RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week
July 16 to July 22 Featured Investigation Afghan refugees are responsible for half of all sexual assault cases in Austria, according to Dr. Cheryl Bernard, a longtime RAND corporation expert on Islam - one of whose books was found in Osama bin Laden's compound when he was killed. "I could write the same report," she adds, "about Sweden, Germany, or any other country of asylum in Europe."
Bernard said this pattern has been obscured by the authorities,who have "deliberately covered up, large-scale incidences of sexual assault by migrants" for "political reasons," and by the western European media which has "deliberately refrained from identifying an assailant's refugee or asylum status, or his country of origin." Much of Bernard's article in the National Interest explores why Afghanis are relatively more prone torape and other forms ofsexualviolence than other refugees. She provides insight into the minds of these marauders, suggesting that they are driven, in part, by: … a deep and abiding contempt for Western civilization. To them, Europeans are the enemy, and their women are legitimate spoils, as are all the other things one can take from them: housing, money, passports. Their laws don't matter, their culture is uninteresting and, ultimately, their civilization is going to fall anyway to the horde of which one is the spearhead. No need to assimilate, or work hard, or try to build a decent life here for yourself—these Europeans are too soft to seriously punish you for a transgression, and their days are numbered. In this context, their attacks on women-who, significantly, are often married with children - aremore political than sexual, an act, she writes, of"social terrorism." Bernard, however, never zeroes in on what separates Afghanis from other refugees- who are, ironically, often scapegoated because of the unwillingness of politicians and the media to address the issue precisely.She is, however,crystal clear about the need to speak more honestly and openly about the challenges posed: It's fine to be warm, fuzzy and sentimental about strangers arriving on your shores, but let's also spare some warm, fuzzy and sentimental thoughts for our own values, freedoms and lifestyle. Girls and women should continue to feel safe in public spaces, be able to attend festivals, wear clothing appropriate to the weather and their own liking, travel ontrains, go to the park, walk their dogs and live their lives. This is a wonderful Western achievement, and one that is worth defending. Read Full Article Other Noteworthy Articles Trump Probe Expands and Showdown Looms With Mueller
Bloomberg, New York Times, Washington Post
Robert Mueller, investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, is now examining a broad range of transactions by Trump businesses and the President's associates, according to a person familiar with the probe. Meanwhile, Trump aides were reported to be digging for information to get investigators removed for conflicts of interest -- or to justify firing Mueller. And lawyers explored whether the President can pardon himself, family members and aides. Cameroonians Used U.S. Drone Base for Torture
The Intercept
Troops in the West African nation of Cameroon have tortured prisoners at a remote military base that is also used for U.S. drone surveillance and training, a new investigation finds. No evidence has emerged that U.S. personnel were involved in torture, but detainees testified to seeing and hearing Americans in uniform during their imprisonment. How Hospitals Got RicherOff Obamacare
Politico
The nation's top hospitals advertised and lobbied mightily to keep their tax-exempt status under Obamacare, citing the charitable care they provide their communities. But a decade later they've cut back on such givebacks even as their revenue has soared due to the tax break-and the millions of additional paying customers provided by the health-insurance overhaul, a Politico investigation finds. The Myth of Drug Expiration Dates
ProPublica
Hospitals and pharmacies are required to toss expired drugs, no matter how expensive or vital, and that could be costing patients millions of dollars. The FDA has long known that many drugs remain safe and potent for years past expiration dates. But regulations and the profit motive insure that most companies do not test their products' true staying power. We're Government Cheese Experts andWe'reHere to Help
Bloomberg Businessweek
Cue concerns about obesity. Amid a historic glut of dairy products, Dairy Management Inc.-the secretive, government-sponsored entity behind the "Got Milk?" campaign of the 1990s-is helping to develop menu items to push cheese anywhere it can stuff it. As in Taco Bell'sQuesalupa: a taco served in a cheese-stuffed fried shell whose 2016 arrival was heralded by a Super Bowl ad featuring a cackling George Takei. For Dairy Management's help, farmers pay 15 cents for every 100 pounds of dairy they sell. Secret, Drug-Fueled Life of USC Med School Dean
Los Angeles Times
Dr. Carmen A.Puliafito, dean of USC's Keck School of Medicine, was a renowned eye surgeon with a knack for attracting money and talent to the university-and for abusing his position, a Los Angeles Times investigation found. Behind the scenes, he partied and got high with criminals and dopers.Puliafito, 66, left his $1.1-million-a-year post in March 2016, weeks after a 21-year-old woman OD'd in his presence in a Pasadena hotel. Inside R. Kelly's 'Cult' of Allegedly Abused, Kept Women
BuzzFeed
R&B legend R. Kelly has a well-chronicled reputation for sexual indulgence of the underage and kinky sort. Ashe tours the country this summer, he appears not to be diminishing his notoriety. Parents have told police that he is holding women in an abusive "cult" that's tearingfamilies apart. Music critic and journalist JimDeRogatisinvestigates forBuzzFeed, drawing on three ex-members of Kelly's inner circle with similar stories. Did Brits Kill New York Cops to Get the U.S. into World War II?
Daily Beast
OnJuly 4, 1940, with holiday visitors thronging the New York World's Fair, a time bomb planted in the British Pavilion exploded, killing two New York City policemen and badly mauling five others. Was the real-life model for James Bond behind the blast in an attempt to draw a reluctant United States into the Second World War? "It's as good a theory as any," says a longtime investigator into the crime, unsolved for three-quarters of a century. |
