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.
Facebook to Shut Down Face-Recognition System, Delete Data (Maria)
The authors write, “Facebook said it will shut down its face-recognition system and delete the faceprints of more than 1 billion people amid growing concerns about the technology and its misuse by governments, police and others. ‘This change will represent one of the largest shifts in facial recognition usage in the technology’s history,’ Jerome Pesenti, vice president of artificial intelligence for Facebook’s new parent company, Meta, wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.”
Charlottesville Jury Selection Shows How Deeply the Right-Wing Smear of Antifa Has Penetrated (Reader Jim)
From Daily Kos: “It’s becoming clearer over time that the right’s eliminationist smear campaign against antifascists — which originated as an extremist conspiracy theory, and then blossomed into right-wing conventional wisdom thanks to media outlets like Fox News — was a phenomenal success. One need look no farther than the jury selection process in the Charlottesville civil-lawsuit trial against the neofascist planners of the deadly 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ rally. … Queried on the stand about their views on ‘antifa,’ many of the prospective jurors made clear that they had absorbed the smear into their worldviews.”
Bitcoin Mining Is Reshaping the Energy Sector and No One Is Talking About It (Sean)
The author writes, “Recently, I was invited to give a talk at the Texas Blockchain Summit on the topic of the growth of bitcoin mining in Texas. Not knowing anything about bitcoin mining in Texas, I interrogated around two dozen mining entrepreneurs, wholesale energy traders, academics and energy experts. What I discovered would completely alter my views on bitcoin mining. Put shortly, bitcoin mining is converging with the energy sector with amazing rapidity, yielding an explosion of innovation that will both decarbonize bitcoin in the medium term, and will dramatically benefit increasingly renewable grids. What’s more, it appears that only bitcoin — rather than other industrial load sources — can actually achieve some of these goals.”
Judge Tosses Staten Island Man’s Conviction Following NYPD Drug Planting Allegations (DonkeyHotey)
From Gothamist: “In a court decision on Friday, a Staten Island judge vacated a man’s 2018 conviction, citing body camera footage which appears to show an NYPD officer planting marijuana in a car he was riding in. At the time, police charged the man, Jason Serrano, for drug possession, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental administration. Three months later, he decided to plead guilty to the resisting charge to avoid being sent to Rikers Island, unaware of the troubling body camera footage which prosecutors only shared with his attorneys months after his plea.”
Sen. Josh Hawley Says Democrats Are Trying to Undermine Traditional Masculine Values (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley decried what he characterized as Democrats’ prolonged attack on traditional masculinity, using it to make an argument for restructuring the economy in a way that would help men thrive. In a speech to the National Conservatism Conference Sunday night in Orlando, Florida, Hawley said criticism of masculinity is the ‘tip of the spear’ of a larger attack on America. He blamed ‘the left’ for undermining masculinity, pointing to statistics that show more women than men attend college, fewer men report being married between the ages of 25-34, men are fathering fewer children and that men are experiencing higher rates of substance abuse, anxiety and depression.”
What Sea Level Rise Will Do to Famous American Sites, Visualized (Dan)
From The Guardian: “The land on which 10% of the world’s population lives could be lost to sea level rise if carbon emission trends continue, new maps and visualizations show. Fifty major cities, mostly in Asia, and at least one large nation on every continent but Australia and Antarctica are at risk. Many small island nations are threatened with near total loss of their land. The collection of images and videos produced by the non-profit Climate Central visualize future sea level rise if the world fails to meet emissions reduction targets. The images show what areas of the world can be saved and which could be lost, taking with them the heritage and history of these coastal communities.”
Teaching Ancient Brains New Tricks (Mili)
The author writes, “The science of physics has strived to find the best possible explanations for understanding matter and energy in the physical world across all scales of space and time. Modern physics is filled with complex concepts and ideas that have revolutionized the way we see (and don’t see) the universe. The mysteries of the physical world are increasingly being revealed by physicists who delve into non-intuitive, unseen worlds, involving the subatomic, quantum and cosmological realms. But how do the brains of advanced physicists manage this feat, of thinking about worlds that can’t be experienced?”
B.J. Novak’s Face Is on Products Worldwide. He’s Not Sure Why. (Russ)
The author writes, “For the last few years, any Swedes who purchased a bottle of Calvin Klein’s Encounter cologne were probably greeted by the piercing gaze of an American actor. Same for anyone who purchased certain brands of face paint in Uruguay, electric razors in China or knee-length ponchos in Europe. Something about the man’s familiar countenance enchanted product makers from around the world, who chose his stock image out of millions to feature on their packaging. But the man in the picture, B.J. Novak, a 42-year-old actor best known for his role on ‘The Office,’ didn’t choose to be the face of perfume or face paint or ponchos.”
