The Red Folder

Archived from June 3, 2024. 

Key stories for the week, brought to you by Lindsey Zhao and the Red Folder team.

Reading for the sake of reading sucks. Telling yourself to read to win a round is nice but ineffective. This condensed news brief helps you understand current domestic and international issues, analyze the news, and gives you opportunities to read more.

Domestic Stories

4 key domestic stories for the week:

1) The Verdict That Dictates Our Lives Ruhaan Sood

It was often described by reporters that throughout the entire verdict of the Trump hush money trial, Trump was motionless. Staid. I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t know what to consider if a foreman kept reading:


Guilty.

Guilty.

Guilty.


Throughout the trial, it was estimated that there was a mere less than 10% chance that Trump could be convicted on ALL charges. There were discrepancies in the case. Michael Cohen was considered unverifiable. The trial was in New York. Among other factors, one thing is clear. Donald J. Trump, as of May 30th, 2024, is a convicted felon in the state of New York. The first-ever former president, to even be charged with a class E felony. His sentencing is set for July 11th, just 4 days before the Republican National Convention (RNC) is posed to set Trump as the 2024 nominee for president. One person reciting the word “guilty” 34 times, though, is set to change our lives.


While the idea that a former president was even convicted of falsifying business records had been almost impossible to imagine, the real scale of such a historic case is still underestimated. In the hours after the verdict was delivered to the outside, Trump received an accumulated $52 million from his supporters in various large and small donations just representing how much power the incumbent nominee has, even though he’s a felon. It comes as an even bigger issue though, as voters (especially young), are faced with the daunting reality. What if I don’t like anyone that’s running for president? They aren’t wrong. In the 2 minutes it took for me to run through some of the wilder sides of Twitter (X), I found comments ranging from Biden being too old or incapable of running for president or the idea that felons can’t vote, yet run for president. 


This verdict has catastrophic effects. While it may be boosting the publicity and funds of Trump, it’s effectively tarnishing how we, the American population, are viewing our own leaders. When asked, ⅔ of the population expressed that they don’t believe Biden is physically fit to run, the same amount that also believes that Trump doesn’t have the confidence or respect to run. We are entering a period where the voters are turning to apathy due to the lack of qualities that our candidates offer. Trump's verdict only furthers the possibility of a complete disruption in how the American community will put their faith in our president..


Stay tuned to the Red Folder for a special report detailing the 2024 U.S. election.


Read more here:

2) Child Labor is Making a Return Lindsey Zhao

The usage of child labor has largely disappeared from American memory. The days of children being forced to work 60+ hours a week in dangerous labor conditions are supposed to be behind us- but that’s no longer the case. Since 2021, 30 states have enacted or proposed laws rolling back child-labor protections, including everything from lifting restrictions on hazardous work, extending work hours, lowering the age for children to serve alcohol, or allowing them to be paid less and less. That’s a dangerous precedent- and it’s resulted in the number of child labor violations increasing by 285% since 2015. 


On May 30th, 2024, the US Department of Labor sued the Korean car manufacturer Hyundai, alleging they were responsible for a 13 year old being worked up to 60 hours/week shaping steel sheets to be used in Hyundai cars. A company named SMART Alabama, which provides component parts to the regional branch of Hyundai, allegedly employed the 13 year old, who came from yet another company called Best Practice Service. All three companies are being jointly accused of employing the child.


The lawsuit alleges that in Alabama from 2021-2022, there was extensive, illegal use of migrant children at an auto plant belonging to SMART Alabama, including the 13 year old, who was unable to regularly attend middle school because of their exploitation, which was also corroborated by a Reuters report in 2022. 


Accused of violating child labor provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, this marks the first time Biden’s Dept. of Labor has held a major company accountable for child labor violations, and it’s also the first time the Labor Department has tried to punish a major company over alleged child labor violations at a subcontractor (or a company that works for a larger one). 


Hyundai has, quite predictably, denied responsibility for employing the child, further saying they’ve cooperated with all Labor Department investigations. They argue that the Labor Department is attempting to apply an unprecedented legal theory holding Hyundai accountable for the independent actions of their suppliers. Regardless, the case, filed in an Alabama federal court, wants the companies to give up all profits generated with the usage of child labor at the plant and a federal judge order requiring the ban of any future use of it. 


Migrant children are disproportionately likely to be targeted for child labor. Because they’re often unaccompanied, with little legal protection from the government, they’re terrifyingly likely to be exploited. In 2022, nearly 66% of all unaccompanied migrant children worked full time. 


The reason why child labor is increasing across the US? Legislators are weakening regulations. In Kentucky, Republican Rep. Phillip Pratt has sponsored HB255, which would relax state restrictions on child labor by removing the maximum number of hours teens can work on school nights. The bill also would bar Kentucky officials from setting child labor standards that are tougher than federal protections. In Ohio, Republican legislators are attempting to extend allowable work hours for minors, with the Ohio Restaurant Association testifying it would ‘cut down on screen time’. Arkansas’ Governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, signed a bill in March of 2023 that would make it easier for young teens to be employed. Companies are now no longer required to verify a worker’s age if they’re under 16, either. Even supposedly ‘anti-child labor states’ like California or New Jersey have seen far too many violations of child labor statutes, especially in industry and agriculture. 


From claiming it will make teens ‘work hard again’, to saying child labor is the only solution to America’s labor shortage, there’s a horrifying notion among some in our democracy that child labor is okay. Last year, 5800 cases of child labor violations were discovered in the US. One of them was Duvan Perez, a 16 year old who was killed on a Mississippi poultry farm after he ‘became entangled’ in a processing machine last summer. 


His death was entirely preventable. But while the US Department of Labor is trying to stop child labor violations, state legislators are only trying to undo it- and in turn, ensure thousands of more children are subjected to the same conditions as Duvan Perez. 


Read more here:


3) Hunter or Hunted Ella Fulkerson and Ruhaan Sood

Hunter Biden once stood as one of the most influential lobbyists and financial analysts of the decade. He held stocks/large capital gains in different countries around the world. Hunter kickstarted his own holdings company with his uncle that would amass a net worth of millions of dollars. It was certainly influential to see that the child of a later turned president, Joe Biden, was one of the “greats” in U.S. financial history.


We didn’t know at that time that Hunter had committed an alleged $11 million fraud of the U.S. government and began his 2-decade-long crack and cocaine addiction.


June 3rd slates the beginning of his criminal trial. Hunter is currently being charged with many different felony accounts; among the most serious are his financial fraudulent activity and dispossessing a weapon while under the hardened use of drugs. Biden himself admitted that his addiction was so grim that he often alienated his family and also adjusted himself to living in sleazy motels to cope.


Amidst the chaos of the Trump trials, eyes are turning to the Biden family to find a more stable and responsible family to elect. When Hunter violated his plea deal and later found himself in the grips of yet another federal felony: unlawful possession of a gun, Joe Biden only responded with “I love my son.”


This statement rings clear in the current situation after years of Biden dealing with the backlash against his late son, Beau; now he struggles to not only defend his living son from the accusations he’s facing, but also grapple with the accusations his late son receives and cannot himself defend. The Biden family has been under investigation previously and faced possible indictment for their eldest son before his passing, and now their only remaining child is facing similar charges. 


Recently we have seen many different charges being brought up for different politicians, including Marjorie Taylor Greene and former President Donald J. Trump. These two Republican Party members have argued that the reason for their trials is because of a conspiracy by the Biden family, yet the trial of Hunter Biden tells a totally different story. While the Republican politicians who claim conspiracy believe they are being hunted, the only people being hunted are the criminals who are spoiling the political sphere with their lack of integrity. Hunter falls into this tragic tale.


Soon though, it’s not wrong to point out that Hunter could entirely spoil his father's legacy, especially as the 2024 election nears. While other prospective candidates such as Donald Trump haven’t seen as much of a negative downturn with their own legal troubles, time will soon tell if Hunter will be hunted.


Read more here:


    4) New (and Improved) Hurricanes Paul Robinson


My hometown of Houston is no stranger to the hurricane; houses flooding is just a given in our coastal city, close to the Gulf of Mexico, where many hurricanes originate.


Summer is bad for two reasons: temperatures seldom drop below 100 degrees, and severe rainstorms often wreak havoc somewhere within the city limits. Not every hurricane is quite as severe as the ones that make the national news for weeks, but they still destroy property and rampage through neighborhoods, making FEMA a permanent fixture somewhere in our area virtually all summer long.


However, it looks like hurricane season could become a lot worse, not just in Houston, but around the country, on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The North Atlantic Ocean is now warmer than it has ever been, with 90% of the ocean at or near record high temperatures, the Gulf of Mexico being particularly warm. In the Pacific, El Nino (a phenomenon where the Pacific is warmer, causing more extreme weather) is likely to last until September in the form of El Nina, a similar effect with slightly lower temperatures. This leads to more evaporation from the ocean, causing more storms to form faster and to be more extreme when they do form.


Many areas around the US, particularly low income areas, have failed to adequately prepare for an especially extreme hurricane season. Backup generators, which can provide essential services such as air conditioning and in the case of those most vulnerable, such as the elderly, can save lives, are not widely distributed among many areas which are especially vulnerable.


Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is urging people to plan for natural disasters; the agency itself is facing a slew of problems with its funding, as disaster relief funds often runs out during hurricane season and Congress has refused to expand its budget.


What Congress doesn't realize when they refuse additional funding to FEMA is that many people who rely on FEMA do so because they can’t afford to make the kinds of plans FEMA is now asking them to make. Many Americans who are living below the poverty line cannot possibly afford to stockpile food, or to evacuate and then stay in another city. As Congress refuses to fund FEMA, and hurricanes start to get more extreme, it is likely that these will be the people who will be affected most.


Read more here:

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