Foreign diseases (not COVID-19), Olympic families, hair dye, and other top Opinion reads
From mysterious diseases to experimenting with hair dye in quarantine, here are some of our top Opinion reads you may have missed.
In today's fast-paced news environment, it can be hard to keep up. For your weekend reading, we've started in-case-you-missed-it compilations of some of the week's top USA TODAY Opinion pieces. As always, thanks for reading, and for your feedback.
— USA TODAY Opinion editors
1. 'Doctors are still stunned': How did foreign bacteria leave a Texas girl with brain damage?
By Alison Young
"Eventually a test found an organism growing in Lylah’s blood that initially eluded identification. It was only after a neurosurgeon took a small sample from Lylah’s brain that the hospital was able to confirm this curly haired little girl from a small Texas town had been infected with deadly foreign bacteria that aren’t supposed to be sickening people in the United States."
2. Let's channel our anger over the FBI and Nassar and save the children
By Rachael Denhollander
"Reading the report is painful – the betrayal runs deep. But perhaps just as agonizing is the reality that despite knowing the truth (something most survivors never get), there are still no consequences for the bad actors who allowed more than 100 children to be sexually violated."
3. How to get Gen Z vaccinated against COVID? Our work for the Biden campaign holds clues.
By Adrian Montgomery
"Gen Z has a totally different relationship to celebrities. They’ve grown up engaging directly with their favorite content creators. On social platforms, they message with these people – who are, quite often, close to their own age. Nowhere is this more clear than in the world of gaming. Gen Z watches more eSports than traditional sports, a study by Bank of America found. They see their favorite celebrities more as peers. They don’t want these influencers telling them what to do. "
4. Britney Spears is a cautionary tale for the coming massive transfer of baby boomer wealth
By Lisa MacCarley
"As Americans, we should all be wondering how this could be happening, and we should be equally concerned about whether it could happen to any of one of us. Again and again, I have documented the heartbreak in videos of clients who are cut off from seeing their own parents and children. Abusive conservatorships can affect anyone, including members of happy families; there are no boundaries and no one is immune."
5. Even Olympians need their moms. But my daughter will have to compete in Tokyo alone.
By Nakela Irby
"As a parent, seeing my child’s dreams come true by making the U.S. Olympic team is true happiness and a huge breath of fresh air. We had a family celebratory dinner to celebrate Lynna, but then came the shock."
6. A pile of forgotten shoes snapped me back to pre-COVID reality. But the aftershocks won't stop.
By Jill Lawrence
"But then real normal began to reappear, and with it the gradual recognition that after the lockdowns and quarantines and social isolation, the constant undercurrent of fear, the shadow of sickness and death so much darker than before, things had not in fact been normal. And that we were changed in ways we had not noticed or predicted."
7. FBI allows sexual predator Nassar to go unchecked. His survivors must process another painful betrayal.
By Suzette Hackney
"Instead of listening and then acting, according the report, the FBI violated agency procedures, made false statements and exhibited 'extremely poor judgment' – all while allowing a sexual predator to go unchecked and continue his reign of terror."
8. Police should stop making minor traffic stops that too often turn into major tragedies
By The Editorial Board
"But how about starting with one simple change? What if police stopped pulling over drivers – Black or white – for technical infractions that have nothing to do with safety?"
9. I was sexually assaulted in prison. Overhaul the system to protect the trans community.
By Grace DeTrevarah
"That rape has stayed with me, like a residue that you can’t wash off. Maybe because I was caught unaware in a space that was usually safe. Or maybe it was the insult of the cigarettes, which felt like a final blow to make me feel cheap. It wasn’t the first time I was raped or the most violent. But it was a devastating reminder that there are no safe places in prison."
10. Trying to prove I'm not aging, one box of hair dye, one pair of cool shoes at a time
By Connie Schultz
"I wanted to join the ranks of women who, isolated from hair salons during the pandemic, proudly declared themselves forever gray. Wow, all those photos. So inspiring."
11. My best friend died in Iraq. I might not want to talk about it, but I want people to ask.
By Garrett Cathcart
"Some veterans want to talk about their service, and some don’t. Some want to talk about our care after service, and some don’t. But it never stops mattering that people want to know, and that they support us after we take the uniform off."
