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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.
Los Angeles, Mumbai: Big Cats Thriving in Urban Jungles (Maria)
The author writes, “Los Angeles and Mumbai, India, share many superlatives as pinnacles of cinema, fashion, and traffic congestion. But another similarity lurks in the shadows, most often seen at night walking silently on four paws. These metropolises are the world’s only megacities of 10 million-plus where large felines — mountain lions in one, leopards in the other — thrive. … Long-term studies in both cities have examined … how people can best live alongside them — lessons that may be applicable to more places in coming decades. ‘In the future, there’s going to be more cities like this, as urban areas further encroach on natural habitats,’ said biologist Audra Huffmeyer, who studies mountain lions at the University of California, Los Angeles. ‘If we want to keep these large carnivores around on the planet, we have to learn to live with them.’”
Sen. Joe Manchin May Not Be Kingmaker in West Virginia for Long (Dana)
From The Intercept: “For decades, Sen. Joe Manchin has presided over West Virginia’s Democratic Party, crowning candidates and throwing cushy appointments to allies while the state’s jobs, wages, and environment have gradually been ground to dust. But [in June], a grassroots slate of over 50 Democrats took control of the West Virginia Democratic Party after winning a majority of seats on the executive committee and ousting party leadership, thus ending Manchin’s de facto control of the state party apparatus.”
In States Banning Abortion, a Growing Rift Over Enforcement (Howard)
From The New York Times: “Deep rifts have emerged among the hundreds of elected district attorneys who will be charged with enforcing the expanding restrictions on abortion, creating a Balkanized new legal system within states that are banning the procedure. Dozens of Democratic prosecutors who represent liberal pockets in conservative states already have vowed to resist bans by refusing to bring charges against abortion providers. But in many rural areas and outlying suburbs, conservative prosecutors have said they will enforce their state bans.”
Anti-Roe Justices a Part of Catholicism’s Conservative Wing (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade at a time when it has an unprecedented Catholic supermajority. That’s not a coincidence. Nor is it the whole story. The justices who voted to overturn Roe have been shaped by a church whose catechism affirms ‘the moral evil of every procured abortion’ and whose U.S. bishops have declared opposition to abortion their ‘preeminent priority’ in public policy. But that alone doesn’t explain the justices’ votes. U.S. Catholics as a whole are far more ambivalent on abortion than their church leaders, with more than half believing it should be legal in all or most circumstances, according to the Pew Research Center.”
How Much Health Insurers Pay for Almost Everything Is About to Go Public (Sean)
The author writes, “Consumers, employers, and just about everyone else interested in health care prices will soon get an unprecedented look at what insurers pay for care, perhaps helping answer a question that has long dogged those who buy insurance: Are we getting the best deal we can? As of July 1, health insurers and self-insured employers must post on websites just about every price they’ve negotiated with providers for health care services, item by item. About the only thing excluded are the prices paid for prescription drugs, except those administered in hospitals or doctors’ offices.”
State Education Board Members Push Back on Proposal to Use “Involuntary Relocation” to Describe Slavery (DonkeyHotey)
From The Texas Tribune: “A group of Texas educators have proposed to the Texas State Board of Education that slavery should be taught as ‘involuntary relocation’ during second grade social studies instruction, but board members have asked them to reconsider the phrasing, according to the state board’s chair. ‘The board — with unanimous consent — directed the work group to revisit that specific language,’ Keven Ellis, chair of the Texas State Board of Education said in a statement issued late Thursday.”
Missing Homing Pigeon Bob Found 4,000 Miles Away From British Home in Alabama (Mili)
From the BBC: “A confused pigeon has turned up thousands of miles away in the US after getting lost racing back to Tyneside. Bob set off from Guernsey in the Channel Islands three weeks ago on the 400-mile (644 km) route to Gateshead, which was supposed to take 10 hours. But instead of heading home to Tyneside the four-year-old was found at the home of a puzzled Alabama resident. Owner Alan Todd believed Bob took a wrong turn and landed on a ship where he crossed the Atlantic.”
