Weekend Reads 9/15/18

The Worst Police Shooting Yet

Police sources are reportedly indicating that Guyger may actually try to raise the fact that Jean didn’t obey her commands as a defense. It’s not a defense. The moment she opened the door to an apartment that wasn’t her own, she wasn’t operating as a police officer clothed with the authority of the law. She was instead a criminal. She was breaking into another person’s home.

To Restore Civil Society, Start With the Library

Today, as cities and suburbs continue to reinvent themselves, and as cynics claim that government has nothing good to contribute to that process, it’s important that institutions like libraries get the recognition they deserve. It’s worth noting that 'liber,' the Latin root of the word 'library,' means both 'book' and 'free.' Libraries stand for and exemplify something that needs defending: the public institutions that — even in an age of atomization, polarization and inequality — serve as the bedrock of civil society.

Logged off: meet the teens who refuse to use social media

While many of us have been engrossed in the Instagram lives of our co-workers and peers, a backlash among young people has been quietly boiling. One 2017 survey of British schoolchildren found that 63% would be happy if social media had never been invented. Another survey of 9,000 internet users from the research firm Ampere Analysis found that people aged 18-24 had significantly changed their attitudes towards social media in the past two years.

Kraft got a Florida city named Mayo to change its name to ‘Miracle Whip’

Before this makes you lose all faith in society, it’s important to note that the name change isn’t permanent and only lasted for a few days. The city unveiled its temporary new name on its water tower and hosted a picnic with foods made with Miracle Whip.

In exchange, the city will receive up to $25,000 in city beautification funds–and a bunch of short stories like this one written about it.