15 June 20
People want to come to RSN, but they don’t want to know anything about how the organization survives financially.
This never used to be the case. The people who have come to Reader Supported News in the past have willingly contributed to sustain the organization.
These dollar figures totally manageable. We are getting into deep trouble over a completely blind eye to funding.
In distress.
Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News
Founder, Reader Supported News
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14 June 20
An American Spring of Reckoning
Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker
Cobb writes: "The impunity of the American police has been achieved by slow accretion through the decades, and with the tacit understanding that it would be deployed in great disproportion against black people. But, whatever ensues now, we are in a different moment."
Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker
Cobb writes: "The impunity of the American police has been achieved by slow accretion through the decades, and with the tacit understanding that it would be deployed in great disproportion against black people. But, whatever ensues now, we are in a different moment."
EXCERPTS:
Now consider a different idea, that the death of George Floyd did occur in another country: the traumatized version of America inhabited by black people. Fifty-two years ago, following the storm of riots that swept through 1967 and 1968, the Kerner Commission report noted that “our nation is moving toward two societies—one black, one white, separate and unequal.” Today, the weight of grief and poverty in this country still falls disproportionately on black shoulders. The eight minutes and forty-six seconds during which a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd as three others looked on cannot be understood outside the context of a pandemic in which African-Americans have died at three times the rate of white Americans. The chaotic, angry, defiant tableaux in the streets of Minneapolis, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Oakland, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Louisville, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Charleston, Detroit, Baltimore, and beyond represent a reckoning, a kind of American Spring, one long in the making and ignited not just by a single police killing. In death, George Floyd’s name has become a metaphor for the stacked inequities of the society that produced them.
Race, to the degree that it represents anything coherent in the United States, is shorthand for a specific set of life probabilities. The inequalities between black and white Americans are documented in rates of morbidity and infant mortality, wealth, and unemployment, which attest that although race may be a biological fiction, its reality is seen in what is likely to happen in our lives. The more than forty million people of African descent who live in the United States recognize this reality, but it’s largely invisible in the lives of white Americans.
There have been other developments. The argument once mired in pointless circumambulation, between “All Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter,” has been settled. Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., renamed a street leading to the White House Black Lives Matter Plaza, emblazoning the phrase on the asphalt in gigantic yellow letters. The near-ubiquity of those words in the past three weeks—Amazon, Apple, and Airbnb all added some version of it to their home pages—has prompted a consideration of what this means in practical terms. Critics on social media were quick to assert that the truest endorsement of Black Lives Matter lies not in what you say on your Web site but in what you do for your black employees.
The American Spring has not toppled a power, but it has led to a reassessment of the relationship between that power and the citizens from whom it is derived. It has resolved any remaining questions regarding Donald Trump’s utter ineptitude as President; it has laid bare the contradictory and partial democracy that the United States holds before the world as exemplary. Most significant, it has clarified our terms. Floyd’s life is the awful price we have paid for a momentarily common tongue, a language that precisely conveys what we are speaking of when we say “American.” Fourteen successive days of protest opened the possibility that George Floyd died in America, not simply in its black corollary. The task that remains is to insure that more of us might actually live there.
A healthcare worker and a patient. (photo: ABC News)
As Coronavirus Cases Rise, Fauci Says Some 'Normality' Could Be a Year Away
Derek Hawkins, Paul Schemm, Meryl Kornfield, Brittany Shammas and Adam Taylor, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "With President Trump's rally in Tulsa less than a week away, health experts warned that the indoor venue and potentially large crowd could help spread the coronavirus, putting attendees and others at risk."
Derek Hawkins, Paul Schemm, Meryl Kornfield, Brittany Shammas and Adam Taylor, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "With President Trump's rally in Tulsa less than a week away, health experts warned that the indoor venue and potentially large crowd could help spread the coronavirus, putting attendees and others at risk."
The scheduled rally comes as new infections are trending upward in at least 21 states across the South and the West, prompting some governors to rethink reopening plans and renewing concerns that the country could be a long way from containing the pandemic. Alabama, Oregon and South Carolina are among the states with the biggest increases. Alabama saw a 92 percent increase in its seven-day average, while Oregon’s seven-day average was up 83.8 percent and South Carolina’s was up 60.3 percent.
George Floyd protests. (image: Pexels)
The Coddling of the American Pundit
Edward Ongweso Jr., VICE
Ongweso writes: "Commentators think the George Floyd protests have vindicated their weird obsession with American campus culture. But they're simply anxious about the delegitimization of power and privilege."
READ MORE
Edward Ongweso Jr., VICE
Ongweso writes: "Commentators think the George Floyd protests have vindicated their weird obsession with American campus culture. But they're simply anxious about the delegitimization of power and privilege."
READ MORE
Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden. (photo: Boston Globe)
Veepstakes: Joe Biden Narrows List of Potential Running Mates
Al Jazeera
Excerpt: "Media in the United States reported on Friday that Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden's search for a running mate is entering a second round of vetting - and the narrowed list circulating in some circles is as much notable for who is not on it as who is."
READ MORE
Al Jazeera
Excerpt: "Media in the United States reported on Friday that Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden's search for a running mate is entering a second round of vetting - and the narrowed list circulating in some circles is as much notable for who is not on it as who is."
READ MORE
Senator Mitch McConnell. (photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Kentucky Rep Charles Booker Plans to Unseat Mitch McConnell With Progressive Policies Amid Racial Unrest
Arielle Mitropoulos and Kelsey Walsh, ABC News
Excerpt: "A young Kentucky legislator with hopes of unseating Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is voicing his concerns over the racial injustice in his community and across the country."
Arielle Mitropoulos and Kelsey Walsh, ABC News
Excerpt: "A young Kentucky legislator with hopes of unseating Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is voicing his concerns over the racial injustice in his community and across the country."
Booker, 35, is locked in a tight Democratic primary with Amy McGrath.
young Kentucky legislator with hopes of unseating Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is voicing his concerns over the racial injustice in his community and across the country.
"A lot of people are facing a lot of trauma, a lot of pain and they are dealing with a lot of situations that are very similar to the struggle I've grown up in," state Rep. Charles Booker said Friday during an interview on ABC News Live.
The 35-year-old Booker, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, is the youngest black legislator in the state and is running on a platform of economic, social and racial justice in hopes of attracting a progressive following.
"The injustice is happening not only in Kentucky, but across the country. I think it's opening the eyes of more people to see how interconnected we need to stand together," Booker told ABC News Live. "We have been ignored for a long time, and especially, for my entire life.
"Mitch McConnell was elected two weeks after I was born. No one cares about our concerns, no one asks what we want, they tell us what we want," Booker added.
As civil unrest and demonstrations have swelled across the nation, Booker explained that the police killings leading to them have hit close to home. Months after the death of Breonna Taylor, an EMT who was shot and killed by police inside her Louisville, Kentucky, home, there have been renewed cries nationally for justice for the 26-year-old.
"It started with protests like here in Kentucky, and in Louisville, with Breonna Taylor," he said. "Cries for justice have evolved into conversations about structural change and people are rising up all over the country, and so I'm going to Washington with a big coalition that will not accept the status quo so we're going to get a lot of work done in short order there."
In a letter to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron in May, Booker called for an independent investigation into Taylor's death.
"As a Black man and a legislator representing a community that has suffered from this type of trauma for years, I am personally committed to making sure that justice is done for Ms. Taylor and her family," Booker wrote. "Every family in Louisville and Kentucky should feel safe and protected by law enforcement, not threatened by them. History shows us that police killings like this one are disproportionately carried out against people who look like Ms. Taylor, like me, and like you."
Booker has also called for a "transparent investigation" into the death of David McAtee, a restaurant owner who was shot and killed by a National Guardsman in a Louisville neighborhood in the early hours of June 1, following a night of protests.
Booker has been endorsed by progressive leaders Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and two of Kentucky's most widely circulated newspapers, The Lexington Herald Leader and Courier-Journal. However, his Democratic opponent for the primary, retired Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath, not only has the backing of the Democratic establishment, but has also raised more money than both Booker and McConnell.
The Democratic primary will be held on June 23.
With eyes on a Senate seat, Booker did not shy away from his differences with the incumbent. Booker suggested that McConnell, 78, has only won five consecutive elections because Kentuckians played into the political game. He added that most Louisville residents are more worried about things such as poverty and racial injustice than what is happening with Washington insiders.
"Kentucky has been one of the most disenfranchised states in the country. Turnout is typically low," he said. "People are dealing with a lot of poverty and so they're too busy trying to survive and [not] worrying about corrupt politicians and he's been in office for so long."
Booker said that he is confident in his campaign's momentum, saying, "We're absolutely going to beat him. We do not like Mitch McConnell, he has been screwing us for a long time."
He continued, "People are rising up all over the country and so I'm going to Washington with a big coalition that will not accept the status quo, so we're going to get a lot of work done in short order there."
Protester carries a Lebanese flag in Jal El Dib, Beirut, Lebanon, June 11, 2020. (photo: EFE)
Lebanon: Mass Night Protests as the National Currency Dives
teleSUR
Excerpt: "Citizens took to the streets for the second night in a row to protest against Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab who has failed to control the strong depreciation of the Lebanese pound against the U.S. dollar."
READ MORE
teleSUR
Excerpt: "Citizens took to the streets for the second night in a row to protest against Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab who has failed to control the strong depreciation of the Lebanese pound against the U.S. dollar."
READ MORE
White shark, Gansbaai: Ten years ago, there were an estimated 300 breeders in the white shark the population. The minimum to avoid inbreeding is thought to be around 500. (photo: Olga Ernst via Wikimedia)
Where Are South Africa's Great White Sharks?
Heather Richardson, Mongabay
Richardson writes: "South Africa's great white shark population has been the subject of international scrutiny since 2017, when cage-diving operators reported a sudden, sharp decline in sightings around False Bay and Gansbaai."
Heather Richardson, Mongabay
Richardson writes: "South Africa's great white shark population has been the subject of international scrutiny since 2017, when cage-diving operators reported a sudden, sharp decline in sightings around False Bay and Gansbaai."
EXCERPTS:
Orcas
The answer most white shark scientists point to is the presence of orcas in the area — two in particular. Port and Starboard, as they have been named, were first spotted in False Bay in 2015 (though orcas had become increasingly present since 2009). At this time, several carcasses of broadnose sevengill sharks (Notorynchus cepedianus) were found in the bay — and the predator appeared to be the orcas. These were the first records of orcas predating on sharks in South Africa.
Kock published a paper on “the first documentation of a novel feeding technique”: The killer whales were using force to break the shark’s pectoral girdle to enable them to bite out the liver, discarding the rest of the carcass.
Following the attacks, sevengill sharks vanished from the bay — one of the largest known aggregation sites for this species anywhere in the world — for up to a month.
Then, in 2017, five white shark carcasses washed up on the shores around Gansbaai. Like the sevengill sharks, only their livers had been removed. Teeth marks clearly pointed to orcas as the predators. Sharks’ livers are rich in fat and make up a third of their total weight, so it’s no surprise these incredibly intelligent predators target this nutritious organ.
Fisheries
In media coverage of South Africa’s white sharks, demersal shark longline fisheries have been portrayed as a central culprit for their disappearance — but many white shark scientists are quick to point out the lack of data.
The longline fisheries target small sharks that are important prey for juvenile white sharks (mature sharks tend to eat marine mammals, such as seals). Scientists from South Africa’s Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries recommend catch control based on their data, but there are currently no limits in place and there are concerns about the impact on the ecosystem of overfishing sharks such as soupfins and common smooth-hounds. Additionally, the monitoring of South Africa’s coastlines is notoriously weak and some boats still fish in the no-take zones of marine protected areas.
Uncertainties and COVID-19
Kock emphasizes the importance of taking a wider view. “If you talk to people in the Western Cape … the shark spotters aren’t seeing [the white sharks], the surfers aren’t seeing them, the fishermen aren’t seeing them, the cage diving operators aren’t seeing them, our science shows that we’re not seeing them. But if you talk to fishermen in Algoa Bay and the Eastern Cape, they’ll tell you the opposite — [they’ve] never seen so many white sharks,” she says. “When people focus on just one aggregation area, they’re missing the bigger picture.”
COVID-19 means there will be a gap in the data. Towner, who works for Dyer Island Conservation Trust in Gansbaai and alongside a local cage-diving operator, says the blue NGOs engaged in white shark research in South Africa are “heavily reliant” on international tourism, partly for the funding, but also with the cage-diving boats affording continuous monitoring of the sharks. Towner says the emergence of bronze whaler sharks in Gansbaai saved the industry when the white sharks dropped off in 2017.
“We’ve got the largest database,” Towner says. “It’s been 15 years and still going, with no seasonal interruptions in the data. So, we notice if something’s wrong very quickly.”
But with South Africa on a strict lockdown, tourism — even domestic — has ground to a standstill and, at the time of writing, researchers aren’t allowed out to sea.
Perhaps what has captivated people so much about the white shark population in South Africa is all these unknowns and how an array of possible factors — the orcas, a decline of prey species, climate change, culling — may be impacting these elusive apex predators. What is clear is that without data, we cannot draw any firm conclusions.
Kock laughs when asked about the expected publication date of the paper on the orca impacts she’s been working on with Towner, which is in the process of being submitted, after which it will undergo peer review.
“The slowness of science is frustrating for everyone — but it is slow for a reason,” she says. “It has to be verified.”
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