Fed’s First Black President Is Speaking Out About Economic Inequality
How Police-Union Power Helped Increase Abuses ; Plastic Rain Is the New Acid Rain ; and More Picks
How Police-Union Power Helped Increase Abuses ; Plastic Rain Is the New Acid Rain ; and More Picks 6/19
San Francisco Police Turned Off Body Cameras Before Illegal Raid on Journalist (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “Security video shows San Francisco police executing a search warrant at the home of Bryan Carmody on Fri. May 10, 2019. The incident, which involved police sledgehammering the front gate of Carmody’s Outer Richmond home, holding him in handcuffs for hours and seizing his phone, computers and other equipment, has resulted in numerous legal challenges and a settlement of $369,000. An internal memo released this week shows that officers were told to turn off their body-worn cameras before executing the search warrant, which appears to be a violation of department policy.”
How Police-Union Power Helped Increase Abuses (Dana)
The author writes, “Police unions have long had a singular—and divisive—place in American labor. What is different at this fraught moment, however, is that these unions, long considered untouchable, due to their extraordinary power on the streets and among politicians, face a potential reckoning, as their conduct roils not just one city but the entire nation. Since the nineteen-sixties, when police unions first became like traditional unions and won the right to bargain collectively, they have had a controversial history. And recent studies suggest that their political and bargaining power has enabled them to win disciplinary systems so lax that they have helped increase police abuses in the United States.”
When Americans Don’t Riot, Politicians Feel Unrestrained (Chris C.)
From the American Prospect: “The United States was famously founded by rioting, violent white men. They tarred and feathered political officials, destroyed buildings, looted property (throwing some of it in Boston Harbor), and ultimately shot and killed British soldiers in large numbers… In comparison to American patriots, modern-day looting of largely corporate retail chains by a minority of protesters is practically tame. Readers may be inclined to dismiss this point as a historical curiosity, but it serves to reinforce a historical truth: Rioting has often worked in North America, and petitioning political elites usually doesn’t.”
Original ‘Juneteenth’ Order Found in the National Archives (Dana)
The author writes, “The National Archives on Thursday located what appears to be the original handwritten “Juneteenth” military order informing thousands of people held in bondage in Texas they were free.”
Plastic Rain Is the New Acid Rain (Chris C.)
From Wired: “Researchers report a startling discovery: After collecting rainwater and air samples for 14 months, they calculated that over 1,000 metric tons of microplastic particles fall into 11 protected areas in the western US each year. That’s the equivalent of over 120 million plastic water bottles.”
World Has Six Months to Avert Climate Crisis, Says Energy Expert (Inez)
The author writes, “The world has only six months in which to change the course of the climate crisis and prevent a post-lockdown rebound in greenhouse gas emissions that would overwhelm efforts to stave off climate catastrophe, one of the world’s foremost energy experts has warned.”
First Egg From Antarctica Is Big and Might Belong to an Extinct Sea Lizard (Dana)
From Science Daily: “An analysis has found that a mysterious fossil discovered in 2011 is a giant, soft-shell egg from about 66 million years ago. Measuring in at more than 11 by 7 inches, the egg is the largest soft-shell egg ever discovered and the second-largest egg of any known animal.”
