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583 lines
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<title>15 March, 2021</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<body>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Who Ordered a Smear Campaign Against Andrew Cuomo’s First Accuser?</strong> - When Lindsey Boylan first publicly accused New York’s governor of sexual harassment, in December, damaging government documents about her were leaked to the press. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/who-ordered-a-smear-campaign-against-andrew-cuomos-first-accuser">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>L.A.’s Disorganized Vaccination Rollout and the Dream of Universal Health Care</strong> - The failures to reach the hardest hit populations are another reminder of how the system neglects so many. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/las-disorganized-vaccination-rollout-and-the-dream-of-universal-health-care">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Biden Has Few Good Options for the Unaccompanied Children at the Border</strong> - The new Administration is coming under fire for a policy it says protects young migrants. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/why-biden-has-few-good-options-at-the-border">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why Learning Pods Might Outlast the Pandemic</strong> - It’s possible to imagine home schools becoming like sidewalk dining—an experiment that sticks. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-education/why-learning-pods-might-outlast-the-pandemic">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Story of the Comfort Women, in Korean and Japanese</strong> - Why The New Yorker translated its recent report on a battle over history, accountability, and the legacy of the Second World War. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-story-of-the-comfort-women-in-korean-and-japanese">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>The sweeping implications of the Supreme Court’s new union-busting case</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SvpBN603vWg3hDos3dYde25XN_0=/0x89:2048x1625/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68967025/97300126.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Cesar Chavez speaking to demonstrators in Foley Square before entering the Federal Building to file a lawsuit against the Department of Defense for buying scab lettuce, circa 1971. | Frank Hurley/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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<em>Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid</em> isn’t just an attack on unions, it could bar health inspectors from inspecting restaurants.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aQ16o9">
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<a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/cedar-point-nursery-v-hassid/"><em>Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid</em></a>, which the Supreme Court will hear next Monday, March 22, targets a nearly half-century-old regulation in California that permits union organizers to briefly enter agricultural worksites and speak to farmworkers. But the stakes in this case go far beyond union busting.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AwQhTK">
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The plaintiffs in <em>Cedar Point</em> ask the justices to <a href="https://www.vox.com/21569510/supreme-court-unions-cedar-point-nursery-hassid-takings-california-fifth-amendment">so radically reshape the Court’s approach to property rights</a> that some of the most basic state and federal health and safety laws could fall. Among other things, if the Court accepts the plaintiffs’ argument that farm owners have a constitutional right to kick union organizers off their property, it could also mean that restaurants have a constitutional right to keep health inspectors from entering their kitchens, or that factory owners can prohibit the government from inspecting their machines to make sure those machines are safe to operate.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xvu2S2">
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<em>Cedar Point </em>is one of the most radical property rights cases to reach the justices in a long time. And its plaintiffs ask for a significant reshaping of the American social contract.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wq4kQL">
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The case arises out of the Fifth Amendment’s “Takings Clause,” which provides that private property shall not “<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fifth_amendment">be taken for public use, without just compensation</a>.” The plaintiffs claim that this clause gives them a broad <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-107/165146/20201231124124532_EFILE%20FINAL%204-1550%20Cedar%20Point%20Opening%20Brief.pdf">“right to exclude unwanted persons from private property</a>,” and that this right permits a property owner to forbid a union from entering their land, even if state law permits that union to do so.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tBEy3P">
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If the <em>Cedar Point</em> plaintiffs prevail, California will have to pay farm owners if it wants to enforce its pro-union regulation.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AVDvJc">
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The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that laws granting unions a limited right to enter an employer’s property and speak to workers are constitutional. As the Court held in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3437490992168599388&hl=en&as_sdt=6,47&as_vis=1"><em>Central Hardware v. NLRB</em></a> (1972), the government may require an employer to allow a union onto its property so long as “the access is limited to (i) union organizers; (ii) prescribed nonworking areas of the employer’s premises; and (iii) the duration of organization activity.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WzHBhu">
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But the <em>Cedar Point</em> plaintiffs don’t just ask for a decision that could sweep away decisions like <em>Central Hardware</em>. They ask for such a broad power to exclude others from private property that even things like health inspections could be endangered.
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</p>
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<h3 id="bOyamu">
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How the Takings Clause currently operates
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="W9nroR">
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The specific regulation at issue in <em>Cedar Point</em> has been on the books since 1975. It allows organizers to enter a worksite and speak to farmworkers for up to three (nonconsecutive) hours a day — the hour before the start of work, the hour after the end of work, and the workers’ lunch break.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ibgx7p">
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Before a union may do so, it must notify the government and the employer. The union may enter the worksite for up to 30 days, and it may invoke this right to enter a particular worksite up to four times a year.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vVTXZA">
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Thus, union organizers are allowed on a farm’s property for a maximum of 120 days a year, and only for a total of three hours per day.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4UYO33">
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The <em>Cedar Point</em> plaintiffs argue that this limited intrusion of their property amounts to what is known as a “per se” taking. Current law <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10202385117911055838&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr">distinguishes between per se<em> </em>takings</a>, which involve unusually severe intrusions on private property and are treated with particular skepticism by courts, and milder intrusions on property rights that fall under the broader umbrella of “regulatory” takings. Notably, the <em>Cedar Point</em> plaintiffs do not argue that California’s union access rule is a regulatory taking — so they appear to have made a strategic decision to avoid more measured legal arguments in favor of their more radical claim.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yc5Mcd">
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Property owners subject to a per se taking will generally prevail in court, while plaintiffs who allege a regulatory taking often lose — even if they challenge a land use regulation that imposes fairly substantial limits on how they can use their property. In one famous regulatory takings case, the Court upheld a New York City law that prevented the owners of Grand Central train station from <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16963280698452399899&hl=en&as_sdt=6,47&as_vis=1">constructing a high-rise office building on top of the terminal</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YJCXUR">
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Very few cases qualify as per se takings. Under existing precedents, a law doesn’t count as a per se taking unless it deprives a property owner of “<a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=659168721517750079&hl=en&as_sdt=6,47&as_vis=1">all economically beneficial or productive use</a>” of their property, or subjects the property owner to a “<a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5029480404868010518&hl=en&as_sdt=6,47&as_vis=1">permanent physical occupation</a>” of their land.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5GGg0d">
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So, under this framework, California’s union access rule is not a per se taking. Though a union that successfully organizes a workplace is likely to secure a contract that requires the employer to pay more money to its workers, unionization does not deprive an employer of all economic benefits from their land. And California’s rule does not allow anyone to permanently occupy a property owner’s land. It only allows union organizers to enter that land for a few hours a day, and only for about a third of the year.
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</p>
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<h3 id="wAxwBV">
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How the <em>Cedar Point </em>plaintiffs want to remake the law
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mtMSMN">
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Before we get into some details about the <em>Cedar Point </em>plaintiffs’ argument, it’s helpful to understand two legal concepts.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mZKfdL">
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The first is the concept of a “license.” Suppose that I hire a dog walker to walk my dog on weekday afternoons while I’m at the office. As part of this arrangement, I give the dog walker a key to my home and permission to enter in order to bring the dog outside for his walk. Under this arrangement, I have granted the dog walker a “license” to enter my home.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bYu459">
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Licenses are often temporarily arrangements. And they typically (though not always) can be revoked by the property owner. If I decide that my dog walker is doing a bad job, I can fire them and take away their legal right to enter my home. And if I sell my home, the dog walker doesn’t retain any right to enter my former home once the new owner takes possession.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GGh8qI">
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An “easement” is something else entirely. Suppose that Marge owns a house in a rural area with minimal electrical infrastructure. Now suppose that Big Electric wants to build a power line under Marge’s land that can bring electricity to her neighbors, and that Big Electric also seeks a permanent right to enter Marge’s land and repair this power line if it is damaged. So Big Electric offers Marge money in return for a permanent right to build and maintain this power line.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yHWwzk">
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Big Electric is seeking an easement. Easements typically transfer a portion of a property owner’s rights permanently to someone else. Under ordinary circumstances, a landowner may exclude anyone they want from their property. But under the terms of this easement, Marge would permanently give up her right to exclude Big Electric’s repair crews. Big Electric would own<em> </em>the right to enter onto Marge’s land just as surely as Marge owns her home.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d8p3OI">
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And if Marge someday sells her home to someone else, Big Electric would still own that easement. It would belong to Big Electric, not Marge, and therefore is not something that Marge could transfer to someone else.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QwheH3">
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This distinction between licenses and easements matters because in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/483/825"><em>Nollan v. California Coastal Commission</em></a><em> </em>(1987), the Supreme Court held that, if the government seeks a “public easement across a landowner’s premises,” then the Takings Clause requires the government to compensate that landowner. The <em>Cedar Point</em> plaintiffs <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-107/165146/20201231124124532_EFILE%20FINAL%204-1550%20Cedar%20Point%20Opening%20Brief.pdf">rely heavily on <em>Nollan</em> in their brief</a>, arguing that the California union-access regulation “appropriates an easement across the property of all agricultural businesses in California” by stripping those businesses of the right to exclude certain people from their land.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fpG9aV">
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Essentially, they argue that this alleged easement amounts to a per se taking because it permanently gives unions a right to visit certain worksites — even if the unions can only enter those worksites some of the time.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0FdgMj">
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The state concedes that its regulation “is <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-107/168250/20210205132145660_20-107%20Brief%20For%20Respondents.pdf">similar to an easement</a> insofar as it affords union organizers a ‘nonpossessory right to enter’ the property of agricultural employers.” But the state ultimately argues that its regulation only grants “some form of license” to union organizers.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w9ESGe">
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It’s a strong argument because, while the California regulation does diminish some property owners’ rights to exclude unwanted visitors, it does not resemble an easement in one very important way. The California regulation does not permanently transfer any of a farm owner’s property rights to unions. The unions do not own anything because of this regulation.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Cid7K5">
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If California were to repeal its regulation tomorrow, the unions would be left with nothing. Had the California regulation actually imposed an easement on farm owners, then unions would retain their ownership of this easement even after the regulation that established it ceased to exist. Under <em>Nollan</em>, if the unions had obtained an easement allowing them to enter private land, then the Takings Clause would forbid California from taking this easement from them without compensating them.
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</p>
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<h3 id="bSEXP3">
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If the Supreme Court agrees that California’s regulation appropriates an easement from farm owners, then the implications are profound
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9VEW34">
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At least in marginal cases, the line between an easement and a license can be blurry. As one California appeals court judge <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12434340972939060181&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr">complained in a 1994 opinion</a>, commercial land use arrangements often involve such complicated terms that “it is increasingly difficult and correspondingly irrelevant to attempt to pigeonhole these relationships as ‘leases,’ ‘easements,’ ‘licenses,’ ‘profits,’ or some other obscure interest in land devised by the common law in far simpler times.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="McZqO7">
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But, to the extent that the Supreme Court is uncertain whether to classify the rights granted to unions by California’s regulation as a “license” (and therefore as more permissible under the Constitution) or an “easement” (and therefore subject to the Takings Clause’s restrictions), there are profound practical reasons to prefer the former option.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aj2j0l">
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The <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-107/168250/20210205132145660_20-107%20Brief%20For%20Respondents.pdf">state’s brief in <em>Cedar Point</em></a> spends several pages explaining just how many laws could become invalid if the government cannot require landowners to allow unwanted persons onto their property.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rNBLvh">
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“The categorical rules proposed by petitioners and their amici would also imperil a wide variety of health- and safety-inspection regimes,” the state’s legal team writes. “These include, among many others, food and drug inspections, occupational safety and health inspections, and home visits by social workers,” as well as a federal law providing that “underground mines must be inspected ‘at least four times a year.’”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ihc9ih">
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States also frequently enact laws allowing non-governmental workers to enter onto private land. “Many States authorize utility companies and similar entities to enter private property, even absent the owner’s consent, for surveys, repairs, connections, and similar purposes,” the state’s brief explains.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sThH1v">
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And, in what is likely a bid to secure the votes of conservative justices who support strict enforcement of immigration laws, California argues that the rule proposed by the <em>Cedar Point </em>plaintiffs could prevent law enforcement from arresting many undocumented immigrants.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LGzFNT">
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Although longstanding legal principles permit “entries onto private property to make arrests or enforce criminal laws,” these principles “do not appear to apply to entries by Border Patrol agents to enforce noncriminal immigration laws, or by other government officials to enforce other civil laws.”
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US laws permitting unwanted persons to enter a property owner’s land, moreover, stretch back to the early days of the American Republic. Indeed, a Massachusetts law from the 1640s, when the state was still a British colony, provided that “‘any man … may <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-107/168250/20210205132145660_20-107%20Brief%20For%20Respondents.pdf">pass and repass on foot through any man’s propriety</a>’ in order to access ‘great ponds’ for the purpose of fishing or fowling, so long as the entry did not damage the property.”
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SkHpGV">
|
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|
|
The strict limits on governmental regulation of property rights proposed by the <em>Cedar Point</em> plaintiffs, in other words, are quite novel. And those limits could invalidate countless state and federal laws, preventing health inspectors from investigating potentially unsafe businesses, and preventing workplace inspectors from investigating dangerous factories and other worksites.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MI9fPy">
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|
The Roberts Court, which now has a 6-3 Republican majority, is often very hostile toward the rights of unions — even when those rights are clearly established by existing law. In <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10508098745881210548&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr"><em>Janus v. AFSCME</em></a> (2018), for example, the Supreme Court overruled a 41-year-old decision permitting unions to collect certain fees from non-members who benefit from the union’s services.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VrmBnI">
|
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|
But, to rule against the unions in <em>Cedar Point</em>, the Supreme Court wouldn’t simply need to undermine many years of decisions benefiting unions. Such a decision could profoundly rework the balance of power between landowners and the government, undercutting huge swaths of state and federal law in the process.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ut50il">
|
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|
|
A justice who may be inclined to spite the United Farm Workers in <em>Cedar Point</em>, in other words,<em> </em>needs to ask themselves if they also feel safe eating out at a restaurant that is closed to health inspectors.
|
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|
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</p></li>
|
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|
|
<li><strong>WandaVision’s disappointing finale and the problem with demanding “justice” in fiction</strong> -
|
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<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="A red ball of energy glows in Wanda’s hands as she prepares to do some magic." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bLtoMSCy-sLKreScuAbhFYZQ1Xc=/386x0:3266x2160/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68966883/wms1180_104_comp_v005_r709_71b582d0.0.jpeg"/>
|
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|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Wanda Maximoff prepares a little spell. | Disney+
|
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|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
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|
We don’t want justice in a story. We want the authors to know what justice might look like.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6dpw77">
|
|||
|
|
Wanda Maximoff has done a very bad thing.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3PRMBa">
|
|||
|
|
As the finale of <em>WandaVision</em>, the Marvel TV series that bears her name and airs on Disney+, wraps up its story, the superpowered witch has begun to realize the extent of the hex she cast over the town of Westview, New Jersey. The citizens of the town, wholly innocent and unsuspecting, have awakened from a dreamlike state that lasted several days and caused them to reenact old sitcoms, for the amusement of an audience who didn’t really exist. (Well, technically, we were the audience, but I sure hope nobody in Westview knows about us.)
|
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|
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</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OQcVmY">
|
|||
|
|
Notably, when the hex was established, Wanda didn’t realize the extent of what was happening. She was as trapped by her sitcom world as anybody else. But then she slowly began to understand the truth, while also realizing the hex was directly tied to the existence of her husband (the synthezoid Vision, dead in “actual” reality) and her children (wholly inventions of the hex). And she kept the whole thing going because she couldn’t bear to lose them.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V8aOiq">
|
|||
|
|
In the finale, Wanda finally sees the pain she has spread, as the citizens of Westview plead with her to kill them, to free their children from the bedrooms the kids had been imprisoned in for the sake of a fake TV show, to make sense of what she had done to them. Wanda doesn’t know how to say anything. “They hate me,” she offers, and, yeah, probably.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
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|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y29PTE">
|
|||
|
|
Though both the series and Wanda seem to realize she’s done something horrible, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22318436/wandavision-episode-9-wanda-future-spoilers">the former seems determined to justify her motivations, if not her actions</a>. Her grief at a life where everyone she loved was ripped away from her is so all-consuming that <em>of course</em> she imprisoned a bunch of people in a sitcom. Who wouldn’t?
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="teH5jv">
|
|||
|
|
“They’ll never know what you sacrificed for them,” says Monica Rambeau, the closest thing <em>WandaVision</em> has to an audience surrogate (a character designed to reflect how the audience is probably feeling about things and subtly direct those feelings in certain ways). This is true. I doubt anybody could understand what it means to have your magically created husband and children simply dissolve into thin air. But it also so privileges the emotions and drives of the show’s protagonist over those of any other characters that it feels as though <em>WandaVision</em> is writing off the very obvious horrors Wanda visited on this town.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<aside id="bFbbDn">
|
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|
|
<div>
|
|||
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|
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|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
</aside>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6vV712">
|
|||
|
|
I’m not really here to relitigate the finale, which has been endlessly argued about. I think <em>WandaVision</em> was deeply irresponsible in how it handled this plot point, creating a scenario where it all but sidled up to telling an abuser that she’s okay because her motives were okay. It didn’t cross that line, but that it came close is unsettling.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9AvTUQ">
|
|||
|
|
But many of the arguments about the finale have centered on what should have happened to Wanda, as though she were a real person who must be brought to justice. And because Marvel is telling one giant interconnected story with every movie and TV show it releases, it can, in theory, have Wanda face judgment for these actions years from now and retroactively seem to justify the storytelling choices made here.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
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|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2EtkUs">
|
|||
|
|
I think these arguments are missing an important point. Wanda is a fictional character. By definition, she cannot face actual justice. But increasingly, we struggle to talk about fictional characters within the fictional contexts they exist in. We debate the <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/game-of-thrones-winterfell-battle-tactical-analysis/">military strategies of <em>Game of Thrones</em> characters</a> and argue about the <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/2/26/17029572/black-panther-marvel-politics">morality and political positions</a> of all sorts of superheroes.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0thx77">
|
|||
|
|
Yet these characters are all created, and they exist in universes that are constructed. Within those universes, the storytellers who create these stories are, functionally, gods. When we say we want Wanda Maximoff to face justice, I think what we’re really saying is that we want the storytellers to show us they know what justice would be, even if she doesn’t face it.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ernMXh">
|
|||
|
|
We want, in other words, story karma.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="l3h6dO">
|
|||
|
|
Story karma, defined
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys in the FX show “The Americans.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/R1r6cSK8OpSyRkjvIdJsFi-zFAY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/6267915/Americans-1.jpg"/> <cite>FX</cite>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
<em>The Americans</em> ended with several tricky dilemmas for the main characters — and for the show’s writers.
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fMQ28S">
|
|||
|
|
I first encountered the term “story karma” in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/5/31/17414946/the-americans-series-finale-start-showrunners-interview-secrets-spoilers">talking to Joel Fields, the co-showrunner of <em>The Americans</em></a>, in the wake of that show’s series finale. As the writers of <em>The Americans</em> were deciding how to end their story, they had to grapple with the fact that their main characters — Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, a pair of Soviet super spies posing as a married American couple — had both killed lots and lots and lots of innocent people <em>and</em> figured out a way to avert tensions in a way that allowed for continued rapprochement between the US and USSR. Though their story played out on a much larger scale than yours or mine, they had been responsible for very bad and very good things.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k4bZGC">
|
|||
|
|
What true “justice” might have looked like for Philip and Elizabeth was going to prison. They did, after all, murder a bunch of people, no matter how pure their motivations might have seemed. The two probably would have considered themselves soldiers in a war without end, and the rules of traditional morality get bent in a war. Yet few of the people they killed were other spies. Too often, they were just people in the wrong place at the wrong time.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dHZs2d">
|
|||
|
|
But the characters were also the protagonists of their series, and viewers had seen them fall in love all over again. We had watched them care for their kids and form a friendship with the FBI agent across the street. We had seen them at their most human, so many viewers found some part of themselves wanting them to get away with what they had done. Yes, they had done terrible things, but it often seemed like they felt bad about it. That counts for something. Right?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gVXlVR">
|
|||
|
|
When Fields mentioned story karma to me, this is what he was talking about — how do you find a way to punish Philip and Elizabeth for their sins without punishing them too much? (Karma within Hinduism or Buddhism is a <a href="https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/what-would-krishna-do-or-shiva-or-vishnu/">more layered concept</a> than a simple binary between good and bad behavior or punishment and reward. I’m using the term in the colloquial sense of good actions or bad actions being repaid in kind, but you should feel free to think of this concept as “story justice” or whatever makes the most sense to you.)
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KVeLmY">
|
|||
|
|
To my mind, the solution <em>The Americans</em> came up with (which I won’t spoil here) was an elegant one. You might disagree because we’ve all got different ideas of how to balance these moral ledgers. But I think we’d agree that the writers of <em>The Americans</em> clearly thought long and hard about what “justice” might look like.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FpSdCN">
|
|||
|
|
The protagonist of any story takes both moral and immoral actions across the course of that story, and the storyteller’s responsibility is to understand which actions are which — and, more importantly, to signal to the audience that they have actually thought about this. We will go along with the worst, most venal protagonist alive if we know the storyteller knows their protagonist is awful. The second that level of understanding starts to slip, however, it becomes much easier to doubt the storyteller knows what they’re doing. We want our gods to be just. We know they aren’t always. But we want them to know when they’ve screwed up.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Nl6VYG">
|
|||
|
|
The use of story karma differs from story to story. In some cases, an exact balancing of the moral scales is called for. (<em>Star Wars</em>, with its very clear-cut good-versus-evil binary, might be a good example.) In others, good or innocent people will be asked to suffer endlessly because that is what the story requires of them. (Think of the Stark kids from <em>Game of Thrones</em>.) In still others, horrible people will get away with horrible things. (Think of Tony Soprano or <em>Breaking Bad</em>’s Walter White.) In all of these cases, the storytellers tipped their hands to say, “Yes, we know what’s going on,” which made it easier to just enjoy the ride.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tFGw2g">
|
|||
|
|
I would also argue that narrative proximity is a key part of story karma, especially in long-form serialized narratives, where viewers will only sit with something awful for so long before they start to turn on the story. For instance, in the second season of <em>Breaking Bad</em>, Walter White commits a grievous sin: He lets Jane, the girlfriend of his meth-making partner Jesse, choke to death on her own vomit. He doesn’t directly kill her (as he does several other people throughout the show to that point), but her death is straightforwardly a product of his inaction. We know Jane. We know what she means to Jesse. Walter’s lethal idleness hits us hard.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oJFxEZ">
|
|||
|
|
<em>Breaking Bad</em> doesn’t provide direct retribution for Walter’s actions for many, many episodes. But in the episode immediately following Jane’s death, it still tips its hand. Jane’s father works as an air traffic controller, and in his grief over her death, he gets sloppy. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr6Ri0c5b5E">Two planes collide in midair</a>. People die, and the debris from the crash rains down over Walter’s backyard. It’s as clear a sign imaginable from the gods — a.k.a. the storytellers — that Walter’s sins are considerable, and he is going to pay for them. Maybe just not yet.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="kyHqMw">
|
|||
|
|
A lack of story karma can make a story deeply unsatisfying
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="Actor Bryan Cranston as Walter White holds a phone to his ear in Breaking Bad." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xBIFPi-3sgBy0DDWE11ur3ERE4U=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/4887842/5dd8549d-db49-d0ad-a09c-7a61f603bc0a_BB_514_UC_0222_0264a.jpg"/> <cite>AMC</cite>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Walter White was often reminded of the awfulness of his actions by the show he starred on.
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ag91Nk">
|
|||
|
|
Now, <em>Breaking Bad</em> is maybe the <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/1/20/16910760/breaking-bad-10th-anniversary-birthday-structure">best-balanced TV series in history in terms of story karma</a>. I don’t love that show in the way that some do, but it was always clear that its writers knew what was good, what was evil, and when a good motive might excuse an evil act. Most importantly, they knew that even if Walter’s original motives for cooking meth were pure — he wanted to provide for his family after his death — those motives didn’t absolve him of the horrible things he did.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<aside id="v9izZY">
|
|||
|
|
<div>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
</aside>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9Jh1Z2">
|
|||
|
|
Compare <em>Breaking Bad</em> to <em>WandaVision</em>, a series that seems trapped by its refusal to acknowledge its protagonist’s culpability in events beyond having her feel really bad about what she did, you guys. The loss of her husband and children, which should theoretically offset her karmic ledger, doesn’t hit as hard because it’s a direct consequence of her immoral actions. Sure, she’s sad, but that loss is an offshoot of her original sin.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zJYaIP">
|
|||
|
|
What many <em>WandaVision</em> viewers are waiting for is that plane crash in the sky, that reassurance from the show’s storytellers that they know what she did was just that awful. In that case, Wanda could get away with far worse, and we’d all breathe easier, knowing that somebody somewhere had their eye on the scales of justice.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JZNLgK">
|
|||
|
|
In saying this, I’m aware of how easy it would be to interpret all of the above as “A character has to pay for their bad actions somewhere down the line, ideally pretty soon after they commit those actions.” But I don’t mean that at all. <em>The Sopranos</em> spent season after season allowing Tony to chalk up an ever-increasing moral debt that it never, ever bothered to collect on.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NeAkBh">
|
|||
|
|
Yet it was incredibly clear throughout that <em>The Sopranos</em>’ writers knew just how bad the guy could be, and they nodded, frequently, to something we all know to be true: Sometimes, horrible people get away with stuff.<strong> </strong>What’s more, they tied Tony’s awfulness to the smaller, pettier sins any of us commit in our lives, when our selfishness or envy blinds us to the harm we cause to others.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Yzxs6z">
|
|||
|
|
Where our tales of the fantastical, particularly superhero tales, fall short is in their frequent struggle to understand that even if their stories involve larger-than-life characters and situations, the moral framework we expect them to exist within is basically the same as our own. The further we get into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, the harder it becomes to ignore the way it nurtures a near-fascistic sense that a powerful being should be allowed to do what they want, so long as they feel kinda bad about the collateral damage at the end of the day.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="doAXcg">
|
|||
|
|
Mistaking (what the protagonist assumes to be) good motivations for good actions is perhaps the most deeply American thing about Marvel’s cinematic storytelling, and they’ve proved wildly popular worldwide, because all of us can twist any given bad thing we do into a good thing if we think hard enough about all of the reasons we might have done it that aren’t motivated by our own worst qualities. Wanda Maximoff lived under the weight of considerable grief, and in that grief, she did something awful. We’ve all had some version of that in our lives. But that doesn’t excuse our bad actions amid that grief.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="veEKtB">
|
|||
|
|
That’s why <em>WandaVision</em>’s finale made me finally give up on the idea of the MCU ever understanding the stories it’s trying to tell beyond the most superficial level. Many of these movies are entertaining, but beyond <em>Black Panther</em> (which at least tries to wrestle with the weight of colonialism and the ways in which the affluent have responsibilities to those without) and <em>Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2</em> (which has a go at talking about legacies of familial abuse), none of them do more than pay lip service to complicated ideas.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rqXiqT">
|
|||
|
|
Most of us are first introduced to stories as simple tales of moral instruction, in which our parents and teachers tell us tales meant to provide us with a firm understanding of what is right and what is wrong. As we grow, we understand that not all stories have to have tidy morals at the end, but we never quite lose the sense that stories have a moral dimension. When we hear a story, we don’t always need its gods to be just, but we do want to know they exist.
|
|||
|
|
</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>Asian American communities grapple with whether police are the right answer to recent attacks</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Bs938MPx7yJyZ6kgK-Z_yPku0mY=/0x0:5337x4003/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68966756/1302715325.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
An Oakland, California shop owner speaks with Deputy Chief of Police Chris Bolton and Carl Chan, president of Oakland’s Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, on February 16. | Stephen Lam/The San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
“The issue of policing is really complex, and in Chinatown, we are an ideologically diverse group of people.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OKshaJ">
|
|||
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If one thing was made clear last year, it’s that American policing <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/29/12989428/police-shooting-race-crime">is a deeply flawed institution</a>. <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/7/16/21325275/black-lives-matter-protests-are-still-happening">Protests over racism and the police killings of Black Americans</a> have fueled efforts to shift funding away from law enforcement and toward social services like mental health care and education. Cities across the country are now grappling with what the function of police should be as they consider the future of public safety. And many communities, including Asian American ones that have been targeted with violent attacks in recent weeks, are among those navigating tough questions about the role of law enforcement.
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California’s Bay Area has seen a wave of violence toward Asian Americans this past winter. In Oakland, the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce has <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/violent-attacks-elderly-asian-americans-bay-area-leaves/story?id=75759713">documented at least 20 assaults</a>. And in the Bay Area overall, there have been 32 reports of Asian Americans getting assaulted or robbed since the start of the year, <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/There-s-been-a-surge-of-attacks-against-Asian-15969890.php">according to a February analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle</a>. The motivations behind many of these attacks are currently unclear, though they’ve taken place as anti-Asian incidents have surged during the pandemic. <a href="https://www.csusb.edu/sites/default/files/FACT%20SHEET-%20Anti-Asian%20Hate%202020%203.2.21.pdf">According to a study by Cal State San Bernardino</a>, San Francisco was one of the cities that observed an increase in reports of hate crimes toward Asian Americans in the past year.
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The community response to the recent attacks has been varied: Some in the Bay Area have called for more police presence, some have hired private security, and others have pushed for public safety interventions that don’t center law enforcement.
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All parties, ultimately, share a similar goal: They want to prevent more violence from happening in their community, and to keep their most vulnerable populations safe. Where they differ, however, is on just how involved the police need to be in this response, and the concerns about relying on law enforcement as the main solution to this problem.
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“The issue of policing is really complex, and in Chinatown, we are an ideologically diverse group of people,” says Ener Chiu, associate director of the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, a group that’s part of the Oakland Chinatown Coalition. “There are people who support defunding the police. And there are people who say, ‘I don’t feel comfortable saying we need less police.’”
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Such discussions are taking place not just in the Bay Area but in a number of cities, including New York and Los Angeles, as they also deal with an uptick in anti-Asian incidents. Physical and verbal assaults have spiked as Asian Americans have been scapegoated for the spread of the coronavirus in the past year, and as former President Donald Trump has stoked xenophobic sentiments.
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<a href="https://secureservercdn.net/104.238.69.231/a1w.90d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Stop_AAPI_Hate_National_Report_200805.pdf">According to Stop AAPI Hate</a>, a group that’s been tracking such issues, there have been more than 2,500 anti-Asian incidents ranging from verbal assaults to physical attacks reported since last March, with 1,100 of those occurring in California. The <a href="https://www.csusb.edu/sites/default/files/FACT%20SHEET-%20Anti-Asian%20Hate%202020%203.2.21.pdf">Cal State San Bernardino</a> study, which examined police logs in 16 major cities, found a nearly 150 percent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes nationwide in 2020 as well.
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Community members in both San Francisco and Oakland are now working to figure out what comes next. In the near term, there’s a debate about how to make people feel more secure, and in the long term, there’s a question of how the community can invest in efforts that help prevent these attacks from happening again.
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A conversation about policing is a key piece of these talks. And a tension at the heart of it is the immediacy in security that some people see police providing versus the belief that increased police presence not only doesn’t address the root cause of the violence but also endangers members of the community, particularly Black Americans, who’ve disproportionately been the targets of police brutality.
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Responses to violence against Asians + Asian Americans can’t be to create a police state in Chinatown.<br/><br/>There are now private security guards, vigilantes, + mobile police stations in our neighborhood. <br/><br/>That doesn’t make us safe. Our communities working in solidarity keep us safe
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— connie wun, phd (<span class="citation" data-cites="conniewunphd">@conniewunphd</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/conniewunphd/status/1359246821353168897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2021</a>
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Ultimately, many local organizers emphasize that relying solely on policing isn’t a tenable long-term solution or the best use of a limited set of city resources. There are efforts underway to bolster programs, like community ambassadors — who help build relationships with business owners and residents, increase traffic to the area, and beautify the neighborhood — that could serve as a potential alternative.
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“We have to offer people an alternative. We can’t just say we don’t want more police and not offer other options,” says Chiu. “It’s not about denouncing; it’s about what’s the right balance for our community?”
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The debate about policing among members of Asian American communities, briefly explained
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The policing debate centers on a complicated series of questions, including whether increased law enforcement in Chinatown and other places can deter further harm toward seniors, while also not adding to harms against the community more broadly, and if there are other immediate responses that can provide the same sense of security.
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The issue came up earlier this year when actors Daniel Dae Kim and Daniel Wu offered a $25,000 reward for information about a suspect who pushed a 91-year-old man in Oakland: Few doubted the well-meaning intentions of both celebrities, whose actions played a key role in raising awareness about this violence, but some saw their offer as effectively placing a bounty on a person and looking to policing as the solution.
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Some community members argue that ramping up police is necessary because it’s a resource that elders are familiar with — and able to trust — compared to some of the newer volunteer efforts that have emerged, which include escort programs to help people get from place to place.
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“Unless the police step in, there’s very little protection they would be getting,” says Anni Chung, the executive director of a San Francisco nonprofit called Self-Help for the Elderly, which provides food aid and health care support for older adults. Chung is among those pushing the San Francisco Police Department to establish a larger presence in Chinatown, and to train more bilingual and bicultural officers who can better engage with residents who may be less comfortable with English.
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“The merchants feel better and the residents feel better,” Chung said of additional law enforcement.
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In Oakland, too, Carl Chan, the head of the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, says that he and other store owners support more police presence. “I ask all of our seniors in Chinatown and basically all of our businesses: Do you want to see police in this community?” <a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/11862544/does-oakland-chinatown-need-more-police-after-assaults-a-generational-divide">Chan told KQED</a>. “So far, I haven’t heard anybody say no.”
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In San Francisco, police have increased patrols in the Chinatown area, and <a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/east-bay/oakland-police-assign-new-asian-liaison-officer-amid-chinatown-attacks/2471762/">in Oakland, the department has dispatched a specific liaison officer</a> to the neighborhood. “The San Francisco Police Department stands for safety with respect for all,” the SFPD said in a statement. “These crimes impact all of us and SFPD officers will maintain high visibility vehicle and foot patrols to help deter crime and reassure our communities across our City.”
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Because some community members still fear there isn’t enough of a security presence, Oakland Chinatown residents have also crowdfunded <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Oakland-Chinatown-turns-to-private-armed-security-15955636.php">more than $80,000</a> to help cover costs for private armed guards, a security force that could well replicate the same issues of abuse that police have struggled with.
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Local activists, meanwhile, note that everyone in these communities has the same goals, but stress that they don’t support relying on police as the main solution — and are actively working to bolster other options.
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“There are members of our community that believe more police presence, that will lead to safety, that there should be more bilingual cops, that there should be more drive-bys. And the data just doesn’t show that,” says Cynthia Choi, a co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, who’s based in San Francisco. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2019/02/13/marshall-project-more-cops-dont-mean-less-crime-experts-say/2818056002/">As law enforcement experts have found</a>, having more police doesn’t necessarily result in less crime, and actual outcomes can be more dependent on the strategies law enforcement officers deploy.
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In addition to concerns about the efficacy of police as a deterrent to crimes, organizers also note that increased police could harm Black community members in particular, given law enforcement’s disproportionate violence toward Black Americans. In the Bay Area, Black residents have had an outsize number of fatal encounters with the police in recent years: <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/06/28/110-deaths-police-killings-in-the-bay-area-since-2015-result-in-no-prosecutions-of-cops-and-little-discipline/">According to the San Jose Mercury News</a>, Black residents comprise 7 percent of the region’s population but 27 percent of the people killed by police between 2015 and 2020.
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“We recognize that policing leads to mass incarceration and racial profiling,” says Russell Jeung, a San Francisco State University professor and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, who emphasizes that a public safety response will likely include law enforcement but can’t be overreliant on it.
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Jeung and Choi are among those who cited <a href="https://www.turnout.org/open-opp/oakchinatowncoalition">a community ambassadors program</a> that’s active in both Oakland and San Francisco as part of the near-term response. Oakland’s ambassadors program, established in 2017 by the Asian Health Services group and the Asian Prisoner Support Committee, includes formerly incarcerated people who go to Chinatown regularly and engage with merchants and residents, while cleaning up trash and graffiti. The program is intended to help boost traffic in these areas as well as help build a sense of community. And <a href="https://sfgov.org/oceia//sites/default/files/Documents/General%20CAP%20Brochure%202018_ENG_0.pdf">in San Francisco</a>, a similar city-run program dedicated to promoting public safety in different neighborhoods has now been around for several years. Ambassadors are also trained in deescalation and aiding community members who may need help with their daily tasks.
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“You have the immediacy of the community ambassadors, of volunteer programs, you have the immediacy of people willing to volunteer and stand in front of stores and walk people across the street,” says Cat Brooks, a co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project in Oakland. “I understand the fear, I really do. But what we are doing [with policing] ultimately isn’t working.”
|
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Margaret Huang, a 55-year-old Oakland resident who was mugged near Chinatown earlier this year, says she thinks the community ambassadors are a good idea that many people may simply not be aware of. “We have learned that it’s a very valuable resource to have a group that can act as an intermediary and deescalate things,” she said, noting she didn’t feel that police should be the only option.
|
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Some residents, though, worry that the work of ambassador programs and other volunteer efforts simply aren’t enough to address the current problem. For now, the talks between pro-police and anti-police advocates, a divide that often falls along generational lines, are ongoing and nuanced. Community members say that policing may still be a necessary part of the current response, but that they’re working to ensure it is not the sole avenue for recourse.
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“I think a comprehensive approach is what’s necessary. We are encouraging restorative justice models,” says Jeung.
|
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|
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<h3 id="mvSOxf">
|
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There is a major focus on solidarity
|
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|
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Part of the talks around policing center on helping Asian American community members understand what more police presence means for Black residents who are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement, and on the need to ensure that diverse viewpoints are considered while charting a path forward.
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Thus far, a major emphasis of organizers’ response has been on reaffirming solidarity between Black and Asian communities, and stressing the need to work together to improve public safety overall.
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<a href="https://sfist.com/2021/02/14/oakland-communities-rally-together-at-madison-park-to-denounce-violence-against-asian-americans/">One of the rallies</a> local organizers put together in February stressed a united front. The event, which took place in Madison Park following the death of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee, who was brutally pushed in San Francisco, aimed to raise awareness about the assaults and dispel the use of any stereotypes about potential attackers.
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“The suspects in some of these attacks were Black men, and some Asian Americans have responded with stereotypes of their own, blaming supposed anti-Asian sentiment from the Black community for the crimes,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/21/black-and-asian-unity-attacks-on-elders-spark-reckoning-with-racisms-roots">the Guardian’s Vivian Ho<em> </em>and<em> </em>Abené Clayton reported</a>. “This narrative, which has not been supported by evidence, has nevertheless shoved a new wedge into age-old cracks between Black and Asian immigrant communities in the US.”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
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After several attacks on members of the Asian-American community in the Bay Area, a rally was held in Oakland to promote multicultural healing Saturday.<a href="https://t.co/gcev61ZmgW">https://t.co/gcev61ZmgW</a>
|
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|
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— NBC Bay Area (<span class="citation" data-cites="nbcbayarea">@nbcbayarea</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/nbcbayarea/status/1360868918118789120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2021</a>
|
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In both San Francisco and Oakland, organizers say it’s important for groups to understand one another’s experiences in order to build a solution that factors in all perspectives.
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“We want to work cross-racially to promote neighborhood safety,” Jeung says.
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Leaders have also said it’s important to interrogate anti-Black and anti-Asian biases and push back on them, while ensuring that people don’t make generalizations about each respective group. “Supporting our Asian community is not about dividing us. This support is for all of us suffering under white supremacy. We need to understand that so we can triumph and have public and personal safety,” Eddy Zheng, an Oakland organizer and youth counselor, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/21/black-and-asian-unity-attacks-on-elders-spark-reckoning-with-racisms-roots">told the Guardian</a>.
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The Bay Area particularly has had historic models of solidarity, like the Third World Liberation Front effort in the 1960s, when Black, Asian, and Latino organizers worked together to push for an ethnic studies department at <a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/11830384/how-the-longest-student-strike-in-u-s-history-created-ethnic-studies">San Francisco State</a>. In the past, however, there have also been moments when concerns about public safety have heightened tensions between the two groups, such as during the Los Angeles riots, which followed the police beating of Rodney King and the acquittal of multiple officers involved.
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At the time, Korean American business owners and Black residents clashed after pressure had been building for months. “Socio-economic factors mattered in the creation of tensions in South Central Los Angeles that spring; in particular, the perception of Korean businesses displacing local owners in these predominantly black neighborhoods,” Andrew Cha <a href="https://aapr.hkspublications.org/2018/11/15/race-riot-roots/">writes for Harvard Kennedy School’s Asian American Policy Review</a>.
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Organizers stress that open communication is vital in order to move forward and ensure that the same problems aren’t repeated.
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“Oakland is a really unique space. My neighborhood was one of the neighborhoods that was Black and Asian. My elementary school was Black and Asian. That sharing of space is not something we’ve seen a lot in this country; it’s unique in the Bay Area,” says Melina Abdullah, a founder of a Black Lives Matter chapter in Los Angeles. “One of the things that can bring solidarity is the understanding of each other and the sharing of space.”
|
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|
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Community safety alternatives to police need more funding
|
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In addition to the more immediate conversations taking place, community leaders are weighing questions about what longer-term efforts for preventing crime look like, and the resources needed to really make them work.
|
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|
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“Do we put our limited dollars into policing? Or do we put it back into communities that are underresourced? We have crisis over crisis that’s been exacerbated by the pandemic,” says Choi. “Long-term, if you’re going to break generational violence, you have to invest in interventional measures.”
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A key effort that’s shown strong results is violence interruption programs, notes professor Paul Butler, a criminal justice expert at Georgetown Law. These programs, used in European countries like the UK and Belgium, aim to prevent and mediate violence before it occurs. As part of these efforts, people are trained as “community safety professionals,” who help address conflicts. “They are unarmed, lack most formal policing powers, and perform responsibilities like youth outreach, conflict mediation, community patrol, and addressing low-level crime and disorder,” as <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/6/24/21296881/unbundle-defund-the-police-george-floyd-rayshard-brooks-violence-european-policing">Roge Karma</a> previously explained for Vox.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NzoMvN">
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“Divesting from the police, and not exclusively relying on police for public safety: It’s a recognition that the police don’t bring us the kind of safety we would hope,” says Butler.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="su4DaH">
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Investing and shifting resources to such programs is a key push among some activists: Some Oakland Chinatown residents, for instance, are pushing for specific tax revenues to go toward hiring more community ambassadors who are trained in violence deescalation and broader engagement. They’re also calling for more investments in health care programs, housing access, and other neighborhood resources including parks and open spaces.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Vxcip2">
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The conversation is unfolding as the cities of San Francisco and Oakland have a larger discussion about what public safety looks like overall. And in both cities, progressive officials have signaled support for <a href="https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/city-council-works-to-bring-back-oakland-chinatown-ambassadors-to-deter-violence/">adding more funding to efforts like the ambassadors program</a> and other social services, an outcome that could be a direct result of constituent pressure.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yF8DmU">
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“How can we focus on increasing the vibrancy and vitality of our neighborhoods and safety is going to be the byproduct?” says Alvina Wong, the campaign and organizing director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AWSioM">
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</p>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>India vs England preview | Confident India look to build on new approach against England in 3rd T20</strong> - India are unlikely to tinker with the winning combination save the return of opener Rohit Sharma, who is expected to be back in the side after being rested for a couple of games.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>India exposed our weakness in handling slow conditions, says Morgan</strong> - Morgan had words of appreciation for young Ishan Kishan, who scored a 32-ball 56 on his international debut.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ind vs Eng 2nd T20 | Having faced good pacers in IPL helped me on India debut: Kishan</strong> - The debutant was in awe of Virat Kohli during their 94-run stand and hopes to pick the brain of India skipper during the five-match series</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Daniil Medvedev wins Open 13 for 10th title on eve of move to No. 2</strong> - Medvedev will overtake Rafael Nadal on Monday and push the 20-time Grand Slam champion down to No. 3.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Consigliori should make amends</strong> - Trainer L V R Deshmukh’s ward Consigliori, who ran third in his last start, should make amends in the Sultan Phiroze Plate, the main event of Monday’</p></li>
|
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>‘Parliamentarians have not raised voice against injustice done to Teltumbde’</strong> - Writer and activist Anand Teltumbde has been in prison on false charges, but no parliamentarian has raised a voice against the injustice done to him,</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hindutva main plank of BJP in polls: Surendran</strong> - He says his party considers both LDF and UDF as adversaries</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Kerala Assembly elections: IT industry pins hopes on incoming govt. for business continuity</strong> - Experts from Information Technology sector in Kerala call for furthering the gains and plugging the gaps</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>MP holds meeting on revival of industries</strong> - B.Y. Raghavendra, MP, on Monday held a meeting with officers of the Industries Department in Bengaluru on the revival of Mysore Paper Mills and Visves</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Parliament Proceedings | States yet to pay ESIC for COVID-19 hospital use: Ministry</strong> - State governments are yet to reimburse the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) for treatment of non-ESI beneficiaries at the ESI hospitals th</p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Germany elections: Merkel’s party suffers setback in regional polls</strong> - The German chancellor’s Christian Democrats (CDU) heavily in two former stronghold regions.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Covid-19: Netherlands suspends use of AstraZeneca vaccine</strong> - It is the latest country to act over reports of blood clotting, but the WHO says the vaccine is safe.</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Covid-19: NI to keep using AstraZeneca jab after Irish suspension</strong> - The Republic of Ireland stops using the vaccine after reports of blood clotting in adults in Norway.</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>French drone tourist in Iran Benjamin Briere ‘facing spy charges’</strong> - Benjamin Briere was detained in Iran last year after flying the device near the Turkmenistan border.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Brexit: EU to begin legal action over alleged NI Protocol breach</strong> - A letter will be issued stating the reasons why the EU believes the protocol has been breached.</p></li>
|
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
|
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<ul>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Ars Technica System Guide, spring 2021: Gaming edition</strong> - Supply shortages made building a gaming PC near-impossible—but you can buy one. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1746706">link</a></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Review: Boss Level offers a witty, bloody take on the time-loop trope</strong> - Everyone seems to be having a blast in Joe Carnahan’s over-the-top sci-fi thriller. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1748140">link</a></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mother to Earth: When an NES prototype lands on eBay and inspires a documentary</strong> - Kickstarted movies can go down pretty narrow rabbit holes, but this is some real hyperfocus. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1744396">link</a></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How to find a COVID-19 vaccine appointment in your area</strong> - Vaccination rollout has been a challenge across the US. These tips should help. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1749444">link</a></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Researchers think a planet lost its original atmosphere, built a new one</strong> - Imaging the atmosphere finds a combination of chemicals that shouldn’t be there. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1749470">link</a></p></li>
|
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</ul>
|
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
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<ul>
|
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<li><strong>I hate that SEPTember, OCTober, NOVember, and DECember aren’t the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th months……</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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Whoever fucked this up should be stabbed!
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</p>
|
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</div>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/mohicansgonnagetya"> /u/mohicansgonnagetya </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/m5f6wv/i_hate_that_september_october_november_and/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/m5f6wv/i_hate_that_september_october_november_and/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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<li><strong>What does a 9 volt battery and a woman’s arsehole have in common?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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You know it’s wrong, but sooner or later you’re going to stick your tongue on it.
|
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</p>
|
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</div>
|
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<!-- SC_ON -->
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Miav1234"> /u/Miav1234 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/m5fs5t/what_does_a_9_volt_battery_and_a_womans_arsehole/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/m5fs5t/what_does_a_9_volt_battery_and_a_womans_arsehole/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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|
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<li><strong>I had twelve bottles of whisky…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
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<div class="md">
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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…and my wife told me to empty the contents of each and every bottle down the sink, or else!<br/> So, I said I would and proceeded with the unpleasant task.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
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I withdrew the cork from the first bottle and poured the contents down the sink, with the exception of one glass… which I drank.
|
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</p>
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
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I extracted the cork from the second bottle and did likewise with the exception of one glass… which I drank.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
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I pulled the cork from the third bottle and poured the whiskey down the sink, with the exception of one glass… which I drank.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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I then withdrew the cork from the fourth sink and poured the bottle down the glass… which I drank.
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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I pulled the bottle from the cork of the next and drank one sink out of it and threw the rest down the glass.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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I pulled the sink out of the next glass and poured the cork from the bottle. Then I corked the sink with the glass, bottled the drink and drank the pour.
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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When I had everything emptied I steadied the house with one hand, counted the bottles, corks, glasses and sinks with the other, which were twenty-nine. To make sure I counted them again… they came to seventy-four.
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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And as the house came by, I counted them again, and finally I had all the houses and bottles and corks and sinks and glasses counted, except one house and one cork… which l drank.
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</p>
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</div>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/The_Power_of_E"> /u/The_Power_of_E </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/m4y843/i_had_twelve_bottles_of_whisky/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/m4y843/i_had_twelve_bottles_of_whisky/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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<li><strong>Genders are like the Twin Towers</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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There used to be two of them and now it’s a sensitive subject
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</p>
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</div>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Kamikaze_AZ22"> /u/Kamikaze_AZ22 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/m5ek5f/genders_are_like_the_twin_towers/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/m5ek5f/genders_are_like_the_twin_towers/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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<li><strong>In Canada, you are more likely to die of a kick from a moose than a terrorist attack.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Those damn moose limbs.
|
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</p>
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</div>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/PenguinAreCake"> /u/PenguinAreCake </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/m59dek/in_canada_you_are_more_likely_to_die_of_a_kick/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/m59dek/in_canada_you_are_more_likely_to_die_of_a_kick/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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</ul>
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