Editors’ Picks for Dec 10
Good News for Torturers, End of Chavez’s Revolution?, How Bacteria is Winning, And More Picks
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.
Torture Report Kept Secret Even from Executive Branch (Russ)
Apparently, nobody who could do anything about what happened is allowed to read it. Talk about Kafkaesque.
Hugo Chávez’s Party Loses Huge Election in Venezuela (Trevin)
President Nicolás Maduro calls the loss “the economic war” waged by the private sector but also told his supporters “to recognize in peace these results and reevaluate many political aspects of the revolution.”
The election, with 74.3% voter participation, was the second serious blow to left-wing Latin American policies in two weeks after a “centre-right candidate won in Argentina’s presidential poll.”
No Way Establishment Can Stop Trump (Russ)
None of its strategies will work, say analysts.
US Schools Practice Abstinence from Common Sense Sex Ed (Klaus)
A new CDC report shows that too many American schools preach abstinence instead of teaching ways their sexually active student can stay safe.
Resistance to Last-Resort Antibiotic Spreading Across Globe (Gerry)
Latest dispatch from the bio-war front: The bacteria are winning. Best defense: Don’t get sick.
Do Mass Killings Bother You? (Trevin)
“A young man who had successfully killed on a large scale went to his religious leader with doubts and was told that mass killing was part of God’s plan. The young man continued killing until he had participated in killing sprees that took 1,626 lives — men, women, and children.”
“What if you learned that this young man’s name was Brandon Bryant, and that he killed as a drone pilot for the U.S. Air Force, and… that his religious leader was a Christian chaplain?”
Is France Going Fascist? (Trevin)
The extreme-right National Front party, founded by a holocaust denier, has won the first round of regional elections.
Latinos Live Longest Despite Poverty (Russ)
Intriguing explanation why–and how US lifestyle may threaten that legacy.
