A report published today details new information on the gruesome, vile history of lynching in the South, including 700 more names of lynching victims than had previously been recorded.

"Since the start of the global financial crisis at the end of 2007, the total debt worldwide has risen by $57 trillion, rising to 286 percent of global economic output from 269 percent." That's an extra $19,000 in debt for every person one earth (which means nothing)!

Kumar Rao and Ryan Napoli, the Bronx Defenders attorneys who came under fire for appearing in a rap video that made explicit reference to killing NYPD officers, resigned from the firm this week, the New York Post reports. Bronx Defenders Executive Director Robin Steinberg, who signed off on their participation, was suspended without pay.

On Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton urged state legislators to consider increasing the penalty for resisting arrest from a misdemeanor to a felony. The change, he argued, would help New Yorkers "get around this idea that you can resist arrest. You can't." It would also give cops an easy way to turn victims of their own worst impulses into the worst class of criminal.

Animal rights activists and the USDA are somewhat concerned about how scientific research facilities at major universities are treating their lab monkeys—some of whom are so stressed by captivity that they chew their own fingers off.

If David Axelrod—the former Obama adviser whose memoir is soon to be published—is to be believed, the president received some advice on charm from an unlikely source early in his first term. The Daily News, which obtained an advance copy of Axelrod's book, relates the story:

Famed and sexy economist Nouriel Roubini says that higher taxes on the wealthy in democracies are "unavoidable," or else there will be "severe social and political instability." Which is what every sane person has been saying, but sometimes people listen when a famed and sexy economist says these things.

By certain unimaginative standards, Chris Christie is an employee of the State of New Jersey, with an annual salary of $175,000. But as the New York Times documents today, that doesn't prevent him from enjoying a lifestyle well beyond those apparent limits.

New York City has 7,279 homes valued at more than $5 million, including a single Central Park West building where "206 high-value condos have a total market value of $3.1 billion." The homeless man who scammed his way into extended stays at two Manhattan luxury hotels should probably consider running for mayor.

The NYPD's carte-blanche to beat up New Yorkers without fear of serious punishment apparently applies even when they're not on duty—and their victim is a fellow public servant. The cop who's charged with tackling and pulling the hair of an MTA worker on a subway platform avoided felony charges for the December assault, and the MTA union is pissed.

In recent weeks, the White House has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening "community policing" around the country. The U.S. Conference of Mayors has coalesced around the same theme, releasing a report days ago with recommendations for community policing measures to be adopted nationally. The suggestions for building better "relationships" and boosting "trust" are comprehensive but, for a national crisis brought on by the killing of unarmed black people, there's one thing conspicuously absent from the public policy solutions: the acknowledgement of racism.

Recently, a group of attorneys with the nonprofit law firm Bronx Defenders made the monumentally poor decision to involve themselves in a music video for a song that mentions killing cops. They'll almost certainly be punished for it—they may even lose their jobs—but that isn't enough for Patrick Lynch, the police union's unhinged president, who'd like to see the entire firm shut down.

The Wall Street Journal surveys the quixotic quest to clean up Wall Street culture: "Privately, bankers and their advisers worry that regulators will use 'culture' as a blunt instrument to find fault with banks on a range of matters, since the subject is by nature qualitative."

Get ready to see lots more cops with riot gear and machine guns patrolling your neighborhood. NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton announced today that the department is creating a 350-strong new unit focused on counterterrorism. They'll be armed to the teeth, and they're coming to a precinct near you.

Surveillance footage from Vanguard Middle School in Baltimore shows a school police officer beating a 13-year-old girl with a baton during a scuffle involving two other students in October. All three girls were hospitalized with injuries they sustained from the officer, local NBC outlet WBAL reports.

Texas death row inmate Robert Ladd, who sent us a letter last year, is scheduled to be executed this evening for the 1996 murder of Vickie Ann Garner. Ladd's lawyers say he has an IQ of 67 and is mentally impaired.

A lot with an old gas station on it in Crown Heights, Brooklyn has been sold to real estate developers for $32 million. "A deed assessed the lot's value at $309,600 in 2003." In other news, Brooklyn is expensive.

Republican presidential hopefuls want Elizabeth Warren to speak up (to hurt Hillary) but they do not want to hear from the Pope (because he's too liberal). This has been your Counterintuitive Republican Political Ally Perception update for January 28, 2015.

Andre Perry is 32 years old. He's a commercial photographer, lives in Brooklyn, and loves fashion. He's also black. A month ago, Perry was stopped at a subway station by an undercover officer with the New York City Police Department. He was interrogated about his two-finger ring, arrested, and charged with possession of a deadly weapon—"metal knuckles."