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California Fast-Food Workers Launch New Union: ‘They Have To Listen to Us’ (Maria)
The author writes, “Hundreds of fast-food workers met in Los Angeles on Friday to kick off the launch of the California Fast Food Workers Union, a statewide union aimed at organizing cooks and cashiers at fast-food companies across the state. The new union comes in the wake of a victory at the end of 2023 to boost pay for California’s more than 500,000-strong fast-food workforce to $20 an hour. Fast-food workers with the Service Employees International Union’s Fight for $15 and a Union movement led a legislative effort to get a bill passed in California to raise minimum wages for workers in the fast-food industry and create a fast-food sector council with worker representation in September 2022.”
How the Far Right Took Over a Pennsylvania School Board — And How Parents Took It Back (Sean)
From Vanity Fair: “Last spring, when the odds seemed far longer, Bob Cousineau, a social studies teacher at Pennridge High School, predicted that whatever happened in his embattled district would become a national ‘case study’ one way or another. It would either create ‘the blueprint’ for outside political interests to enact a complete takeover of local public schools, he said, or ‘the blueprint for how to stand up to it.’”
Project Veritas, James O’Keefe Settle Suit Over False Claims of 2020 Voter Fraud in Pennsylvania (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Project Veritas and conservative activist James O’Keefe have settled a lawsuit in Pennsylvania over false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election that were initially made by a postal worker who backed former President Trump. A lawyer who represented Erie postmaster Robert Weisenbach, who filed the lawsuit, confirmed to NBC News that it had been settled on undisclosed terms. Weisenbach — who voted for Trump in 2020 election — said accusations of voter fraud lodged by postal worker Richard Hopkins and spread by O’Keefe and Project Veritas forced him to flee his home after his address was posted online.”
Report Finds ‘No Evidence’ in Key Dossier to Support Israel’s UNRWA Allegations (Reader Pat)
The author writes, “A key Israeli intelligence dossier used by countries to justify defunding the primary aid group for Palestinian refugees contains ‘no evidence’ to back up Israel’s allegations against the group, new reports have found. … [UK broadcaster] Channel 4 reported that, despite being used by many countries to justify withdrawing aid amid horrific conditions in Gaza and risk complicity in genocide, the document actually ‘provides no evidence to support its explosive new claim that UNRWA staff were involved.’”
Storing Guns Safely Could Save Lives. Why Aren’t Americans Listening? (Dana)
From The Trace: “Americans misunderstand the risks associated with gun ownership, researchers say. For years, studies have found that, in the majority of American homes, an unsecured firearm is more likely to result in an accidental death or suicide than be used in defense against a home invasion.”
As Kids, They Thought They Were Trans. They No Longer Do. (Al)
From The New York Times: “While Donald Trump denounces ‘left-wing gender insanity’ and many trans activists describe any opposition as transphobic, parents in America’s vast ideological middle can find little dispassionate discussion of the genuine risks or trade-offs involved in what proponents call gender-affirming care.”
Arctic Zombie Viruses in Siberia Could Spark Terrifying New Pandemic, Scientists Warn (Laura)
The author writes, “Humanity is facing a bizarre new pandemic threat, scientists have warned. Ancient viruses frozen in the Arctic permafrost could one day be released by Earth’s warming climate and unleash a major disease outbreak, they say. Strains of these Methuselah microbes — or zombie viruses as they are also known — have already been isolated by researchers who have raised fears that a new global medical emergency could be triggered — not by an illness new to science but by a disease from the distant past.”
