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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.
Wild Species Support Half of World’s Population, UN Report Finds (Maria)
The author writes, “Wild plants, animals, fungi and algae support half of the world’s population, but their future use is threatened by overexploitation, according to a new assessment by leading scientists. From the 10,000 known wild species that humans harvest for food to the firewood that one in three people need for cooking, nature is key to the livelihoods and survival of billions of people in developed and developing countries, says a new UN report. Amid a global food crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the study offers insights into how humans can more sustainably use resources from ecosystems … with a summary approved this week by 139 countries in the German city of Bonn.”
Is a Senator Exempt From Giving Testimony in an Election Fraud Probe? (Sean)
From The Washington Post: “Why is a local prosecutor dragging Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) into a Fulton County, Ga., grand jury? On July 5, the judge overseeing a special grand jury approved a subpoena of Graham as part of an investigation into whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies tried to corrupt the state’s role in the national election and steal the franchise of millions of Georgia voters. Graham’s lawyers say the grand jury is a ‘fishing expedition.’ We say it’s anything but.”
4 Days in January: Trump Push for Capitol Coda to 2020 Vote (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “It would have been something never quite before seen in America — a defeated president, Donald Trump, standing at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with a mob of supporters, some armed, contesting the election outcome. Trump intended to go there that day. His allies had been planning for the moment, envisioning the president delivering a speech outside the building or even entering the House chamber amid objections to Congress certifying the 2020 election results for Democrat Joe Biden. … But White House lawyers thought it was a ‘terrible’ idea. Counsel Pat Cipollone warned that Trump could be charged with ‘every crime imaginable’ if he joined a mob on Capitol Hill trying to interfere with the certification.”
As Abortion Ban Is Reinstated, Doctors Describe ‘Chilling Effect’ on Women’s Care (Sean)
From NOLA.com: “In the days following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a Louisiana doctor prescribed a medication called Cytotec to make the insertion of an IUD, the most effective form of birth control, less painful. The medication has several uses and is often prescribed for stomach ulcers. It’s also the brand name for misoprostol, the second part of a two-drug cocktail used to terminate a pregnancy. Walgreens called the physician, Dr. Alexandra Weiss Band, to ask if the prescription was for an abortion, according to an affidavit filed July 5 in a New Orleans Civil District Court case challenging Louisiana’s trigger law. When she told them it was for an IUD insertion, the pharmacist refused to give out the medication anyway.”
76 Fake Charities Shared a Mailbox. The IRS Approved Them All. (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “The ‘American Cancer Society of Michigan,’ state authorities say, was a fake charity. And not even a good fake. It was not in Michigan, for one thing. When the group applied to the Internal Revenue Service to become a tax-exempt nonprofit in 2020, it listed its address as a rented mailbox on Staten Island. It was not the American Cancer Society, either: In fact, the real American Cancer Society had already warned the I.R.S. that the leader of the sound-alike group, Ian Hosang, was running a fraud. The I.R.S. approved the group anyway. Soon after, it also approved another operation run by Mr. Hosang: ‘the United Way of Ohio,’ which was also registered to the Staten Island address.”
New Studies Link Air Pollution With Autoimmune Disorders, Chronic Diseases (Mili)
The author writes, “The link between air pollution and autoimmune diseases just got a little clearer thanks to a massive study that dove into the health records of over 6 million Canadians. Led by public health researcher Naizhuo Zhao of McGill University, the study found that long-term exposure to air pollutants was associated with a slightly increased risk of developing lupus, Sjogren’s syndrome, scleroderma, and other less common systemic autoimmune diseases.”
VIDEO: The Ancient Golden Treasure Rewriting Danish History (Mili)
From the BBC: “A chance discovery is shedding new light on early Norse history, after two old school-friends, armed only with a metal detector, stumbled across a gold treasure trove. More than 20 gold artifacts, weighing almost a kilo, were found buried in a field in the Danish village of Vindelev. Hidden for almost 1,500 years, the treasure includes Roman medallions and ornate pendants called ‘bracteates’ — some as large as a saucer. There are mysterious inscriptions and never-seen-before runes, which researchers think are some of the earliest references to Norse gods. So could Vindelev have been the seat of power for a previously unknown Iron Age king or chieftain?”
