October 20, 2022

An autistic teen needed psychiatric help. He spent a total of 76 days in an ER instead.

By his fourth week waiting for help in the emergency room, Zachary Chafos’s skin had turned pale white from lack of sun.

His mother, Cheryl Chafos, bathed her autistic teenage son daily in the ER’s shower, trying to scrub the sickly pallor off him. His father, Tim Chafos, held the 18-year-old’s hand, trying to soothe his son’s pain and confusion over what was happening.

They’d brought Zach to Howard County General Hospital on Nov. 12, 2020, amid a severe mental crisis. All his life, he’d been the joyful center of their family. But after months of pandemic isolation, Zach had become uncontrollably angry and begun physically assaulting his parents and his younger brothers.

Now he and his parents found themselves in medical purgatory, waiting for psychiatric treatment that never seemed to arrive. Every day, Zach’s case manager in the ER would call to see if a psychiatric bed had opened up. Every day, the answer was no.

In the state of Maryland, there are roughly 1,040 licensed psychiatric beds for adults in general and private hospitals and another 240 for children and teens. The majority are almost always full.

As a result, patients rushed to the emergency room often spend days or even weeks waiting for beds to open up in psychiatric hospitals and wards. The younger the patients are, and the more severe their cases, the fewer beds there are, and the longer they often wait.

https://wapo.st/3CSbWwp

This article is disturbing but a necessary read. I've gifted it to DU readers to avoid the paywall.

October 20, 2022

Massive Space Structure May Have Been Left by Galactic 'Intruder,' Astronomers Say

Scientists have discovered an unexplained structure made of hydrogen gas that stretches for nearly two million light years near a famous group of interacting galaxies, according to a new study.

The strange gas trail may have been formed by an “intruder” galaxy that collided with this galactic group, known as Stephan’s Quintet, about a billion years ago, but it will take more observations to understand the mystery of its formation.

Stephan’s Quintet is a spectacular group of five galaxies located about 300 million light years from Earth with a rich observational history. Named after Édouard Stephan, the astronomer who discovered it in 1877, the quintet was the first compact galaxy group ever spotted, and has since been imaged by countless observatories, including NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, which is the most powerful observatory ever launched.

Now, scientists led by Cong Xu, a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories in Beijing, have studied Stephan’s Quintet with the biggest single-dish telescope on Earth: China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). FAST was able to peer 100 times deeper into the galaxy group than past observations, revealing the never-before-seen gas structure that appears to be associated with the quintet, according to a study published on Wednesday in Nature.

Stephan’s Quintet “is unique among compact groups of galaxies,” said Xu and his colleagues in the study. “Observations have previously shown that interactions between multiple members, including a high-speed intruder galaxy currently colliding into the intragroup medium, have probably generated tidal debris.”

https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjkxbd/massive-space-structure-may-have-been-left-by-galactic-intruder-astronomers-say

Inner 10-year-old astronomer geeking out this morning!

October 20, 2022

A Fabled Map of the Cosmos Lost for Thousands of Years Has Been Found

A long-lost star map that is enormously important in the history of science has been discovered in the time-worn pages of a Medieval manuscript after a search that has spanned nearly 2,000 years, according to a new study.

Compiled by the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus, who lived during the 2nd century B.C., the legendary star catalog marks the first attempt to record accurate positions of celestial objects with fixed coordinates. Like many ancient documents, copies of the catalog were lost in the centuries after it was written, and it is only known from references to it in later works. The mystery of its disappearance has prompted a search for the catalog that dates back nearly 2,000 years.

Now, a team led by Victor Gysembergh, a professor at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), reports that passages of Hipparchus’ Star Catalog have been discovered underneath the text of a Christian manuscript that originated from Egypt’s Saint Catherine’s Monastery, and is now mostly housed at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.

The “new evidence is the most authoritative to date and allows major progress in the reconstruction of Hipparchus’ Star Catalog,” according to a study published on Tuesday in the Journal for the History of Astronomy.

“Hipparchus’ Star Catalog is the very first attempt in human history to precisely measure the positions of the fixed stars,” Gysembergh said in an email. “It is a major milestone in the birth of science as a collective endeavor to measure and predict our surroundings.”

https://www.vice.com/en/article/akey3e/hipparchus-star-catalog-found

October 19, 2022

'They said: aren't you that porn star?' The woman hunting down image-based abuse

“Faces of exes,” Mia Landsem read out loud, as she clicked on a link to a forum exposing intimate images of ex-girlfriends, her frowning brow illuminated by a three-screen computer. On the 25-year-old’s neck, underneath wisps of blond hair, are tattooed reminders in Norwegian to be “brave” and “don’t give a fuck.” An internet security expert by day, by night she has made it her mission to hunt down and report such images from her apartment in Oslo. “I try to focus on the worst ones,” she said. “I can maybe get a few groups removed in a day, but then 20 more appear.”

Digital image-based sexual abuse – a catch-all phrase that includes deepfake pornography, so-called “upskirting” and “revenge porn”, a term rejected by activists for implying the victim has done something wrong – is a global problem on the rise. Almost three out of four victims are women, according to a 2019 study by the University of Exeter. But there are male victims and female perpetrators.

Catching digital perpetrators was, in Landsem’s own words, initially a way to stay alive. At 18, she was at a bar in the Norwegian city of Trondheim when she noticed a group of guys sniggering at her. When she asked what was so funny, they said: “Aren’t you that porn star?” Landsem recalled. “I didn’t understand anything. Then they showed me that photo.”

In it, Landsem and her ex-boyfriend were having sex. She was 16 at the time. “I remember running to the toilet of the bar and crying,” Landsem said. Seeing how distressed she was, the men deleted the image. But it was already making the rounds of the city.

Although it is difficult to pin down how widespread digital intimate image-based abuse is, aid organisations in several countries reported that it exploded during the pandemic. “We’re seeing more and more content,” said Sophie Mortimer, manager at the UK Revenge Porn Helpline, whose caseload surged to a record of 3,146 cases in 2020. “We need to act in a global manner,” Mortimer said. “Because that’s how the internet works, it is a global thing.”

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/oct/19/they-said-arent-you-that-porn-star-the-woman-hunting-down-image-based-abuse

This is what brought down Katie Hill--remember her?

October 19, 2022

A New Jersey teacher accused of pulling a student's hijab sues an Olympic fencer

U.S. Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad is facing a defamation lawsuit from a New Jersey teacher over allegations the Olympian ruined the teacher's reputation and career over an incident involving one of the woman's students.

Last year, one of Tamar Herman's second grade students at Seth Boyden Elementary School, a 7-year-old girl who is Black and Muslim, reported that Herman had yanked her hijab from her head while at school. The girl came home upset and told her mother.

Muhammad's relation to the family is unclear, but the Olympian got wind of the case. She recounted the young girl's story with her own social media post (that has since been deleted), calling the teacher's actions abuse. The post went viral.

From there, the local Maplewood community was in uproar, the New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy weighed in, and the Council on American Islamic Relations' New Jersey branch also called for Herman's firing. Herman was even criminally investigated over the case. Prosecutors declined to press charges.

Herman alleges her reputation was ruined, she was threatened and bullied, and placed on leave by the school district, her lawsuit against Muhammad states. Herman, who is Jewish, says she also faced antisemitic vitriol.

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/19/1129767201/new-jersey-teacher-sues-ibtihaj-muhammad

~SMDH~ Everybody's a victim nowadays.

October 18, 2022

The cat came back

Tonight I went down to leave food for Winnie, who has been making herself scarce in the past week, and to my complete and utter shock, Vicky crawled out from the woodpile. Literally crawled, because something has happened to her. One of her back legs is dragging, and the other isn't working well. Either she was hit by a car or she was attacked by something. She also sounds pretty awful with some kind of respiratory thing. But she was very hungry and inhaled the food I put out. She also let me pick her up, which she never does, and carry her inside. I have installed her in my studio, despite the fact that spousal unit does not want cats anywhere in the house, with litter box. a box to sleep in (that cat loves boxes!) and water and some dry food, which she was happily crunching on when I left her. I figure if she is eating she will be okay. I hope. First thing in the morning, trip to the vet. But she seems happy to see me and I am crying with relief.

October 18, 2022

Moms Against Libraries: How a Discredited Psychological Theory Sparked a Book-Banning Movement

Some of the books Moms for Liberty has urged school districts to ban. Alex Ramos

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.
Editor’s note: This short piece accompanied “The Most Powerful Moms in America Are the New Face of the Republican Party” in the November/December 2022 print edition of Mother Jones.

During a Moms for Liberty summit session called Gender Ideology in Our Schools, a presenter introduced a term I’d never heard before: “rapid-onset gender dysphoria.” She cited the work of a former Brown University physician and researcher named Lisa Littman, who, in a 2018 study published in the journal PLOS One, had argued that the increase in the number of children who are openly questioning their gender identity isn’t just a result of broader acceptance of trans and nonbinary people. Rather, Littman posited, gender dysphoria is spreading among children through peer networks, almost like an infectious disease. Littman’s ideas went viral: Joe Rogan devoted an episode to these concepts, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling blogged about it, and Fox News’ Tucker Carlson called transgender identity among children an “epidemic.”

Social scientists, however, were skeptical of the study from the get-go: Chief among the methodological problems they identified were that Littman had interviewed parents, rather than transgender children themselves, and that she had recruited participants in the study in online communities that weren’t supportive of transgender people. After the paper was published, the journal issued a lengthy correction and apology. Major medical organizations, including the American Psychological Association, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, have rejected ROGD as a theory. But that hasn’t stopped parents’ rights groups from advancing their feverish crusade to rid schools of anything remotely friendly to the LGBTQ community, lest the “contagion” spread.

Over the past year, Moms for Liberty chapters have called for schools to ban or limit access to dozens of books for any mention of transgender or queer themes, including Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and George M. Johnson’s award-winning memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue. In August, a Virginia chapter helped push through a new rule that requires school libraries to email parents every time a child checks out a book, as well as sign a permission slip indicating that they approve of the class curriculum, according to the Washington Post. A leaked audio recording captured a member at a June chapter meeting in Cabot, Arkansas, fantasizing about shooting a school librarian who had defended the LGBTQ-friendly books that Moms for Liberty considered inappropriate: “I’m telling you, if I had any mental issues, they would all be plowed down by a freaking gun right now,” she said.

The attacks have progressed way beyond books. In April, the Moms for Liberty Twitter account accused the LGBTQ advocacy group The Trevor Project of “encouraging children to keep secrets from their parents.” In July, Twitter banned Moms for Liberty for a week after the group thundered against California’s gender-transition bill: “Gender dysphoria is a mental health disorder that is being normalized by predators across the USA. California kids are at extreme risk from predatory adults. Now they want to ‘liberate’ children all over the country. Does a double mastectomy on a preteen sound like progress?”

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/10/moms-against-libraries/

These people are f***ing crazy!

October 18, 2022

Rent Going Up? One Company's Algorithm Could Be Why.

On a summer day last year, a group of real estate tech executives gathered at a conference hall in Nashville to boast about one of their company’s signature products: software that uses a mysterious algorithm to help landlords push the highest possible rents on tenants.

“Never before have we seen these numbers,” said Jay Parsons, a vice president of RealPage, as conventiongoers wandered by. Apartment rents had recently shot up by as much as 14.5%, he said in a video touting the company’s services. Turning to his colleague, Parsons asked: What role had the software played?

“I think it’s driving it, quite honestly,” answered Andrew Bowen, another RealPage executive. “As a property manager, very few of us would be willing to actually raise rents double digits within a single month by doing it manually.”

The celebratory remarks were more than swagger. For years, RealPage has sold software that uses data analytics to suggest daily prices for open units. Property managers across the United States have gushed about how the company’s algorithm boosts profits.

“I think it’s driving it, quite honestly,” answered Andrew Bowen, another RealPage executive. “As a property manager, very few of us would be willing to actually raise rents double digits within a single month by doing it manually.”

The celebratory remarks were more than swagger. For years, RealPage has sold software that uses data analytics to suggest daily prices for open units. Property managers across the United States have gushed about how the company’s algorithm boosts profits.

https://www.propublica.org/article/yieldstar-rent-increase-realpage-rent

October 18, 2022

Far-Right Troll Claims Anime Is 'Satanic,' but Not Sure Why

Far-right podcaster and self-described “theocratic fascist” Matt Walsh once again grabbed attention for himself by making deliberately outrageous comments, this time claiming that anime is “satanic” while admitting he has no basis for that observation.

While rapidly rising in the ranks as one of the most influential anti-trans voices on the right, Walsh has also used his perch at Ben Shapiro’s conservative outlet The Daily Wire to trollishly whine about whatever outrage du jour bubbles up in right-wing media’s forever culture war.

Whether claiming there’s no scientific basis for a fictional Black mermaid, accusing “morbidly obese weirdo” Lizzo of “desecrating American history” by playing an old flute, or saying the racist Great Replacement theory is “just a fact,” Walsh’s perpetual aggrievement and casual bigotry have remained a feature of his commentary.

In a clip first flagged by Media Matters’ Jason Campbell, Walsh was asked by a viewer for his thoughts on anime. And just as he’s done in the past with things he disdains, Walsh immediately tied it to Satan.

“It’s really popular amongst teens and young adults. I think it’s all satanic,” he declared before noting he had no evidence to back up that assertion.

“I have no argument for it. I have no argument for why it’s satanic,” Walsh added. “It just seems that way to me. All anime to me seems weird—just like bizarre, creepy.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/far-right-troll-matt-walsh-denounces-anime-as-satanic-though-he-doesnt-know-why

As my dad always said when someone had no argument, "Your saying so doesn't make it so."

October 18, 2022

Mother seeks answers after son killed in solitary

The body of Anwar Phillips was discovered on Jan. 4, 2022, in his solitary cell at Virginia’s notorious Red Onion State Prison. Another prisoner has been charged in his death — but Phillips’ mother says she wants answers the Virginia Department of Corrections won’t give her.

Vernetta Phillips shared the circumstances of her son’s death as they were told to her by Wise County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steven Davis. 8News contacted Davis and the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) to confirm the information, but both declined to comment, citing the ongoing case.

According to Vernetta Phillips, her son and a fellow prisoner, William Pettigrew, were both in solitary confinement when Pettigrew transferred a hand-braided rope from his cell to Phillips’. The Commonwealth’s Attorney and VADOC claimed to Vernetta Phillips that there is surveillance footage of the crime.

Pettigrew was indicted on charges of murder and strangulation in September and will face a jury trial in the Wise County Circuit Court on Jan. 4, 2023 — exactly one year to the day after he purportedly killed Anwar Phillips.

(skip a lot here)

In 2021, efforts to create an independent oversight body for VADOC failed, but advocates saw a limited win earlier this year when the General Assembly created a work group to make recommendations on how to end solitary confinement for longer than 14 days.

Advocates have criticized the study because VADOC has refused to allow an external review board to oversee the research, as is standard in academia.

https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/who-was-manning-the-cameras-virginia-mother-seeks-answers-after-sons-death-in-solitary/

Virginia, I'm ashamed of you. You're looking like Mississippi here.