Links...

Links!

• Libraries, Books, Writers, & Suchlike
• Little Free Library announces kids' book drive 
• Little Free Libraries are more than books — they’re therapy  
• Feds investigating Library Foundation payments "Federal subpoenas have been served related to the use of public library donations for Irvin Mayfield's New Orleans Jazz Orchestra....[M]oney donated to the New Orleans Public Library Foundation had been routed to the jazz orchestra..." 
• Life Is "Triggering." The Best Literature Should Be, Too. 
• Happy birthday, L. Frank Baum! 
• TPP
• Why Is President Obama Having So Much Trouble Selling TPP? "So what's wrong with TPP?" A heck of a whole lot, actually. 
• Canada Just Threw A Grenade Into Elizabeth Warren's Trade Fight With Obama "Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver gave a speech in New York arguing that the Volcker Rule -- a key tenet of the 2010 banking law -- violates the North American Free Trade Agreement. The move underscores Warren's warning that such deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership that Obama is currently negotiating, jeopardize financial reform."
• Human Welfare Over Profits: A Call to Stop the TPP Fast Track (Again!) "...[T]he TPP, as currently written, threatens to block access to life-saving medicines around the world."
• The TPP Could Have Disastrous Results For The Climate, Environmental Groups Warn "A wide-reaching trade agreement between the United States and several Asian nations could have catastrophic repercussions for climate change, including giving corporations the power to sue governments that try to limit polluting industries, environmental groups say."
• Health & Science
• Debbie Wasserman Schultz hits back at Jeb: ‘I had cancer. There’s no app for that’ Jeb Bush was talking about how health decisions and self-management could - in his opinion, should - become technology-based - we'll all be able to use our Apple Watches to take care of ourselves. In addition to Wasserman's point that major health problems won't be fixed by apps, I can think of three serious issues off the top of my head. One, it further invades our privacy, by giving Apple (or whatever companies design the devices and provide the apps) access to our medical information (and also provides it, no doubt, to the NSA, the police, and anyone else who can get their hands on that information, legally or illegally). Two, it furthers the War on the Poor and increases the digital divide, by putting medical care and necessary medical information in the hands of those who can afford and use such devices. Three, it doesn't actually have anything to do with health insurance - devices and apps may help us monitor our health, but they won't actually be able to provide treatment. They can tell us when we're having heart attacks, but we actually need treatment to help us, and insurance to help cover the costs. Related: Jeb Bush Tries to Use Apple Watch to Attack Obamacare, Fails Miserably "It does someone absolutely no good to simplify how they are able to personally monitor their own health if they’re unable to afford the care they need because they don’t have health insurance. That’s a harsh reality which South Carolina conservative Luis Lang learned the hard way. Not only that, but what in the hell does the ACA have to do with someone buying a gadget that might help them monitor their health at home? Apparently, because the ACA exists, that’s somehow going to make someone’s ability to operate an Apple Watch more complicated? How about this – gadgets that help Americans monitor their health combined with the Affordable Care Act makes the law even more effective....This isn’t rocket science, it’s just common sense."
• Doctor Creates Health Insurance Company That Accepts Trash As A Form Of Payment 
• Authority Issues
• Police To #BlackLivesMatter: If You Bring Your Kids To Protests, We Will Mace Them 
• The Unravelling Of Sheriff Joe Arpaio 
• Other (Serious Stuff)
• Are Today's Parents Overprotective, or Is It Time to Admit That We Live In a Different World Than the One We Grew Up In? 
• The high cost of delaying infrastructure repairs 
• Postal System for Sale? Please Say It Ain’t So. 
• Other (Awesome Stuff)
• Looted By The Nazis, Matisse's 'Seated Woman' Finally Finds Her Way Home