I'll Ride With You

Dec. 16, 2014 The Agenda Three dead after police storm Sydney to end hostage crisis Mic Heavily armed Australian police stormed a Sydney cafe early on Tuesday morning and freed terrified hostages being held there at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a 16-hour siege in which two captives and the attacker were killed. + The suspect was identified as Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and self-styled sheikh known for sending hate mail to the families of Australian troops killed in Afghanistan. + Monis was charged last year with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife but had been free on bail. + Australians showed the world exactly how to respond to terrorism with #IllRideWithYou. + Who the hell takes selfies during a hostage crisis? + One tweet perfectly sums up how this crisis in Sydney could have been avoided. Scores killed in bloody Taliban attack on Pakistani school Mic At least 126 people were killed on Tuesday when Taliban gunmen stormed a military school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, Reuters reports. The militant group took hundreds of students hostage, and provincial information minister Mushtaq Ghani told the Associated Press that most of the dead in Tuesday's attack were children attending the school.  This is one of the bloodiest insurgent attack in to strike Pakistan in years. A military source told NBC News that "there were at least 10 attackers wearing police uniforms and suicide vests."  "They burnt a teacher in front of the students in a classroom," he added. "They literally set the teacher on fire with gasoline and made the kids watch." This is a developing story. Follow our coverage here or follow @World_Mic for the latest updates. The Obama administration wants a Wall Street banker to regulate big banks Mic Shortly after supporting a spending bill that unraveled crucial Wall Street regulations, the White House is doubling down on its pick of a Wall Street banker for the third most powerful position at the Treasury Department. Antonio Weiss, an investment banker at Lazard Ltd., was nominated for undersecretary for domestic finance at the Department of the Treasury by the Obama administration last month. His nomination has become a lightning rod in a Democratic Party fighting over its economic message — and senators like Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are furious. + Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has revealed plans to launch a grassroots campaign to finally break Wall Street's death-grip on the U.S. economy. Marvels D'Angelo just released his first album in 14 years — and it's just what black America needs. [Mic] "How my culture failed me after I was raped." [BuzzFeed] 2014 is officially the year of Bigfoot. [CityLab] Cards Against Humanity trolled 30,000 people with $6 boxes of poop. [Mic] A lot of your coworkers are super hungover right now. [FiveThirtyEight] One year later, Blackfish is finally hitting SeaWorld where it hurts. [Mic] Foraging is bullshit. [Modern Farmer] George W. Bush: "Never paint your wife or your mother." [ArtNet] Homework blows — and we finally have the research to prove it. [Mic] Does gay culture have a misogyny problem? [the New Republic] Art is having an amazing effect on our brains and bodies. [Mic] Photo of the Day And now for something completely different: A polar bear plays with a pylon during celebrations marking its first birthday in an enclosure at the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich on Dec. 9, 2014. (Reuters/Michaela Rehle) Mic Check is carefully and dutifully assembled each day by Jared Keller. Did we miss something you wanted to read about? Want to see us focus on an under-covered issue? Have a tip for the next edition? Email jared@mic.com. Share Mic Check and help your friends stay informed: http://eepurl.com/of1jj. Follow Mic!      Copyright © 2014 Mic, All rights reserved. You are receiving this because you opted in while creating an account on Mic. Our mailing address is: Mic 325 Hudson Street 1001 New York, NY 10013 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences