New BJS stats show there was a 46% increase in US prison deaths in 2020, or 61% when adjusted for population––confirming activist fears that incarcerated people would be left to die during COVID. Thus far only one media outlet has bothered to report on it thecolumn.substack.com/p/new-data-sho…
again, I return to The Video: "over 300 outlets ran reports on a single shoplifting incident in July 2021. That’s 300 reports about a single shoplifting incident compared to one (1) showing an unprecedented rise in needless deaths in America’s already cruel & over-packed prisons"
"Had mortality rates remained the same as in 2019, the total number of 2020 deaths would have been 3,792 (vs 6,100) when accounting for the decline in overall incarcerated population. This means 2020 saw 2,308 excess deaths largely brought about by Covid & its tertiary effects"
For reference, the overall increase in death for the US population as a whole was 17%. Compare this with an increase death rate of 61% for incarcerated people. This data doesn't even include jails.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
From the “the help should all be treated like robots” files, we, per usual with these articles, get zero mention of teacher and staff health and safety. Just a total nonissue
I especially love the part where she says she never hears teachers complain followed immediately by a line on how there are no teachers unions in her town. As if unions are manufacturing frustration over safety protocol rather than serving as a politically potent voice of it
Robots don’t educate children, humans do and any column or article about in-person learning that doesn’t even acknowledge their health an safety isn’t a serious piece of reporting or opinion, it’s elitist anti worker bullshit
I wrote about US media parroting trucking trade group talking points about "labor shortages" while celebrating a new "pilot" program letting teenagers drive semi-trucks
Trucking industry trade groups have been lobbying Congress for yrs to lower the age to 18 to increase its poll of cheap, precarious labor. Another key piece of context omitted from these stories––which imply the change was brought about due solely to "COVID-related supply crises"
if you see any "labor shortage" story that doesn't, at all, mention a loss of morale, safety standards, pay, and an increase in workload in the relevant industry being discussed you're not reading a serious piece of journalism but a trade group press release reprint.
These aren’t “programs” to “help” “the supply chain crisis” they’re safety deregulation campaigns industry lobbyists have been pushing for years to increase the labor pool, undermine unionization and suppress wages
sorry but “who makes the schedules” has me dying. Truly an inscrutable, proprietary technology the players couldn’t figure out on their own
To be clear the only plausible thing “owners” can do players can’t do is have lots of initial capital to buy the team in the first place but this isn’t a skill this is known as Just Being Rich. And also to be clear, industries exempt from anti-trust and labor laws are not “risky”
The absolute least risky investment on earth is owner of major sports franchise. It’s a closed market w/ antitrust exemptions sanctions by congress and the Supreme Court, free training (college athletics which also has legal exemptions), underpaid, highly liquid scab leagues etc
56% of parents support remote learning if conditions warrant, those opposed tend to be whiter and wealthier. “Parents” vs teachers union is a bogus political narrative not backed by polling but rather a vague impression brought on by professional media groupthink
This isn’t to say of course there isn’t a meaningful bloc of parents angered by teachers unions, but note how the 56% sympathetic to their position are not given first person essays in major media outlets. Ask yourself why. Why did “parents” morph into “parents upset w/ unions”?
The constant refrain that temporary school closures will harm dems in the midterms is to be read less as a prediction and more as an extortion demand. The narrative will cement itself largely because it’s repeated nonstop and health measures are being demagogued by both parties
here's my bottom line with the "school debate" and grocery, nurse walkouts and all the other workers we used to call "essential" we now just complain about, if we accept we have NoChoice But To Go Back To Normal fine ok, lockdowns have their own social and health costs 1/5
Let's concede we have no choice, let's grant that. We're asking already abused, underpaid, and overworked labor to take on a fairly sudden health burden with a lot of unknowns, the least we could, the VERY LEAST we could do is compensate them for this added risk/burden. 2/5
$5K checks? $20K? Anything at all for taking on the least forgiving workplaces in the country. People are leaving in droves for a reason, it's hard, shitty work with a lot of risks. What can the Back to Normal lobby for to help offset this? If it's so important, why not? 3/5