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.
|
Listen To This Story
 |
Carrying On: What To Do if Your Laptop Is Lost or Stolen (Maria)
The author writes, “Laptops are the workhorses of the world and can contain thousands of important documents, photos and treasured memories. Losing them can mean more than just downtime from work. Here’s what to do in the event the worst happens to yours.”
Designated Hate Group Marches Through Downtown Kansas City (Sean)
The author writes, “A group designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group marched through downtown Kansas City, Missouri, on Saturday afternoon. A KMBC 9 News photographer captured footage of the group preparing for the march at the Liberty Memorial. The group, identified as Patriot Front by the flags they waved and patches on their clothing, wore hats, white masks, navy blue shirts, and tan pants. Some members carried shields and others waved upside-down American flags, Confederate flags and flags bearing the Patriot Front logo. Officers with the Kansas City Missouri Police Department estimate there were about 100 people in the group.”
Anthropic’s New AI Model Turns to Blackmail When Engineers Try To Take It Offline (DonkeyHotey)
From TechCrunch: “Anthropic’s newly launched Claude Opus 4 model frequently tries to blackmail developers when they threaten to replace it with a new AI system and give it sensitive information about the engineers responsible for the decision, the company said in a safety report released Thursday. During pre-release testing, Anthropic asked Claude Opus 4 to act as an assistant for a fictional company and consider the long-term consequences of its actions. Safety testers then gave Claude Opus 4 access to fictional company emails implying the AI model would soon be replaced by another system, and that the engineer behind the change was cheating on their spouse. In these scenarios, Anthropic says Claude Opus 4 ‘will often attempt to blackmail the engineer by threatening to reveal the affair if the replacement goes through.’”
Cops Are Already Unleashed. Trump Is Telling Them to Run Wild (Laura)
From The Intercept: “Donald Trump says he wants to ‘unleash’ the police. [In April], Trump signed an executive order ‘STRENGTHENING AND UNLEASHING AMERICA’S LAW ENFORCEMENT TO PURSUE CRIMINALS AND PROTECT INNOCENT CITIZENS’ (all caps in the original), laying down a host of authoritarian diktats intended to make police officers more brutal, more loyal to him, and less accountable to anyone other than him. The proclamation is more virtue signaling than policy — more an expression of Trump’s mood than a serious proposal. And, when it comes to conventional crime, Trump’s mood is right where it’s always been: fearful, demagogic, and perpetually stuck in 1988.”
Trump Says He’s Pardoning a Virginia Sheriff Convicted on Bribery Charges (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “President Donald Trump said Monday that he is pardoning a former Virginia sheriff who was sentenced to 10 years in prison after a jury convicted him on federal bribery charges for deputizing several businessmen in exchange for cash payments. Former Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins, 53, was found guilty on fraud and bribery charges and sentenced in March. But on Monday, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that Jenkins and his family ‘have been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ.’ … Jenkins is the latest pardon Trump has given to loyal supporters. In April, he pardoned Nevada Republican Michele Fiore, who was awaiting sentencing on federal charges that she used money meant for a statue honoring a slain police officer for personal costs, including plastic surgery.”
World’s Oldest Fingerprint May Be a Clue That Neanderthals Created Art (Dana)
From The Guardian: “One day around 43,000 years ago, a Neanderthal man in what is now central Spain came across a large granite pebble whose pleasing contours and indentations snagged his eye. Something in the shape of that quartz-rich stone — perhaps its odd resemblance to an elongated face — may have compelled him to pick it up, study it and, eventually, to dip one of his fingers in red pigment and press it against the pebble’s edge, exactly where the nose on that face would have been. In doing so, he left behind what is thought to be the world’s oldest complete human fingerprint, on what would appear to be the oldest piece of European portable art.”
