Link Roundup September 2020

Compton to issue fines up to $1,000 for failure to wear mask when required

Violators will get a written warning for the first violation, $500 fine for a second violation, $750 for a third violation, and $1,000 for the fourth.

Blizzard Workers Share Salaries in Revolt Over Pay

Blizzard Entertainment has traditionally remained autonomous from its parent company, but in recent years, Activision’s corporate office has pushed the game-development studio to cut costs. Last year, the company eliminated hundreds of jobs and asked some of the remaining staff to take on the responsibilities of those who were let go. That extra work did not come with more pay, according to the people familiar with the company, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive private information. One veteran Blizzard employee told Bloomberg News they received a raise of less than 50 cents an hour. They are making less now than they did almost a decade ago because they are working fewer overtime hours than they did back then.

How the eviction crisis across the U.S. will look

People of color are especially vulnerable. While almost half of White tenants say they’re highly confident they can continue to pay their rent, just 26% of African-American tenants could say the same.

Trump says Department of Education will investigate use of 1619 Project in schools

Trump has also sought to draw contrast with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in the months before the election. Trump has vowed to protect monuments, including those dedicated to Confederate figures, called the phrase "Black Lives Matter" a "symbol of hate" and threatened to withhold funding from cities in blue states that he says are permitting unrest in the streets. The President and Attorney General William Barr have said that they don't believe systemic racism exists in the United States.

Trump orders crackdown on federal antiracism training, calling it 'anti-American'

The OMB director, Russell Vought, in a letter Friday to executive branch agencies, directed them to identify spending related to any training on “critical race theory”, “white privilege” or any other material that teaches or suggests that the United States or any race or ethnicity is “inherently racist or evil”.

The Largest Gang Raid in NYC History Swept Up Dozens of Young People Who Weren’t in Gangs

Perhaps most shockingly, more than half of the 120 indicted in the “largest gang takedown” in New York City history, including Lewis, were never actually alleged by prosecutors to be gang members at all. “Why on earth would they bring mass gang indictments, have a press conference saying that this is the largest takedown of two violent gangs in history, and actually be taking down dozens of people who are not gang members, and 80 individuals who are not violent?” Howell asked. “It’s because these prosecutions are politically advantageous. These cases make for easy wins, high-profile, good press coverage, and they give prosecutors a platform to appear tough on crime.”

Police Arrested 120 Anti-Racism Protesters in Omaha, and Barely Anyone’s Talking About It

Police officers wearing riot gear corralled anti-racism protesters in Omaha, Nebraska onto a highway overpass over the weekend, blocked both exits, and fired pepper balls into the crowd, according to videos taken of the peaceful demonstration and organizers who spoke to VICE News. Approximately 120 protesters were then zip-tied and arrested, primarily on charges of failure to disperse or obstructing traffic, although a few also received other charges like resisting arrest or unlawful assembly, according to a police spokesperson.

Section 8 Housing Grows In Chicago's Black Neighborhoods

It's illegal to discriminate against Section 8 residents in Chicago, but there's little government enforcement to stop that discrimination. And Fron says that landlords turning away voucher holders can be a proxy to discriminate against African Americans. The Chicago Housing Authority, which manages the Section 8 program in the city, points out that all 77 Chicago community areas have a voucher holder. Of course, more expensive neighborhoods are often out of reach for low-income families based on what the federal government pays the public housing agency. But CHA has a program in which it pays more than normal for a two-bedroom apartment in neighborhoods with higher rents.

Vouchers can help the poor find homes. But landlords often won’t accept them.

In response to the problem, 13 states (plus Washington, DC) and more than 50 cities and counties throughout the US have passed source-of-income laws requiring landlords to treat voucher holders the same as they would other applicants. Landlords are also prohibited from turning down voucher holders based on their source of payment. However, there are still many areas that haven’t passed such laws. The Poverty and Race Research Action Council estimates that as of November 2019, only about half of voucher holders are covered by source-of-income laws. Meanwhile, both Texas and Indiana have passed legislation to prevent jurisdictions in their states from creating their own source-of-income laws. At the federal level, several bills banning voucher discrimination have been introduced, but none have passed.

How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

The industry's awareness that recycling wouldn't keep plastic out of landfills and the environment dates to the program's earliest days, we found. "There is serious doubt that [recycling plastic] can ever be made viable on an economic basis," one industry insider wrote in a 1974 speech. Yet the industry spent millions telling people to recycle, because, as one former top industry insider told NPR, selling recycling sold plastic, even if it wasn't true.

Coronavirus hospital data removed from CDC website following Trump plan to reroute information

The data includes...

the current inpatient and intensive care unit bed occupancy
Health care worker staffing
Personal protective equipment supply status and availability

John Lewis’ Last Words

Congressman John Lewis, who died on July 17, wrote this essay shortly before his death. He wanted it to be published on the day of his funeral. His staff provided a copy of the essay to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the morning of July 30, four hours before his 11 a.m. funeral was to start.

Belarus election: Lukashenko's claim of landslide victory sparks widespread protests

Lukashenko, who has revelled in being labelled “Europe’s last dictator”, has consolidated immense power over 26 years of rule in Belarus and is seeking a sixth term in office. Observers pointed to record numbers of early votes as a likely sign of ballot stuffing, with nearly 40% of eligible Belarusians reportedly casting their ballots before polls opened on Sunday. Several polling stations ran out of ballot papers on Sunday as they appeared to surpass 100% of eligible voters.

Driver, passengers in car that plowed through BLM protest in Times Square released without charges: source

The Ford Taurus, which had a bull bar in the front, was being driven by a counter-protester attending a small pro-Trump rally in Duffy Square, police said.

Trump refuses to denounce white supremacy, says 'stand back and stand by' on Proud Boys movement

“Almost everything I see is from the left wing, not from the right wing,” Trump said when directly asked to denounce white supremacists and militia groups who have aligned themselves with him.

Amy Coney Barrett: spotlight falls on secretive Catholic group People of Praise

While the school’s objection to gay marriage and attraction is in line with mainstream Catholic teaching, the handbook also actively discourages teenage students from forming “exclusive relationships”, and asks them not to “be exclusive or give evidence of their dating relationships while at school”.

It’s Not Anti-Catholic to Ask Amy Coney Barrett About Her Religious Group “People of Praise”

According to Reimers, People of Praise teaching also provided some pretty sexist counseling for its male leaders on how to deal with women. “According to a teaching that has been circulating among the community heads, women are by nature manipulative,” he recounts. “This is one of the effects of Original Sin on them. The wise husband will factor this into his relationship with his wife, recognizing that much of what she does is insincere. To deal with this, the husband should distrust her motives and instead draw closer to his head and the men in his men’s group.” Women, he notes, were discouraged from having independent ideas. “At a women’s retreat one handmaid taught (with the approval of the coordinators) that one manifestation of the sin of pride is the failure to submit one’s thoughts and opinions to the heads of the community for correction,” Reimers writes.

Amazon Employee Warns Internal Groups They’re Being Monitored For Labor Organizing

According to the email, listservs being monitored include black-employee-network@, we-wont-build-it@, transgender@, indigenous@, arabs@, persians@, glamazon@, latinos@, colombianos@, asians-at-amazon@, coronavirusvolunteers@, and dozens of others. The vast majority of listservs listed by the AWS employee as being monitored are designed for employees from groups who are underrepresented in Silicon Valley; we-wont-build-it refers to a listserv of employees who are against Amazon working with ICE, among other government entities. The AWS employee noted that not all Amazon listservs were monitored this way, and they specifically noted that Christians@ is not monitored while muslims@ is monitored.

Almost a Quarter of Young Americans Think the Holocaust Is a Myth or Exaggerated

Some of the findings reveal that young Americans not only lack an understanding of what happened in Germany during the Second World War but have bought into conspiracy theories that have spread like wildfire on social media in recent years.

More migrant women say they didn’t OK surgery in detention

The 39-year-old woman from Cuba was told only that she would undergo an operation to treat her ovarian cysts, but a month later, she’s still not sure what procedure she got. After Cardentey repeatedly requested her medical records to find out, Irwin County Detention Center gave her more than 100 pages showing a diagnosis of cysts but nothing from the day of the surgery.

Military Confirms It Sought Information on Using 'Heat Ray' Against D.C. Protesters

A spokesperson for Joint Forces Headquarters Command in Washington, D.C., confirmed to NPR that hours before federal police officers cleared a crowded park near the White House with smoke and tear gas on June 1, a military police staff officer asked if the D.C. National Guard had a kind of "heat ray" weapon that might be deployed against demonstrators in the nation's capital.

Publishers Are Taking the Internet to Court

Their argument also hinges on the notion that it’s illegal to scan a book that you own. Note that this is what’s being claimed in the complaint: that the books are “illegally scanned,” as Whitehead tweeted back in March. It’s not just the distribution of “pirated” copies they’re trying to prevent. It’s doing as you wish with your own property.

Semenya loses at Swiss supreme court over testosterone rules

The 71-page ruling means Semenya cannot defend her Olympic 800-meter title at the Tokyo Games next year — or compete at any top meets in distances from 400 meters to the mile — unless she agrees to lower her testosterone level through medication or surgery.

Cop Who Charged Black Senator With ‘Injuring’ Confederate Statues Nurtured A Long Grudge

Moves like that cause Black leaders in Portsmouth to see the charges against Black political leaders as falling into a broader pattern of white Portsmouth officials using the criminal system to maintain power, as previously reported by The Virginian-Pilot. At one point, the city’s former white sheriff brought a camera crew along as he chased the city’s former Black mayor over an expired inspection sticker, then charged him with a felony. (The charges were later dismissed.)

Unmasked Protesters Push Past Police Into Idaho Lawmakers' Session

To enforce social distancing, the gallery area above the House chamber was restricted with limited seating. But after the confrontation with state troopers, which resulted in the shattering of a glass door, Republican House Speaker Scott Bedke relented and allowed protesters to fill every seat. The response stands in stark contrast to 2014 when dozens of advocates pressuring lawmakers to pass LGBTQ protections were arrested for standing silently in a hallway, blocking access to the Idaho Senate chamber.

LAPD ‘SWAT Mafia’ encouraged excessive force and retaliation, officer’s suit claims

Sgt. Tim Colomey, who spent 11 years as a SWAT supervisor until last November, filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging retaliation for revealing that a group of veteran officers controlled the tactical unit’s operations and membership and punished him and others for speaking out.

Wisconsin’s Governor Called a Special Session on Police Reform. Republicans Stopped It After 30 Seconds

Ordinarily, elected representatives might think twice before stiff-arming legislation backed by 80 percent of the state, or fear the wrath of the people for forcing voters to cast ballots, in person, and risk catching Covid-19 simply by exercising their right to vote. Wisconsin’s legislature, however, has insulated themselves from any consequences — indeed, insulated themselves from the people and the ballot box — by the district lines they drew themselves during the 2011 decennial redistricting. Republican operatives and savvy mapmakers barricaded themselves into a Madison law office, dubbed it the “map room,” claimed attorney-client privilege for their furtive work, required legislators to sign a non-disclosure agreement before even being shown their own new district, and designed fancy regression models that ensured Democrats would hold a minority of seats even they won up to 57 percent of the statewide vote.

Two students tested positive for coronavirus after taking the ACT at an Oklahoma high school

The 18-year-old senior was placed in a room with about 16 other students, only one who was wearing a mask, with a desk in between each of them, he said. "The proctor waited to ask us if anyone tested positive for Covid or came in contact with someone who tested positive after we were already sitting grouped together," Frederick DeCoster told CNN. "Almost no one was wearing a mask, even the proctor was constantly taking it off. I didn't feel safe. Then there was a kid sitting behind me sneezing, coughing hard, breathing really heavily. If you were to describe someone with coronavirus showing all the symptoms, it would be this guy. I was really worried."

Wearing A Mask Is More Popular — And A Little Less Partisan — Than You Might Expect

But although opposition to masks is concentrated squarely within the GOP, it’s distinctly a minority opinion even among Republicans. Democrats are close to universally supportive, saying by an overwhelming 92% to 5% margin that people should generally wear masks when in public around others. Republicans agree by a less unanimous but still substantial margin, 68% to 18%.