Our kids deserve clean air to breathe

"A lot of schools in Los Angeles installed air filters, and something strange happened: Test scores went up. By a lot. And the gains were sustained in the subsequent year rather than fading away. 

"The impact of the air filters is strikingly large given what a simple change we’re talking about. The school district didn’t reengineer the school buildings or make dramatic education reforms; they just installed $700 commercially available filters that you could plug into any room in the country. But it’s consistent with a growing literature on the cognitive impact of air pollution, which finds that everyone from chess players to baseball umpires to workers in a pear-packing factory suffer deteriorations in performance when the air is more polluted. 

"If Gilraine’s result holds up to further scrutiny, he will have identified what’s probably the single most cost-effective education policy intervention."

Installing air filters in classrooms has surprisingly large educational benefits

$1,000 can raise a class’s test scores by as much as cutting class size by a third.

 

Ventilation may also be the most important modification of classrooms to reduce the risk of airborne disease transmission. By improving ventilation & giving children clean air to breathe, we both cease damaging their development with polluted air and reduce their risk of illness.

 

"Models show that in a typical, closed classroom, about 3% of the air students inhale was exhaled by somebody else in the room. To be a 'healthy room,' the air should be exchanged 6/hr, running thru a filtration system."

For schools, ventilation may be a bigger issue than spacing to prevent COVID-19’s spread

The American Rescue Plan (the Biden Plan) includes $160billion for school safety improvements so that more schools can reopen. Better classroom ventilation is something we can do now, driven by the urgency of the pandemic, that could pay off for our children for years to come.

 

I'm thinking of a leaky roof, that the homeowner didn't want to pay to fix, though they could afford it. Mold grows in the attic, the ceiling is being ruined. But a severe windstorm rips off most of the roof and it *has* to be fixed. And the house is better off–for years to come.

We should have fixed ventilation in classrooms years ago, as soon as we knew how damaging breathing polluted indoor air was to children. We could afford it. Just like that homeowner. But now at least, let's get serious about it.

Dr Seuss has not been cancelled

Here is their statement about discontinuing publication of these titles:

 

 

Theodor Geisel was born in 1904, and as we all are, he was a product of his times. And as most of us do, we learn and change as we grow up and grow older and he did too. 

 

Several people who knew him, given how he changed over the years, say he would have been supportive of the decision. 

 

Some of the images that Dr Seuss Enterprises call “hurtful and wrong” depict caricatures of Asian people. During World War II, Geisel drew many anti-Japanese cartoons that were brutally racist against all Japanese people. He supported rounding up American citizens of Japanese ancestry and imprisoning them for the duration of the war.

 

One might say, well, it was war. Emotions ran high, and it was important to stoke those angry, vengeful emotions to get Americans to support the war effort. But tellingly, there was no comparable effort against Germans. Americans of German descent were not locked up in camps. Hitler and Nazis were vilified–quite justifiably–but “Germans” were often portrayed as including some who were good people, who were not Nazis, who did not support Hitler, and who might even be working against him. 

     

Consider these cartoons. The first is obviously, recognizably, Hitler. A specific German person. And although hardly necessary, his name makes it clear. The next cartoon does not resemble either General Tojo or Emperor Hirohito. It’s just an exaggerated stereotype, with a sneer, beard stubble, and a pig’s nose.

The third one, well....

 

In the 1950’s, Geisel visited Hiroshima and saw the horrifying aftermath of the bombing for himself. “Horton Hears a Who,” which he dedicated to "My great friend Mitsugi Nakamura of Kyoto, Japan" was his apology for cartoons like those.

 

Before the war, he also published cartoons that are undeniably racist portrayals of Africans or African-Americans like this one:

In some of his early Dr Seuss books, the images were similar to those of his prewar and wartime cartoons, although thankfully he did not repeat the kind of language seen on the sign on the wall in that last one.

 

Still, the images were bad enough. Dr Seuss Enterprises decided that images in six of his lesser known books could be hurtful to children of Asian or African heritage (both in America and around the world) and decided to quit printing them. Most Americans have likely not even heard of them with the possible exception of “If I Ran the Zoo.”

 

The story of these books and how the publishers decided to let them go out of print is an interesting one in its own right, but there is another question here:

 

The whole story has been seized upon by Republican politicians, who have been rattling on about it non-stop for days and days (so far – no sign of this ending yet as I write this). The Senate Minority Leader made a big production of reading “The Cat in the Hat” although that book is not one of the ones discontinued. He and other Republican politicians have insisted that Dr Seuss has been “cancelled,” as if all of his books have been hauled off to the landfill or burned in a great bonfire – or would be if Democrats had their way – when of course nothing is further from the truth. 

 

Democrats had nothing to do with the decision of the publisher to discontinue publishing six of Theodor Geisel’s 60 books. As a card-carrying Democrat I can testify that I am completely typical, and I love a great many Dr Seuss books. I read and reread them to my daughter and then to my granddaughter. But none of our favorites were any of the books no longer being published. I have never read any of those six. I had heard the title “If I ran the Zoo” but we never read that one, and the rest I’d never heard of. I assume they really weren’t very good, in addition to being pretty insulting to some, including children, who might read them. No loss. Really.

When we consider the world we want to make and leave for our children and grandchildren, the greatest enemy of doing good is people believing things that simply aren't true. There always have been and always will be people - including ourselves - who are mistaken or misinformed about this or that.

But to do good, part of the work has to be doing whatever we can to discard as much misinformation as we can from our own minds, be open to changing our minds, which means learning something about why that is so difficult and how to do it better.

We can make a real effort to learn what is true, and to share truth and facts and accurate picture of reality whenever we can. With humility, because all of us are mistaken sometimes, probably more often than we realize.

And we need to speak up and speak out whenever we see anyone trying to deliberately mislead us. If it's deliberate, it's going to be to manipulate us in some way, for their own gain, whether it's to impress us or to use us to gain things like money or fame or political power. 

 

So the question about this part of the story is, why did the Republicans decide to make it a political story, lie about it, and make so much noise about it? I leave that to you.

 

 

 

The For the People Act (H.R. 1)

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-30-2021

 

Fearless Girl

The Magnitsky Act

Sergei Magnitsky was hedge fund manager Bill Browder's friend and lawyer. As part of both alerting the world to the dangers of Putin's Russia and to find some justice for Sergei, Browder has campaigned unceasingly for passage of laws - called Magnitsky Acts - that block travel to and use of the banks and other financial institutions in the countries where they have passed of the corrupt Russian oligarchs (aka mobsters) who both prop up and are indebted to Putin.

Being blocked from being able to launder and use the money they've stolen is a huge blow to these mobsters and their patron, Vladimir Putin. Which explains why Putin has expended so much energy on getting them repealed. That was most probably why he was all in on supporting Trump after the election. (Before the election, his support of Trump was primarily meant to undermine what he believed would be the Hillary Clinton administration. Once Trump was President, he realized that, unlike Hillary, Trump could be easily manipulated for his own ends. Like getting that crippling to those who need money laundered US Magnitsky Act.

Countries that have so far passed Magnitsky Acts:

Canada - Estonia - Gibralter - Jersey - Kosovo - Lithuania - Latvia - United Kingdom - United States.  

Magnitsky Acts pending in:

Australia - European Union - Moldova - Ukraine

Browder's book: 

Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice

Finally, a blockbuster article about the role of US and other banks on the global money laundering network:

The Fincen Files, from BuzzFeed.

Daniel Dale Speed Fact Checking

 

598 views

Kevin Cate

Guys, literally everything @realDonaldTrump does is fake. He hired models for his announcement. But, since we're talking about stock pictures & footage, allow me... 

Here is the last commercial I've seen in Florida — touting the "Great American Comeback." Watch it on mute. And then I'll show you how they made it. 

First. Good news. The Trump team found a scientist in a lab with Matrix-style computer screens who invented a COVID—19 vaccine. And it's being manufactured right now. 

All for less than $500! 

And here is a random store way before COVID. And then another store being cleaned because, well, @realDonaldTrump lied to everyone. 

This one irritates me to no end, because somewhere some Trump staffer or TV firm typed in "teacher and pre-school child during COVID wearing masks." 

And they are still working for Trump. 

Now come the random fake jobs with models.

That solar panel footage is used everywhere, BTW. It was filmed in Utah a LONG time ago. 

Then, and this is rich, this sweet Chicago time-lapse. The same city Trump insults daily, saying stuff like:

“It’s embarrassing to us as a nation."

But damn, that time-lapse is too good leave out. And it's only $60. 

Oh, let's add some diversity into this anti-Biden part, they say. How about "Asian woman sitting on sofa watching TV"?

Sure. They got that b-roll. 

All of this Biden talk is very upsetting to these models. This chef needs a "break." And this woman is "upset." 

And this "business executive" model is "working overtime" just thinking about all this stock footage. 

Here are some 1990s looking things. While you're there, pick up some of that Apple stock at $65, trust me. 

And if this commercial wasn't handsome enough, check out "mature aged black man, putting on his necktie."

Wow. $500 well spent. 
What a commercial. 

This commercial ends, of course, with the fakest of fake scenes. @realDonaldTrumppretending to be a president.

But I don't want to end this thread like that. Because that's too depressing. So... 

Remember our "tired" chef? He's not really a chef. And this was likely shot in Europe. Before @realDonaldTrump got fewer votes than @HillaryClinton in 2016.

And this is how that makes him feel. 

Remember, the lesson isn’t that all stock b-roll is bad. I use it when budget, location, or time doesn’t permit original footage.

The lesson is that it’s all he has— actors living in an alternative universe where his racism, selfishness, & stupidity hasn’t ruined the world yet. 

• • •

 

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1305914833678880769.html

The Hatch Act

By Andy Slavitt

The Hatch Act says you can’t use taxpayer time or money even inadvertently for political purposes, even inadvertently.

When I joined the Obama Administration, they scared the crap out of me about this.

They told me a story of someone I knew who was in trouble for a Hatch Act violation and had to exit the government.

 

I was shocked. This was one of the most ethical people I had met. Deeply kind, the type that would do anything to help someone & who advised us on the rules.

It sounded scandalous.

 

Indeed, his partner had a fundraiser at their apartment for a candidate and he attended. Meaning he went to his own apartment.

 

Now I’m not sure of all the details. He may have used his work email (emails!) to invite people or it may have been that the event started during work hours and so he was technically getting paid.

 

Any way this was discovered. He was embarrassed. He agreed to resign. And honestly he had a little of a Scarlett H behind his name.

 

The Ethics team meant business in the Obama Administration. It would be embarrassing to be seen even flirting with the red line.

 

I remember waiting outside in the rain before setting foot inside an event while my chief of staff talked to ethics lawyers about the appearance of me being there. It was a private event and we all agreed I could walk in, have no food or drinks, and send them a check as if I had.

 

I also decided to tweet my attendance so it would be public.

 

I wasn’t going above & beyond. I was trying to fit in with the norm in the Administration.

Forget about making money on hotel properties.

 

If a Democratic Senator asked someone in our agency to do a local event on a policy area like opioids, I would only let staff do it if we had a record of doing similar things for Republicans.

Today Administration staff are splayed out in battle ground states like Florida, Minnesota, Arizona and Michigan. The Hatch Act is one of the “many rules meant to be broken.”

 

The White House chief of staff Mark Meadows says Americans don’t care if they break these little laws.

 

That’s because you’ve worn them down. Because you’re breaking too many. Because you can exist above the law. At least for now.

 

It’s because if you can find one person to defend you, you make it seem like it’s a grey area. And there’s always an unqualified corrupt toady who will defend you.

 

Meadows is right. For many people the Hatch Act isn’t in their top 10 reasons for people who will vote against Donald Trump & family.

 

And to his supporters, sticking his finger in people’s eye & getting away with it is apparently part of why they like him.

 

Whoever is at the top will set the tone. The Obama-Biden tone made us proud to serve under them. It made us constantly think about how each action served the public who paid us.

My boss Secretary SylviaBurwell used to call the American public “our bosses.” Even though I was 48, I was new to Washington. I’m grateful that’s the example I had to follow. 

 

From Burwell to DenisMcDonough to Obama & Biden, each of us & civil servants respected them deeply.

 

I’m tired of a government that thinks we are subservient to them.

Andy Slavitt was Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Obama administration

 

It won't stop until we find the asymptomatic people . . .

 A pregnant teacher who was extremely careful to avoid COVID-19 has died after friends organised a surprise baby shower, not realising one of them was infected.

 

Her family said that knowing her pregnancy was at risk, Ms Graciano had taken great care not to leave her home during the pandemic.

 

One of her friends who turned up had reportedly already contracted coronavirus but was asymptomatic and therefore unaware.

Autocracies

 

Michael McFaul

For those of us who study autocracies, including elections in autocracies, there were a lot of familiar messages, symbols, and methods on display this week at the #RNCConvention. 

1. Cult of the Personality. This show was all about Trump. ( 3 years after the death of Stalin, Khrushchev's gave his secret speech in 1956, titled "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences." I wonder if a future GOP leader will give a similar speech someday?)

2. Administrative resources. Autocrats and semi-autocrats frequently use government resources for personal electoral gain. We have #HatchAct to prevent such behavior in the U.S. It's obviously not working.

3. Blatant disregard for the law. That Trump's team dared anyone to charge them with violating the Hatch Act is exactly what Putin and others autocrats do all the time. Laws don't apply to the king & his court, only to the subjects.

4. Blatant disregard for facts. As U.S. ambassador to Russia, I found this Putin regime trait most frustrating. We - the U.S. government- were constrained by facts. They were not. Trump obviously was not constrained by facts last night. He usually isn't.

5. Us versus Them populism. "Elites" versus "the people" nationalism. Autocratic populists use polarizing identity politics to divide societies all the time. Many populist leaders actually have little in common with the "masses." (Putin is very rich.)

6. The opposition is the "enemy of the people." Putin & other autocratic populists cast their opponents as radicals & revolutionaries. They don't focus on their own records - often there is little to celebrate - but the horrors that will happen if they lose power. Sound familiar?

6b. There is one difference between Putin and Trump so far. Putin also claims falsely that his political opponents are supported by foreign enemies, the U.S. & the West. Trump has not gone there full-throated yet. But my guess it's coming. "Beijing Biden" is a hint.

7. Law and Order. Autocratic populists all shout about it, even when the opposite is happening on their watch.

8. The good tsar versus the bad boyars. Kings and tsars always blamed bad provincial leaders for national ills. Putin blames the governors all the time... just like Trump.

9. Individual acts of royal kindness. Putin, like the tsars he emulates, does this all the time. Trump offering a pardon or "granting" citizenship (which of course he didnt & doesn't have the power to do) are typical, faux gestures of royal kindness toward his subjects.

10. Homage and fealty. Vassals must signal their complete loyalty and absolute devotion to kings and autocrats. Those that don't are banished from the royal court or the party. (Where were the Bushes last night?)

11. The royal family. In this dimension, Trump acts more like a monarch than even Putin. (but watch Lukashenko and his gun-toting teenage son in Belarus)The many Trump family members who performed this week - even a girlfriend got a slot - went beyond even what Putin does.

12. There's still one big difference. We still don't know who will win the November election. That uncertainty is a crucial difference between electoral democracies & electoral autocracies. Its also a difference that has no guarantee of lasting, depending on the outcome this year

For further reading on populists in comparative perspective, see this report by @AnnaGBusse@FukuyamaFrancis @didikuo1 and me:

Global Populisms and Their Challenges

https://fsi.stanford.edu/global-populisms/global-populisms-and-their-challenges

For further reading on electoral autocracies, see this review article: jstor.org/stable/4142837…

 

 

College tuition

Tuition and required fees at UT Austin for 15 hours (a standard full course load) in the mid-1960s when I graduated from High School: $50 per semester.

Cost of a college degree at the flagship campus of the University of Texas System:

$50/semester X 2 = $100/year

4 years of college = $400

Adjusting for inflation, in 2020 dollars:

For the 2019-2020 academic year, tuition and fees at UT Austin for 15 hours:

For an aspiring teacher, that would be:

$5,342/semester X 2 = $10,684/year

4 years of college = $42,743

So, for me, and for Texans my age, we could get a college education for the 2020 equivalent of $3,198.78.

Young people today have to pay - or realistically for all but the children of the wealthy - go into debt for, $42,743.00.

I do not want to have to listen to anyone my age ever again say, "Well, I worked my way through college," or "I paid my own way through college."

Yeah, I did too. But you know what? For us, that was possible.

For young people today, it's not.

Quit slamming today's young people for not being able to do what we were never asked to do.

Okra

 

Were the cupboards bare? No.

Inside A Secret Government Warehouse Prepped For Health Catastrophes

June 27, 2016

Thousands of lives might someday depend on this stockpile, which holds all kinds of medical supplies that the officials would need in the wake of a terrorist attack with a chemical, biological or nuclear weapon.

Stacks of boxes containing critical supplies stretch almost as far as the eye 

can see in this Strategic National Stockpile warehouse.  (Courtesy of the CDC)

The location of these warehouses is secret. How many there are is secret. (Although a former government official recently said at a public meeting that there are six.) And exactly what's in them is secret.

"If everybody knows exactly what we have, then you know exactly what you can do to us that we can't fix," says Burel. "And we just don't want that to happen."

As we walk, I hear a loud hum. It's a giant freezer packed with products that have to be kept cold. The inventory includes millions of doses of vaccines against bioterrorism agents like smallpox, antivirals in case of a deadly flu pandemic, medicines used to treat radiation sickness and burns, chemical agent antidotes, wound care supplies, IV fluids and antibiotics.

Just outside it, there are rows upon rows of ventilators that could keep sick or injured people breathing. Mabry explains that they're kept in a constant state of readiness. "If you look down to the side you'll see there's electrical outlets so they can be charged once a month," she says. Not only that—the ventilators get sent out for yearly maintenance...

"If you envision, say, a Super Walmart and stick two of those side by side and take out all the drop ceiling, that's about the same kind of space that we would occupy in one of these storage locations," Burel says.

A big American flag hangs from the ceiling, and shelves packed with stuff stand so tall that looking up makes me dizzy.

"We have the capability, if something bad happens, that we can intervene in a positive way, but then we don't ever want to have to do that. So it's kind of a strange place," says Burel. "But we would be foolish not to prepare for those events that we could predict might happen."

Link to the entire article here:  Inside A Secret Government Warehouse Prepped For Health Catastrophes