tulipsandroses
tulipsandroses's JournalThe Opioid Addiction Crisis and Racism: A Long, Troubled History
This falls in line with history that the GOP does not want taught anywhere.
The enduring racial gap in the opiate addiction rate stems largely from racist 19th-century medical beliefs about Black bodies, coupled with substandard medical care provided to Black Civil War troops.
In the past few years, opioids have seen an increase in media attention, as the country grapples with what has been called an opioid epidemic. However, opioid addiction is not just a plague of recent decades; the phenomenon of widespread opioid addiction dates back to the 19th century when the Civil War sparked the United States’ first opiate addiction epidemic among ailing veterans. Nineteenth-century opiate addiction cases usually originated in doctors’ prescriptions, a disturbing parallel with today’s ongoing opioid crisis resulting from opioid overprescribing during the 1990s.
SNIP
This enduring racial gap in the opiate addiction rate stemmed largely from racist 19th-century medical beliefs about Black bodies, coupled with substandard medical care provided to Black Civil War troops. Nineteenth-century psychiatry posited that, among other causes, opiate addiction stemmed from mental overstimulation, which led to insanity and substance abuse. Such overstimulation could only occur among intelligent, sensitive White Americans, according to Civil War–era psychiatrists. In contrast, White medical authorities claimed that Black Americans were too “simple-minded” to experience mental overstimulation, which precluded them from insanity and opiate addiction.
According to J. D. Roberts, a North Carolina doctor, Black bodies lacked “the same delicate nervous organization” as Whites, and thus “d[id] not demand the form of stimulant conveyed in opium” as did Whites. Black people, Roberts claimed, also had a “general ignorance” of medical care, an assertion implying that Black Americans lacked the knowledge to care for their health needs by self-medicating with opiates, as White Americans often did.9
SNIP
The relative infrequency of opiate addiction among Black Americans compared with White Americans has been touted as a “protection,” shielding African Americans from the brunt of the opioid crisis.20 Considered in the historical context, however, such rhetoric misses the mark. While it is true that during the Civil War–era opioid crisis and that of today, iatrogenic opioid addiction has been less prevalent among Black Americans than White Americans, this racial disparity should not be celebrated as a metaphorical silver lining. Instead, the relative infrequency of prescription opioid addiction among African Americans in the last century and a half merely reveals the long-standing, destructive influence of structural racism in American health care that has been, and continues to be, manifested in Black Americans’ unequal access to essential opioid medicines
[link:https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/the-opioid-addiction-crisis-and-racism-a-long-troubled-history|
Vigilante App looks to cash in on crime. What could possibly go wrong?
A wildfire in a Los Angeles neighborhood led to a troubling manhunt.
'FIND THIS FUCK:' Inside Citizen’s Dangerous Effort to Cash In On Vigilantism
[link:https://www.vice.com/en/article/wx5xj9/apple-google-citizen-policies-manhunt-bounty|
Citizen had gotten a tip that the wildfire was started by an arsonist, and Frame had decided earlier in the night that the fire was a huge opportunity. Citizen, using a new livestreaming service it had just launched called OnAir, would catch the suspect live on air, with thousands of people watching. Frame decided the Citizen user who provided information that led to the suspect’s arrest would get $10,000.
SNIP
He was growing impatient. He increased the bounty to $20,000. Thousands of people were watching Citizen's livestream, but the man still hadn't been caught. Frame asked his staff to send out another notification, one that would hit all Citizen users in Los Angeles. The bounty had to go higher.
"Close in on him. 30k Let's get him. No escape. Let's increase. 30k," Frame said. "Notify all of la. Blast to all of la."
"Citizen is OnAir: Arsonist Pursuit Continues," the notification, which went out to 848,816 Citizen users in Los Angeles, said. "We are now offering a $30,000 reward for any information directly leading to his arrest tonight. Tap to join the live search."
SNIP
Users are flooded with notifications in what multiple sources interpret as an attempt to make users feel anxious enough about their neighborhoods to buy "Protect," a $19.99 per month service that allows users to livestream their phone's camera and location to a Citizen "Protect agent" who monitors it and sends "Instant emergency response" in case of an emergency.
[/div
Here's an ad for the App
][link:|
Transgender Boxer Patricio Manuel Says Opponents Refuse To Fight Him
Fascinating read, not just about boxing
But two and a half years since that professional debut against Hugo Aguilar, since making that promise, Manuel has yet to return to the ring and does not know whether he ever will again.
Since his amateur debut in 2016, Manuel has entered the ring for only three official fights -- a slim record for any boxer to take into the pros. He spent months at a time traveling to amateur exhibitions, weighing in, only to watch his opponents refuse to get into the ring with him.
SNIP
Manuel has experienced race and gender as few others have. "I can't disconnect my Blackness from my gender identity," he says. "Who I am, how I have moved through this world when I was identified as a quote-unquote 'light-skinned, mixed-race Black girl,' is a very different experience than a light-skinned, mixed-race Black man."
While studies show that women of color also suffer disproportionate violence from law enforcement, Manuel says he noticed a difference in how police treated him after his transition. In 2014, as he drove through Koreatown one night, a police officer noticed the expired tags and busted headlight on his car and pulled him over. The officer asked Manuel, who had undergone gender affirmation surgery earlier that year, to step out of the vehicle. As someone raised by white women, his mother and grandmother -- and, in many ways, raised to be a white woman -- his first reaction was to question the order. Don't, another part of himself said even more forcefully.
SNIP
Even before he transitioned, police would pull him over but would soon take note of his female markers once the officer got closer. Now, fully presenting as male, he felt terrified. "This is how you die: not doing s--- but just being seen as a threat. Having police pull guns on you, having police put you on the curb, sitting on your hands, because of a fix-it ticket."
][link:https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/31662608/boxer-patricio-manuel-transgender-pioneer-looking-next-fight|
From another article
Under USA Boxing regulations, participants can decline to fight another opponent for reasons such as personal bias.
[link:https://blavity.com/transgender-boxer-patricio-manuel-says-opponents-refuse-to-fight-him?category1=news|
I opted out of a biology assignment once. I got a zero. So should students that opt out of
classes that deal with history or ethnicity. Just saw yet another video of an angry parent who wants his kid to opt out of having to take a class that discusses racism in an ethnic studies class.
I have a very irrational fear about worms. The biology assignment was to dig up worms and dissect them. Nope not doing it. When I told the professor, and asked to be excused from that assignment, he said sure, but you will get a failing grade for that assignment. I chose to get the 0 because of my phobia.
Schools should not cower to these bully parents. What's next? I don't want my kid to learn about The Holocaust? I don't want my kid to learn about DNA helix because well, GOD?
Sure go ahead and skip the class. Just be prepared for the consequences.
She's a kid. I will refrain from negativity. But she is well on her way to becoming a GOP darling
Fox News probably offered a scholarship and job after graduation.
[link:
Best thing I have seen in a while. Surprise Reunion Leaves Father and 12-Year-Old Son in Tears
[link:
|“Even the cruel US jail system did not suck humanity and love out of him,” a social media user said of the viral clip
Jonathan Stewart captured the emotional moment when his brother, Coach Joe, and his son, TayRon, embraced for the first time. Father and son had kept in contact throughout Joe’s imprisonment, per Yahoo, with Joe often helping his son with homework over the phone. However, as noted by Stewart, this was the first time they had seen each other since Joe’s imprisonment.
“He just thought he was being picked up from routine workouts,” Stewart said, adding that TayRon “had no idea of what he was about to see.”
It appears Stewart provided no additional details about what landed Joe in prison or how long his stint was, but one Instagram user commented on the reunion video: “We can make assumptions about why he was in prison or about what kind of person he is, but at the end of the day, we don’t know. So let’s enjoy this beautiful video.”
[link:https://sports.yahoo.com/maryland-father-surprises-son-release-185012407.html|
"Ratched" actor who participated in Capitol riots is selling t-shirts to cover his legal expenses
Didn't he hear everything trump touches dies? That would include his career.
A Netflix actor is peddling t-shirts on Instagram to purportedly raise money so he can sue his local newspaper for reporting about his involvement in January’s failed MAGA coup.
FBI agents raided the North Hollywood home of actor Siaka Massaquoi last week after he was seen in videos taken inside the U.S. Capitol building during the January 6 insurrection.
Massaquoi most recently appeared in two episodes of Ryan Murphy‘s super queer Netflix series Ratched, playing a priest named Father Adeyemi. His other credits include TV shows like NCIS, Lethal Weapon, and S.W.A.T., plus several appearances in short films.
Exactly why the FBI raided his home is unclear, though FBI spokesperson Laura Eimiller confirmed a search warrant was filed in advance and said that, ultimately, no one was arrested.
[link:https://www.queerty.com/ratched-actor-participated-capitol-riots-selling-t-shirts-cover-legal-expenses-20210616|
Federal Housing Authority removes barrier to home ownership for people with student loan debt
I haven't seen this talked about in the mainstream media. Saw it on a financial YouTube channel that I follow
FOR RELEASE
Friday
June 18, 2021
FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION TAKES STEPS TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO HOMEOWNERSHIP FOR THOSE WITH STUDENT LOAN DEBT
Updates to Single Family student loan monthly payment calculation expand access to FHA-insured mortgage financing for creditworthy individuals, particularly in communities of color
WASHINGTON - The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Friday announced updates to its student loan monthly payment calculations to take steps to remove barriers and provide more access to affordable single family FHA-insured mortgage financing for creditworthy individuals with student loan debt, which has a disproportionate impact on people of color. The updated policy more closely aligns FHA student loan debt calculation policies with other housing agencies, helping to streamline and simplify originations for borrowers with student loan debt obligations.
“As our country comes together to remember Juneteenth and acknowledge National Homeownership Month, we are reminded of a basic truth: that, too often in our history, the march toward freedom has been a long, halting, and uneven journey,” said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “Homeownership is the cornerstone of the American Dream and the best way to build generational wealth. I am proud that FHA is taking action to make it easier for borrowers with student loan debt to qualify for a federally insured mortgage. This new policy will make a big difference for individuals throughout our nation and is another step in our mandate to promote equity and opportunity for homeownership.”
The policy updates published on Thursday evening for FHA Single Family Title II forward mortgages remove the current requirement that lenders calculate a borrower’s student loan monthly payment of one percent of the outstanding student loan balance for student loans that are not fully amortizing or are not in repayment. The new policy bases the monthly payment on the actual student loan payment, which is often lower, and helps home buyers who, with student debt, meet minimum eligibility requirements for an FHA-insured mortgage.
[link:https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_21_103|
I need them to shout from the mountain tops, every good thing they do for the American People. Do no be humble about it. So people can know how they are getting relief and ask them to compare that to what the lazy orange conman did for them.
Nina Simone's granddaughter blames Kamala Harris for losing singer's estate
ReAnna Simone Kelly said her family is now living paycheck to paycheck, but failed to mention that Nina Simone only left her mother Lisa Simone Kelly a condo in her will
The granddaughter of iconic jazz singer Nina Simone is breaking her silence and is directing her anger toward Vice President Kamala Harris.
SNIP
Kelly responded in a thread of tweets and aimed her anger at Harris, who served as the California attorney general from 2011 until 2017. She accused Harris of taking the rights to her grandmother’s estate away from her family.
“Nina’s granddaughter here. My family doesn’t run her estate anymore. It was taken away from us & given to white people. Our family name was DRAGGED in the media,” Kelly said. “We get NO royalties, nothing. Wanna hold someone accountable? Ask Kamala Harris why she came for my family #NinaSimone.”
But Kelly failed to mention that her mother, Lisa Simone Kelly, was only left a condo based on her Nina Simone’s will. What’s more, Kelly reached a settlement with the Superior Court of the State of California in a legal proceeding overseen by then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris in which she resigned her role as trustee and administrator of the Estate of Nina Simone and Nina Simone Charitable Trust.
In court documents, it was revealed that in her will, Nina Simone left her daughter a condominium in Los Angeles, but requested that “all residue to be held in trust and used ‘for the musical education of black African children from South Africa, Liberia and Ghana.'”
Lisa Simone Kelly also tried to initiate a French forced heirship claim to Nina Simone’s assets other than the condo, which was rejected in court because French forced heirship law “does not apply to the distribution of the Estate’s assets.”
][link:https://thegrio.com/2021/06/20/nina-simone-estate/?utm_source=spotim&utm_medium=spotim_recirculation|
Such a shame. Children don't always know what their parents have done. Sounds like this young lady is very bitter and may not realize that her mom was doing something underhanded.
Here's a link to court docs
[link:https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/charities/estate-of-nina-simone-settlement.pdf|
Not a probate lawyer but it looks like Ms. Simone intended for the bulk of her estate to go to charity. Seems like her daughter did not respect that.
