Good morning!
On this date in 1858, a year before The Origin of the Species was released, Charles Darwin first published his theory of evolution through natural selection in a London scientific journal. And in 1866, Andrew Jackson formally declared an end to the Civil War.
Gruesome –> Ostensibly in retaliation for US airstrikes, it appears that Islamic State militants have beheaded journalist James Foley, who went missing two years ago in Syria. Spencer Ackerman has the story at The Guardian.
Ferguson –> CBS News reports that protests began peacefully last night but over the course of the evening, police made 47 arrests. AND: Chris Hayes said of the protests, “I have a pit in my stomach over where this is headed if something doesn’t change.” AND: At The New Yorker, Amy Davidson looks at the three autopsies of Michael Brown’s body. AND: Josh Voorhees writes at Slate that the media aren’t siding with the protesters in Ferguson because the press is being abused by police, but because they want answers to what happened to Brown on the street that day. AND: Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother, penned an open letter to Brown’s parents in Time magazine.
Democracy! –> Agence France Presse reports that the Afghan government “ordered a New York Times correspondent to leave the country after he wrote an article saying government ministers and officials were threatening to seize power to end a stand-off over election results.”
Some good news –> The Los Angeles Unified School District is taking steps to “decriminalize discipline” in order to curb the school-to-prison pipeline, according to the AP’s Matt Hamilton.
Fighting resumes –> The wife and son of a senior Hamas leader were killed in an Israeli airstrike as the temporary ceasefire in Gaza broke down. Harriet Sherwood and Patrick Kingsley have more details at The Guardian.
Mystery –> At Vox, Sarah Kliff writes that nobody is really sure why teen birth rates are falling precipitously.
America’s shame –> Esther Yu-Hsi Lee reports for ThinkProgress that five children have been murdered in Honduras after being deported by the US.
“Con artistry” –> Ruth Conniff writes at In These Times that the charter school movement has transformed from an effort to improve education to a good way to make a buck.
What could possibly go wrong? –> The Compton, California, school board voted to arm school police with AR-15 assault rifles. Conor Friedersdorf reports for The Atlantic that some parents are a bit worried by the development.
Will you be in North Carolina? –> You can find details about next week’s “Week of Moral Action” — a whole week of Moral Mondays — from the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP.
George W. Bush takes the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness of ALS:
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