vox--2020-06-16--The fight for transparency in police misconduct, explained

In 2012 , Ramarley Graham , an 18-year-old black teenager , was fatally shot in his own home by a white New York City police officer , Richard Haste .
Haste and other officers had followed Graham home from a nearby bodega and forced their way in , later saying that they believed Graham was carrying a gun .
Graham was , in fact , unarmed .
Eighteen months after the killing , a grand jury decided not to indict Haste .
Graham ’ s mother , Constance Malcolm , later tried to obtain information about the shooting and investigation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ misconduct history .
But the police department denied her freedom of information law ( FOIL ) request , citing New York ’ s civil rights law — section 50-a — which it said barred access to all disciplinary records of officers .
Eventually , a whistleblower leaked disciplinary records that showed that Haste had an unusually high number of civilian complaints against him over a one-year period in 2009-2010 , shortly after he joined the department .
A disciplinary review would later find Haste guilty of using poor tactical judgment ( Haste quit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be dismissed ) .
Malcolm went on to join the advocacy group Justice Committee , which includes many other families affected by police violence , in an effort to push for the repeal of section 50-a in New York and bring greater transparency to policing .
Last week , their long advocacy efforts succeeded .
On June 12 , Gov .
Andrew Cuomo signed several police transparency and accountability bills , including a repeal of 50-a .
Malcolm and other advocates point to the surge of protests against police brutality sparked by Minnesota @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of George Floyd — in addition to the work of groups like Justice Committee and Communities United For Police Reform ( of which Justice Committee is a member ) — as the impetus that finally pushed the bills through .
“ Now families like mine and people who are brutalized by police won ’ t have to rely on leaks to get information about the officers who abused them , ” Malcolm said .
“ So this is a very big victory for us.
” To be clear , neither Malcolm nor other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a panacea for preventing violence by police officers .
All of them want to see much more significant change as well — for instance , reallocating public funding to schools , health care , housing , and other community resources , rather than to police .
But at the same time , many of the advocates describe transparency about police misconduct as important for holding officers accountable for abusive behavior .
With the repeal of 50-a , New York embarks on a more transparent course that many other states have taken and joins @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allow citizens to hold the police accountable for brutality .
New York ’ s section 50-a , which passed in 1976 , stated that “ personnel records [ of police officers ] used to evaluate performance toward continued employment or promotion ” were confidential and couldn ’ t be disclosed without the officer ’ s permission or a court order ( with a few exceptions including district attorneys ) .
According to a legislative memo written at the time , the law was intended to prevent defense attorneys from going on “ fishing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officer misconduct records .
But over time , the police department and the highest court in the state came to interpret the law as barring any police officer misconduct records from disclosure under the state ’ s open record law ( misconduct records of firefighters and correction officers were later added to the law ) .
This secrecy increased in recent years , such as when the police department even stopped publicly posting outcomes of disciplinary trials of officers .
“ 50-a was arguably the worst law in the nation when it comes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ access these records , ” said Michael Sisitzky , lead policy counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union , a group that has often filed freedom of information requests for police records and had long been denied .
By comparison , a majority of states allow public disclosure of at least some officer misconduct records under public records laws .
( According to a WNYC report in 2015 , 27 states make records available to some degree , and in another 23 states they are mostly unavailable . )
New York ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ available to a greater degree than many other states , Sisitzky said .
Another big recent change to state law was in 2018 , when California joined the group of partially transparent states by changing its law to require records to be released when officers are found to have committed certain types of misconduct , including sexual assault and use of force .
For many advocates , the answer to why such transparency is important is straightforward : Officers are given enormous power in their jobs , and their histories of abusive behavior @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are charged to protect .
Adilka Pimentel , a lead organizer with the advocacy group Make the Road New York , which pushed for the repeal of 50-a , said that low-income black and brown communities are familiar with abusive officers .
But without access to their histories of misconduct , “ we are unable to look at patterns of officers who are continuously beating people up in the community.
” Pimentel pointed to the case of Daniel Pantaleo , the officer who killed Eric Garner in 2014 by chokehold , who had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the case for Richard Haste , Pantaleo ’ s records remained secret until a whistleblower leaked them .
Police unions have often pushed back on transparency , arguing that sharing records could lead to officers being targeted by violence .
In response to the repeal of 50-a by the state legislature , Patrick Lynch , president of the New York City Police Benevolent Association , said in a statement , “ The unfettered release of police personnel records will allow unstable people to target police officers and our families for harassment or worse.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that there ’ s no evidence that disclosing records will lead to physical harm against officers .
In a recent survey of 344 police and sheriff offices in the 12 most transparent states , legal scholars Rachel Moran and Jessica Hodge saw scant evidence of physical harm to officers .
As one criminologist put it , there ’ s a “ total lack of data ” when it comes to the claim that officers will be harmed as a result of disclosures .
In his remarks on the repeal of 50-a , New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ repeal not as “ anti-police ” but as “ pro-people.
” He discussed his own experience being harmed at the hands of officers while attending a recent protest about police brutality in Brooklyn .
“ I was pushed , I was shoved , I was hit in the back , pepper-sprayed , and handcuffed , ” he said on the state Senate floor , “ To this day , I don ’ t know if the officer that sprayed me and my colleague in the Assembly has a history of excessive use of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 50-a , saying , “ My life matters .
Black lives matter.
” Even as there ’ s been a movement towards transparency in recent years , there ’ s also been an ongoing conversation among advocates , policymakers , and legal scholars as to what transparency should look like in practice .
Even in the 12 states with the most open laws , it ’ s very rare for misconduct data to be shared by government agencies in a public database .
“ There aren ’ t any laws that require a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aware of , ” said Moran , a legal scholar at the University of St. Thomas School of Law who has done extensive research on police misconduct transparency .
In a few cases , nonprofit and media organizations have taken the step of creating such databases .
In Chicago , the nonprofit Invisible Institute launched the Citizens Police Data Project ( CPDP ) in 2015 , including nearly 250,000 complaints against more than 23,000 officers spanning decades .
The data only became available after Invisible Institute ’ s founder , the journalist Jamie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ University of Chicago Law School , sued Chicago ’ s police department to obtain the records , winning the six-year lawsuit in 2014 .
“ 50-a was arguably the worst law in the nation when it comes to the public ’ s ability to access these records ” “ The fight we engaged in for so long , and in some ways continue to , over official secrecy was also a fight over a redistribution of power , ” Kalven told me .
“ If the state has the information and it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we as citizens are necessarily disempowered by not having access to the information.
” The Chicago database launched 10 days before the city ’ s release of a dashcam video showing a white police officer , Jason Van Dyke , fatally shooting black 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times .
The database showed that Van Dyke had more than 20 complaints against him , about half for use of force .
Van Dyke ’ s history added to the outcry in the city about the lack of accountability for police brutality , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first patrolman in nearly 50 years to be convicted for murder in Chicago .
Beyond allowing citizens to look up individual officers by name , Kalven said , the database also allows for research into patterns of officer misconduct .
One ongoing research project involves network analysis of officers that are co-accused of misconduct .
The database “ can allow you to proceed in a more systematic way to enforce accountability , ” Kalven said .
A few other police misconduct databases exist across the country .
In New York City , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ developed a database on police misconduct , including cases in which officers had lied in their testimony — but that ’ s only for its attorneys to use .
It also created a public-facing database called CAPstat ( Cop Accountability Project statistics ) , which includes data from lawsuits against NYC officers over several years , as well as data on officer misconduct records that was leaked to BuzzFeed News .
In addition , USA Today created a national database of officers that have had their certification removed ( to which Invisible Institute @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Database out of Bowling Green State University reports data on officers charged and convicted of crimes .
And a recent federal bill introduced by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley proposes a national database of police misconduct , including use of force .
The New York legislature also passed another bill last week , the Police STAT Act , that would require public reports of those killed in interactions with the police or in police custody ( which the Governor has yet to sign ) .
“ To me , it ’ s just surreal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ database of people killed by police , ” Pimentel said .
All of the advocates I spoke to emphasized that transparency is not a cure-all and that much more change is needed to bring about not just accountability for police officers but transforming the role of police in our society .
For one thing , there are many other layers of complexity when it comes to transparency and accountability .
Beyond state laws , police union contracts often also include provisions regarding police discipline that limit accountability .
Stephen Rushin , a legal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Law who has analyzed hundreds of police union contracts , said that destruction of misconduct records after a set period of time is one of the most common items included in such contracts .
And there ’ s also a much wider question of how to hold police accountable — very few police are indicted on criminal charges , even when they kill people .
And qualified immunity has often protected them from federal lawsuits .
Internal discipline within departments is also relatively rare , even for serious misconduct .
And civilian complaint @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about police rarely have independent authority and can only recommend discipline to departments .
( In 2018 , the NYC police department either ignored the discipline recommendation of the city ’ s civilian complaint review board altogether or , about half the time , imposed less discipline than recommended . )
Skeptics have also questioned the utility of making records publicly available .
Kate Levine , a legal scholar at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law , told me that misconduct records should undoubtedly be available to defense attorneys and prosecutors in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
However , as she published in a law review article last year , she has concerns about making that data public .
For example , there ’ s often racial and other kinds of bias in who gets disciplined for misconduct within police departments — and public records would reflect that bias .
Beyond that concern , she is skeptical about the degree to which public disclosure of the misconduct records will help bring accountability .
“ I have not seen any evidence that having these records be public leads to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
While it ’ s possible that the public records would allow people to hold officers accountable , she says there isn ’ t a clear reason to think that making the records public would make much of a difference .
“ There needs to be radical change in the way policing is conducted , ” she said , including “ a radical reduction in our reliance on the police.
” Advocates who pushed for the repeal of 50-a in New York similarly emphasized the need to reimagine the role of police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in New York City where there were metal detectors and police , told me , “ I survived the school-to-prison pipeline , and some people don ’ t .
They are introduced into this unforgiving carceral system and that ’ s it.
” Many advocates are pushing to remove police from schools , including in New York City .
In Minneapolis , the public school system recently cut ties with the police .
Black Lives Matter and the Movement for Black Lives , along with many other organizations , are pushing for significant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ society , as well as the role of incarceration .
As Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors said recently on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah : “ We ’ re in a moment when we can call for more.
” When it comes to what it means to defund the police , she said , she thinks about it in terms of a simple question : “ What are the things that police are doing right now that could be given to other people , other workers that have been trained to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asked why police are charged with responding to people in mental health crises and with criminalizing homelessness .
It ’ s “ deeply unfortunate ” that resources that communities need are gutted , she said , while the police receive a huge amount of funding .
In New York City , Constance Malcolm said that Justice Committee and many other advocates that have been engaged in protests are calling for cuts to the police department ’ s budget — including a cut of at least $ 1 billion in the next fiscal year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that communities need .
Malcolm told me that she is very glad to see 50-a repealed and the greater transparency that will result .
At the same time , she and many others are pushing for further change .
“ The world is watching , ” she said , “ to see how America treats its people.
” Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

In 2012, Ramarley Graham, an 18-year-old black teenager, was fatally shot in his own home by a white New York City police officer, Richard Haste. Haste and other officers had followed Graham home from a nearby bodega and forced their way in, later saying that they believed Graham was carrying a gun. Graham was, in fact, unarmed.
Eighteen months after the killing, a grand jury decided not to indict Haste. Graham’s mother, Constance Malcolm, later tried to obtain information about the shooting and investigation, as well as Haste’s misconduct history. But the police department denied her freedom of information law (FOIL) request, citing New York’s civil rights law — section 50-a — which it said barred access to all disciplinary records of officers.
Eventually, a whistleblower leaked disciplinary records that showed that Haste had an unusually high number of civilian complaints against him over a one-year period in 2009-2010, shortly after he joined the department. A disciplinary review would later find Haste guilty of using poor tactical judgment (Haste quit the force in 2017 before he could be dismissed).
Malcolm went on to join the advocacy group Justice Committee, which includes many other families affected by police violence, in an effort to push for the repeal of section 50-a in New York and bring greater transparency to policing. Last week, their long advocacy efforts succeeded.
On June 12, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed several police transparency and accountability bills, including a repeal of 50-a. Malcolm and other advocates point to the surge of protests against police brutality sparked by Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin’s killing of George Floyd — in addition to the work of groups like Justice Committee and Communities United For Police Reform (of which Justice Committee is a member) — as the impetus that finally pushed the bills through.
“Now families like mine and people who are brutalized by police won’t have to rely on leaks to get information about the officers who abused them,” Malcolm said. “So this is a very big victory for us.”
To be clear, neither Malcolm nor other advocates view transparency about police misconduct as a panacea for preventing violence by police officers. All of them want to see much more significant change as well — for instance, reallocating public funding to schools, health care, housing, and other community resources, rather than to police.
But at the same time, many of the advocates describe transparency about police misconduct as important for holding officers accountable for abusive behavior. With the repeal of 50-a, New York embarks on a more transparent course that many other states have taken and joins the conversation about how transparency can better allow citizens to hold the police accountable for brutality.
Laws that shield police misconduct from public scrutiny, explained
New York’s section 50-a, which passed in 1976, stated that “personnel records [of police officers] used to evaluate performance toward continued employment or promotion” were confidential and couldn’t be disclosed without the officer’s permission or a court order (with a few exceptions including district attorneys).
According to a legislative memo written at the time, the law was intended to prevent defense attorneys from going on “fishing expeditions” by placing broad subpoenas of officer misconduct records. But over time, the police department and the highest court in the state came to interpret the law as barring any police officer misconduct records from disclosure under the state’s open record law (misconduct records of firefighters and correction officers were later added to the law). This secrecy increased in recent years, such as when the police department even stopped publicly posting outcomes of disciplinary trials of officers.
“50-a was arguably the worst law in the nation when it comes to the public’s ability to access these records,” said Michael Sisitzky, lead policy counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union, a group that has often filed freedom of information requests for police records and had long been denied.
Related A reading list to understand police brutality in America
By comparison, a majority of states allow public disclosure of at least some officer misconduct records under public records laws. (According to a WNYC report in 2015, 27 states make records available to some degree, and in another 23 states they are mostly unavailable.) New York’s law change will make misconduct records available to a greater degree than many other states, Sisitzky said.
Another big recent change to state law was in 2018, when California joined the group of partially transparent states by changing its law to require records to be released when officers are found to have committed certain types of misconduct, including sexual assault and use of force.
For many advocates, the answer to why such transparency is important is straightforward: Officers are given enormous power in their jobs, and their histories of abusive behavior should be available to the public they are charged to protect.
Adilka Pimentel, a lead organizer with the advocacy group Make the Road New York, which pushed for the repeal of 50-a, said that low-income black and brown communities are familiar with abusive officers. But without access to their histories of misconduct, “we are unable to look at patterns of officers who are continuously beating people up in the community.”
Pimentel pointed to the case of Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who killed Eric Garner in 2014 by chokehold, who had a history of misconduct. As was the case for Richard Haste, Pantaleo’s records remained secret until a whistleblower leaked them.
Police unions have often pushed back on transparency, arguing that sharing records could lead to officers being targeted by violence. In response to the repeal of 50-a by the state legislature, Patrick Lynch, president of the New York City Police Benevolent Association, said in a statement, “The unfettered release of police personnel records will allow unstable people to target police officers and our families for harassment or worse.”
But advocates and researchers point out that there’s no evidence that disclosing records will lead to physical harm against officers. In a recent survey of 344 police and sheriff offices in the 12 most transparent states, legal scholars Rachel Moran and Jessica Hodge saw scant evidence of physical harm to officers. As one criminologist put it, there’s a “total lack of data” when it comes to the claim that officers will be harmed as a result of disclosures.
In his remarks on the repeal of 50-a, New York state Sen. Zellnor Myrie described the repeal not as “anti-police” but as “pro-people.” He discussed his own experience being harmed at the hands of officers while attending a recent protest about police brutality in Brooklyn. “I was pushed, I was shoved, I was hit in the back, pepper-sprayed, and handcuffed,” he said on the state Senate floor, “To this day, I don’t know if the officer that sprayed me and my colleague in the Assembly has a history of excessive use of force.”
Myrie then voted to repeal 50-a, saying, “My life matters. Black lives matter.”
Why transparency matters
Even as there’s been a movement towards transparency in recent years, there’s also been an ongoing conversation among advocates, policymakers, and legal scholars as to what transparency should look like in practice. Even in the 12 states with the most open laws, it’s very rare for misconduct data to be shared by government agencies in a public database. “There aren’t any laws that require a proactive database, that I’m aware of,” said Moran, a legal scholar at the University of St. Thomas School of Law who has done extensive research on police misconduct transparency.
In a few cases, nonprofit and media organizations have taken the step of creating such databases. In Chicago, the nonprofit Invisible Institute launched the Citizens Police Data Project (CPDP) in 2015, including nearly 250,000 complaints against more than 23,000 officers spanning decades. The data only became available after Invisible Institute’s founder, the journalist Jamie Kalven, along with attorneys at the University of Chicago Law School, sued Chicago’s police department to obtain the records, winning the six-year lawsuit in 2014.
“50-a was arguably the worst law in the nation when it comes to the public’s ability to access these records”
“The fight we engaged in for so long, and in some ways continue to, over official secrecy was also a fight over a redistribution of power,” Kalven told me. “If the state has the information and it’s held behind a wall of secrecy, we as citizens are necessarily disempowered by not having access to the information.”
The Chicago database launched 10 days before the city’s release of a dashcam video showing a white police officer, Jason Van Dyke, fatally shooting black 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times. The database showed that Van Dyke had more than 20 complaints against him, about half for use of force. Van Dyke’s history added to the outcry in the city about the lack of accountability for police brutality, and in 2019, he was convicted: the first patrolman in nearly 50 years to be convicted for murder in Chicago.
Beyond allowing citizens to look up individual officers by name, Kalven said, the database also allows for research into patterns of officer misconduct. One ongoing research project involves network analysis of officers that are co-accused of misconduct. The database “can allow you to proceed in a more systematic way to enforce accountability,” Kalven said.
A few other police misconduct databases exist across the country. In New York City, the public defender nonprofit Legal Aid Society developed a database on police misconduct, including cases in which officers had lied in their testimony — but that’s only for its attorneys to use. It also created a public-facing database called CAPstat (Cop Accountability Project statistics), which includes data from lawsuits against NYC officers over several years, as well as data on officer misconduct records that was leaked to BuzzFeed News.
In addition, USA Today created a national database of officers that have had their certification removed (to which Invisible Institute contributed), and the Police Crime Database out of Bowling Green State University reports data on officers charged and convicted of crimes. And a recent federal bill introduced by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley proposes a national database of police misconduct, including use of force.
The New York legislature also passed another bill last week, the Police STAT Act, that would require public reports of those killed in interactions with the police or in police custody (which the Governor has yet to sign). “To me, it’s just surreal that in 2020 there’s no database of people killed by police,” Pimentel said.
The work doesn’t stop with increased police transparency
All of the advocates I spoke to emphasized that transparency is not a cure-all and that much more change is needed to bring about not just accountability for police officers but transforming the role of police in our society.
For one thing, there are many other layers of complexity when it comes to transparency and accountability. Beyond state laws, police union contracts often also include provisions regarding police discipline that limit accountability. Stephen Rushin, a legal scholar at Loyola University Chicago School of Law who has analyzed hundreds of police union contracts, said that destruction of misconduct records after a set period of time is one of the most common items included in such contracts.
And there’s also a much wider question of how to hold police accountable — very few police are indicted on criminal charges, even when they kill people. And qualified immunity has often protected them from federal lawsuits. Internal discipline within departments is also relatively rare, even for serious misconduct. And civilian complaint review boards charged with investigations of complaints about police rarely have independent authority and can only recommend discipline to departments. (In 2018, the NYC police department either ignored the discipline recommendation of the city’s civilian complaint review board altogether or, about half the time, imposed less discipline than recommended.)
Related Cops are almost never prosecuted and convicted for use of force
Skeptics have also questioned the utility of making records publicly available. Kate Levine, a legal scholar at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, told me that misconduct records should undoubtedly be available to defense attorneys and prosecutors in criminal cases and civil suits involving officers. However, as she published in a law review article last year, she has concerns about making that data public. For example, there’s often racial and other kinds of bias in who gets disciplined for misconduct within police departments — and public records would reflect that bias.
Beyond that concern, she is skeptical about the degree to which public disclosure of the misconduct records will help bring accountability. “I have not seen any evidence that having these records be public leads to a less brutal police force,” Levine said. While it’s possible that the public records would allow people to hold officers accountable, she says there isn’t a clear reason to think that making the records public would make much of a difference. “There needs to be radical change in the way policing is conducted,” she said, including “a radical reduction in our reliance on the police.”
Advocates who pushed for the repeal of 50-a in New York similarly emphasized the need to reimagine the role of police. Pimentel, who went to school in New York City where there were metal detectors and police, told me, “I survived the school-to-prison pipeline, and some people don’t. They are introduced into this unforgiving carceral system and that’s it.” Many advocates are pushing to remove police from schools, including in New York City. In Minneapolis, the public school system recently cut ties with the police.
Black Lives Matter and the Movement for Black Lives, along with many other organizations, are pushing for significant change in the role of police in society, as well as the role of incarceration. As Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors said recently on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah: “We’re in a moment when we can call for more.”
When it comes to what it means to defund the police, she said, she thinks about it in terms of a simple question: “What are the things that police are doing right now that could be given to other people, other workers that have been trained to do that particular thing?” She asked why police are charged with responding to people in mental health crises and with criminalizing homelessness. It’s “deeply unfortunate” that resources that communities need are gutted, she said, while the police receive a huge amount of funding.
In New York City, Constance Malcolm said that Justice Committee and many other advocates that have been engaged in protests are calling for cuts to the police department’s budget — including a cut of at least $1 billion in the next fiscal year — and to reinvest in social services that communities need. Malcolm told me that she is very glad to see 50-a repealed and the greater transparency that will result. At the same time, she and many others are pushing for further change.
“The world is watching,” she said, “to see how America treats its people.”


vox--2020-06-16--How brands are cashing in on a summer changed by Covid-19

In early March , as fears about the coronavirus mounted across the US , Swimply — a swimming-pool-sharing startup that ’ s sort of like an aquatic Airbnb — saw its business slow to a trickle .
Around 20 percent of its 3,300 hosts paused bookings , and the company was forced to hit the brakes on a “ pretty significant ” funding round it had planned to close before the summer , says Asher Weinberger , Swimply ’ s co-founder and chief marketing officer .
Just as the team started to regroup and figure out a plan for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ course and bookings began flooding in .
“ People were reaching out and saying , ‘ Hey , I ’ ve been stuck at home with my kids for the last three weeks .
I need something to do.
’ Or , ‘ Hey , I ’ m on a swim team and we have nowhere to go and we have to practice , ’ ” he recalls .
Between February and March , the app saw a 1,200 percent increase in bookings — a jump that the company soon realized had as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it did rising temperatures in the hotter parts of the country .
With public pools closed and private training facilities off-limits , renting a neighbor ’ s backyard pool for an hour or two has emerged as a welcome relief for stir-crazy families , competitive swimmers , and apartment dwellers who have spent months cooped up indoors ( coronavirus is not known to spread through water ) .
Summer 2020 will be unlike any we ’ ve known before In ways we ’ re still discovering , summer 2020 will be unlike any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long days and shimmering heat are already here , but most of the activities they usually portend have been erased from our calendars : weekends at the beach ( sans social distancing ) , summer camp , sports games , international vacations , county fairs , music festivals — as crowds go , so go America ’ s summer plans .
While this new reality has been devastating to a wide swath of the economy , some companies are discovering that it actually presents an opportunity — albeit one that founders are reluctant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human toll .
As millions of people prepare for a season of small outdoor gatherings and staying close to home , they ’ re spending their money on products and services that promise to make the experience more enjoyable ( or , at the very least , bearable ) .
Sales of backyard amenities like aboveground pools , trampolines , and patio furniture have spiked to the point that some enterprising sellers are scalping inflatable pools as if they ’ re concert tickets .
Gardening supplies and egg-laying chickens are becoming hard to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hobbies and reliable alternatives to bare grocery shelves .
Anything that keeps kids entertained — and offers parents a chance to take Zoom calls in peace — is , predictably , flying off the shelves .
Private boats and pools are keeping the sharing economy afloat As the first heat waves of the season arrive , the need for a safe place to swim is only increasing .
And while using a stranger ’ s pool may seem risky , Weinberger says hosts have gone above and beyond with cleaning precautions , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for infractions .
( As for bathrooms , about 65 percent of hosts offer access , while those that don ’ t typically get short bookings from swimmers that live nearby . )
Further , he points to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ’ s guidelines that state there ’ s no evidence that Covid-19 can be transmitted through bodies of water , and that standard pool chemicals like chlorine should inactivate the virus .
Crowds and unclean surfaces are , however , potentially problematic , according to the CDC — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a private setting .
“ Even when they do open up water parks or public pools or gyms , are you going to want to go [ right away ] ?
” he says .
For now , Swimply ’ s biggest hurdle is that demand outpaces supply by a factor of four — though that may change as more people with backyard pools look for ways to make up for lost income during the pandemic .
Swimply is in 39 states , as well as Canada and Australia , and the rates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they ’ re located .
In regions with high concentrations of pools , such as Scottsdale , Arizona , the going rate tends to be around $ 35 to $ 40 an hour , whereas in the New York area , hosts can charge $ 50 to $ 100 easily , says Weinberger .
Because the company noticed so many users requesting amenities like basketball courts and tennis courts , it ’ s also now launching a standalone app called Joyspace to accommodate these types of rentals .
For those with a marina @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rentals are an increasingly popular option .
Boatsetter , a peer-to-peer boat rental marketplace founded in 2012 , saw a 40 percent year-over-year spike in bookings in May , according to CEO and co-founder Jackie Baumgarten .
While large parties may be off the table for now , many users are now seeking out options for family fishing trips and small group excursions .
Yards are the hottest destination in town Consumers ’ newfound domesticity means many people are , perhaps for the first time , getting very interested in their lawns .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that ’ s great news ; the products it offers are personalized to each customer and less chemical-intensive than the major brands at Lowe ’ s or Home Depot .
According to CEO and founder Coulter Lewis , Sunday has doubled its projected sales even with a very aggressive plan for growth this year .
It ’ s also seeing a significant uptick in engagement through its customer support channels — a phenomenon many companies are experiencing during the pandemic .
“ We ’ re hearing people , for one thing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were in the past and wanting to geek out on their lawn and learn about it , ” he says .
“ Like , ‘ What is this thing here ?
Why is that spot dead ?
Do you think it ’ s because of this ?
’ ” “ We ’ re hearing people wanting to geek out on their lawn and learn about it ” While most of America ’ s 90 million homes have lawns , Lewis has learned from countless conversations with homeowners that most people know next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There ’ s an assumption that if you ’ re a guy , you ’ re supposed to know this , which is insane .
Or when you buy a house you kind of just know these things — that doesn ’ t happen either , ” he says .
As such , people tend to default to traditional pesticide-heavy products , fueling a $ 48 billion-a-year DIY lawn and landscaping industry .
Sunday ’ s annual lawn plan starts at $ 109 and includes three shipments of nutrients customized to each individual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and aerial imagery .
Its customer base skews more toward the middle of the country than the typical VC-funded consumer startup ( its biggest market is Texas , though it serves all 50 states ) , and 75 percent have kids and/or pets .
While Lewis expects that some of the company ’ s new customers will remain just as enthusiastic about particulars of lawn science even after lockdown restrictions end , for now , he ’ s more focused on the role the company has unexpectedly found itself playing in people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ business , we think a lot about moments , ” he says .
“ For us , that ’ s being outside , being in your backyard , caring for your lawn … [ and ] saying , ‘ I know what I ’ m doing and why , and it ’ s going to look better .
It ’ s going to get healthier.
’ That feels like a good moment to deliver right now.
” Of course , healthy grass is just the start : Backyard add-ons like patio furniture , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and hot tubs have also gotten a boost during the pandemic .
Bed Bath & Beyond ’ s online outdoor furniture and patio sales rose about 88 percent in the last two weeks of April and first two weeks of May , according to Joe Hartsig , the company ’ s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer .
Amazon , whose dominance has only grown in recent months as other retailers have closed stores , is also seeing the impact of this surge .
According to the e-commerce analytics company Profitero , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for backyards ” spiked 7,060 % for the week ending May 16 over the same period last year , while those for “ inflatable pool ” jumped 1,404 percent .
The latter , at least , have been just as popular among people who don ’ t have a “ yard ” so much as a rooftop , sidewalk , or nearby alleyway .
“ We see a lot of parking-lot pools , ” Emily Vaca , founder of the inflatable pool startup Minnidip , told the Los Angeles Times .
“ People @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sold out of its whole summer ’ s worth of stock in four days in April , and is expecting a restock at the end of June .
Summer camp now comes in a crate When lockdowns began rolling out across the country , KiwiCo founder Sandra Oh Lin realized that parents would be searching for new ways to entertain their kids .
The company , which delivers monthly activity crates for kids , put together an online hub of at-home activities , tips from teachers , and other resources geared toward families @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and as summer approached , the team turned its attention to the months ahead .
“ We thought , ‘ What else can we do to really help parents and kids during a summer that unfortunately for many of us is not going to be filled with the same types of things that we ’ ve had in summer before or what we have planned ?
’ ” says Lin .
What they came up with was Camp KiwiCo , a series of four sessions for kids from preschool to middle school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from becoming a world citizen ( ages 6 to 11 ) to engineering basics ( ages 9 and up ) .
Five days of video , printable , and online programming content for each age group will be available free beginning June 22 , but for the full experience , activity crates will run parents $ 24.95 each or $ 99.95 for the week .
With so many people at home looking for ways to keep their kids engaged in something other than a screen , the company has found that its best @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We ’ re in a really fortunate position where we ’ re able to offer something that does keep kids entertained and busy and the parents can feel good about it , too , ” says Lin .
“ I think that combination is something that ’ s compelling these days , and so we ’ ve just seen some really nice responses.
” Other subscription box businesses have likewise introduced summer camp concepts : Little Passports offers geography and STEM boxes , Cratejoy is running a weeklong online summer camp @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and Baketivity is shipping “ Bake-a-Camp ” kits with projects like cream puffs and gourmet cupcakes .
As for spooky stories to tell by the campfire … well , have you heard the one about the murder hornets ?
Sign up for The Goods ’ newsletter .
Twice a week , we ’ ll send you the best Goods stories exploring what we buy , why we buy it , and why it matters .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contribution to Vox today .

In early March, as fears about the coronavirus mounted across the US, Swimply — a swimming-pool-sharing startup that’s sort of like an aquatic Airbnb — saw its business slow to a trickle. Around 20 percent of its 3,300 hosts paused bookings, and the company was forced to hit the brakes on a “pretty significant” funding round it had planned to close before the summer, says Asher Weinberger, Swimply’s co-founder and chief marketing officer.
Just as the team started to regroup and figure out a plan for the crisis, however, the trend reversed course and bookings began flooding in.
“People were reaching out and saying, ‘Hey, I’ve been stuck at home with my kids for the last three weeks. I need something to do.’ Or, ‘Hey, I’m on a swim team and we have nowhere to go and we have to practice,’” he recalls.
Between February and March, the app saw a 1,200 percent increase in bookings — a jump that the company soon realized had as much to do with Covid-19 restrictions as it did rising temperatures in the hotter parts of the country. With public pools closed and private training facilities off-limits, renting a neighbor’s backyard pool for an hour or two has emerged as a welcome relief for stir-crazy families, competitive swimmers, and apartment dwellers who have spent months cooped up indoors (coronavirus is not known to spread through water).
Summer 2020 will be unlike any we’ve known before
In ways we’re still discovering, summer 2020 will be unlike any we’ve known before. The long days and shimmering heat are already here, but most of the activities they usually portend have been erased from our calendars: weekends at the beach (sans social distancing), summer camp, sports games, international vacations, county fairs, music festivals — as crowds go, so go America’s summer plans.
While this new reality has been devastating to a wide swath of the economy, some companies are discovering that it actually presents an opportunity — albeit one that founders are reluctant to celebrate given the pandemic’s human toll. As millions of people prepare for a season of small outdoor gatherings and staying close to home, they’re spending their money on products and services that promise to make the experience more enjoyable (or, at the very least, bearable).
Sales of backyard amenities like aboveground pools, trampolines, and patio furniture have spiked to the point that some enterprising sellers are scalping inflatable pools as if they’re concert tickets. Gardening supplies and egg-laying chickens are becoming hard to find as people search for both new hobbies and reliable alternatives to bare grocery shelves. Anything that keeps kids entertained — and offers parents a chance to take Zoom calls in peace — is, predictably, flying off the shelves.
Private boats and pools are keeping the sharing economy afloat
As the first heat waves of the season arrive, the need for a safe place to swim is only increasing. And while using a stranger’s pool may seem risky, Weinberger says hosts have gone above and beyond with cleaning precautions, and the platform will remove any users reported for infractions. (As for bathrooms, about 65 percent of hosts offer access, while those that don’t typically get short bookings from swimmers that live nearby.)
Further, he points to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines that state there’s no evidence that Covid-19 can be transmitted through bodies of water, and that standard pool chemicals like chlorine should inactivate the virus. Crowds and unclean surfaces are, however, potentially problematic, according to the CDC — and both are easier to avoid in a private setting.
“Even when they do open up water parks or public pools or gyms, are you going to want to go [right away]?” he says.
For now, Swimply’s biggest hurdle is that demand outpaces supply by a factor of four — though that may change as more people with backyard pools look for ways to make up for lost income during the pandemic. Swimply is in 39 states, as well as Canada and Australia, and the rates hosts can charge largely depend on where they’re located. In regions with high concentrations of pools, such as Scottsdale, Arizona, the going rate tends to be around $35 to $40 an hour, whereas in the New York area, hosts can charge $50 to $100 easily, says Weinberger.
Because the company noticed so many users requesting amenities like basketball courts and tennis courts, it’s also now launching a standalone app called Joyspace to accommodate these types of rentals.
For those with a marina nearby and cash to spare, boat rentals are an increasingly popular option. Boatsetter, a peer-to-peer boat rental marketplace founded in 2012, saw a 40 percent year-over-year spike in bookings in May, according to CEO and co-founder Jackie Baumgarten. While large parties may be off the table for now, many users are now seeking out options for family fishing trips and small group excursions.
Yards are the hottest destination in town
Consumers’ newfound domesticity means many people are, perhaps for the first time, getting very interested in their lawns. For the direct-to-consumer lawn care startup Sunday, that’s great news; the products it offers are personalized to each customer and less chemical-intensive than the major brands at Lowe’s or Home Depot.
According to CEO and founder Coulter Lewis, Sunday has doubled its projected sales even with a very aggressive plan for growth this year. It’s also seeing a significant uptick in engagement through its customer support channels — a phenomenon many companies are experiencing during the pandemic.
“We’re hearing people, for one thing, digging in way, way more than they were in the past and wanting to geek out on their lawn and learn about it,” he says. “Like, ‘What is this thing here? Why is that spot dead? Do you think it’s because of this?’”
“We’re hearing people wanting to geek out on their lawn and learn about it”
While most of America’s 90 million homes have lawns, Lewis has learned from countless conversations with homeowners that most people know next to nothing about lawn care.
“There’s an assumption that if you’re a guy, you’re supposed to know this, which is insane. Or when you buy a house you kind of just know these things — that doesn’t happen either,” he says.
As such, people tend to default to traditional pesticide-heavy products, fueling a $48 billion-a-year DIY lawn and landscaping industry. Sunday’s annual lawn plan starts at $109 and includes three shipments of nutrients customized to each individual lawn using soil samples, climate data, and aerial imagery. Its customer base skews more toward the middle of the country than the typical VC-funded consumer startup (its biggest market is Texas, though it serves all 50 states), and 75 percent have kids and/or pets.
While Lewis expects that some of the company’s new customers will remain just as enthusiastic about particulars of lawn science even after lockdown restrictions end, for now, he’s more focused on the role the company has unexpectedly found itself playing in people’s lives.
“As a business, we think a lot about moments,” he says. “For us, that’s being outside, being in your backyard, caring for your lawn … [and] saying, ‘I know what I’m doing and why, and it’s going to look better. It’s going to get healthier.’ That feels like a good moment to deliver right now.”
Of course, healthy grass is just the start: Backyard add-ons like patio furniture, outdoor grills, hammocks, pools, and hot tubs have also gotten a boost during the pandemic. Bed Bath & Beyond’s online outdoor furniture and patio sales rose about 88 percent in the last two weeks of April and first two weeks of May, according to Joe Hartsig, the company’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer.
Amazon, whose dominance has only grown in recent months as other retailers have closed stores, is also seeing the impact of this surge. According to the e-commerce analytics company Profitero, Amazon keyword searches for “badminton sets for backyards” spiked 7,060% for the week ending May 16 over the same period last year, while those for “inflatable pool” jumped 1,404 percent.
Amazon keyword searches for “badminton sets for backyards” spiked 7,060 percent
The latter, at least, have been just as popular among people who don’t have a “yard” so much as a rooftop, sidewalk, or nearby alleyway.
“We see a lot of parking-lot pools,” Emily Vaca, founder of the inflatable pool startup Minnidip, told the Los Angeles Times. “People are using them everywhere.”
The company sold out of its whole summer’s worth of stock in four days in April, and is expecting a restock at the end of June.
Summer camp now comes in a crate
When lockdowns began rolling out across the country, KiwiCo founder Sandra Oh Lin realized that parents would be searching for new ways to entertain their kids. The company, which delivers monthly activity crates for kids, put together an online hub of at-home activities, tips from teachers, and other resources geared toward families. The free content was a hit, and as summer approached, the team turned its attention to the months ahead.
“We thought, ‘What else can we do to really help parents and kids during a summer that unfortunately for many of us is not going to be filled with the same types of things that we’ve had in summer before or what we have planned?’” says Lin.
What they came up with was Camp KiwiCo, a series of four sessions for kids from preschool to middle school, each revolving around a theme — from becoming a world citizen (ages 6 to 11) to engineering basics (ages 9 and up). Five days of video, printable, and online programming content for each age group will be available free beginning June 22, but for the full experience, activity crates will run parents $24.95 each or $99.95 for the week.
With so many people at home looking for ways to keep their kids engaged in something other than a screen, the company has found that its best marketing channel has been word of mouth. “We’re in a really fortunate position where we’re able to offer something that does keep kids entertained and busy and the parents can feel good about it, too,” says Lin. “I think that combination is something that’s compelling these days, and so we’ve just seen some really nice responses.”
Other subscription box businesses have likewise introduced summer camp concepts: Little Passports offers geography and STEM boxes, Cratejoy is running a weeklong online summer camp with the Girl Scouts of Central Texas, and Baketivity is shipping “Bake-a-Camp” kits with projects like cream puffs and gourmet cupcakes.
As for spooky stories to tell by the campfire … well, have you heard the one about the murder hornets?
Sign up for The Goods’ newsletter. Twice a week, we’ll send you the best Goods stories exploring what we buy, why we buy it, and why it matters.


What day is it today?

Today is Tuesday , June 16 , 2020 , at least in the continental United States .
It is already Wednesday , June 17 , 2020 , in some parts of the world .
To some degree , time is an illusion .
We are bound by its forward passage , being the third-dimensional creatures we are , but the perceptions we have placed upon time have been invented .
Humans invented the year .
Humans invented the month .
Humans invented the day , the hour , the minute , the second .
These distinctions are not arbitrary — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the Earth to orbit the sun — but their creation was not inevitable .
Our numerical system is likely base-10 because we have 10 fingers ; the way we understand time is almost entirely dependent on the fact that we evolved on this planet , circling this sun .
Time , at least as we understand it , is also a byproduct of capitalism .
In his seminal 1967 economic paper “ Work-Discipline and Industrial Capitalism , ” E. P. Thompson notes that in early human cultures , delineations of time were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up and went down , when the seasons changed .
But as industrialization became the norm , time became a mechanized system that no longer served those who ’ d invented it .
We increasingly served at the beck and call of time , for that is how those who possessed capital could best regulate those who performed the labor .
For we are now at a point where sociologists are discussing the “ problem ” of leisure .
And a part of the problem is : how did it come to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ marriage of convenience with industrial capitalism , was the agent which converted men to new valuations of time ; which taught children even in their infancy to improve each shining hour ; and which saturated men ’ s minds with the equation , time is money .
One recurrent form of revolt within Western industrial capitalism , whether bohemian or beatnik , has often taken the form of flouting the urgency of respectable timevalues .
And the interesting question arises : if Puritanism was a necessary part of the work-ethos which enabled the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poverty-stricken economies of the past , will the Puritan valuation of time begin to decompose as the pressures of poverty relax ?
Is it decomposing already ?
Will men begin to lose that restless urgency , that desire to consume time purposively , which most people carry just as they carry a watch on their wrists ?
But it remains that on some base level , we will always understand time .
The sun comes up , the sun goes down .
Though we might be inside , where that process is more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our insideness does not obscure the day and night cycle .
What is lost , as each day blends into the next , in vaguely similar ways , is the mechanistic definition of time , the capitalist definition of time , the industrial definition of time .
We do not know what day it is , but we do know when there is a new day .
To live inside is to lose distinction .
There is a numbing effect that occurs when each day is the same , when our schedules are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gulf of undifferentiated time .
And yet isn ’ t this how so many of the less privileged around the world , forced to work jobs involving menial labor , day after day after day , already live ?
Isn ’ t this why we invented the weekend ?
Has this quarantine simply shown to those of us with more economic privilege that our “ free time ” was always a mirage , which could disappear before our eyes , by giving us so much “ free ” time ?
I have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and when I need to orient myself in time , I look at it .
But even the usefulness of my calendar has started to fray around the edges .
I began writing this story because I couldn ’ t quite believe it was a Thursday , even as I knew it had to be a Thursday .
But it might as well not be .
A cycle that bears the sun across our sky until it sets in the west is a reality ; “ Thursday ” is an invention .
Is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t know .
I will update this article daily until we don ’ t need it anymore .
I hope there is a time when we know it is Thursday or Tuesday or June 17 without having to look at a calendar or ask each other or Google .
I hope there is a time when going outside to see the sun doesn ’ t feel like exposing yourself to toxic levels of radiation .
( I know I should be taking walks ; every time , I feel like I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a time in which all this “ free ” time no longer feels like a period we must exploit for maximum value .
I hope there is a time when I remember what it ’ s like to grab lunch with a friend , to watch dogs play in the surf , to breathe in the air and just be .
Until then , find a way to make time have meaning for you .
Read a long book .
Cook an elaborate meal .
Take up knitting .
Write an epic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve always meant to get to .
Sleep .
Remember that time doesn ’ t own you , and that you own time .
This will be over someday , a part of the past .
It will someday be a memory .
Hang on to that .
I ’ ll see you outside again .
For now , it is Tuesday , June 16 , 2020 .
In some parts of the world , it is Wednesday , June 17 , 2020 .
Are you a “ What day is it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our official theme song .
It ’ s written by composer Laura Stratford , and it is wonderful .

Today is Wednesday, July 1, 2020, at least in the continental United States. It is already Thursday, July 2, 2020, in some parts of the world. Life isn’t resuming gracefully, but the herky jerky train wreck of America’s reopening certainly speaks to some desire to exit this quarantine period. And so “What Day Is It Today” will exit the stage, too. For now, at least.
To some degree, time is an illusion. We are bound by its forward passage, being the third-dimensional creatures we are, but the perceptions we have placed upon time have been invented. Humans invented the year. Humans invented the month. Humans invented the day, the hour, the minute, the second.
These distinctions are not arbitrary — it really does take about 365 days for the Earth to orbit the sun — but their creation was not inevitable. Our numerical system is likely base-10 because we have 10 fingers; the way we understand time is almost entirely dependent on the fact that we evolved on this planet, circling this sun.
Time, at least as we understand it, is also a byproduct of capitalism. In his seminal 1967 economic paper “Work-Discipline and Industrial Capitalism,” E. P. Thompson notes that in early human cultures, delineations of time were broad understandings of when the sun came up and went down, when the seasons changed. But as industrialization became the norm, time became a mechanized system that no longer served those who’d invented it. We increasingly served at the beck and call of time, for that is how those who possessed capital could best regulate those who performed the labor.
Thompson writes:
For we are now at a point where sociologists are discussing the “problem” of leisure. And a part of the problem is: how did it come to be a problem ? Puritanism, in its marriage of convenience with industrial capitalism, was the agent which converted men to new valuations of time; which taught children even in their infancy to improve each shining hour; and which saturated men’s minds with the equation, time is money. One recurrent form of revolt within Western industrial capitalism, whether bohemian or beatnik, has often taken the form of flouting the urgency of respectable timevalues. And the interesting question arises: if Puritanism was a necessary part of the work-ethos which enabled the industrialized world to break out of the poverty-stricken economies of the past, will the Puritan valuation of time begin to decompose as the pressures of poverty relax? Is it decomposing already? Will men begin to lose that restless urgency, that desire to consume time purposively, which most people carry just as they carry a watch on their wrists?
But it remains that on some base level, we will always understand time. The sun comes up, the sun goes down. Though we might be inside, where that process is more difficult to witness, the fact of our insideness does not obscure the day and night cycle. What is lost, as each day blends into the next, in vaguely similar ways, is the mechanistic definition of time, the capitalist definition of time, the industrial definition of time. We do not know what day it is, but we do know when there is a new day.
To live inside is to lose distinction. There is a numbing effect that occurs when each day is the same, when our schedules are subsumed by what feels like an endless gulf of undifferentiated time. And yet isn’t this how so many of the less privileged around the world, forced to work jobs involving menial labor, day after day after day, already live? Isn’t this why we invented the weekend? Has this quarantine simply shown to those of us with more economic privilege that our “free time” was always a mirage, which could disappear before our eyes, by giving us so much “free” time?
I have a wall calendar hanging above my desk, and when I need to orient myself in time, I look at it. But even the usefulness of my calendar has started to fray around the edges. I began writing this story because I couldn’t quite believe it was a Thursday, even as I knew it had to be a Thursday. But it might as well not be. A cycle that bears the sun across our sky until it sets in the west is a reality; “Thursday” is an invention. Is it still necessary? I don’t know.
What’s important to remember is that time doesn’t own you. You own time. This will be over someday, a part of the past. It will someday be a memory. Hang on to that. I’ll see you outside again.
This story was originally published Friday, March 27, 2020.
Are you a “What day is it today?” superfan? Check out our official theme song. It’s written by composer Laura Stratford, and it is wonderful.


vox--2020-06-16--Sen. John Cornyn showed he has no idea what systemic racism is

Sen. John Cornyn ( R-TX ) , during a Senate Judiciary hearing about police violence on Tuesday , became the latest official to struggle to grasp the existence of systemic racism in the US — an issue that became clear during his questioning of a panel of witnesses .
“ I would like the witnesses to tell us if they believe that the police department and the police in America are systemically racist , ” Cornyn said .
“ Would anybody like to raise their hand agreeing with that statement ?
” At that point , multiple witnesses who were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which prompted Cornyn to follow up with another question .
“ And that means all 18,000 police departments , all 800,000 law enforcement officers ?
Is that true ?
” Witnesses including S. Lee Merritt , an attorney representing George Floyd ’ s family , emphasized that the nature of systemic racism is less about individual actors and more about how policing is structured throughout the country .
“ When we overconcentrate our ... black and brown communities , specifically , with militarized policing , what you ’ re going to have is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ black and brown people , ” Merritt said .
As Vox ’ s German Lopez has previously explained , such racism is pervasive because it ’ s shaped by “ enormous cultural and systemic forces ” that affect how police perceive different people based on race — and it goes far beyond any one individual ’ s biases : Racial bias isn ’ t necessarily about how a person views himself in terms of race , but how he views others in terms of race , particularly in different roles throughout his everyday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been part of the US since its founding , can corrupt anyone ’ s view of minorities in America .
In the case of police , all cops are dealing with enormous cultural and systemic forces that build racial bias against minority groups .
Even if a black cop doesn ’ t view himself as racist , the way policing is done in the US is racially skewed — by , for example , targeting high-crime neighborhoods that are predominantly black .
Cornyn , however , struggled to accept that these biases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ You think systemic or structural racism can exist in a system that requires individual responsibility ?
” he went on to ask , “ Or do you think it ’ s one or the other.
” “ I think every American institution has been shaped by these forces , ” said Vanita Gupta , the president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights .
“ Do you believe that , basically , all Americans are racist ?
” Cornyn said .
“ I think we all have implicit bias @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do , ” Gupta responded .
“ Wow , ” Cornyn said .
“ You lost me when you want to take the acts of a few misguided , perhaps malicious , individuals , and ascribe that to all Americans.
” You can watch the full exchange , here .
Cornyn isn ’ t the first Republican official to struggle with the acknowledgment of systemic racism : Last week , Attorney General Bill Barr said he didn ’ t believe it existed within the United States ’ law enforcement system .
( The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ compiled a list of studies examining racial bias in policing .
The list shows , among many disparities , that black people are more likely than white people to be searched during traffic stops and that black men have been roughly 2.5 times more likely than white men to be killed by police . )
The hearing , which centered on examining the reforms that Congress could pass to address police killings of black Americans and disproportionate use of force by law enforcement , highlighted how Republicans — including Chair Lindsey Graham — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ response to police brutality but simultaneously unwilling to acknowledge the full scope of the problem .
Graham , for example , repeatedly expressed reservations about “ qualified immunity ” — a legal provision that makes it more difficult to sue police officers for misconduct , but he was wary of adding undue financial burden on officers who face such suits .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), during a Senate Judiciary hearing about police violence on Tuesday, became the latest official to struggle to grasp the existence of systemic racism in the US — an issue that became clear during his questioning of a panel of witnesses.
“I would like the witnesses to tell us if they believe that the police department and the police in America are systemically racist,” Cornyn said. “Would anybody like to raise their hand agreeing with that statement?”
At that point, multiple witnesses who were testifying appeared to raise their hands, which prompted Cornyn to follow up with another question. “And that means all 18,000 police departments, all 800,000 law enforcement officers? Is that true?”
Witnesses including S. Lee Merritt, an attorney representing George Floyd’s family, emphasized that the nature of systemic racism is less about individual actors and more about how policing is structured throughout the country. “When we overconcentrate our ... black and brown communities, specifically, with militarized policing, what you’re going to have is disproportionate use of force and incarceration of black and brown people,” Merritt said.
As Vox’s German Lopez has previously explained, such racism is pervasive because it’s shaped by “enormous cultural and systemic forces” that affect how police perceive different people based on race — and it goes far beyond any one individual’s biases:
Racial bias isn’t necessarily about how a person views himself in terms of race, but how he views others in terms of race, particularly in different roles throughout his everyday life. And systemic racism, which has been part of the US since its founding, can corrupt anyone’s view of minorities in America. In the case of police, all cops are dealing with enormous cultural and systemic forces that build racial bias against minority groups. Even if a black cop doesn’t view himself as racist, the way policing is done in the US is racially skewed — by, for example, targeting high-crime neighborhoods that are predominantly black.
Cornyn, however, struggled to accept that these biases aren’t limited to specific individuals.
“You think systemic or structural racism can exist in a system that requires individual responsibility?” he went on to ask, “Or do you think it’s one or the other.”
“I think every American institution has been shaped by these forces,” said Vanita Gupta, the president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
“Do you believe that, basically, all Americans are racist?” Cornyn said.
“I think we all have implicit bias and racial bias, yes, I do,” Gupta responded. “Wow,” Cornyn said. “You lost me when you want to take the acts of a few misguided, perhaps malicious, individuals, and ascribe that to all Americans.”
You can watch the full exchange, here.
Cornyn isn’t the first Republican official to struggle with the acknowledgment of systemic racism: Last week, Attorney General Bill Barr said he didn’t believe it existed within the United States’ law enforcement system. (The Washington Post’s Radley Balko has compiled a list of studies examining racial bias in policing. The list shows, among many disparities, that black people are more likely than white people to be searched during traffic stops and that black men have been roughly 2.5 times more likely than white men to be killed by police.)
The hearing, which centered on examining the reforms that Congress could pass to address police killings of black Americans and disproportionate use of force by law enforcement, highlighted how Republicans — including Chair Lindsey Graham — were seemingly eager to take action in response to police brutality but simultaneously unwilling to acknowledge the full scope of the problem.
Graham, for example, repeatedly expressed reservations about “qualified immunity” — a legal provision that makes it more difficult to sue police officers for misconduct, but he was wary of adding undue financial burden on officers who face such suits.


vox--2020-06-16--All eyes turn to Apple as antitrust investigations heat up

The antitrust walls might be closing in on Apple .
On the heels of news that the company is facing a pair of new antitrust investigations in the European Union , Apple CEO Tim Cook is facing calls to testify before Congress .
Though Cook has not responded , Apple said of the European scrutiny , “ We welcome the opportunity.
” Apple ’ s antitrust issues in the United States have been brewing for some time , but the European Union ’ s investigations could actually coincide with fresh trouble in the US .
This week , the EU @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into the company ’ s alleged antitrust violations in its App Store and its Apple Pay service .
At the same time , the House of Representatives is ramping up its antitrust probe of Apple , Google , Facebook , and Amazon .
In the last few days , Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos finally agreed to testify , leaving Apple CEO Tim Cook the last remaining holdout as the pressure on Big Tech increases .
The House of Representatives has requested that the CEOs of all four companies testify before its antitrust panel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook ’ s Mark Zuckerberg expressed their willingness to testify before the House Judiciary Committee over the weekend .
Then , Amazon ’ s Jeff Bezos followed suit a couple days later amid reports that the European Commission was preparing charges against his company , but Bezos stipulated that he would only appear if all four CEOs appeared together .
Facebook and Google have reportedly agreed to those same terms , but Apple is still holding out .
The new investigations in Europe are sure to draw attention to how Apple will handle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been the case with Apple ’ s US-based antitrust trouble , the issue in the EU revolves around how the company controls third-party offerings on its devices — namely , its practice of forcing apps to pay commissions on in-app sales and giving its Apple Pay exclusive access to Near Field Communications ( NFC ) technology , which allows the user to simply tap their device on a reader to make payments on iOS devices .
Apple is known for tight control over its ecosystem , a practice that ’ s often framed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to some , also becomes a way for Apple to promote its own apps and eliminate the competition .
Music-streaming service Spotify , which kicked off the investigation with a complaint to the commission back in 2019 , has been a particularly vocal critic of Apple ’ s policies around apps .
If the commission finds that Apple has breached its antitrust rules , it could fine the company as much as 10 percent of its annual revenue .
Apple may also face compensation claims from companies and consumers that are found to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Apple sets the rules for the distribution of apps to users of iPhones and iPads , ” the commission ’ s executive vice president , Margrethe Vestager , said in a statement .
“ We need to ensure that Apple ’ s rules do not distort competition in markets where Apple is competing with other app developers ...
I have therefore decided to take a close look at Apple ’ s App Store rules and their compliance with EU competition rules.
” “ It ’ s disappointing the European Commission is advancing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who simply want a free ride and don ’ t want to play by the same rules as everyone else , ” Apple told Recode .
“ We don ’ t think that ’ s right — we want to maintain a level playing field where anyone with determination and a great idea can succeed.
” Apple also issued a statement following Spotify ’ s initial complaint to the commission , saying , among other things , that Spotify ’ s free offering — which the majority of its customers use — does @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Nevertheless , Apple still generously allows Spotify to be offered in its App Store .
The European Commission will look at how Apple makes money off of companies that sell products through apps offered in the App Store .
Apple requires most third-party apps to pay a 30 percent commission on in-app sales .
Subscription services like Spotify pay a 30 percent commission for a user ’ s first subscription year and 15 percent afterward .
Spotify says it raised subscription prices from $ 10 to $ 13 in order to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ company charges $ 10 a month for subscriptions purchased through its website .
Apple launched its own Spotify-like streaming music service in 2015 and charged $ 10 a month for it .
These complaints echo those of both developers and iPhone users who have sued Apple in the US over claims that it has an unfair monopoly , leading to inflated charges .
Testimony from representatives of smaller companies said as much at recent congressional hearings .
The European Commission , meanwhile , pointed specifically to the Rakuten-owned e-book distributor Kobo , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Books app in March 2020 .
Several years ago , Apple also paid a $ 450 million settlement after the Justice Department determined it colluded with book publishers to fix prices in an effort to compete with Amazon .
As for Apple Pay , the commission said on Tuesday that its “ preliminary investigation ” found that Apple ’ s refusal to allow third-party mobile payment services to use NFC technology might unfairly give Apple Pay an advantage and that terms and conditions placed on related merchant apps could be unfair to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does allow other payment apps to use its NFC application programming interface .
Payment app developers have groused for years about Apple ’ s restrictions , and Germany even passed a law last year that would require Apple to open NFC up to mobile payment apps .
Some developers also believe that Apple takes its advantages even further , sometimes by studying third-party apps and their usage patterns before putting some of their best features into Apple ’ s native apps .
Many of these Apple-made apps are automatically installed on devices , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deleted .
Popular apps that track menstruation cycles , for instance , were upended when Apple added that feature to its Health app .
Flashlight apps were made obsolete when Apple introduced its own flashlight in 2013 .
The list goes on .
Apple ’ s habit of borrowing ideas from third-party apps is common enough that developers refer to it as being “ Sherlocked.
” Of course , this is nothing new to the industry , and Apple is far from the only company that does it .
Retailers have made similar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ line , which Amazon has denied .
That company is also facing a congressional antitrust probe — as are Google and Facebook — as government agencies including the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice have started to scrutinize Big Tech and its power over American life .
Again , these companies ’ antitrust woes are not new .
Apple and Google have reportedly considered ways to regulate themselves before the government can do it for them .
On Tuesday , however , Apple maintained that it had done nothing wrong — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ third-party apps and mobile payments .
“ We follow the law in everything we do and we embrace competition at every stage because we believe it pushes us to deliver even better results , ” the company said .
“ Our goal is simple : for our customers to have access to the best app or service of their choice , in a safe and secure environment .
We welcome the opportunity to show the European Commission all we ’ ve done to make that goal a reality.
” Every day at Vox @ @ @ @ @ @ @ important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

The antitrust walls might be closing in on Apple. On the heels of news that the company is facing a pair of new antitrust investigations in the European Union, Apple CEO Tim Cook is facing calls to testify before Congress. Though Cook has not responded, Apple said of the European scrutiny, “We welcome the opportunity.”
Apple’s antitrust issues in the United States have been brewing for some time, but the European Union’s investigations could actually coincide with fresh trouble in the US. This week, the EU’s European Commission opened two investigations into the company’s alleged antitrust violations in its App Store and its Apple Pay service. At the same time, the House of Representatives is ramping up its antitrust probe of Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon. In the last few days, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos finally agreed to testify, leaving Apple CEO Tim Cook the last remaining holdout as the pressure on Big Tech increases.
The House of Representatives has requested that the CEOs of all four companies testify before its antitrust panel. Google’s Sindar Pichai and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg expressed their willingness to testify before the House Judiciary Committee over the weekend. Then, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos followed suit a couple days later amid reports that the European Commission was preparing charges against his company, but Bezos stipulated that he would only appear if all four CEOs appeared together. Facebook and Google have reportedly agreed to those same terms, but Apple is still holding out.
The new investigations in Europe are sure to draw attention to how Apple will handle its various antitrust woes. As has been the case with Apple’s US-based antitrust trouble, the issue in the EU revolves around how the company controls third-party offerings on its devices — namely, its practice of forcing apps to pay commissions on in-app sales and giving its Apple Pay exclusive access to Near Field Communications (NFC) technology, which allows the user to simply tap their device on a reader to make payments on iOS devices. Apple is known for tight control over its ecosystem, a practice that’s often framed as a security feature but, according to some, also becomes a way for Apple to promote its own apps and eliminate the competition. Music-streaming service Spotify, which kicked off the investigation with a complaint to the commission back in 2019, has been a particularly vocal critic of Apple’s policies around apps.
If the commission finds that Apple has breached its antitrust rules, it could fine the company as much as 10 percent of its annual revenue. Apple may also face compensation claims from companies and consumers that are found to be victims of its antitrust practices.
“Apple sets the rules for the distribution of apps to users of iPhones and iPads,” the commission’s executive vice president, Margrethe Vestager, said in a statement. “We need to ensure that Apple’s rules do not distort competition in markets where Apple is competing with other app developers ... I have therefore decided to take a close look at Apple’s App Store rules and their compliance with EU competition rules.”
Apple strongly rebuked the investigations.
“It’s disappointing the European Commission is advancing baseless complaints from a handful of companies who simply want a free ride and don’t want to play by the same rules as everyone else,” Apple told Recode. “We don’t think that’s right — we want to maintain a level playing field where anyone with determination and a great idea can succeed.”
Apple also issued a statement following Spotify’s initial complaint to the commission, saying, among other things, that Spotify’s free offering — which the majority of its customers use — does not monetarily benefit Apple in any way. Nevertheless, Apple still generously allows Spotify to be offered in its App Store.
The European Commission will look at how Apple makes money off of companies that sell products through apps offered in the App Store. Apple requires most third-party apps to pay a 30 percent commission on in-app sales. Subscription services like Spotify pay a 30 percent commission for a user’s first subscription year and 15 percent afterward. Spotify says it raised subscription prices from $10 to $13 in order to make up the difference in 2014. The company charges $10 a month for subscriptions purchased through its website. Apple launched its own Spotify-like streaming music service in 2015 and charged $10 a month for it.
These complaints echo those of both developers and iPhone users who have sued Apple in the US over claims that it has an unfair monopoly, leading to inflated charges. Testimony from representatives of smaller companies said as much at recent congressional hearings. The European Commission, meanwhile, pointed specifically to the Rakuten-owned e-book distributor Kobo, which lodged a similar complaint against Apple’s Books app in March 2020. Several years ago, Apple also paid a $450 million settlement after the Justice Department determined it colluded with book publishers to fix prices in an effort to compete with Amazon.
As for Apple Pay, the commission said on Tuesday that its “preliminary investigation” found that Apple’s refusal to allow third-party mobile payment services to use NFC technology might unfairly give Apple Pay an advantage and that terms and conditions placed on related merchant apps could be unfair to competitors. Android, by contrast, does allow other payment apps to use its NFC application programming interface. Payment app developers have groused for years about Apple’s restrictions, and Germany even passed a law last year that would require Apple to open NFC up to mobile payment apps.
Some developers also believe that Apple takes its advantages even further, sometimes by studying third-party apps and their usage patterns before putting some of their best features into Apple’s native apps. Many of these Apple-made apps are automatically installed on devices, and often they can’t be deleted. Popular apps that track menstruation cycles, for instance, were upended when Apple added that feature to its Health app. Flashlight apps were made obsolete when Apple introduced its own flashlight in 2013. The list goes on. Apple’s habit of borrowing ideas from third-party apps is common enough that developers refer to it as being “Sherlocked.” Of course, this is nothing new to the industry, and Apple is far from the only company that does it.
Retailers have made similar complaints about Amazon and its Amazon Basics line, which Amazon has denied. That company is also facing a congressional antitrust probe — as are Google and Facebook — as government agencies including the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice have started to scrutinize Big Tech and its power over American life.
Again, these companies’ antitrust woes are not new. Apple and Google have reportedly considered ways to regulate themselves before the government can do it for them. On Tuesday, however, Apple maintained that it had done nothing wrong — at least not in its handling of third-party apps and mobile payments.
“We follow the law in everything we do and we embrace competition at every stage because we believe it pushes us to deliver even better results,” the company said. “Our goal is simple: for our customers to have access to the best app or service of their choice, in a safe and secure environment. We welcome the opportunity to show the European Commission all we’ve done to make that goal a reality.”