Climate change and water / Artificial intelligence off / New details in Nex Benedict death
The United Nations’ Task for Force on Water and Climate just met. Climate change is messing with the world’s water, and it’s wreaking havoc.
- Global temperatures in 2023 were 2.43 degrees higher than they were in preindustrial times, changing the behavior of hurricanes and other storms.
- Twenty-five countries, where 25 percent of the world’s population lives, are experiencing annual “water stress” — meaning they don’t have enough water.
- Cholera, a potentially deadly disease once under control, is having a comeback: 30 countries had cholera outbreaks in 2022, 145 percent higher than the previous five-year average.
Artificial intelligence is having another “off” moment: its image creation has been shut down after it generated Black and Asian people in Nazi uniforms.
- Gemini refused to generate images of white people while “over-compensating” for diversity in other images.
- The situation is prompting concerns that AI developers’ efforts to shape Gemini to be more “woke” are leading to inaccuracies.
- India’s prime minister was labelled as “fascist” by Gemini, while Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelenskiy were both described as “complex,” causing outcry by the Hindu country.
Nex Benedict police interview released: Benedict’s account of the fight that preceded the nonbinary 16-year-old’s death indicate that Benedict and the other teens were all inflicting and receiving violence.
- Benedict described to a police officer how they poured water on three younger girls in retaliation for the girls making fun of them.
- Benedict also described how they “threw one of them into a paper towel dispenser” before the girls “beat the shit out of me.”
- At least one legal expert is raising questions about a school resource officer’s comments to Benedict saying he could be charged with assault if he pursued charges against the other students.
- More than 500 people gathered in Oklahoma City Saturday to honor the teen, who died Feb. 8, one day after a fight in the school bathroom. Vigils were also held over the weekend in Iowa City, Sioux City, and in Boston, Minneapolis, New York, Southern California and more.
- An Oklahoma state senator labelled the LGBTQ community “filth” Friday at a meeting of the Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce.
- Benedict’s death is causing focus on Oklahoma’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws and comments by public officials including Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters in December.
(cover photo features a Gemini-generated image of a Black Pope, and a depleted stream in Africa courtesy Choonga both through Wikimedia Commons)
Nex Benedict death investigation / home ownership / IVF in Alabama
Nex Benedict: Police had conducted a search of the school two weeks ago. Two Iowa communities announce vigils to honor the 16-year-old nonbinary teen from Owasso, Okl., who died after a fight in the school bathroom.
- A search warrant was sought by the Owasso school district and granted by Owasso Police Feb. 9 and fulfilled Feb. 12,
- That was 10 days before police announced preliminary autopsy results indicated 16-year-old Nex Benedict did not die of trauma.
- The warrant involved taking 137 pictures.
- Vigils are planned at 5:30 p.m. this evening in Iowa City, at 11 a.m. tomorrow in Sioux City, and throughout Oklahoma.
Home ownership: More People of Color than ever own homes now.
- Asian and Hispanic ownership hits an all-time high.
- Single women make up the majority of Black female homeowners.
- The gap between Black and whites in home ownership is greater than ever (44% to 72%).
Alabama’s fast-changing IVF situation: A bipartisan effort is underway to protect the right to in vitro fertilization.
- Three IVF service providers in Alabama halted services in light of the state Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this week that frozen embryos are “children.”
- The state’s attorney general says he doesn’t plan on pursuing prosecutions against families who seek IVF.
- A reminder two Democrat congresspeople introduced legislation a month ago that would protect IVF access nationwide.
(cover features Iowa City Nex Benedict vigil image, and the process of freezing embryos)
Alabama embryo ruling, Nex Benedict death investigation, 150,000 student loan debts erased, and redlining’s connection to air pollution
Alabama ruling on embryos as humans could hit women of color harder: With Black and Brown women accounting for more than one-fourth of in vitro fertilizations, Alabama’s ruling that defines embryos as human life is likely to affect women of color harder than other demographics, writes The Grio. Black and Brown women are “more than likely going to be targets of criminalization,” said Nourbese Flint, president of All* Above All, a nonprofit led by women of color that aims to “catalyze abortion justice.” On Wednesday, Alabama’s highest court ruled that embryos are now considered human lives, a tenet of the new fetal personhood movement that seeks to proclaim personhood at the moment of conception. Flint said the Alabama ruling could lead to restrictions on not only in vitro fertilization, but also stem cell research and birth control bans, The Grio writes.
Police say nonbinary teen’s death unrelated to bathroom assault injuries: The death of a 16-year-old Owasso, Okl., teen Feb. 8, a day after being beaten in the school bathroom after pouring water on older students in retaliation for being bullied, was unrelated to injuries received in the beating, Owasso police announced late Wednesday, reports AP News. Preliminary autopsy results “indicated that the decedent did not die as a result of trauma,” investigators announced, and the full autopsy results will be released following toxicology and other texts. Nex Benedict texted a family member about the assault the night before they died and described the encounter and being taken to the hospital shortly after the assault, where they said they had received “a shot in the butt for pain” for the cuts and bruises they received. Benedict returned home that night, but died the next day shortly after emergency responders were called to their home for a medical emergency, AP also reports. Benedict was also “dead-named” by their family in a GoFundMe account and a funeral announcement, fueling social media rumors that the school, police and the media had misnamed and misgendered the youth. Benedict’s grandmother asked for understanding and patience about the family’s mis-step. The youth’s death has sparked viral social media posts focusing on the anti-transgender rhetoric of Oklahoma’s schools leader, and the state’s pattern of anti-transgender laws. Oklahoma passed a bill requiring youth to use the bathroom of their birth gender in 2022, and last year passed a law banning gender transition care for minors, reports the New York Times.
Student loan debts forgiven for 150,000: Debtors who borrowed less than $12,000 and have paid their student loans for 10 years now have their loans forgiven, under the first phase of President Joe Biden’s SAVE program for student loan forgiveness, reports HuffPost. The plan wipes out student loan debt for 153,000 people. Borrowers who received loans for more than $12,000 are also eligible for forgiveness, but on a longer timeline, Huffpost writes.
Redlined neighborhoods of the past suffer higher air pollution today: Air pollution from vehicles, and power generators, vehicle exhaust, cooking and wildfires is worse in Denver’s neighborhoods populated mostly by People of Color, according to a new study published this week in Environmental Science and Technology. The researchers traced the disparities to a direct correlation with neighborhoods marked in “red” in the 1930s and 1940s, under redlining polices that ranked neighborhoods in terms of safety determined by racial population, The Hill reports. The study also showed that gas and vehicle emissions were likely greater in formerly redlined neighborhoods because those areas were more often chosen as land to be used for highway construction.
(cover photo features logo for Owasso High School that Nex Benedict attended, a human embryo, and President Joe Biden announcing parts of his student loan forgiveness program in October 2023, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
New context for Nex Benedict assault, charges in Kansas City shooting, Iowa’s Religious Freedom act advances, polysubstance use, and a more accessible Starbucks
Oklahoma school superintendent’s anti-transgender comments emerge in light of nonbinary teen’s death: New details have emerged about context surrounding the Feb. 8 death of a nonbinary teen in a small Oklahoma town, who passed away a day after they were beaten by older classmates in an Owassa school restroom. Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters publicly condemned transgender people last year, calling being transgender “an assault on the truth,” reports The Daily Dot. Last month, Walters also appointed the founder of Libs of TikTok, a conservative organization also considered anti-transgender, to a library advisory board, reports the Associated Press. In addition, the family of Owassa teen Nex Benedict, who died after twice being taken to the hospital following the beating, has released screen shots of messages sent by Benedict the night before their passing. Fox23 reports that Benedict texted a family member that they had been jumped by three girls in the bathroom after Benedict poured water on the girls in retaliation for the girls’ bullying of Nex and their friends. Benedict’s death has received national focus after social media posts suggested the youth’s death was related to their nonbinary identification, and a flood of anti-transgender legislation proposed and passed nationwide this year and last year. A GoFundMe account has been set up for the family and had raised almost $50,000 as of Wednesday morning.
Kansas City shooting of 20 allegedly committed by two men angry at looking at each other: Two men who got into an argument for looking at each other have been arrested and charged with murder for shootings at a Super Bowl celebration parade that killed a popular local DJ and injured 20 others, reports NBC News. Dominic M. Miller of Kansas City and Lyndell Mays of Raytown are accused of pulling guns from their backpacks and shooting at each other, striking each other and others, after arguing about “why they were staring at each other,” investigators announced Tuesday. Meanwhile, another man falsely accused of being part of the shooting, and of being an “illegal alien,” is holding press conferences to try and clear his name, reports News One. Denton Loudermill has been receiving death threats since Feb. 14, when Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett (R) circulated a photo of Loudermill being arrested for public intoxication and portrayed him as an “illegal alien” being arrested for the Kansas City shooting. “Help us save his life,” said Loudermill’s attorney in pleading with the public to help correct the erroneous information spread by Burchett and several other Republican lawmakers.
Iowa activists sound alarm on Religious Freedom Restoration Act: A bill that applies an existing 1993 federal “religious freedom” act at the state level in Iowa advanced through the Iowa Senate Tuesday, triggering concerns by LGBTQ activists that the law may open the door for discrimination against people because of sexual or gender identity, reports Iowa Capitol Dispatch. Though the bill’s sponsor said research shows the act has never been used at the federal or state level to target LGBTQ+ people, Democrats called the bill a “license to discriminate.” The bill was approved along party lines, with all 31 Republicans voting for it and all 16 Democrats voting against it, reports the Dispatch. It now heads to the House for debate. Nationwide, 23 states including Illinois already have Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, in addition to the federal act.
Polysubstance use becoming more common in “fourth wave” of addiction: More than 90 percent of people in treatment for drug addiction who had fentanyl in their system also showed traces of methamphetamines, heroine, cocaine, or prescription opioids, reports KFF Health News. In addition, methamphetamine — especially dangerous because of its high addictive potential and how it affects breathing and the brain — was found in 60% of those who tested positive for fentanyl. The study involved urine samples of more than 4 million in drug treatment. The presence of multiple substances presents challenges
Columbia is now Missouri’s second LGBTQ+ sanctuary city: Columbia’s city council voted Monday 6-1 to follow Kansas City in offering a “sanctuary” for LGBTQ+ people, a distinction that means publicly and openly “deprioritizing” the enforcement of state laws that disproportionately impact LGBTQ people, writes The Columbia Daily Tribune. Some examples of anti-LGBTQ laws that will not be enforced in because of the new law include transgender health care restrictions; laws that ban people from using the bathroom of their declared identity rather than their birth identity; and drag performance restrictions.
Starbucks launches accessibility campaign: Better sound and lighting, power-operated doors, equipment that is easier for employees to access, and easy-access countertops are among the changse Starbucks is making so that its locations are more accessible to people with physical limitations, reports Forbes. The changes will be included in all new and remodeled locations and were introduced in a Washington, D.C., location last month.
(cover photo features a map of Missouri showing the LGBTQ sanctuary cities Columbia and Kansas City, and Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
