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.
US and EU Pledge to Cut Methane Emissions 30 Percent to Curb Global Warming (Maria)
The author writes, “The US and the EU made a joint pledge on Friday to cut global methane emissions by almost a third in the next decade in what climate experts hailed as one of the most significant steps yet towards fulfilling the Paris climate agreement. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is about 80 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, and emissions have been rising in recent years. Natural gas production and fracking, meat production and other agriculture are among the chief sources.”
Amy Coney Barrett Says the Supreme Court Aren’t ‘Partisan Hacks.’ Oh Really (Dan)
The author writes, “War is peace, freedom is slavery, and the Supreme Court is a dispassionate nonpartisan branch of government free of bias — this is the Orwellian fable that Justice Amy Coney Barrett is now asking Americans to believe. And Barrett is asking us to believe it not merely after the court’s wildly partisan ruling on abortion rights, but also just months after she promoted climate denialism to a national audience and refused to recuse herself as she helped secure a legal victory for the fossil fuel giant that employed her father for decades. This is a tale not just of cartoonish hypocrisy but also of deception — a frantic attempt to prevent more of the country from realizing the court is a corporate star chamber that has become one of the most powerful partisan weapons in American politics.”
One in 538: Map Sparks Fight Over Electoral Vote in Nebraska (Reader Steve)
The authors write, “A new political map proposed by Nebraska Republicans wouldn’t just make it harder for Democrats to win one of the state’s three House seats — it would make it a little bit harder for Democrats to win the White House. Nebraska is one of only two states that divides its Electoral College votes by congressional district, rather than a winner-take-all system. That allowed President Joe Biden to claim one of the state’s five electoral votes last year, even as he lost Nebraska by 20 percentage points. Now Republicans in Nebraska’s legislature are proposing splitting up the 2nd Congressional District, the one Biden won, in their new map.”
Hospital Staff Must Swear Off Tylenol, Tums to Get Religious Vaccine Exemption (Dana)
The author writes, “A hospital system in Arkansas is making it a bit more difficult for staff to receive a religious exemption from its COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The hospital is now requiring staff to also swear off extremely common medicines, such as Tylenol, Tums, and even Preparation H, to get the exemption. The move was prompted when Conway Regional Health System noted an unusual uptick in vaccine exemption requests that cited the use of fetal cell lines in the development and testing of the vaccines.”
The Big Problem With Plastic (Sean)
From Consumer Reports: “Consider the amount of plastic you put into the trash or recycling on a typical day. There’s the lid to your coffee cup, and perhaps a bag from a newspaper. There’s the wrapper from a granola bar, a yogurt container, a salad clamshell, and the plentiful packaging from inside a box that arrived in the mail. Many of these plastic items are useful and convenient, but they also come with a high environmental cost. In 2016, the U.S. generated more plastic trash than any other country — 46.3 million tons of it, according to a 2020 study published in Science Advances. That’s 287 pounds per person in a single year. By the time these disposable products are in your hands, they’ve already taken a toll on the planet: Plastics are mostly made from fossil fuels, in an energy-intensive process that emits greenhouse gases and creates often hazardous chemicals. And then there’s what happens when you throw them away.”
VIDEO: Hundreds of iPhones Are in ‘Ted Lasso.’ They’re More Strategic Than You Think. (Russ)
From The Wall Street Journal: “Watch an Apple TV+ show and you’re likely to notice a lot of iPhones, iPads and other Apple products. We analyzed 74 episodes of the streaming service’s top shows, including “Ted Lasso,” and “The Morning Show,” to better understand the strategy behind all that product placement.”
Details of Rare Bronze Age Coffin Found in English Golf Course Pond Revealed (Mili)
The author writes, “Golfers are forever trying to avoid everything from bunkers, the rough and water to other players’ putting lines. In Lincolnshire the hazard was almost an incredibly rare telephone box-sized early bronze age coffin. Historic England on Friday revealed details of a remarkable discovery as works were being carried out on a golf course pond in July 2018, during a spell of hot weather. The log coffin, which measures about 3 metres long by 1 metre, is thought to be 4,000 years old. Inside are the remains of a man, who was buried with an axe.”
