September 7th – The Day’s Most Fascinating News

Our pessimism brings us together, estimating when NYC will sink, and the headphone jack is toast.

Tired of reading articles and polls all of which suggest Americans are more divided than ever? Well, take note. Across both parties and all 50 states, we share at least one thing in common: “A pervasive pessimism that no matter the outcome, the election will do little to unify the country.” And don’t expect the outcome to change the vibe. Only four percent of Americans believe that neither presidential candidate presents a threat to the country’s well-being.

+ Related: To launch a nuclear strike, Clinton or Trump would follow these steps.

2

That Sinking Feeling

“The deluge will begin slowly, and irregularly, and so it will confound human perceptions of change. Areas that never had flash floods will start to experience them, in part because global warming will also increase precipitation. High tides will spill over old bulkheads when there is a full moon. People will start carrying galoshes to work. All the commercial skyscrapers, housing, cultural institutions that currently sit near the waterline will be forced to contend with routine inundation. And cataclysmic floods will become more common, because, to put it simply, if the baseline water level is higher, every storm surge will be that much stronger.” From NY Mag: When Will NY City Sink? (With my luck, it will be the day before I score some decent Hamilton tickets.)

3

Crude Awakening

“The people born there are not any less smart or any less capable or any less hardworking than the people born anywhere else who have a whole host of options of what they can do with their lives,” he says. “That’s something that is taught, and that is a form of disempowerment that has always gone hand-in-hand with the fossil fuel industry, because they need that easily exploited labor force.” In Narratively, Nathan C. Martin covers a story that, in many places, is core to the current American experience: Training the next generation of American oil workers…for jobs that don’t exist.

4

Ven Diagram

Last week, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Venezuela to protest the government and the country’s rampant hunger. From Reveal and Newshour: Venezuelan life: Eating garbage. Waiting in lines. Sharing 1 egg a day.

+ A photo essay from InFocus: “The lack of available and affordable food has led to an increasing number of pets being dropped off at shelters, or simply abandoned in the streets.”

5

Same to You

“They met at the holding room and they were the last persons to leave the holding room. I can’t say how long they met.” An official meeting was scrapped after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte directed swear words at President Obama. But apparently, they met briefly. Very briefly.

+ Vox: Rodrigo Duterte, explained.

6

The Blight Of

“How many of the 30 defendants present for a single ‘mass plea’ hearing in Louisiana’s 16th judicial district in June would have pleaded not guilty if they’d had more than 20 seconds of legal counsel?” The Guardian and The Marshall Project teamed up to report on the way “years of drastic budget cuts have created bottomless caseloads for public defenders — the ‘pack mules of the system’ — and tipped the scales of justice against the poor.”

7

Jack, Off

(If Apple News is your personal trigger warning, you better skip this item.) Somewhere in Brooklyn, a couple hipsters are planning to launch earbuds with artisanal cords. Yes, Apple has finally killed the headphone jack. They announced the move during today’s event which featured new Apple Watches with built-in GPS, and new iPhones with some pretty amazing camera advances. And if you’ve been frustrated by losing your AppleTV remote, just wait until you see the new wireless EarPods. Digg has a roundup of all the good stuff from the Apple Event.

8

Time to Switch to Decaf

“Ayahuasca is like having a cup of coffee here. I have to avoid people at parties because I don’t want to listen to their latest three-hour saga of kaleidoscopic colors.” The Bay Area tech community has been making other people puke for long enough. So now, we’re making ourselves puke. In the New Yorker, Ariel Levy explains how ayahuasca became the drug of choice for the kale age.

9

Nice Pants

My excellent sponsors over at BetaBrand are teaming up with the Techstars Foundation, a nonprofit working to improve diversity in technology entrepreneurship. While the YogAID program is running, you can purchase any pair of Dress Pant Yoga Pants in September and Betabrand will donate $5 to the Techstars Foundation. In other words, you can do something good and still dress casually. I can’t get any more on brand than that!

10

Bottom of the News

“Get behind a shopper who has a full cart.” The NYT offers some advice on how to pick the fastest line at the supermarket.

+ Atlas Obscura: Why are thousands of people watching this livestream of a Wyoming town? Short answer: Because Internet.

+ This is probably the greatest football photo ever.

+ Consider this: Colin Kaepernick’s jersey is now the NFL’s best seller. I’m glad I’m not the only one who makes a living sitting down.

+ And today’s evidence that there’s nothing you can believe in: There Are No Truffles in Truffle Oil.

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