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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.
Google to Pay Indiana $20M to Resolve Privacy Suit (Maria)
The author writes, “Google will pay Indiana $20 million to resolve the state’s lawsuit against the technology giant over allegedly deceptive location tracking practices, state Attorney General Todd Rokita announced. Rokitas filed a separate lawsuit against Google when negotiations between the company and a coalition of state attorneys general stalled, he said. Those states agreed to a $391.5 million settlement with the company in November. … States began investigating after a 2018 Associated Press story that found that Google continued to track people’s location data even after they opted out of such tracking by disabling a feature the company called ‘location history.’”
How Justice Kagan Lost Her Battle as a Consensus Builder (Sean)
From Politico: “Speaking at a small university in Rhode Island earlier this year, Justice Elena Kagan committed an act of Supreme Court heresy. For years, justices have told the same anecdotes to assure the public that — despite the court’s increasingly polarized decisions in high-profile cases— the powerful jurists are committed to putting the best interests of the institution ahead of their personal agendas. … But Kagan, the Democratic appointee who has sought to be a consensus-builder for much of her legal career, broke sharply with the court’s tradition of downplaying disagreements and emphasizing off-the-bench bonhomie. In her speech at Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I., last September, she even went so far as to argue that these mundane staples of the justices’ public patter may actually now be obscuring the dysfunction on the nation’s highest court.”
Carl P. Leubsdorf: My Forecast for 2023 (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “Last year’s column successfully predicted Democratic Senate gains and a smaller-than-expected Republican House takeover. Here is our not-totally-serious forecast for 2023.”
Welcome to Hell: Brittney Griner and the Russian Prison System (Mili)
The author writes, “Brittney Griner, a WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist, recently returned home after what she described as a 10-month-long ‘battle at every turn,’ referring to her experience in the Russian prison system. Even though she was deemed well enough to return home to Arizona after spending a week at a medical facility and military base in San Antonio, the extent of any long-term consequences on her physical and mental health following her harrowing Russian prison experience — or ‘hell’ as Russians characterize it — is yet to be seen.”
‘Major Trustee, Please Prioritize’: How NYU’s ER Favors the Rich (Russ)
From The New York Times: “In New York University’s busy Manhattan emergency department, Room 20 is special. Steps away from the hospital’s ambulance bay, the room is outfitted with equipment to perform critical procedures or isolate those with highly infectious diseases. Doctors say Room 20 is usually reserved for two types of patients: Those whose lives are on the line. And those who are V.I.P.s.”
Researchers Use 3D Bioprinting to Create Eye Tissue: Could Cure Macular Degeneration (Sean)
From Neuroscience News: “Scientists used patient stem cells and 3D bioprinting to produce eye tissue that will advance understanding of the mechanisms of blinding diseases. The research team from the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, printed a combination of cells that form the outer blood-retina barrier — eye tissue that supports the retina’s light-sensing photoreceptors. The technique provides a theoretically unlimited supply of patient-derived tissue to study degenerative retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD).”
RSPCA: Most ‘Weird and Wonderful’ Animal Rescues of 2022 (Dana)
From the BBC: “A frog that traveled 4,000 miles in a bunch of bananas was among one of the strangest animal rescues of the year, according to the [Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]. In 2022, its officers responded to some ‘weird and wonderful’ animal rescues. The charity was called to thousands of incidents where birds, wildlife, pets and farm animals found themselves in tricky spots. The RSPCA said it was an ‘honor’ to lend a helping hand to animals in need.”
