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‘It’s Basically Inaccessible Without a Phone’: Are Our Kids Losing Their Love for Music? (Maria)
The author writes, “My daughter is nine years old. … The only way she can access music is by making me get my phone out and play a song on my Spotify account. The inconvenience is trifling, but more painful and alarming is the growing gap between us when it comes to musical experience. A whole age group of kids — let’s call them pre-phone children — are now unable to access music of their choosing. In fact, they have virtually no musical autonomy at all.”
Elon Musk’s Starlink Terminals Are Falling Into the Wrong Hands (Russ)
The authors write, “SpaceX’s Starlink touts its high-speed internet as ‘available almost anywhere on Earth.’ In the real world, its reach extends to countries where Elon Musk’s satellite-enabled service has no agreement to operate, including territories ruled by repressive regimes. A Bloomberg News investigation identified wide-spanning examples of Starlink kits being traded and activated illegally. How they are smuggled and the sheer availability of Starlink on the black market suggests that its misuse is a systemic global problem, raising questions about the company’s control of a system with clear national security dimensions.”
Mar-a-Lago Hires 136 New Foreign Workers as Trump Seeks Immigration Crackdown (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Mar-a-Lago hired more than 100 foreign workers last year as Donald Trump promises to restrict immigration and round up undocumented migrants for deportation. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s businesses have long relied on foreign workers, and last year Mar-a-Lago asked the Department of Labor for authorization to hire a total of 136 foreign workers for seasonal work, and all but one request was accepted.”
Lessons From a Mass Shooter’s Mother (Dana)
From Mother Jones: “A decade after her son committed a massacre, Chin Rodger is on a quest to help prevent the next tragedy.”
US Prisoners Are Being Assigned Dangerous Jobs. But What Happens if They Are Hurt or Killed? (Reader Jim)
From The AP: “Blas Sanchez was nearing the end of a 20-year stretch in an Arizona prison when he was leased out to work at Hickman’s Family Farms, which sells eggs that have ended up in the supply chains of huge companies like McDonald’s, Target and Albertsons. While assigned to a machine that churns chicken droppings into compost, his right leg got pulled into a chute with a large spiraling augur. ‘I could hear “crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch,”’ Sanchez said. ‘I couldn’t feel anything, but I could hear the crunch.’ … Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of prisoners are put to work every year, some of whom are seriously injured or killed after being given dangerous jobs with little or no training, The Associated Press found. They include prisoners fighting wildfires, operating heavy machinery, or working on industrial-sized farms and meat-processing plants tied to the supply chains of leading brands.”
‘We’re Looking at Losing 20% of Olympic Nations’: How the Climate Crisis Is Changing Sport (Laura)
From The Guardian: “Throughout east Africa, the most obvious climate hazards are drought, extreme heat, floods in some parts, and associated biodiversity loss. According to professor Vincent Onywera, the vice-chancellor for research, innovation, and outreach at Kenyatta University, who has studied Kenyan runners most of his professional career, the climate crisis could seriously affect injury trends and performance. … Athletics Kenya is worried about how the climate crisis shapes the future of its country, let alone its sport. And yet there is little a country like Kenya can do to improve its climate outcomes as it contributes 0.05% of global emissions. Even if significant reductions in emissions are achieved, it will barely move the needle. So Athletics Kenya is choosing a different tack: educating its top athletes — some of the nation’s most visible people — to be spokespeople for the climate emergency.”
Smartphones Can Now Last 7 Years. Here’s How to Keep Them Working (Sean)
The author writes, “Every smartphone has an expiration date. That day arrives when the software updates stop coming and you start missing out on new apps and security protections. With most phones, this used to happen after about only three years. But things are finally starting to change. The new number is seven. … Samsung and Google, the two most influential Android device makers, are playing catch-up with Apple, which has traditionally provided software updates for iPhones for roughly seven years. These moves will make phones last much longer and give people more flexibility to decide when it’s time to upgrade.”
