Category: Domestic Affairs,

You probably are swallowing a credit card’s weight in plastic every week

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Environment,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

This plastic contamination comes from “microplastics” — particles smaller than five millimeters — which are making their way into our food, drinking water and even the air.

…The average person consumes as many as 1,769 particles of plastic every week just by drinking water — bottled or from the tap. But there could be large regional variations. It quotes a 2018 study that found twice as much plastic in water in the United States and India than in European or Indonesian tap water.

…Shellfish is the second biggest source of plastic ingestion, with the average person consuming as many as 182 microparticles — 0.5 grams — from this per week. The report says this is because “shellfish are eaten whole, including their digestive system, after a life in plastic polluted seas.”

…Globally, more than 330 million metric tons of plastic is produced each year, and global plastic production is expected to triple by 2050.

…[When] microplastics are shown to damage human health, it will be very difficult to remove them from the environment.

“Therefore we need to tackle plastic pollution at its very source [and] stop it from getting into the nature in the first place,” [Kavita Prakash-Mani, global conservation director at WWF International] told CNN, stressing that the priority should be reducing plastic production [emphasis: peanut gallery].

You could be swallowing a credit card’s weight in plastic every week – CNN

hmmmm

Mississippi residents flooded out for four months think ecosystem-devastating pumps could save them

On By peanutgallerynhIn Environment,, Gulf Coast Region,, Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

“There are layers of reasons why this is a bad project,” said Melissa Samet, senior counsel at the National Wildlife Federation, who has followed the project for decades, ”but worst of all is it really gives a false promise of hope to people who are suffering from flooding.”

…Many residents believe there is a solution to their persistent, yearly flooding woes — if only the government would cut through the red tape to enact it. Locals like Deere believe that an unfinished Army Corps of Engineers project known as the Yazoo Pumps, a potential drain for the levee system that protects the Delta, would hold back the floodwaters that regularly threaten almost 20,000 people here.

…Residents of the region, local farmers and Mississippi politicians are calling for the revival of the pumps — a project vetoed by then-President George W. Bush’s administration, called “one of the worst projects ever conceived by Congress” by the late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain in 2004, and endlessly decried by environmental advocates.

…The project has been debated for almost 80 years, with frustration and anger building with the passing time.

….Environmental advocates and longtime civil servants who have worked on the project, however, argue that the pumps come at a high cost, potentially draining tens of thousands of vital wetland acres that supports one of the most unique wildlife habitats in the country.

…Conservationists say the Delta’s bottomland hardwood wetlands create one of the most important ecosystems in the country. Twenty percent of the nation’s ducks, 450 different species, including 257 species of birds, rely on these wetlands’ natural resources.

They [would] be devastated by the pumps, according to the EPA’s veto, which said that [up to] 67,000 acres of wetlands could be drained if the pumps were installed.

…“It was a hard decision because EPA knew the area needed flood protection but our analysis of widespread environmental impacts, costs, and other complications fully justified the veto.”

…Buyouts, wetland reforestation and raised homes and roadways are ideas proposed by Shabman in another report that he produced for the EPA about potential alternatives. Environmental advocates, however, claim local leaders were never curious to explore such ideas because they didn’t come with expensive construction contracts benefiting a small number of people in Mississippi.

…Because of those rising waters, Branning entered his property into the Wetlands Preserve Program in 1999, which provides him compensation for the land that he can’t farm if he allows it to be reforested.

“We did that because the program added value, in my opinion, to the land because the land had been cleared and being farmed unsuccessfully numerous years,” he said. “It may do okay for two years and then in two years the high water comes.”

…Branning said he’s happy that it’s helping the environment and noticed that some wildlife has returned, which is good for him as a hunter.

Mississippi residents flooded out for four months say the EPA could save them but won’t

Oy….

Lawsuit Claims Amazon’s Alexa Devices Record Without Consent, Against N.H. Law

On By peanutgallerynhIn Granite State,, Media and Culture,, Modern Parenting,, Privacy,Leave a comment

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Seattle claims the voice-controlled virtual assistant devices permanently records millions of children without their consent or parents’ consent.

It claims the devices can identify individual voices and Amazon could ask for consent when a new person uses the device.

Lawsuit Claims Amazon’s Alexa Devices Record Without Consent, Against N.H. Law | New Hampshire Public Radio

hmmm

Memphis protesters hurl bricks and rocks at police in outrage over a man’s death

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Local Interest,, Race,Leave a comment

What started as a protest over the death of a Memphis man devolved into chaos after demonstrators threw bricks at police and vandalized squad cars, officials said.

At least 36 officers and deputies were injured in the melee Wednesday night, police said Thursday. All those hospitalized have been released. Three people have been charged with disorderly conduct and one of them also with inciting a riot.

“For some reason, they turned their anger toward the Memphis Police Department.”

Memphis protesters hurl bricks and rocks at police, injuring 36 officers in outrage over a man’s death – CNN

“Some reason,” indeed.

The article attempts to make it sound like the officers just stood there and peacibly allowed protestors to throw things at them. I find that hard to believe.

36 officers and deputies, how many civilians were injured?

We still don’t know the full story about the ballots destroyed in Broward County

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

I had concerns, as did others, and as a result, I asked to inspect the ballots cast. Election officials refused my several requests to see the ballots, and after months of delay, we filed a lawsuit under Florida’s public-records laws. Three months later, Broward County election officials simply destroyed all of the thousands of ballots cast in my race. The Circuit Court subsequently ruled in my favor and found that the ballot destruction violated state law, Florida administrative regulations and federal law.

The destruction of those ballots was a federal crime, and the destruction of public records during a public-records lawsuit is a crime under state law. Yet, not one state or federal law-enforcement agency has conducted any investigation into Broward’s illegal destruction of the ballots cast in my election.

…Now we have learned that two Florida county election offices apparently were hacked, but federal officials insist on making any information concerning the hack top secret. One important defense against a cyber-attack is paper ballots — so that an audit can take place to verify the results. Given the hacking incident and the surrounding secrecy, it is even more imperative that the paper ballots themselves are maintained according to state and federal law.

The public should be able to see the basis for the claim that hackings did not alter the results of any elections in Florida in 2016. At this point, it is unclear which law-enforcement agency is even making such a claim. 

…Federal and state officials are now spending a lot of money in cyber-security grants to the software vendors that run the electronic machines. But such additional spending will not reduce the inherent vulnerability of our electronic election systems — from the voter registration rolls that enable targeted and mass electronic purging of voters, to the electronic scanners that count the ballots at the local voting precincts.

…“If the software is tampered with, what do you think is going to happen if you rescan the ballots? You’ll get the same answer back,” Sancho said. “The presumption that the voting machine is already correct is a silly presumption to begin with. It guarantees you won’t find the problem, if there is one.”

We still don’t know the full story about the ballots destroyed in Broward County | Opinion | Miami Herald

What tha… fa…..

F’ing Florida.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Whistleblower doctors decry immigrant family detention

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Modern Parenting,, Race,Leave a comment

“Detention of innocent children should never occur in a civilized society, especially if there are less restrictive options, because the risk of harm to children simply cannot be justified,” they wrote.

…”Each passing day of continued detention of children — and no acknowledgment of the risk that we have reported — alarms me even more,” Allen told CNN in a recent interview.

…Allen and McPherson say they documented their concerns numerous times in reports filed with the Department of Homeland Security during the Obama administration, and felt like the people in power were listening. But they say two things prompted them to speak more publicly about the matter after Trump took office: the spike in family separations at the border and moves to increase family detention rather than scale it back.

  • Significant weight loss in children that went largely unnoticed by the facility medical staff, including a 16-month-old baby who lost nearly a third of his body weight over 10 days during a diarrheal disease but was never given IV fluids or sent to an emergency room.
  • A 27-day-old baby who had a seizure from bleeding inside his skull that was missed by the facility on arrival.
  • Numerous children who suffered severe finger injuries while confined in a facility that was designed as a medium-security prison for adults.

“This is not a story about people in these facilities not caring about children. … It is about good people trying to keep children safe in an environment that’s very dangerous to them by design, if not intent. And they’ve been asked to execute deeply flawed and I would even say mean-spirited policies, and to do so in such a way that minimizes harms to children,” Allen says. “It’s an impossible task.”

“Even if you could pour money and resources into properly staffing these facilities and giving them programming,” Allen says, “the simple act of detaining and indefinite detention … is irreparably harmful to children.”

…And while they’ve been lauded by colleagues and friends, there are two things McPherson and Allen say haven’t happened since they wrote their first letter to Congress.

The doctors haven’t been asked to inspect any family detention facilities again.

And the government’s family detention policies haven’t changed.

…In budget requests, officials have repeatedly outlined plans to increase family detention capacity. The White House’s proposed 2020 budget includes a plan to expand capacity to 10,000 family detention beds, a request that would quadruple the number of beds currently funded.

…”The practice of detaining children and families is no longer an issue of policy dispute,” they wrote in their March letter to Congress. “It is a willful policy that knowingly inflicts serious harm to children, including risk of death.”

The doctors say the problems detailed in their letters illustrate how difficult it is to provide care to vulnerable children in relatively small detention facilities.

“Now you take that, and you try to rapidly upscale it. This is going to be a disaster,” Allen says.

…Because of policy decisions, Allen says, children and families are placed in confinement first, with appropriate triage and medical care occurring later.

“That’s exactly the wrong way to do it,” he says. “As doctors, we say, triage them, make sure they’re safe, make sure they’re healthy, and then put them through the process of asylum.”

… “Our goal is to protect children. But if we fail them, we sure as hell want to leave a written record for history that documents who is notified of an impending harm to children — and who did nothing about it.”

Whistleblower doctors decry immigrant family detention – CNN

sigh…

Toxic Stress Affects How Kids Learn

On By peanutgallerynhIn Education,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Race,Leave a comment

Children with low family income—children with a family income of $20,000 or less—are more likely to encounter threatening experiences and the “toxic stress” that accompanies it. They also find black children generally have more exposure to these experiences than white children.

…These threatening experiences cause particular physiological reactions: When these reactions happen too often, the body’s responses can become chronic and disrupt normal processes.

…Schools can be a hindrance, the report notes, if they have unsympathetic or threatening adults—or they can help, providing mental-health services that enable children to process trauma and improve their academic performance.

Toxic Stress Affects How Black and Poor Kids Learn – CityLab

hmmmmmmmm

Tackle Poverty’s Effects to Improve School Performance

On By peanutgallerynhIn Education,, Local Interest,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Schools,Leave a comment

Not enough food on the table or erratic housing can cause children to lose focus, increased anxiety and damaged mental health. Other common challenges for these students include more school absences and less parental support.

In sum, external factors, particularly poverty, matter more than other issues in shaping students’ academic success.

…State lawmakers can improve outcomes for impoverished students and the schools where they are concentrated with a coordinated set of strategies that respond to both external and internal factors.

  • Foster socioeconomic integration in schools
  • Invest adequate resources in low-income students and schools
  • Build a statewide principal pipeline
  • Enhance teacher compensation

…A review of schools’ 2016 grades by their poverty concentration highlights the connection between poverty and student outcomes.

…Of the 2,135 schools included in this analysis, 100 are counted as extreme-poverty, 446 are high-poverty, 969 are moderate-poverty and 620 are low-poverty.

None of the extreme poverty schools earned a grade of A or B, and all but one earned a D or F.

…Of Georgia schools where fewer than 25 percent of students live in poverty, about 70 percent received either an A or B. And in schools where fewer than 10 percent of children are poor, nearly 94 percent got an A or B.

Schools where the majority of students are low-income are also the schools with the most black and Hispanic students. Nearly all of the students in extreme poverty schools are black or Hispanic.

…When children are exposed to significant or constant stress, the architecture of their brain adapts to functioning in that state. They struggle to differentiate between normal stress sources and greater threats, often reacting strongly to minor problems or disagreements. Their working memories can be impaired, making it harder to complete multi-step assignments or activities. They often have difficulty controlling impulses and emotions and are at heightened risk of mental health problems. All of these make focusing on learning tasks and working collaboratively with peers harder.

…A child who is hungry is a child focused on finding something to eat, not learning.

…Low-income children often are not ready to learn when they enter the classroom, from kindergarten to twelfth grade. The issues causing them to struggle need to be addressed for children to master the knowledge and skills expected in K-12 schools and move on to postsecondary study and the workforce. At the same time, K-12 schools need to make all children feel safe and welcome and ensure they get the educational support needed to be successful learners.

[GA School] District officials also said a lack of instructional resources is a problem. Some said they are unable to provide teachers with materials and tools, including technology. Others reported an inability to provide intervention services to students who are behind while others said they lack resources to provide the variety of courses they would prefer, including STEM and enrichment.

…Several districts said the scope of material teachers are required to cover is difficult to squeeze into the allotted time. Two expressed concern that students are moved ahead before they are ready as a result.

…Students are expected to know and do far more today than 30 years ago. The state is not offering resources to match these elevated standards.

…Educating high-poverty and historically-marginalized students to high levels of academic achievement costs more. The state must match its expectations of these students with a renewed commitment to provide the additional resources they need to reach them—it is accountable for that.

…Eleven percent of responding districts said a lack of community resources is a problem, including enrichment programs and mental health services. Rural communities also lack transportation, an access barrier even where community organizations are in place.

…Squeezed districts also cut student programs, including elective courses like art and music, and intervention programs for low-performing students. A recent national review showed these cuts led to declines in student achievement, particularly in districts with more low-income students.

…The magnet schools are more racially and economically diverse than traditional schools, and their students do better academically than their peers in traditional schools.

…The district is creating magnet-like schools but without admission standards, with the aim of enrolling students from different socioeconomic groups. The initiative is too new to offer student achievement data but the schools are more economically diverse than traditional schools.

Tackle Poverty’s Effects to Improve School Performance

hmmm

Rajai Davis’ weird trip to NY Mets, Citi Field ends with a home run

On By peanutgallerynhIn Local Interest,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

“Well,” Davis says, “it was a normal day when it started.”

…At about 5 p.m., manager Tony DeFrancesco pulled him aside.

…The New York Mets needed him that night, and their game was set to begin in about two hours.  

…Coca-Cola Park, where the IronPigs play, is about 109 miles from Citi Field. The drive takes around two hours.

Davis showered and hopped in an Uber with Jason.

…“Me and Jason, we got to know each other,” Davis said.

He became the 11th player in Mets history to homer in his first at-bat with the team. Robinson Canó did it on opening day.

In 2016, Callaway watched Davis launch another big home run. That one came in Game 7 of the World Series, and it tied the game. A reporter that asked Callaway about Wednesday’s home run led with: “Obviously not the same stakes as tonight …”

“It felt like it!” Callaway responded. 

Rajai Davis’ weird trip to NY Mets, Citi Field ends with a home run

Hell of a baseball story.

Tennessee detective who preached gay people are ‘worthy of death’ having cases reviewed for bias

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

Knox County Sheriff’s Det. Grayson Fritts said during a sermon last weekend that gay people are “freaks” and “reprobates” who are “worthy of death” and should be tried and executed by the government.

…”When any potential witness in a criminal proceeding expresses an opinion of hatred and/or bias towards a class of citizens, I am ethically bound to explore that witness’ credibility. Accordingly, I am reviewing all pending cases involving Mr. Fritts to scrutinize them for any potential bias.”

Tennessee detective who preached gay people are ‘worthy of death’ having cases reviewed for bias

hmmmm