ASK Musings

Police Killings

– “A Salt Lake Tribune review of nearly 300 homicides, using media reports, state crime statistics, medical-examiner records and court records, shows that use of force by police is the second-most common circumstance under which Utahns kill each other, surpassed only by intimate partner violence.” Killings by Utah police outpacing gang, drug, child-abuse homicides (via @sltrib)

– “[S]omeone called 911 describing “a guy with a gun pointing it at people,” but the caller twice suggested the gun was “probably fake” and that the individual was “probably a juvenile,” but it’s unclear if this information was relayed to police.” Cleveland Police Shoot And Kill 12-Year-Old Carrying A Fake Gun (via @ThinkProgress)

– “The family is outspoken in their belief that their son’s death was avoidable, had the police officers acted appropriately.”Officers Who Shot 12-Year-Old Holding Toy Gun Refused To Give Him First Aid (via @ThinkProgress)

– “Weekley says that another SWAT member had thrown a flash-bang grenade, which temporarily blinded him. That’s when he fired the shot that killed Aiyana who was asleep on the couch in the front room of the house.” Charges Dropped For Cop Who Fatally Shot Sleeping 7-Year-Old Girl (h/t @SueyPark)

Racism

– “Privilege is like oxygen: You don’t realize it’s there until it’s gone. As white folks, we can’t know what it’s like to go through life without racial privilege because we literally haven’t.” What white people need to know, and do, after Ferguson (h/t @AngryBlackLady)

– “Where he sees “opportunity” many St. Louisans see stone-cold murder. Everything about the announcement—the timing, the condescending tone, the weeks of militarized vehicles patrolling the roads—seemed designed to inflame and incite the region.”Ferguson’s Trial (via @SarahKendzior)

– “McCulloch essentially acknowledged that his team was serving as Wilson’s defense lawyers, noting that prosecutors “challenged” and “confronted” witnesses by pointing out previous statements and evidence that discredited their accounts.” Bob McCulloch’s pathetic prosecution of Darren Wilson (h/t @Milbank)

Sexism

– “A woman makes it impossible for men not see a truth that usually remains invisible to them: that men make our streets into threatening spaces. And in response, men threaten to kill her.” The masculine mistake (h/t @femfreq)

Prejudice and Humor

– “Reciting prejudiced comments (jokey or not) worsens one’s own attitude towards the group disparaged. Exposure to disparagement humor on the other hand doesn’t seem to affect the prejudices people hold; instead, it seems to affect how/whether people will act on their prejudices.” Sticks and Stones and Jokes (h/t @schemaly)

Reproductive Health

– “There is no universal connotation of the word “natural,” other than that it’s supposed to be wholesome and good. It’s like labeling a food as “natural” as opposed to, say, organic: Organic means food that is grown without pesticides, while “natural” means whatever the hell the manufacturer wants it to mean. And in the same vein, conflating “natural” birth with vaginal birth implies that other ways of being born are “unnatural”—in other words, inferior.” A Baby Coming Out of a Vagina Is a Vaginal Birth: There’s No Such Thing as ‘Natural’ (via @rhrealitycheck)

And Finally, Jay Smooth continues to bring the awesome: