Editors’ Picks for Oct 20
Jeb Freezes Up When Reporter Challenges Hypocrisy on 9/11 and Benghazi, Former DEA Agent Gets Sentenced For Stealing Bitcoins, Judge Allowed Offenders to Donate Blood as Credit Toward Fines, and More Picks
We’re pleased to introduce PICKS — stories selected by our editors because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They will appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. And we invite you to recommend articles, videos, podcasts, etc. Please send them to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
Jeb Freezes Up When TV Reporter Challenges Hypocrisy on 9/11 and Benghazi (Russ)
Wants to know why Jeb’s brother not responsible for 9/11 but Obama and Hillary responsible for Benghazi. He has no answer.
Former DEA Agent Gets 6.5 Years for Stealing Bitcoins (Klaus)
Carl Force, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent, was found guilty of stealing bitcoins during the investigation of Silk Road, the infamous “dark web” site. Force contacted Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht in order to sell him information on the investigation of his web portal in exchange for bitcoins. A federal judge in California sentenced him to 78 months in prison Monday.
For Offenders Who Can’t Pay, It’s a Pint of Blood or Jail Time (Trevin)
Is it inappropriate for a judge to allow offenders to donate blood as credit toward fines? The Southern Poverty Law Center calls it a “violation of bodily integrity.” It might help if the donors were actually given the credit they were promised.
Mississippi Judge: Most Suspects Are Criminals, and That’s That (Russ)
He doesn’t worry much about rights of suspects as they probably did it anyway. Will be interesting how he reacts when a grandchild gets hauled in.
If You Don’t Like Gerrymandering, Blame the Supreme Court (Trevin)
Matt Yglesias’s piece yesterday on why the Democratic Party is in “deep trouble” despite a “decent likelihood” of retaining the White House after the 2016 election, ignores the possibility of the next President’s ability to change the makeup of the Supreme Court and the impact this could have on future Congressional elections.
Arsonist Targets Predominantly Black Churches near Ferguson (Klaus)
An arsonist has set fire to at least six churches near Ferguson, Missouri. Five of them are predominantly black and the other one has a mixed congregation.
Amazon Going After People Who Post Bogus Reviews (Russ)
Bout time! People get paid five bucks to flog products. Ok, 12 cents for every new WhoWhatWhy reader…
Hillary Emails Reveal Tony Blair ‘Deal in Blood’ with George W. Bush One Year Before Invasion of Iraq (Trevin)
Although Blair publicly was looking for a diplomatic solution, telling voters “We’re not proposing military action,” this April 2002 document from Colin Powell assures that the UK “continues to stand by us” on Iraq and that Blair believed that “success against Saddam will yield more regional success.”
Shameless Tabloid Correctly Attacks Kardashians for Shamelessness (Russ)
Headline is notable: “How the Kardashians exploit and destroy for reality ratings” but so are the particulars — how family will even seek gain from a former family member’s life and death struggle.
