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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.
After Selling for $43 Million, Rare Copy of US Constitution Goes on Display (Maria)
From Smithsonian Magazine: “A rare original copy of the United States Constitution — about a dozen copies are known to exist — is now on display at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. The document is on loan from Ken Griffin, founder of the hedge fund Citadel, who bid a record-breaking $43 million for it at auction last year, reports The Guardian’s David Smith.”
Quit, Joe, Quit! Biden Could Save the Midterms With a One-Term Pledge. (Russ)
The author writes, “President Biden should announce now that he will not run for reelection in 2024. He should not ask the Democratic Party, or the nation, to assume the risk of a second four-year term that would begin after he reached the age of 82. The conventional calculus argues that a president would be a fool to reveal such a plan before he has to, because it would instantly undercut his ability to get anything of real significance accomplished. But in Biden’s case the argument is exactly wrong.”
2020 Election Deniers Seek Out Powerful Allies: County Sheriffs (DonkeyHotey)
From The New York Times: “Conservative activists are working to recruit the law enforcement officers to their cause. Several sheriffs have already clashed with election officials.”
Texas Officials Celebrated End of Abortion Rights After Cutting Back Postpartum Medicaid Extension (Bethany)
The author writes, “Greg Abbott claimed Texas provides expectant mothers ‘necessary resources so that they can choose life for their child,’ but it is now one of a dwindling number of states not to offer Medicaid coverage for a full year after residents give birth.”
‘Dudes I Offed a Fed’: Inside a Far-Right Militia Member’s Plan to Start Civil War From the Bay Area (Reader Steve)
From the San Francisco Chronicle: “Long before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, before a Santa Ana federal judge suggested former President Donald Trump committed crimes while trying to stop the counting of electoral votes, and before five members of the men’s hate group the Proud Boys were indicted for seditious conspiracy, [Steven] Carrillo and a group of men he met through Facebook allegedly plotted to provoke a civil war themselves.”
Skittles Was Sued for Containing Titanium Dioxide. Plenty of Other Products Have It Too (Sean)
The author writes, “In a lawsuit filed [this month], a consumer alleged that Skittles were ‘unfit for human consumption’ because the rainbow candy contained a ‘known toxin’ — an artificial color additive called titanium dioxide. … Justin Comes, vice president of research and development for Skittles maker Mars Wrigley North America, said the company couldn’t comment on pending litigation — but that its use of titanium dioxide and ‘all Mars Wrigley ingredients are safe and manufactured in compliance with strict quality and safety requirements established by food safety regulators, including the FDA.’ Titanium dioxide is used in a wide range of food products and consumer goods – from candy to sunscreen and house paint. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration maintains that the regulated use of titanium dioxide, specifically as a color additive in food, is safe under some restrictions.”
What Triggered the Collapse of the Ancient Maya? A New Study Reads Like a Warning (Mili)
The author writes, “Researchers have peered back through 800 years of history to conclude that Mayapan — the capital of culture and politics for the Maya people of the Yucatán Peninsula in the 13th and 14th century CE — may well have been undone by drought. That drought would have led to civil conflict, which would, in turn, have brought about political collapse, according to the researchers. People would then have retreated to smaller and safer settlements.”
