Unchecked capitalism is driving the Amazon fire, YouTube is making everyone mad, and experts have found the next Flint, Michigan. Here’s the news you need to know, in two minutes or less.
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Today’s Headlines
Who’s burning the Amazon? Rampant capitalism
Fires in the Amazon aren’t new, but there’s a reason the most recent ones have been so devastating: capitalism. The Brazilian government has encouraged farmers to find more room for agriculture to boost the economy, and the farmers listened. “They’re illegally setting fires as a means of clearing land, and using it to intimidate indigenous activists or environmental activists,” says University of Florida ecologist Emilio Bruna. So what can be done? “Vote for people whose environmental values align with our own,” adds Bruna.
No one is happy with YouTube’s content moderation policies
YouTube’s content moderation policies spawned lawsuits from an unlikely alliance: a conservative nonprofit and a group of left-leaning LGBTQ+ YouTubers. Both argue that the video site discriminates against them, but YouTube believes that’s not the whole picture. “All sides of the political spectrum can find an example where they believe their videos have been unfairly treated, usually because they can be filtered by our restricted mode feature due to more mature content,” a YouTube spokesperson wrote in an email. YouTube estimates only 1.5 percent of users are logged in as restricted on any given day.
Fast Fact: 55 Parts Per Billion
That’s the amount of lead in the drinking water of Newark, New Jersey, the city experts now refer to as “the next Flint.” While Flint, Michigan had a rating of over 100 ppb, the federal government says the safe limit is just 15 ppb.
WIRED Recommends: Microsoft Surface Pro 6 Deal
If you were thinking of picking one of these up—or you’re just in the market for a slick laptop-tablet hybrid—the Surface Pro 6 is on sale at almost $300 off. It’s the cheapest we’ve ever seen it.
News You Can Use
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