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Friday's Mini-Report, 12.5.14

Today's edition of quick hits.
Today's edition of quick hits:
 
* Tamir Rice case: "The family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was fatally shot by a police officer in Cleveland, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the officer who fired the shot, his partner and the city of Cleveland on Friday."
 
* Virginia: "Rolling Stone magazine on Friday backed away from key aspects of its blockbuster story on rape culture at the University of Virginia, specifically the shocking opening account of a student identified as Jackie who claimed to have been gang raped at a fraternity house in 2012. 'Our trust in her was misplaced,' the magazine wrote, citing 'discrepancies' in Jackie's story."
 
* Kansas City: "Police believe a teenager was intentionally run down and killed by a man driving an SUV outside a Somali community center Thursday, and the FBI is now investigating whether the crash was a hate crime."
 
* Ukraine: "A one-day truce announced by Ukraine's president will serve as a test to see if the fighting in eastern Ukraine against Russian-backed separatists can truly be halted, a military spokesman said Friday."
 
* Torture report: "Secretary of State John Kerry personally phoned Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Friday morning to ask her to delay the imminent release of her committee's report on CIA torture and rendition during the George W. Bush administration, according to administration and Congressional officials."
 
* The opposite of voter suppression: "State laws that make it harder to vote have rightly been getting all the attention lately. But more quietly, just as many states are expanding access to the polls. Illinois is likely to be the next to do so."
 
* Next week will be interesting: "Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is still keeping her powder dry when it comes to staking out a position on the House GOP's fiscal 2015 spending bill, due to be revealed on Monday. The California Democrat said no policy riders currently on the negotiating table were 'deal breakers' on their own. 'Let's look at the full package,' she said."
 
* I think I forgot to mention this the other day: "Texas and 16 other states filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday challenging President Obama's executive actions on immigration, arguing that he violated his constitutional duty to enforce the laws and illegally placed new burdens on state budgets."
 
* Even W. finds it hard to accept the Garner grand jury: "Former president George W. Bush weighed in on the death of Eric Garner at the hands of a police officer, saying it's sad that race is still so divisive. Bush told CNN in an interview airing Sunday that when he saw the video of a New York City police officer putting Garner in a headlock, 'I thought how sad. The verdict was hard to understand.... It's sad that race continues to play such an emotional, divisive part of life.'"
 
* I wish this were some kind of bad joke: "Conservative media parroted Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY) claim that cigarette taxes were partly to blame in the choking death of Eric Garner by a New York City police officer following a grand jury decision not to indict the officer accused in the incident."
 
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.