Microsoft Publicly Posts Code for Election Security Software
Oceans and Ice Are Absorbing the Brunt of Climate Change ; Organizing Skid Row ; and More Picks
ES&S Lobbied for Years to Win Philly Voting-Machine Contract, Watchdog Finds (Chris)
From the Philadelphia Inquirer: “The vendor that won a $29 million contract to supply Philadelphia with new voting machines engaged in a years-long effort to lobby elections officials, who then rushed an opaque process that was biased toward that company, the city’s elected watchdog said Wednesday. City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart said her office’s seven-month review of the selection process found that Omaha, Neb.-based Election Systems & Software, or ES&S, first contacted city commissioners in 2013 and that since January 2014 has spent more than $428,000 in its lobbying efforts ‘related to the City of Philadelphia.’”
Oceans and Ice Are Absorbing the Brunt of Climate Change (Mili)
The author writes, “On Wednesday, the IPCC released a major report on the state of the planet’s oceans and ice. The 900-page report, which compiles the findings from thousands of scientific studies, outlines the damage climate change has already done to the planet’s vast oceans and fragile ice sheets and forecasts the future for these crucial parts of the climate system. Climate change’s impacts, the report says, are already readily visible from the top of the highest mountain to the very bottom of the ocean — and tangible for every human on the planet.”
‘Sun’ Files Lawsuit Against Adelson, ‘Review-Journal’ Owners Over Pact (Reader Steve)
From the Las Vegas Sun: “The Las Vegas Sun filed a federal lawsuit against Sheldon Adelson and the ownership group of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, alleging Adelson is trying to stop the Sun from publishing in an effort to silence an alternative voice in Las Vegas.”
Homeless People Could Lose Their Right to Sleep on Sidewalks (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “The city of Los Angeles will join L.A. County and dozens of other municipalities in submitting an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a challenge to Martin vs. City of Boise — a landmark lawsuit involving seven homeless people who were cited for camping on public property in Boise, Idaho. If the court were to take up the case, which is far from certain, it could reverse a decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that has prevented cities and counties from sending law enforcement to enforce ordinances to shoo away homeless people or to clear their encampments.”
Organizing Skid Row (Chris)
The author writes, “Activists in L.A. are connecting homelessness to the issues of over-policing, gentrification, and the fight for affordable housing — and asking the city to recognize the homeless as members of the community, rather than a problem to be swept out of view.”
