UNDERNEWS: News Notes

February 11, 2016

73% of GOP voters think torture can be justified against those suspected of terrorism.

From 1995 to 2000, the number of individuals held in solitary increased by 40%

College freshmen haven't been this liberal since the Vietnam War

63% think the country is on the wrong track

Cleveland apologizes for suing Tamir Rice's family for ambulance fees after cop fatally shot him

General Ri Yong-gil, chief of the North Korean Army's general staff, has been executed for "factionalism, misuse of authority and corruption," a South Korean government official tells CNN.

We first proposed an elected attorney general for Washington DC as far back as 1981. Here's a story on the city's first elected attorney general. We continue to think that large cities should have elected attorneys general and city auditors.

ABOUT THE EDITOR

The Review is edited by Sam Smith, who covered Washington under nine presidents, has edited the Progressive Review and its predecessors since 1964, wrote four books, been published in five anthologies, helped to start five organizations (including the DC Humanities Council and the DC Statehood Party), was a plaintiff in three successful class action suits, served as a Coast Guard officer, and played in jazz bands for four decades.

A truly independent journalist with his feet firmly grounded in the reality of neighborhoods and everyday people. -- Patrick Mazza, Progressive Populist

A truly original voice in American journalism: humorous and plain spoken and filled with common sense -- Jay Walljasper, Utne Reader

Inimitable -- Mother Jones Magazine

Sam's a cynical cat -- Marion Barry

Sam's one of the few independent voices left. The press today is either extreme or special interest or else just establishment, an extension of the corporate spirit -- Sen. Eugene McCarthy,

One of a small group of whites with whom many blacks would trust their political lives - Chuck Stone, Washingtonian.

A reputation for wit, intelligence and anger. -- Claude Lewis, Chicago Tribune

Smith is an island of reason and information in a sea of narcissistic blather. -- City Paper, Washington

Whatever the debate, the Review's sharp critiques encourage us to look out our window, notice and act upon what we see, and also to look further -- to the rest of the country and globe -- to see how the organized big world interacts with our more spontaneous small worlds. - Utne Reader