PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
Apple Will Scan IPhones for Child Sexual Abuse Images (Maria)
The author writes, “Apple will roll out a new system in the US that will help identify images of child sexual abuse through photos people upload on their iPhones even before they are uploaded on the iCloud, as technology companies face increased federal pressure to crackdown on child sexual exploitation and abuse on their platforms. … Law enforcement will be alerted if reviewers find there is evidence the photos are illegal.”
Amazon Union Election Do-Over Recommendation Hinges on Mailbox (DonkeyHotey)
The authors write, “Amazon.com Inc.’s decision to have a mailbox installed at its Alabama warehouse during a union election earlier this year figured prominently in a federal official’s call Monday for a do-over. After losing the election in April by a substantial margin, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union appealed the outcome to the National Labor Relations Board, setting in motion a contentious hearing in May that was presided over by NLRB hearing officer Kerstin Meyers. Besides accusing Amazon of making anti-union threats and firing an employee for distributing union cards, the RWDSU said Amazon had pressured workers to cast their votes in the mailbox, which was installed in a tent on the company’s property in view of surveillance cameras. Amazon denied any wrongdoing.”
Ex-Prosecutor Says Superiors Told Him to Ditch Evidence Pointing to Murder Defendant’s Innocence (Dana)
From The Press-Enterprise: “He spent his life being a good soldier, but this order he could not follow. Former Riverside County [CA] prosecutor Christopher Ross, an ex- Army Green Beret, says he was told to withhold DNA evidence pointing to the innocence of a murder suspect. The order, according to court documents, allegedly came in 2014 from the highest echelons of the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. One official went on to become a Superior Court judge. Another is now the highest ranking executive for Riverside County. The last was a one-term district attorney who was voted out of office that year amid charges that he vandalized a rival’s campaign signs. Ross, 48, says he defied his bosses and quickly found himself off the case and, ultimately, out of a job.”
Conservatives Riled Up Over Registering Women for Draft (Dan)
From Roll Call: “Conservatives are expressing outrage about a pending Senate defense policy bill that would require women to register for the draft, and two defense hawks opposed the measure in the Armed Services Committee over the issue. The Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act, which the committee approved on July 21, contains an amendment by the panel’s chairman, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, that would require women to sign up with Selective Service, just as men do between the ages of 18 and 25. If enacted, women could be drafted into military service in the event of a national emergency, though there is no prospect of that on the horizon, and no American has been drafted in nearly half a century.”
Tennessee Man, Targeted for His Twitter Handle, Dies After ‘Swatting’ Call Sends Police to His Home (Sean)
The author writes, “A 60-year-old Tennessee man died after he was ‘swatted’ by people who wanted him to give up his Twitter handle. The incident happened in April 2020 after the swatter called police to report a fake murder at Mark Herring’s Sumner County home. Law enforcement swarmed Herring’s property with their guns drawn, his family said. … Herring, who was shocked and confused, had a massive heart attack and died.”
As Drought Slams California and Oregon, Klamath Farmers Grow Fish to Quell a Water War (Reader Steve)
From the Los Angeles Times: “It’s a strange place to find fish, deep in the high desert, where drought-baked earth butts against scrubby mountains. But water spews from the hot springs on Ron Barnes’ land near the California-Oregon border, pure and perfect for rearing c’waam and koptu, two kinds of endangered suckerfish sacred to Native American tribes.”
The Secrets of the Alps’ Strange Red Snow (Mili)
The author writes, “It is a shocking, garish sight to come across on a peaceful mountainside. Hike high enough in the French alps during the late spring and early summer, and there is a good chance that you will come across some rather strange patches of snow among the grey limestone and stunted clumps of vegetation. This snow isn’t white — it’s blood red. The peculiar phenomenon — sometimes known as blood snow — is the result of a defence mechanism produced by microscopic algae that grow in the Alpine snow. Normally these microalgae have a green colour as they contain chlorophyll, the family of pigments produced by most plants to help them absorb energy from sunlight. However, when the snow algae grow prolifically and are exposed to strong solar radiation, they produce red-coloured pigment molecules known as carotenoids, which act as a sunshield to protect their chlorophyll.”
