via NPR: "How gas utilities used tobacco tactics to avoid gas stove regulations"

Miriam Wasser (@MiriamWasser) posted Tue, Oct 17, 2023:  "A must-read story from Jeff Brady!"

"How gas utilities used tobacco tactics to avoid gas stove regulations. My latest for

@NPR

with editor

@neelaeast

and documents/research from

@rebecca_John1

at CIC."

Read the article at NPR ->  https://www.npr.org/2023/10/17/1183551603/gas-stove-utility-tobacco 

Dr. Carl Shy, a public health researcher, cooks on his electric stove at his home. In 1970, he published a study showing that families exposed to greater levels of the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide outdoors had higher rates of respiratory illness than families in less-polluted areas. Cornell Watson for NPR

"Student podcasters share the dark realities of middle school in America"

"School shootings, social media, beauty standards. 

13-year-olds Erika Young and Norah Weiner delve into what middle school looks like today in their award-winning podcast. 

@sequoiastweets @NPR https://t.co/hVyBB74v7G"

Shared from -> https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED/status/1705054313498734628

"Student podcasters share the dark realities of middle school in America"

Recycling is Real! - MassRecycle responds to the NPR article

"MassRecycle is deeply concerned that NPR’s “Recycling plastic is practically impossible — and the problem is getting worse” has maligned recycling and misinformed readers.  Far from addressing the problem of plastic waste, this kind of negative press motivates people to “throw it all in the trash”. 

Recycling is not a sham. Please do not throw everything in the trash.  

Plastic recycling is not impossible; it is happening everyday.   You can see it: MassRecycle offers facility tours, including tours of Material Recovery Facilities where recycling is processed.  These tours are open to the public. 

If you put recyclable plastic in the bin it will be recycled. There are resources available that will tell you which items can go in the recycling bin.  Go to the Recyclopedia and type an item in the search bar.  If it says the item is recyclable, make sure it is clean and put it in your bin. It will be recycled.  If it cannot be recycled, try not to buy it again. 

Read MassRecycle’s open letter to NPR for the rest of the story.

NPR Article: https://www.npr.org/2022/10/24/1131131088/recycling-plastic-is-practically-impossible-and-the-problem-is-getting-worse

The Boston Globe version of the NPR article was shared here
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/11/boston-globe-plastic-recycling-is-myth.html

Recycling is Real! - MassRecycle responds to the NPR article

 

Nonprofit going after the online advertising revenue to stop disinformation online sets new target

An internet search result is provided free because the provider gets ad revenue from other sources. By following the money in the online advertising world, this nonprofit aims to take the advertising dollars out of the disinformation revenue streams.  

"A nonprofit aiming to defund disinformation online that has taken money out of the pockets of several prominent far-right websites now has its sights set on its most formidable target yet: Fox News. 

The group, Check My Ads, is hoping the success it has had in stripping advertising dollars from right-wing provocateurs including Steve Bannon, Glenn Beck and Dan Bongino will give it momentum as it attempts to confront a powerful media empire. 

On Thursday, the outfit announced a new campaign directed at Fox's website and its popular YouTube channel calling on the public to pressure online ad exchanges to stop doing business with Fox. It comes just as the House committee investigating the Capitol riots kicks off a series of hearings focused on violence that unfolded on Jan 6."

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/09/1103690822/group-aiming-to-defund-disinformation-tries-to-drain-fox-news-of-online-advertis

Check my Ads new campaign -> https://checkmyads.org/fox/

The video explanation on how they do this -> https://youtu.be/yHkf1wTOLLo

Claire Atkin (left) and Nandini Jammi founded the nonprofit group Check My Ads, which aims to defund disinformation online. Now, they have launched a campaigned aimed at Fox News' online empire. Jon McMorran

"Who Will Clean Out The Desks"

"As part of teacher appreciation month, Morning Edition asked NPR's audience to write a poem about teachers who have had an impact on their lives. 

We put out this call a week before the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, so the majority of contributors are not reflecting on that horrific day but a late addition did reflect that loss. 

We received over 300 responses, and NPR's poet in residence Kwame Alexander took lines from submissions to create a community poem. 

This poem is dedicated to all teachers, but especially to Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles, fourth grade teachers who lost their lives at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde."

Continue reading the community generated poem online

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59447/who-will-clean-out-the-desks-a-crowdsourced-poem-in-praise-of-teachers

 

A teacher cleans a desk in a classroom during a media tour at Dorothy Eisenberg Elementary School in Las Vegas.  (John Locher/AP)

"new Netflix series looks at the importance and legacy of an amendment that calls for equality and freedom"

"Chances are it is the most influential amendment to the US constitution that you aren’t familiar with. Given its impact, it is astonishing how little the 14th amendment is discussed in public life. Americans can’t rattle it off like the first and second amendments – but its words have fundamentally shaped the modern definition of US citizenship and the principles of equality and freedom entitled to those within the country’s borders.

Sitting at the crux of these key ideals, the 14th amendment is cited in more litigation than any other, including some of the US supreme court’s most well-known cases: Plessy v Ferguson, Brown v Board of Education, Loving v Virginia, Roe v Wade, Bush v Gore, Obergefell v Hodges. And because these noble notions are embedded in the 14th, it has the remarkable ability to generate both boundless hope (for the promises of that more perfect union aspired to in the constitution’s preamble) and crushing misery (for the failures to achieve such promises)."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/feb/23/amend-fight-for-america-14th-amendment-will-smith-netflix

YouTube link to the trailer for Amend -> https://youtu.be/1h9gmJxvZU0

Radiolab did a spin off podcast where they examined Supreme Court decisions and then all the Constitutional amendments - well worth listening to, I did learn a lot.  https://www.npr.org/podcasts/481105292/more-perfect

Radiolab's first ever spin-off series, More Perfect

Franklin's wfpr.fm has a series on Monday called "Towards A More Prefect Union"

Frank Falvey converses with Rep. Jeff Roy, Dr. Michael Walker-Jones and Dr. Natalia Linos. The show airs on Monday's at 11:00 AM, 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM. Work is also underway to make a podcast version of this show available.

NPR: "Amid Confusion About Reopening, An Expert Explains How To Assess COVID-19 Risk"

Via NPR, we find this article share worthy:

"Across the country, states are loosening the restrictions that had been put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 — with varying results. New cases are decreasing in some states, including New York, Michigan and Colorado, while case numbers and hospitalizations have swelled recently in several states, including Texas, Arizona and Florida.

"Since the very first day of this pandemic, I don't think [we've been] in a more confused position about what's happening," epidemiologist Michael Osterholm says. "We just aren't quite sure what [the coronavirus is] going to do next."

Osterholm is the founder and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. His 2017 book, Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs, was recently republished with a new foreword about COVID-19. Mark Olshaker is the book's co-author.

From the earliest days of the pandemic, the coronavirus has often been treated as a political issue rather than a public health issue — and much has been made of President Trump's refusal to wear a mask in public. But Osterholm says that the risks from COVID-19 supersede partisanship."

Continue reading the article online
https://www.npr.org/2020/06/17/879255417/amid-confusion-about-reopening-an-expert-explains-how-to-assess-covid-risk

This hit the Franklin radar via Twitter:https://twitter.com/TracyNovick/status/1274871454111334400?s=09

A server wears a protective face mask while attending to customers amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Bethesda, Md., on June 12.  Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images