September 28, 2016
A Trump supporter once said, “If you don’t do something about [Latinos], you’re going to have taco trucks on every corner.” So his Houston opponents are setting up voter registration booths at area taco trucks. / chron.com
When their coach kneeled, so did the entire team. Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, New Jersey is 85% black or Latino. Their coach’s brother and team members have been lost to gun violence. Now insults arrive from across the country, aimed at the coach who gave up his dream of playing in the NFL to work with the kids he felt needed it. / BBC
“For all their slapping, slathering, baiting, scratching or fleeing, humans beckon Aedes aegypti. The tangled history of human and mosquito cannot be unknotted. Certainly not from the mosquito’s perspective.” How humans have nurtured mosquitoes. / High Country News
Global warming isn’t a Chinese hoax, but there is some tomfoolery at the bottom of this week’s Clean Power Plan case: in 1990, an energy law was passed so hastily that the Senate and House never reconciled language that yields two different interpretations of the Plan’s legality. / Mashable, The New York Times
If the Clean Power Plan is upheld, it will reduce carbon pollution from utilities by 30%. / hcn.org
“If the DC circuit court rules against the Obama administration, it is likely to do so on narrow and technical grounds.” The legal prospects for the Clean Power Plan are muddled but about to become a whole lot sharper. / Climate Advisers
Despite the hold put on the Clean Power Plan, Obama has been able to reduce climate pollution through other domestic instruments. / The Atlantic
“In some places, like California, it’ll make practically no difference at all. In others, like North Dakota, it’ll be earth-shifting.” How the Clean Power Plan will affect what energy sources are used by different regions around the US. / Inside Energy
The Clean Power Plan is central, but not essential, to the United States’ role in global climate action. Obama’s success in climate climate diplomacy is notable; whether he earned the Nobel Peace Prize when he won it or not, he probably has now. / thediplomat.com
Necessary context: The Clean Power Plan is important, but it’s not enough on its own to reach America’s target. / The Verge
The legal challenge to the Clean Power Plan essentially contends that the executive branch doesn’t have the power to intepret laws passed by Congress in new ways based on new information. / http
Serena Williams writes a public letter on Facebook about police violence. / Facebook
“If you think one person’s consumption is too small to make a difference, consider that $100—what a recreational cocaine user might spend on a single weekend—buys the cartels 500 rounds of ammunition.” In case you’ve got some coke or molly lined up for the weekend, don’t forget that you’re now personally responsible for dead people. / New York Times
Anticipating pot going legal in California this fall, small marijuana growers plan to go boutique to compete with competition from Big Tobacco/Big Alcohol/Big Ag. / ww2.kqed.org
“Every day, I ask myself: Are there things that I can do to keep more people in the trans community alive?” Profile of Chase Strangio, the trans ACLU lawyer representing Chelsea Manning / Broadly
Gelinaz! is an event that occurs every few months in which a handful of chefs in a particular city are invited to spend a weekend improvising meals out of four ingredients. Watch as 16 chefs make 32 dishes—with rice, egg, tomato, and peach—then watch them do it backwards and in slow motion. / Vimeo
On September 13, one headline read: “Chrissy Teigen bashes ‘oriental salad dressing’ on Twitter.” A majority of the headlines follow this same tone of “another person of color outraged at some insignificant thing again.” / USA Today
One of the biggest questions facing American energy policy is the role of natural gas. The Clean Power Plan swaps gas in for coal, but that has led to higher methane emissions than previously projected. / eia.gov, The Washington Post
The Anti-Defamation League has added “Pepe the Frog” to its online database of hate symbols, joining the swatstika, “echo,” and blood-drop cross. / adl.org
“If instead of feeling exhausted I feel exhilarated, and want to make people happy by giving them a gift, why not do it?” Janet Malcolm profiles piano prodigy Yuja Wang, with lots about her family, short skirts, performances, dating life, and melancholy. / The New Yorker
“This is a side effect not necessarily of excellence but of ubiquity.” Miranda Popkey examines the Northeast’s affinity for Dunkin’ Donuts, and how it has yet to be ousted by Starbucks or craft coffee. / Extra Crispy
First American Fried Chicken in Elizabeth, NJ, made waves for being the family shop of Ahmad Khan Rahami, who’s suspected of planting multiple bombs in New York’s tri-state area earlier this month. A dispatch from the scene shows locals’ mixed feelings about the establishment; the restaurant’s Yelp page has been flooded with xenophobic and racist remarks. / roadsandkingdoms.com
The Inuktitut language doesn’t have an alphabet. Instead, its writing system is an abugida, where each symbol represents both a consonant and a vowel. / YouTube
Yankees fan proposes to girlfriend while on camera, then drops ring while on camera, then looks very sad. / YouTube
“The man was using a portable toilet on a Sydney building site on Tuesday, when he suffered a repeat of the incident five months ago. Jordan, who preferred not to reveal his surname, said he was bitten on ‘pretty much the same spot’ by the poisonous spider.” That’s right: “Spider Bites Australian Man on Penis Again.” (H/t Nextdraft.) / BBC, nextdraft.com
“Asking us to stand between 9/11 families and their day in court is asking a lot.” Obama’s bid to protect some of America’s best buddies in Middle East Realpolitik (Saudi Arabia) gets vetoed by Congress—the first override of his presidency. / CNN
“Hitler’s repertoire of topics…was limited, and reading his speeches in retrospect, ‘it seems amazing that he attracted larger and larger audiences’ with ‘repeated mantralike phrases’ consisting largely of ‘accusations, vows of revenge and promises for the future.’ But Hitler virtually wrote the modern playbook on demagoguery, arguing in Mein Kampf that propaganda must appeal to the emotions—not the reasoning powers—of the crowd.” Michiko Kakutani elegantly makes her case. / The New York Times