Harvey Weinstein's Decades of Sexual Harassment
New York Times
A New York Times investigation finds previously undisclosed allegations of sexual harassment against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, stretching over nearly three decades, including from actresses Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan. Weinstein has reached at least eight settlements with women, the Times reports. Fallout from the Times article was immediate and continues, with new accounts of his awful behavior surfacing (for example, here and here) and Weinstein taking a leave of absencefrom his company (a third of whose board resigned) while sounding contrite but also signaling a legal and public-relations counteroffensive. Recriminations are being heard over who looked the other way in the film industry, media and Democratic Party. Lists of Weinstein's donations to Democrats and his visits to the Obama White House can be found here and here.
U.S. Stores Stock 'Slave' Seafood Prepped by North Koreans
Associated Press
Americans buying salmon for dinner at Walmart or Aldi may inadvertently have subsidized the North Korean government as it builds its nuclear weapons program, an AP investigation has found. Outsourced by their government, North Korean workers process seafood in China that ends up in American stores and homes. Such laborers are among tens of thousands sent worldwide in what the United States calls "modern day slavery."
How the Elderly Lose Their Rights
New Yorker
Court-appointed guardians can sell the assets and control the lives of the elderly without their consent—reaping big profits in the process. The New Yorker explores how state laws control guardianship, and how they have given rise to an industry of professionals who exploit them before victims know what happened.
Russian Ads Aimed at Michigan, Wisconsin
CNN
Russian-linked Facebook ads specifically targeted Michigan and Wisconsin, two states crucial to Donald Trump's victory last November, CNN reports, citing sources with direct knowledge. It said key demographic groups in pivotal areas were targets of the ads, which included divisive and anti-Muslim messages.
Trump's Agencies Spent Big Time Just Before Fiscal Year Ended
Forbes
Following a "use it or lose it" approach to the federal budget, agencies raced to use up their remaining annual budgets before the end of September in order to protect future funding levels, writes Adam Andrzejewski of OpenTheBooks.com. Total spending for the last week of the 2017 fiscal year hit $11 billion. President Trump's office spent $21.8 million, up from the $6 million President Obama's office spent to end 2016.
KFC Intensifies Ghana's 650% Obesity Surge
New York Times
In its "Planet Fat" series, the New York Times goes to Ghana. There public health officials see KFC's expansion - and its fried chicken - as expanding Ghanaian waistlines, placing the African nation among 73 countries where obesity has at least doubled since 1980. In that period, Ghana's obesity rates have surged more than 650 percent, from less than 2 percent of the population to 13.6 percent, according to an independent research center.
'Moneyball' Analytics Make Baseball More Boring
Wall Street Journal
All that rigamarole before stepping into the batter's box was bad enough. But after years of "Moneyball"-style quantitative analysis, major-league teams are setting records for inactivity because of on-field substitutions and strategizing, prompting talk of rule changes. Games this season saw an average gap of 3 minutes, 48 seconds between balls in play, an all-time high.
