Public Schools Aren't Checking Water for Lead ; Threat of Facial Recognition Tech ...and More Picks 7/20
Brett Kavanaugh’s Workplace Regulation Ruling (Reader Steve)
This case regarding the death of a killer whale at SeaWorld shows that Kavanaugh will follow the long line of conservative jurists who are against the “paternalistic state.”
China’s European Revenge on Trump (Dan)
In the wake of the US global trade war, the unlikely partnership of China and Europe kicks into high gear.
Most Public Schools Aren’t Even Checking for Lead in the Water (Jimmy)
The author writes, “Periodic mass shootings aren’t the only source of lead in schools that the US government doesn’t care about. Even after America freaked out over toxic lead in Flint, Michigan, most school districts still aren’t checking to see if there’s lead in their water, according to a new study.”
Facial Recognition Threatens Our Fundamental Rights (Reader Luke)
The author writes, “The technology enables a world where every man, woman, and child passing by a camera is scanned, despite no prior suspicion of wrongdoing. But their faces are nonetheless compared against the profiles of criminals and other people wanted by the police. It enables a world where people can be identified and tracked from camera to camera throughout a city — simply because they chose to get a driver’s license.”
Email Hacking Was ‘Pearl Harbor,’ Helsinki Presidency’s ‘New Low’: Welcome to the United States of Amnesia (Jimmy)
The author writes, “In 1996, Time magazine published a cover story (7/15/96) headlined ‘Yanks to the Rescue: The Secret Story of How American Advisers Helped Yeltsin Win.’ Russian President Boris Yeltsin, you may recall, embraced the idea pushed by Western advisors that what the Russian economy needed was ‘shock therapy,’ a policy that resulted in the country losing about a third of its GDP.”
Trump Ordered Guantanamo to Stay Open, Now APA to Vote on Overturning Ban on Psychologists at Guantanamo (Reader Luke)
The author writes, “The American Psychological Association’s Board of Directors and Council Leadership team have endorsed a new agenda item for APA’s upcoming national meeting in early August. Labelled New Business Item (NBI) 35B, the resolution would overturn a 2015 APA decision calling for the removal of all psychologists from Guantanamo, stating psychologists may not work in ‘settings where persons are held outside of, or in violation of, either International Law … or the US Constitution.’”
