PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
Another Flint? (Russ)
An Ohio town has lead problems with its water, too. All this raises the question of whether America’s crumbling infrastructure will become an issue for voters and candidates who want to keep slashing taxes and government services.
The Koch Brothers Try to Frame a Journalist (Jimmy)
Billionaires don’t like adversarial journalism.
USC Professor to Study Long-Term Health Effects of Porter Ranch Gas Leak (Trevin)
The well blowout that parallels the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has caused nearby residents to experience “issues ranging from headaches to nausea to nose bleeds.” Ed Avol, professor of clinical medicine in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Keck School of Medicine will investigate issues “from respiratory to cardiovascular to potentially neurological.”
What Donald Rumsfeld Knew We Didn’t Know About Iraq (Reader Pat)
The document reveals gaps of intelligence on WMD. Why didn’t the Pentagon chief share it?
Hillary Clinton’s Top Supporter Just Bought The Onion (Jimmy)
He has previously described his “three ways of influencing American politics” as giving donations, establishing think tanks and controlling the media.
Michael Moore Asks America to Join Him in a Revolt Over Flint Water Crisis (Trevin)
Moore’s response to those offering to help: “You can’t. The damage to “every child in Flint” is permanent. There is not a terrorist organization on Earth that has yet to figure out how to poison 100,000 people every day for two years – and get away with it.”
Out Beyond the Orbit of Pluto, A Super-Earth May Lurk (Gerry)
There’s something endearing about the possibility that a hitherto unknown planet (perhaps ten times as massive as Earth) is circling our own Sun. So far its existence can only be inferred from arcane calculations. But now that Pluto has been demoted to a mere “dwarf planet,” we can all root for visual confirmation of this new heavenly body, already dubbed “Planet Nine,” by one of Earth’s giant optical telescopes.
Despite Backlash, Muslim Woman Finds a Road to Recovery from Bipolar Disorder with Blog (Shelia)
The stigma surrounding mental illness sufferers in the United States is difficult enough. The story of a Canadian Muslim woman who lives with bipolar disorder only amplifies it. When the practice ruqaya – a recitation of the Qur’an – fails to cure her manic episodes, she and other sufferers are relegated as having a “weakness in faith and character.” However, blogging about the disorder has proven a helpful outlet.
