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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.
This Labor Day, Workers Are Having a Moment. It’s Not the First Time. (Maria)
The author writes, “This year, the American labor movement has more than just its history to celebrate on Labor Day. Most Americans support labor unions, and recent years have seen a surge of unionization efforts in retail — a sector of the economy not known for forming unions. Sixty-eight percent of Americans approve of unions, the highest level since 1965, according to Gallup. There are at least 143 unionized Starbucks locations. … ‘This is going to be one of the most hopeful Labor Days that the American labor movement has seen in many a year,’ says Joe McCartin, an expert on US labor history at Georgetown University.”
What Republicans Refuse to Grasp About the ‘Clinton Standard’ (DonkeyHotey)
From MSNBC: “Sen. Lindsey Graham is facing quite a bit of criticism over his ‘riots in the streets’ rhetoric, and for good reason: The South Carolina Republican’s on-air comments about Donald Trump’s followers turning to violence in the event of a possible indictment were indefensible. There was, however, a key detail that shouldn’t go overlooked. Graham didn’t just seem to justify prospective violence, the longtime GOP lawmaker also went into some detail about the basis for the perceived injustice. ‘If they try to prosecute President Trump for mishandling classified information after Hillary Clinton set up a server in her basement,’ the senator told Fox News, ‘there literally will be riots in the street.’”
Data Shows How Well Seattle’s Democracy Voucher Program Is Working (Reader Steve)
From The Seattle Times: “Seattle’s novel ‘democracy voucher’ program for funding local elections — the only such program in the nation — is attracting attention in some faraway places. ‘We have a really deep interest in it,’ said Brian J. McCabe, an associate professor in sociology at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and co-author of a new study on the program. ‘It could revolutionize local elections.’ … The voucher program, which was approved by voters in 2015 through Initiative 122, authorized a 10-year, $30 million property tax levy to pay for the vouchers. Eligible Seattle residents receive four $25 vouchers in the mail, which they can donate to any candidate who agrees to participate in the program.”
This City Has Around 20 Days of Fresh Water Left. Officials Are Racing to Find Another Source (Russ)
The author writes, “A city in New Mexico has about 20 days of fresh water left, and officials there are scrambling to find another source to prevent cancer-causing particles from flowing out of faucets. The hillsides around Las Vegas, New Mexico, were scorched by the state’s largest wildfire on record this spring, which burned more than 340,000 acres. Then, an unusually wet monsoon season brought significant summer rainfall — something that would typically be celebrated in the drought-stricken West, but instead has led to disaster-upon-disaster as rainfall washed the charred debris into the region’s water system.”
The EU’s Energy Crisis Is Emboldening the European Far Right (Sean)
From The New Statesman: “In early August, Marine Le Pen, the French far-right leader, called for an end to European sanctions on Russia, imposed in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. ‘I want these sanctions to end… [they] are simply useless. All they do is make Europeans suffer,’ Le Pen said, adding that ‘[Europeans] are suffering far more from these sanctions than the Russians are.’ It was a return to form for Le Pen, who throughout her political career has espoused pro-Russian positions. In calling for sanctions to be lifted, she has positioned herself at the vanguard of an increasingly emboldened pro-Russia movement in European politics, which had for a time been silenced as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February nakedly exposed the brutality of the Vladimir Putin regime.”
Locusts Can ‘Sniff’ Out Human Cancer (Mili)
The author writes, “Researchers at Michigan State University have shown that locusts can not only ‘smell’ the difference between cancer cells and healthy cells, but they can also distinguish between different cancer cell lines. However, patients need not worry about locusts swarming their doctors’ offices. Rather, the researchers say this work could provide the basis for devices that use insect sensory neurons to enable the early detection of cancer using only a patient’s breath.”
DNA Analysis Solves Mystery of Bodies Found at Bottom of Medieval Well (Mili)
The author writes, “Construction workers breaking ground in 2004 on a shopping mall in Norwich, England, found 17 bodies at the bottom of a 800-year-old well. The identity of the remains of the six adults and 11 children and why they ended up in the medieval well had long vexed archaeologists. Unlike other mass burials where skeletons are uniformly arranged, the bodies were oddly positioned and mixed — likely caused by being thrown head first shortly after their deaths. To understand more about how these people died, scientists were recently able to extract detailed genetic material preserved in the bones thanks to recent advances in ancient DNA sequencing. The genomes of six of the individuals showed that four of them were related — including three sisters, the youngest of whom was five to 10 years old. Further analysis of the genetic material suggested that all six were ‘almost certainly’ Ashkenazi Jews.”
