Vex and the City
Summer crime, and 6 months in a slaughterhouse.
America is back! And this summer is going to be quite the scene. A crime scene. While we're rejoicing at being let back out into the community, we're also feeling cautious because that community might be a little more violent than it was when we quarantined. "They are cheerleading the return of office workers to downtowns and encouraging tourists to visit, eager to rejuvenate the economy and build public confidence. But they are also frantically trying to quell a surge of homicides, assaults and carjackings that began during the pandemic and has cast a chill over the recovery." As Battle Against Virus Wanes, Mayors Confront a New Challenge: Crime.
+ "By almost every measure, 2021 has already been a terrible year for gun violence. And many fear it will get worse. Last weekend alone, more than 120 people died in shootings." WaPo: 2020 was the deadliest gun violence year in decades. So far, 2021 is worse. (We're not gonna let a little pandemic interrupt America's favorite pastime.)
+ One possible cause of the 2020 murder increase: More guns. (You know what is never a possible cause of a murder increase? Fewer guns.)
2. Slaughterhouse Dive
"On the evening before I left for Dodge City, my mom and I went to my sister and brother-in-law’s house for a steak dinner. 'It might be the last one you ever have,' my sister said." Michael Holtz spent six months Inside a Dodge City Slaughterhouse. "'You aren’t an undercover boss, are you?' a co-worker asked me late one shift. 'In the four years that I’ve worked here, I’ve never seen another white guy do your job.'"
3. Jerusalem Witch Hunt
Bibi has been ousted. But he has not left the building. "Israel’s new governing coalition promised to reach out to neglected foreign allies as well as to heal divisiveness at home after securing a razor-thin margin to oust Benjamin Netanyahu. But the longtime leader showed no signs of backing down, vowing Monday to depose his rivals and saying he was cheated out of power ... Netanyahu, meanwhile, convened the first meeting of the political opposition, where he called on his partners to show 'iron discipline' to depose 'this dangerous leftist government, the fraud government.'" (Even in Hebrew, that just sounds like a pathetic Trump line.)
+ Who is Naftali Bennett, Israel’s new leader?
4. Nato the Line
"In a summit statement, the leaders said that China’s goals and 'assertive behavior present systemic challenges to the rules-based international order and to areas relevant to alliance security.'" NATO leaders declare China a global security challenge.
5. Gag Me With a Goon
"The Justice Department’s top national security official is resigningfrom his position after revelations that the department under President Donald Trump secretly seized records from Democrats and members of the media." And it wasn't just Dems. "The Justice Department secretly subpoenaed Apple in February 2018 for account information of then-White House Counsel Don McGahn, as well as his wife, and secured a gag order barring the company from telling them about it."
+ "Nothing that is meant to be over is actually over. Because nothing was ever really litigated in the first instance." Slate's Dahlia Lithwick on The Price of No Consequences for Trump. (Or as I like to put it, whatever goes unpunished becomes the norm.)
6. Money Making Scheme
"Central banks around the world have begun exploring the idea of issuing their own digital currencies — a fiat version of a cryptocurrency that would operate more like physical cash — that would have some of the same technological benefits as other cryptocurrencies." Fed explores ‘once in a century’ bid to remake the U.S. dollar. (I doubt they can mine currency as fast as they've been printing it lately.)
7. Corp Delicti
"June is Pride month, and many US corporations are advertising their support for the LGBTQ community. A new study, however, has found that 25 companies otherwise eager to wave the rainbow flag have donated more than $10m to anti-LGBTQ federal and state politiciansover the past two years."
8. Code Warriors
"Ten years ago, only premium cars contained 100 microprocessor-based electronic control units (ECUs) networked throughout the body of a car, executing 100 million lines of code or more. Today, high-end cars like the BMW 7-series with advanced technology like advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) may contain 150 ECUs or more, while pick-up trucks like Ford’s F-150 top 150 million lines of code." How Software Is Eating the Car.
9. Uncle Ned
"For people like me, there’s a lot of ‘I know you! I know you! What have I seen you in?" Ned Beatty, titanic character actor of ‘Network,’ dies at 83. (When a guy like Ned Beatty dies, it feels like you’re losing an uncle or some other relative. It’s because his acting was that human and natural.)
10. Bottom of the News
"At first, I thought maybe a shark. But due to the lack of teeth and the size of it I soon realized that what I was in was a whale."A Diver Got Caught in a Whale’s Mouth and Lived to Tell the Tale on Reddit.
+ "Wasabi — who is apparently a Pekingese, but whom you'd be forgiven for mistaking for the thing you pull out of your vacuum when emptying it — was crowned Best in Show."
+ The quest to solve the mysterious ‘eerie’ hum of the Golden Gate Bridge. (Better idea. Don't solve it. Enjoy it.)
+ Novak Djokovic came from two sets down to win the French Open. But he's wasn't nearly as jacked as the kid who got his tennis racket. (This is how I picture you when NextDraft drops.)