The best of the week’s news by Lindsay Beyerstein
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The Best of the Week’s News
Courtesy of Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Hillman judge Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses his acclaimed new book, “Between the World and Me,” with Lindsay Beyerstein on the Center for Inquiry’s radio show and podcast, Point of Inquiry.
Hades2K, Creative Commons
The Best of the Week’s News
Thomas Hawk, Creative Commons.
Harvard law professor Larry Lessig explains why we shouldn’t pin our hopes for campaign finance reform on a constitutional amendment, as desirable as useful as such an amendment might be.
Instead, Lessig argues, we should focus on increasing the percentage of campaign donations funded by small-dollar contributors. Attracting small donations could shift the balance of power away from large monied interests, towards ordinary citizens. He points out that it’s much easier to incentivize small contributions than it is to change the constitution to limit large ones.
London taxi drivers protesting Uber, David Holt London, Creative Commons.
The Best of the Week’s News
MariusPriv, Creative Commons. Illustration shows Bree Newsome, a South Carolina woman who beat the state legislature to the punch and took the flag down herself. Today, it went down legally and permanently.
The Best of the Week’s News
The Best of the Week’s News
Bill Ward’s Brickpile, Creative Commons.
The Best of the Week’s News (And There’s LOTS of Good News)
“Grief,” by Alex, Creative Commons.
The Best of the Week’s News
Uber’s worst nightmare has come true:
In what could be an explosive decision, the California Labor Commission has found that a driver for Uber in San Francisco is an employee of the company. That’s from a ruling filed in state court on Tuesday and first reported by Reuters. It’s pretty damning. “Defendants hold themselves out as nothing more than a neutral technological platform, designed simply to enable drivers and passengers to transact the business of transportation,” the commission writes. “The reality, however, is that Defendants are involved in every aspect of the operation.” [Slate]
So far, the ruling only applies to one driver from San Francisco, but the precedent could be far-reaching. Uber plans to appeal.
