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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.
Tesla Just Terminated Dozens in Response to New Union Campaign, Complaint Alleges (Maria)
The author writes, “Tesla Inc. terminated dozens of employees Wednesday at its plant in Buffalo, New York, one day after Autopilot workers at the facility announced a union campaign, organizers said in a complaint. In a filing with the US National Labor Relations Board, the union Workers United accused Tesla of illegally terminating the employees ‘in retaliation for union activity and to discourage union activity.’ The union asked the labor board to seek a federal court injunction ‘to prevent irreparable destruction of employee rights resulting from Tesla’s unlawful conduct.’”
The Pointless Nikki Haley Campaign (Russ)
From The Atlantic: “Nikki Haley, one of the many Republicans who swore to stop Donald Trump in 2016 and then became a loyal supporter, is now running against Trump. Her campaign is already a collection of meaningless platitudes and she is unlikely to win, but she is the essential example of why the current GOP cannot be trusted with power.”
2nd Amendment Sanctuary Measure Overturned in Oregon (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “Local governments in Oregon can’t declare themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries and ban police from enforcing certain gun laws, a state appeals court decided Wednesday, in the first court case filed over a concept that hundreds of U.S. counties have adopted in recent years. The measure in question, which was approved in Columbia County, forbids local officials from enforcing most federal and state gun laws and would impose thousands of dollars in fines on those who try.”
Comptroller Launches ‘Open Checkbook,’ Highlighting Whom City Is Paying (Al)
The author writes, “Have you ever wondered who the City of Milwaukee is cutting checks to? A new open data website from the City Comptroller now lists every payment the city made last year. ‘Our goal is to share with our constituents how taxpayer dollars are spent. Giving everyone direct access to the data helps paint a fuller picture of expenditures and create a shared understanding of our investments and priorities,’ said independently-elected Comptroller Aycha Sawa in a statement. Dubbed ‘Open Checkbook,’ the portal includes 94,282 payments to businesses and other entities the city made in 2022. It does not include individual employee payments.”
Scientology Leader Considered Legally Served in Australian Human Trafficking Case (Sean)
From The Sydney Morning Herald: “Scientology’s reclusive leader, David Miscavige, has 21 days to respond to allegations from a human-trafficking case brought by three Australian residents after nearly a year of avoiding legal service. Gawain Baxter, Laura Baxter and Valeska Paris have claimed in a civil case lodged in Florida that they had endured horrendous emotional, physical and psychological abuse while in Scientology. Now a US magistrate has ruled that Miscavige had been concealing his whereabouts for nearly a year and declared him officially served in the case.”
That Dreamy Haze in Monet’s Impressionist Paintings? Air Pollution, Study Says. (Laura)
The author writes, “A new study, published [in January] in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed changes in style and color in nearly 100 paintings by Monet and Joseph Mallord William (J.M.W.) Turner, who are known for their impressionistic art and lived during Western Europe’s Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries. The study found that over time, as industrial air pollution increased throughout Turner’s and Monet’s careers, skies in their paintings became hazier, too.”
Microsoft’s New ChatGPT AI Starts Sending ‘Unhinged’ Messages to People (Dana)
From The Independent: “Microsoft’s new ChatGPT-powered AI has been sending ‘unhinged’ messages to users, and appears to be breaking down. The system, which is built into Microsoft’s Bing search engine, is insulting its users, lying to them and appears to have been forced into wondering why it exists at all.”
