In The Ink Of An Eye
January 6, 2022
The Good News
- That’s a wrap: French plastic packaging ban for fruit and veg begins (Guardian)
- Israel will open surrogacy to same-sex couples as of next week (LAT, $)
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” – Frederick Douglass
Historic Settlement In Canada
In 2007, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, a child welfare advocacy group, and the Assembly of First Nations, Canada’s largest Indigenous organization, brought a case to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal alleging that First Nations children were being discriminated against in the child welfare system. Specifically, the government didn’t fund their child welfare and family support services at the same level that they did for non-Indigenous families.
The Canadian government announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to pay $31.5 billion ($40 billion in Canadian dollars) to compensate Indigenous families harmed by the nation’s child welfare system, and to work to address the issues with the system. It’s the largest settlement in Canadian history. Experts estimate 115,000 children have been separated from their families since 1991, and half of the sum will go to compensating those affected. The other half will be spread out over five years to help keep First Nations families together.
Cindy Woodhouse, the Manitoba regional chief at the Assembly of First Nations, said, “First Nations from across Canada have had to work very hard for this day to provide redress for monumental wrongs against First Nation children, wrongs fueled by an inherently biased system…This wasn’t and isn’t about parenting. It’s in fact about poverty.” For reference, less than 8% of children under 14 in Canada are Indigenous, but over 52% of those in foster care are Indigenous. The system was set up in favor of removing children from the home over putting supports into place to help them stay in the home.
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal had ruled back in 2016 that the government needed to reform its child welfare system for First Nations children, including changing the formula used to determine how funds are allocated for government services on reserves. The government repeatedly stalled, trying to have the case dismissed, and in the five years since, the tribunal has issued about 20 non-compliance orders. According to Cindy Blackstock, the executive director of the organization that initiated the case, if Canada had reacted promptly, they “could have settled this case for hundreds of millions of dollars back in 2000.”
Tuesday’s settlement is the second massive compensation agreement with Indigenous communities to be announced by Canada’s federal government recently. Last month, a $6.3 billion lawsuit against the government over years of contaminated drinking water on Indigenous reserves was announced. Canada has been reckoning with their legacy of mistreatment of Indigenous communities in recent years, and while this latest move to rectify the situation for the child welfare system is a step in the right direction, it cannot undo the decades of harm for thousands of children. (NYT, $)
Missing The Mark(et)
- Xi’an, a city in China, is currently facing strict Covid-19 lockdown measures, causing strife among business owners and citizens. Despite government assurances that they are able to provide necessities for the 13 million residents of Xi’an, many have complained that they have faced difficulties finding food after being largely confined to their houses.
- The lockdown was initiated on December 23 and is one of the harshest in the country since the shutdown in 2020 in and around Wuhan. Initial mandates allowed residents to leave the house every two days to shop for basic goods, but further restrictions have made it so that people in some districts are not allowed to leave their homes at all and must have goods delivered to them.
- In recent days, people in Xi’an could be seen shopping at pop-up markets, served by workers in head-to-toe white protective suits. Community volunteers also visited people’s homes to ask what they needed. However, the “zero tolerance” policies have made it difficult for many, as seen by online blog posts commenting on the difficulties of purchasing necessary goods and food to survive. (AP)
141-Day Strike, He’s Out
- Palestinian prisoner Hisham Abu Hawwash has announced that he will end a 141-day hunger strike following a deal with Israel to be released next month. A 40-year-old father of five, Abu Hawwash had fasted for 141 days to protest his “administrative detention,” in which he was held indefinitely without charge or trial.
- Abu Hawwash’s lawyer, Jawad Boulos, said on Tuesday that he agreed to end the hunger strike after Israel pledged to release him on February 26. Palestinians have protested across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in support of Abu Hawwash over the past few months.
- The Palestinian Islamic Jihad had even threatened military action against Israel if he died in custody. Abu Hawwash is the latest of several prisoners who have in recent weeks refused food and water to protest their detention. His hunger strike was the longest since an eight-month-long hunger strike launched by Samer Issawi that ended in 2013. (Al Jazeera)
Additional World News
- A variant found in France is not a concern, the W.H.O. says. (NYT, $)
- Taiwan ‘buys 20,400 bottles of Lithuanian rum rejected by China’ (Guardian)
- North Korea fires unidentified projectile into waters off Korean Peninsula, South Korea says (CNN)
- In the Tinderbox of Bosnia, a Serb Nationalist Lights a Match (NYT, $)
- Brazilian doctors rule out surgery for Bolsonaro (ABC)
- Kazakhstan president declares state of emergency after rare outbreak of unrest (Guardian)
- Record toll of migrant boats crossed English Channel in 2021 (LAT, $)
- We’d all like to eat healthier this year, but doing it every single meal? Impossible. Unless, of course, you’re a dog. That’s because unlike humans, dogs are lucky enough to be healthy by nature – they actually enjoy exercise, and crave nutritious food as much as we crave cheat meals.
- The Farmer’s Dog believes in feeding their healthy nature. Literally. That’s why all their vet developed recipes are made with fresh meat and veggies, gently cooked to retain their maximum nutritional integrity.
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No Way Home
- Interstate 95, the East Coast’s main north-south thoroughfare, reopened late Tuesday after a crash on Monday morning brought traffic to a halt and stranded drivers in a 50-mile stretch between Richmond, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The extended backup started Monday morning during the first mid-Atlantic snowstorm of the year, which caused a big rig and other vehicles to stall in the freezing conditions.
- Among those stranded was Democratic Senator and former Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine of Virginia, who tweeted: “Ok after 27 hours on the road from Richmond to DC, very happy to be back in the Capitol and working on voting rights legislation this afternoon,” after he broke through the traffic freeze. Other motorists were also cleared off the interstate by 5:15 pm on Tuesday, and the road was declared reopened at 8:45 pm that night.
- Virginia Governor Ralph Northam said that the state was prepared for just a few inches of snow instead of the foot of snow that greeted commuters Monday morning. He also explained that conditions including “slushy snow” prevented the state transportation department from salting or graveling the road to prevent unsafe conditions. (NBC)
Techs And Balances
- Twitter’s ban of Marjorie Taylor Greene has started a new wave of Republican attacks on the platform. Republicans have begun rallying against “Big Tech” after Greene, who supported QAnon conspiracy theories and spread anti-vaccine misinformation on the platform, was banned for violating COVID-19 misinformation policies.
- Republicans see Greene’s ban as a worse offense than former President Trump’s ban from the platform. According to Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Greene’s ban set a “more far-reaching precedent,” as she was erased from the platform while she was in office, stating: “The fact that Twitter cut her off, despite being an elected official, is a substantial change in the broad latitude that elected officials have had in the past.”
- According to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Twitter is banning “any speech that does not fit big Tech’s orthodoxy.” Representative Matt Gaetz called the situation “Woketopia.” Rand Paul even chimed in, stating he would leave the platform as part of his “exodus from Big Tech.” Many Republicans have spoken out over the years against social media moderation, accusing platforms such as Facebook and Twitter of anti-conservative bias when they remove misinformation directly disproven by scientific research. (The Hill)
Additional USA News
- Trump cancels Jan. 6 event amid GOP complaints (Politico)
- Albany County district attorney won’t move forward with groping case against Andrew Cuomo (CBS)
- Florida activist handcuffed while trying to attend DeSantis news conference (WaPo, $)
- Security ramping up ahead of one-year anniversary of January 6 Capitol attack (CNN)
- Texas Gov. Abbott sues Biden over requirement that National Guard be vaccinated (CNN)
- Gov. Larry Hogan declares state of emergency in Maryland, mobilizes National Guard as omicron surges (WaPo, $)
- January 6 committee seeks cooperation from Fox News’ Hannity and releases texts between host and White House (CNN)
In The Ink Of An Eye
- A new European Union ban on thousands of chemicals could potentially harm the tattoo industry. The restrictions went into effect on Tuesday and mostly affect colored ink. The E.U. says that it will help lower the risk of cancer and adverse reactions, and that there are alternative inks for tattooists to use.
- Tattoo artists, however, say that those alternative inks are not always easy to get, and the colors are less vibrant, which could lead to disappointed customers. The move also comes after two years of pandemic lockdowns, which has seriously harmed the industry on its own. The E.U. says that about 12% of Europeans have tattoos, but that number is likely doubled among young adults.
- All member states in the E.U. agreed to the chemical bans in 2020. They cover 4,000 chemicals, which the E.U. says will reduce “skin allergies and other more serious health impacts, such as genetic mutations and cancer.” Tattoo artists say these are actually not something they come across very often in their profession, and they are concerned that the bans will increase the number of unsanctioned tattooists, which will definitely lead to adverse reactions. (BBC)
Additional Reads
- The Danger of Leaving Weather Prediction to AI (Wired)
- Exploding meteor over Pittsburgh on New Year’s Day was equivalent to 30 tons of TNT, NASA says (WaPo, $)
- James Webb Space Telescope: Sun shield is fully deployed (BBC)
- Netflix memo encourages recruiters to avoid talking about Dave Chappelle (The Verge)
- ‘No worries’ made a banned-words list, but I refuse to stop using it (CNET)
- The most important computer you’ve never heard of (Ars Technica)
- How Do You Practice Responsible Astrology? (Wired)