FCC Awarding Up to $16B to Address Areas Lacking Broadband Service
Video Evidence Increasingly Disproves Police Narratives ; The Neurobiology of Social Distance ; and More Picks
Video Evidence Increasingly Disproves Police Narratives ; The Neurobiology of Social Distance ; and More Picks 6/10
Seattle Schools to Temporarily Suspend Partnership With Seattle Police Department (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “Seattle Public Schools superintendent Denise Juneau on Tuesday announced an effort to suspend the district’s partnership with the Seattle Police Department for one year, echoing the moves of several large school districts across the country. Juneau said the Seattle School Board will consider a resolution Wednesday that would ‘re-evaluate our relationship with SPD and enact a district-wide one-year suspension.’ Seattle School Board president Zachary DeWolf says he expects a draft of the resolution to pass tomorrow. A final vote is to occur June 24.”
Poisoning Our Police: How Militarization Mindset Threatens Constitutional Rights and Public Safety (Doug)
From the Project on Government Oversight: “Over the last three decades, the militarization of policing in America has grown exponentially, transforming an already troubled culture in many parts of law enforcement for the far worse. The result of this militarization — where local police take on the appearance, armament, and behavior of soldiers at war — is that the public is both less safe and less free. And those who encounter militarized police, whether in their daily lives or at a demonstration, are far more likely to end up dead or injured as a consequence of an officer’s militarized mindset.”
Video Evidence Increasingly Disproves Police Narratives (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Minneapolis police initially told the public that George Floyd died after a ‘medical incident during a police interaction.’ The Buffalo, New York, department said a protester ‘tripped and fell.’ Philadelphia police alleged that a college student who suffered a serious head wound had assaulted an officer. All three claims were quickly disproved by videos seen widely on the internet and television, fueling mistrust and embarrassing agencies that made misleading or incomplete statements that painted their actions in a far more favorable light. Police departments deny lying but acknowledge sometimes making mistakes when releasing information in fast-moving, complicated situations. The videos, they say, do not always capture officers’ perspectives.”
IBM Will No Longer Offer, Develop, or Research Facial Recognition Technology (Dana)
From The Verge: “IBM’s CEO says we should reevaluate selling the technology to law enforcement.”
Mexican Cartels Stockpile Drugs and Money Amid COVID-19 Pandemic (Dana)
The author writes, “Travel restrictions at U.S.-Mexican border crossings and abroad have made it harder for cartels to move drugs and drug profits without detection, according to agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. ‘There’s been stockpiling of drugs and money on both sides of the southwest border, and money-laundering activity has decreased,’ said J. Todd Scott, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Louisville Field Division.”
The Neurobiology of Social Distance (Mili)
The author writes, “Feelings of loneliness can spread through a social network, causing negatively skewed social perception, escalating morbidity and mortality, and, in older people, precipitating the onset of dementia.”
Betty the Pig Now Lives on a Farm, Her Fate Secure (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “A Portland [OR] woman who helped coordinate the rescue of a 300-pound Yorkshire pig from Waterfront Park early Sunday said a group of people who were trying to save the pig told her the swine was destined for slaughter. Mary McDonald-Lewis said she received a call about 1 a.m. Sunday to aid in the rescue of a pig found downtown.”
