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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.
The Supreme Court’s Biggest Case This Term Threatens American Democracy (Maria)
The author writes, “Moore v. Harper is perhaps the most significant case of the US Supreme Court term. … At stake is the question of who runs US elections and sets election law. American elections function through a sometimes problematic but familiar system of checks and balances. Since the days of James Madison, state legislatures, state courts, federal courts and Congress all weighed in to work out a just system. But after the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down the congressional map drawn by its legislature as a violation of the state constitution, two legislators appealed, setting up the showdown in Moore v. Harper. The legislators contend that there should be no checks and balances in elections. … The stakes of the case couldn’t be higher. A decision in favor of the North Carolina legislators would essentially allow elected representatives to make whatever laws they want about elections.”
Election Officials Confront a New Problem: Whether They Can Trust Their Own Poll Workers (DonkeyHotey)
From Politico: “Election officials are growing concerned about a new danger in November: that groups looking to undermine election results will try to install their supporters as poll workers. The frontline election workers do everything from checking people in at voting locations to helping process mail ballots — in other words, they are the face of American elections for most voters. And now, some prominent incidents involving poll workers have worried election officials that a bigger wave of trouble could be on the horizon.”
‘Our Children Are Not Fertilizer’: Why Protests in Chechnya and Dagestan Should Trouble Moscow (Mili)
The author writes, “When the Russian invasion of Ukraine first began, Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov vowed loyalty and military support for the Kremlin. In bellicose (and frequently deceptive) social media posts, Kadyrov and his military commanders sought to use legends of Chechen military ferocity — embedded deep in the Russian psyche — as a countermeasure to the images of a valiant Ukrainian resistance. But when it came to sending more Chechen young men to the front last week, Kadyrov made a show of defying the Kremlin, which had just announced a ‘partial mobilization’ of 300,000 troops. Chechen conscription targets had been ‘overfulfilled,’ he claimed, in what was widely seen as an effort to blunt popular discontent over a military operation whose failures could no longer be disguised with blustery Telegram messages.”
Poland Has Discussed Hosting Nuclear Weapons With US, Says President (Sean)
From Notes From Poland: “Poland is open to hosting nuclear weapons and has discussed the idea with the United States, President Andrzej Duda has revealed. The head of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jarosław Kaczyński, says he ‘fully supports’ the idea. In an interview with the Gazeta Polska weekly, Duda was asked about the idea of ‘nuclear sharing,’ a NATO system under which countries that do not have their own nuclear weapons host those from others that do.”
The CDC Is Looking Into a Stomach Bug Outbreak at the Grand Canyon (Laura)
From NPR: “Hundreds of visitors to the Grand Canyon took home more than selfies and prickly pear candy this summer. A record number of norovirus cases hit the park’s backcountry. There were so many cases the National Park Service asked for help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Luke Runyon of member station KUNC spoke with some of the unlucky travelers.”
Inmate Charged With Plotting to Kill ‘Whitey’ Bulger Gives His Version of What Happened Before and After Slaying (Reader Steve)
From The Boston Globe: “In a federal indictment … prosecutors allege that [Sean] McKinnon acted as a ‘lookout’ while [Fotios ‘Freddy’] Geas and Paul J. DeCologero, of Lowell, entered [Whitey] Bulger’s cell and struck him in the head multiple times, killing him. Prosecutors allege the trio knew of Bulger’s transfer before he arrived at the prison and plotted to kill him. But in the telephone interview … from the Seminole County Jail in Sanford, Fla., McKinnon insisted he had nothing to do with Bulger’s murder. And he provided new details of what happened in the hours before and after the slaying.”
Keyworth Street Named Britain’s Best for Hedgehogs (Dana)
The author writes, “A village where residents have drilled holes in their fences to create wildlife corridors for hedgehogs has won a national award. Dale Road, in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, has been named Britain’s Biggest Hedgehog Street by two wildlife charities. Residents said they were thrilled at the news.”
