RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week
Dec. 3to Dec.9
Featured Investigations Wonder of holiday wonders, Washington at last agrees on something: There's a whole lot of obstruction going on in this here holly-festooned capital! Except for one thing: Views diverge on who's being naughty. Are the obstructionists the Trump people being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller, or the investigators themselves? After ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn's Dec. 1 guilty plea for lying to the FBI, a consensus seemed to take hold among some well-informed people across the spectrum: Without firm evidence of a Trump-Russia conspiracy, Mueller's inquiry is likely to now turn to developing a case of obstruction of investigators' work, which could lead to President Trump's impeachment. (Read here and here.) But Republicans in Congress are bent on breaking through a different sort of stonewalling: the reluctance of Mueller and the Justice Department to come clean about possibly politically driven anti-Trump operatives within their ranks. Among them is Bruce G. Ohr, a top Justice official demoted this week who had held previously undisclosed meetings before and after the election with principals behind the notorious, Clinton campaign-funded Trump dossier. Also of great interest: Peter Strzok, an FBI agent fired by the Mueller investigation for sending "anti-Trump text messages" who was at the center of both the Hillary Clinton email investigation and the pursuit of Flynn, two politically fraught cases with dramatically different outcomes: The first ended with no charges whatsoever, and the latter with Flynn, a retired lieutenant general, a thoroughly beaten man. In a tense congressional confrontation this week, the FBI director, Christopher Wray, declined to provide key answers, citing the need for operational confidentiality. So that cleared up things about as much as a December blizzard. Read articles here, here, here, here and here. And watch video here. Other Noteworthy Articles and Series Weinstein's Complicity Machine, Including the Clintons
New York Times
Another week, another cavalcade of high-profile sex miscreants in the news (read here, here, here, here, here and here for just some of the highlights). Most noteworthy, however, was a five-byline, multi-thousand-word heave from the New York Times detailing the ways Harvey Weinstein used a vast army of enablers to hide, dismiss and diminish his abuse of women and silence his victims. At least eight agents at Creative Artists Agencywere told that Weinstein had harassed or menaced female clients, but people there continued to arrange private meetings for women with Weinstein. The paper also reports that Hillary Clinton's campaign ignored warnings about Weinstein, a longtime friend and supporter of the 2016 presidential candidate and her husband. Media Elites Roared in Laughter at Obscene 2008 Lauer 'Roast'
Fox News
Matt Lauer's sexual escapades were a main theme of his 2008 Friars Club Roast, challenging NBC's claims that it did not know of his abusive behavior until recently. MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was among the media attendees, as was Jeff Zucker, then boss at NBC Universal and now at CNN. Scarborough recalled:"The whole theme was that he does the show and then he has sex with people, with employees. So was this whispered behind closed doors? No. It was shouted from the mountaintops and everybody laughed about it." Russia: On Brink of Crisis, HIV Denialism Spreads
Independent
This year, Russia recorded the third-highest number of new HIV cases anywhere in the world. But trust in doctors remains low, and a unified public health policy lacking. A cult of pseudoscience has taken root. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of Russians now deny the basic facts about HIV. In the last three years alone, there have been at least 70 deaths attributable to HIV denialism, many of the victims young children. Inmate Deaths Reveal ‘Torturous' Use of Tasers
Reuters
In the sixth installment of its series on Tasers, "Shock Tactics,"Reutersdocuments 104 prisoner fatalities after corrections officers deployed Tasers, often with other force. Most inmates were unarmed, and many were handcuffed or pinned to the ground. Some abuses, experts say, are akin to torture. A Police Killing Without a Hint of Racism
Atlantic
Daniel Shaver was showing off his pellet gun while standing before the window of his Mesa, Arizona, hotel room. Two guests in the hot tub five stories below were alarmed by this sight. Someone called 911. Six officers arrived and ordered Shaver, who was intoxicated, out of his room. Shaver exited unarmed, put his hands up, and complied with orders to lie down on the ground. Nevertheless, he was shot and killed by an officer whose service weapon was etched with the words "You're fucked." This article asks if the incident has received so little attention simply because both the officer and Shaver were white. The Push to Put Brain Chemistry - Not People - on Trial
Wired
Heinous crimes tend to defy comprehension, but some researchers believe neuroscience and genetics could help explain why certain people commit such atrocities. Meanwhile, lawyers are introducing so-called neurobiological evidence into court more than ever in an effort that may challenge long-held understandings of justice, personal responsibility and free will. Millions Hounded for Debt They Don't Owe; He Fought Back
Bloomberg
Andrew Therrien was annoyed when debt collectors insistently hounded him for money he did not owe. He became blind with rage when one of them threatened to rape his wife. He channeled that anger into an Ahab-like focus, spending hundreds of hours tracking down - and even earning the trust - of some of the con artists who tried to fleece him. How Fatter Cows Make For Thinner Steaks
Washington Post
Thanks to advances in genetics, nutrition and growth-promoting hormones, the weight of the average beef cow at slaughter has increased from 996 pounds in 1975 to a whopping 1,363 pounds in 2016. Larger muscles result in massive, expensive portions if steaks are cut to a traditional one- or 1½-inch thickness, so now they are sliced into thinner cuts of meat. As a result, some unhappy diners are having cows in more ways than one. |
