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What Facebook did for Chauvin’s trial should happen all the time

What Facebook did for Chauvin’s trial should happen all the time

Evelyn Douek writes: On Monday, Facebook vowed that its staff was “working around the clock” to identify and restrict posts that could lead to unrest or violence after a verdict was announced in the murder trial of the former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. In a blog post, the company promised to remove “content that praises, celebrates or mocks” the death of George Floyd. Most of the company’s statement amounted to pinky-swearing to really, really enforce its existing community standards,…

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The Postal Service is running a ‘covert operations program’ that monitors Americans’ social media posts

The Postal Service is running a ‘covert operations program’ that monitors Americans’ social media posts

Jana Winter reports: The law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service has been quietly running a program that tracks and collects Americans’ social media posts, including those about planned protests, according to a document obtained by Yahoo News. The details of the surveillance effort, known as iCOP, or Internet Covert Operations Program, have not previously been made public. The work involves having analysts trawl through social media sites to look for what the document describes as “inflammatory” postings and…

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How a teenager’s video upended the police department’s attempted cover-up

How a teenager’s video upended the police department’s attempted cover-up

The New York Times reports: The Minneapolis Police Department’s initial inaccurate and misleading description of George Floyd’s death last May “might have become the official account” of what took place, had it not been for video taken by a teenage bystander, Keith Boykin, a CNN commentator, wrote on Twitter. The video, taken by Darnella Frazier, emerged the night of Mr. Floyd’s death and drove much of the public’s understanding of what took place. Chief Medaria Arradondo of the police department…

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How 1.5 degrees became the key to climate progress

How 1.5 degrees became the key to climate progress

Bill McKibben writes: It’s Earth Day +51, as we near the end of President Biden’s first hundred days, and forty world leaders are scheduled to join him for a virtual summit on climate change. “For those of you who are excited about climate, we will have a lot more to say next week,” the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said last Thursday, which is a sweet way to think about it—better than “for those of you who are existentially…

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Fox News still thinks Tucker Carlson’s bigotry is good for business

Fox News still thinks Tucker Carlson’s bigotry is good for business

Timothy L. O’Brien writes: Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive officer of the Anti-Defamation League, asked advertisers gathered Tuesday for Global Marketer Week to press Fox Corp. to fire its resident flamethrower and ratings-magnet, Tucker Carlson. Carlson has been trafficking in white supremacist myths recently on Fox News and his broadcasts, Greenblatt said, offer an “example of how hatred is being mainstreamed in America in 2021.” He recommended that advertisers rein in spending on Carlson’s show. “You can hold them accountable…

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The spectacular originality of Coleridge’s theory of ideas

The spectacular originality of Coleridge’s theory of ideas

Peter Cheyne writes: Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) stands tall in the cultural pantheon for his poetry. It’s less well known that in his own lifetime, and in the decades following his death, this canonical poet had an equal reputation as a philosopher. His published works containing much of his philosophical prose span from The Statesman’s Manual (1816), which set out his theory of imagination and symbolism; Biographia Literaria (1817), one of the great and founding works of literary criticism; The…

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Derek Chauvin’s conviction is progress, but it ‘will do nothing to change’ urban policing on its own

Derek Chauvin’s conviction is progress, but it ‘will do nothing to change’ urban policing on its own

USA Today reports: The guilty verdict returned by jurors Tuesday in the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin was a reason for joy among many, especially in the Black community. But it was also a vivid demonstration of what the criminal justice system could be if prosecutors went after all “bad cops” with the same gusto, legal observers said. During the 42-day trial, jurors heard from 45 witnesses and listened to hours of technical testimony about whether Chauvin,…

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Pressure on Biden to act on police reform will grow post-Chauvin conviction

Pressure on Biden to act on police reform will grow post-Chauvin conviction

ABC News reports: For activists, advocates and communities of color, the urgency behind the need for police reform does not end with the guilty verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin was found guilty on all charges after kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, the killing caught on camera. The graphic images of Floyd’s murder ignited a movement across the country, forcing the nation to begin to reckon with how people…

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Anglo-Saxon’ is what you say when ‘Whites only’ is too inclusive

Anglo-Saxon’ is what you say when ‘Whites only’ is too inclusive

Adam Serwer writes: Last week, far-right Republican Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar distanced themselves from a proposal to create an America First Caucus, after a document bearing the group’s name made reference to “Anglo-Saxon political traditions.” Both Greene and Gosar told the press that they hadn’t seen the document and did not endorse its sentiments, after House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy condemned the effort, saying that America “isn’t built on identity, race, or religion,” and rejecting “nativist dog…

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Dozen megadonors gave $3.4 billion, one in every 13 dollars, since 2009

Dozen megadonors gave $3.4 billion, one in every 13 dollars, since 2009

The New York Times reports: A dozen megadonors and their spouses contributed a combined $3.4 billion to federal candidates and political groups since 2009, accounting for nearly one out of every 13 dollars raised, according to a new report. The report, produced by Issue One, a nonpartisan group that seeks to reduce the influence of money in politics, shows the top 12 donors split equally between six Democrats and six Republicans. The list includes multiple Wall Street billionaires and investors,…

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How India allowed the virus to overwhelm it

How India allowed the virus to overwhelm it

Ramanan Laxminarayan writes: A lethal, fast-paced second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has brought India’s health care systems to the verge of collapse and is putting millions of lives and livelihoods at risk. On Sunday and Monday, the country recorded more than 270,000 and 259,000 cases, respectively, of Covid-19, a staggering increase from about 11,000 cases per day in the second week of February. Reported coronavirus infections shot up from about 20,000 per day in mid-March to more than 200,000…

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Satellite images show Russia’s expanding Ukraine buildup

Satellite images show Russia’s expanding Ukraine buildup

The Wall Street Journal reports: Russia has moved warplanes to Crimea and bases near Ukraine to an extent greater than has previously been disclosed, adding to its capability for political intimidation or military intervention, according to commercial satellite photos of areas being used for the military buildup. The photos, which were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, show Su-30 fighters lined up on a runway at an air base in Crimea. The aircraft, which are shown in a satellite photo…

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Sleeping too little in middle age may increase dementia risk, study finds

Sleeping too little in middle age may increase dementia risk, study finds

The New York Times reports: Could getting too little sleep increase your chances of developing dementia? For years, researchers have pondered this and other questions about how sleep relates to cognitive decline. Answers have been elusive because it is hard to know if insufficient sleep is a symptom of the brain changes that underlie dementia — or if it can actually help cause those changes. Now, a large new study reports some of the most persuasive findings yet to suggest…

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Why political sectarianism is a growing threat to American democracy

Why political sectarianism is a growing threat to American democracy

Nate Cohn writes: American democracy faces many challenges: New limits on voting rights. The corrosive effect of misinformation. The rise of domestic terrorism. Foreign interference in elections. Efforts to subvert the peaceful transition of power. And making matters worse on all of these issues is a fundamental truth: The two political parties see the other as an enemy. It’s an outlook that makes compromise impossible and encourages elected officials to violate norms in pursuit of an agenda or an electoral…

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