Policy Over Pancakes

Maria Butina, a 30-year-old Russian gun-rights advocate, was arrested by the F.B.I. in July for charges of conspiracy and acting as an agent for the Russian Federation. The U.S. government alleges that Butina was part of an elaborate Kremlin-sponsored intelligence plot, dubbed the “Diplomacy Project,” designed to infiltrate Republican circles and persuade conservative frontrunners to be friendlier to Russia (The New York Times). Her targets? The National Rifle Association (NRA) and the National Prayer Breakfast.

Her boss was Alexander Torshin: billionaire Russian oligarch, deputy director of the Russian Central Bank, and suspected felon accused of illegally funneling money into the NRA. Referred to as her “funder” by Ms. Butina, Torshin helped his protégée build a network of contacts with Republican leaders in the NRA and illegally obtain a student visa in order for her to attend American University as a graduate student.

Butina, however, is hardly the only Russian spy accused of infiltrating the American political system. Jacob Golos, an undercover informant for the Soviet Union, established a phony travel agency in 1927 in order to curry favor with the American Communist Party. Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent, was sentenced to life in prison for selling U.S. secrets to Moscow in 2002. And in 2010, Richard and Cynthia Murphy were arrested for acting as covert operatives for the SVR, the modern equivalent of the KGB (The Council on Foreign Relations).

So why has Butina’s story garnered so much media attention?

Well, she happens to be young, tall, and attractive with fiery red hair. In other words, she’s pretty much the epitome of the Western fantasy of a Russian secret agent. She has been called the real-life version of Jennifer Lawrence in Red Sparrow; the living, breathing Marvel comic book character, Black Widow. And I lost track of how many times she has been referred to as a “Bond girl” on Twitter.

Western media hasn’t hesitated to use her sex appeal as click bait. In their descriptions of Ms. Butina, news outlets frequently call attention to her physical traits, especially her age and hair color. The New York Post nicknamed her “Russia’s new sexy red-headed spy,” The New York Times labeled her the “flame-haired graduate student,” and the Daily Mail identified her as “the red-headed Russian spy who offered sex for access.” The Guardian even quoted an acquaintance of Ms. Butina’s who said, “She did not behave in what I considered an entirely professional manner. She had an extra button or three unbuttoned.” Perhaps most unbelievably has been the circulation of pictures from a photo-shoot that Ms. Butina conducted with Russian GQ in which she poses with her pistol in an all-black leather ensemble and sky-high stilettos.

The only other Russian spy with the same level of name recognition and notoriety as Maria Butina is Anna Chapman. Unsurprisingly, she was also young, tall, and attractive with fiery red hair. And like Ms. Butina, she also became notorious for a risqué photo-shoot completely unrelated to her arrest or trial, this time featured in Maxim.

The consequences of the sexist portrayal of Ms. Butina have recently become apparent. Her defense attorney, Bob Driscoll, has accused the federal government of conducting a “sexist smear…to suggest that Ms. Butina is some kind of James Bond spy character.” He’s referring to the prosecutors’ allegations that Ms. Butina was trading sex for access and power, evidenced by a series of text messages she exchanged with a friend several years ago. After vehemently condemning what he calls the government’s “craze with her sex life,” which he believes has become an “irrelevant obsession,” Driscoll forced the prosecution to admit that they were wrong in accusing Ms. Butina of offering sex for a job.

Ms. Butina is expected to plead guilty on Thursday to acting as an agent for the Russian government, but I doubt this will be the last time we hear her name. After all, Americans live for stories like Maria Butina’s. We crave the salacious tales of espionage and intrigue by devious femme fatales, and we will likely continue to promote the trope in popular culture. My plea, however, is for us to divorce fantasy from fact and prioritize substance over sensation.

On August 7, 2004 Nashville Police found 43-year-old Johnny Allen lying face down in his bed, dead. They arrested 16-year-old Cyntoia Brown in connection with his death. Brown told police Allen had picked her up at a Sonic Drive-in for sex. At the time, she was living with a man she refers to as “Cut Throat” in a hotel. Cut Throat was sexually, physically, and emotionally abusive toward Cyntoia throughout their relationship and eventually forced her into prostitution. Cut Throat had ordered Cyntoia to go out and make money on the night of August 6, which is when Cyntoia met Allen. He brought her back to his home where he became violent, showed her his guns. Brown shot Allen in self-defense, out of fear for her life.

In August of 2006, Brown was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery. Prosecutors argued her real motive was robbery, and despite her young age of 16, she was tried as an adult. She was sentenced to two life sentences. Brown was not allowed to testify in her trial, and her attorneys failed to enter into evidence her traumatic childhood history and severe neurodevelopment disorder, as evident in her fetal alcohol disorder.

Cyntoia’s case gained massive publicity in the years following her trial. A documentary “Me Face Life: Cyntoia’s Story” by Dan Birman aired on PBS in 2011. As a result of Birman’s film and increasing activism regarding Cynotia’s case, law in Tennessee changed. Children under 18 can no longer be tried for prostitution, meaning that if Brown were tried today, she would be seen as a child human trafficking victim. She continues to be treated as a criminal rather than a victim of sex trafficking. In addition, in 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles violate the Eighth Amendment prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. This does not apply to Brown due to their automatic review of a sentence after 51 years, a period many advocates argue is a “virtual life sentence.”

Since then, Cyntoia continues to receive increased media coverage. Many celebrities such as Kim Kardashian West and Rihanna became aware of her story and advocated for her release, using the hashtag #FreeCyntoiaBrown. Kim Kardashian West took to twitter writing, “The system has failed. It’s heart breaking to see a young girl sex trafficked then when she has the courage to fight back is jailed for life! We have to do better & do what’s right.”

Last Thursday, Tennessee Supreme Court in Nashville ruled that Brown’s sentence did not violate the Eighth Amendment and therefore was not unconstitutional. They were able to come to this ruling based on a loophole prosecutors found that defines a life sentence as 60 years. The court wrote, “Under state law, a life sentence is a determinate sentence of 60 years.” Therefore, since Brown’s sentence is 51 years and not 60, it is not considered a life sentence and does not violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that makes life sentences unconstitutional for minors. Cyntoia will have to serve 51 years before she is eligible for parole.

Yesterday, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam said he is continuing the weigh whether to grant clemency to Cyntoia Brown. Governor Haslam was speaking at an event in Tennessee when Justin Laing, a higher-education professional and member of Black Lives Matter Nashville, approached the microphone during question time. He began by bringing up the case of Cyntoia Brown, arguing, “As a victim of sex trafficking and assault, this is an unjust sentence in the first place. She has not been treated as a victim of trafficking and not given the justice she deserves.” He then continued to address Haslam directly, saying “you have the power and ability to grant clemency to Cyntoia Brown, and so I ask when will you grant her clemency, what will be your legacy as you leave office, and how will you answer to this human rights violation that the state of Tennessee is committing by keeping her incarcerated?” Governor Haslam responded by saying he is reviewing “every aspect” of Cyntoia Brown’s case and that he will have a decision on clemency before he leaves office in six weeks. Governor Haslam has been presented with the opportunity to stand up to the way our justice system treats not only victims of sex trafficking, but also women and people of color. For the time being however, one can only hope he makes the right decision.

If you have gone to a Starbucks recently, you’ve probably noticed their bright green straws have disappeared, with a “straw-less lid” taking its place. The Seattle-based coffee chain announced a plan to eliminate its plastic straws completely by 2020. Starbucks is just one of the many coffee shops, restaurants, and bars, that have followed the anti-straw movement, opting instead for more sustainable alternatives such as paper ones, or Starbucks’ straw-less lid. It’s a big win for anti-straw advocates, but is it really a win for the environment?

After a video of a sea turtle with a straw stuck in its nose went viral in 2015, the anti-straw movement really took off. Another big driver in the anti-straw movement was the proliferation of pictures of the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” which many describe as a Texas-sized island of trash floating in the ocean. In reality, however, while oceanic debris is a huge concern for marine life, it is important to note that there are really no scientifically sound estimates for the size of these garbage patches, and NOAA refrains from referring to it as a “garbage patch,” fearing that image is misleading, and instead compares it to “flecks of pepper floating in a bowl of soup.” While a “Texas-sized island of trash,” sure is an effective flashy phrase employed by the media, it is important to not misrepresent an issue that carries grave consequences for our future.

Activists and media outlets like to claim that Americans use 500 million plastic straws every day. However, the source of this statistic actually turns out to be the result of a survey conducted by nine-year-old Milo Cress in his 2011 campaign “Be Straw Free.” Distinguished news outlets including The New York Times, National Geographic, and the National Park Service have reported this figure, validating the foundation the anti-straw movement stands on.

It is clear that up until now, the information the anti-straw movement has relied on is perhaps not very sound and credible. Admittedly, they did not have much information to rely on, as the garbage patch was not very well studied until now. A new study by Ocean Cleanup, published in Scientific Reports, set out to examine the contents of the patch.

So what is the patch really made of?

Microplastics make up 94 percent of an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic in the patch. But this only amounts to eight percent of the 79,000 total metric tons. The study found that fishing nets account for 46 percent of the trash, challenging the globally agreed on statistic: 20 percent from fishing materials and 80 percent from land.

George Leonard, the chief scientist at the Ocean Conservancy stated, “The interesting piece is that at least half of what they’re finding is not consumer plastics, which are central to much of the current debate, but fishing gear.” These “ghostnets,” abandoned nylon plastic fishing nets that remain in the marine ecosystem for long periods of time, accidentally capture marine animals, such as whales, seals, sea birds, and fish, who are left strangled, suffocated, or injured by the plastic netting.

So what can we do?

Of course, ditching a plastic straw for a more sustainable option is highly encouraged as a great way to reduce the amount consumer-produced plastic in the ocean. However, targeting the 46 percent of oceanic debris made up of fishing materials should be of utmost importance. According to Healthy Seas, the nylon plastic nets that most fishermen use are easy to collect, reprocess, and reuse. Many companies have started to create products from recycled nets, including big name brands Adidas and Volcom. A company called Bureo works with fishermen to incentivize the recycling of these plastic nylon nets. Bureo sells recycled nets to create the blocks in the Jenga Oceam game, the first board game made from recycled fishing nets. Clearly, there are many creative options available for preventing the buildup of plastic fishing nets in the ocean, one only has to dispel the myth surrounding consumer plastic for this solution to gain traction.