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Sunday

20

January 2019

2

COMMENTS

What I’m Reading – 20 January 2019

Written by , Posted in What I'm Reading

US Government Shutdown

“By Sunday afternoon, more than 300 pizzas had been delivered to 49 control centres across the US, estimated Peter Duffy, the president of the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association. “It was a true grassroots movement,” Mr Duffy said, explaining that the initiative started with a few Canadian controllers wanting to show their colleagues across the border in Anchorage, Alaska, that they were thinking of them.” US shutdown: Canadian air traffic controllers send pizza to US workers (BBC)

Shitty Shit Tr*mp or His Supporters Do

“Without so much as a unified database in place, the government was left scrambling to meet the court ordered deadline. Finding these children at all required a crisis management task force at the Office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response to mine dozens of systems for adults and children with the same last name, who were apprehended at the same place on the same day. Government staffers manually reviewed the case files of the roughly 12,000 children in ORR’s custody at the time of the court order, and relied on shelters to report any children they believed were separated and within their care.” How the Feds Failed to Track Thousands of Separated Children (by Issie Laposky for Wired)

Substance Use Disorder

“Unfortunately, some Washingtonians resist bringing treatment programs to their communities, believing a common misconception that new locations for treatment (brick-and-mortar clinics, mobile clinics and syringe exchanges) will bring problems for communities. Treatment programs do not cause more people to use opioids or bring more criminal activity. They simply make medical therapy easily available to those who already have opioid use disorder. Studies show that criminal activity, recidivism, transmission of diseases like HIV, death and costs to the community from these issues actually decrease with medical treatment of opioid use disorder. By bringing treatment to those that need it, we could help not only those individuals, but also the families and communities most affected by the opioid crisis.” Opioid deaths are preventable — don’t NIMBY treatment centers (by Kathryn M. Stadeli for Seattle Times Op-Ed)

Racism and White Supremacy

“A survey for the Guardian of 1,000 people from minority ethnic backgrounds found they were consistently more likely to have faced negative everyday experiences – all frequently associated with racism – than white people in a comparison poll. The survey found that 43% of those from a minority ethnic background had been overlooked for a work promotion in a way that felt unfair in the last five years – more than twice the proportion of white people (18%) who reported the same experience.” Revealed: the stark evidence of everyday racial bias in Britain (by Robert Booth and Aamna Mohdin for The Guardian)

“I was hired at WJTV after breaking one of the biggest stories of the decade. The officer involved shooting death of a teen named Mike Brown in my Ferguson, Missouri neighborhood. His death sparked change and helped ignite the “Black Lives Matter” movement that we know today.
However, when I pitched stories about race in Mississippi, I was told the stories “are not for all people.” My boss constantly complained about the “types” of stories I pitched and shared on my personal social media accounts. He explained over and over that he didn’t want my brand to grow and denied me the basic necessities to properly anchor “WJTV This Morning,” such as access to review scripts on the desk before I was forced to read them on air.” Why I disappeared from WJTV in Jackson, Mississippi. (Brittany Noble)

“So, let me throw my voice into the ring: my Black skin and Jewish soul will be at the Women’s March in D.C. on January 19, and I am proud and humbled to march alongside Mallory, Sarsour, my LGBTQ family, my immigrant family, my Jewish family, my Palestinian family, my indigenous family and all the other marginalized communities who are ready to show up and show out because kids are still in cages, my body is my choice and ultimately, my life and our lives depend on our collective liberation.” Dear White Jews: Stop Using My Existence As A Talking Point (by Rachel Faulkner for Blavity)

“According to my data, the average Yelp reviewer connotes “authentic” with characteristics such as dirt floors, plastic stools, and other patrons who are non-white when reviewing non-European restaurants. This happens approximately 85 percent of the time. But when talking about cuisines from Europe, the word “authentic” instead gets associated with more positive characteristics. This quote from a reviewer commenting on popular Korean barbecue restaurant Jongro illustrates the bias: “we went for this authentic spot with its kitschy hut decor much like those found in Korea” (Celine N. 2016). Even though it’s possible Celine N. liked the decor at the restaurant, “kitschy” is not a descriptor generally used in reviews serving modern Western cuisine. For example, a review from French restaurant La Grenouille reads: “Old elegance at its best! Yes, the ambiance is lovely with all the fresh flowers” (Alexandra C. 2013).” Yelp Reviewers’ Authenticity Fetish Is White Supremacy in Action (by Sara Kay for Eater)

Labor Rights

“But it’s not just an issue of pay. Video game developers often face health problems that become more of a challenge due to health care or other benefits not being offered to contract workers. Game development is much like the work done in the movie industry in this way: A large percentage of the creative workforce isn’t full time, but instead hired on a per-contract basis to work on a specific project. A union can help. Steve Kaplan is an international representative with IATSE, a labor union representing workers in the theater, film, television, and trade show businesses. He says that health insurance coverage is one of the biggest reasons that animators, technicians, and stage workers of all kinds have unionized.” Game developers need to unionize (by Tim Colwill for Polygon)

Some Good Things

“Its 14,000 square metres of floor space and capacity for 18,000 exhibits puts it in league with the National Museum of African American History in Washington. Its range of exhibits is, however, more far-reaching. The high-ceilinged exhibition halls include Africa Now, showcasing contemporary African art and The Caravan and the Caravel, which tells the story of the trade in human beings – across the Atlantic and through the Sahara – that gave rise to new communities of Africans in the Americas.” Museum of Black Civilisations aims to ‘decolonise knowledge’ (by Amandla Thomas-Johnson for Al-Jazeera)

“Jasmin Paris, 35, completed the Montane Spine Race – from Derbyshire to the Scottish borders – in 83 hours, 12 minutes and 23 seconds. The vet, who lives at Gladhouse Reservoir, said the race was “brutal”. Mrs Paris’ sponsor, inov-8, said her achievement was “one of the greatest stories” in the sport.” Nursing mother smashes 268-mile Montane Spine Race record (by Angie Brown for BBC)

2 Comments

  1. Marisa
    • Ashley Kelmore

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