RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week
RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week
August 20 to August 26
Featured Investigation
North Korea is close to being able to launch a nuclear attack against the United States, the New York Times reports. Although the nation faces several technical challenges, they seem solvable in the near-term.
Here's a rundown of the issues the Times explores in some depth:
- Problem: A vehicle that can survive re-entry.
Solution Status: A crude version by next year, if not already.
- Problem: Make a bomb that can fit in a missile.
Solution Status: Probably already completed.
- Problem: Improve accuracy to hit intended target.
Solution Status: Not perfect, but close enough.
- Problem: Make a more powerful bomb.
Solution Status: In the works. Arsenal probably includes Hiroshima-strength bombs, not hydrogen bombs which are 1,000 times stronger.
- Problem: Get past United States defenses.
Solution Status: Nobody knows for sure as it depends as much on U.S. ingenuity.
Here's how the Times reporters – six bylines are included – end their article:
How will we know when the North Koreans have truly attained the ability to threaten the United States? A friend recently asked [Ian] Williams [a missile defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies]. “I kind of just shrugged my shoulders and said, well, you're going to see a bright light,” he said.
Many experts say the North Koreans are well on their way, and they expect the first serious deployments next year. Whether the rogue state's possession of the ultimate weapon will change the world remains to be seen. In the best case, it could be just another in a long series of unthinkable standoffs the world has learned to live with over the course of two atomic centuries.
Other Noteworthy Articles and Series
Cartels Use Drones to Smuggle Drugs
Washington Times
Drug cartels don't have to rely on faulty hidden compartments in cars or busted balloons in human mules when they smuggle hard drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Meth and heroin are lighter than marijuana, so they can fly over the border attached to drones. Cartels can now pinpoint delivery spots using drones all while avoiding major border patrol inspection sites.
AccuWeather App Sends Location Data When Sharing is Off
ZDNet
Popular weather app, Accuweather, has been accused of sharing users' location data even when they opt out. This news comes after customers learned that 500 apps in Google's Play Market contained backdoors that allowed developers to install spyware. Researchers were able to use the same data collected by Accuweather to locate a phone within a few meters.
What Made Dylann Roof Hate
GQ
Dylann Roof became the first person sentenced to die for a federal hate crime in the history of the U.S. after he gunned down nine praying church members in Charleston, South Carolina. From his white working-class origins and few friends in school to an obsession with his own ancestry and the "purity" of his blood, GQ dives deep to see what drove him to murderous hate.
Police Tasers Can Be as Deadly as Guns
Reuters
Stun guns are supposed to be a non-lethal alternative to handguns, but people are still dying after being tased by police. Taser International insists that its weapons are almost never to blame when someone dies after being stunned, but a new Reuters investigation suggests otherwise. While some victims have underlying heart issues, in over 150 cases the taser was listed on autopsies as the cause of death or as a contributing factor.
He Tried To Silence Witnesses To His Crimes
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Eddie Powe told the police who had shot him just before he died on a Milwaukee street in a dispute involving women, drugs and money. But the authorities needed more than his dying words, they needed to find eyewitnesses. The shooter Powe named had the same idea, and he hunted them down with deadly intent.
What the Butler Saw at the Plaza
Bloomberg
Drawing rose-scented baths, delivering condoms without interruption, searching for chocolate covered blueberries and calming down a guest thrown into hysterics because her daughter had to blow her nose into toilet paper- where's the Kleenex! - such is the life of the 11 butlers who work at the Plaza Hotel.
