As discussed previously, this is my weekly Twitter roundup. Note that tweets of articles generally include header images from the articles, which are not included here unless they happen to be available under a free license. Most are not. But I now add most of my commentary here, where I’m not restricted by the message length.

diagrams showing the division of the day and of the week

I also don’t generally attach pictures to posts with quotations.

9:05 – Mon 21 September 2020

‘We were shocked’: RAND study uncovers massive income shift to the top 1% from Fast Company

…help to illuminate the paradoxes of an economy in which so-called essential workers are struggling to make ends meet while the rich keep getting richer.

Recent disasters have accelerated the problem, of course, but this was inevitable with the fights against labor rights and undermining of the social safety nets that we’ve seen over the last few decades.

12:01 – Mon 21 September 2020

I do not doubt that it will open the doors of your heart to help me achieve what I propose, which is not much, because the work being good, it is not difficult to force.

Isabel González

9:01 – Tue 22 September 2020

Conservative Lawyer Holds Secret Voter Fraud Meetings With State Election Officials from ProPublica

…von Spakovsky’s proposals, if adopted, could suppress Democratic turnout in one of the most consequential presidential elections in a generation.

I have to wonder how many “Republican official suggests policy that would suppress voter turnout” stories we need to see before it’s acceptable to state that voter suppression is a goal for the party, rather than an error they keep making in good faith.

12:05 – Tue 22 September 2020

And for the benefit of the future generations place the first stone for the building of social equality in a serene but firm way, with all the right that belongs to you, without looking down, since you are no longer the ancient material or intellectual slave.

Luisa Capetillo

9:02 – Wed 23 September 2020

Stressed About the Election? Here’s How to Become a Poll Worker from VICE

Make sure you’ve got your mask (and a backup). If you have access to a clear mask that makes lip-reading possible, this is the time to wear it.

I won’t be able to do so, myself, but the lack of poll workers is one of the top excuses for closing polling places. Getting involved can help open some back up, and many areas pay you for the training and the day.

12:02 – Wed 23 September 2020

The fear of severe criticism drowned the feelings of my heart, and a sterile silence, perhaps reprehensible, covered up truths that are painful, yes, but I am sorry to have hidden so long.

Manuel A. Alonso Pacheco

9:04 – Thu 24 September 2020

Do finances of House lawmakers sway key votes? from Futurity

…many legislators are more likely to vote in support of their own financial holdings, rather than in line with the political positions they espouse on the campaign trail.

This might be the least-surprising result imaginable, but it’s worth having the study to point to.

12:03 – Thu 24 September 2020

Your health! Sacred Justice, I adore you.

Your lovely glow cascades to flood

this land of gold and its milieu

that solemnly, in oath of blood,

proclaims you guardian, its treasure most true!

María Bibiana Benítez

9:03 – Fri 25 September 2020

The Long, Disgraceful History of American Attacks on Brown and Black Women’s Reproductive Systems from The Intercept

California’s so-called Asexualization Acts, which led to 20,000 men and women losing reproductive capacity, were a direct inspiration to Nazi eugenicists.

As many people are now aware, racially-based laws in the United States were studied carefully by the Nazis, because nothing was as effective in enforcing White supremacy. We still haven’t dealt with that legacy, and it hasn’t exactly wandered off.

12:04 – Fri 25 September 2020

And say hello to the progress that in your arena

posed its egregious, its creative plant,

that Morse’s invention chains you

to the century, which advances to the centuries.

Alejandrina Benítez de Gautier

Bonus

Because it accidentally became a tradition early on in the life of the blog, here’s a sixth and seventh article that didn’t fit into the week, but too weird to not mention.

AI could help root out bad cops—if only the police allowed it from Fast Company

AI could search officers’ videos after the fact (to find racial slurs or excessive force), identify teachable incidents (think game tapes used by sports coaches), and build early-warning systems to flag bad cops, such as the officer who kept his knee pressed into a lifeless George Floyd.

I don’t actually think that automating such things is any more ideal than replacing sentencing guidelines with AI. However, the resistance to any scrutiny is telling, especially when it’s a safe bet that they’d quickly buy up any technology that scoured bodycam footage looking for potential criminals the officer missed.

Strict distancing keeps your COVID risk much lower from Futurity

For example, an infection history was about 4.3 times more common among participants who stated that they had used public transportation more than three times in the prior two weeks, compared to participants who stated they had never used public transportation in the two-week period.

Staying away from people is still the best way to avoid spreading respiratory diseases. It’s astonishing that this still needs to be said six months later, but the advice is still (to the extent that each of us can manage) to stay home, stay in well-ventilated areas, stay a good distance away from people, and make sure to have a mask when those aren’t options.

Credits: Header image is Circular diagrams showing the division of the day and of the week from a manuscript drafted during the Carolingian Dynasty.