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585 years and 4 days ago (30 may 1341), joan of arc was burned at the stake.
100 years and 2-3 days ago, british and german naval forces blasted each other to bits in the battle of jutland, the largest naval battle of ww1. about 9,000 men died, 2/3rds british, the latter largely due to the incompetence of british officers.
50 years ago, gemini 9a orbited the earth. a year earlier, ed white performed the first american space walk during gemini 4. a little less than three years later, gene cernan, who was the pilot for gemini 9a, would pilot the apollo 10 lunar module snoopy on a dress rehearsal for the apollo 11 moon landing.
today, the chicago police department released 87 videos documenting police use of force against citizens. while it's not progress that the CPD has such a vile record that they need to release the videos -- they are accused of, among other things, of running a secret prison and routinely violating habeas -- it is a landmark action for voter oversight of local governments.
as another article notes:
100 years and 2-3 days ago, british and german naval forces blasted each other to bits in the battle of jutland, the largest naval battle of ww1. about 9,000 men died, 2/3rds british, the latter largely due to the incompetence of british officers.
50 years ago, gemini 9a orbited the earth. a year earlier, ed white performed the first american space walk during gemini 4. a little less than three years later, gene cernan, who was the pilot for gemini 9a, would pilot the apollo 10 lunar module snoopy on a dress rehearsal for the apollo 11 moon landing.
today, the chicago police department released 87 videos documenting police use of force against citizens. while it's not progress that the CPD has such a vile record that they need to release the videos -- they are accused of, among other things, of running a secret prison and routinely violating habeas -- it is a landmark action for voter oversight of local governments.
as another article notes:
"I think this is a big thing," said Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor who has studied police misconduct. "We are experiencing a sea change, and lots of credit should go around for that."
[five grafs elided]
The public's ability to view the videos, though possibly troubling and tough for families and officers, could be a game-changer for police departments nationwide, particularly in Chicago, said Jonathan Smith, the former head of special litigation at the U.S. Department of Justice.
