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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.
US Midterm Elections: How Long Will It Take to Know Who Won? (Maria)
The author writes, “Here’s some advice for anyone following the US midterm elections on Nov. 8: Be ready for a long night and maybe days of waiting before it’s clear whether Republicans or President Joe Biden’s Democrats will control Congress. All 435 seats in the US House of Representatives are up for grabs, as are 35 US Senate seats and 36 governorships. … But with dozens of races expected to be close and key states like Pennsylvania already warning it could take days to count every ballot, experts say there’s a good chance America goes to bed on election night without knowing who won.”
In Georgia, Could a Football Win Help Walker Win as Well? (Russ)
From The New York Times: “In a neck-and-neck Senate race, Herschel Walker’s supporters are hoping a big win by the Georgia Bulldogs just before Election Day could help him as well.”
Police Snipers Respond to Call for Help, Kill Man From Outside His Home as He Sat Alone in His Bedroom (DonkeyHotey)
From the Free Thought Project: “As frequent readers of the Free Thought Project understand, calling police for help with a family member suffering from a mental illness, can be a dangerous decision. All too often, officers, who are trained to kill, show up to calls in which people need help, not bullets. Unfortunately, as was the case with Desman LaDuke, 22, he received the latter. LaDuke’s family is now demanding justice and answers after police showed up last month during a call for help and executed LaDuke from outside the home as he sat alone in his bedroom.”
Hey Elon: Let Me Help You Speed Run the Content Moderation Learning Curve (Gerry)
The author writes, “It’s kind of a rite of passage for any new social media network. They show up, insist that they’re the ‘platform for free speech’ without quite understanding what that actually means, and then they quickly discover a whole bunch of fairly fundamental ideas, institute a bunch of rapid (often sloppy) changes… and in the end, they basically all end up in the same general vicinity, with just a few small differences on the margin. Look, I went through it myself. In the early days I insisted that sites shouldn’t do any moderation at all, including my own. But I learned. As did Parler, Gettr, Truth Social and lots of others.”
Russia’s Dangerous Decline (Sean)
From Foreign Affairs: “At a White House ceremony on August 9, days after the U.S. Senate agreed in a near-unanimous vote to ratify the expansion of NATO to include Finland and Sweden, U.S. President Joe Biden highlighted how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had backfired on Russian President Vladimir Putin. ‘He’s getting exactly what he did not want,’ Biden announced. ‘He wanted the Finlandization of NATO, but he’s getting the NATOization of Finland, along with Sweden.’ Indeed, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been a massive strategic blunder, leaving Russia militarily, economically, and geopolitically weaker.”
Biblical Military Campaigns Reconstructed Using Geomagnetic Field Data (Mili)
The author writes, “A joint study by Tel-Aviv University and the Hebrew University, involving 20 researchers from different countries and disciplines, has accurately dated 21 destruction layers at 17 archaeological sites in Israel by reconstructing the direction and/or intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field recorded in burnt remnants. The new data verify the Biblical accounts of the Egyptian, Aramean, Assyrian, and Babylonian military campaigns against the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.”
A Blood Moon, Lunar Eclipse, and Fiery Meteor Shower Will All Grace the Sky This Week (Dana)
From Popular Science: “Heads up, space cadets — there are some with some very exciting sky gazing opportunities to take advantage of this week. Luckily, you should be able to watch them without a telescope. First up is Tuesday’s full blood moon lunar eclipse. Stargazers in North America, Central America, most of South America, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia will see the moon turn a reddish hue very early tomorrow morning. In the United States, stargazers in the western part of the country will get the best views.”
