Reading List #14 (Patreon)

1) About Those Media Mega-Mergers: Let’s Hope They Don’t Go Through (Vanda Krefft) 2/4/18

Mass media consolidation has always been sinister. 

Read Length: Medium

2) Twitter Is Full of Fake History Photos. Here's How to Outsmart Them (Alexis Coe) 11/20/17

I thought I was the only one annoyed by this phenomenon. 

Read Length; Medium

3) 20th-Century U.S. Generations (Elwood Carlson) 2009

I love categories with cool names (yes, I'm a nerd). I stumbled upon this while doing research for a video. If you're curious about how the American landscape has changed for each generation (from the "New Worlders" onward), you'll enjoy this. Because it's nine years old I think "The New Boomers" is a dated term for the much more appealing "Millennials." 

Read Length: Long

4) Why Does the US Sentence Children to Life in Prison? (Katie Rose Quandt) 1/31/18

Approximately a fifth of the people serving prison sentences for crimes committed under the age of 18 face life without a chance of parole. 

Read Length: Medium  

5) How the Republicans rigged Congress — new documents reveal an untold story (David Daley) 2/6/`18

This thorough article paints a BLEAK picture for the 2018 elections and American democracy in general. 

Read Length: Long

6) Judge suggests drug-addicted woman get sterilized before sentencing, and she does (Tom Jackman) 2/8/18

A woman with seven kids, a drug addiction, and a history of committing check fraud was coerced by a judge into getting sterilized before he sentenced her. Compulsory sterilization was once highly routine in this country, especially among people of color. But her extremely irresponsible behavior makes the situation murky. Women should have absolute control over their reproductive rights- but is there ever a reason to convince someone they should be sterilized? Read this article. I wanna hear your thoughts. The comments under this piece on wapo.com are a shit show.

Read Length: Medium 

7) Jeff Sessions Says Marijuana Fuels the Opioid Epidemic. Study After Study Finds the Opposite. (Julia Lurie) 2/8/18

"A 2016 study found that marijuana use was associated with a 64 percent reduction in opioid use among patients with chronic pain."

Read Length: Short

8) A California Couple Abused Their 13 Kids—and Weak Homeschooling Rules Helped Them Do It (Edwin Rios) 2/7/18

Homeschooling guidelines in California are relatively HARSH compared to other states- and this horrific case of child abuse managed to flourish. We can only imagine what's happening in states like Michigan and Kentucky.

"In 2015 in Michigan, which did not require parents to register their schools with the state, two children were found dead in a freezer in Detroit after, prosecutors said, their mother abused them and pulled them out of public school to homeschool them."

"In 2013, Iowa lawmakers ended requirements for homeschooling parents to report their students and curriculum to the local school district and allowed unlicensed independent instructors to teach children."

"Also last year Kentucky state senator Ray Jones sought to pass a bill to prevent parents with a documented history of abuse or neglect from removing their children from public schools without court approval. Republican state senators refused to give the bill a hearing."

Read Length: Medium