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.
Would You Pay a Premium for Decarbonized Products? (Maria)
The author writes, “Grocery shoppers have shown a willingness to pay a premium for organic vegetables and plant-based meats. If commodity consumers would do the same for decarbonized steel or low-carbon cement, a market could complement carbon tax and trading schemes, according to panelists at a Stanford University carbon management workshop this month.”
Key Witness in Assange Case Admits to Lies in Indictment (Reader Pat)
From Stundin: “A major witness in the United States’ Department of Justice case against Julian Assange has admitted to fabricating key accusations in the indictment against the Wikileaks founder. The witness, who has a documented history with sociopathy and has received several convictions for sexual abuse of minors and wide-ranging financial fraud, made the admission in a newly published interview in Stundin where he also confessed to having continued his crime spree whilst working with the Department of Justice and FBI and receiving a promise of immunity from prosecution.”
Critical Race Theory Invades School Boards — With Help From Conservative Groups (Dana)
The author writes, “Conflicts … are playing out in cities and towns across the country, amid the rise of at least 165 local and national groups that aim to disrupt lessons on race and gender, according to an NBC News analysis of media reports and organizations’ promotional materials. Reinforced by conservative think tanks, law firms and activist parents, these groups have found allies in families frustrated over Covid-19 restrictions in schools and have weaponized the right’s opposition to critical race theory, turning it into a political rallying point. While the efforts vary, they share strategies of disruption, publicity and mobilization. The groups swarm school board meetings, inundate districts with time-consuming public records requests and file lawsuits and federal complaints alleging discrimination against white students. They have become media darlings in conservative circles and made the debate over critical race theory a national issue.”
Court Finds Baltimore Aerial Surveillance Unconstitutional (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “A divided federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that an aerial surveillance program used as a crime-fighting tool by the Baltimore Police Department was unconstitutional and said police must stop using any data obtained through the now-defunct program. In its ruling, the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the use of planes equipped with wide-angle high-tech cameras to surveil the city amounted to a warrantless search that violated the Fourth Amendment.”
A Vast Web of Vengeance (Sean)
The author writes, “Guy Babcock vividly remembers the chilly Saturday evening when he discovered the stain on his family. It was September 2018. He, his wife and their young son had just returned to their home in Beckley, an English village outside of Oxford. Mr. Babcock still had his coat on when he got a frantic call from his father. ‘I don’t want to upset you, but there is some bad stuff on the internet,’ Mr. Babcock recalled his father saying. Someone, somewhere, had written terrible things online about Guy Babcock and his brother, and members of their 86-year-old father’s social club had alerted him. Mr. Babcock, a software engineer, got off the phone and Googled himself. The results were full of posts on strange sites accusing him of being a thief, a fraudster and a pedophile. The posts listed Mr. Babcock’s contact details and employer.”
School Apologizes for Rejecting Black Student in ‘59 (Mili)
From Medscape: “A letter dated Aug. 5, 1959, hangs framed in the basement of Marion Hood, MD, a retired gynecologist and obstetrician. ‘I am sorry I must write you that we are not authorized to consider for admission a member of the Negro race,’ the letter reads. ‘I regret that we cannot help you.’ Hood received the letter, along with a returned $5 application fee, less than a week after he applied.”
A Customer Left a $16,000 Tip After Ordering Some Hot Dogs, Chips and a Few Drinks (Nick)
The author writes, “It was an ordinary Saturday afternoon in New Hampshire when a hungry customer walked into a restaurant, sat at the outside bar, and ordered some food. Roughly two hot dogs, some chips, a coke, a beer and a shot of tequila later, he paid his $37 tab and left — but not before including a $16,000 tip.”
