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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.
Seven Key Provisions in the Climate Deal (Maria)
From The New York Times: “The climate and tax deal announced by Senate Democrats on Wednesday would pump hundreds of billions of dollars into programs designed to speed the country’s transition away from an economy based largely on fossil fuels and toward cleaner energy sources. The legislation, called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, is a far cry from the ambitious multi-trillion-dollar domestic policy and tax proposal that President Biden sought and that Democrats in Congress spent more than a year laboring to pass. What remains is a downsized but still significant package. … Here’s a quick look at what’s in the bill.”
The Inside Story of How John Roberts Failed to Save Abortion Rights (Reader Steve)
From CNN: “Chief Justice John Roberts privately lobbied fellow conservatives to save the constitutional right to abortion down to the bitter end, but May’s unprecedented leak of a draft opinion reversing Roe v. Wade made the effort all but impossible. … New details obtained by CNN provide insight into the high-stakes internal abortion-rights drama that intensified in late April when justices first learned the draft opinion would soon be published. Serious conflicts over the fate of the 1973 Roe were then accompanied by tensions over an investigation into the source of the leak that included obtaining cell phone data from law clerks and some permanent court employees.”
On My 100th Birthday, Reflections on Archie Bunker and Donald Trump (Russ)
The author writes, “Well, I made it. I am 100 years old today. I wake up every morning grateful to be alive. Reaching my own personal centennial is cause for a bit of reflection on my first century — and on what the next century will bring for the people and country I love. To be honest, I’m a bit worried that I may be in better shape than our democracy is. I was deeply troubled by the attack on Congress on Jan. 6, 2021 — by supporters of former President Donald Trump attempting to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Those concerns have only grown with every revelation about just how far Mr. Trump was willing to go to stay in office after being rejected by voters — and about his ongoing efforts to install loyalists in positions with the power to sway future elections.”
Leaked: US Power Companies Secretly Spending Millions to Protect Profits and Fight Clean Energy (Gerry)
The authors write, “The CEO of the biggest power company in the US had a problem. A Democratic state senator was proposing a law that could cut into Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) profits. Landlords would be able to sell cheap rooftop solar power directly to their tenants — bypassing FPL and its monopoly on electricity. ;I want you to make his life a living hell … seriously,’ FPL’s CEO Eric Silagy wrote in a 2019 email to two of his vice presidents about state Senator José Javier Rodríguez, who proposed the legislation. Within minutes, one of them forwarded the directive to the CEO of Matrix, LLC, a powerful but little-known political consulting firm that has operated behind the scenes in at least eight states.”
Documents Reveal Advanced AI Tools Google Is Selling to Israel (Mili)
From The Intercept: “Training materials reviewed by The Intercept confirm that Google is offering advanced artificial intelligence and machine-learning capabilities to the Israeli government through its controversial ‘Project Nimbus’ contract. The Israeli Finance Ministry announced the contract in April 2021 for a $1.2 billion cloud computing system jointly built by Google and Amazon. ‘The project is intended to provide the government, the defense establishment and others with an all-encompassing cloud solution,’ the ministry said in its announcement.”
Some Patients Say a Commonly Prescribed Steroid Triggered Mania and Suicidal Ideation. I Should Know — It Happened to Me. (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “I was convinced everyone would be better off without me. It was the spring of 2018, and a few days earlier I had been admitted to the emergency room for a flare-up of vasculitis, a blood-vessel-inflammation disease that causes severe pain, numbness, and breathing issues. Struggling to breathe, I was prescribed 60 milligrams of prednisone, a corticosteroid that would reduce the inflammation. The drug worked, but within days I fell into such a severe depression that I returned to the same emergency room — because it was the only way I knew I would not be at risk of harming myself.”
A Bored Chinese Housewife Spent Years Falsifying Russian History on Wikipedia (Sean)
From Vice: “Posing as a scholar, a Chinese woman spent years writing alternative accounts of medieval Russian history on Chinese Wikipedia, conjuring imaginary states, battles, and aristocrats in one of the largest hoaxes on the open-source platform. The scam was exposed last month by Chinese novelist Yifan, who was researching for a book when he came upon an article on the Kashin silver mine.”
