Facebook removes 'deceptive' ads, Federal judge says Barr mishandled Mueller report, UBS 'sustainable' investments up + What Just Happened & 'Championship Cheese'
NewsHero - March 6, 2020 - Issue 49
Welcome! This edition of NewsHero for March 6, 2020, is is a free-for-all! Yes, for subscribers and first-timers alike, this one is free for all.
We decided that being NewsHero—putting the hero of every story in the headlines as our priority—we’d go ahead and readily identify those heroes in each piece of coverage.
Going forward, heroes will be designated as follows:
🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️ - the hero, hands down. - Meaning that it wasn’t even a close call.
🦸♀️🦸♀️ - the hero, but… - Meaning that in this situation the call needed to be looked at in a little more detail. For example, in this case, they did the right thing but there have been some questionable calls in the past.
🦸♀️ - the hero, but only here, and it was a close call. - Meaning that in this instance they did the right thing but it was either out of character or a maddeningly close call.
We love feedback. Whether it’s about this system or our choice of hero or anything else, feel free to let us know what you think here.
As always, thank you for your support as we strive to grow as an independent news source so we can offer more for our readers.
Please share us with anyone you think might like what we do—or might need another perspective.
NewsHero Notes
Barbie - 🦸♀️🦸♀️
Mattel has been making Barbie “Shero” dolls for a while now, bringing awareness of strong female role models. One of the latest is fashioned after Ukrainian world champion saber fencer Olga Kharlan. Others will also highlight women of the sporting world. The toy company is releasing the newly designed dolls in honor of International Women's Day on March 8.
Olive Garden - 🦸♀️🦸♀️
A story from The Washington Post said that “Olive Garden patrons reportedly launched into a racist tirade against a black server and hostess at an Evansville, Ind., location on Saturday, demanding to the manager that a white server take over the table. The manager, who acquiesced, has been fired from the chain of Italian restaurants, the company says.”
Afternoon Brief
Facebook - 🦸♀️
Facebook has removed a series of ads posted by the Trump campaign that gave the impression respondents would be taking part in the official 2020 U.S. census.
According to BBC News, one of the ads read: “President Trump needs you to take the Official 2020 Congressional District Census today,” implying the survey it linked to was the official census. The survey featured Republican themes like “Obamacare,” “the Democrats' failed Impeachment Witch Hunt” and “Nancy Pelosi and the Radical Left.”
Commenting on its decision to remove the ads, a Facebook spokesperson told Business Insider that “there are policies in place to prevent confusion around the official U.S. Census and this is an example of those being enforced.”
The adverts were “deceptive" and “unacceptable," said Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, which helped Facebook craft its policy on census interference.
Judge Reggie B. Walton - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
A federal judge on Thursday criticized Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the Mueller report, saying that Barr offered a “distorted" and “misleading” account of its findings and lacked credibility.
Judge Reggie B. Walton said Barr could not be trusted, citing “inconsistencies” between statements about the report when it was private information and the actual contents that turned out to be more damaging to Donald Trump.
Walton ordered the Justice Department to privately show him the portions of the report that were censored in the publicly released version so he could independently verify the justifications for those redactions, according to The New York Times. The ruling came in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking a full-text version of the report.
UBS - 🦸♀️
Switzerland’s UBS said the value of its “sustainable” investments rose by more than 50% to nearly $500 billion in 2019, while lending to the energy and utilities sectors fell by 40% as it tightened its rules. UBS has been looking to take a leading position in sustainable investing at a time when policymakers and regulators push financial institutions to do more to help accelerate a global push to a low-carbon economy and meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, tackling poverty and other global challenges, Reuters reports.
“As the world’s largest truly global wealth manager, we have a responsibility to take a leading role in shaping a positive future for everyone, including future generations,” UBS Chairman Axel Weber said in a statement. “We aim to be the financial provider of choice for clients who want to engage toward the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) while helping achieve an orderly transition to a low-carbon economy.”
What Just Happened
A look back at this week’s stories
Monday
Health professionals and news outlets looking to spread fact over frenzy - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
As we learn more about COVID-19 and see newly reported coronavirus cases appear, media coverage on the subject is seemingly everywhere. Many people are having different reactions to the news, just as much as news outlets are covering the virus in many different ways. We’ve encountered a few resources that we feel well-serve communities when it comes to how to think about the virus, as well as what people need to know and what they can do to be both informed and prepared: Coronavirus Update (Live) - Worldometer How to Prepare for the Coronavirus - NY Times Updates on the global response to the 2019 novel coronavirus - Gates Foundation Coronavirus on the Latin Bridge - Exponential View
Tuesday
Rights groups urging UN to address Sri Lanka - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Human Rights Watch is calling for the United Nations Rights Council to uphold Sri Lanka’s commitments on justice and accountability after it announced last week that it was withdrawing from the 2015 resolution that addressed crimes by all sides during Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war. Many leading figures in the new Sri Lankan administration have been implicated in alleged war crimes. Human Rights Watch said it was “disappointing that the UN Core Group on Sri Lanka—including the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, and Montenegro—did not stand by the numerous victims of abuses by calling for renewed Human Rights Council action,” noting that the Core Group merely encouraged Sri Lanka to “continue cooperation and dialogue.”
Amnesty International is also calling for a firm response. “Sri Lanka’s decision to go back on its commitments to the Human Rights Council requires a robust response by the Council, including steps towards the creation of an accountability mechanism to ensure the victims of the nearly three-decade-long conflict get the justice that is owed to them,” said Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, South Asia Researcher at Amnesty International.
New York Civil Liberties Union and Bronx Defenders - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
A new lawsuit from the New York Civil Liberties Union and Bronx Defenders claims that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) manipulated a special algorithm used to recommend that a person arrested be released or detained until a hearing. The software was said to have been rigged to function as “secret no-release policy” for individuals suspected of breaking immigration laws.
The class-action lawsuit says that ICE violated prisoners’ Fifth Amendment due process rights. “ICE is legally required to make individual assessments and cannot outsource its statutory and constitutional duties to a rigged algorithm,” said NYCLU staff attorney Amy Belsher.
The Risk Classification Assessment (RCA) analyzes a person’s criminal history and other data, before then reaching a “detain” or “release” verdict. Reuters reported in 2018 though that ICE had removed the “release” option. Belsher told The Intercept, “the main function of the RCA is to provide a veneer of objectivity and fairness to a process that lacks it entirely.”
Wednesday
Governments, institutions, scientists, health professionals and all working to bring the spread of Covid-19 to a swift halt - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Dr. Bruce Aylward, leader of the World Health Organization (WHO) team that visited China in February, noted how the country quickly suppressed the coronavirus that first broke out in Wuhan. New cases of the virus in China have dropped to about 200 a day, from more than 3,000 in early February, reports The New York Times. More new cases, however, are appearing globally. China’s counterattack can be replicated, Dr. Aylward said, but it will require speed, money, imagination and political courage. For countries that act quickly, containment is still possible “because we don’t have a global pandemic—we have outbreaks occurring globally,” he added.
Thursday
June Medical Services and Justices against Louisiana law - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, a case challenging a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The seemingly divided justices struggled with the first major abortion case of the Trump era, leaving Chief Justice John Roberts as the likely deciding vote.
The outcome could have severe consequences at a time when a number of states have passed laws, being challenged in the courts, that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that “among medical procedures, first-trimester abortion is among the safest, far safer than childbirth.” The abortion clinic in Shreveport at the center of the case reported transferring just four patients to a hospital out of roughly 70,000 it has treated over 23 years, Justice Elena Kagan noted.
Extra! Extra!
Cheese, Louise! To be completely truthful, we nearly discussed this story earlier in the week but opted to wait until a victor was declared. The World Championship Cheese Contest kicked off Tuesday in Wisconsin. And we couldn’t have been more excited.
The contest is the largest technical cheese, butter, and yogurt competition in the world, and this go-around had a record 3,667 entries from 26 nations.
Not only do we love cheese, we love when creative minds come together to celebrate shared passions. It’s a can’t-lose combo. Well, actually there are losers. But only technically. Like, technically, if you’re not the gruyere from Bern, Switzerland made by two-time winner Michael Spycher of Mountain Dairy Fritzenhaus.
Also from Switzerland, a hard cheese made from cow’s milk called Gallus Grand CRU was runner-up. Hometown hero Wisconsin cheeses took three of the top 20 finalist spots with a smoked gouda with cumin, a gorgonzola, and a cheddar.
Mmm…championship cheese…
This feels like a prime time to go grab a snack and watch the masterful Monty Python Cheese Shop sketch. See you Monday!
Sources:
Barbie launches new ‘Shero’ doll after Ukraine's star fencer Olga Kharlan - UNIAN
An Olive Garden customer demanded a non-black server. The manager who complied has been fired. - Washington Post
Corona Daily 3/5/20 Better safe than sorry - Corona Daily
It looks like Trump is trying to trick people into filling out “census” forms online - Vox
Facebook removed misleading census ads from Trump's campaign - Business Insider
Facebook Removes Misleading Trump Census Ads - NY Times
Facebook removes 'deceptive' Trump census ads - BBC News
Federal judge slams AG Barr over Mueller report, vows to review unredacted version - Fox News
Judge Calls Barr’s Handling of Mueller Report ‘Distorted’ and ‘Misleading’ - NY Times
Federal judge blasts William Barr for Mueller report rollout, asks if it was meant to help Trump - CNN
UBS hardens energy lending as 'sustainable' investments rise - Reuters
UBS ramps up sustainable investment activity to $488bn in 2019 - Business Green
UBS Exits Arctic Oil, Coal Mines and Tar Sands Projects - Wall Street Journal
Swiss gruyere named best in world cheese competition - AP News
Coronavirus Update (Live) - Worldometer
How to Prepare for the Coronavirus - NY Times
Updates on the global response to the 2019 novel coronavirus - Gates Foundation ACLU Sues to End ICE’s Rigged Algorithm for Detaining Immigrants - The Intercept
Lawsuit Accuses ICE Of Illegal Detention Before Hearings - Latino USA
ICE rigged its algorithms to keep immigrants in jail, claims lawsuit - The Verge
From Being Tortured in Sri Lanka to the U.S. Supreme Court - ACLU
Sri Lanka: Withdrawal from UN commitments requires robust response by Human Rights Council - Amnesty International
UN Rights Council Should Uphold Sri Lanka Commitments - Human Rights Watch
Coronavirus on the Latin Bridge - Exponential View
Covid-19 - 03/03/20 - Coronadaily
Wuhan’s makeshift coronavirus hospital closes amid drop in new cases - NY Post
Inside China’s All-Out War on the Coronavirus - NY Times
Thoughts on a virus - Seth’s Blog
Coronavirus: World Bank pledges $12bn in emergency aid - BBC News Abortion rights demonstrators rally outside Supreme Court as major case is heard - NBC News
US supreme court takes up most high-profile abortion case in decades - The Guardian
Supreme Court divided in 1st big abortion case of Trump era - AP News
The question no one is asking about the Supreme Court and abortion - Washington Post
Abortion case may not overturn Roe, but could effectively nullify it - The Hill
Anti-Abortion Advocates Lied So Poorly That John Roberts May Side With the Liberals - Slate
Supreme Court Weighs Abortion Case; Schumer Remarks Draw Rebuke From Roberts - NPR