Incoming Democrats May Curb Presidential War Powers
Why It’s Hard to Escape Amazon’s Long Reach ; ACLU Sues to Learn About NSA Call Records Program ...and More Picks
Why It’s Hard to Escape Amazon’s Long Reach ; ACLU Sues to Learn About NSA Call Records Program ...and More Picks 12/26
How the Son of Immigrants Quit Wall Street to Feed the Hungry (Russ)
From Politico: “A small non-profit is saving high-quality leftover food before it gets thrown away and diverting it to needy New Yorkers.”
Why It’s Hard to Escape Amazon’s Long Reach (Gerry)
From Wired: “In 1994, soon after Jeff Bezos incorporated what would become Amazon, the entrepreneur briefly contemplated changing the company’s name. The nascent firm had been dubbed ‘Cadabra,’ but Bezos wanted a less playful, more accurate alternative: ‘Relentless.’ (Relentless.com redirects to Amazon.com to this day.) Twenty-four years later, perhaps no adjective better describes Bezos’ empire than the name he once wanted to give it.”
Editorial: Trump Foundation Scandal Exposes Grifter in Chief (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “It’s the details that tell the real story about Donald J. Trump, the self-proclaimed philanthropist. It’s clear in the settlement his foundation just reached with New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood that Trump’s cherished charitable cause was himself.”
ACLU Sues Government to Learn About NSA Call Records Program (Jimmy)
The author writes, “A civil rights group has sued the US government, saying it needs more information about surveillance of Americans’ phone and financial records to guide the public debate over what will happen when the law that regulates the scrutiny expires next year.”
Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent Revisited (Reader Luke)
From Al Jazeera: “A Listening Post special marking 30 years since the publication of Manufacturing Consent and its relevance today.”
How Banks Unwittingly Finance Mass Shootings (Russ)
From the New York Times: “The New York Times reviewed hundreds of documents including police reports, bank records and investigator notes from a decade of mass shootings. Many of the killers built their stockpiles of high-powered weapons with the convenience of credit. No one was watching.”
No Cash, No Heart. Transplant Centers Need to Know You Can Pay. (Reader Steve)
From the New York Times: “When a Michigan woman was told to raise $10,000 for a heart transplant, outrage spread on social media. But experts say ‘wallet biopsies’ are common.”
Russia: Israel’s ‘Provocative’ Syria Strike Directly Endangered Two Civilian Flights (Jimmy)
The author writes, “Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the airstrike in Syria attributed to Israel ‘directly endangered’ two civilian flights. … It added that Syrian air defences had destroyed 14 of 16 Israeli missiles launched against unspecified targets near Damascus by six Israeli F-16s on Tuesday.”
