Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Interceptor7, Magnifico, annetteboardman, jck, and Besame. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) 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 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
Chicago Sun-Times: Police acknowledge missing consent decree deadlines, but insist they are making progress by Matthew Hendrickson
Chicago police officials in charge of implementing an array of court-ordered reforms in the department admit their first progress report, due to be released this month, will likely leave something to be desired.
Their response: We’re committed to the process and we’re working on it.
Look deeper at the report, they say, and the public will see that that the department has made progress in its first six months under a federal consent decree.
Despite the fact the report will show the department has missed deadlines for putting in place new policies and conducting training by the end of August, CPD has made significant strides, according to Christina Anderson, the civilian head of the Office of Reform Management, which is tasked with coordinating with the federal monitor’s team on behalf of CPD.
“There are a lot of places that we’re nine-tenths of the way there,” Anderson said Tuesday during an interview at police headquarters.
Miami Herald: Pam Bondi moves on from Florida attorney general to President Trump defender by Lawrence Mower
Pam Bondi was once a fixture on Tampa Bay television stations, appearing regularly on the 6 o’clock news from crime scenes and courtrooms.
Expect to see much more of her — only this time on national television, and at all hours.
Over the next year, Bondi will use one of her greatest political skills — an ability to connect with TV audiences — on behalf of President Donald Trump.
The White House announced last week that Bondi, 53, had been hired temporarily to coordinate and be the public face of the House’s impeachment inquiry into Trump, someone Bondi has been close to for years.
For one of the greatest dramas in American political history, Bondi is straight out of “central casting,” said Adam Goodman, who engineered her run for Florida attorney general in 2010.
“She feels the moment. This was the moment she could be most impactful for the president and the country,” Goodman said. “People are going to discover all over again what Pam Bondi’s made of.”
I’ll just hush.
Boston Globe: Democrats doubt plausibility of Patrick presidential run by Matt Stout and Victoria McGrane
Appearing on national television in September, former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick said his preferred presidential candidate is as interested in policy as uniting people, and could build a platform beyond simply bashing President Trump.
Months later, it appears Patrick may have settled on that candidate: Deval Patrick.
But the two-term governor’s decision to seriously reconsider a presidential bid is puzzling prominent state and national Democrats and even allies, who said Tuesday that he faces immediate, if not impossible, hurdles to mounting a successful campaign for his party’s nomination.
“He’s a very decent human being. I just don’t know how the hell he raises $25 million in the next 100 days while putting an organization together,” said Howard Dean, a former Vermont governor and Democratic National Committee chairman who competed in the 2004 Democratic primary.
“He knows this game, he’s no dummy,” he added. “If you’re going to do this, the time was a year ago.”
Sacramento Bee: Rumors spread after 9 students die at University of Southern California, leaders say by Jared Gilmour
Administrators at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles are trying to tamp down rumors and speculation after an alarming number of deaths at the school this semester.
Nine students have died this school year, with the latest fatality coming Monday afternoon when a 27-year-old student was discovered dead at an off-campus apartment, according to the Los Angeles Times, which reports that the nine students “died between late August and early November.”
The number of deaths so far this semester eclipses the total number last year. Sarah Van Orman, the private university’s chief health officer, said six students died during the last academic year and six died the year prior, while “twelve students passed away during the 2016-17 academic year and four during the 2015-16 academic year,” according to the Daily Trojan, USC’s student newspaper.
“I’ve been acquaintances with at least four of the students who passed away,” said USC senior Nicole Ricken, according to City News Service. “One of them was one of my closest friends.”
MLive: November snowfall breaks 94-year record in Detroit, sets new one in Flint by Bob Johnson
Two Michigan cities are making the record books after a November snowstorm blew through the state.
According to the National Weather Service forecast office for Detroit/Pontiac, a record daily maximum snowfall of 8.5 inches at Detroit Metro Airport on Monday, Nov. 11, broke a record that had stood for nearly 94 years.
It was the highest November daily snowfall, topping the previous high mark of 6.2 inches set on Nov. 15, 1925. It also broke the old record for Nov. 11 of 4.1 inches set in 1984.
Monday’s snowfall of 8.6 inches measured at Flint Bishop Airport was a record daily maximum for Nov. 11, topping the previous mark of 3.0 inches set in 1933.
Washington Post: Pete Buttigieg wants to build a bridge to the religious right. But tension within his in-laws’ family highlights how difficult that may be. By Amy B. Wang
Three days after Christmas 2017, Rhyan Glezman got a text from his youngest brother, Chasten, saying he was engaged to his boyfriend of 2½ years — Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Ind.
Rhyan, an evangelical Christian pastor, texted back: “I love you and is the only reason I’m going to share this one question to you. Are you willing to surrender to God ‘the one who created you and I’ to whatever he says? I love you beyond what you will ever think or know. I think the world of you and Pete, you need to know that. Have a great day brother!!!”
Chasten’s reply: “Thank you. Love to you and the family.”
Less than a year later, Rhyan would be on Fox News, accusing Chasten of lying about his upbringing for political gain. That prompted accusations of bigotry and homophobia; Rhyan’s wife jumped in to vociferously defend her husband on Twitter and attack Chasten and Pete.
My gay experience more strongly resembles Chasten Buttigieg’s than Pete’s. Two things I will comment on in the WaPo story.
1) Chasten’s brothers may be correct in that they don’t remember growing up as being awful..but they don’t have Cahsten’s memories nor did they ever walk in his shoes. It’s only in the past five years that I’ve told some of my family members what was going on on my head about the subject.
And, yes, what I or you might label as bigoted might really mean that those family members do care about you and your well-being. In my experience, that usually hinders on the presence or absence of an underlying maliciousness.
But...and I have emphasized this to some relatives...their thoughts and beliefs about my being gay is not my problem and has nothing to do with me or the life that I live.
Roll Call: Report: Puerto Rico’s infrastructure failing as federal aid remains on hold by Jessica Wehrman
More than two years after hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the island’s bridges, dams, drinking water, ports, roads and power grids are at a breaking point — and the federal dollars to fix that infrastructure remains out of reach.
So says the American Society of Civil Engineers in a report released Tuesday that assigned the island’s infrastructure an overall grade of D-.
The ASCE report card represents the first evaluation the organization has done of the island’s infrastructure.
The report found that the infrastructure needs on the island are huge, calculating that Puerto Rico must increase received investment by $1.23 billion to $2.3 billion annually and putting it at $13 to $23 billion over 10 years, not counting deferred maintenance and hurricane-related recovery projects.
Though the report primarily addresses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s slow release of some $42.5 billion — it only had $15 billion as of May, according to ASCE — its themes reiterate complaints made by members of the House Appropriation Committee’s Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development last month.
The Atlantic: The Role of the Artist in the Age of Trump by Lin Manuel-Miranda
All art is political. In tense, fractious times—like our current moment—all art is political. But even during those times when politics and the future of our country itself are not the source of constant worry and anxiety, art is still political. Art lives in the world, and we exist in the world, and we cannot create honest work about the world in which we live without reflecting it. If the work tells the truth, it will live on.
Public Enemy’s “911 Is a Joke,” George Orwell’s 1984, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s whole damn catalog—all are political works that tell the truth.
Yes, Rodgers and Hammerstein. Consider The Sound of Music. It isn’t just about climbing mountains and fording streams. Look beyond the adorable von Trapp children: It’s about the looming existential threat of Nazism. No longer relevant? A GIF of Captain von Trapp tearing up a Nazi flag is something we see 10 times a day on Twitter, because all sorts of Nazis are out there again in 2019. As last spring’s searing Broadway revival of Oklahoma! revealed, lying underneath Hammerstein’s elephant-eye-high corn and chirping birds is a lawless society becoming itself, bending its rules and procedures based on who is considered part of the community (Curly) and who is marginalized (poor Jud … seriously, poor Jud). Or consider your parents’ favorite, South Pacific. At its center, our hero, Nellie Forbush, must confront her own internalized racism when she learns that the new love of her life has biracial children from a previous marriage. Let your parents know if they forgot: Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals form the spine of Broadway’s “golden age,” and they also deeply engage with the politics of their era.
Reuters: Hong Kong readies for more chaos as violence spreads citywide
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong prepared for more clashes on Wednesday as anti-government protesters planned to paralyze parts of the Asian financial hub for a third day, with transport, schools and many businesses closing after violence escalated across the city.
Protesters and police battled through the night at university campuses and other locations only hours after police Senior Superintendent Kwong Wing-cheung said the Chinese-ruled city had been pushed to the “brink of a total breakdown”.
Police fired tear gas at protesters overnight, while some activists torched a vehicle, hurled petrol bombs at a police station and metro train and broke into a major shopping mall.
Hundreds of commuters were seen queuing at metro stations across the city early on Wednesday after some railway services were suspended and roads closed.
Riot police were deployed to stations, while protesters set up roadblocks and barricades on major thoroughfares.
DW: Bolivia: Senator Jeanine Anez declares herself interim president
Opposition politician Jeanine Anez on Tuesday declared herself Bolivia's interim president after the resignation of longtime President Evo Morales, who arrived in Mexico earlier in the day after fleeing the Andean nation.
With the move, Anez, the second vice president of the Senate, took temporary control of the Senate and put herself in position to become the country's president.
What we know so far
- Anez, 52, said on Tuesday that she was taking over the presidency in a legislative session boycotted by Morales' Movement for Socialism party.
- Anez said the constitution allowed her to become Bolivia's head of state after the resignation of the president and vice president.
- She said she plans to call a new election as soon as possible and that Bolivia could not be left in a power vacuum after Morales' resignation.
Clashes broke out on the streets of La Paz, Bolivia's capital, on Tuesday evening after Anez's declaration.
Morales supporters tried to reach the Congress building, shouting: "She must quit." They were met by police, who fired tear gas to try to disperse the crowd.
Sydney Morning Herald: NSW fires LIVE updates: RFS continues to fight blazes across state, 'more than 300 homes' destroyed (LIVE UPDATES):
Police investigating 12 suspicious fires around Sydney
Police are investigating 12 fires they suspect were deliberately lit during Tuesday's 'catastrophic' bushfire conditions, including two which briefly threatened homes in two Sydney suburbs.
A fire in South Turramurra ignited just after 3pm on Tuesday and quickly escalated into an "emergency warning" with residents told it was too late to leave. The fire was attacked from the ground and the air with pink retardant dropped on houses to prevent the flames from destroying homes.
On Tuesday evening, a fire in the Royal National Park at Loftus reached "watch & act" status before firefighters extinguished the threat.
Both are suspicious, but there's another 10 that police are looking at:
AFP: Venice underwater as exceptional tide sweeps through canal city
Venice was hit by the highest tide in more than 50 years late Tuesday, with tourists wading through flooded streets to seek shelter as a fierce wind whipped up waves in St. Mark's Square.
The exceptionally intense "acqua alta," or high waters, peaked at 1.87 metres (six feet) as the flood alarm sounded across the Italian city of canals, the tide monitoring centre said.
"We're currently facing an exceptionally high tide. Everyone has been mobilised to cope with the emergency," Venice's mayor Luigi Brugnaro tweeted.
Only once since records began in 1923 has the water crept even higher, reaching 1.94 metres in 1966.
As emergency services took to the canals to survey the damage, Italian media reported that a 78-year old local had been killed by electric shock as the waters poured into his home.
BBC: Student poverty: French march in protest after suicide bid
Students have marched through cities across France to show solidarity with a student who attempted suicide on Friday.
The 22-year-old man set himself on fire after saying he faced severe financial difficulties, which he blamed on politicians and the European Union.
Students say his "desperate gesture" represents the current insecurity young people face in France.
He suffered 90% burns and is now in a critical condition hospital.
Since the incident in Lyon, the hashtag #laprécaritétue ("insecurity kills") has been trending on social media.
Hundreds of students gathered in Lyon and protests also took place in Paris and Lille, where former French President François Hollande was forced to cancel a planned conference.
College Football Playoff Rankings:
1. LSU
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. Oregon
7. Utah
8. Minnesota
9. Penn State
10. Oklahoma
Don’t forget that Meteor Blades is hosting an open thread for night owls tonight.
Everyone have a great evening!