‘Swatting’ David Hogg wasn’t a ‘prank,’ it was attempted murder
sigh…
Category: Media and Culture,
NASA’s leader wants to privatize the International Space Station. It’s a remarkably terrible idea.
It’s difficult to come up with a business model for the space station that doesn’t either guarantee corporate profit — obviating any notional cost savings — or encourage business managers to cut corners, potentially endangering the safety of astronauts.
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Amtrak’s decision to degrade service threatens its future
Faced with the financial loss of the mail contracts and competition from the interstate highways, carriers such as the Southern Pacific systematically degraded their remaining passenger trains using tactics which included removing the diner and lounge cars. The hope was this would so upset riders that they would cease to travel by train, and the carrier could get federal permission to end service. A notorious example was the train called the Sunset Limited, which from 1968-1970 offered only vending machine food on a two-day run!
Amtrak quickly restored proper food and beverage offerings, advertising “We’re Making the Trains Worth Riding Again”. Unfortunately, Amtrak recently has begun to copy these 1960s tactics, degrading the on-board experience which it knows will discourage ridership.
Why is this occurring? Amtrak is under pressure from Congress to eliminate food service losses, but this approach is unreasonable and unnecessary. Do the cruise lines or airlines attempt to make money on food? Of course not; these costs are built into their fares. Amtrak has been doing this as well. Railroad diners never made money; they attracted business. If riders are asked to accept only microwaved burgers and pizza on a two-night/three-day EMPIRE BUILDER trip, we know ridership will implode.
…Amtrak knows what happened in the past when the railroads systematically cut back amenities. Ridership collapsed. For fiscal year 2018, Amtrak just received the largest Congressional appropriation for its National Network in history ($1.3 billion). It needs to explain to Congress that not providing quality food service on the Coast Starlight is no more an option than on a cruise ship.
Amtrak’s decision to degrade service threatens its future | Guest Commentary | heraldandnews.com
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Do smartphones increase the rate of mental illness?
In just the five years between 2010 and 2015, the number of U.S. teens who felt useless and joyless – classic symptoms of depression – surged 33 percent in large national surveys. Teen suicide attempts increased 23 percent. Even more troubling, the number of 13- to 18-year-olds who committed suicide jumped 31 percent.
…Not only did smartphone use and depression increase in tandem, but time spent online was linked to mental health issues across two different data sets. We found that teens who spent five or more hours a day online were 71 percent more likely than those who spent less than an hour a day to have at least one suicide risk factor (depression, thinking about suicide, making a suicide plan or attempting suicide). Overall, suicide risk factors rose significantly after two or more hours a day of time online.
Do smartphones cause mental illness? | NOLA.com
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A third of Americans are on drugs that could make them depressed – and they probably don’t know it
As many as one third of Americans may be unwittingly taking drugs that can cause depression as a side effect, new research suggests.
Many are taking several of these medications at once, doubling the risk that they will experience depression while on the pill cocktail.
Nearly a quarter of people in the US take three or more prescription drugs, and almost 20 percent of adults are depressed.
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Facebook lowers prices on ads that cause more engagement: Trump’s more “controversial” posts spread even further than Hillary’s ads, for cheaper, because they generated lots of reactions, comments, and shares.
Facebook lowers prices on ads that cause more engagement – meaning that Trump’s more “controversial” posts spread even further than Hillary’s ads, for cheaper, because they generated lots of reactions, comments, and shares.
…Which means that Trump’s ad dollars stretched much further than Hillary’s on Facebook.
…Trump campaign probably paid 100 to 200 times less per ad than Clinton’s campaign did.
This Spicy Drama About Facebook CPMs Has People Like “Wahh?” And “Whoaaa”
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Ecuadorean Dad Has Deportation Suspended After His Arrest During Pizza Delivery
Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was among a handful of politicians who called for an investigation into the case and an emergency stay, stating that “his arrest and detention raise serious legal and policy concerns.”
“There is absolutely no legitimate reason to proceed with an expedited removal and to do so would be inhumane,” Cuomo said in a letter addressed to Thomas Decker, field office director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Customs Enforcement.
Ecuadorean Dad Has Deportation Suspended After His Arrest During Pizza Delivery | HuffPost
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In Historic First, Nebraska Farmer Returns Land to Ponca Tribe Along “Trail of Tears” |
a href=”http://boldnebraska.org/in-historic-first-nebraska-farmer-returns-land-to-ponca-tribe-along-trail-of-tears/”>In Historic First, Nebraska Farmer Returns Land to Ponca Tribe Along “Trail of Tears” | Bold Nebraska
cool
Jeff Sessions all but slams asylum door on migrant survivors of domestic, gang violence
Tens of thousands of people who are currently waiting for their asylum cases in the US to be resolved — or waiting for their chance to apply — just got the door all but slammed on them.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a ruling Monday in an immigration case, Matter of A- B-, that will make it hard or even impossible for Central Americans fleeing gang violence in their home countries, and women fleeing domestic violence, to get asylum in the US — or even be allowed to stay in the US to seek asylum instead of being summarily deported.
…Because immigration courts aren’t fully independent courts, the decision Sessions just issued is now law for all immigration judges in the US — and everyone else considering asylum cases. Jeff Sessions “basically is the Supreme Court of the immigration courts,” in the words of Sarah Pierce of the Migration Policy Institute.
Federal circuit courts can attempt to challenge the decision, but even if they fully overrule Sessions — and he doesn’t issue a clarification that sets an equally restrictive standard — their rulings would only apply within the geographic scope of that circuit. And if this case somehow made it to the Supreme Court, the Court would probably have serious reservations about overruling a well-established administrative process — above and beyond its own ideas about what ought to count as a “particular social group.”
…Sessions isn’t just raising the standard for who can ultimately get asylum. He’s raising the standard for who can pass the initial screening at the border to apply for asylum, as opposed to simply being deported as an unauthorized immigrant. In other words, any Central American migrants who are currently en route to the US are going to be met with a higher bar to entry than the one they thought was in place when they left. Thousands of people who already arrived in the US but have been sent to criminal court to be convicted of illegal entry before they can make an asylum claim may now find themselves unable to pass a screening they would have passed when they arrived. That includes hundreds if not thousands of parents whose children have been separated from them.
Parents may now have very little time at all to locate their children and be reunified with them before getting deported. And even if they can figure out where their children are, they may have to make a choice between being deported as a family and allowing the children to attempt to stay — with a lower chance that they will succeed than they might have had before, but a chance nonetheless — while the parent returns home, deprived of any chance at all.
Jeff Sessions all but slams asylum door on migrant survivors of domestic, gang violence – Vox
Aghhhh!
The unsettling incident of the too-quiet Native teens
We’ve heard of cops being called for a number of reasons, but never because teenage boys were too quiet at college, in this case, Colorado State University. The incident took place last week in Fort Collins when two Santa Cruz teenagers — using money they had saved — drove themselves to visit the university. Thomas Kanewakeron Gray, 19, and Lloyd Skanahwati Gray, 17, wanted to attend college together. Thomas is a student at Northern New Mexico College, while his brother is a senior at the Santa Fe Indian School. The brothers are from the Mohawk tribe.
They had taken a day off from school for that most American of rites, the college visit. They never completed their tour. Campus police interrupted; someone on the tour with the teens had called in a complaint. The brothers made a woman in the group “nervous” because she decided they were too quiet. They wore dark T-shirts. They joined the tour a bit late and declined to answer her nosy questions. They simply did not belong on a college tour, the woman believed. (The tour guide, by the way, said the boys’ behavior was nothing out of the ordinary.)
…It is not OK.
Yet here we are, in 2018. About the only bright spot we can see is that maybe, if people become more open about such widespread prejudices, society can confront and overcome them.
Overcome them we must, or the United States of America and its promise of liberty and justice for all will be lost.
The unsettling incident of the too-quiet Native teens | Editorials | santafenewmexican.com
Agggggggggggggggh!
CSU Police Body Cam Video Released, 911 Call: ‘Hands In Pockets’ Caused Concern « CBS Denver
“Thomas called me frantic, (saying) ‘Somebody called the police on us, because we were quiet,’” Lorraine Gray said.
Lorraine said she was confused, especially since the university was so highly respected by her children.
…“All year, (Thomas) kept talking about how he wanted to go. His dream school is CSU,” Lorraine Gray said. “He, and his brother whose graduation is in a few weeks, decided to take a campus tour together. Kind of a brother bonding thing.”
The boys would never finish the tour, after being separated from the group by police.
…The woman who called police, only identified by the university as a 45-year-old white woman, told 911 dispatch she was suspicious of the way the Gray brothers looked, and their mannerisms. She told dispatch she believed at least one of the brothers was Mexican.
CSU Police Body Cam Video Released, 911 Call: ‘Hands In Pockets’ Caused Concern « CBS Denver
Becky, this is why we can’t have nice things.
Dancing college grads dragged off stage, school apologizes for being ‘inappropriately aggressive’ – ABC News
The University of Florida’s apology has fallen short for some of the 21 graduates whom a school staff member yanked off the stage this weekend as they danced to celebrate their achievements during a spring commencement ceremony.
…Another student, Nafeesah Attah, told “GMA” the dances were symbolic gestures of joy that had meaning rooted to their fraternities and sororities. She said the response of the white university staff member who grabbed her and the others and shoved them off stage “was not arbitrary.”
“It was definitely contingent on your race … other white students who were dancing were not perceived as a threat,” Attah said.
…”I want to personally apologize for us doing that on behalf of myself and also the University of Florida,” [University of Florida President Kent]Fuchs said.
…But [graduates] Attah and Telusma said Fuchs was on stage at the time of the incident and did nothing to stop the usher from ruining their milestone moment.
Agggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggh!
Migrants, young and old, are not always related. Border Patrol says fear of child trafficking forces separations
Since October, more than 700 migrant children have been taken from adults claiming to be their parents, including more than 100 children under age 4. U.S. officials said they were trying to protect children who may be victims of trafficking or exploitation, but migrant advocates argue it’s the latest attempt by the Trump administration to stop migrant families from seeking asylum.
A “zero tolerance” border enforcement policy that took effect last week and was announced Monday by Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions may result in families who illegally cross the border being separated after their arrest, with parents going to adult detention facilities and youths going to juvenile shelters.
…It’s difficult for migrants to assert parental rights. Many cross the border with their children’s birth certificates tucked in pockets or plastic bags. Agents often call local consulates to check families’ documents. But the documents can be faked, agents said. Even if consular staff verify them, agents may still challenge migrants’ claims to their children.
…Sometimes the adults are relatives — an aunt, grandparent or step-parent, she said.
…Maria Ramirez said the Border Patrol questioned her about her children, ages 17, 15 and 5. Agents didn’t believe she was their mother, even after she produced Honduran birth certificates, Ramirez said.
“They said they were fake,” she said. “They gave me the impression I would be deported and told me I had to sign the papers.”
Ramirez, 37, saw other parents at the processing center who were told the same thing. Unlike her, they had signed the paperwork and were deported.
Ramirez refused to sign deportation papers, insisting her children’s birth certificates were real. She and her 5-year-old son were held separately from her older daughters for five days, but were ultimately reunited.
Sigh..,
Want airline food? Take Amtrak
It’s part of a plan to dismantle the National Network—shutting down most, if not all, long-distance trains, to focus on the Northeast Corridor, Midwest (Chicago) and California short- and medium-distance services, and state-supported trains.
…Why don’t you just come out and say it: “Amtrak is getting rid of dining cars.” No BS. No dancing around the issue. Tell it straight up. It’s what’s happening, right?
Anybody want to eat in a roomette?
…Already gone are the Coast Starlight parlor cars, in-train tour guides on some western trains, most charters, and private railcars bringing up the markers (for a hefty fee, of course). The “cross-country café” is replacing, I’m told, full dining service on Superliner trains: One crew member runs the microwave, another delivers the meal.
Want airline food? Take Amtrak – Railway Age
hmmmm
Who is Michael Curry? The minister who told royal wedding ‘love is the way’ | UK news | The Guardian
Curry is the first African-American to serve as presiding bishop of the predominantly white US Episcopal church, and has recounted his family history as slaves and sharecroppers in North Carolina and Alabama in his autobiography Songs My Grandma Sang.
He told the New York Times in 2016 that when he was training for the priesthood, “the expectation at the time was that if you were a black priest or seminarian, you were going to be serving in black churches. There was a black church world and a white church world. That was the given-ness of racism, not that anybody said anything.”
…His appointment in 2015 as presiding bishop came soon after the Episcopal church decided it would permit its clergy to conduct same sex marriages, a move which led to de facto sanctions by the Anglican communion the following year.
Curry said: “For many who have felt and been rejected by the church because of who they are, for many who have felt and been rejected by families and communities, our church opening itself in love was a sign of hope. And [the decision to impose sanctions] will add pain on top of pain.”
In January this year, he responded to the #MeToo movement, saying the church “must examine its history and come to a fuller understanding of how it has handled or mishandled cases of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse through the years.”
Who is Michael Curry? The minister who told royal wedding ‘love is the way’ | UK news | The Guardian
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The Sojourner Truth Project
Most people are familiar with the popular version of Sojourner Truth’s famous, “Ain’t I a woman” speech but they have no idea that this popular version is not Sojourner’s speech and is vastly different from her original 1851 speech.
This popular but inaccurate version was written and published in 1863, (12 years after Sojourner gave the “Ain’t I a woman” speech), by a white abolitionist named Frances Dana Barker Gage. Curiously, Gage not only changed all of Sojourner’s words but chose to represent Sojourner speaking in a stereotypical ‘southern black slave accent’, rather than in her distinct upper New York State low-Dutch accent. Frances Gage’s actions were well intended and served the suffrage and women’s rights movement at the time; however, by today’s standards of ethical journalism, her actions were a gross misrepresentation of Sojourner Truth’s words and identity. By changing Truth’s words and her dialect to that of a stereotypical southern slave, Frances Gage effectively erased Sojourner’s Dutch heritage and her authentic voice. As well as unintentionally adding to the oversimplification of the American slave culture and furthering the eradication of our nations Northern slave history. Frances Gage admitted that her amended version had “given but a faint sketch” of Sojourner’s original speech but she felt justified and believed her version stronger and more palatable to the American public then Sojourner’s original version.
The most authentic version of Sojourner Truth’s, “Ain’t I a woman,” speech was first published in 1851 by Truth’s good friend Rev. Marius Robinson in the Anti-Slavery Bugle and was titled, “On Woman’s Rights”. This website is dedicated to re-introducing the original transcription of the speech and Sojourner’s authentic voice.
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