October 28, 2016

Liberal governments with just as many check and balances as ours have fallen to authoritarians before. In the event of a Trump presidency gone bad, bureaucrats could resign, and the Supreme Court could rule against him, but the only thing that could really stop him would be public opinion—and if he had that, he might really get away with murder. / Politico

Sheldon Adelson is responsible for a full third of spending on anti-cannabis legalization campaigns in 2016. / The Washington Post

The Pennsylvania legislature sent a bill to the governor that would bar the government from sharing the names of police involved in shootings until after an investigation is over. / philly.com

“We have three major voter suppression operations under way.” A peek inside Trump’s “election bunker” reveals exactly what one might expect. / Bloomberg Businessweek

In case you wanted to know what a helicopter rescue at sea is like, this frightening long-read is a fascinating, minute-by-minute account. / GQ

The search has been called off for Guo Chuan, the accomplished Chinese sailor who’d hoped to sail from San Francisco to Shanghai in record time. / The New York Times

“In 1603 Johann Bayer, a celestial cartographer, and artist Alexander Mair published the first edition of Uranometria—an atlas comprised of 51 copperplates engraved with celestial constellations.” Wonderful selections from the book. / Atlas Obscura

Also worth noting: Atlas Obscura just put all of their 10,000 interesting places on a single map. / Atlas Obscura

“When news broke of the vessel’s disappearance, people wanted to know how a modern American ship as big as Boston’s Hancock Building could sink without a single survivor.” On October 1, 2015, the container ship El Faro sailed directly into the path of Hurricane Joaquin. When it sank it took the lives of all 33 aboard. / Yankee Magazine

“People have this fascination with uncovering a loophole for the perfect crime. There are a lot of different approaches to it. But in terms of geography, there’s just this one spot.” The “Zone of Death” refers to a 50-square-mile corner of Yellowstone National Park where a legal loophole allows for murder. / Vice

San Diego man wakes up in a French hospital with no idea of how he got there: by flying his wingsuit into a tree. / ktla.com

Everything in moderation, we’re taught, and thus many of us balk at the radical nature of what we need to do to address climate change. WikiLeaks provides “an excellent demonstration of how tremendously dangerous centrist instincts are when it comes to climate change.” Like when a Clinton advisor suggests challenging O’Malley’s assertion that we need to zero out fossil fuels by 2050, calling it “unrealistic,” until Podesta shuts him down. / theweek.com

“Every once in a while, physicists come up with a new way to destroy the universe.” Here: A vacuum that expands at the speed of light. / cosmosmagazine.com

On the same day the Bundys were let off scot free after arming themselves and occupying a federal building, North Dakota called in out-of-state police to clear #NoDAPL protesters using sound cannons, rubber bullets, and web jammers. / oregonlive.com, Wired, itsgoingdown.org

“Earth is melting. We all want to kill each other for no apparent reason. We’re all arguing over money, even though we just print it. The world sucks, man. But Tesla does have a mid-size sedan now, and that’s very important to the future.” An interview with Vince Staples and Eric André proves educational. / Complex

A continuing series by intrepid BuzzFeed reporters Chris Geidner and Dominic Holden explores the “legal correction” that is the federal government’s newfound progressivism regarding trans rights, how the (in)actions of ostensible cisgender allies blocked futher progress from happening for years, and how queer infighting over public bathroom rights could jeopardize everything. / BuzzFeed

“A person who meets the eligibility requirements of a voter under the Texas Election Code, Chapter 101, but who will be on a space flight during the early-voting period and on election day, may vote under this chapter.” Houston, we have a ballot: Texas makes sure astronauts can vote. / Texas Secretary of State

Visualizing the entirety of the US-Mexico border evokes a specific kind of satisfying closure (that the Germans probably have a word for?) / The Intercept

If we look at history, Russians are just better at spycraft. / timeline.com

“You know it’s happening but it’s almost impossible to prove. It’s all over the place.” Trump’s “poll watchers” all sound like conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. / The Wall Street Journal

An obscure Christian dating website called ToddAndClare.com is waging a legal war on Julian Assange based on Swedish rape and sexual assault charges against him. / mcclatchydc.com

Photographs to put you in a peaceful mood, pre-weekend: New works by artist Marco Breuer. / Yossi Milo Gallery

In case you want to blow off work this afternoon: A short documentary by the terrific Don Letts for the BBC on the history of skinhead, the British movement that started off multicultural, working class, and reggae-loving—and then toxic elements took it in a completely different direction. / BBC