Trump’s Convention Gives Platform to Some With Fringe Views ; Starbucks COVID Outbreak Spared Employees Who Wore Masks ; and More Picks 8/26
Trump’s Convention Gives Platform to Some With Fringe Views (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “An advocate of ‘household voting’ in which husbands get the final say. A woman who has argued that school sex ed programs are ‘grooming’ children to be sexualized by predators like Jeffrey Epstein. A candidate who has peddled in racist tropes and bizarre QAnon conspiracy theories. President Donald Trump has long surrounded himself with controversial characters who hold out-of-the-mainstream views. But the decision by the party to elevate some of those figures by featuring them in prime-time spots at the Republican National Convention or inviting them to witness this week’s events is drawing new scrutiny.”
Starbucks Cafe’s COVID Outbreak Spared Employees Who Wore Masks (Dana)
The authors write, “After a woman with the coronavirus visited a Starbucks cafe north of Seoul this month, more than two dozen patrons tested positive days later. But the four face mask-wearing employees escaped infection. … With health authorities around the world still debating the evidence around face masks, the 27-person cluster linked to the air-conditioned coffee outlet adds more support for their mandatory use to help limit the spread of the Covid-19-causing virus.”
A Powerful Black Leader. White Opposition. Criminal Charges. An Old Pattern Continues in Portsmouth. (DonkeyHotey)
From the Virginian-Pilot: “Black leaders know what to expect when they fight for change in Portsmouth. Supporters rally around them, fed up with the racism and systemic injustices that infect the city. Then, they say, white opponents come swinging, armed with the crushing weight of the law. … To many advocates, the criminal charges filed this week against the city’s most prominent Black elected official, state Sen. Louise Lucas, were just the latest example — and perhaps the most dramatic. This clear pattern, elected officials, activists and historians say, has repeated itself again and again in Portsmouth for decades.”
Riot Journalism (Peg)
The author writes, “Civil unrest is often the only available tool for people without voices. From the United States, to Berlin, to India, to Moscow, popular movements arise and take to the streets for a cause. Sometimes they topple empires. More often they are stomped into the footnotes of history. They are complex, amorphous, and spontaneous: told through the eyes of thousands of independent vantage points, constantly evolving and adapting to ever-changing power dynamics and conditions. The chaotic, complex, and ephemeral reality of a social movement is difficult to encapsulate and raises serious ethical quandaries and responsibilities for the journalists attempting to document them — especially in the information age, where misinformation has instant and global reach as well as immediate consequences.”
No Fear of Coronavirus at a Drive-Through Haunted House (Dan)
The author writes, “It’s a living nightmare — but a socially distanced one. ‘Zombies’ attack vehicles, smearing them with artificial blood. But the customers inside the cars are safely separated from their stalkers by the windows. Production company Kowagarasetai, roughly translated as Scare Squad, has launched a drive-through haunted house in Tokyo in response to the coronavirus pandemic.”
