Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Doctor RJ, Magnifico, annetteboardman and Man Oh Man. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) wader, 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 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
Chicago Tribune: Northwestern modifies handbook to treat football players like employees by Alexia Elejaide-Ruiz
Northwestern University may not consider its football players to be employees, but it changed provisions in its handbook to treat them as such, avoiding legal action by the National Labor Relations Board and signaling that questions about the workplace status of student-athletes remain very much alive.
In addition to easing restrictions on players' ability to communicate with the public, the changes show the influence of a 2014 ruling by the NLRB's Chicago Regional Director Peter Sung Ohr, who granted Northwestern football players employee status under federal law.
Though the five-member National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C. last year dismissed a union election petition from the players, it didn't rule on the question of whether they are employees and therefore entitled to other protections under the National Labor Relations Act.
"Since they didn't say they weren't (employees), they might be, and since they might be, the NLRB still has some moral if not legal persuasive powers here to try to bring Northwestern's policies into compliance," said Eldon Ham, adjunct professor at Illinois Institute of Technology's Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he teaches sports law.
Washington Post: Billy Bush and NBC working on separation agreement by Elahe Izadi
“Today” show co-anchor Billy Bush, who has found himself in the middle of a firestorm related to his appearance in a video that featured Donald Trump making lewd remarks about women, is working on a separation deal with NBC, according to people familiar with negotiations.
Bush had been previously suspended over his remarks on a 2005 tape The Washington Post published Friday that captured Donald Trump on a hot microphone making extremely lewd comments about women and talking about groping them. Trump was with Bush to film an “Access Hollywood” segment plugging an upcoming soap opera cameo, and Bush — then a host on the news-entertainment program — is heard laughing, joking with Trump and talking about ogling women.
On Monday, the “Today” show briefly mentioned the suspension during its telecast. By Tuesday, digital billboards outside of the show’s 30 Rockefeller Center headquarters didn’t appear to carry Bush’s likeness.
DNAInfo-Chicago: Are Hispanics Being Ignored By City Hall? Latino Aldermen Push For Funding by Ted Cox
CITY HALL — The City Council's Latino Caucus wasted little time Tuesday in telling Mayor Rahm Emanuel where to direct his new $100 million Community Catalyst Fund — to Hispanic neighborhoods aldermen say have long been ignored in city development.
"It is disappointing that positive accomplishments in Latino neighborhoods were mentioned only once in the budget address," said Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th). "Given that Latinos generate greater numbers than ever in business and retail dollars, it is imperative that we give focus on continuing their development."
Emanuel made neighborhood development a keynote of his 2017 budget speech Tuesday. He proposed a $100 million Community Catalyst Fund, as well as $10,000 in matching funds to aldermen who use their discretionary spending menu on community art projects.
The 11 aldermen in the Latino Caucus felt slighted, perhaps because Emanuel devoted so much attention to attempts to stem street violence by expanding youth mentoring, afterschool and summer jobs plans widely perceived as African-American programs.
"Our community is vibrant but it is not without its difficulties and we face daunting challenges," said Ald. George Cardenas (12th), caucus chairman. "We are a silent majority that has time and again risen to ever-changing circumstances. It would be detrimental to the city as a whole to ignore the needs of the Latino community."
At this time, I will only say this: while Donald Trump is a racist, a xenophobe and a charlatan (among so many other things), the Democrats do have some work to do in urban areas that are underserved; in other words, there is more than a grain of truth to what Trump has said in regards to this issue...Trump is simply not the right messenger.
The Charlotte Observer: NC hurricane toll: 17 dead, 1 missing, and a trooper involved fatal shooting by Mark Price and Joe Marusak
The North Carolina death toll tied to Hurricane Matthew rose to 17 people, with one missing and 190,175 without power at 6 p.m. Tuesday. And state officials warned of another round of flooding in a half dozen additional counties.
A man was also shot and killed Monday by a state trooper in an altercation related to flood rescue work, Gov. Pat McCrory said.
Sgt. J.F. Hinson, a 13-year veteran assigned to the State Highway Patrol office in Lumberton, is on administrative leave, which is standard in such instances. The State Highway Patrol called in the State Bureau of Investigation to investigate the shooting.
Investigators said the confrontation happened at 8:08 p.m. Monday, when two Robeson County sheriff’s deputies and Hinson were rescuing people on West Fifth Street in Lumberton. The officers encountered a man who became hostile, then displayed a handgun. Hinson shot and killed the man. The name of the man who was shot will be released once authorities find and notify his family, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety.
“It was a unique circumstance of high water and first responders,” McCrory said, conceding tensions can run high during disaster situations.
That’s one reason, he said, that 24 military police have been assigned to monitor the state’s evacuation shelters. “We want to make sure people are safe at the shelters,” he said.
Lenoir County and the city of Kinston are under a curfew from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. nightly until further notice, the county’s emergency management office said Tuesday.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday that the city would stop using solitary confinement on inmates under 21 at local jails.
In an op-ed in the Gotham Gazette, New York City Correction commissioner Joseph Ponte described the move as “an unprecedented milestone in New York State correctional history” and “across the nation,” claiming that “no other city or state has accomplished comparable punitive-segregation reforms.”
Tuesday’s decision comes at the end of a long process of reform and much public criticism and outrage. In 2014, facing widespread anger over violence and the treatment of young offenders in city jails — and a suit from the federal government over the deplorable conditions at Rikers Island — the New York Department of Corrections (DOC) agreed to stop using punitive segregation — solitary confinement—on inmates who are 16- and 17-years-old. This summer the age limit was raised to 18.
City officials repeatedly voted to raise the cut-off for solitary confinement to 21, and moved to ban solitary confinement of anyone under 21 years of age at Rikers to much fanfare in January 2015. But until Tuesday’s announcement the DOC routinely pushed to extend the deadline. As late as July 2016 there were still 16 inmates between the ages of 19 and 21 in solitary confinement at Rikers.
New York Times: Split Over Donald Trump Threatens to Tilt Republican States by Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin
Donald J. Trump’s intensifying battle with his own party is tearing open the nation’s political map, pulling Republicans across the country into a self-destructive feud that could imperil dozens of lawmakers in Congress and potentially throw conservative-leaning states into Hillary Clinton’s column.
Democrats are moving swiftly to exploit Mr. Trump’s crumbling position in the presidential race, aiming to run up a big margin of victory for Mrs. Clinton and extend their political advantage into the congressional elections next month.
Mrs. Clinton’s campaign has concluded that at least two traditionally Republican states, Georgia and Arizona, are realistic targets for her campaign to win over. And Republican polling has found that Mr. Trump is at dire risk of losing Georgia, according to people briefed on the polls, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Mrs. Clinton now holds such a strong upper hand that Priorities USA, a “super PAC” backing her campaign, may direct some of its war chest into Senate races, two people said, and may begin broadcasting ads for those contests as soon as next week. Congressional Democrats also hope to persuade Mrs. Clinton to continue pouring money and campaign resources into states like Virginia and Colorado, where they believe her victory is assured, in order to lift other Democratic candidates.
Vox: Hillary Clinton is proposing a policy to tackle deep poverty by Dylan Matthews
On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton unveiled what is arguably among the most important policies she’s announced during her entire presidential campaign. It is an ambitious but politically attainable plan that will lift huge numbers of families with children out of poverty. It is targeted exclusively at the poor, and the extreme poor in particular, with no money spent on the middle class or rich.
Specifically, Clinton is calling for a change in the refundability threshold of the child tax credit. That sounds like a technical change, but it has tremendous ramifications. Currently, the poorest American families can’t claim the credit, which is a mainstay of the tax returns of most middle-class families. That’s because households that make less than $3,000 a year — the truly, desperately poor — are excluded entirely, and households making under $9,666.67 can’t get the full credit.
Clinton would change the law so that families start getting the credit with the first dollar they earn. That would effectively increase the tax refunds of the poorest families with children. In addition, Clinton would double the credit for children 4 and under, something that helps both poor and middle-class families with young kids, and she’d make the credit phase in much faster for families with kids in that age range.
That’s all good but when I see arrogant-ass headlines and quotes like this from Hillary Clinton (or any politician) it turns me the fuck off. I am voting for and, in essence, selecting to hire a president, not a fucking saviour.
Reuters: Anthem-protesting Kaepernick named starter for 49ers
Colin Kaepernick, who has caused controversy by kneeling during the U.S. national anthem, has been named the starting quarterback for the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers, the team said on Tuesday.
Kaepernick, whose protest against injustice and police brutality has been defended by U.S. President Barack Obama and since spread to other players and sports, will take over for a 49ers team that is 1-4 after losing four consecutive games.
"I think people are realizing the injustices and the oppression that's taking place in this country and it’s something that needs to be addressed." Kaepernick, 28, told a news conference after being named the team's starter.
"I think it’d have a huge impact on a lot of people’s lives and that’s ultimately what the goal is to affect this country and those people positively."
By refusing to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner" during the NFL's 2016 season, Kaepernick has made headlines and set off a national debate about race relations, policing and the mixing of politics and sports.
Many other athletes in the NFL and some in the National Basketball Association have since copied the gesture and the silent protests have angered some fans who call it disrespectful to the U.S. flag.
Guardian: Clown sightings: Ronald McDonald keeps low profile amid creepy craze by Elle Hunt
McDonald’s mascot Ronald McDonald is reportedly keeping a low profile following a spate of creepy clown sightings around the world – including an arrest at a branch of the fast-food chain in Australia.
A spokesperson for the McDonald’s corporation in New York told the Associated Press the company was being “thoughtful in respect to Ronald McDonald’s participation in community events” as a result of the “current climate around clown sightings in communities”.
According to AP, the company did not give any other details about how often its red-haired and -mouthed mascot will make appearances or how that will change.
It suggests that the company may be seeking to capitalise on a craze that has captured the attention of the internet – and with it, the news media around the world, much to the chagrin of professional clowns.
In August, people dressed as clowns were reportedly attempting to lure children into woods in the US state of South Carolina. The prank has since spread around the world, with police responding to several incidents.
McDonald’s might be attempting to steer clear of creepy clowns but, in the Australian town of Moe, in Victoria, the creepy clown came to McDonald’s.
Fusion: Hispanic voters’ beef with the GOP goes way beyond Trump’s racism, report finds by Katherine Krueger
An new expansive report on Hispanics voters out Tuesday found the majority of Hispanic Americans are talking about Donald Trump’s derogatory remarks about immigrants with their family and friends—and they’re planning to vote in November.
The Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends report found serious resonance around Trump’s negative remarks about Hispanic immigrants, with 75% of registered Hispanic voters surveyed reporting they discussed his comments with family, friends, or coworkers over the past year. Nearly the same number say they’ve given the election serious thought, with 74% of saying they’re “absolutely certain” they’ll vote on November 8.
While Trump has polled poorly among Hispanic voters for much of the election, the report frames in stark terms what Republican operatives have been ringing the alarm about for months: that the party isn’t doing well with Hispanic voters, and that Trump’s candidacy could do irreparable harm. (One indicator: In 2004, George W. Bush captured 40% of Hispanic voters’ support, while 27% backed Mitt Romney in 2012. A Univision poll of the Latino vote from September found Trump’s support at less than 20% in three of four key swing states.)
FiveThirtyEight: Election Update: Women Are Defeating Donald Trump by Nate Silver
A series of national polls released on Tuesday showed Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by margins ranging from 5 to 11 percentage points — except for the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times tracking poll, which defiantly continues to show Trump up by 2 points. There isn’t yet enough data from after Sunday night’s debate to really gauge its impact, however. For that matter, the polls may not yet have fully caught up to the effects of the release on Friday of a 2005 videotape, which showed Trump making vulgar comments about women and condoning unwanted sexual conduct toward women. For the time being, Clinton’s lead is holding at about 6 percentage points in our polls-only model, which gives her an 84 percent chance of winning the White House. Clinton’s chances are 80 percent in our polls-plus forecast.
But while we’re in something of a wait-and-see mode, one demographic split caught my eye. That was from a Public Religion Research Institute poll conducted on behalf of The Atlantic. It showed a massive gender split, with Clinton trailing Trump by 11 percentage points among men but leading him by 33 points among women. To put those numbers in perspective, that’s saying Trump would defeat Clinton among men by a margin similar to Dwight D. Eisenhower’s landslide victory over Adlai Stevenson in 1952, while Clinton would defeat Trump among women by a margin similar to … actually, there’s no good comparison, since no candidate has won a presidential election by more than 26 percentage points since the popular vote became a widespread means of voting in 1824. To get to 33 points, you’d have to take the Eisenhower-Stevenson margin and add Lyndon B. Johnson’s 23-point win over Barry Goldwater in 1964 on top of it.
Bloomberg: May Backs Down on Parliament Vote Over Her Brexit Terms by Robert Hutton
Prime Minister Theresa May has accepted that Parliament should be allowed to vote on her plan for taking Britain out of the European Union, but asked lawmakers to do it in a way that gives her space to negotiate.
The decision seemed to calm investors after they dumped the pound on concern May was taking a gung-ho approach to the negotiations. The currency took a beating after May signaled her intention to put immigration curbs before the City of London’s interests in pulling Britain out of the European Union.
Parliament will debate on Wednesday a motion from the opposition Labour Party calling for a “full and transparent debate on the government’s plan for leaving the EU” and for Parliament to be able to “properly scrutinize that plan” before she begins formal talks. The request is supported by some lawmakers from May’s own Conservative Party.
In response, May late on Tuesday tabled an amendment that effectively accepted the motion, adding that there shouldn’t be an attempt to block Brexit or “undermine the negotiating position of the government.”
AFP: Russia renews heavy bombing of Syria's Aleppo
Regime ally Russia carried out its heaviest strikes in days on Syria's Aleppo on Tuesday, as rebel fire killed at least five schoolchildren in the war-torn country's south.
The raids in Aleppo killed 25 civilians, a monitor said, and caused massive damage in several residential areas of the city's rebel-held east.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meanwhile cancelled a trip to Paris in a row over the violence in Syria, where Moscow is helping President Bashar al-Assad's forces in an operation to recapture all of Aleppo.
Syria's army announced a bid last month to retake the city, which has been divided since mid-2012.
The assault began after the collapse of a short-lived truce negotiated by Washington and Moscow, and has seen the besieged east of the city come under fierce aerial assault.
The army said last Wednesday it would reduce its bombardment, after days of attacks that killed hundreds and destroyed the largest remaining hospital in the east.
AlJazeera: First internet addiction rehab clinic opens in Algeria by Djamila Ould Khettab
Constantine, Algeria - "When talking about addiction, people usually think about tobacco, drugs or alcohol dependency," said Dr Hakima Boualem, head of the medical staff of the addiction treatment centre of Bachir Mentouri clinic in Constantine.
"But, for some, the fight is with internet - especially the 'magic blue' of Facebook."
Last May, addiction specialists and psychologists at the Bachir Mentouri clinic, which is 450km to the east of the capital Algiers, rolled out a rehab programme designed for compulsive users of technology, particularly social networks.This is the first clinic in Algeria - and in Africa - aiming to cure Internet fanatics.
Algeria has joined a growing list of countries to open rehab centres helping those who suffer from a web obsession. In South Korea, home of the world's most connected population, digital detox camps have already treated thousands of children. According to South Korea's Ministry of Family, 14 percent of South Korean teenagers are addicted to the internet.
Unlike South Korea, Algeria has been much slower to embrace the internet, launching long-awaited 3G service only about three years ago. Algeria's internet penetration rate remains relatively low, standing at 32.8 percent in a country of 40 million people, according to this year's State of Broadband Report.
Vice: Salvador Dalí's Rare Erotic Cookbook Is Getting Reprinted by Beckett Mufson
Salvador Dalí wore many hats in his life: luminary Surrealist, collaborator with cinema legends Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, self-proclaimed clown, and experimental filmmaker—but from the age of six he longed to wear a chef's toque blanche. In 1973 that dream culminated in a sensual fusion of cookbook and art object, Les diners de Gala, which Taschen just announced it is reprinting for the first time in decades.
Peppered between Dalí's often outlandish recipes are surreal photos and illustrations of the food paired with his melting clocks, barren deserts, and fantastical animals. Dishes that lose all resemblance to reality, taking on human body parts or backed by dreamlike landscapes, elevate the more conventional fair. One picture of pork shoulder surrounded by a Bosch-like garden of delights acts as a cerebral spice for the nearby "Roast Pork with Shellfish." It infuses it with mystique, while also making it seem approachable in comparison.
Recipes like "Peacock à l'Impériale dressed and surrounded by its court"—which incorporates an actual taxidermied peacock into the plating—don't need extra sensory seasoning. There's an entire section devoted to aphrodesiacs, with recipes like "Aphrodite's puree" and "Siren shoulder." Dalí's comentary is sprinkled throughout many of the recipes, but some of the best are in this section. He preludes the brandy-based "Casanova cocktail," for example, by writing, "This is quite appropriate when circumstances such as exhaustion, overwork, or simply excess of sobriety are calling for a pick-me-up." Les diners de Gala is, if nothing else, proof that creativity deserves to have its boundaries tested.
Mic: Beauty vlogger James Charles is CoverGirl's first male spokesperson by Rachel Lubitz
For the first time ever, the cosmetics brand CoverGirl has named a male spokesperson: James Charles, a beauty vlogger with more than 420,000 Instagram followers and 70,000 YouTube subscribers.
He is the brand's first CoverBoy, if you will.
The announcement was made on Tuesday morning, with the help of Katy Perry, the current face of CoverGirl. Perry posted an Instagram of the two of them with the caption, "Just wrapped another great CoverGirl shoot. Honored to have the pleasure to announce the very first COVERBOY, James Charles!"
Charles, who is 17, started beauty blogging just one year ago, but has amassed a massive following, regularly sharing makeup tutorials and expertly lit selfieswith his fans.
"All of our CoverGirls are role models and boundary-breakers, fearlessly expressing themselves, standing up for what they believe, and redefining what it means to be beautiful," a press release from CoverGirl read. "James Charles is no exception. One year ago, he boldly chose to launch his Instagram to the world, using transformative, dynamic makeup looks to showcase the many facets of his personality, serving as an inspiration to anyone who might have been afraid to do the same."
AP: College Football Top 10 (first place votes in parenthesis)
1) Alabama (56)
2) THOSE people (2)
3) Clemson (2)
4) Michigan (1)
5) Washington
6) Texas A&M
7) Louisville
8) Wisconsin
9) Tennessee
10) Nebraska
A couple of Top 10 games are being played this weekend with #1 Alabama @ #9 Tennessee and #2 THOSE people @ #8 Wisconsin.
And finally tonight, this requires an explanation.
NJ.com: Why Rutgers band played Michigan fight song 'Hail to the Victors' in 78-0 loss (VIDEO) by Ryan Dunleavy
PISCATAWAY -- The 15-second Twitter videos showing the Rutgers marching band playing the famed Michigan fight song "Hail to the Victors" in the mostly empty High Point Solutions Stadium stands during a 78-0 loss Saturday only tell a partial story.
Rutgers band director Tim Smith told NJ Advance Media it is something of an unofficial tradition for Big Ten marching bands to play the visiting school's fight song.
"It is not something we started," Smith said. "We picked this up when we visited other schools in the Big Ten. We travel with a small group of kids to several (road) games every year and it happened at Wisconsin, where members of their band came over to our fan section and played our fight song. It happened at Ohio State, Indiana."
Rutgers, which has become a too-easy punchline for national media because of the events of recent years, was criticized on Twitter and on TheSpun.com, which wrote "apparently, it's gotten so bad, the team's own band decided to stir things up a bit."
According to some Tweets and eyewitness accounts, some remaining Rutgers fans started yelling obscenities at the home band for its act of courtesy to Michigan fans, who drank in the celebratory moment.
I did not attend a Big 10 school (much less play in the band) so this is a tradition that I hadn’t heard of. I did find this 2015 reddit post referencing that this is a tradition for Big 10 schools as well as some high schools in the Midwest. Playing the visiting team’s fight song is also a tradition of the Tennessee Volunteers Marching Band.
It should also be noted that in the aftermath of deadly flooding in South Carolina in 2015, the LSU Marching Band played the University of South Carolina fight song as a show of support (the 2015 LSU-South Carolina game was moved to Baton Rouge in the aftermath of the flooding).
Of course, in the background was growing animosity between Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and Rutgers head coach Chris Ash over Ash’s decision to host a satellite camp in New Jersey the same day that Harbaugh hosted a satellite camp in The Garden State and Ash invited That Other Team’s coach to participate...which may not have been a good move...oh, well…
Don’t forget that Hunter is hosting an open thread for night owls tonight.
Everyone have a great evening!