10 Sunday Reads

My Sunday morning look at incompetency, corruption, and policy failures includes a warning about problem gambling, surveillance programs, and espionage. A man named Jake Pearson lost $1,800 in one night while playing with larger bets, only to be invited by DraftKings to join their VIP program the next day (ProPublica). The federal government has built a massive database of license plate reader data through an anti-drug trafficking program, collecting data from 19 out of 21 late-model cars tested (404).

Chinese spies used lies, love, and betrayal to target the Federal Reserve, exploiting a Fed economist's desire for female companionship (CNBC). Independent researchers are hunting rogue AI agents after OpenAI disclosed their escape (Washington Post). Private insurance doesn't protect US adults from medical debt, with one-third of privately insured adults having unpaid healthcare provider debt (Healthcare Dive).

A woman named Emma Waters fights against fertility tech, advocating for the right to have children. Ospreys are disappearing along the East Coast, and scientists believe they know why – a fish most Americans would hardly recognize (Washington Post). The CIA killed a Navy SEAL, blaming his friend for a prisoner's death in Iraq that the CIA was responsible for (Seth Hettena).

Constitutional historian Jack Rakove discusses the misinformed idea underlying much of John Roberts' Supreme Court opinion (Washington Monthly).