It’s Tuesday morning and hopefully you’ve eased into the week. But don’t strain yourself — wake up gently with these news headlines.
1. Turnaround
A grand jury that was investigating Planned Parenthood for wrongdoing has instead indicted two people involved in making the videos that smeared the women’s health clinic. The Harris County DA announced that David Daleiden, who was the director of the Center for Medical Progress — the group that made the videos — will be indicted on a felony charge of tampering with government records and a misdemeanor for buying human tissue. Another employee is also facing the misdemeanor charge. Planned Parenthood has been cleared of any charges. Hey, what’s that about the hunter becoming the hunted? — The Washington Post
2. Not so alone
President Obama has banned the use of solitary confinement to punish juveniles in federal prison, he announced yesterday. Corrections officers will also not be able to use the practice to punish minor infractions from adult prisoners. About 10,000 federal prisoners are now serving time in solitary, a practice that has been shown to increase recidivism. Individual states are also moving away from the punishment, especially for the mentally ill. — The Washington Post
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3. Last call
In the last Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses next week, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders took their final shots, pointing out weaknesses in each other’s records — gun control and the war in Iraq came up — and questioning the feasibility of each other’s plans. One poll has Sanders ahead of Clinton in Iowa; he has a decisive lead in New Hampshire. Martin O’Malley was also in attendance. — The New York Times
4. No laughing matter
The director of a documentary about the Newtown shootings has called Donald Trump‘s remarks about guns “insensitive.” On Saturday at a rally in Iowa, Trump said that he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and his numbers wouldn’t go down. Kim Snyder, who directed Newtown, a documentary about the 2012 shootings that killed 27 people, including 20 children, said that his remarks were an insult to survivors of gun violence. Trump said he was joking. Funny guy. — CNN
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5. More bad news ahead
A new report from Europe’s law enforcement agency indicates that ISIS is planning more “Special Forces”-type attacks. The report indicated that we can expect both coordinated operations and lone wolf-style attacks, and that the recent attack on Paris indicates that the terrorist organization is going more global. “Soft” targets are most vulnerable. — CNN
6. Armed idiot
An armed man on his way to join the Oregon wildlife refuge occupiers threatened to kill the police after he was stopped yesterday. Joseph Arthur Stetson, 54, who has served time for burglary and what was termed a “domestic rampage,” was stopped on suspicion of a DUI. The confrontation quickly escalated (on Stetson’s part, the officer kept his cool) and it took several officers to muscle Stetson, who was armed with what later turned out to be a pellet gun, into the police car. He told the officers he’d kill all of them. Somehow I doubt the protestors would have wanted his kind of help. — NBC News
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