RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week
Nov. 18 to Nov. 24 Featured Investigation In a reversal of Newton's law about actions producing equal and absolute reactions, the best and brightest minds of government spend years crafting comprehensive policies that produce the very outcomes they were aiming to prevent. Such was the case in the mid-2000s when Western nations, led by the United States, began writing environmental laws that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions connected to global warming by encouraging the use of vegetable oils in fuels. As this article by ProPublica and the New York Times reports, these laws were based on an incomplete accounting of the true environmental costs. As a result, they have produced what now appears to be a calamity with global consequences. Abrahm Lustgarten writes: The tropical rainforests of Indonesia, and in particular the peatland regions of Borneo, have large amounts of carbon trapped within their trees and soil. Slashing and burning the existing forests to make way for oil-palm cultivation had a perverse effect: It released more carbon. A lot more carbon. NASA researchers say the accelerated destruction of Borneo's forests contributed to the largest single-year global increase in carbon emissions in two millenniums, an explosion that transformed Indonesia into the world's fourth-largest source of such emissions. Instead of creating a clever technocratic fix to reduce American's carbon footprint, lawmakers had lit the fuse on a powerful carbon bomb that, as the forests were cleared and burned, produced more carbon than the entire continent of Europe. The unprecedented palm-oil boom, meanwhile, has enriched and emboldened many of the region's largest corporations, which have begun using their newfound power and wealth to suppress critics, abuse workers and acquire more land to produce oil. Read Full Article Trump Investigations Trump Sought Clinton, Comey Prosecutions, New York Times
Giuliani on How Trump Answered Mueller's Written Questions, Axios
Ivanka Trump Used Personal Email for Government Work, Washington Post
Ivanka Lawyer Disputes Hillary Email Comparison, Daily Mail Other Noteworthy Articles and Series Palm Beach Went for Coloring Books, iPads Over Vote-Machine Upgrades
RealClearInvestigations
Palm Beach County officials long have complained about the voting machines that, they claim, hobbled their recount for the recent midterms. But as Steve Miller reports for RealClearInvestigations, the county used federal election money to purchase iPads and coloring books instead of fixing the machines. And the company behind the machines, Dominion Voting Systems, denies any malfunction. "There were no reports of overheating machines during the recount," a representative told RCI. "We had engineers on the ground there, available 24/7, and they heard nothing from anyone at Palm Beach County." Air Marshals Accused of More Than 200 Gun Mishaps
CNN
The Transportation Security Administration's Office of Inspection has documented more than 200 cases of air marshals allegedly misusing firearms or misbehaving with guns between roughly 2005 and 2017. In 19 of these cases, air marshals allegedly fired their weapons accidentally. More than 70 of the incidents relate to lost, misplaced or stolen weapons. At least three of those cases involved air marshals forgetting their firearms in airplane bathrooms. Two others involved weapons misplaced in airports. Sleep-Apnea Machines Secretly Monitor Users
Propublica, NPR
Last March, Tony Schmidt discovered something unsettling about the machine that he and millions of others use to help him breathe at night. Without his knowledge, it was spying on him. From his bedside, the device was tracking when he was using it and sending the information not just to his doctor, but to the maker of the machine, to the medical supply company that provided it, and to his health insurer. Faced with the popularity of the machines, which can cost $400 to $800, and their need for replacement filters, face masks and hoses, health insurers have deployed a host of tactics that can make the therapy more expensive or even price it out of reach. One strategy is to potentially not pay for the machines and supplies if the patients are not using them regularly. Education Dept. Probes Campus Women's Programs for Title IX Bias
Associated Press
It's confirmed: Now at least two genders can play the campus bias-accusation game. Responding to complaints from men, the Education Department's civil rights division has opened investigations into Yale, Princeton, the University of Southern California and Tulane University to determine whether their women's programs violate Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. The department also has received complaints against Georgetown, Northeastern and the University of Pennsylvania. With more women attending and graduating from college than men in America, complainants argue women no longer need additional support. The $1-Million-a-Dose Cure So Costly It Vanished
CBC News
Lipoprotein lipase disorder is as bad as it sounds, a rare genetic disease whose sufferers lack an essential protein for digesting dietary fat. Their blood becomes thick and white with fat particles that can destroy her pancreas. Even those who follow strict diets can suffers bouts of pancreatitis so painful it can feel like the body is digesting itself. Libera, the first drug ever approved that can fix a faulty gene, was meant to give patients new life. It was remarkably successful; it was also remarkably expensive. And now this miracle cure has all but disappeared from the market. Beauty and the Backlash: Disney's Modern Princess Problem
Wall Street Journal
Ariel, Elsa, Snow White and Cinderella are classic Disney characters - but are they also pernicious vestiges of the patriarchy? Parents are wrestling with the messages the stories send their children—is it acceptable for the prince to kiss an unconsenting Sleeping Beauty, given she's sleeping? The tension has grown more pronounced in an era of female presidential candidates, women's marches and #MeToo. In response, Disney is trying update its heroines for the modern age without alienating fans who hold fast to the versions they grew up with. Billions of dollars of revenue—dolls, sequels, stage shows and dresses—hang on making sure that more than Cinderella's glass slippers fit. Facebook Fails to Stop Child Bride Auction
CNN
Facebook turned into a shocking version of Ebay when a South Sudanese man allegedly used the social media platform to auction off his 16-year-old daughter's hand in marriage. The girl was bid on by five men, some of whom were reportedly high-ranking government officials. Activists are concerned that this auction - for which the father reportedly received 500 cows, three cars and $10,000 in exchange for his daughter - could inspire other families to use social media sites to receive larger payments. |
