February 1st – The Day’s Most Fascinating News

Memo madness sweeps the land, SF's Briefer Madness, and the movie the NFL would rather you passed on.

The memo. The memo. The memo. The anticipation for the release (or non-release) of the already infamous memo being peddled by the already infamous Devin Nunes has reached a fevered pitch — even by our Trump-era news cycle’s already infamous standards. “The memo, in essence, raises this question: Is there an anti-Trump bias at the FBI, and if so, does it justify placing the historically independent bureau under Trump’s personal control? It’s a question with profound implications for the health of American democracy, and one that explains why the fight over the memo’s release is the fight of the moment.” Vox: The 9 biggest questions about the Nunes memo, answered. They’ve even got an explainer in diagrams for those who prefer to receive such briefings with more pictures. Here’s my contrarian prediction — which might be proven wrong by the time you read it: Citing national security concerns, the memo will not be released because it may be more useful to Trump that way. If we don’t see it, he gets to frame its contents however he wants… That said, the general expectation is that it could be out as soon as Friday.

+ CNN: “Top White House aides are worried FBI Director Christopher Wray could quit if the highly controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools is released.” (Our kids are going to grow up thinking being FBI director is a temp job.)

+ Meanwhile, Bobby Three Sticks continues his investigation. The latest from the NYT: Mueller Zeros In on Story Put Together About Trump Tower Meeting.

+ The Atlantic on the perils of taking on the FBI.

2

Cape Fear

“People are queuing in long lines to buy water. Some shops have been sold out for a few days now. It seems like you have to be at the shop as soon as they open in order to get water.” Cape Town tightens water limits as the city moves ever closer to Day Zero.

3

Pole Position

Poland is finally taking a stand on the Holocaust. Unfortunately, that stand is several decades too late. And it’s the wrong stand. From BBC: “Poland’s Senate has approved a controversial bill making it illegal to accuse the Polish nation or state of complicity in the Nazi Holocaust. The bill, which sets fines or a maximum three-year jail term as punishment, must be signed off by the president before becoming law.”

4

More Profitable Than Drugs

“Joy’s new life would turn out to be nothing like what she had expected. Instead of working for a hairdresser, she fell into the trap set by traffickers who lure women into slavery and prostitution. More than 80% of women brought to Europe from Nigeria are unknowingly ‘sponsored’ by sex traffickers who have paid for their journey, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The rest will have paid the smugglers to get them to Europe, but once they get there, will be unlikely to escape the sex-trafficking rings.” From The Guardian: Migrants are more profitable than drugs: how the mafia infiltrated Italy’s asylum system. (Find someone in trouble and you’ll always find someone looking to exploit them further and make matters worse.)

+ It’s not only an issue in Europe. A few months ago during a law enforcement sex trafficking crackdown in the US, a 3-month-old and 5-year-old girl were rescued.

5

Briefer Madness

“The unprecedented move will affect thousands of people whose marijuana convictions brand them with criminal histories that can hurt chances of finding jobs and obtaining some government benefits.” San Francisco announces plans to wipe thousands of marijuana convictions off the books. For many people, this is the biggest part of the legalization story.

6

Doctor Who?

“Technologies such as the smartphone allow people to monitor their own health. The possibilities multiply when you add the crucial missing ingredients—access to your own medical records and the ability easily to share information with those you trust. That allows you to reduce inefficiencies in your own treatment and also to provide data to help train medical algorithms. You can enhance your own care and everyone else’s, too.” From The Economist: A revolution in health care is coming. Welcome to Doctor You. (This makes me feel less weird about the time my wife walked in on me giving myself a checkup…)

7

For Whom the Bell Tolls

“It’s not a headache. It’s not ‘getting your bell rung.’ You don’t have a bell. It’s a traumatic brain injury.” The film the NFL doesn’t want you to see: Concussion Protocol.

+ The Outline: Four ethicists walk into a Super Bowl party

8

Self Awareness

“We’ve been disappointed over the last year to see a lot of stories about how self-driving trucks are going to be this huge problem for truck drivers. That’s not at all what we think the outcome is going to be.” That’s the message from Uber. But they’re not the only ones who see it this way. Alexis Madrigal: Could Self-Driving Trucks Be Good for Truckers?

9

What Do You Stand For?

How many extra calories do you burn if you use a standing desk? “A new study may provide the most definitive answer to date … Standing does, in fact, burn calories, researchers found, just not that many: about 54 calories for a six-hour day of standing.” Of course, the downsides of sitting all day include factors other than calories (which is why I fully recline while doing NextDraft).

10

Bottom of the News

“The proposed wristbands would use ultrasonic tracking to identify the precise location of a worker’s hands as they retrieve items. One of the patents outlines a haptic feedback system that would vibrate against the wearer’s skin to point their hand in the right direction.” Amazon patents wristband that tracks warehouse workers’ movements.

+ Reminder: Tomorrow is Feel Good Friday. So send me an uplifting story from your neck of the woods.

+ This will be the first year Olympic Curling includes a mixed doubles competition. Meet the brother and sister team hoping to bring home gold. (I’ve grounded my kids for less than curling.)

+ The Paris Review collects some reviews of Paris from Trip Advisor. “Its pictures doesn’t make sense to me.”

+ I don’t recommend risking your life to climb to the top of famous buildings and statues. I do recommend looking at the resulting photos.

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