of Humanity" in Turkish.
Some said they hoped the images of the boy lying on the beach and his limp body being scooped up by a rescue worker could be a turning point in the debate over how to handle the surge of people heading toward Europe.
Nadim Houry, Human Rights Watch deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, described the pictures as "haunting."
"Biggest indictment of collective failure," he wrote.
From the
Associated Press:
Migrant Tempers Flare As Hungary Blocks Trains For 2nd Day
Tempers flared among the thousands trapped in a makeshift refugee camp in the heart of Budapest on Wednesday as Hungary played hardball with its unwelcome visitors for a second day, blocking train ticket-clutching migrants from traveling deeper into Europe.
The migrants, who have swamped every nook and cranny of public space outside the city's Keleti train station, threatened to walk the 105 miles (170 kilometers) to the Austrian border if police don't let them board trains to their desired destinations in Austria and Germany.
"I will walk the whole way if I must," declared 28-year-old Ahmed Shamoun, who deserted Syria's army three months ago, leaving nine brothers and eight sisters behind in Damascus. "I could pay a taxi 500 euros ($550) to take me to Austria, but the police might stop me. I could wait here forever before Hungary lets me take the train."
From the
New York Times:
Coordinated Strategy Brings Obama Victory on Iran Nuclear Deal
Just before the Senate left town for its August break, a dozen or so undecided Democrats met in the Capitol with senior diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia who delivered a blunt, joint message: Their nuclear agreement with Iran was the best they could expect. The five world powers had no intention of returning to the negotiating table.
“They basically said unanimously this is as good a deal as you could get and we are moving ahead with it,” recalled Senator Chris Coons, the Delaware Democrat who lent crucial support to the deal this week despite some reservations. “They were clear and strong that we will not join you in re-imposing sanctions.”
For many if not most Democrats, it was that message that ultimately solidified their decisions, leading to President Obama on Wednesday securing enough votes to put the agreement in place over fierce and united Republican opposition. One after another, lawmakers pointed to the warnings from foreign leaders that their own sanctions against Iran would be lifted regardless of what the United States did.
From the
Washington Post:
Jeb Bush's primary path takes an unexpected detour
This is not how Jeb Bush thought his summer would end. The candidate once seen as the most likely Republican presidential nominee is languishing in the polls, his fundraising has slowed, and he endures daily taunts from the rival who unseated him as the front-runner, Donald Trump.
Through it all, Bush is sticking to the same strategy that he and his advisers laid out months ago: establish himself as a tested conservative reformer who served eight years as Florida governor, ride out the chaotic pre-primary season and wait for the party to coalesce around him.
Even as he shifts tactics over the short term to fight back against Trump, Bush is plodding forward, returning time and again in his appearances to the comfort zone of his years in Tallahassee, Florida’s capital,, when he was an alpha leader and fellow Republicans showed him deference rather than defiance.
But deflating Trump is an urgent mission, necessary in the eyes of Bush confidants to give their candidate room to make his preferred pitch.
From the
Los Angeles Times:
Dramatic rise in crime casts a shadow on downtown L.A.'s gentrification
As Lauren Mishkind was walking along 7th Street this summer in downtown Los Angeles, a man pulled a handgun and pointed it at another person standing behind her.
Terrified, she hid behind a car while the assailant tackled the victim.
“I was just shaking for the rest of the day,” said Mishkind, who lives downtown and works at an architecture firm in the area. “You kind of assume it's par for the course living down here, which is kind of more shocking.”
Crime has jumped across the city this year, but nowhere has the increase been as large as in L.A.'s hippest new domain: downtown.
Here, the forces of rapid gentrification are crashing up against the chronic poverty, homelessness and crime that have long been a part of life in the city center. Police and residents say the influx of new lofts, luxury high-rise apartments, bars and eateries have made new downtown dwellers easy targets for street crime.
From
NBC News:
Taco Bell Rolls Out New Shell Made of Fried Chicken
Taco Bell is thinking outside the bun.
The fast food chain is taking a cue from its corporate cousin KFC and will now serve a taco shell made of fried chicken.
Called the "Naked Crispy Chicken Taco," the new menu item consists of a fried chicken shell filled with lettuce, cheese, tomato and avocado ranch sauce, according to Foodbeast, an online publication that specializes in food news.
Yum Brands, which owns Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, is no stranger to food mash-ups.
KFC released several hybrid chicken products in the recent years including the Double Down Sandwich, Double Down Dog -- which use fried chicken filets in place of buns -- and the "Chizza," a pizza with chicken for crust. Similarly, Pizza Hut introduced new crust flavors last year, offering salted pretzel, honey sriracha and toasted asiago to its pizzas.
From
BBC News:
Five Chinese ships seen off Alaska coast, Pentagon says
Five Chinese naval ships are currently positioned in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, US officials confirm.
It is believed to be the first time Chinese military vessels have been seen operating in the area.
Officials say they have been monitoring the ships' activities, but said they were operating in international waters.
In recent years Beijing has taken a more assertive stance on maritime territorial disputes with Japan and South East Asian nations.
US defence officials have spotted three Chinese combat ships, a supply vessel and an amphibious ship moving toward the Aleutian Islands which is split between Russian and US control, according to the Wall Street Journal.
They were seen not far from where US President Barack Obama is visiting as part of his three-day tour of Alaska to raise awareness of the effects of climate change on the state.
From
Al Jazeera:
Russia in pole position as US falls behind in race for Arctic resources
When President Barack Obama on Wednesday becomes the first sitting U.S. president to set foot above the Arctic Circle, he will enter a vast territory undergoing a historic and rapid transformation. Climate change, resource competition and renewed Russian military interest threaten to turn a place marked by cooperation in the decades since the Cold War into a zone of contention.
As the sea ice recedes, Arctic waters, including the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, are becoming more navigable than at any time in the known past. Yet in the race to stake claims in this newly accessible region, Russia is far ahead of the rest.
Until now, international cooperation in the region has largely been handled through the Arctic Council. Made up of eight nations — the U.S., Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland and Canada — it aims to work on environmental protection and sustainable development.
The council has had some notable successes. In April it adopted the framework of an agreement to reduce the emissions of methane and black carbon, a dark compound that absorbs heat and accelerates the melting of ice. But since its creation in 1996, the body has largely avoided the most contentious security issues in the region’s increasingly tense geopolitics.
From
ABC News:
China Marks Japan WWII Defeat, Shows Rising Power in Parade
China launched a major military parade through Beijing on Thursday to commemorate Japan's World War II defeat while underlining President Xi Jinping's determination to make his country Asia's pre-eminent power.
The spectacle involved more than 12,000 troops, 500 pieces of military hardware and 200 aircraft of various types, representing what military officials say is the Chinese military's most cutting-edge technology.
Xi kicked off the proceedings with a speech at the iconic Tiananmen Gate in the heart of Beijing, flanked by Chinese leaders and foreign dignitaries, including Russian leader Vladimir Putin, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
"The experience of war makes people value peace even more," Xi said. "Regardless of the progress of events, China will never seek hegemony, China will never seek to expand and will never inflict the tragedies it suffered in the past upon others."
Xi also pledged to cut 300,000 troops from the People's Liberation Army, the world's largest army which currently has 2.3 million troops.
From
The Guardian:
Government launches video to tackle sexual assault rates in US colleges
As part of a campaign to lower sexual assault rates on college campuses, the Obama administration has released a new public service announcement, a reminder to viewers that sex without consent is rape.
But the PSA, which features several well-known actors, and the administration’s push to radically redefine how sexual assault is interpreted under federal civil rights legislation is not enough to satisfy all activists, who say university disciplinary proceedings remain secretive, and the campaign lacks accountability.
“There’s one thing you can never have sex without,” Zoe Saldana tells the camera.
“It’s not something you buy,” Matt McGorry says.
“Or something you take,” Minka Kelly says.
“It’s consent,” John Cho says. Without it, viewers are told by Josh Hutcherson, “It’s rape.”
The new PSA is part of the It’s On Us campaign, a program that debuted last year with celebrity support and a video that emphasized bystander intervention. The bystander intervention theory emphasizes sex assault prevention by training peers to protect one another during vulnerable moments, such as when a friend is drunk or being harassed.
From
The Daily Beast:
Is ‘The New York Times’ at War With Hillary?
Does The New York Times harbor an institutional bias against the Clintons, prompting the country’s most influential newspaper to accentuate the negative and minimize the positive in portraying one of America’s more powerful political families?
Of course not, says Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet.
“If you look at this reasonably, there is no institutional animus toward the Clintons. I don’t buy it,” Baquet told The Daily Beast. “I say this with all due respect to the Clintons, but politicians as a rule like to deflect criticism by blaming the press.”
Yet it is a remarkably durable accusation, going back at least to the early 1990s, when Times investigative reporter Jeff Gerth—at the behest of then-Washington bureau chief Howell Raines—uncorked his much-debated 1992 “Whitewater” opus, an exhaustive account of ethically problematic real estate and business dealings that ultimately led, after many improbable twists and turns, to a criminal referral, an independent counsel, and President Bill Clinton’s impeachment.
Raines, who was named the Times’s editorial page editor as the Clinton administration began in 1993, subsequently unleashed a torrent of scorching commentaries against the president and his activist-wife over the next eight years.
From
Reuters:
Wall Street surges as turbulence becomes the norm
Wall Street stocks jumped almost 2 percent on Wednesday in the latest volatile session as investors weighed the impact of a stumbling Chinese economy and global market turmoil on the Federal Reserve's impending decision about when to raise interest rates.
U.S. investors have weathered over two weeks of unusually wide-swinging trade that has left the S&P 500 with its worst monthly drop in three years and a loss of 8.5 percent from an all-time high in May.
“What we're seeing today is not a recovery. It's market volatility, it's nervousness, it's an inability to call the direction of the market," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
"Through now and October we're going to see a lot more of this, a lot of volatility.”
From
Vice:
Is Telling Someone to Commit Suicide a Crime?
If his talk of suicide was just a cry for help, the help Michelle Carter gave her boyfriend Conrad Roy III was lethal. Carter's messages carried the same tone anyone would in trying to nudge a boyfriend dragging his feet to get a job, or go back to school. "There is no way you can fail," she wrote. But 17-year-old Carter wasn't encouraging her 18-year-old boyfriend to find work. She was goading him into killing himself, prosecutors say.
On July 13, 2014, Roy's body was found in his truck behind a K-Mart in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. The windows were rolled up. He had been running a combustible engine inside and had successfully poisoned himself with carbon monoxide.
When, midway through the endeavor, Roy got out of the truck and called Carter, she told him to finish the job. "Get back in," she said, according to a text message in which she recounted the incident to a friend and lamented his death was her fault.
Though Roy deleted Carter's texts from his phone, per her request, police were able to recover them along with other messages she sent during this period.
Prosecutors at the Bristol County District Attorney's office say Carter's texts are proof that Carter was "engaging in a course of wanton or reckless conduct," and she's being charged with involuntary manslaughter. Though she's being tried in juvenile court, she could face up to 20 years in state prison. Her attorney Joseph Cataldo says her messages are protected under the First Amendment, and he's asking for a judge to throw the case out.
From
Slate:
Americans Increasingly Likely to Lead Lonely, Loveless Existences, Except in Old Age
For all the verbage on the decline of marriage in the United States, I don't think I've ever seen a graph that illustrates our national turn towards singledom as simply as this one, from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. What's neat about it is the authors don't just focus on wedded couples; instead, they look at how the percentage of Americans living with either a spouse or an unmarried partner has changed since 1980. Plus, they break it down by age range. Thus the picture gives us the combined effects of declining marriage rates, divorces, increasing cohabitation, and whatever other social changes that might determine whether or not we reside with a loved one.
And the takeaway? When we're young or middle-aged, Americans are less likely to be living in coupledom. But thanks to rising lifespans (and, I would guess, changing mores that have normalized late second marriages), senior citizens are more likely to be partnered up. So as a society, we're more likely to be lonely, but we're less likely to be lonely and old.
Probably necessary disclaimer: In spite of the tongue-in-cheek headline, I realize it is entirely possible to live a fulfilled, happy, love-filled life without a spouse or partner. Please hold off on the angry tweets.
From
Salon:
Please, Apple, stop: Focus on making better tablets, not engineering the next “Orange Is the New Black”
Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world; its market capitalization is north of $700 billion, and it has shiny stores in more than a dozen countries. Somehow it has even managed to maintain some sex appeal that you don’t find in other huge companies, like Exxon Mobile or GE. Steve Jobs is as close as we have to a secular saint these days: Alex Gibney’s documentary (“Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine”) is about to drop, and Danny Boyle’s feature, in which Jobs likens himself to an orchestral conductor, comes out next month. And Apple store employees do look cool in those T-shirts.
But it’s time to ask Apple: Please, stop.
It’s not the world domination – or history of sweatshop-like labor practices overseas — I’m talking about here, though that stuff is well worth thinking about. The issue is Apple’s post-Jobs attempt to do everything under the sun.
Apple makes great computers and software. But the success of the iPod and iPhone has apparently made Apple think it can and should bring its Midas touch to everything,
From
The Atlantic:
Taylor Swift, ‘Wildest Dreams,’ and the Perils of Nostalgia
Taylor Swift’s music video for “Wildest Dreams” isn’t about the world as it exists; it’s about the world as seen through the filter of nostalgia and the magic of entertainment. In the song, Swift sings that she wants to live on in an ex’s memory as an idealized image of glamour—“standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset.” In the video, her character, an actress, falls in love with her already-coupled costar, for whom she’ll live on as an idealized image of glamour—standing in a nice dress, staring at a giant fan that’s making the fabric swirl in the wind.
The setting for the most part is Africa, but, again, the video isn’t about Africa as it exists, but as it’s seen through the filter of nostalgia and the magic of entertainment—a very particular nostalgia and kind of entertainment. Though set in 1950, the video is in the literary and cinematic tradition of white savannah romances, the most important recent incarnation of which might be the 1985 Meryl Streep film Out of Africa, whose story begins in 1913. Its familiarity is part of its appeal, and also part of why it’s now drawing flack for being insensitive. As James Kassaga Arinaitwe and Viviane Rutabingwa write at NPR:
To those of us from the continent who had parents or grandparents who lived through colonialism (and it can be argued in some cases are still living through it), this nostalgia that privileged white people have for colonial Africa is awkwardly confusing to say the least and offensive to say the most [...] She should absolutely be able to use any location as a backdrop. But she packages our continent as the backdrop for her romantic songs devoid of any African person or storyline, and she sets the video in a time when the people depicted by Swift and her co-stars killed, dehumanized, and traumatized millions of Africans. That is beyond problematic.
From
Billboard:
Taylor Swift Video Director Defends 'Wildest Dreams' Amid Whitewashing Claims
The director of Taylor Swift's new music video is defending the singer after some claimed she whitewashed her video based in Africa.
Joseph Kahn said in a statement Wednesday (Sept. 2) that the video for "Wildest Dreams" includes black people and was produced by a black woman and edited by a black man.
Kahn, who directed Swift's "Blank Space" and "Bad Blood," is Asian.
"Wildest Dreams" is set in 1950s Africa and portrays Swift as an actress who falls in love with her co-star on the set. Black actors are seen in some of the clips from a distance.
Kahn said: "We collectively decided it would have been historically inaccurate to load the crew with more black actors as the video would have been accused of rewriting history. This video is set in the past by a crew set in the present."
From
Rolling Stone:
Fall Music Preview 2015: 30 Must-Hear Albums
With the 2015 VMAs in the rearview, the music world turns its attention to the fall-album onslaught. No matter what your tastes, there's plenty to look forward to in the coming season: rootsy comebacks from tried-and-true veterans (David Gilmour, Don Henley), rabidly anticipated efforts from left-field pop royalty (Kanye West, Lana Del Rey) and sure-fire smashes from tween-friendly giants (One Direction, Justin Bieber).
Our complete rundown features select insights from the artists themselves. "This is me passing along, to anyone who will listen, a few nuggets of wisdom acquired from my dippings into life's chocolate box down the years," says Rod Stewart of Another Country. YG puts it more bluntly, when he quips of the forthcoming Still Krazy, "Classic shit, that's what I'm fucking with."
From
Variety:
Oscar Producers Considering Two Hosts in 2016
The Academy is trying something new with its Oscar producers this year, and David Hill told Variety, “It’s your fault!”
On March 26, a Variety column urged the Academy to expand its thinking in picking an Oscarcast producer. The org usually hires film producers for the show, but live TV requires a different set of skills — so they should consider veterans of TV sports or concert shows, citing Hill as an example. Academy execs read the piece and began talks with him; the org ultimately tapped into both worlds, with Hill and movie vet Reginald Hudlin sharing duties, as announced Sept. 1. As Hill told Variety on Tuesday afternoon, “Reggie knows film inside out, and I know live television, so we are hopefully going to come up with something interesting.”
On Wednesday morning, Hudlin said their first big decision — picking a host — is a work in progress. An Entertainment Weekly report indicated it would be a team, but Hudlin said that’s only one option. “We’re still very much looking at every possibility. At our first meeting, I mentioned a possible pairing, and David flipped; since then I have thrown out another four or five names and David brought up ideas.” Hudlin said it could be an existing team (rumors bruited Key and Peele, or Amy Poehler and Tina Fey), or it could be a duo who have never worked together: “We have talked about people who might be exciting odd couples,” he laughed.
From
The Hollywood Reporter:
NFL 'Concussion' Script: Read the Explosive Roger Goodell Scene That Sony Cut (Exclusive)
A scene involving National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell that was considered too incendiary to be included in Sony's upcoming head-trauma drama Concussion has been obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
The filmmaker behind the upcoming Will Smith movie — a fact-based drama about the NFL's attempts to cover-up a chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) epidemic among its brain-battered players — revealed Wednesday to THR that the hot-button scene had been cut from the film over legal concerns.
The scene in question appears to implicate Goodell, depicted in Concussion by Luke Wilson, as being part of a wide NFL scheme to cover up the connection between professional football and brain damage.
Writer-director Peter Landesman's revelation came amid a larger refutation of a recent article in The New York Times that — citing hacked internal studio emails — suggested Sony had softened the film to avoid a conflict with the NFL. Concussion opens Christmas Day, and its first trailer debuted on Monday.
From
Gawker:
Here's the 'Mr. Robot' Scene That Caused USA To Postpone Its Finale
Last Wednesday, the first season finale of USA’s cult hit and utterly enthralling show Mr. Robot was supposed to air. But after WDBJ’s Alison Parker and Adam Ward were shot live on air by Vester Lee Flanagan last Wednesday morning, USA announced that it was delaying the finale. The network’s statement read:
The previously filmed season finale of Mr. Robot contains a graphic scene similar in nature to today’s tragic events in Virginia. Out of respect to the victims, their families and colleagues, and our viewers, we are postponing tonight’s episode. Our thoughts go out to all those affected during this difficult time.
And now we know why ...
From
People:
FIRST PHOTOS: Meet The Muppets' Kermit the Frog's New Girlfriend Denise
Well, that didn't take long.
It's been less than month since Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy announced they were splitting after four decades together, but it appears the plush amphibian has already moved on.
Kermit, who is still working with Miss Piggy on her late-night talk show Up Late with Miss Piggy – a situation that is being documented on the upcoming ABC series The Muppets – has been spotted around town numerous times with a head of marketing at ABC named Denise, a source tells PEOPLE exclusively.
"She's always stopping by the set of Up Late," the source says of Denise.
From the
A.V. Club:
Blight club: Mr. Robot, Hannibal, and self-destructive TV
They say every piece of film is a documentary of its own creation. No wonder Sam Esmail’s Mr. Robot looks like a funhouse. Our hero sits mostly off-screen, his hooded head peeking out from a corner. A conversation on a park bench is shot in solo portraits, even though the speakers are sitting right next to each other. It’s already unsettling, this would-be-serene image of a woman alone on a park bench exaggerated until she’s all the way at the edge of the frame, crowded by all that nothing. And then her friend hands her something, a disembodied arm suddenly puncturing the frame. Even in ordinary scenes unencumbered by the main character’s paranoia or covert activities, Mr. Robot is off. The reality it presents is fractured and distorted and Photoshopped in the more common sense of the word. Mr. Robot is at war with itself.
Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal has an older sense of beauty, prizing symmetrical compositions, rich coloring, and flow. But it’s no more discrete. We’re always two places at once, say, the physical setting of a therapist’s office and the visualized space of a Florentine cathedral. Conversation is similarly confused, always both metaphor and meaning. The bloodbath at the end of Hannibal’s second season leaves three of the four main characters dying. Season three updates us on the characters episode by episode, so that it takes four hours to resolve a cliffhanger that would be obvious in short order to any bystanders who happened to witness the scene, call for help, and follow the patients to the hospital. But Hannibal isn’t interested in guiding us straight through a story. Discontinuity is the whole point.
Mr. Robot and Hannibal are the two loudest examples of a modernist trend in TV that includes Adult Swim comedies and Arrested Development’s fourth season. One’s a little cubist, one’s a little surrealist, but what these shows have in common is destruction. Not deconstruction—the building doesn’t matter nearly as much as the breakdown. Mr. Robot and Hannibal disintegrate before our eyes. It’s hard to know what’s real. They’re dark shows where the storytelling breaks down as much as the stories, TV about misanthropes by misanthropes. This is self-destructive TV.
From
Cosmopolitan:
I'm 21, Single, and Considering Freezing My Eggs
In celebration of my 18th birthday, my mom shared with me some exciting news: "It's time to go to the gyno!"
Just what every girl wants to hear upon entering adulthood, right?
My mom has a strategy for sharing fun news like this with me. We'll be in the car where she has me completely captive, and she'll cut off the music and calmly say my name in a certain way that I've come to know all too well. And I know I can't escape the conversation so I just brace myself for what's to come. In this particular case, I was squirming more than usual.
Despite my extreme desire to visit my gyno alone so I could go in, get out, and pretend like it never happened, my mother insisted on accompanying me. Yay for mother-daughter bonding!
What I didn't realize until after my exam, when I brought my mother into my doctor's office to discuss family history, was that this was the real reason she was so insistent on coming. Beyond the obvious reasons, my mother felt it was important for me to start regularly seeing an ob-gyn because of our family history of fertility issues and premature menopause. Oh, the joys of womanhood.