Leettaschmidt

COVID was Australia’s third leading cause of death (after heart disease and dementia) in 2022. In a bad flu year we have about 1,200 influenza deaths. We had more than 1,500 COVID deaths in just the first month of 2023. We need to take COVID seriously. It is not like a cold or the flu. It is an exceptional disease.

Because of the availability of vaccines and antivirals, there is no need for panic or further lockdowns. But there is no room for complacency either.

The starting point in taking COVID seriously is ensuring policymakers and the public have confidence in the data about who is getting sick and who is dying. Without accurate data, there is no way to track the disease or work out how best to contain it.

And a crucial part of this is ensuring people understand how death certificates work and how death data are recorded.

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Read more: Thousands more Australians died in 2022 than expected. COVID was behind the majority of them

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Dying of COVID or with COVID?

A common misconception is that the numbers being reported are people who died with, not of, COVID.

Dying of COVID means COVID caused your death. Dying with COVID means you died from another cause, but just happened to have COVID at the time.

While we routinely collect data about both, a COVID death is when you die of COVID.

This misconception makes it easy to dismiss COVID deaths on the basis that the numbers being reported are exaggerated. Dismissing the numbers makes people complacent and lets governments off the hook. If we all pretend COVID is just a mild disease, there is no need for governments and individuals to do our bit to minimise its spread.

For most people whose vaccinations are up to date, COVID really is a mild disease. But about one in ten people infected with COVID go on to develop “long COVID” and the number of COVID deaths just keeps increasing as the pandemic drags on.

How the system works

The cause of every death in Australia must be certified by a medical practitioner. If the cause of death is not clear, the death is reported to the state or territory coroner for a coronial investigation.

After the cause of death is determined either by a medical practitioner or the coroner, a death certificate is issued and sent to the bureau of births, deaths and marriages in each state or territory.

From there, the data are sent to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which is the independent statutory agency responsible for national statistical reporting.

The death certificate

The death certificate records the immediate cause or the condition that led directly to death. It also records what are called “antecedent causes”.

Antecedent causes are the underlying causes. These are the conditions or events that occurred before the immediate cause. All other significant conditions that contributed to the death but were not related to the disease or condition that caused it must also be reported.

So how does it work in practice? Imagine a family member dies of respiratory problems after having COVID. In this imaginary case, the direct cause of death is recorded as “acute respiratory distress syndrome”. The acute respiratory distress syndrome was due to pneumonia. In turn, the pneumonia was due to COVID. COVID is recorded as the antecedent cause of death. So the data may be recorded like this:

The way medical certificates are written is important. They give us quite accurate data on who dies of COVID (where COVID recorded as the direct or the antecedent cause) and who dies with it (COVID recorded as an “other significant condition”). We use both of these pieces of information for different purposes.

Professional judgment

While the cause of a person’s death is usually clear, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes doctors and coroners have to exercise their professional judgement in determining the cause of death.

But this is a long way from claims on social media that medical practitioners and coroners are systematically reporting deaths “with COVID” as deaths “of COVID” as a way to exaggerate the COVID death toll. This is simply nonsense.

There are often time delays between a person dying and their death certificate being issued.

This is particularly the case for deaths referred to the coroner for investigation. In the interim, health departments around the country need data in real time so they can track the pandemic. They compile provisional COVID cause of death data as they go and then progressively update their data as death certificates are finalised. While this causes the numbers to fluctuate a little from week to week, the data used in official statistics are of very high quality.

Australian clinical training, standards and documentation are excellent by all international standards. Australia has well developed systems in place for the accurate reporting of the causes of death and illness.

These systems should inspire confidence in the numbers and that medical practitioners and coroners are reporting COVID deaths correctly.

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Read more: 'Died from' or 'died with' COVID-19? We need a transparent approach to counting coronavirus deaths

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Kathy Eagar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Once again, Americans are left reeling from the horror of video footage showing police brutalizing an unarmed Black man who later died.

Some details in the latest case of extreme police violence were gut-wrenchingly familiar: a police traffic stop of a Black male motorist turned violent. But, for many of us, other details were unfamiliar: The five police officers accused of using everything from pepper spray to a Taser, a police baton and intermittent kicks and punches against the motorist were also Black.

After pulling over 29-year-old Tyre Nichols for what they said was reckless driving, Black officers in the Memphis Police Department’s now disbanded SCORPION unit beat Nichols, ultimately to death.

The Conversation asked Rashad Shabazz, a geographer and scholar of African American studies at Arizona State University, to explore the societal conditions in which Black police officers could brutalize another Black man.

What could influence Black police officers to savagely beat a Black motorist?

Policing in the U.S. has, from its inception, treated Black people as domestic enemies. From the the slave patrols, which some historians consider to be among the nation’s earliest forms of policing, to the murder of George Floyd, and now the death of Nichols, law enforcement officers often have viewed Black people as what sociologist and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois, in “The Souls of Black Folk,” called a “problem.”

American society assumes that Black people are prone to criminality and therefore should be subject to state power in the form of policing or, in some cases, vigilantism – as in the killing of Ahmaud Arbury. This is a link deeply woven into American consciousness. And Black people are not immune. In this way, the long-held targeting of Black men by police and widely held negative beliefs about them are a powerful cocktail that can compel even Black officers to stop, detain and brutally beat a man who looks just like them.

Could their actions have been motivated by anti-Black bias?

It’s hard to investigate the minds of the officers who beat Nichols so savagely and say for sure what motivated them. But there is ample research that suggests anti-Blackness is a factor in American policing. And Black officers, agents of an institutionally racist system, are affected by this. Anti-Blackness affects Black people, too. And this might explain why Black police officers exhibit more anti-Black bias than the Black population as a whole.

To comprehend this, we have to take a step back and think about race. Stuart Hall, a cultural theorist, described race as a sign. When we look at skin color or people as racialized subjects, they signify something to us. Black people, in this society – and in other parts of the world – for many signify danger, threat and criminality. And as a result, institutions like the criminal justice system respond to their perceived threat with profiling, harassment and violence.

Our surprise that five Black police officers could brutalize another Black man indicates we have an impoverished understanding of race and racism in this country.

What does Tyre Nichols’ death mean for calls to diversify policing?

For years, elected officials, activists and citizens have been making calls to reform policing. Many have said bringing more people from ethnically diverse backgrounds onto police forces would go a long way toward correcting institutional racism in the criminal justice system.

The final report of “The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing,” commissioned through an executive order by President Barack Obama, called for law enforcement agencies to “strive to create a workforce that encompasses a broad range of diversity, including race, gender, language, life experience, and cultural background to improve understanding and effectiveness.”

One recent study concluded that Black and Hispanic police officers make fewer traffic stops and use force less often than their white counterparts. But, at the same time, Black and brown police officers live in the same culture that sees Black people as criminals and threats. So simply having more officers of color doesn’t do enough to fix the problem.

How does seeing video of another Black man brutalized by police, this time Black officers, affect Black people?

Over the past decade, videos of Black people killed at the hands of police officers have filled social media and news sites. I, for one, cannot watch them because they terrify me and amplify fears for my safety and that of my family and friends. I watched about 30 seconds of the Black police officers pummeling Nichols and couldn’t take any more. I know I’m not alone. Studies tell us that police killings of unarmed Black people are psychologically traumatizing events for Black people. This kind of horror should be traumatizing to the nation. But if Black is the sign of danger and criminality, who will have empathy for the Tyre Nicholses of the world?

This article was updated to cut out repetition in the introduction.

Rashad Shabazz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Getting everyone who is eligible for free or discounted health insurance to sign up for it requires making it as easy as possible to enroll – and that convenience especially matters for young, healthy and low-income people. Those are the key findings of a recent study I conducted with Myles Wagner, an economics Ph.D. student.

We examined the subsidized health insurance program for low-income Massachusetts residents enacted in 2006 when Mitt Romney served as the state’s governor. The Massachusetts program – dubbed RomneyCare – resembled the program created by the Affordable Care Act and served as its model. For residents below the poverty line, which then stood at about US$22,000 for a family of four, coverage cost nothing.

Even when they didn’t have to pay a dime, eligible residents still had to sign up using a two-step process: After applying, they chose a plan among four or five options.

But the program didn’t always work this way. The state government didn’t make beneficiaries choose a plan until 2010. Instead, anyone who qualified but didn’t respond when asked to select one was automatically enrolled in a plan the state picked out. This meant that no one would go without insurance if they forgot to respond or got confused by the rules.

We compared the number and socioecononomic characteristics of residents who enrolled in the program before and after the change, with a control group unaffected by the policy because they had higher incomes and were not eligible for auto-enrollment.

We found that having a streamlined process makes a big difference. With automatic enrollment, 48% more people signed up for coverage each month. This meant one-third more people obtained coverage over the long run, and it reduced the uninsured rate among low-income people eligible for this coverage by about 25%.

A one-step process also had other consequences. Those who were automatically enrolled were especially likely to be young and healthy, with health care costs 44% below average.

They were also more likely to reside in low-income neighborhoods.

Massachusetts ended auto-enrollment in 2010 for budgetary reasons, and it didn’t reinstate it when the state shifted to an Affordable Care Act market in 2014.

Why it matters

About 5 million to 14 million Americans could soon lose their health insurance coverage through Medicaid – the government-funded U.S. health insurer for low-income Americans.

That’s because once the federal government designated the COVID-19 pandemic a “public health emergency” in March 2020, it changed Medicaid rules.

In exchange for agreeing to not remove anyone from the program, the states got more funding to run it.

The number of people enrolled soared to 90.9 million in September 2022, up 28% from February 2020. That’s roughly 1 in 4 of all Americans.

But the government’s continuous enrollment policy is slated to expire starting in April and the public health emergency is scheduled to officially end on May 11, 2023.

Unless those whose coverage expires actively sign up for new coverage, they could become uninsured – even if, like many uninsured Americans today, they would qualify for free or discounted coverage if they were to apply through an ACA health insurance exchange.

What still isn’t known

It’s still unclear how automatic enrollment policies can comply with the ACA’s rules to limit the number of people who will otherwise become uninsured when they lose Medicaid coverage.

But there are a variety of different proposals out there. Some states, including Maryland, California and – no surprise – Massachusetts, are starting to experiment with different approaches.

So once the pandemic-related Medicaid policies end, there will probably be new evidence that suggests which design works best.

Mark Shepard has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Commonwealth Fund, the Arnold Foundation, and Harvard University.

Scientists have known for years that unhealthy diets – particularly those that are high in fat and sugar – may cause detrimental changes to the brain and lead to cognitive impairment.

Many factors that contribute to cognitive decline are out of a person’s control, such as genetics and socioeconomic factors. But ongoing research increasingly indicates that a poor diet is a risk factor for memory impairments during normal aging and increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

But when evaluating how some diets may erode brain health as we age, research on the effects of consuming minimally processed versus ultra-processed foods has been scant – that is, until now.

Two recent large-scale studies suggest that eating ultra-processed foods may exacerbate age-related cognitive decline and increase the risk of developing dementia. In contrast, another recent study reported that ultra-processed food consumption was not associated with worse cognition in people over 60.

Although more research is needed, as a neuroscientist who researches how diet can influence cognition later in life, I find that these early studies add a new layer for considering how fundamental nutrition is to brain health.

Lots of ingredients, minimal nutrition

Ultra-processed foods tend to be lower in nutrients and fiber and higher in sugar, fat and salt compared to unprocessed or minimally processed foods. Some examples of ultra-processed foods include soda, packaged cookies, chips, frozen meals, flavored nuts, flavored yogurt, distilled alcoholic beverages and fast foods. Even packaged breads, including those high in nutritious whole grains, qualify as ultra-processed in many cases because of the additives and preservatives they contain.

Another way to look at it: You are not likely to find the ingredients that make up most of these foods in your home kitchen.

But don’t confuse ultra-processed with processed foods, which still retain most of their natural characteristics, although they’ve undergone some form of processing – like canned vegetables, dried pasta or frozen fruit.

Parsing the research

In a December 2022 study, researchers compared the rate of cognitive decline over approximately eight years between groups of people that consumed different amounts of ultra-processed foods.

At the beginning of the study, over 10,000 participants living in Brazil reported their dietary habits from the previous 12 months. Then, for the ensuing years, the researchers evaluated the cognitive performance of the participants with standard tests of memory and executive function.

Those who ate a diet containing more ultra-processed foods at the start of the study showed slightly more cognitive decline compared with those that ate little to no ultra-processed foods. This was a relatively modest difference in the rate of cognitive decline between experimental groups. It is not yet clear if the small difference in cognitive decline associated with higher consumption of ultra-processed foods will have a meaningful effect at the level of an individual person.

The second study, with about 72,000 participants in the U.K., measured the association between eating ultra-processed foods and dementia. For the group eating the highest amounts of ultra-processed foods, approximately 1 out of 120 people were diagnosed with dementia over a 10-year period. For the group that consumed little to no ultra-processed foods, this number was 1 out of 170.

Research examining the relationship between health and ultra-processed foods uses the NOVA classification, which is a categorization system based on the type and extent of industrial food processing. Some nutritionists have criticized the NOVA classification for not having clear definitions of food processing, which could lead to misclassification. They also argue that the potential health risks from consuming ultra-processed foods could be explained by low levels of fiber and nutrients and high levels of fat, sugar and salt in the diet rather than the amount of processing.

Many ultra-processed foods are high in additives, preservatives or coloring agents, while also having other features of an unhealthy diet, such as being low in fiber and nutrients. Thus, it is unclear if eating food that has undergone more processing has an additional negative impact on health beyond low diet quality.

For example, you could eat a burger and fries from a fast food chain, which would be high in fat, sugar and salt as well as being ultra-processed. You could make that same meal at home, which could also be high in fat, sugar and salt but would not be ultra-processed. More research is needed to determine whether one is worse than the other.

Brain-healthy diets

Even when the processes that lead to dementia are not occurring, the aging brain undergoes biochemical and structural changes that are associated with worsening cognition.

But for adults over the age of 55, a healthier diet could increase the likelihood of maintaining better brain function. In particular, the Mediterranean diet and ketogenic diet are associated with better cognition in advanced age.

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes the consumption of plant-based foods and healthy fats, like olive oil, seeds and nuts. The ketogenic diet is high in fat and low in carbohydrates, with the primary fiber source being from vegetables. Both diets minimize or eliminate the consumption of sugar.

Our research and the work of others show that both diets can reverse some of these changes and improve cognitive function – possibly by reducing harmful inflammation.

Although inflammation is a normal immune response to injury or infection, chronic inflammation can be detrimental to the brain. Studies have shown that excess sugar and fat can contribute to chronic inflammation, and ultra-processed foods might also exacerbate harmful inflammation.

Another way that diet and ultra-processed foods may influence brain health is through the gut-brain axis, which is the communication that occurs between the brain and the gut microbiome, or the community of microorganisms that live in the digestive tract.

Not only does the gut microbiome help with digestion, but it also influences the immune system, while producing hormones and neurotransmitters that are critical for brain function.

Studies have shown that the ketogenic and Mediterranean diets change the composition of microorganisms in the gut in ways that benefit the person. Ultra-processed food consumption is also associated with alterations in the type and abundance of gut microorganisms that have more harmful effects.

The uncertainties

Disentangling the specific effects of individual foods on the human body is difficult, in part because maintaining strict control over people’s diets to study them over long periods of time is problematic. Moreover, randomized controlled trials, the most reliable type of study for establishing causality, are expensive to carry out.

So far, most nutritional studies, including these two, have only shown correlations between ultra-processed food consumption and health. But they cannot rule out other lifestyle factors such as exercise, education, socioeconomic status, social connections, stress and many more variables that may influence cognitive function.

This is where lab-based studies using animals are incredibly useful. Rats show cognitive decline in old age that parallels humans. It’s easy to control rodent diets and activity levels in a laboratory. And rats go from middle to old age within months, which shortens study times.

Lab-based studies in animals will make it possible to determine if ultra-processed foods are playing a key role in the development of cognitive impairments and dementia in people. As the world’s population ages and the number of older adults with dementia increases, this knowledge cannot come soon enough.

Sara N. Burke ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

I don’t know why, but every city, no matter how big, has some insanely stacked dictator-looking McMansion somewhere outside the city limits. If you sort your Zillow results as Price: High - Low, this house will pop up first. It costs something like $5,000,000. It is 10,000 square feet. There are usually frescos and tawdry gildedness of some variety. The realtor’s text brags of marble and uses the word “Manor.”

Today, our house, squarely in this category, is found in the suburbs of Milwaukee, WI, not really a place known for unhinged 21st century robber barons. In fact, I find Wisconsin to be one of the least McMansion-dense states in the country. Even the guy who invented Culvers or the Milwaukee Bucks probably has a much less insane house than the one I’m about to show you:

Built in 1999 (owing to what kind of economic event outside of perhaps the dot-com bubble, I’m not sure), this house is indeed around $5 million and 10,000 square feet. I am not sure how much of the square footage includes the garage. Anyway, if you told me this house was from Wisconsin, I would not have believed you. Illinois, maybe, the DC area, maybe, California, maybe, Texas, most likely. But no. It is in Milwaukee and it is the one house in the surrounding area that looks like this and costs this much.

In typical local-magnate fashion, the house opens up with white and gilding. This is how you know the people who live there are really rich and have Made It. All the McMansion signifiers are present: chopsticks machine, lawyer foyer, puzzling and dull art, always in imitation of something architecturally undefined but possibly French.

In an attempt to not be too off-putting (indeed, having a ceiling full of religious symbolism seems a bit overzealous even if its purpose is to scream “I HAVE MEDICI-LEVEL AMOUNTS OF MONEY”), the house is furnished, well, normally. It cannot decide whether it wants to sell (it will never sell) or if it wants to lean into being an eccentric millionaire’s house. This is very cowardly.

Perhaps the decorative thought process comes from a desire to elevate the ordinary into the realm of the sublime. Sure, let’s go with that and not the fact that obscenely rich people are uniquely obsessed with French Rococo aesthetics because they long for a time when democracy wasn’t real.

On the other hand, I guess you don’t really need a functional kitchen if you never have to work a day in your life!

One thing that strikes me about extremely rich people is sometimes they don’t know how ordinary people live and function and in this case, design a bathroom. Hence, they are one clogged toilet away from carpet replacement. Imagine living life on the edge like that.

“I wish to lie awake and stare wistfully into copies of my visage.” - things totally normal people would say.

Everyone needs to have one chinoiserie room in their house - it’s part of being a global citizen. Also I appreciate the effort of turning six acres in Wisconsin into Versailles 2. That’s a worthy endeavor because $6 million dollars goes half as far in California. You might be able to buy a shrub for that much.

Finally, we reach the rear of the house, which is, well, phallic:

Obviously this is paying homage to the vernacular forms of the grain silo. Or something.

Happy New Year.

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The secret to happiness may be expressing gratitude. A survey of 2,000 Americans examining the potential connection between being thankful and contentment in life reveals that 65 percent of respondents who say they’re “very happy” on a daily basis are also more likely to “always” give thanks. 

While looking at the correlation between life satisfaction and gratitude, a third of respondents say they regularly make sure to express gratitude in their everyday lives. Of those, 62 percent note they feel “very satisfied” with their lives. 

The study also finds that, on average, respondents believe they express gratitude to others just six times a month. And they say they also receive the same amount of appreciation back. Regionally, residents in the southwest are more likely to express gratitude than anyone else in the country (75%). Just barely beating respondents in the northeast (74%) and midwest (73%). Meanwhile, people in the southeast (68%), as well as west coast residents (63%), offer thanks the least. 

Respondents also agree that there are proper ways to respond to being thanked. Smiling (44%) and saying “You’re welcome” both ranked as the most common nonverbal and verbal responses (51%). Although the latter ranks somehow ranks second to “My pleasure” in terms of politeness (44% vs. 52%). Lower down on the list, only one in four (25%) tend to say “It’s nothing.” In fact, 32 percent called the phrase “rude.”

Sadly, 12% say they don’t reply with anything at all.

‘Dramatic correlation between gratitude and happiness’

Interestingly, only 69 percent of the overall panel agree it’s rude not to thank someone when they do something kind for you in passing. That’s just more than the number of people who think it’s rude to stay silent when somebody sneezes (61%). Regardless, 42 percent of all respondents believe a spoken “thank you” goes a long way. Especially since that’s the form of gratitude they prefer to receive the most. That’s followed by a written thank you note (21%) and physical rewards like gifts (17%). 

Related: Expressing Gratitude May Be True Key to Happiness

“There’s a dramatic correlation between gratitude and happiness,” says Logan Mallory, vice president of marketing at Motivosity, in a statement. “When people are proactive about being grateful, it rewires their brain to look for positives instead of the negatives around them. Previous studies and these survey results tell us that if you want to experience an increase in life satisfaction, just express gratitude more often!”

Respondents say they receive the most gratitude from their spouses or partners (28%), family members (26%), and friends (24%). People at the office seem less thankful, with bosses (17%) and co-workers (15%) trailing further down the list. Perhaps it’s not surprising, on that point, that only 18 percent of employed Americans feel appreciated at work.

Even those who are “very satisfied” with their lives feel twice more recognition at home than at their jobs (46% vs. 24%). This may be partly due to respondents expecting to receive gratitude and appreciation in different ways when it comes to work versus home.

Forms of expressing gratitude

At work, a quarter would prefer receiving financial incentives – such as a promotion or raise (27%) and a bonus (26%). Others would like to be recognized with a prize or reward (23%), be acknowledged publicly or privately (23% and 20%) and have their bosses listen to their ideas (22%). Giving them time off (21%), better benefits (20%) and writing them a thank you note (19%) rounds out the list of the top actions employees want to see from their employers. 

“Of course, raises and bonuses are important, but public acknowledgment has a massive impact on making people feel more engaged at work,” added Mallory. “Team members want to genuinely feel that their day-to-day efforts make a difference, and recognizing them is crucial. Feeling appreciated at work improves life quality, which also leads to positive results for businesses.”

Survey methodology:

Motivosity comissioned this random double-opt-in survey of 2,000 general population Americans. It was conducted by market research company OnePoll, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society and have corporate membership to the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).

Story attributed to Study Finds.

The post Expressing Gratitude May Be True Key to Happiness appeared first on ModernGlobe.

As I began writing “Bayard Rustin: American Dreamer,” my biography of the 20th-century radical leader and activist, one of my colleagues cautioned me not to “fall in love.”

This, of course, is good advice for any biographer, and I tried to follow it.

But it wasn’t easy, because Bayard Rustin was America’s signature radical voice during the 20th century, and yes, I believe those voices includes that of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whom Rustin trained and mentored.

His vision of nonviolence was breathtakingly broad.

He was a civil rights activist, a labor unionist, a socialist, a pacifist and, later in life, a gay rights advocate.

Today, scholars would call Rustin an intersectionalist, a man who understood the complex effects of multiple forms of discrimination, including racism, sexism and classism.

Early days and activism

Born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, on March 17, 1912, Rustin was one of 12 children raised by their grandparents. It is believed that his devotion to civil rights was formed by his grandmother, whose work with the NAACP resulted in leaders of the Black community, such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Mary McLeod Bethune, visiting the Rustin home during his Quaker upbringing.

Rustin was present at the creation of a host of pivotal American liberation movements. He helped found the Congress of Racial Equality and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, two civil rights organizations that were focused on ending the Jim Crow era of racial segregation.

He worked with Black trade unionist A. Philip Randolph on the 1941 March on Washington Movement, which bore fruit in an executive order by President Franklin Roosevelt banning racial discrimination in the nation’s defense industries.

Rustin and Randolph worked again in 1948 on a successful campaign to end segregation in the U.S. military under President Harry Truman.

A pacifist, Rustin protested World War II by resisting the draft and, as a result, was imprisoned in 1944 as a conscientious objector.

After his release in 1946, Rustin became a major figure for the next two decades in two prominent pacifist organizations, the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the War Resisters League, both of which opposed the use of violence to settle disputes between individuals or nations.

In 1947, he and members of the Congress of Racial Equality planned the Journey of Reconciliation, the first organized effort to desegregate interstate bus transportation in the South.

Role in Montgomery bus boycott

Because of that work to integrate public transportation, Randolph suggested in 1956 that Rustin meet with a young preacher in Alabama who was organizing a bus boycott there.

That meeting with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1956 changed both men forever.

From then on Rustin advised King on the principles of Gandhi and nonviolent direct action that – when combined with lawsuits, voter registration drives and lobbying efforts – ultimately led to passage of both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

For Rustin, Black progress depended on politics and economics. To that end, in 1966 Rustin proposed the “Freedom Budget for All Americans” that promised every American employment, an income and access to health care.

His proposal became the template for progressive political activists in the 21st century.

Jobs and freedom

Rustin is best remembered as the organizer and orchestrator of arguably the seminal event in American civil rights history – the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

But it almost did not happen.

Rustin’s homosexuality had always been an issue, and not just to his opponents on the American right or to J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI.

Many progressive activists who were open-minded on matters relating to civil and labor rights were much less so when it came to Rustin’s sexuality.

Rustin had been fired by the Fellowship of Reconciliation after his 1953 conviction in Pasadena, California, on what was then known as a “public indecency” offense, involving sex with two other men in a parked car.

A few years later, King forced him out of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, fearful of the damage the issue of Rustin’s homosexuality could do to his organization.

It took the direct intervention of Randolph, Rustin’s lifelong friend and champion, to get King and other major civil rights leaders to agree to his selection as the organizer and orchestrator of the March on Washington in 1963.

Rustin then had to survive a denunciation by segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond on the floor of Congress shortly before the march, during which the South Carolina lawmaker read from FBI reports on Rustin’s flirtation with communism – he had belonged to the Communist Party briefly as a young man – and his homosexuality and arrest in Pasadena.

But Rustin’s ability to organize was now too valuable to lose, and this time King stood by him.

As my research shows, King knew that only Rustin, who had spent the previous two decades leading demonstrations and walking picket lines, had the knowledge and experience to move 250,000 people in and out of Washington, D.C., on a hot summer day.

King also knew that Rustin could manage everything in between, including the order of the speakers.

By insisting that King be placed last on the program, Rustin ensured that King would have the final word and maximum dramatic effect. Though Rustin didn’t know it at the time, King’s “I Have a Dream” remarks eventually constituted one of the greatest speeches ever delivered in American history.

Rustin’s internal conflicts

The constituent parts of Rustin’s radical vision were often at odds and difficult to achieve, forcing Rustin into wrenching choices, as I learned during my research.

During World War II, for instance, he chose pacifism over the cause of civil rights when he refused to bear arms against a racist Nazi regime.

During the Vietnam War, he chose socialism over pacifism when he muted his criticism of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s policies in the hope of enacting his Freedom Budget for All Americans.

And in 1968, as a white-led teachers union and Black activists struggled for control of New York City’s public education system during the bitter Ocean Hill-Brownsville crisis, Rustin chose labor rights over civil rights and class over race as he lent his support to the union.

These choices cost Rustin allies and friendships, as former colleagues who afforded themselves the luxury of one-issue purity denounced him as an apostate, a hypocrite, a turncoat or worse.

But Rustin was none of those.

He dedicated his life to helping, as he put it, “people in trouble,” whomever and wherever they might be.

Accordingly, he put himself on the line for democracy advocates all over the world. They included African Americans, Latinos, working men and women, union members, the poor, war critics, anti-nuclear protesters, gays and lesbians, students, leftists, Soviet Jews, and Haitian, Hmong and Afghan refugees.

If those allegiances appear to be contradictions, in my view they were of the best kind.

Love for Rustin?

Above all else, Rustin chose to help people in trouble based on their condition, not their identity.

For that he has, if not my love, then my profound respect.

Of all the voices I’ve heard on my journeys through America’s 20th-century history, it is his that resonates most with me.

Rustin died in 1987, his radical vision unwavering until the end.

Jerald Podair does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

The local market scene is heating up in the Tampa Bay region. This city is known for its funky vintage markets, dreamy night fleas, fresh markets in Hyde Park Village, and food truck fiestas downtown. Below you’ll find a collection of the top markets in Tampa, and the great Tampa Bay region.

Some events happen on recurring weekly and/or monthly basis, while others are just fun one offs. Did I miss an amazing market here in the Tampa Bay region? Send an email to info@thatssotampa.com and let me know so I can include it in the list. Side note: if you haven’t made it to Vintage Roost in historic Ybor City, then you’re depriving yourself of some of the most wonderful totally unique to Tampa treasures in the world.

Water Street Market
Where: 1 Water Street
When: The third Sunday of each month from 10am-3pm
About: This local market takes over the streets of Water Street Tampa and features 60+ local vendors. Click HERE for vendor applications.

Vintage Roost Ybor City
Where: 2326 E 7th Ave
When: The three day long event takes place the the 2nd & 4th weekend of each month.
About: A unique selection of post cards, furniture, home decor, books, records, and other vintage delights are available from more than a dozen vendors.

Ybor City Saturday Market
Where: 1901 N 19th St
When: Every Saturday year-round. Open 9am-1pm during the summer months.
About: Ybor City Saturday Market is the largest continually operating outdoor market in the Tampa Bay Area. Centered in Tampa’s Historic District, the market is one of the most popular shopping destinations for locally produced items unique to the Tampa Bay Area.

Fresh Market at Hyde Park Village
Where: 1602 W Snow Avenue
When: The first Sunday of every month from 10am-3pm
About: Fresh Market is a monthly farmers market featuring over 80 local vendors including produce, handcrafted goods, plants and more. While you shop and stroll, enjoy live music by Gasparilla Music in Village Circle.

Seminole Heights Sunday Market
Where: 6111 N Central Ave
When: The second Sunday of every month from 9am-1pm
About: The Seminole Heights neighborhood’s local farmers market is replete with fresh local produce, craft items, tasty desserts and drinks, and more.

Carrollwood Market
Where: 4537 Lowell Road
When: The second Saturday of every month from 9am-1pm.
About: Fresh food, love music, crafts for kids, and so much more. The Carrollwood market is a monthly neighborhood staple featuring some of the best vendors in the region.

Armature Works Second Sunday Market + Art Walk
Where: 1910 N Ola Avenue
When: The second Sunday of every month from 11am-3pm
About: Featuring a rotating cast of artisanal creatives and makers selling handmade goods, jewelry, art, wood-work, gifts plus so much more in the Gathering space at Armature Works. 

Sunshine Market at Midtown Tampa
Where: 3659 Midtown Drive
When: 4th Saturday of every month from 10am-2pm
About: Shop with local makers including producers of local agriculture, take home foods, baked goods, art, jewelry and more! Live music kicks off at 10am sharp on the green. Dog Friendly and Parking located in the garage at Midtown.

Sunset Market at Midtown Tampa
Where: 3659 Midtown Drive
When: The first Thursday of each month.
About: End your day with live music, dinner bites and local shopping with makers from the bay area! 

Mayor’s Food Truck Fiesta
Where: 241 E Madison Street
When: The first Wednesday of every month from 11am-2pm
About: Featuring tasty treats from a variety of local food trucks in the Tampa Bay region.

Wednesday Night Exchange
Where: 4900 Bridge Street
When: The first Wednesday of every month from 6-10pm
About: Taste, Sip, and Shop at the Wednesday Night Exchange! South Tampa’s newest fresh market offers a great selection of fresh produce, local art, crafts, take home foods, and more. 

Sunday Morning Market
Where: 4900 Bridge Street
When: The 4th Sunday of each month from 11am-3pm
About: This market will feature 70+ local vendors including plants, produce, take home foods, baked goods, lunch bites, food trucks, art, jewelry, clothing and more.

Corey Avenue Sunday Market
Where: Corey Avenue between Boca Ciega Avenue and Gulf Boulevard on St. Pete Beach.
When: Every Sunday from 9am-1pm.
About: More than 70 vendors gather along Corey Avenue on St. Pete Beach to sell the best coffee, pastries, arts, kombucha, fresh fruit and more in the area.

Westchase Locale Market
Where: 9520 W Linebaugh Avenue
When: The second Saturday of every month from 10am-3pm.
About: Shop plants, baked goods, flowers, clothing, handmade jewelry, homemade sauces, pet treats, home decor and more at the Westchase Town Center.

Fresh Market at Wiregrass
Where: 28211 Paseo Dr, Wesley Chapel
When: 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month from 10am-2pm
About: Shop for fresh produce, hand crafts, handmade candles, natural soaps, sauces, fresh bread, art work, furniture, jewelry and lunch bites.

Vintage Marche
Where: 2200 2nd Avenue South
When: The first weekend of every month
About: Tampa Bay’s largest monthly vintage market. They have 30+ vendors with thousands of square feet of treasures.

Saturday Morning Market
Where: Williams Park, 350 2nd Ave N
When: Every Saturday through the summer 9am-1pm
About: A collection of artists, produce vendors, food trucks, and artisans selling locally made, and baked goods in downtown St. Pete.

The Market Marie
Where: 600 Cleveland Street, Clearwater
When: The second Saturday of every month from 10am-2pm
About: Come shop local at The Market Marie with 95+ small businesses & local artisans! Organic produce, LIVE music, DJ & games, delicious food, art, clothing, jewelry, candles, soap, pet treats, home goods, and SO much more.

The Market Elaine
Where: 6013 Wesley Grove Blvd, Wesley Chapel
When: 1st Friday of every month from 5pm-9:30pm
About: The open air market will host 150 local, small business owners, LIVE music, and fun for the whole family!

Dunedin Downtown Market
Where: 420 Main St, Dunedin
When: Every Saturday from 9am-2pm
About: Featuring 50+ vendors including local farmers, plants, baked goods, artisan foods, ready to eat lunch bites, hand crafted items, bath & body and more! Live Music, Dog Friendly & Free Parking nearby.

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The post The Ultimate Tampa Market Guide appeared first on That's So Tampa.

If you need to use an image for your art, product, project, or any other reason, check out the Smithsonian's vast collection of Open Access images available under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. I searched "cat," and it returned over 7,000 images, and every one I looked at was terrific. — Read the rest

A town in North Carolina is being threatened by dangerously placed razor blades — not in apples, but in gas stations. At least three random razor blades have been found on gas pump handles within the last month, prompting Forest City police — who are actively investigating — to put out an advisory on Tuesday, warning residents to "be aware of your surroundings while pumping gas" and "always check before grabbing the gas pump handle." — Read the rest

CNET was recently called out for using an AI reporter for dozens of its stories. Then it went from bad to worse with mistakes and plagiarism.

The post CNET’s AI Plagiarism Debacle appeared first on Plagiarism Today.

James Ensor's etchings of the seven deadly sins stage personal grievances and caricatures through grotesque, Christian symbolism.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020, a recurring topic of debate has been whether official COVID-19 death statistics in the U.S. accurately capture the fatalities associated with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Some politicians and a few public health practitioners have argued that COVID-19 deaths are overcounted. For instance, a January 2023 opinion piece in The Washington Post claims that COVID-19 death tallies include not only those who died from COVID-19 but those who died from other causes but happened to have COVID-19.

Most scientists, however, have suggested that COVID-19 death tallies represent underestimates because they fail to capture COVID-19 deaths that were misclassified to other causes of death.

We are part of a team of researchers at Boston University, University of Minnesota, University of California San Francisco and other institutions who have been tracking COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. A major goal for our team has been to assess whether the undercounting of COVID-19 deaths has occurred, and if so in which parts of the country.

Examining excess deaths

One way to examine the issue is to look at what population health researchers call excess mortality. It’s a measure which, in this case, compares the number of deaths that occurred during the pandemic to the number of deaths that would have been expected based on pre-pandemic trends.

Excess mortality captures deaths that arose from COVID-19 directly or through indirect pathways such as patients avoiding hospitals during COVID-19 surges. While determining a cause of death can be a complex process, recording whether or not someone died is more straightforward. For this reason, calculations of excess deaths are viewed as the least biased estimate of the pandemic’s death toll.

As a general rule of thumb – with some important caveats that we explain below – if there are more COVID-19 deaths than excess deaths, COVID-19 deaths were likely overestimated. If there are more excess deaths than COVID-19 deaths, COVID-19 deaths were likely underestimated.

In a newly released study that has not yet been peer-reviewed, our team found that during the first two years of the pandemic – from March 2020 to February 2022 – there were between 996,869 and 1,278,540 excess deaths in the U.S. Among these, 866,187 were recognized as COVID-19 on death certificates. This means that there were between 130,682 and 412,353 more excess deaths than COVID-19 deaths. The gap between excess deaths and COVID-19 deaths was large in both the first and second years of the pandemic. This suggests that COVID-19 deaths were undercounted even after the pandemic’s chaotic early months.

Major studies have also concluded that excess deaths exceeded COVID-19 deaths at the national level during the first two years of the pandemic. And preliminary analyses by our team have found that the gap between excess deaths and COVID-19 deaths has persisted into the third year of the pandemic. This suggests that COVID-19 deaths are still being undercounted.

Making sense of the discrepancy

Explaining the discrepancy between excess deaths and reported COVID-19 deaths is a more challenging task. But several threads of evidence support the idea that the difference largely reflects uncounted COVID-19 deaths.

In a recent study, we found that excess deaths peaked immediately before spikes in reported COVID-19 deaths. This was the case even for excess deaths associated with causes like Alzheimer’s disease that are unlikely to rapidly change due to patients avoiding hospitals or other changes in behavior during the pandemic.

This finding aligns with the observation that COVID-19 deaths may go unrecognized – and be misclassified to other causes of death – at the beginning of COVID-19 surges. At this time, COVID-19 testing may be less frequent in the community, among medical providers and among death investigators. If excess deaths were not caused by COVID-19, they would instead either remain relatively constant during COVID-19 surges or they would peak afterwards when hospitals were overcrowded and deaths may have resulted from health care interruptions.

Excess deaths related to external causes of death such as drug overdose also increased during the pandemic. However, a preliminary study found that the scale of this increase was small relative to the overall increase in excess deaths. So deaths from external factors alone cannot explain the gap between excess and COVID-19 deaths.

This evidence is worth considering in light of the prominent opinion piece in the Washington Post mentioned earlier, which suggests that the U.S.‘s tally of COVID-19 deaths is a substantial overcount. The author argues that in some hospitals, widespread COVID-19 testing has led patients with COVID-19 who died of other causes to still have COVID-19 included as a cause on their death certificate. There is a fundamental misunderstanding, however, in generalizing these hospital deaths to the entire country.

One reason this overgeneralization is flawed is because hospital deaths are distinct from out-of-hospital deaths. In out-of-hospital settings, COVID-19 testing is often lacking and death investigators have less training and less information about the deceased. In fact, our research suggests that COVID-19 deaths are largely undercounted in out-of-hospital settings.

Investigative reporting among coroners in rural areas has also revealed significant variability in out-of-hospital cause of death assignment. Some coroners have even gone on record to state that they do not include COVID-19 on death records if it contradicts their own political beliefs or if families wish for it to be omitted.

The other problem with the overgeneralization is geographic. Our preliminary study demonstrates that excess deaths exceeded COVID-19 deaths in the vast majority of counties across the U.S. In particular, counties in the South, the Rocky Mountain states and rural areas had many more excess deaths than COVID-19 deaths. This suggests that COVID-19 deaths were likely undercounted in these areas.

The idea that COVID-19 deaths are sometimes overreported is, to a very limited extent, supported by our analyses. A select number of large and medium-sized metro areas in New England and the mid-Atlantic states have had more COVID-19 deaths than excess deaths. But most of the country has not followed the patterns of this small group of counties.

While it is possible that some deaths assigned to COVID-19 in New England and the mid-Atlantic states were not actually caused by COVID-19, other explanations are also possible. First, COVID-19 mitigation efforts could have prevented deaths in these areas via pathways unrelated to COVID-19, reducing excess deaths. For example, some people living in wealthy, urban counties had the privilege to work from home and avoid household crowding, which may have reduced their risk of dying from flu. Flu is typically responsible for as many as 50,000 deaths each year.

In fact, the 2020-2021 flu season was minimal, likely because of social distancing. Another possible explanation is that later in the first two years of the pandemic, there may have also been fewer deaths than expected in some areas because some of the least healthy people in the area had already died of COVID-19. These alternative explanations imply that, even in those New England and mid-Atlantic counties where more COVID-19 deaths were recorded than estimated excess deaths, many COVID-19 deaths may still have occurred even as other kinds of deaths decreased.

Why it matters

Ultimately, figuring out how many people have died as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic is a major scientific undertaking that has significant political importance. Knowing how many people died and where these deaths occurred has widespread implications for informing how current pandemic response resources are allocated and for preparing for future public health emergencies.

As a result, in our view, it is critical that the scientific community carefully reviews the rigor of the science behind the counting of COVID-19 deaths. Given the intense politicization of the pandemic, claims of overcounting or undercounting need to be made cautiously.

Finally, research by our team and investigative reporting conducted in partnership with our team has found that the undercounting of COVID-19 deaths is significantly more common in Black, Hispanic and Native American communities as well as low-income areas. Claims that COVID-19 deaths have been overcounted undermine efforts to reconcile the undercounts in these communities and to ensure resources are being allocated to those most affected. For example, if a person does not have COVID-19 assigned as a cause on their death certificate, their family is ineligible for pandemic social programs such as the FEMA funeral assistance program.

To understand where the U.S. public health system has succeeded and fallen short during the pandemic, a full accounting of deaths caused by COVID-19 is needed. More than that, families, friends and loved ones of those who have died so far also deserve to know the true toll that COVID-19 has taken.

Andrew Stokes receives funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the National Institute on Aging.

Dielle Lundberg receives funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Question through grant number T32HS013853. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Elizabeth Wrigley-Field receives funding from the Minnesota Population Center, funded through a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD, grant number P2CHD041023).

Yea-Hung Chen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Elise Pickett knows a thing or two about gardening. She’s a third-generation Floridian and has been teaching locals how to grow their own food for the past 10 years. After learning about how the current food systems affect our health, she started growing her own veggies for her family. Soon her personal journey expanded outwards, and she opened The Urban Harvest, a resource for people who want to start taking control of their food and where it comes from.

Anyone can grow

Elise’s primary goal is to get people growing healthy food. And she wants people to know that they can do this anywhere.

“You can grow food no matter where you live or how much space you have,” Elise says. “You can grow food in as little as five square inches of space on your apartment balcony.”

Related story: Food give-away in Lealman

Deciding how to start growing your own food can be difficult at first. When you’re trying to learn all the components at once, it’s easy to get frustrated and give up. That’s why she suggests choosing three or four of your favorite vegetables to eat, not just choosing something that’s easy to grow. She adds, “There is just no sense in growing something that you don’t absolutely love.”

Starting with a small container like a tower garden or a single raised bed. Starting small helps you get a feel for the rhythm of the seasons and prevents you from getting overwhelmed. Then, once you’ve successfully grown a few plants, expand it the next season.

Elise herself has only 5600 square feet of space in her lot and she’s able to achieve self-sufficiency in many areas. Take leafy greens, for example. She has not purchased vegetables like lettuce or kale in two-and-a-half years. Just last year she harvested up to 56 pounds of leafy greens!

Growing veggies in Florida

Growing veggies doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, because of our lovely climate, we can basically grow food all year! Elise reminds people that in Florida, our seasons are flipped flopped. Our primary growing season isn’t spring or fall, but winter. Although there are plenty of vegetables you can grow in the summer, including long beans, eggplant and Seminole pumpkin. It’s actually not the season people need to be mindful of when planting.

“It’s being mindful of the seed, what variety and whether it’s adaptive to the season we are heading into,” Elise explains.

Luckily, The Urban Harvest has a solution for that too. On the website is a seed store with a curated collection of open pollinated heirloom seeds and live plants that are specially selected for their ability to thrive in Florida’s climate. They also have a seed club where members receive three different in-season vegetable, herb or flower seeds to grow along with The Urban Harvest each month. They are all crops Elise has grown herself and knows will do well in Florida.

“I have the four S’s and I think they are really important for growing food in Florida — sun, soil, seasons and the seed,” Elise says.

The Urban Harvest

The Urban Harvest is an excellent resource for anyone who is ready to start their gardening journey. Elise offers classes where she teaches everything from the basics of growing to how to compost. She is also available for in-person consultations that can be done over the phone or in person. These custom lessons are tailored to your garden needs.

Related story: How to make your backyard more friendly for Florida wildlife

Her next class is all about chickens and how to provide sustainable chicken care in your own backyard! The event will be held at Sweetwater Organic Community Farm on Hanley Road in Tampa.

Click here to learn more about The Urban Harvest.

Pictures left to right: (1) Backyard chickens. (2) Elise Pickett. (3) Vertical garden planter. (4) Packet of seeds from the Seed Club.

The post The Urban Harvest Teaches Self-Sufficiency Anywhere appeared first on ModernGlobe.

Following a request to the state’s public universities in late December to detail costs related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory (CRT), Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez announced Tuesday that the state will attempt to curb DEI efforts in higher education.

As of Wednesday, USF hasn’t responded to the governor’s new plans regarding DEI.

Out of the 12 public universities in Florida, USF reported the most spending totaling $8.7 million, of which $2.5 million came from state funds, according to the university’s final report. Though USF had the highest total spending, Florida A&M University reported the highest amount of state funds used totaling $4.1 million.

These funds were allocated in an array of different initiatives including its own DEI Office, Student Support Services, the Office of Multicultural Affairs and a Supplier Diversity program which received a sum total of $3,411,354.

The largest expenditure totaled $4,120,000 and went towards Upward Bound, a federally funded TRIO program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The program focuses on building skills and motivation to complete secondary and post-secondary education.

Other programs included the Institute on Black Life, which received $17,500 of state funded money and the St. Petersburg/Pinellas Higher Education for Racial Equity consortium that received $43,178.

The university also invested in trainings such as an online certificate called “DE&I in the Workplace” which obtained $120,000 as well as an “Inclusive and Equitable Pedagogy” training which received $41,444 and aimed to incorporate equitable practices into classes.

A total of $910,000 went towards academic courses at the university focusing on creative thinking, human and cultural diversity, ethical reasoning and civic engagement, and high impact practice.

The Oracle contacted USF’s DEI office and Board of Trustees (BOT) for comment. Both did not comment on the findings of the report.

Associate professor of philosophy Richard Manning said that requests and other recent legislation pursued by the governor’s office has made faculty feel as though they are constantly under attack by a hostile state government.

Faculty who were hired to teach in areas relating to DEI and CRT feel threatened and are hoping for support from the university, according to Manning. However, he said the university leadership can’t or won’t speak in opposition for fear of reprisal, specifically in the form of slashed funding.

“[DeSantis] is letting teachers and scholars know that those ideas are not welcome here,” Manning said.

“His actions, policies and frank rhetoric say ‘Don’t come to Florida if you care about the ideas of systemic, racial and sexist injustice. Don’t come here because we won’t fund you and we won’t let such concepts be taught.’ The result will be to prevent higher education institutions from acting in a way that is sensitive to and conscious of injustices that result from systemic racism and sexism.”

Assistant professor Kyaien Conner said it is also a personal attack on those who are members of underrepresented minority racial groups and who are engaged in DEI work. Comments and legislation pursued by the governor’s office that invalidate the research and work faculty are doing makes it very hard to go to work every day, she said.

Conner said the memo requesting the information was also vague and did not provide a clear rationale as to why the information was needed.

“We are providing a great deal of information without a full understanding of what that information is going to be used for and leaving many of us to make assumptions about what the ultimate goal of all of this is,” Conner said.

Manning said DeSantis is perpetrating epistemic injustice by cutting off students from a knowledge base that would help illuminate both their own histories and circumstances and the history of the country.

There has been hyperfocus on targeting DEI, which are programs that are put in place to create social justice and enhance equity, according to Conner. She said the new measures limit faculty’s ability to engage in critical conversations that are supposed to take place in higher education.

“DEI is a concept that has been misconstrued and used again as a scapegoat in a larger political fight that we haven’t even begun to fully realize the potential implications of and how that’s going to impact the academy in general,” Conner said.

The erasure of DEI and critical race theory will have a significant impact on students, according to Conner. She said a diverse faculty supported by the concept of DEI makes a difference for students, psychologically and emotionally, but also in their trajectory.

Conner said students often feel heard and supported by their faculty who are from the same racial or ethnic background, and seeing them in those positions might motivate them to get to that point in their own career.

Effects from the target on critical race theory have already surfaced as some faculty at other state universities have decided not to offer courses due to the risk they may pose towards their career, according to assistant professor David Ponton. At the University of Central Florida, assistant professor Jonathan Cox scrapped courses relating to race for this reason, according to ProPublica.

DEI as a concept is also embedded within all disciplines and therefore the target won’t be limited to just one area, according to president of the Faculty Senate Jenifer Schneider.

Legislation and attempts like this perpetuate ideas that everything should be neutral and colorblind and this fails to acknowledge different life experiences, according to Schneider. She said students want to know that their experiences are valued and they want to see themselves represented in the faculty.

“It helps when you can see someone in a faculty role you can visualize yourself in a way that maybe you didn’t see yourself before,” she said. “When we have diverse people, it brings more resources, it brings better ideas, it brings creativity. We learn from each other. I learn from my colleagues who are different from me, and it’s not helpful to be all the same.”

This investigation won’t be the last of the scrutiny against DEI and CRT, according to Ponton. He said it is likely that more investigations, legislation and policies will follow suit and this unilateral culture war will continue.

“USF can learn from the history of historically black colleges and universities because they have had to contend with two things at the same time – the demands of their student population and, at the same time, the administrators at those schools had to toe the line with the mandates of the states and federal bodies that subsidize them,” Ponton said.

Ponton said pushing back against the DEI work that the university is pursuing is to leave students from non-normative backgrounds out of the conversation. Ultimately, this makes students feel as though they do not belong in that institution, according to Ponton.

“It makes them feel like this is not an institution where their identities are valued, where their history and heritage are celebrated, where their struggles are seriously considered,” he said.

“[It tells them] that they are supposed to just assimilate into a baseless, white blob where everyone is the same. When that happens, students don’t do as well with their schooling. When they’re empowered, they do well.”

It’s January in Tampa Bay. The time to be inundated with all things pirates and parades. But what were pirates to Tampa Bay? Were they a genuine threat? Were they just an extension of colonial control? Let’s learn more about pirates in Tampa Bay and why we’ve dedicated so much to their memory.

The golden age of pirates in Florida

For centuries, pirates were a genuine threat in Florida! These crews made their living by plundering small settlements and raiding cargo ships in the Caribbean and the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of Florida. Life as a pirate, or buccaneer, was hard. They lived fast and died young, with many of them only going on one or two raids before retiring.

The Golden Age of Piracy was from 1650 to 1726. Some of these crews were total outlaws. Men who tried to make an honest living through treasurer diving or some other odd job, but eventually turned to piracy. Some were an extension of colonial authority, patrolling the seas on behalf of greater powers like England or Spain.

Related: Other Hidden Histories in Tampa Bay

Real pirates like Diego “El Mulato” Martin and Robert Seales did plunder the Gulf Coast. Attacking cargo ships and trying to turn a profit in nearby settlements in the Tampa Bay area.

However, a pirate by the name of José Gaspar? Probably not real.

José Gaspar — The man, the myth

Really more myth than actual man. According to Brad Massey, curator at the Tampa Bay History Center, the story of José Gaspar comes from a local Florida man in the 1900s. Juan Gomez lived in Collier County and said he was once a cabin boy to a pirate named José Gaspar. He even came up with a swashbuckling story.

Related: More Hidden History stories on Modern Globe

The story grew and grew with details coming and going, depending on who told the story. Most retellings say José Gaspar was born in Spain and served in the Spanish Navy until turning to a life of piracy on his ship, the Gasparilla. American forces eventually took him down. He refused to surrender and instead wrapped an anchor around his waist and plunged into the great beyond.

A splendid story. Almost certainly not true.

Actual pirates in Florida history

The story of Gaspar grew and in the early 20th Century. Local Tampa citizens saw this tall tale as a great gimmick to get people interested in the Bay area. Thus, the Gasparilla parade was born.

So, while José Gaspar may not be real, here are some actual pirates who caused mischief and mayhem along the Florida coast.

• Sir Francis Drake — You may know him as an explorer for England, but according to 16th century Spain, this guy was a pirate! Sailed all around the Florida coast. Raided St. Augustine once.
• Henry Jennings — An English privateer from Bermuda aka a pirate. Was one of the many pirates who sailed around Florida looking for gold on old wrecked ships that were scattered along the coastline.
• Samuel Bellamy — Another sunken treasurer seeker turned pirate. Actually, a pretty nice guy, considering! His crews loved him and he was sometimes affectionally called “Robin Hood of the Sea.”

This story was written with help from The Smithsonian Magazine.

The post Hidden History: Pirates in Tampa Bay appeared first on ModernGlobe.

Returning to something after a long break, hiatus, or sabbatical intimidates most of us. Whether it’s getting back to work after being out with an illness, taking up a hobby after many years or even the prospect of returning to “real life” after a vacation, getting back into action can fill us with dread. I’ve written on the blog before how much I love the New Year and the clean slate it brings. As we’ve stepped into this New Year and I’ve wanted to get back to activities I’d left on the back burner, like writing this blog, the Knights of the tarot popped into my mind. It must have been the “getting back in the saddle,” or “get back on the horse” sentiment that prompted me and I’m glad it did because the metaphor is perfect for picking back up wherever we may have left off.

The Knights of the tarot might be the true underdogs of tarot. Part of the court cards of the deck which many people already have a hard time interpreting and relating to, the knights occupy an energy that is under-represented in tarot. The Pages represent novices and new beginnings. The Queen and King represent the feminine and masculine principles of mastery and authority. However, when people pull a Knight card they often stare blankly and understanding comes to halt.

The Knights represent the continuation of something already set in motion: an idea or thought, feelings of love, creative endeavors, or building something. The Knights upon their steeds carry out orders given by the Queen or King or they complete with skill what the apprentice Pages cannot. In short, whether swiftly or slowly, Knights get things done.

As I contemplated the New Year and my goals, I realized that so many of our goals and resolutions for the New Year aren’t really new, but are our attempts to get back to things we’d abandoned or forgotten. We aspire to get back in shape, finish learning that second language or take our proficiency to the next level, or complete household projects left in states of flux. Oftentimes finally finishing something is even more rewarding than taking up a new project.

As you proceed into 2023, this is a wonderful time to reconnect with forgotten projects and goals. It is never too late and connecting with the energy of the Knights may help you focus with purpose and determination. Let these energies bring you clarity and understanding. The Knights of the tarot are not at all hard to relate to once you understand their meaning. They are warriors who get things done in their own unique ways.

I like to the group the Knights in pairs. First, we’ll look at what I call the Speedy Knights: the Knight of Swords and the Knight of Wands. Sometimes these two remind me of the phrase, “Fools rush in.” They both are typically depicted in the RWS (Rider-Waite-Smith) tradition as riding full-gallop on their chargers towards wherever they’ve been directed or commanded to go, wand and sword raised in offensive positions. The Knight of Swords embodies thought, ideas, and beliefs in action. The Knight of Wands embodies creativity, passion, and even spirituality in action. Both knights waste no time getting to their destinations. Fools may rush in but sometimes they are right on time!

Next let’s look at the Steady Knights: the Knight of Cups and the Knight of Pentacles or Coins. These are the “Slow and steady wins the race,” knights. They both sit atop their steeds in a calm if not completely still manner in the RWS. The Knights present forth their cup or pentacle, almost as offerings rather than as weapons to attack like the wand and sword. The Knight of Cups represents emotion, compassion and romance or love in action. Love really cannot be rushed. The Knight of Pentacles represents finances, work, and progress in the physical world. Traveling or attaining physical resources is never a quick thing in the eyes of Spirit: these things take time.

Invoking the energies of the Knights in tarot can really help us focus on our goals and actually work towards them successfully. The qualities that the Knights characterize cover all facets of life and we can relate them to any task. I’ve listed a breakdown below that should be helpful when determining which Knight would be most helpful for you to work with based on what you plan to achieve. Using the energy of the tarot Knights can help you have the most accomplished and successful year yet while learning about and becoming much more comfortable with these court cards. Give them a try!

Knight of Swords: Connect with this knight in relation to all things thought-based. Ideas, brainstorming, written and verbal communication. Finally writing that book or taking up journaling again. Learning to be a better public speaker or learning a new language. Starting a book club or a weekly reading routine. Go finish school or go back to acquire an advanced degree.

Knight of Wands: Connect with this knight in relation to all creative and spiritual endeavors. Start or finally finish craft projects or art pieces. Work on inventions and innovations you’ve never gotten on paper. Learn to play a musical instrument, start dancing again, get back to doing improv. Finish sewing projects or do cosplay. Start meditating again or studying a religion that’s always interested you. Devote more time to metaphysical studies such as tarot, astrology, and witchcraft.

Knight of Cups: Connect with this knight regarding matters of the heart, emotions, and psyche. Go back to therapy. Do shadow work, self-reflection or any kind of self-help that interests you. Be more demonstrative and openly affectionate with loved ones, express your feelings to your loved ones or establish better boundaries in your relationships. Pursue romantic love and start dating or plan to be more romantic within your current relationship. Cultivate more compassion for those you judge.

Knight of Pentacles: Connect with this knight regarding your work or professional life, finances, and all physical matters. Acquire professional certifications that increase your value as an employee. Prepare yourself for promotion or start your own business. Start budgeting and becoming more financially savvy. Learn about investing or real estate. Make plans to finally travel to your dream destination. Strengthen your physical fitness by exercising, play sports. Conduct home improvements or work in your garden.

For generations, the Underground Railroad has been the quintessential story of resistance against oppression.

Yet, the story is incomplete.

What is far less known is that the majority of enslaved people who fled Southern slavery before the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation never crossed the Mason-Dixon line to freedom in the Northern states.

Instead, they remained within the slaveholding Southern states.

As a scholar of slavery, labor and resistance, I have written about the thousands of enslaved Black people who gravitated to the burgeoning cities and towns of the South, where they lived camouflaged among urban Black residents in Baltimore; Charleston, South Carolina; New Orleans; and Richmond, Virginia.

In my book “Escape to the City: Fugitive Slaves in the Antebellum Urban South,” my research reveals that the resistance of Black people in the antebellum South was much larger and much more active than we have thought.

A natural part of Southern cities

Despite their numbers, this parallel story to the Underground Railroad did not leave a mark that is very discernible today.

Unlike fugitives who fled to the North – or to Mexico – those who stayed in the South did not cause political debates that historians can analyze.

And newspaper coverage was so meager that, for the most part, generations of historians have simply overlooked the fact that thousands of runaway slaves went to Southern cities. They overwhelmingly came from nearby plantations and towns.

Intriguingly, it is exactly this gap in the historical record which suggests that urban fugitives prevailed, because it testifies to their virtual invisibility.

My research has found snippets and snapshots of information about them.

Autobiographies, such as the ones by James Matthews and George Teamoh, reveal how they procured work in a new place.

When Matthews went to Charleston, he wrote that he “went down to the stevedore’s stand and waited there with the rest of the hands” until he was recruited for “stowing away cotton in a vessel.”

Likewise, Teamoh wrote that he “found employment during a few days” at the dockyard at the Richmond Basin.

South Carolina slaveholders complained in petitions that their runaways were hired in Charleston to load vessels. Jail ledgers give insight into those who were caught.

For contemporary residents, escaped slaves in Southern cities were a normal occurrence, as the routine handling of them suggests.

When the New Orleans Daily Picayune in 1852 reported that runaway slaves “were hustled up by the police last evening,” it concluded that none of the cases “were of sufficient interest to be worth narrating.”

Some refugees from slavery were apprehended, but as I learned during my research, most could live and work unmolested by police, co-workers or neighbors.

They could be the washerwoman or the neighbor’s cleaning girl or the bricklayer in the street – all hidden in plain sight.

Collective resistance

When the Black populations in Southern cities grew throughout the antebellum era between 1800 and 1860, individual family members, friends and sympathizers offered support to Black fugitives to help find housing and work.

As a whole, Black society functioned as a community in which fugitives could remain invisible to slaveholders, police and authorities.

Harboring or aiding an enslaved Black fugitive had been a punishable offense long before the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which enabled anyone to capture and return any Black man or woman, often regardless of legal status, to slavery. If caught involved in an enslaved person’s escape, helpers could face as many as seven years in prison.

But shared social and political experiences bound people of African descent together. In contrast to Colonial times, it is well known that during the antebellum era, Black families often counted both free and enslaved members.

This mobilized a broad intraracial solidarity that furnished fugitives with the right environment to carve out new lives outside the reach of their masters and mistresses. My research shows that men and women took the opportunity to find jobs, tie new friendships and join local churches.

The need to be invisible

Very clearly, fugitives in Southern cities could only make it with the help of others.

And while flight to the North by no means meant that safety was guaranteed, success in the South depended more than anywhere else on the silence of everyone involved, as my book shows.

Tens of thousands of men and women in the antebellum years defied slavery by running away, thereby sending an explicit message of their refusal to accept exploitation and oppression.

Yet in Southern cities, there was no one like Frederick Douglass, who used his writing and orating skills to fight for abolition, and no one like William Still, who compiled records on the 649 people he helped gain freedom.

Nor was there a counterpart to Harriet Tubman, whose leadership qualities and survival skills earned her the nickname “Moses” because of her work on the Underground Railroad. Between 1850 and 1860, she successfully rescued nearly 70 friends and family members, all of whom had been enslaved.

For those who remained in slaveholding states, publicity would have been way too risky, in large part because the law was in the hands of the largest slaveholders, who controlled state legislatures.

The strategy of runaways and those who aided them was not to attract attention.

Their lives depended on being invisible.

What we won’t know

While it is a story of how people defied all odds to fight against enslavement and built up new lives, the success of their strategies to seamlessly become part of a city comes at a delayed price – for historians.

The heroes in this story have no names.

And in the rare instances that they do, a name is all that’s left.

We will probably never know much about individual children, women and men who escaped slavery in Southern cities.

What we do know now is that this type of flight relied on collective resistance that permeated virtually the entire Black population – and it was done in whispers rather than shouts.

Viola Franziska Müller received funding from the Dutch Research Council NWO.

“Home and Belonging” is this year’s theme for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, as designated by the United Nations, Jan. 27, the day Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated in 1945.

This theme should compel us to reflect not only on belonging and Canadian identity, but on what these ideas mean to those persecuted during and after the Holocaust.

As we are all too often reminded, antisemitism did not die in the fires of Auschwitz-Birkenau, rather it lay dormant waiting for new opportunities to spread.

This year’s theme is particularly poignant as Statistics Canada reports a rise in police-reported hate crimes targeting Jews: figures from 2020 to 2021 showed a 47 per cent rise, with 331 hate crimes reported in 2020 and 487 reported the next year.

Prioritizing Holocaust education at all levels of the education system is imperative.

Young people and antisemitism

Alarmingly, as antisemitism and Holocaust distortion become dangerously prevalent, some acts are associated with younger members of Canadian society. Earlier this month two Ottawa high-school students faced hate crime charges stemming from an antisemitic incident at their school.

In Toronto, Canada’s largest school board also faced a barrage of antisemitic incidents.

Antisemitic acts are quickly becoming normalized across the mainstream and show few signs of slowing down.

Rise in hate, antisemitism

A recent and comprehensive study by the ADL, a non-governmental organization that fights antisemitism and bias, surveyed a representative sample of the American population between September and October 2022 and found over three-quarters of Americans (85 per cent) believe “at least one anti-Jewish trope.” That is an astonishing growth factor given that the 2019 study found 61 per cent of Americans believed in an anti-Jewish trope or conspiracy theory.

Although these are U.S. figures, Canadians also clearly need to be concerned given expressions of antisemitism, Holocaust disinformation and hate here. As civil society grapples with this, new initiatives are needed to ensure that hate and antisemitism is eradicated.

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À lire aussi : Banning ‘Maus’ only exposes the significance of this searing graphic novel about the Holocaust

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“Home and belonging” underpins what citizenship and human rights mean in any democratic society, and this themes resonates with Canadians of all ethnicities, religions and cultures.

This is exactly what makes the announcement about Holocaust education being incorporated into the Ontario Grade 6 curriculum so important — it is about teaching Canadians the dangers of where unbridled hate and antisemitism can lead, while sending a message to Canadian Jews that Canada is their home too.

The home and sense of belonging that approximately 40,000 Holocaust survivors found in Canada after the Second World War must remain in place for contemporary Jewish communities.

Holocaust education

Holocaust memory is one of the strongest tools for fortifying society against the dangers of racism, hate and antisemitism. However, to pretend that it will solve all manifestations of contemporary antisemitism would be a mistake.

Holocaust education must also address the ideological roots of neo-fascism, identity and alienation, conspiracism and disinformation, all of which lay the foundation for the widespread belief in antisemitic conspiracy theories and anti-Jewish tropes. And, it must do this while teaching people how to navigate propaganda in a digital age.

Importance of first-hand accounts

Still, Holocaust memory as represented by the first-hand accounts of those who survived the horrors of Nazi persecution remains the bedrock for understanding how the Holocaust forever impacted individuals, families and entire communities.

As we mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day this week on Jan. 27, Canadians of all ages can discover for themselves what home and belonging has meant for some who survived the Holocaust.

Over 100 life stories of Holocaust survivors have been published through the Azrieli Foundation Holocaust Survivors Memoir Program. This week, five titles in this collection are available for free as audiobooks for a two-week period. Four of these titles are the first-ever audiobooks narrated by Holocaust survivors themselves.

Listening to the experiences of Holocaust survivors, narrated in their voices, is a powerful learning experience.

To understand the significance of home and belonging to Jews across Canada, and why the increase in antisemitism is so serious to Canadian society, choose to listen to one of these memoirs as a means of marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2023.

Carson Phillips is a Canadian delegate to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

A woman in Idaho relates how her miscarriage led to medical problems—and that doctors in the state refused to provide necessary medical care for her. The presumption is that they fear that the law will punish anyone that provided an abortion-like procedure, even on a dead fetus. — Read the rest

The Hillsborough County School Board discussed making changes to its racial equity policy in a Jan. 17 workshop, as the wording violates SB 148, or the “Stop W.O.K.E.” law. 

While SB 148 is needlessly censoring these words, it’s still important for the school board to obey it and change the wording. Not doing so leaves them open to legal battles that could be even more harmful to the district in the long run.

The issues with the racial equity policy are in regard to lines nine through 15 addressing “institutional racism” and how the school district plans to combat the issues that stem from it. 

“This policy confronts the institutional racism that results in predictably lower academic achievement for students of color than for their white peers,” states the first page of the policy.

The Florida Department of Education sent Hillsborough Superintendent Addison Davis a letter on Nov. 18, informing him and the rest of the school board that this language is unacceptable under SB 148.

The Stop W.O.K.E. Act also grants parents the right to pursue litigation against school officials who don’t comply. Therefore, refusing to change this language leaves the district open to lawsuits and even removal of the board members. 

The intentions behind the policy are not being changed, only the wording. The board members are free to combat these issues as they see fit, and this is why many of them are willing to change the wording.

“I don’t want us to get hyper-focused on the words as much as our actions. That’s what matters. How we behave, and in the end, how we determine how people are going to be treated,” said board member Stacy Hahn, as reported in a Jan. 18 article by WUSF.

Davis agreed. While he recommended changing the wording, he said that the board had no plans of changing its current trajectory regarding racial equity.

However, several of the board members disagree and want to push back against the state and keep the wording as it is. 

“There are some things that you can’t eliminate,” board member Henry Washington said.

If the wording is kept, it puts board members at risk of losing their jobs and, therefore, losing their positions to actually combat this issue in the schools. 

The board finally decided during their workshop to have a public meeting and let the community help decide the best course of action. No date for this meeting was set. 

While proponents of the Stop W.O.K.E. Act are attempting to censor the Hillsborough School District’s racial equity policy for their own agenda, the school board should still change the wording. It’s a necessary evil to protect the board members’ positions against litigation and ensure they can continue to push for racial equity in schools beyond the written word.

 

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Office of Planning and Budget’s new survey requested that 12 Florida public universities release information about its students that sought “gender-affirming” care in the last five years – USF’s campuses and USF Health ranked at the top of the list. 

The official release of the survey did not state DeSantis’ objective in gathering this information. Factors include the number and age of students who gained access to sex reassignment, puberty blockers, hormones and surgical procedures, according to the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget.

DeSantis is requesting that all information on students who were officially diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a feeling of discomfort when a person’s gender does not align with their physical attributes, be delivered by Feb. 10, according to the director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget Chris Spencer. 

“Our office has learned that several state universities provide services to persons suffering from gender dysphoria,” Spencer wrote. “On behalf of the governor, I hereby request that you respond to the enclosed inquiries related to such services.” 

The memo, released on Jan. 18, also included the administration’s request for students who were underage when requesting gender-affirming care and university staff who had sought those services. Services such as “first-time” visits that led to external referrals are also to be disclosed to the administration. 

USF Health, in partnership with Tampa General Physicians, offers gender-affirming hormones and mental support to students suffering from gender dysphoria. The USF Diabetes and Endocrinology center recognizes the importance of providing mental support and hormonal care, including the student’s family in the process, according to its website. 

“At USF Health, children and their families are seen together – as a family – by endocrinologists, psychologists and registered dietitian nutritionists. The purpose is to ensure good mental and physical health and guide the whole family through the process of managing hormone therapy.”

     Fifty years ago, on January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court issued its landmark 7–2 decision in Roe v. Wade, protecting a woman’s constitutional right to choose.  This case reaffirmed basic principles of equality, reinforced the fundamental right to privacy, and resolved that women in this country could control their own destinies — making deeply personal decisions free from political interference.

     The Court got Roe right 50 years ago.  It was a balanced decision with broad national consensus that the majority of Americans have continued to support for the last 50 years.  And it was a constitutional principle upheld by justices appointed by Democratic and Republican Presidents alike.

     But 7 months ago, a conservative majority on the Supreme Court overturned Roe.  Never before has the Court taken away a right so fundamental to Americans.  In doing so, it put the health and lives of women across this Nation at risk.  The Supreme Court opened the door for new challenges to other fundamental freedoms, including access to contraception and the right to marry whom you love.  Millions of women now live in States with extreme bans on abortion, many without exceptions for rape and incest, or, where doctors can be jailed for providing reproductive care.  Today, trailblazers who fought heroically for the Roe v. Wade decision are watching the next generation grow up without its protections.

     On what would have been the 50th anniversary of protections under Roe v. Wade, my Administration is resolute in its commitment to defending reproductive rights and continuing our Nation’s progress toward equality for all.  In response to the Court’s extreme Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, I issued Executive Orders to ensure that patients receive care during medical emergencies; to protect access to contraception and abortion services, including access to medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration; and to improve the safety of patients, providers, and clinics.  My Administration is helping to safeguard patients’ privacy over their health data and is ensuring that women everywhere have access to accurate information about their reproductive rights.  I also created an Interagency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access to lead our Government-wide response.  And senior Administration leaders, including Vice President Kamala Harris, have traveled the country listening to women, health care providers, legal experts, and State and local officials to ensure that our efforts are reaching those most in need of support.  

     Since the Court’s decision to overturn Roe, Americans across the country — from California to Kansas to Michigan — have made clear at the ballot box that they believe the right to choose is fundamental and should be preserved.  Still, we know that the only way to truly secure the right to choose is for the Congress to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade.  I continue to call on the Congress to pass legislation to make those protections the law of the land once and for all.  Until then, I will continue to use my Executive authority to protect women and families from harm in the wake of the Dobbs decision.

     NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 22, 2023, as the 50th Anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Decision.  I call upon Americans to honor generations of advocates who have fought for reproductive freedom, to recognize the countless women whose lives and futures have been saved and shaped by the Roe v. Wade decision, and to march forward with purpose as we work together to restore the right to choose. 

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.

                               JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The post A Proclamation on 50th Anniversary of the Roe v. Wade<span class="dewidow"> </span>Decision appeared first on The White House.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is already facing the limits of his power. A single member of the House – from the far-right Freedom Caucus to a progressive on the far left, or any member in between – can threaten his speakership. And at least one Democrat already is promising to do just that.

The threat is to use a procedure – the motion to vacate the chair – which is a way of firing the speaker. Its power, though, is not necessarily that a member can successfully use it to oust McCarthy, but that it can be repeatedly used to stall his agenda.

The bind McCarthy finds himself in stems from his many concessions to win the speaker’s gavel and the new House rules that cement those concessions into place for the next two years.

But it’s not just the concessions we know about that could determine how McCarthy leads the chamber. As a law professor and former general counsel for the House, I believe McCarthy’s reported, but still secret, side deals could also influence his decisions on important committee assignments and what legislation the House prioritizes. That means deals that voters know nothing about could have an impact on legislation the House passes. Those bills could affect everything from a family’s taxes to the environment, schools and aid to Ukraine. McCarthy, though, has yet to confirm the terms of any secret deals.

The speaker still has a lot of power

Whoever holds the speaker position is second in the line of succession to the presidency and traditionally has been head of the majority party in the House. McCarthy came to the post the hard way. It took days of negotiating, lots of fighting by Republicans in the House and 15 rounds of voting before he received the gavel.

Yet, despite all the limitations that these new rules place on him, McCarthy remains the highest-ranking leader in the House. He has administrative and personnel functions in addition to his legislative powers that include the authority to appoint lawyers and employees in the House Office of the Legislative Counsel. The office helps draft new bills, resolutions, amendments and more.

McCarthy also has control over office space on the House side of the Capitol and grounds through the House Office Building Commission. That control gives him leverage over the individual members and government agencies housed there. Plus, through the House Appropriations and Authorizing committees, he has oversight of the Capitol Police and numerous other legislative support agencies.

And, for as long as he is speaker, McCarthy controls House debate and procedure.

Gumming up the works?

Some of the new rules spawned by McCarthy’s concessions may appear to democratize the procedures for considering and passing legislation. But they are likely to make it difficult for members to get the working majority necessary to pass legislation.

That could make things such as raising the statutory debt ceiling, which is necessary to avert a government shutdown and financial crisis, and passing legislation to fund the government, difficult.

The new rules adopted by the House introduced some far-reaching revisions, such as requiring that federal spending remain at 2022 levels, permitting virtually unlimited floor amendments and requiring spending cuts to pay for new funding.

Allowing unlimited floor amendments gives every member the ability to seek to change legislation, potentially turning floor debates into dayslong marathons and permitting determined legislators to delay or scuttle effective legislative proposals.

This is not the first time a faction of members has revolted against the status quo. In 1910, a coalition of Democrat and Republican progressives used a majority to strip the speaker of his nonvoting membership on the Rules Committee, which decides how matters will be debated and has the power to determine when a measure is passed. The move allowed the members to curtail the speaker’s power.

And in 1975, the newly-elected “Watergate Babies,” a group of lawmakers who came to power in the wake of the Watergate scandal, forced the replacement of three long-serving, powerful committee chairmen. This was an unprecedented usurpation of the traditional seniority system for committee chairmanship.

McCarthy’s reported side deals, like one that apparently puts three members of the Freedom Caucus on the Rules Committee, could empower these factional members to make good on their promise to rein in spending by possibly blocking efforts to raise the debt ceiling.

Remove the speaker, cut spending

Foremost among the changes that could render McCarthy less effective is the reinstitution of the “motion to vacate the Chair.”

Members used it in 2015 to force former Republican Speaker John Boehner from office. Democrats rescinded it in 2019 under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but it has been revived under McCarthy and, in its new iteration, gives a single member the power to put a vote on the floor to oust the speaker from the position.

Before McCarthy’s concessions, it required agreement by a majority of one party or the other to offer the motion. But now, even a Democratic member could make the motion to vacate, and if the entire Democratic caucus supports it, given the slim GOP margin in the House, only four Republicans would have to defect in order to fire McCarthy.

Another concession imposes a “cut go” rule requiring that any spending increases be offset with equal spending cuts. While this provision is motivated by the Freedom Caucus’ belief that the deficit is too large, it could pose intractable obstacles to passing emergency appropriations after natural disasters like hurricanes or wildfires.

Power over federal employees

The Rules Committee also revived the Holman rule, which allows the House to cut money from specific executive branch programs, even though they may have been previously authorized and funded. Using this rule, the House can reduce the salary or even fire specific federal employees, or cut specific programs, despite previous authorizations and appropriations.

Why these changes matter

While some of these new rules could be seen as providing greater House discipline, they also represent the potential for more inertia and mischief that may make it more difficult to legislate. If the House can’t reach an agreement on the debt ceiling as a result of that mischief, and the U.S. defaults on its debt, the consequences would be disastrous for the U.S. economy, the world economy and voters’ personal finances. Interest rates, then prices, would increase, leading to more inflation. Federal employees would not be paid. Even Social Security and Medicare would be at risk.

The dissidents have vociferously complained about the way Democrats ran the House – for example, bringing 4,000-page omnibus spending bills to the floor with little time for members to read and digest them. But they may be substituting a different species of dysfunction by empowering lone members to hold the chamber hostage with threats to remove McCarthy every time they encounter a legislative provision they don’t like.

Compounding McCarthy’s challenges is his party’s five-vote majority. As the country saw during the speaker fight, even a few defections can thrust the House into stalemate – and electing a speaker is arguably less difficult than other matters the chamber will handle.

Stanley M. Brand does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Presidential hopeful and Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis is trying to destroy his state's education system from kindergarten through the University system. Banning curriculum and books and instilling fear in educators will rapidly deteriorate Florida's education infrastructure. Already teachers are canceling classes, and schools are pulling books from shelves. — Read the rest

When the company OpenAI launched its new artificial intelligence program, ChatGPT, in late 2022, educators began to worry. ChatGPT could generate text that seemed like a human wrote it. How could teachers detect whether students were using language generated by an AI chatbot to cheat on a writing assignment?

As a linguist who studies the effects of technology on how people read, write and think, I believe there are other, equally pressing concerns besides cheating. These include whether AI, more generally, threatens student writing skills, the value of writing as a process, and the importance of seeing writing as a vehicle for thinking.

As part of the research for my new book on the effects of artificial intelligence on human writing, I surveyed young adults in the U.S. and Europe about a host of issues related to those effects. They reported a litany of concerns about how AI tools can undermine what they do as writers. However, as I note in my book, these concerns have been a long time in the making.

Users see negative effects

Tools like ChatGPT are only the latest in a progression of AI programs for editing or generating text. In fact, the potential for AI undermining both writing skills and motivation to do your own composing has been decades in the making.

Spellcheck and now sophisticated grammar and style programs like Grammarly and Microsoft Editor are among the most widely known AI-driven editing tools. Besides correcting spelling and punctuation, they identify grammar issues as well as offer alternative wording.

AI text-generation developments have included autocomplete for online searches and predictive texting. Enter “Was Rome” into a Google search and you’re given a list of choices like “Was Rome built in a day.” Type “ple” into a text message and you’re offered “please” and “plenty.” These tools inject themselves into our writing endeavors without being invited, incessantly asking us to follow their suggestions.

Young adults in my surveys appreciated AI assistance with spelling and word completion, but they also spoke of negative effects. One survey participant said that “At some point, if you depend on a predictive text [program], you’re going to lose your spelling abilities.” Another observed that “Spellcheck and AI software … can … be used by people who want to take an easier way out.”

One respondent mentioned laziness when relying on predictive texting: “It’s OK when I am feeling particularly lazy.”

Personal expression diminished

AI tools can also affect a person’s writing voice. One person in my survey said that with predictive texting, “[I] don’t feel I wrote it.”

A high school student in Britain echoed the same concern about individual writing style when describing Grammarly: “Grammarly can remove students’ artistic voice. … Rather than using their own unique style when writing, Grammarly can strip that away from students by suggesting severe changes to their work.”

In a similar vein, Evan Selinger, a philosopher, worried that predictive texting reduces the power of writing as a form of mental activity and personal expression.

“[B]y encouraging us not to think too deeply about our words, predictive technology may subtly change how we interact with each other,” Selinger wrote. “[W]e give others more algorithm and less of ourselves. … [A]utomation … can stop us thinking.”

In literate societies, writing has long been recognized as a way to help people think. Many people have quoted author Flannery O’Connor’s comment that “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” A host of other accomplished writers, from William Faulkner to Joan Didion, have also voiced this sentiment. If AI text generation does our writing for us, we diminish opportunities to think out problems for ourselves.

One eerie consequence of using programs like ChatGPT to generate language is that the text is grammatically perfect. A finished product. It turns out that lack of errors is a sign that AI, not a human, probably wrote the words, since even accomplished writers and editors make mistakes. Human writing is a process. We question what we originally wrote, we rewrite, or sometimes start over entirely.

Challenges in schools

When undertaking school writing assignments, ideally there is ongoing dialogue between teacher and student: Discuss what the student wants to write about. Share and comment on initial drafts. Then it’s time for the student to rethink and revise. But this practice often doesn’t happen. Most teachers don’t have time to fill a collaborative editorial – and educational – role. Moreover, they might lack interest or the necessary skills, or both.

Conscientious students sometimes undertake aspects of the process themselves – as professional authors typically do. But the temptation to lean on editing and text generation tools like Grammarly and ChatGPT makes it all too easy for people to substitute ready-made technology results for opportunities to think and learn.

Educators are brainstorming how to make good use of AI writing technology. Some point up AI’s potential to kick-start thinking or to collaborate. Before the appearance of ChatGPT, an earlier version of the same underlying program, GPT-3, was licensed by commercial ventures such as Sudowrite. Users can enter a phrase or sentence and then ask the software to fill in more words, potentially stimulating the human writer’s creative juices.

A fading sense of ownership

Yet there’s a slippery slope between collaboration and encroachment. Writer Jennifer Lepp admits that as she increasingly relied on Sudowrite, the resulting text “didn’t feel like mine anymore. It was very uncomfortable to look back over what I wrote and not really feel connected to the words or ideas.”

Students are even less likely than seasoned writers to recognize where to draw the line between a writing assist and letting an AI text generator take over their content and style.

As the technology becomes more powerful and pervasive, I expect schools will strive to teach students about generative AI’s pros and cons. However, the lure of efficiency can make it hard to resist relying on AI to polish a writing assignment or do much of the writing for you. Spellcheck, grammar check and autocomplete programs have already paved the way.

Writing as a human process

I asked ChatGPT whether it was a threat to humans’ motivation to write. The bot’s response:

“There will always be a demand for creative, original content that requires the unique perspective and insight of a human writer.”

It continued: “[W]riting serves many purposes beyond just the creation of content, such as self-expression, communication, and personal growth, which can continue to motivate people to write even if certain types of writing can be automated.”

I was heartened to find the program seemingly acknowledged its own limitations.

My hope is that educators and students will as well. The purpose of making writing assignments must be more than submitting work for a grade. Crafting written work should be a journey, not just a destination.

Naomi S. Baron does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Dammit. A new study published in Nature Communications by researchers at the University of California San Diego has found that gel manicures lead to "cell death and cancer-causing mutations in human cells," according to phys.org. And it's the UV "dryers" that are the culprit. — Read the rest

These manuscript illustrations from the 1400s raise a historically vexing question: did men and women really duel to settle judicial disputes?

A new wave of controversy followed books with LGBTQ and diverse stories being pulled and banned from library shelves in 2022. Because of this, teachers and librarians in Florida may have to undergo training to remove or avoid books that involve these topics, according to a Jan. 18 article by Education Week. 

To restrict Florida students’ access to books based on personal ideology is dangerous, and if the next generation of Florida teachers are to prepare future children, they need to be protected from civil prosecution. 

Florida has banned the second most books out of all 50 states. The state had 566 instances of book banning in 21 school districts, according to a 2022 WUSF report. Of these banned books, 41% contain themes or characters involving the LGBTQ community and people of color.

Thanks to the 2022 Parental Rights in Education law, or the “Don’t Say Gay” law, conservative parents’ rights groups are able to easily petition for books to be banned or sue teachers for their teaching curriculum if it involves themes parents do not agree with. 

Supporters of the legislation say it gives parents more involvement in their children’s education, however HB1557 states school districts are required to adopt certain procedures for resolving specified parental concerns, including paying for damages brought on by “emotional distress.” This opens the door for teachers or public schools to litigation for exposing students to materials that parents do not believe in or agree with, including LGBTQ identity and racism, resulting in books being removed or changed to avoid lawsuits.

The “Don’t Say Gay” law also allows anyone to petition for a book to be banned for any reason.

According to a 2022 report released by PEN America, book banning has become the most widespread form of censorship. Banning books does not stop children from accessing this information, but it does heavily restrict what can be taught by their teachers if one single person deems the lesson “too explicit” or does not agree with the subject matter. 

Teachers can’t do their jobs effectively if they are constantly having to worry about a potential lawsuit.

Banning literature for having LGBTQ themes or stories that bring attention to racism can prevent students from becoming aware of the issues society faces. The next generation of teachers cannot be afraid to teach about other ideals or cultures.

Teachers shape future generations, but this can be difficult to do when fear controls their lessons. Remaining ignorant will not solve the country’s growing problems, but learning from the ideas brought on through these types of books may offer better insight.