March 28, 2024

For the first time in 27 years, US governorment changing categories of race and ethnicity

Portland Press Herald - For the first time in 27 years, the U.S. government is changing how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity, an effort that federal officials believe will more accurately count residents who identify as Hispanic and of Middle Eastern and North African heritage...  Under the revisions, questions about race and ethnicity that previously were asked separately on forms will be combined into a single question. That will give respondents the option to pick multiple categories at the same time, such as “Black,” “American Indian” and “Hispanic.” Research has shown that large numbers of Hispanic people aren’t sure how to answer the race question when that question is asked separately because they understand race and ethnicity to be similar and they often pick “some other race” or do not answer the question.

A Middle Eastern and North African category will be added to the choices available for questions about race and ethnicity. People descended from places such as Lebanon, Iran, Egypt and Syria had been encouraged to identify as white, but now will have the option of identifying themselves in the new group...

The changes also strike from federal forms the words “Negro” and “Far East,” now widely regarded as pejorative, as well as the terms “majority” and “minority,” because they fail to reflect the nation’s complex racial and ethnic diversity, some officials say. The revisions also encourage the collection of detailed race and ethnicity data beyond the minimum standards, such as “Haitian” or “Jamaican” for someone who checks “Black.”


On the nature of change

 Greg Berman -Same As Ever by Mogan Housel, a partner at a venture capital firm and a frequent blogger, is a unique product. I hesitate to call it a book. It does come packaged like a book, with hundreds of pages bound together between two covers, but it is really something else — a loose collection of stories, quotations, and aphorisms. In fairness, Housel’s approach may well be a model for future authors. For those who find their attention spans shattered by modern technology and all of the distractions at our fingertips, Same As Ever will be a perfect fit, with each tiny chapter standing on its own and taking just a few minutes to consume.

As a writer, I can’t help but admire Housel’s chutzpah. He has done essentially no original research. Instead, he places enormous faith in his ability to draw meaningful insights out of anecdotes about famous figures and historical incidents, many of which are well-known and more thoroughly documented in other places. Housel’s self confidence is not unjustified. He does indeed have a gift for extracting and communicating simple life lessons. Historians and others with relevant expertise will likely quibble with many of his interpretations. No doubt things are much more complicated than Housel presents. Nonetheless, there are valuable insights here. More


Women

PBS - Researchers estimated that between July 2022 and January 2024, nearly 65,000 people became pregnant through rape in the 14 states that have total abortion bans, according to a research letter published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Why neighbors are still important

Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam  - The eminent Progressive philosopher John Dewey grappled with a conundrum that remains timely today—how to reconcile modern, large-scale, technologically advanced society with the exigencies of democracy. “Fraternity, liberty and equality isolated from communal life are hopeless abstractions…. Democracy must begin at home, and its home is the neighborly community.” “Only in local, face-to-face associations,” adds Dewey’s biographer Robert Westbrook, “could members of a public participate in dialogues with their fellows, and such dialogues were crucial to the formation and organization of the public.” Externally, voluntary associations, from churches and professional societies to Elks clubs and reading groups, allow individuals to express their interests and demands on government and to protect themselves from abuses of power by their political leaders. But if we have a broader conception of politics and democracy than merely the advocacy of narrow interests, then the explosion of staff-led, professionalized, Washington-based advocacy organizations may not be as satisfactory, for it was in those local luncheons that civic skills were honed and genuine give-and-take deliberation occurred. As Theda Skocpol argues:

In classic civic America, millions of ordinary men and women could interact with one another, participate in groups side by side with the more privileged, and exercise influence in both community and national affairs…. In recent times the old civic America has been bypassed and shoved to the side by a gaggle of professionally dominated advocacy groups and nonprofit institutions rarely attached to memberships worthy of the name. Ideas of shared citizenship and possibilities for democratic leverage have been compromised in the process.

Baltimore bridge

The Port of Baltimore could reopen in about six weeks (in May), a DHL executive tells Bloomberg. That's sooner than some feared. In the meantime, the bridge collapse could leave 2,400 longshoremen without work. More 

Coast Guard says 56 containers on cargo ship in Baltimore harbor have hazardous materials 

The Lever -The company that chartered the cargo ship that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore was recently sanctioned by regulators for blocking its employees from directly reporting safety concerns to the U.S. Coast Guard — in violation of a seaman whistleblower protection law, according to regulatory filings reviewed by The Lever.Eight months before a Maersk Line Limited-chartered cargo ship crashed into the Baltimore bridge, likely killing six people and injuring others, the Labor Department sanctioned the shipping conglomerate for retaliating against an employee who reported unsafe working conditions aboard a Maersk-operated boat. In its order, the department found that Maersk had “a policy that requires employees to first report their concerns to [Maersk]... prior to reporting it to the [Coast Guard] or other authorities.”Federal regulators at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which operates under the Labor Department, called the policy “repugnant” and a “reprehensible and an egregious violation of the rights of employees,” which “chills them from contacting the [Coast Guard] or other authorities without contacting the company first.”

Guardian - A top labor union for maritime engineers has sounded the alarm against corporate profiteering in the wake of Tuesday’s cargo ship crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, claiming the industry is “probably the worst offender” The Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association warned of the dangers of growing vessels and shrinking crews – claiming that those from overseas are “not up to the standards” required in the US. Roland Rexha, its secretary treasurer, argued that significant safety improvements and standards were required across the global maritime sector following the collapse of the Baltimore bridge earlier this week. Six construction workers were declared to be dead following the disaster, which brought one of America’s busiest ports to a halt.

Federal officials told Maryland lawmakers that it could cost at least $2 billion to rebuild Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed after being struck by a malfunctioning freighter, a source familiar with discussions said. Read more...

The recovery mission near the site of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is now a salvage operation, Maryland State Police announced yesterday, after two bodies were recovered.  The mission shifted, police said, because it is no longer safe for divers to operate around the debris and concrete in the port.

 

Money

Donald Trump will drain $1,500 out of the average American household annually, according to a new economic analysis of his policies.

Urban

Houston Mayor John Whitmire says city is 'broke' after decades of overspending that has stopped them from being able to pay firefighters

Middle East

Independent - Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says Israel is ‘becoming a religious fundamentalist country’ under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Too many people do not understand that the Israel of today is not the Israel of…20 to 30 years ago,” Mr Sanders told news outlet Crooked Media. “It is a right-wing country, increasingly becoming a religious fundamentalist country where you have some of these guys in office believe that God told them they have a right to control the entire area.”

After narrowly backing Israel’s military action in Gaza in November, Americans now oppose the campaign by a solid margin. Fifty-five percent currently disapprove of Israel’s actions, while 36% approve.

An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned .... Roughly a dozen of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are only partially functioning. The rest have shut down or are barely operational after running out of fuel and medicine or were damaged in fighting.

Fitness

Axios - We're no longer in the heyday of HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and CrossFit. Now, low-impact and functional fitness workouts are all the rage for American adults. As longevity becomes a primary health focus, more adults are prioritizing workouts that help them in the long-term by being easier on the body and improving strength and flexibility. More than one-third of Americans say they prefer low-intensity training exclusively, according to recent data from exercise booking platform Mindbody. And almost 29% of consumers said they exercise for a long and healthy life in 2023, compared to 20% the year before.


Alternative sex and gender

 NPR - The Walt Disney Company and a board appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have settled lawsuits in state court. The settlement ends a battle that began in 2022 when DeSantis passed the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law restricting how schools discuss gender and sexual orientation. The two sides say they are now ready to work together on operations and plans to expand Walt Disney World — one of the state's premier tourist destinations. "When you get to it, tourism is a big business in Florida," and both sides come out of this settlement looking like winners, NPR's Greg Allen says. He explains that for DeSantis, fighting with one of the state's most popular tourist attractions never seemed like a winning strategy. And now, Disney can put the political and legal battle behind it to focus on improving its Orlando theme park.

Colleges & universities

Many college applicants will receive acceptance letters this month or next. But it may be a while before they get financial aid. The Education Department says a calculation error has further delayed the process.

Environment

A federal appeals court has vacated two U.S. Environmental Protection Agency orders prohibiting a Texas plastics treatment company from manufacturing toxic ‘forever chemicals’ while treating plastic containers used to hold things like pesticides and household cleaners. A unanimous three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday agreed with Inhance Technologies that the EPA overstepped its authority by issuing the orders, since they were rooted in a section of the federal toxic chemical law reserved for regulating ‘new’ chemicals

Climate change is messing with time itself.  How? The melting of polar ice caps is causing changes in the rotation of the Earth, a new study found. That could have a slight impact on how long our days are. A “negative leap second” may need to be added to the calendar in 2029, the study said. That would get the clocks back in sync with the planet.

Guardian -The world’s fossil-fuel producers are on track to nearly quadruple the amount of extracted oil and gas from newly approved projects by the end of this decade, with the US leading the way in a surge of activity that threatens to blow apart agreed climate goals, a new report has found. There can be no new oil and gas infrastructure if the planet is to avoid careering past 1.5C (2.7F) of global heating, above pre-industrial times, the International Energy Agency has previously stated. Breaching this warming threshold, agreed to by governments in the Paris climate agreement, will see ever worsening effects such as heatwaves, floods, drought and more, scientists have warned.