Inspectors General: 'Deep State' Watchdogs of Bark, Almost No Bite RealClearInvestigations Inspectors general across the federal bureaucracy, no matter how dogged some are in identifying problems, are routinely ignored as toothless watchdogs with some bark and almost no bite. At a cost of more than $2.5 billion annually, inspectors general typically provide merely the appearance of accountability within Washingtonâs permanent bureaucratic state. Trump Allies Quietly Push Plan for Russia, Ukraine The New York Times Aides to President Trump are working behind the scenes to forge stronger U.S.-Russian alliances and work on a longer-term peace process for Ukraine. How the Kremlin's Disinformation Machine Is Targeting Europe Bloomberg The role of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election has been heavily discussed. But Kremlin-backed media operations, including Russian news agencies Sputnik and RT, are pushing new "stories" aimed at impacting upcoming elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany. The Navajo Housing Tragedy Arizona Republic The Navajo Nation is in dire need of homes. The tribe's housing agency has wasted huge sums. And it has a quarter of a billion dollars in tax money sitting unspent. Alabama: State May Have the Biggest Dam Problem in the U.S. Montgomery Advertiser The recent collapse of California's Oroville Dam has brought renewed attention to the importance of dam safety and maintenance. But Alabama is the only state in U.S. that still does not have a dam safety program, which requires annual inspections and record keeping on dams' conditions. When Retirement Comes With Daily Tokes of Weed New York Times As older people come to represent an emerging frontier in the use of marijuana for medical purposes, questions are being raised about safety and accessibility. âIt's a bigger issue than we thought,â said a health policy expert. âThis is an elephant we're just starting to get our hands on.â |