9 Feature Stories You Can't Miss This Week: Snitches, Seers, And Soft Serve

This week for BuzzFeed News, Albert Samaha details the tragic story of a prison correctional officer who reported inmate abuse. Read that and these other great stories from BuzzFeed and around the web.

1. A Suicide On CO Row — BuzzFeed News

Carl Costas for BuzzFeed News

Scott Jones loved being a correctional officer at California’s High Desert State Prison. Then he saw his colleagues commit enough abuses that he saw no choice but to break the code of silence, turning himself into a pariah in a neighborhood called CO Row. Read it at BuzzFeed News.

2. The Fortune-Teller of Kabul — The Guardian

Jim Huylebroek

For centuries, writes May Jeong, mystics have channelled the hopes and fears of Afghans. With the nation in turmoil, their services are as popular as ever. "When Arab Shah began telling fortunes nearly two decades ago, most visitors came to see him about matters of love or money; now they chiefly come to ask how they can leave the country." Read it at The Guardian.

3. The U.S.-Led Coalition Bombing Syria Has Killed More Civilians Than It Admits — BuzzFeed News

Courtesy of Talha Amouri

As the crisis in Syria continues to unfold, Mike Giglio speaks to survivors on the border about civilian casualties in U.S. airstrikes. “What we saw with our own eyes was unreal — the houses were completely gone. Our job was to collect the body parts. The worst thing was the children. It’s still in my mind.” Read it at BuzzFeed News.

4. The Cold War — Epic Magazine

Robbie McClaran

David Wolman and Julian Smith get the scoop on a bitter rivalry between two Salem, Oregon ice cream vendors. "Efrain had arrived on the Salem ice cream scene like a scourge, flouting any tradition of fair play. Rick had heard from Keizer’s drivers about the marauder and his ungentlemanly tactics: tailgating, stealing customers, trespassing on turf." Read it at Epic Magazine.

5. Once A Pariah, Now A Judge — The New York Times

Credit Brandon Thibodeaux for The New York Times

When Phyllis Randolph Frye, the U.S.'s first openly transgender judge, came out four decades ago, she could not have imagined how large the movement would become in her lifetime — nor that she would be considered one of its pioneers, explains Deborah Sontag. "Caitlyn Jenner stands on the shoulders of somebody like Phyllis Frye.” Read it at the New York Times.

6. The Soho House Plan For World Domination — GQ

GQ

"Until I began spending basically every day at Soho House, I really didn't know what it was," writes Alice Gregory about the rapidly expanding hotel and members' club chain. Though Soho House may be best known for rooftop pools and Sex & The City mentions, Gregory explores its recent transition into a coworking space for the young, freelance, and techie. Could old-school members' clubs become popular again? Read it at GQ.

7. The U.S. Asylum System Is Completely Overwhelmed — BuzzFeed News

David Noriega / Via BuzzFeed News

Asylum claims have grown sixfold in the past three years, overpowering the U.S. immigration system’s ability to handle them, reports David Noriega. “I’ve been practicing asylum law for 20 years. My opinion, and the opinion of most private attorneys who practice asylum law, is that the asylum adjudication system simply no longer works.” Read it at BuzzFeed News.

8. How To Survive A Footnote — n+1

Melissa Doherty via n+1

From ACT UP protests to Human Rights Campaign galas, Emily Bass explores what's left of AIDS activism in the after — "after the dying, after the government neglect, after the quack remedies and homeopathic pipe dreams" — years. "The fight against AIDS and the fight for LGBT rights haven’t been the same fight for a long time." Read it at n+1.

9. ‘Yankees Suck! Yankees Suck!’ — Grantland

Grantland

Amos Barshad recounts the twisted, true story of the drug-addled, beer-guzzling hardcore punks who made the most popular T-shirts in Boston history. “We started with two grand and we must have made it back the first night. The next week we bought twice as many shirts. Then the next week, twice as many shirts. That was the curve. Exponential.” Read it at Grantland.