September 19, 2023 Today, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) issued the following statement responding to 1 Million March 4 Children protests that are scheduled to take place across Canada this week:

“Any actions or events that seek to undermine the rights and dignity of the 2SLGBTQ+ community must be denounced. As such, ETFO strongly condemns this week’s planned protests, and calls on the government and school boards to do the same. 

There is no room for hate in our province or our hearts. Yet we are seeing a disturbing increase in public discourse centred on anti-2SLGTBQ+ hate. It is alarming that several politicians are contributing to this troubling trend. Recently, Premier Doug Ford accused school boards of indoctrination. Education Minister Stephen Lecce scolded boards for upholding students’ human rights related to gender identity, and members of parliament are on social media using dog-whistle terms like ‘woke’ to gain political clout. Instead of spewing rhetoric they know is harmful and dangerous and that pits parents against educators, they should be ensuring safe and inclusive spaces for every student in the province and for every constituent they serve. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

Join Paul Tally in a captivating conversation with Luz Castro, a passionate policy advocate based in Bell Gardens, California, dedicated to championing the rights of undocumented and newly arrived immigrants. Luz's journey is deeply inspired by her mother, an undocumented domestic helper who tirelessly supported her family.

Luz takes us through her educational path, from high school to college, where her interests in labor organizing and environmental justice blossomed. She delves into the disparities in resource access across different socioeconomic groups, with a particular focus on education and employment.

Furthermore, Luz shares her experiences working in Washington, D.C., where she tirelessly represents the voices of immigrants in federal policymaking. The interviewer underscores the vital role she plays in bridging resource gaps and highlighting the concerns of immigrant communities. Luz highlights a critical issue: the unequal access to instructors and resources for test preparation, a factor that can significantly impact success in various trades and careers. The conversation shifts to Luz's role as a field deputy for a member of Congress. She discusses her responsibilities, including staying abreast of local politics and events and representing the Congresswoman at meetings when needed. Community outreach efforts are also part of her mandate.

Next, the discussion centers on Luz's policy efforts, particularly in immigration. She elaborates on her involvement in crafting legislation to provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in the United States. Luz underscores the importance of research, collaboration, and consultation with those directly affected by immigration regulations. She emphasizes the urgent need for updated immigration policies, citing the lack of meaningful reform since 1986.

Luz addresses the challenges undocumented immigrants face in the U.S. and advocates for comprehensive immigration reform, especially for those who have lived there for many years without a clear path to citizenship.

Expressing concern about the large number of unauthorized immigrants and asylum seekers, Luz points out the outdated nature of the immigration system, making it cumbersome to navigate. She recommends leveraging existing rules, such as the immigration registry, to provide relief to long-term immigrants.

Luz also highlights the legality of street vending in Los Angeles County, where there are no specific prohibited vending zones. She discusses the potential conflicts between street vendors and brick-and-mortar businesses, emphasizing the importance of understanding the legal rights and complexities involved in balancing their interests.

In this engaging conversation, Luz emphasizes the value of internships for aspiring advocates, lawyers, and public servants. She encourages students to seek internships aligned with their passions, as these experiences offer valuable insights into professionals' daily work in their fields. Moreover, she notes the positive trend of paid internships, which can be invaluable when transitioning into full-time employment after college.

Luz advises students to tap into the resources provided by their college's career centers, cultural centers, and relevant departments. Seeking guidance from mentors is equally important, as they can offer support and insights into the interview process and professional growth. In summary, this conversation is a powerful reminder to actively pursue opportunities, seek assistance when needed, and gain real-world experience through internships and mentorship to prepare for a fulfilling career in advocacy and related disciplines.

DISCLAIMER: The following program contains material, situations, and/or themes that may disturb some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

A National CORE Production supporting the Hope Through Housing Foundation. Join us to uncover the art of turning dreams into reality.

By Kenny Stancil

Common Dreams

March 23, 2023

From the article:

"It was never about 'protecting children,'" said one opponent of the law. "It was always about eliminating LGBTQ people from public life and making it illegal to even discuss our existence."

Florida's Republican governor and presumed 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is moving to expand his state's prohibition on classroom discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity to all grades.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday denounced DeSantis' effort to broaden what critics call the "Don't Say Gay" law, describing it as "completely, utterly wrong."

Passed last year by Florida's GOP-controlled Legislature, the law forbids classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3. The DeSantis administration's proposed rule change, first reported Tuesday by The Orlando Sentinel, would extend the ban on such lessons to grades 4-12, except when they are required by state standards or as part of a reproductive health course from which parents can choose to exclude their children.

The proposal, introduced by DeSantis' Department of Education, goes even further than right-wing Florida lawmakers' current push to expand the law through grade 8 and does not require legislative approval. The state Board of Education—controlled by appointees of DeSantis and his predecessor, U.S. Sen Rick Scott (R-Fla.)—is set to vote on the measure at its April 19 meeting.

"Everything he does is about what can further his own career ambitions," Brandon Wolf of Equality Florida toldThe Associated Press on Wednesday, referring to DeSantis. "And it's clear he sees the anti-LGBTQ movement as his vehicle to get him where he wants to go."

Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law has been widely condemned since it was first introduced last year. Opponents—including President Joe Biden, who called the measure "hateful"—contend that it marginalizes LGBTQ+ people.

"Everything he does is about what can further his own career ambitions. And it's clear he sees the anti-LGBTQ movement as his vehicle to get him where he wants to go."

DeSantis' proposed expansion has confirmed critics' warnings that the law was never intended to "protect kids," as proponents claimed, but rather to undermine support for LGBTQ+ rights and sow mistrust in public education to facilitate privatization.

"It was never about 'protecting children,'" Alejandra Caraballo, a clinical instructor at the Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinic, wrote Wednesday on social media. "It was always about eliminating LGBTQ people from public life and making it illegal to even discuss our existence."

That message was echoed by former Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-49), who tweeted: "It was never, ever, ever, ever about kindergarten through third grade. It was always about demonizing us and censoring LGBTQ people out of existence in our schools."

During her Wednesday press briefing, Jean-Pierre alluded to growing attacks on LGBTQ+ people and said that DeSantis' proposal reflects "a disturbing and dangerous trend that we're seeing across the country."

Last month, PEN America revealed that GOP officials across the United States unveiled 84 educational gag orders during the first six weeks of 2023.

As the free speech organization previously documented, Republican lawmakers introduced 190 bills designed to restrict the ability of educators and students to discuss the production of and resistance to myriad inequalities throughout U.S. history—including several proposals to create so-called "tip lines" that would enable parents to punish school districts or individual teachers—in dozens of states in 2021 and 2022. Over the past two years, 19 laws limiting the teaching of gender, sexuality, and racism were enacted in more than a dozen GOP-controlled states, plus eight measures imposed without legislation.

This year alone, Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law has spawned at least 27 copycat bills in more than a dozen states, including several measures that would, as DeSantis is now proposing, censor instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity at all grade levels.

Opponents of Florida's law argue that "its language—'classroom instruction,' 'age appropriate,' and 'developmentally appropriate'—is overly broad and subject to interpretation," AP reported. "Consequently, teachers might opt to avoid the subjects entirely for fear of being sued, they say."

Read more.

By: Andrew Doyle

Published: May 4, 2023

What happened to the art of disagreement? In 2017, I addressed this very question in my stand-up show, Thought Crimes, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. My main topic was the aftermath of the Brexit vote and how so many of my friends had developed a strange new determination to reduce all political disputes to a matter of good vs evil, with those who voted to leave the EU falling firmly in the latter camp. I felt there was something inherently amusing about this sudden surge of mass infantilism.

I performed the show every evening during the fringe at The Stand comedy club, and I very much enjoyed working with such a pleasant and professional team. I remember, on one occasion, chatting to a member of staff who completely disagreed with my political views. The conversation was stimulating and, above all, amiable. Had I suggested at the time that, just a few years later, a show at this same venue would be cancelled because members of staff found the opinions of those involved offensive, she would have laughed. I’m confident that nobody at The Stand, either performers or staff, would have considered this a remote possibility. Surely it would be absurd for a comedy club, of all places, to reject the principle of free speech?

Yet this is precisely what happened this week when The Stand cancelled the booking of SNP politician Joanna Cherry, who had been scheduled to appear as part of the club’s ‘In Conversation With’ series. Cherry is a lesbian who campaigned against Section 28, and has recently been vocal about the threat to women’s rights and single-sex spaces posed by the rise of gender-identity ideology. This is her thoughtcrime.

If I were keeping a tally of Things I Never Thought Would Happen, it would by now have grown too long to maintain. When I performed that show in 2017, I had assumed that I was observing a momentary glitch, and that within the year everyone would be shaking their heads and laughing about their brief bout of hysteria. I was wrong. The insane tribalism of the Brexit vote was merely a symptom of a much more worrying trend, and we have since allowed ourselves to descend into a Manichean world of angels and devils.

My book, The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World, is my attempt to grapple with this disturbing new reality. A new paperback edition has been published this week, and I had hoped that by this point, it would already have started to seem out of date. In truth, the problems I describe in the book are accelerating. Novels by Roald Dahl, PG Wodehouse and Agatha Christie have since been rewritten by ‘sensitivity readers’ (newspeak for ‘censors’). The Irish government is currently passing new hate-speech laws that are similarly draconian to those passed by the Scottish government in 2021. Prestigious scientific journals are publishing pseudoscience in order to uphold this new ideology, too. Only this week the Scientific American ran a piece entitled ‘Here’s why human sex is not binary’, illustrated with an image of the male and female gametes that prove that it is.

It’s difficult to keep up with these baffling developments. Most of us have noticed the rise of this new ideology that is now dominant in all of our major cultural, educational, political and corporate institutions. We can see that its impact is divisive, regressive and illiberal, and yet it describes itself using progressive-sounding terminology, such as ‘social justice’, ‘anti-racism’ and ‘equity’. When language becomes unmoored from meaning, we are all at risk of mistaking change for progress.

We have seen that the disciples of this new religion are pushing for more and more censorship, whether that be through the cancellation of comedians, the deletion of potentially offensive scenes in old television shows, or stronger ‘hate speech’ laws. We have seen women physically assaulted for standing up for their sex-based rights. We have seen how anyone who questions the new orthodoxies jeopardises their career prospects and risks being publicly shamed. The existence of what we now call ‘cancel culture’ is often denied by those who indulge in it the most, but its list of casualties expands by the day.

Those of us who are taking a stand against these cultural revolutionaries are often told that we should just ignore them. Who cares if a few zealots are demanding that we attend ‘unconscious bias’ training sessions? Who cares if civil servants and teachers and staff at the BBC are being encouraged to announce their pronouns in emails and at the beginning of meetings? Who cares if the Ministry of Defence is holding LGBTQIA+ coffee mornings to discuss pansexuality? If we let them get on with it, the logic goes, all of this will just go away.

But this is very wrong. If we ignore these developments, the culture warriors won’t fade away – they’ll win. These activists are promoting an authoritarian creed, and are doing untold damage to our world, while believing they are making it better. If your toddler starts smashing up the crockery, you don’t just politely wait for it to finish. Sometimes you have to intervene in order to prevent further damage.

I wrote The New Puritans in the hope that the book would become obsolete. Judging from recent events, this won’t be happening any time soon.

By Wednesday night, a sweeping anti-trans bill appeared dead in Kentucky as lawmakers debated whether it went too far. So it surprised Democrats, transgender activists, and their allies when Republicans managed to hold a committee vote, then rush the bill through approvals in both the state House and Senate the following day.

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear isn’t expected to sign the bill, which passed mostly along party lines, into law, but the GOP has enough of a majority to override his veto.

People in the gallery were furious when the measure passed and yelled, “You’re all fucking pieces of shit!” at lawmakers on the floor, according to Courier Journal reporter Joe Sonka.

Democratic state Sen. Karen Berg, whose transgender son died by suicide in December, cried after the vote, Sonka reported. Berg had delivered powerful testimony as the bill was being debated.

“[This bill] is viewed as the single worst anti-LGBTQ legislation that has come out of a statehouse in this country,” she said during a floor debate.

“This is absolutely willful hate for a small group of people that are the weakest and most vulnerable,” she added.

The bill that passed this week expanded upon one that Republicans in Kentucky first introduced in February, which would have allowed students to misgender transgender students despite the detrimental impact it would have on trans youth.

The new version of the bill still allows trans students to be misgendered. But it goes much further: It also bans gender-affirming care, like puberty blockers or hormone therapy, for trans kids and requires doctors to begin detransitioning any of their trans patients who are children. It mandates that schools create policies that will not allow trans students to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity. It does not allow educators to discuss sexual orientation or gender identity in any grade and forbids discussion of human sexuality until sixth grade. After that, parental consent is required.

The Kentucky GOP’s last-minute push to advance the bill is following a disturbing nationwide trend. Hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced just this year in states dominated by Republicans as part of the broader culture war on trans Americans and the push for “parental rights” — a catchall term that centers the wishes of conservative white parents when shaping policies in public schools.

Gender-affirming care for minors is appropriate and not dangerous, according to the American Medical Association. And genuine mental health risks come with widespread discrimination and health care bans: Transgender youth are at higher risk for depression and suicide.

Instead of serving the most vulnerable among us, Berg said her fellow lawmakers ignored the science behind gender-affirming care for trans children and only rushed this bill for one reason.

“My child came up here 10 years ago,” she said on Thursday, referring to her son’s 2015 testimony against a bathroom bill in the Kentucky statehouse. “You had time to understand the science… this is absolute, willful, intentional hate.”

I'm part of a Reddit community (r/CPTSD) that is a forum for folks with and/or adjacent to Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to openly discuss and share their personal experiences or general observations around the topic, and offer support and solidarity to one another. Over the last two months, I've noted a very disturbing trend in this sub that I had to call out.

Ever since the 2023 Palestinian genocide has been underway (and yes it IS a genocide, I'm not interested in debating that), ppl in this Reddit community have been (very understandably) posting about how they are horrified around the inarguable CPTSD that many Palestinian children have been developing/will likely have to shoulder as a result of the near-constant strife/warfare from the very moment they've been alive. I myself posted something like this fairly early on after hearing of the Israeli government's initial aggressions. 

Inevitably, EVERY SINGLE TIME that someone makes a post like this in that community, others will respond with something to the effect of "why can't we avoid politics in this sub?" or "I don't see how this is related to CPTSD, can the mods do something about posts like this?" and I just...

aljfkadjsfkasjdfjkdsj!!!!!

Honestly, it's enraging. Like it or not, EVERYTHING is political, because politics/public policy decisions (whether on a local scale, global scale, or somewhere in between) govern most parts of our lives. 

I don't understand the cognitive dissonance at all. How can one who is part of a community that is dedicated to supporting/educating around the lifelong impacts of CPTSD reject people for wanting to seek solace/solidarity around the fact that these children will have to suffer their entire lives because of the Israeli government's actions (not just, of course, over the last few months, but over the last several decades)? 

The fact that Palestinian children do experience/will continue to experience abnormal development of their neural pathways/brain chemistry due to prolonged and acute trauma is inarguable.

So, when I see ppl in this subreddit saying things like this, to me it reads: "Oh, I'm fine with people posting about CPTSD as long as that post doesn't make me, personally feel uncomfortable, or remind me, personally of the large-scale atrocity currently going on". 

Palestinian children don't get to opt out of developing CPTSD, so I don't see why ppl in that community should get to opt out of seeing posts that are meant to (as the sub intends) bring awareness/educate/offer comfort and support to others. 

As an aside, this Reddit community in general has a definite problem when it comes to matters of social justice and, particularly, racial justice. As a queer, disabled, woman of color, I've long since realized that it's not a truly safe space, and have started to be more active, instead, in the r/cptsd_bipoc Reddit community instead. I've never once seen similar pleas for "apolitical posts only!" in that community, thankfully.

Is It Worse to Ban a Book, or Never Publish It?

Cancellation Nation

In a debate too often characterized by partisan hypocrisy and bereft of rigorous definitions, Amna Khalid and Jeffrey Aaron Snyder shine, drawing useful distinctions while voicing this lament:

In the United States today, the left and right alike have aggressively embraced cancelation campaigns. Each side has its own distinctive objectives, strategies, initiatives and networks—as well as its own particular strongholds. The left and liberals are ascendant on most college campuses and predominate in the arts, culture and publishing industries. The right, of course, has the Fox News bullhorn and other like-minded media outlets. But its most vital sites of power are state legislatures. Fueled by alarm surrounding critical race theory and LGBTQ+ hysteria, Red State legislatures are in the midst of a frenzied, mass cancelation spree.

I’m often asked, “But which side is worse?” If two candidates are facing each other in an election that forces a binary choice, I’m happy to answer. Last time around, for example, I thought Donald Trump was the inferior candidate for people who are concerned about illiberalism. In general, however, I tend to think that right and left illiberalism fuel each other, such that asking which is worse is the wrong question. Regardless of the answer, both should be opposed.

For an example, consider the world of books. In my ideal scenario, no one would stand between an author and a willing reader, because I value freedom of expression and freedom of inquiry, even in cases, like The Communist Manifesto, where the ideas in a book led to real-world deaths.

In the Los Angeles Times, Michael Hiltzik expresses alarm at right-wing illiberalism in this realm:

Attacks on books occupy a special place among the signposts of philistinism and anti-democratic suppression. So it’s proper to be alarmed at the upsurge of efforts to ban books from public schools and libraries, largely because they represent political views, lifestyles and life experiences that organized groups characterize as objectionable. “It’s not that book banning itself is new,” says Jonathan Friedman, director of free expression and education at the free-speech group PEN America. “The biggest trend is the force and the coordination around the country. What’s different is how school districts are giving in to these demands so quickly, in some cases without much due process whatsoever.” Another disturbing aspect is how campaigns to ban books are linked to partisan political goals. “These are deliberate campaigns being waged with the support of political groups ... who use them as a new and promising front in our political and cultural battles,” Suzanne Nossel, chief executive of PEN America, told me.

So far, I agree. But later in the column Hiltzik writes:

It’s tempting to both-sides book-banning campaigns. After all, it’s said, just as politically motivated groups agitate for the removal of certain books from schools and libraries, book publishers face pressure—sometimes from their own staffs—to refuse or rescind contracts with certain authors. Is there really any difference? Yes, of course there is—and it’s a qualitative difference. On one side are orchestrated campaigns, often employing government authority, aimed at large categories of works. On the other, objections from people questioning whether a book deal really fits the character that a publishing house is trying to project. Sometimes a publisher sees things the staff’s way, sometimes not: When staff members of Simon & Schuster objected to that house’s deal with former Vice President Mike Pence, who was closely identified with discriminatory policies aimed at women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, executives decided that the company’s commitment to publish “a diversity of voices and perspectives” outweighed the objections and went ahead with the deal. Mainstream publishers canceled publication plans for Woody Allen’s memoir “Apropos of Nothing” and Blake Bailey’s biography of Philip Roth because of accusations of sexual misdeeds aimed at both authors; both books soon found a home with Skyhorse Publishing, an independent company that … has become known as what The Times described as “a publisher of last resort.” Those cases are one-offs, targeted at specific books or authors. The right-wing campaigns are mass assaults.

READ MORE

A well reasoned editorial that takes all sides into account. ~ eP

Unmasking the Alarming Rise: Prescription Pain Pill Overdoses Quadrupled in the Last Decade

Introduction

Prescription pain pill overdoses have become a silent epidemic lurking beneath the surface of our healthcare system. These overdoses have experienced a staggering quadrupling in numbers in the past decade, raising concerns and demanding urgent attention. This article aims to shed light on the alarming rise of prescription pain pill overdoses, examining the underlying factors, exploring the devastating consequences, and highlighting potential solutions to curb this alarming trend.

Unveiling the Statistics

The statistics are unequivocal: prescription pain pill overdoses have undergone an astonishing four-fold increase over the last ten years. According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States witnessed a sharp rise in overdose-related deaths, surpassing other forms of substance abuse. From 2010 to the present day, the number of lives claimed by prescription pain pill overdoses has skyrocketed, illustrating a crisis often overshadowed by the public's focus on illicit substances.

The Root Causes

Understanding the root causes of this disturbing trend is essential to addressing the issue effectively. Several factors contribute to the rise in prescription pain pill overdoses. Firstly, overprescribing practices have created an abundance of pills in circulation, leaving patients vulnerable to misuse or accidental overdose. Inadequate education among healthcare professionals regarding pain management alternatives and the risks of opioid medications has further exacerbated the problem. Additionally, the aggressive marketing strategies employed by pharmaceutical companies have fueled the widespread use of prescription pain pills, often leading to dependence and addiction.

The Human Toll

Behind the statistics lie the heartbreaking stories of individuals and families devastated by prescription pain pill overdoses. Lives are shattered, futures erased, and communities are left grappling with the aftermath. The victims of these overdoses come from all walks of life, dispelling the myth that this crisis is limited to a specific demographic. It affects people of all ages, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The impact extends beyond the immediate loss of life, as survivors and their loved ones face long-lasting physical, emotional, and financial consequences.

Combating the Crisis

Addressing the prescription pain pill overdose crisis requires a multifaceted approach. The medical community plays a crucial role in promoting responsible prescribing practices and educating patients about the risks and benefits of pain medications. Enhanced training programs should equip healthcare professionals with alternative pain management strategies, empowering them to offer comprehensive care. Stricter regulations regarding prescription monitoring programs and limiting pill quantities can help prevent excess pills from entering the black market.

Furthermore, public awareness campaigns are essential to inform individuals about the risks associated with prescription pain pills and encourage safer medication use. These campaigns should emphasize the importance of properly disposing of unused medications and promote alternative pain management options, such as physical therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and non-opioid medications.

Collaboration between healthcare providers, policymakers, and pharmaceutical companies is vital to implementing effective policies and regulations. Pharmaceutical companies should be held accountable for their marketing practices and incentivized to develop safer, non-addictive pain management alternatives.

Conclusion

Over the past decade, the quadrupling of prescription pain pill overdoses has been a harrowing trend that demands immediate action. By addressing the root causes, amplifying public awareness, and implementing comprehensive strategies, we can strive to reverse this epidemic. Our collective responsibility is to protect the well-being of individuals and communities, ensuring that access to pain relief does not come at the cost of human lives. Only through concerted efforts can we hope to alleviate the burden of prescription pain pill overdoses and forge a healthier future.

full article under the cut :)

When I was growing up in a conservative evangelical community, one of the top priorities was to manage children’s consumption of art. The effort was based on a fairly straightforward aesthetic theory: Every artwork has a clear message, and consuming messages that conflict with Christianity will harm one’s faith. Helpfully, there was a song whose lyrics consisted precisely of this aesthetic theory: “Input Output.”

Input, output, What goes in is what comes out. Input, output, That is what it’s all about. Input, output, Your mind is a computer whose Input, output daily you must choose.

The search for the “inputs” of secular artwork sometimes took a paranoid form—such as the belief in subliminal messages recorded in reverse, or in isolated frames from Lion King where smoke allegedly forms the word sex. Most often, however, the analysis was more direct. Portraying a behavior or describing a belief, unless accompanied immediately by a clear negative judgment, is an endorsement and a recommendation, and people who consume such messages will become more likely to behave and believe in that way.

This theory underwrote the whole edifice of Christian contemporary music, which aimed to replace a particularly powerful avenue for negative messages. One of my running jokes for many years has been that all Top 40 music is effectively Christian contemporary music now; American Idol confirmed the hegemony of the “praise band” vocal style. More clear is the fact that all mainstream criticism—especially of film and television—is evangelical in form, if not in content. Every artwork is imagined to have a clear message; the portrayal of a given behavior or belief is an endorsement and a recommendation; consumption of artwork with a given message will directly result in the behaviors or beliefs portrayed. This is one of the few phenomena where the “both sides” cliché is true: Left-wing critics are just as likely to do this as their right-wing opponents. For every video of a right-wing provocateur like Ben Shapiro decrying the woke excesses of Barbie, there is a review praising the Mattel product tie-in as a feminist fable.

Here, however, I am more concerned with the critical practices of my comrades on the left. Among leftist publications, Jacobin stands out for its reductive and moralizing cultural coverage. Addressing the other major movie of this past weekend, for instance, the critic Eileen Jones worried in a recent column, “If you’re already convinced of the dangers of nuclear war, superseded only by the ongoing end-times series of rolling climate catastrophes that now seem more likely to kill us all, this film is going to lack a certain urgency.” Sadly, instead of an educational presentation on nuclear war, film audiences will instead find a biopic that takes some liberties with its subject’s life and character for the sake of creating a Hollywood blockbuster. Jones finds more to like in Barbie, despite “the familiar, toothless, you-go-girl pseudo-feminist pieties that Mattel has been monetizing for decades, alongside the nostalgic how-can-our-consumer-products-be-bad affirmations of Barbie as some sort of magic, wholesomely progressive uniter of generations of mothers and daughters.”

This trend is not limited to one publication. It is pervasive in online culture, above all on social media. For instance, over coffee on the morning after the epic Barbenheimer Friday, I learned some disturbing facts about Oppenheimer on Twitter. At least one viewer was worried that the film about the man who created the nuclear bomb did not include any Japanese characters. Indeed, it did not even directly portray his invention’s horrific consequences. Surely this aesthetic choice was meant to minimize his actions by rendering his victims invisible. (An article in New York magazine drew attention to the same absence.) I also learned that the area surrounding Los Alamos was actually cleared of Indigenous and Hispanic residents, another bit of history that is effectively erased by the film.

Let’s imagine, though, that those complaints had been anticipated and addressed. Let’s imagine an entire subplot of a family going about their business in Hiroshima. We get to know and like them, to relate to them as our fellow human beings. Then, shockingly, they are incinerated by a nuclear blast. One can already hear the complaints. If the family were portrayed as too morally upstanding, it would be a dehumanizing portrayal that idealizes them as perfect victims. If they had moral flaws, the film would be subtly suggesting that they deserved their fate. And either way, the film would be attacked for offering up their suffering as a spectacle for our enjoyment. The same would go for the displaced population of Los Alamos—by portraying them as passive victims with no agency, critics would surely complain, the film would be reinscribing white authority.

Obviously leftists do not have to be as paranoid in their quest for messages supportive of the status quo as Christians playing their records backwards in the hopes of finding satanic content.  And of course we are a long way from having anything like the real-world thought police of Stalinism. During that dark era of Soviet history, writers and artists were expected to subscribe to the standards of socialist realism—which, instead of portraying the sordid and brutal reality of the present, anticipated the future reality of socialism by showing heroic workers building a utopian society. Those who fell short of those ideological expectations could expect a personal phone call from Comrade Stalin, if not worse. By contrast, it seems relatively harmless to hope that films and TV shows might reflect one’s own politics and to lament when they fail to do so. Yet the very fact that the demand is so open-ended that it is impossible to imagine an artwork meeting its largely unstated and unarticulated standards shows that something has gone wrong here.

To be clear, I don’t want to defend Oppenheimer in any way. I have not actually seen the film. Nothing anyone is saying is necessarily wrong; it’s just not interesting. Like most film and TV viewers, I read reviews because I want to decide whether or not to see a given movie or show, or else to think it through from a fresh perspective. For example, I note that Oppenheimer is very long—how is the pacing? Does it maintain a clear focus throughout, or does it indulge the common vice of biopics by trying to cram too much in? The type of critical literature that concerns me does not address such basic aesthetic questions, or does so only incidentally.

Even more insidiously, though, the logical goal of such very narrow standards could be to create artwork that is straightforward political propaganda. We’ve seen how badly that turned out for the evangelicals (and, indeed, for the Stalinists). Even if we are unlikely to face the scourge of a Leninist equivalent to VeggieTales, however, this style of criticism infantilizes its audience members by assuming they are essentially ideology-processing machines—unlike the wise commentator who somehow manages to see through the deception.

Political problems cannot be solved on the aesthetic level. And it’s much more likely that people are consuming politics as a kind of aesthetic performance or as a way of expressing aesthetic preferences than that they are somehow reading their politics off Succession, for example (“Welp, I guess rich people are good now. Better vote Republican!”). Just as the reduction of art to political propaganda leads to bad art, the aestheticization of politics leads to bad, irresponsible politics. That’s because aesthetics and politics are not the same thing. They are not totally unrelated, obviously, but they are also and even primarily different. A political message can be part of an aesthetic effect, just as a political movement can benefit from an aesthetic appeal. But we get nowhere if we confuse or collapse these categories.

This story was adapted from a post on Adam Kotsko's blog, An Und Für Sich.

Via suckytraditionaltattoos.wordpress.com

Traditional Tattoos Suck!!!!

Here at Sucky Traditional Tattoos, we are waging war against what we feel to be a fad of mediocrity within the tattoo industry. Tattooing has been a part of human culture since the dawn of recorded history, and has been through many changes, ever evolving and advancing into what it is today, a fine art. Yet despite this constant push forward toward refining tattoo styles and techniques, we here at Sucky Traditional Tattoos have noticed a disturbing trend in popular culture which seeks to cause the tattoo culture to backslide into history. With the coming of Ed Hardy brand clothing, popular culture has seized upon tattoo culture and made a particular style of tattooing from the past a retro trendy fad. Ed Hardy brand has gotten so ridiculously trendy that not only do they have a clothing line dedicated to the childlike designs of Ed Hardy, but just about every consumer product has an Ed Hardy line, from perfume to watches to alcohol. This mass marketing of tattooing is an exploitation of a legitimate fine art, and the rebirth of Traditional American Tattooing makes a mochery of this ancient and spiritual form of living art and its modern, more evolved, fine art styles. People with no real artistic ability, or appreciation for the world of art have fallen pray to mass media marketing, and are helping to support a regression in the evolution of tattooing as an art form. This is a website dedicated to exposing the trendy cult of traditional tattooing for what it really is…a marketing gimmick!

Here at Sucky Traditional Tattoos, we pay homage to the past…by keeping it in the past. The “style” of traditional American tattooing developed between the 1920’s and the 1960’s during a time period in America when tattoos suffered the social stigma of being something that only criminals did as a way to prove how tough they were. For this reason, serious artist focused more on common artistic mediums, like painting and sculpture and left tattooing to be done by more  second rate artists. In the 1960’s came the counter culture movement, and gave birth to a time where all artistic mediums began to be experimented with as an open form of self expression, hence tattooing became more and more accepted, and allowed for more serious artists to be taken seriously by the public despite the medium. In this way American tattooing began its journey of evolution from a very rudimentary and overly simplistic style of art to branching off into many different styles from new school to photo realism.

Then came the tattoo explosion in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, as the populraity of tattooing began to rise many second rate artists began to seek work as tattoo artist as its popularity made it very lucrative. Hence the mass of ignorant consumers that wanted to “be cool” by getting a tattoo was herded into tattoo shops to get their mark. Soon tattoo shops all over the nation began to pop up on every street corner, this high demand coupled by the rarity of true artistic talent resulted in the rebirth of “Traditional Tattooing,” a style of tattooing from Americas past that was designed to be overly simplistic and easy enough for just about anyone to do. This particular “style” of tattooing harkens back to a time when sailors lined up at tattoo parlors on shore leave to get a tattoo a quick as humanly possible simply as a souvenir of there trip to this dock or that. It was never designed as a form of art to be respected and revered as the fine artists of history are revered. Though now due to mass marketing hype and trendy pop culture, Traditional tattooing has become the bane of every serious tattoo artist, because the ignorant consumer, who is not educated in the arts, doesn’t want to get anything else…anything of substance, all because pop culture and mass marketing tells them that Traditional tattoos are cool…

What makes this disturbing trend even worse is that even serious and talented artists are feeling compelled to specialize in “Traditional Tattoos” because they feel that they cannot make a living otherwise. Likewise any “serious” tattoo artist that expresses a dislike for the childlike “style” of Traditional Tattooing is met with utter distain from “Traditional Tattooists” as if they blasphemed against the tattoo gods, revealing that this Traditional Tattooist trend has become something of a cult, which worships their tattooist ancestors. I compel every serious tattoo artist and every tattoo enthusiast to put more thought into your art work…and do not allow tattooing to regress into this Traditional retro fad. We must put on a pedestal true art and true artists, by definition an art is something that only a highly trained and talented individual can do. Traditional tattooing is so simplistic that just about everyone with rudimentary tattoo training can do it…it is not art…it is trendy, pop culture, trash. Stop Traditional Tattooing!!!!

Save the Elephant Day

Saving an Elephant Day has been observed across the globe on April 16 yearly. The purpose is for raising awareness about the jam of elephants, whose populace has keep on declining quite noticeably.

SAVING THE ELEPHANT DAY HISTORY

Elephants are the biggest existing land animals which are spread across Asia and Africa. Recent studies estimated that there are just over 400,000 of elephants now from across the continent of Africa and even though the situation differed from countries, it can’t be denied that this giant mammal is declining on the continent-wide scale. The human activities like poaching for ivory stays the important reason for the said decline.

This saving the Elephant Day looks to change this disturbing trend by educating the people about the elephants and the mess they are facing, encouraging everybody to do their part in helping to rescue elephants from extinction.

The organizations across the globe have worked together in dealing some of the main threats elephant populations are facing. In 1989, the global commercial trade for ivory was barred. The CITES or Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species secured the agreement among the member states to forbid the global ivory trade.

In year 2016, China, which has been the largest ivory market of the world, called for the outlaw of all ivory trades within the country. During 20th of December, 2018, the Ivory Act 2018 in U.K. received royal assent right after being passed through the British Parliament. This act can be extended to contain the narwhals, hippos, and walruses in the future.

While in year 2012, the saving an Elephant Day had been established in Thailand by Elephant Reintroduction Foundation, together with a Canadian filmmaker, Patricia Sims. The launch of the global initiative in 2012 saw the announcement of this “Return to the Forest,” the documentary movie narrated by the actor William Shatner in “Star Trek”.

TIMELINE OF SAVING THE ELEPHANT DAY

1989 - International Commercial Ivory Trade is Ban

The CITES or Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species secured the agreement among the member states for banning the global ivory trade.

2012 - Day is Establish

The Elephant Reintroduction Foundation situated in Thailand makes the Save the Elephant Day.

2016 - China Ivory Sales Bans

China, the largest ivory market in the world, bans all ivory trades within the state.

2018 - U.K. Ivory Act

The Ivory Act in U.K. in December 20, 2018, takes the royal assent right after being passed on the British Parliament.

OBSERVING SAVING THE ELEPHANT DAY

Make awareness over the social media

Share helpful information about saving elephants on the social media platforms. Anyone can join sensitization campaigns for informing the general public regarding the need to assist save endangered elephant populace.

2.Do not buy ivory products

Help in discouraging the rustling of elephants through not purchasing any ivory merchandise. When there are no orders for elephant tusks, the poachers will not have any market.

3. Support organizations

Support the organizations that are dealing to stop the unlawful poaching and trading of elephant ivory plus some other wildlife products. Anyone can help through donating to the cause or through volunteering.

IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT ELEPHANTS

Elephants help in shaping the ecosystems. Elephants are important for supporting the ecosystems and are being considered as the central species for the task they play.

Species are recognized by their ears. African elephant ears are much bigger than the Asian elephants.

Elephant tusks are their teeth. The elephant tusks are inflated incisor teeth that initially appear when the elephants are two years old.

Many African elephants had been wiped out. Around 90% of the African elephants had been wiped out during the previous century because of the ivory trade.

Elephants have a very thick skin. The elephant’s skin is around 1.6 inches thickness in most places.

SAVING THE ELEPHANT DAY AS AN IMPORTANT DAY

It helps to end the unlawful wildlife elephant trade. Everyone had their chance to play their part in stopping this unlawful wildlife elephant trade. Everybody must support community scouts, wildlife trade, rangers, and sniffer dogs in monitoring networks to discourage poachers and to cut the demand from the buyers.

It sensitizes the community. We create awareness regarding the predicament of these elephants. We help to discourage also the public from buying stuffs made of ivory.

It raises funds. Through encouraging people to contribute to Save the Elephants campaign, we can help in protecting them. Fundraising events also organized in helping to protect the left over estimated 497,000 elephants from across the world.

REPRESENTATIVE VARIETIES OF ELEPHANTS

Elephas maximus - The Asian elephant is also named as the Asiatic elephant. This is the elephant species distributed throughout the Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, from west India, Nepal in north, Sumatra in south, and Borneo in east. This Asian elephant is described by their long trunk with the solo finger-like processing, small ears fold-up laterally, wrinkled grey skin, and large tusks for males. Their skin is smoother when compared with African elephants and can be depigmented on their trunk, neck or ears. The adult males averaging 4 tons (4.4 short tons; 3.9 long tons) in weight, while the females averaging 2.7 tons (3.0 short tons; 2.7 long tons).

Elephas maximus indicus - The Indian elephant is one of the three extant recognized types of Asian elephant, inhabitant from mainland Asia. The kind is smaller than African elephant species together with the convex back and with the highest point of body on its head. This elephant exhibits important sexual dimorphism with the male reaching the average shoulder height around 3.2 m and weighs 5,400 kg. While the female reaches the average shoulder height around 2.54 m and weighs 4,160 kg. It has the broader skull with the concave forehead, a large trunk and two big laterally folded ears. It has gray colored smooth skin, a long tail and four large legs.

. African elephants – These are members from the genus Loxodonta including two living elephant types, the L. africana (African bush elephant) and the slighter L. cyclotis (African forest elephant). Both are considered social herbivores with gray skin, but will differ in the color and size of their tusks, also in the size and the shape of their skulls and ears. Loxodonta is one from the two existing genera of the Elephantidae family. The name pertains to the lozenge-formed enamel of the molar teeth. Fossil relics of Loxodonta species had been located in Africa, straddling from Late Miocene, from about 7-6 million years past and onwards.

Loxodonta africana - African bush elephant is also called African savanna elephant. It is one of those two existing African elephant species, also one of the three extant elephant types. It is the biggest living terrestrial animal that has bulls reaching a standard average shoulder height around 3.04–3.36 meters and with the body mass of around 5.2–6.9 tons, with the biggest recorded specimen having the shoulder height of around 3.96 meters and the body mass of around 10.4 tons. It is distributed from across 37 African states and inhabits forests, wetlands and agricultural lands and grasslands and woodlands. It is considered a social mammal, moving in herds settled with their offspring and cows. The adult bulls usually dwell live alone or with a small bachelor groups. These are herbivore, creepers, herbs, leaves, bark and feeding on grasses. The menstrual cycle will lasts for 3-4 months, and the females are pregnant to around 22 months, it is the longest gestation time of any mammal.

Borneo pygmy elephant - This Borneo elephant is also named as Bornean elephant is the subspecies of the Asian elephant that inhabited northeastern Borneo, in Malaysia and Indonesia. Its origin stays the topic of debate. This is an ultimate subspecific classification as an Elephas maximus borneensis waiting the thorough range-wide morphometric with the genetic study. During the 18th century, the Sulu Sultan was considered to have introduced the enslave elephants to Borneo that were released in the jungle. Comparison with the Borneo elephant populace to putative source population in DNA analysis indicated that the Borneo elephant is more likely taken from Sundaic stocks and are origin to Borneo, before of having been commenced by humans. The hereditary divergence of Borneo elephant warrants their identification as the separate evolutionarily essential unit.

Elephas or Elephantidae is one of those two surviving genera of the elephant family, with one surviving kind, the Elephas maximus Asian elephant. Some extinct species had been identified as fitting in the genus, enlarging back to Pliocene era. The species of Elephas had the distinct bossing of parieto-occipital regions of the skull. Their premaxillae bones have the tusk is tapered.

Loxodonta cyclotis – This African forest elephant is one of those two living kinds of African elephant. This is inhabitant to humid tropical forest in Congo Basin and West Africa. This is the smallest from the three existing elephant species, reaching the shoulder height of about 2.4 m. As with the other African elephants, mutual sexes have straight and down-pointing tusks, that start to grow once they arrive at 1–3 years of age. The initial scientific description of this species was published during 1900. In the 20th century, the overhunting caused the sharp declined of their population, and in year 2013 it was predicted that about less than 30,000 elephants remained.

Elephas maximus maximus – This Sri Lankan elephant is a native of Sri Lanka and also one from the three identified subspecies of Asian elephants. It is the kind Asian elephant that initially expressed by Carl Linnaeus in 1758under binomial Elephas maximus. This Sri Lankan elephant populace is now largely constrained to dry zone in east, southeast and north of Sri Lanka. The elephants are now present in Yala National Park, Udawalawe National Park, Lunugamvehera National Park, Minneriya National Park and Wilpattu National Park, but also dwelled outside protected areas. It’s estimated that the country of Sri Lanka had the biggest density of elephants around Asia. Human-elephant clash is increasing because of conversion of elephant habitats to permanent cultivation and settlements.

11-Year-Old Pupil Drowns at Visa Oshwal Primary School Under Unclear Circumstances

11-Year-Old Pupil Drowns at Visa Oshwal Primary School The family of Iilyaas Abdikarim Ali Mohamud, an 11-year-old student at Visa Oshwal Primary School in Parklands, Nairobi, is seeking justice after the young boy drowned under unclear circumstances. The distressing event unfolded when Abdikarim was reported missing on Tuesday evening as his father arrived to pick him up from school. Shockingly, his lifeless body was discovered the following morning in the school's swimming pool. ALSO READ: Disturbing Trend of Student Deaths in Kenyan Schools Both Parklands police and Ministry of Education officials have initiated investigations into the tragic incident. The grieving mother, in an emotional interview with Citizen TV, expressed her inconsolable sorrow upon learning about her son's untimely death at school. The family shared that the Grade Two pupil disappeared on Tuesday afternoon, and his father was only made aware around 4 pm when attempting to collect him from school. Despite their efforts to locate him, they were unsuccessful. When questioning the coach, the father was informed that the swimming class for Grade 2 had been canceled that day, raising concerns about the school's communication and supervision. Omar Hussein, a family friend, reported their attempts to locate the child and the subsequent discovery of his body at the swimming pool. The family is accusing the school administration of negligence, asserting that the tragedy could have been averted if the class teacher had been vigilant enough to notice the prolonged absence of the new student. ALSO READ: Overcrowding in Public Schools as Learning Institutions Turn into Death Traps Another point of concern raised by the family is the absence of CCTV cameras in the swimming pool area, despite the school having cameras in other locations. Despite the family's outcry, the school administration has yet to address the matter publicly, with meetings between board members and Ministry of Education officials taking place at the institution. The late Abdikarim's body has been transferred to Chiromo morgue, where a post-mortem was conducted, confirming drowning as the cause of death. Government Pathologist Dr. Peter Ndegwa suggested the need for circumstantial evidence to determine the manner of death. Family lawyer Danstan Omari deems the incident a "clear case of negligence" and intends to pursue legal avenues for justice, both criminally and civilly. Investigations by Parklands police are ongoing, and the late Abdikarim is scheduled to be laid to rest on Thursday at Lang'ata cemetery. ALSO READ: School Safety Measures Ignored Since 2015 Despite Court Directive 11-Year-Old Pupil Drowns at Visa Oshwal Primary School Read the full article

Melanoma: Unravelling the Racial Disparities in Skin Cancer

Skin cancer is a life-threatening disease that affects individuals of all racial backgrounds. studies have shown that black men face significantly higher odds of dying from melanoma compared to other groups.

This alarming disparity has prompted researchers, healthcare professionals, and public health advocates to explore the underlying factors contributing to this issue.

This article delves into the various reasons behind the racial disparities in melanoma mortality rates among black men and examines potential solutions to address this critical public health concern.

Introduction Melanoma

Skin cancer, a term for various types of malignant growths in the skin, poses a significant health concern worldwide. Among the different forms of skin cancer, melanoma is the most accounting for the majority of skin cancer-related deaths.

While melanoma primarily affects individuals with fair skin, a disturbing trend has emerged, highlighting racial disparities in melanoma mortality rates. Among the most affected, black men stand out with disproportionately higher odds of dying from melanoma compared to individuals from other racial backgrounds.

Understanding the root causes of the disparities in melanoma outcomes is crucial to formulating effective strategies that promote early detection, targeted prevention, and equitable treatment for all individuals, regardless of their race or ethnicity.

By shedding light on this issue and advocating for meaningful change, we can work towards achieving a future where melanoma’s devastating impact is mitigated across all communities.

Understanding the Racial Disparities

Several factors contribute to the racial disparities in melanoma, including biological, socio-economic, healthcare access, cultural, and potential racial bias issues.

Biological Factors and Genetics

Researchers have explored whether biological factors and genetic variations may play a role in the higher melanoma mortality rates observed among black men. Studies have indicated that certain genetic mutations and molecular pathways may contribute to more aggressive melanoma progression in individuals of African descent.

Socioeconomic and Access to Healthcare

Socioeconomic status has long been recognized as a significant determinant of health outcomes. Black men experience lower socioeconomic status compared to white individuals, which can affect their access to healthcare and quality of medical services. Limited access to preventive care, delayed diagnoses, and disparities in treatment options can lead to poorer melanoma outcomes for black men.

Healthcare Disparities and Racial Bias

Healthcare disparities, including racial bias within the medical system, represent another significant factor contributing to the unequal melanoma outcomes observed in black men. Studies have highlighted instances of racial bias in healthcare, including misdiagnoses, under treatment, and delays in receiving appropriate care.

These biases can influence the stage at which melanoma is detected, leading to poorer prognosis for black men. Eliminating racial biases in medical practice is essential to provide fair and unbiased care to all patients.

Sun Protection and Skin Cancer Awareness

Cultural norms and awareness of skin cancer risks play a role in the disparities observed in melanoma outcomes. Studies have shown that black men may have lower levels of awareness about skin cancer and sun protection measures.

This lack of awareness can lead to delayed diagnoses and less frequent use of sun protection, contributing to the advanced stage at which melanoma is often detected in this population.

Educating communities about the importance of sun protection and early detection is crucial for reducing melanomarelated deaths among black men.

Representation in Medical Research and Dermatology

The lack of diversity in medical research and dermatology is another contributing factor to the racial disparities in melanoma outcomes. Clinical trials and research studies may not adequately represent the diversity of the population, leading to limited understanding of the unique challenges faced by different racial groups. Encouraging more representation of diverse communities in research and medical fields can lead to better insights and tailored interventions.

Racial Bias in Diagnosis and Treatment

Delayed Diagnosis and Misdiagnosis

Racial bias in healthcare can lead to delayed melanoma diagnoses for black men. Physicians may be less likely to suspect melanoma in black patients due to the misconception that it primarily affects fair-skinned individuals. 

As a result, skin issues may go unnoticed or be misdiagnosed as less serious conditions, causing delays in appropriate evaluation and treatment. These delays can lead to the diagnosis of melanoma at more advanced stages, negatively impacting survival rates.

Access to Clinical Trials

Clinical trials play a crucial role in advancing cancer treatment options, yet there is evidence to suggest that black patients are underrepresented in clinical trials for melanoma and other cancers. Racial bias within the medical community and a lack of awareness about clinical trial opportunities may contribute to this underrepresentation. As a result, black patients may miss out on potential cutting-edge treatments that could improve their outcomes.

Follow-up Care and Adherence

After initial treatment, follow-up care is essential for monitoring and managing melanoma recurrence or metastasis. Racial bias can influence the level of attention and support provided to black patients during follow-up visits, potentially leading to inadequate monitoring and reduced adherence to treatment recommendations. 

This lack of consistent follow-up care can compromise the effectiveness of treatment and lead to worse long-term outcomes for black men with melanoma.

Diversity in dermatology and medical research

Diversity in dermatology and medical research is crucial for addressing healthcare disparities, improving patient outcomes, and advancing medical knowledge. Historically, the lack of diversity in these fields has resulted in a limited understanding of skin conditions and treatment approaches in various racial and ethnic groups. By promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, we can create a more inclusive and patient-centric healthcare system that meets the needs of all individuals, regardless of their race or ethnicity.

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Understanding the Importance of Lead-Based Paint Certification

Lead-based paint, when deteriorating or disturbed, can release lead dust or chips, which, when ingested or inhaled, can lead to severe health problems. The effects of lead exposure include developmental issues in children, nervous system damage, and other long-term health complications. To combat these risks, the EPA developed the Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule, which mandates Lead-Based Paint Certification for professionals working on pre-1978 residential properties.

Lead-Based Paint Certification involves specific training programs that educate contractors, renovators, and painters on how to work safely in environments where lead-based paint may be present. These programs cover essential topics such as lead-safe work practices, proper containment, personal protective equipment (PPE), and the correct methods of cleanup and disposal.

One significant aspect of Lead Based Paint Certification is the emphasis on preventing lead exposure during renovation or painting activities. Certified professionals are trained to identify lead-based paint hazards, use lead-safe work practices, and employ appropriate cleaning methods to minimize the risk of lead contamination. This not only protects the workers but also safeguards the health of the residents, especially children and pregnant women who are more vulnerable to lead poisoning.

The certification process typically involves both classroom training and hands-on exercises, ensuring that participants not only understand the theoretical aspects but also gain practical skills to implement lead-safe practices effectively. Upon successful completion of the training, individuals receive Lead-Based Paint Certification, demonstrating their competence in handling lead-based paint safely.

Property owners and managers also benefit from hiring certified professionals. When engaging contractors for renovation or painting projects in pre-1978 homes or child-occupied facilities, it is essential to hire individuals with Lead-Based Paint Certification. This ensures compliance with EPA regulations and helps create a safer living environment for residents.

Additionally, Lead Certification Online Course is a legal requirement for contractors working in target housing and child-occupied facilities. Non-compliance with the RRP Rule can result in significant fines and legal consequences. Therefore, obtaining and maintaining Lead-Based Paint Certification is not just a best practice but a legal obligation for professionals in the renovation and painting industry.

As public awareness of lead hazards has increased, the demand for Lead-Based Paint Certification has grown. Many homeowners are now actively seeking certified professionals to ensure that their homes are renovated or painted with the utmost safety precautions in place. This trend has not only elevated industry standards but also contributed to the overall reduction of lead exposure in residential settings.

Drone-Driven Wildlife Conservation Solutions

1. Anti-Poaching Operations: Drones are used to patrol protected areas and wildlife reserves to deter poachers. They can cover large areas quickly, provide real-time surveillance, and capture images or videos that can be used as evidence against poachers. Some drones are even equipped with thermal cameras to detect heat signatures of animals and poachers at night.

2. Wildlife Monitoring: Drones are used to monitor and track wildlife populations. Researchers can use drones to count animals, observe behavior, and collect data without disturbing the animals or their habitat. This data is essential for understanding population trends and making informed conservation decisions.

3. Habitat Assessment: Drones can be used to assess the health and status of wildlife habitats. They can capture high-resolution images and 3D maps of forests, wetlands, and other ecosystems, helping conservationists identify areas that need protection or restoration.

4. Invasive Species Management: Drones can be used to detect and manage invasive species. They can survey large areas and identify invasive plant species or monitor the spread of pests that threaten native ecosystems.

5. Research and Scientific Study: Drones provide a cost-effective and non-invasive way to conduct scientific research on wildlife. They can be used to study animal behavior, migration patterns, and nesting sites.

6. Search and Rescue: Drones can be used in search and rescue operations for lost or injured wildlife. They can quickly cover large areas, locate animals in distress, and provide valuable information to wildlife rehabilitators.

7. Conservation Education and Advocacy: Drones are also used to raise awareness about wildlife conservation. Captivating aerial footage of wildlife and their habitats can be shared through social media and documentaries to engage the public in conservation efforts.

8. Marine Conservation: Drones are employed in marine conservation to monitor and protect marine life. They can be used to survey coral reefs, track the movement of marine mammals, and monitor illegal fishing activities.

9. Airborne Seed Dispersal: In some cases, drones are used to disperse seeds over deforested or degraded areas, aiding in reforestation efforts.

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Traveling Responsibly: Eco-Tourism in 2023

Introduction: Traveling the world and exploring new destinations is a dream for many, but as we become increasingly aware of our environmental impact, the way we travel is evolving. In 2023, eco-tourism has emerged as a significant trend, emphasizing responsible travel that minimizes harm to the environment and supports local communities. This article explores the principles of eco-tourism and how it's shaping the way we experience the world.

Eco-Tourism Principles:

Environmental Conservation: Eco-tourism prioritizes the protection of natural habitats and wildlife. Travelers are encouraged to visit protected areas and participate in activities that promote conservation.

Sustainable Practices: Eco-tourism promotes sustainable practices that minimize resource consumption and waste generation. Accommodations, transportation, and tour operators are encouraged to adopt eco-friendly technologies and practices.

Community Engagement: Local communities are at the heart of eco-tourism. Travelers are encouraged to engage with and support local cultures and economies, contributing to community development and empowerment.

Education and Awareness: Eco-tourism experiences often include educational components. Travelers gain insights into the environment, culture, and conservation efforts, fostering a deeper appreciation for the destinations they visit.

Eco-Friendly Travel Tips for 2023:

Choose Sustainable Accommodations: Look for eco-certified hotels, lodges, and resorts that have implemented energy-saving measures, waste reduction, and water conservation practices.

Minimize Single-Use Plastics: Carry reusable water bottles, utensils, and shopping bags to reduce plastic waste. Avoid hotels and restaurants that use excessive single-use plastics.

Support Local Businesses: Opt for locally-owned restaurants, shops, and tour operators. Your spending supports the local economy and helps preserve traditional cultures.

Use Eco-Friendly Transportation: Consider public transportation, carpooling, or renting electric or hybrid vehicles. Choose airlines with carbon offset programs or invest in carbon offsetting for your flights.

Respect Wildlife: When encountering wildlife, maintain a safe distance and avoid disturbing animals or their habitats. Choose wildlife experiences that prioritize ethical and responsible interactions.

Reduce Energy and Water Usage: Conserve energy by turning off lights, electronics, and air conditioning when not in use. Be mindful of water consumption in areas facing scarcity.

Practice Leave No Trace: Follow the "leave no trace" principles by leaving natural areas as you found them. Pack out all trash and avoid picking plants or disturbing rocks.

Examples of Eco-Tourism Destinations in 2023:

Costa Rica: Known for its commitment to conservation, Costa Rica offers eco-friendly accommodations and numerous national parks where travelers can witness diverse wildlife.

Iceland: Iceland is a leader in renewable energy, and eco-conscious travelers can explore its pristine landscapes, geothermal hot springs, and sustainable seafood cuisine.

Bhutan: Bhutan measures its success through Gross National Happiness and is dedicated to preserving its rich cultural heritage and stunning natural landscapes.

Galápagos Islands: Strict regulations protect the unique ecosystems of the Galápagos, offering travelers the opportunity to witness untouched biodiversity.

Conclusion: As we embark on our travel adventures in 2023 and beyond, it's essential to adopt a mindset of responsible and eco-conscious tourism. Eco-tourism offers a way to explore the world while minimizing our environmental impact and contributing positively to local communities. By embracing sustainable practices and supporting destinations that prioritize conservation and community engagement, we can ensure that future generations can continue to enjoy the beauty and diversity of our planet's treasures. Traveling responsibly in 2023 isn't just a trend; it's a commitment to preserving our world for the long term.