It’s time once again for news and views that you can peruse. It’s time for another edition of your Weekly Reader! As always, if you have something you’d like to share, drop a link in the comments!
AT&T, Walmart, Citi, and other megacorporations bankrolled a likely wave of state abortion bans (from Business Insider): “The state legislators and governors responsible for these laws, passed between 2005 and 2022, are overwhelmingly Republican, and they relied heavily on Republican parties and political action committees for campaign contributions. But they were also backed by companies that are part of your daily life, such as AT&T, Comcast Corp., CVS Caremark, Citigroup, Walmart, Anheuser-Busch, Exxon Mobil, and UPS, which each gave more than $150,000 to the effort — in some cases, far more.”
A pro-Trump film suggests its data are so accurate, it solved a murder. That’s false (from NPR): “The claims appear in a new pro-Trump film called “2,000 Mules,” which purports to have “smoking gun” evidence of massive voter fraud in the 2020 election in the form of digital device location tracking data. Former president Donald Trump has embraced the film, which has gained popularity on the political right, along with the claim about the murder case.”
Bombshell Report Released Days Before Buffalo Attack Shows 1 in 3 Americans Believe ‘Replacement Theory’ (from Mediaite): “The authors take great pains to emphasize divides between “high conspiratorial thinkers” and “low conspiratorial thinkers,” but there were stark partisan divides evident in the data.”
Ripple Effects of Abortion Restrictions Confuse Care for Miscarriages (from KHN): “Under another new Texas abortion law, someone who “aids or abets” an abortion after cardiac activity can be detected, typically around six weeks, can be subject to at least a $10,000 fine per occurrence. Anyone can bring that civil action, posing a quandary for physicians and other providers. How do they follow the latest guidelines when other people — from medical professionals to friends and family members — can question their intent: Are they helping care for a miscarriage or facilitating an abortion?”
Cut-and-paste terrorism: Much of the Buffalo shooter’s manifesto is copied word for word from the Christchurch killer (from We Hunted the Mammoth): “In the manifesto portions of the manifestos there are also a few big differences. The Christchurch killer aimed his ire at Muslim “invaders.” The Buffalo shooter ignored much of this material and inserted his own sections on the alleged evils of blacks and Jews. He has somehow convinced himself that black people are “invaders” of America, when they came here in chains. He has also convinced himself that black people are a different and inferior species.”
Mass shooting in Buffalo: Tucker Carlson and other right-wing conspiracy theorists share the blame (from Salon): “Now a familiar refrain will commence. No doubt we will be hear a great deal of umbrage in the coming days from Republican leaders and right-wing pundits. “How dare you blame us?” they will proclaim, in almost hysterical terms, acting shocked, shocked, that anyone would suggest that their words have had horrible consequences. The point of this fake outrage will be to make it too emotionally exhausting to hold them accountable, and to reinforce the ridiculous victim complex that fuels the American right as it increasingly slides into fascism. But let’s not mince words: These folks share the blame. They have been encouraging violence, and violence is what they got.”
Women in Texas Are Choosing to Remove Their Fallopian Tubes Now (from the Dallas Observer): “Nitsch tried calling Planned Parenthood, but the clinic wasn’t answering the phone, she says. Eventually, she found the help she needed but says she could have potentially gone into sepsis and died.”
Nebraska governor says he would call special session to ban abortion if Roe overturned (from Axios): “Republican Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said Sunday he would call a special legislative session to “do more to protect pre-born babies” if Roe v. Wade is overturned.”
The Buffalo Shooter Isn’t a ‘Lone Wolf.’ He’s a Mainstream Republican (from Rolling Stone): “In his manifesto, Gendron claims to have acted alone, while in the same breath admitting, “I’ve had many influences from others.” The 180 pages of the document reveal the breadth of those influences: it is largely pastiche, with page upon page of racist and antisemitic memes compiled in repulsive collages; collections of scientific studies of I.Q. differentials between racist groups; screenshots and links to news articles that confirm his prejudices; and segments of other manifestos, including Tarrant’s, bloat a thin line of racist scrawl. He may have, as he claims, become radicalized by over-enthused browsing of the Internet’s sewers, principally 4chan. But his fixations mirror those of the right wing more broadly, from violent transphobia to a loathing of immigration to a preoccupation with the possibility of civil war.”
Conservative parents take aim at library apps meant to expand access to books (from NBC News): “But convenience is a double-edged sword. In years past, parents might not have been able to find out what’s in a library collection, giving students a certain measure of freedom to roam the stacks. Now, they can easily search digital collections for books with content they object to and ask school administrators to censor or limit access with a few mouse clicks.”
Just How Incredibly Fucked Up Is Texas’ Social Media Content Moderation Law? (from Techdirt): “What does that mean in practice? First, even if there is a good and justifiable reason for moderating the content — say it’s spam or harassment or inciting violence — that really doesn’t matter. The user can simply claim that it’s because of their viewpoints — even those expressed elsewhere — and force the company to fight it out in court. This is every spammer’s dream. Spammers would love to be able to force websites to accept their spam. And this law basically says that if you remove spam, the spammer can take you to court.”
That’s all for this week. But I’ll be back next time with more articles for you to read. Until then, have a great week and happy reading!
Iacon East 