Our picksKilling People with Spreadsheets | Twitter’s Answer to Election Misinformation | California Burning, and more

California Thought It Could Delay Climate Disaster. Now Millions of Acres Are Burning. (Debra Kahn Politico)
The nation’s most populous state now seems incapable of protecting itself from a global catastrophe.

How Not to Kill People with Spreadsheets(David Gerard, Foreign Policy)
The U.K. government’s disastrous coronavirus error is another example of outsourcing gone wrong.

Sixteen ‘Boogaloo’ Followers Have Been Busted in 7 Days(Kelly Weill, Daily Beast)
The takedown of the plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was just the tip of the iceberg.

Michigan Terror Plot: Why Rightwing Extremists Are Thriving on Facebook (Lois Beckett, Guardian)
The platform provides tools for radicalization and coordinated violence, and critics say it’s been slow to ban dangerous groups

Twitter’s Answer to Election Misinformation: Make It Harder to Retweet(Shirin Ghaffary, Vox)
It’s a way to slow down the spread of false information and buy fact-checkers time, experts say.

Twitter’s Policy Changes Underscore the Election-Related Misinformation(Charlotte Klein, Vanity Fair)
The tech company is making it harder for users to spread misleading claims—and the White House isn’t happy.

Why Trump’s Rapid-Testing Plan Worries Scientists(Alexis C. Madrigal and Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic)
Experts were already divided on the right way to deploy new coronavirus tests. Then the White House barged ahead.

Team Trump Admits Its ‘Russiagate’ Head Fake Has Been a Flop(Asawin Suebsaeng and Spencer Ackerman, Daily Beast)
Loyalists like Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe are trying to craft a counter-narrative. But the country isn’t in the mood for the tale.

This November, America’s Safety Is on the Ballot(Stephen Slick, Foreign Policy)
In the popular imagination, espionage is all about lies, deceit, and deception. But the ability of the United States’ security agencies to warn against threats and inform sound foreign policies depends on a more elusive condition: trust. Slow to grow, easy to break, and painstaking to rebuild, trust is flagging in four essential intelligence relationships. The country will be less safe until it is restored. When Americans vote in November, this trust—and their nation’s safety—will be on the line.
The fabric of trust that allows U.S. intelligence to successfully complete its essential mission has been badly frayed—even destroyed—within key relationships. Americans are already less safe because of growing distrust in their intelligence, and these hazards will multiply without a change in political leadership. When Americans vote for a president in November, those who value the integrity and effectiveness of the country’s first line of defense should pick the candidate they judge best able to restore and sustain trust.

Facebook Takes Down Assets Linked to Russian Disinformation Outlet(Esteban Ponce de León and Lukas Andriukaitis, Medium)
The social network removed content connected to Strategic Culture Foundation, a disinfo network amplifying anti-Western sentiment