November 3, 2016

Existing laws in North Carolina make it easy to manipulate someone into being purged from voter rolls, a trick Republicans recently used to keep thousands—mostly black Democrats—from voting. / Slate

You may have heard that if the popular vote gets within two percent, Trump has a much more reasonable path to win. / FiveThirtyEight

“The Bureau of Indian Affairs police arrive from the south, disarm the DAPL security guard, and arrest him. They leave everyone else untouched and head back south. For us anarchists, this is a mind-boggling event.” Skirmishes at Dakota Access border on surreal—yes, a herd of buffalo showed up—and of course the anarchists have all the good stories. / CrimethInc

A football-specific reason the NFL’s viewing audience is dropping: “increasingly petty attention to discipline and uniformity.” A study found that offensive holding penalties have increased by 43 percent since 2011, and defensive pass interference is up by 45 percent over the same period. / The Washington Post

A quick survey of Cute Brute’s lightly surreal, semi-naughty Instagram artwork. / It’s Nice That, Instagram

As municipal law enforcement agencies face more scrutiny, their private supplements—whether they be “special police” or campus police—are increasingly looking and acting their roles in the police industrial complex. / HuffPost

Of course, the University of Chicago Police Department is not the only one that commits abuses while being largely unaccountable to the public. In 2014, a black Arizona State University professor was bodyslammed by an armed campus police officer for allegedly not showing him identification while being questioned for jaywalking. / web.archive.org, YouTube

Through its controversial 1033 program, the Department of Defense distributes military-grade weapons and technology to local police forces. / themarshallproject.org, The New York Times

“Sometimes I’m up 24 hours, 48 hours ‘cause of the anxiety level. I’m always wondering, ‘Who are these special police officers? What happened?’ On top of grieving and losing my son, him being murdered—not knowing what happened—makes it harder.” Colleges are not the only institutions that employ private police, obviously. Many cities authorize “special police”—essentially glorified security guards who are nonetheless deputized as law enforcement agents. / ThinkProgress

Across the country, private police are chronically undertrained and inadequately regulated. / poseidon01.ssrn.com

1. Pretty good summary of the Tronc story. “Busy year for Michael Ferro. Bought Tribune Publishing. Renamed it tronc. Endured ridicule. Tried to sell to Gannett. Failed.” / Bloomberg

2. Pretty worrying days ahead for hard-working journalists at the struggling Wall Street Journal. / Politico

3. Pretty good summary here: “The ruthlessly effective rebranding of Europe’s new far right.” / The Guardian

And having absolutely nothing to do with the media, here’s your meditative wanderlust coffee-break detour: A walking guide to Tokyo’s Jiyugaoka. / janejacobsjapan.com

“If we read carefully the declaration made by St. John Paul II, it goes in that direction.” Pope Francis reinforced the stained-glass ceiling for Catholic women who feel called to the priesthood, though left the door open to the ordination of women deacons in the future. / Washington Post

South African President Robert Zuma is placed at the scene of the crime several times in a report on statewide corruption. / The Wall Street Journal

Things started getting fishy earlier this year when a total nobody, relatively speaking, was named finance minister, a high post. That’s because the expected candidate turned down a $44 million bribe from the Guptas, a family Zuma is seen to favor. / Quartz

African corruption is almost always enabled and encouraged by its Western, allegedly more rarefied counterparts. / YouTube

Zuma was a leader in the African movement to quit the International Criminal Court, which was founded to target corruption in Africa. His case had been gaining steam: Burundi and Gambia joined South Africa in leaving, though neighboring Botswana was quickest to denounce the move. / dailymaverick.co.za

“Today, if you want to win an election in Africa, you just have to have the West bash you.” The ICC’s missteps in investigating corruption cases in Kenyan elections, many personnel-driven, opened the door for broader pessimism about its purpose. / New York Times Magazine

“Climate change is often going to be the domino that falls. But that does not mean we can ignore the rest of the dominos in the row.” Blaming climate change for natural disasters like the Chennai floods—or even the situation in Syria—alleviates responsibility on the part of lawmakers. It is a convenient way to avoid employing policies and infrastructure that will benefit citizens. / Slate

Hyperspectral imaging, which analyzes the tenderness of meat or ripeness of fruits, could stop large amounts of food from being tossed out at restaurants. / Financial Times