October 23, 2023

Planet Earth III magnificent but sad, say critics

Critics have called Sir David Attenborough's latest series of Planet Earth "awe-inspiring" and "magnificent" but also "horrifying" and "sad".

The third instalment of the award-winning programme began on Sunday on BBC One, watched by 5.6m people.

The eight-part series shows animals around the world fighting for survival amid constant environmental change.

The Guardian described episode one as "yet more majestic TV" from the veteran broadcaster.

"This awe-inspiring series has a scale that is simply spectacular," wrote Rebecca Nicholson in a five-star review. "It is possible to watch and enjoy it purely for the astonishing footage - but it will horrify you too."

She added: "It should be alarming that, in the six years since Planet Earth last appeared on our screens, this third series finds itself in a darker mood."

The documentary, narrated by Sir David, 97, contains footage of the natural world - including shots from overhead drones and remotely operated deep-sea submersibles - gathered over five years across 43 countries.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67191655

October 23, 2023

The Rise of the Abortion Cowboy

The doctor wants a pair of boots.

Not just any boots, either. A specific brand of cowboy boot, handcrafted in Texas. Boots that adorn the feet of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, for instance, and singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton.

We’re at the airport in El Paso, after a seven-hour journey from a small regional airport in the Southeast to a major metropolitan airport to, finally, this airport, about an hour from the abortion clinic in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where Dr. Aaron Campbell will work for a couple of days before flying back home. Campbell, who asked that his precise travel route not be published for safety reasons, has made this journey 10 times in the last year. But today, before he starts his rotation, he’s got plans. He wants proper cowboy boots and a cowboy hat to complete the look.

You cannot begrudge the man this indulgence. Campbell is a mild-faced doctor from Knoxville, Tennessee, who only finished medical residency about a year before the fall of Roe v. Wade. But for most of his adult life, he’s known that he wanted to go into this line of work—it’s what his father, Dr. Morris Campbell, did, too. The elder Campbell had graduated from medical school in 1973, the year that Roe became law of the land, so he had witnessed what life was like before his patients had access to safe and legal abortions. He was determined to help women who did not want to be pregnant. Aaron was still in college when his father passed away suddenly in 2012. By the time he finished his medical school residency at the University of Pittsburgh, his father’s clinic was being run by someone else, who was ready to retire. If Campbell didn’t step up, it wasn’t clear anyone would. In June 2021, he moved back home and took over.

The next summer, all hell broke loose.

In the months following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, as abortion ban after abortion ban went into effect across the country, including in Tennessee, physicians who’d once had thriving abortion practices were forced to shutter their clinics and decide what to do next. Dr. Campbell was faced with a choice: Stay in Tennessee and give up providing abortion care (not an option for him), move to a state with liberal abortion laws (away from his partner), or remain in Tennessee and become a traveling abortion provider.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/10/abortion-new-mexico-aaron-campbell-pink-house/

Long, interesting article from the doctor's POV

October 23, 2023

Inside the Psychiatric Hospitals Where Foster Kids Are a "Gold Mine"

JULIA LURIE

The first time Katrina Edwards was locked in a psychiatric hospital for children, she was sure a foster parent would pick her up the next day.

It was a spring night in 2012 when Edwards, then 12 years old, was admitted to North Star Behavioral Health in Anchorage. In a photo taken upon her arrival, Edwards wears an Abercrombie hoodie and has dark circles under her eyes, her expression skeptical. During her initial evaluation, a psychiatrist asked a battery of questions, including what Edwards wanted to be when she grew up (a police officer), what she did for fun (sports), and how she slept (poorly, with nightmares).

Alaska’s Office of Children’s Services had put Edwards in foster care earlier that year after she reported being sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend. Asked why she’d ended up at North Star, Edwards explained that she had threatened to run away from her foster home and commit suicide. Medical records from her admission noted that she had a history of fleeting suicidal ideation, but that Edwards said she didn’t have a plan or intention of killing herself.


Then, the psychiatrist asked, if Edwards had three wishes, what would they be? Instead of talking about her dreams for the future, Edwards focused on the past: She said she wished that she hadn’t been abused, that she hadn’t been sexually abused, and, pointedly, that she hadn’t threatened suicide.

Edwards sobbed and yelled in protest as she handed over her cellphone and jewelry and changed into blue scrubs and hospital socks. She refused to sign the admissions paperwork; an OCS caseworker did so instead, according to court documents. Her outburst continued as a staffer ushered her into the unit for adolescent girls.

https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2023/10/foster-kids-psychiatric-hospitals-universal-health-services-uhs-alaska-cps/

This article is possibly more horrifying than the ones about nursing homes

October 23, 2023

Oklahoma Teachers Don't Know If It's Legal to Teach "Killers of the Flower Moon"

After a screening of Martin Scorsese’s slow-drip drama Killers of the Flower Moon in New York earlier this month, an agent with the film’s promotion team asked what I thought. At the time, all I could say was, “Brutal.”

The movie, which is based on a book of the same name, stars Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert De Niro (and, boy, do they shine) and tells the chilling true story of how white settlers carried out dozens of murders of members of the Osage Nation in the 1920s. It’s a dark—and essential—tale of American history that I, like KOTFM author David Grann himself, can’t recall learning about in school.

But in Oklahoma, where the murders took place, teachers say they aren’t sure they’re allowed to teach it in class. Under state measure HB 1775, schools are prohibited from teaching the idea that “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously” or that “any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex.” (The law is similar to the policies in states like Florida and Texas, among a handful of others, that aim to block the discussion of themes like systemic racism, unconscious bias, and privilege.)

Of course, HB 1775 doesn’t specifically ban Killers of the Flower Moon. But the law is so vague that some educators reportedly say that they have avoided assigning the book and other texts out of fear of punishment. According to the Oklahoman, for instance, a Dewey High School teacher said last year she decided against adding the book to her curriculum “because she feared discussing the racial dynamics of the Osage murders could prompt an HB 1775 complaint.” And according to the ACLU, which filed a lawsuit challenging the legislation in 2021, “school districts in Oklahoma have instructed teachers to no longer use certain terms, including ‘diversity’ and ‘white privilege’ in their classrooms, and have removed seminal works of literature such as ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and ‘Raisin in the Sun’ from its list of ‘anchor texts.'”

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/10/oklahoma-teachers-dont-know-if-its-legal-to-teach-killers-of-the-flower-moon/

Yeah, squash any discussion of things that make you uncomfortably, ya bigots!

October 23, 2023

Indigenous tribes saw the 'Ring of Fire' eclipse in a different light

Millions flocked to parts of the western United States to watch the "Ring of Fire" eclipse on October 14.

Tourists hoped to see the skies for a few minutes while the annular solar eclipse traveled from Oregon to Texas and then into Mexico.

For those few minutes, the moon lined up precisely between the sun and the Earth, blocking out all but the sun's edges and giving the moon a blazing border.

But while people watched the cosmic marvel, Indigenous tribal members living in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico didn't join them.

The eclipse had a special meaning for tribes in this region, and they wanted to keep the spectators from disturbing them.

https://www.npr.org/2023/10/20/1206482066/indigenous-tribes-saw-the-ring-of-fire-eclipse-in-a-different-light

October 22, 2023

Ex-wife of a man suspected in the killing of Maryland judge accused him of child abuse last year, documents show

The ex-wife of a man suspected of gunning down a Maryland judge after he gave her custody of their children accused her ex-husband last year of physically abusing one the kids, according to a court filing obtained Friday by NBC News.

The petition for a protection order, filed June 12, 2022 in Washington County District Court, also accused Pedro Argote, 49, of harassment via text messages, constant monitoring through security cameras and threats to take custody of their children, ages 12, 11, 5, and 3, over false claims of neglect.

In the petition, the ex-wife wrote there was no longer physical violence against the 11-year-old because during the most recent episode, she got in between the two and said that for him “to get to her he needed to hit me or kill me,” the petition says, adding that he tried to push her away.
“I am not taking this anymore,” she wrote. “I will protect my child.”

The petition accused Argote of mistreating the 11-year-old for years. The ex-wife had sought help from a domestic violence advocacy center in 2012, petition says, adding that she didn’t get the assistance she needed.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ex-wife-man-suspected-killing-maryland-judge-accused-child-abuse-last-rcna121515

Now it's beginning to come together.

October 22, 2023

'This place wanted to be a wetland': how a farmer turned his fields into a wildlife sanctuary

Birdsong hums over the rumble of Karl Wenner’s truck as it bounces along the dusty trails that weave through his property. For almost 100 years, this farm in southern Oregon grew barley, but now, amid the sprawling fields, there lies a wetland teeming with life.

Wenner installed the wetland on 70 of the farm’s 400 acres to help deal with phosphorus pollution that leaked into the adjacent Upper Klamath Lake after his land flooded each winter. With support from a team of scientists and advocates, the project has become a welcome sanctuary for migrating and native birds that are disappearing from the area.

Today, this corner of Lakeside Farms looks far different from a typical American farm. Waterfowl nest among the vegetation, joining pond turtles and even endangered native fish near rows of sprouting barley.

Looking out at the swaying cattails and wocus plants peeking through the water on an afternoon in June, Wenner beams: “This place wanted to be a wetland.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/22/farm-wetland-bird-animal-sanctuary-oregon

This is beautiful! God bless Karl Wenner and others like him!

October 22, 2023

Woman returns from vacation to find family home mistakenly demolished

A homeowner is mulling the next step after a company mistakenly demolished a home she owned in south-west Atlanta.

Susan Hodgson said in an interview on Saturday with the Associated Press that she found a pile of rubble in place of what used to be her longtime family property when she returned from vacation last month.

“I am furious,” Hodgson said. “I keep waking up thinking, ‘Is this all a joke or something?’ I’m just in shock.”

She said a neighbor called her while she was away and asked if someone had been hired to tear down the vacant house.

“I said ‘no’ and she said, ‘Well, there’s someone over here who just demolished the whole house and tore it all down,’” Hodgson recalled.

When the neighbor confronted them, Hodgson said, the workers got nasty.

“He told her to shut up and mind her own business,” Hodgson said.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/21/woman-returns-from-vacation-to-find-family-home-mistakenly-demolished

Time to sue somebody's ass off!

October 22, 2023

Here's why airlines want you to be uncomfortable

Watch any old movie where the characters take a flight and it looks like a glamorous getaway in-and-of-itself — but the days of comfort in the skies are long gone for most of us. And it may not surprise you to know that air travel these days is designed to be less comfortable.

Have you ever heard of “calculated misery“? It’s the theory behind what we all know deep down: airlines want us to be miserable so we pay more for upgrades.

The idea was first distilled in this way back in 2014 by Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu for the New Yorker.

“Here’s the thing: in order for fees to work, there needs be something worth paying to avoid. That necessitates, at some level, a strategy that can be described as “calculated misery.” Basic service, without fees, must be sufficiently degraded in order to make people want to pay to escape it,” Wu writes. “And that’s where the suffering begins.”

https://www.wate.com/news/calculated-misery-heres-why-airlines-want-you-to-be-uncomfortable/

Or it drives customers away.....

October 22, 2023

Detroit synagogue president found fatally stabbed outside her home

A Detroit synagogue president was found fatally stabbed outside her home Saturday morning.

Samantha Woll, 40, led the congregation of Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue. The synagogue confirmed Woll's death Saturday in a statement, writing, “We are shocked and saddened to learn of the unexpected death of Samantha Woll, our Board President.”

“May her memory be a blessing,” the statement continued.

Authorities said a 911 caller early Saturday reported a person lying on the ground unresponsive at Woll’s home. Police discovered multiple stab wounds on Woll's body and found a trail of blood leading to her house, where they believe the crime occurred.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/detroit-synagogue-president-found-fatally-stabbed-home-rcna121559

This crap is out of hand.