Texas Abortion Ban Results in Increase in Newborn Deaths & 16 Nobel Economists Warn Against Trumponomics
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Maya Angelou speaks to being mindful of what impression we leave people with.
Texas abortion ban linked to 13% increase in infant and newborn deaths: Gov. Abbott promised to eliminate rape in Texas; instead, Texas leads the country in rapes and rape-related pregnancies. How that affects their near ban on abortion.
Trump would make America’s inflation crisis worse, 16 Nobel economists warn: But what do they know, right?
Kareem’s Video Break: A fusion of Irish dance and hip-hop is as good as Snoopy’s “First Day of Spring” dance.
Phoenix police use excessive force and racially discriminate, Justice Dept. says: Systemic racism exists, so why are Republicans so aggressive about denying it?
New Yorkers Were Choked, Beaten and Tased by NYPD Officers. The Commissioner Buried Their Cases: How is this justice?
California prosecutors used anti-gay slurs to refer to prospective jurors: This is not what is meant by “a jury of one’s peers.”
Kareem’s Kvetching Korner: Virginia city repeals ban on psychic readings as industry grows and gains more acceptance: When is something made-up free speech and when is it a scam?
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Play “Ida’s Crusade”: When jazz is played with a full orchestra, there’s a richness and weight to the sound that makes it resonate beyond the walls around us.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
poet Maya Angelou (1928-2014)
I’m of two minds about this lovely quote. On the one hand, I agree that the details of our encounters with people can blur into one vague inkblot, but that the feeling we get when we see a person or know we are about to see them is a visceral reaction that is a distillation of all previous encounters. In short, I may forget what their opinions were about the movies or books we discussed for hours at dinner, but a deep, inarticulate part of my being remembers how they treated me, reacted to me—and made me feel.
On the other hand, sometimes what you specifically said or did is how you made them feel. I clearly remember insults and praise I received in the past and how it made me feel hurt or joy. I also remember things I said in my past that caused hurt or joy. I can remember simple acts of kindness toward me that were so insignificant to the person doing it that they probably forgot it within minutes. But it has lingered in my DNA for decades.
Let’s not quibble. The takeaway here is that our goal should be to leave an impression on people that evokes a feeling of happiness. This is not always possible with some people who are intent on leaving the opposite impression. In the end, I like to imagine that when someone says, “Kareem’s coming over for dinner,” those they’re speaking to don’t sigh heavily, roll their eyes, and think, “Let’s get through this.” Instead, I want them to smile and feel a tick of pleasant anticipation and think, “This will be an enjoyable way to spend my time.” And when I leave, they think, “That was nice. We should do it again sometime.”
It doesn’t matter whether the interaction is a minute in an elevator or an evening at a banquet, the time when we brush up against others is our opportunity to make that time—our most personal and precious commodity—joyfully memorable.
Texas abortion ban linked to 13% increase in infant and newborn deaths (NBC News)
SUMMARY: A Texas law that banned abortions in early pregnancy is associated with a stark increase in infant and newborn deaths, a study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics found.
Lawmakers passed Texas Senate Bill 8, or SB8, in September 2021. The state law banned abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as five weeks. This effectively banned abortion in the state, which used to allow abortion up to 22 weeks of pregnancy.
The law did not include exemptions for congenital anomalies, including conditions that will cause a newborn to die soon after birth.
The new study compared infant death rates in Texas from 2018 to 2022 to those of 28 other states. The data included newborns 28 days or younger and infants up to 12 months old. Infant deaths in Texas rose by nearly 13% the year after SB8 was passed, from 1,985 in 2021 to 2,240 in 2022. During that same period, infant deaths rose by about 2% nationwide.
Babies born with congenital anomalies also increased in Texas, by nearly 23%, but decreased by about 3% nationwide.
“This is pointing to a causal effect of the policy; we didn’t see this increase in infant deaths in other states,” said Alison Gemmill, assistant professor of population, family and reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who led the research.
While some congenital anomalies can be corrected after birth, including cleft palate and some heart defects, others are deemed “incompatible with life.”
“The specific increase in deaths attributable to congenital anomalies really makes an ironclad link between the change in the law and the terrible outcomes that they’re seeing for infants and families,” said Nan Strauss, senior policy analyst of maternal health at the National Partnership for Women & Families, who was not involved with the research. “The women and families have to suffer through an excruciating later part of pregnancy, knowing that their baby is likely to die in the first weeks of life.”
MY TAKE: To prove its love for life, Texas forces women to carry fetuses to term that have no possibility of surviving. This puts the women’s lives at greater risk of death and chronic health issues. The emotional and psychological damage caused by carrying a fetus the women know won’t survive is horrendous. If the job of government is to protect its citizens, Texas is failing miserably.
Now we have evidence of just how bad the ripple effects are of this misogynistic law. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott didn’t think an exception for rape was needed because he promised, “Texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas by aggressively going out and arresting them and prosecuting them and getting them off the streets.” However, a January study in JAMA Internal Medicine found that Texas leads the country in rapes and rape-related pregnancies (26,313 in the 16 months since the abortion ban). Abbott’s statement that they will work to eliminate rape is great for PR but it’s so removed from reality that Texas voters need to wonder at either his grasp on reality or his commitment to telling them the truth. Either way, he shouldn’t be leading the state.
Let’s put this in a more national context: According to Scientific American, between July 1, 2022, and January 1, 2024, 64,000 rape-related pregnancies occurred in the 14 states with a total abortion ban.
Add to this my previous articles showing the Republican campaigns to curb birth control, IVF, and no-fault divorce, and you see a master plan at reducing not just women’s rights, but how we value women in our society. This attempt to define them mostly based on their biology is dehumanizing—for all Americans.
Once again, I want to remind Americans that women are in the majority and could end this regressive trend. Unfortunately, so many women have been trained to accept the perspective that they are not deserving of equality or that by not being treated equally they are instead considered “special.” They are like an abused child who always runs to their abusive parent seeking their love—which they can never get. Sadly, I think many of them know this is true but feel so powerless that they lean into the fantasy because it makes them feel less isolated—and less complicit.
If we continue down this restrictive road, where do you think women’s rights will be five years from now? Better or worse?
Trump would make America’s inflation crisis worse, 16 Nobel economists warn (CNN News)
SUMMARY: Inflation remains public enemy No. 1 in today’s economy. Americans are fed up with the cost of living and former President Donald Trump says he will help.
Yet 16 Nobel Prize-winning economists are warning that Trump’s proposals wouldn’t just fail to fix inflation — they would make matters worse.
“We the undersigned are deeply concerned about the risks of a second Trump administration for the US economy,” the economists wrote in the Tuesday letter, which was first reported by Axios.
The letter, organized by famed economist Joseph Stiglitz, argued there are valid reasons to worry the Trump agenda will “reignite” inflation.
In particular, the economists point to Trump’s “fiscally irresponsible budgets” and nonpartisan research from the likes of the Peterson Institute, Oxford Economics and Allianz that finds the Trump agenda — if successfully enacted — would increase inflation.
MY TAKE: While 51.2 million people tuned in to watch Trump and Biden debate, trying to prophesize our nation’s future in the waddles of their necks like ancient runes, actual experts are delivering economic opinions that actually mean something. Yet, it’s pretty certain that only a small fraction of those who watched the presidential debate will read this article or hear this information. Instead, social media will be swamped with people complaining about high prices and why isn’t Biden ending that?
All the information about the economy is out there from legitimate sources to come to the inevitable conclusion that Biden is better for the economy than Trump. It’s like showing a person that the can of tuna they are about to eat has an expiration date of five years ago, but they say, “Tuna never goes bad,” and eat it. And die. Part of you can’t help but shrug and think, “Darwinism at work.” But this is a case of the same person now forcing everyone else to eat the tuna. A vote for Trump is a vote for a worse economy—if we can believe 16 Nobel-winning economists over our expertise in economics.
Kareem’s Video Break
Kaitlyn Sardin fuses traditional Irish dancing with hip-hop to create a unique and joyful dance.
This Week in Systemic Bigotry
Systemic bigotry is when biases based on race, religion, gender, gender identity, and ethnic origin are so ingrained in our governmental systems—like the justice system, the law enforcement system, the educational system, etc.—that those in marginalized groups are not treated equally. Hundreds of studies have proven this to be true, yet those who are not directly and daily affected choose to deny its existence and just how widespread and intractable it is. Here are a few recent examples:
Phoenix police use excessive force and racially discriminate, Justice Dept. says (The Washington Post)
SUMMARY: A nearly three-year federal civil rights investigation said it found widespread issues within the Phoenix police force.
The Phoenix Police Department routinely uses excessive force and discriminates against Black, Hispanic and Native American people, part of a broader pattern of unconstitutional policing in one of America’s largest cities, according to a Justice Department report released Thursday.
In a 126-page report, the Justice Department said a federal civil rights investigation found that police in Phoenix use unnecessarily dangerous force, making situations more volatile; fail to provide proper oversight when force is used; and enforce the law based on race. Investigators also found that the department violates the rights of people who are homeless — improperly arresting them and destroying their property — while officers improperly retaliate against those who have protested their actions.
New Yorkers Were Choked, Beaten and Tased by NYPD Officers. The Commissioner Buried Their Cases. (Propublica)
SUMMARY: So in New York City, a civilian oversight board investigates alleged police misconduct and prosecutes officers in disciplinary trials. When the commissioner “retains” a case, he literally takes it away from the civilian oversight board, so there’s no trial, no public questioning of officers.
The commissioner can still impose punishment. But he often doesn’t. And when he does give out a penalty, it’s almost always light, rarely more than the loss of a few vacation days.
California prosecutors used anti-gay slurs to refer to prospective jurors (The Guardian)
SUMMARY: California prosecutors used homophobic slurs to refer to prospective jurors in death penalty cases, newly disclosed court records reveal, adding to a widening misconduct scandal.
Prosecutors from the Alameda county district attorney’s office, whose jurisdiction includes Oakland, used anti-gay labels during jury selection in two capital trials, according to copies of handwritten notes shared with the Guardian.
In a note from a 2010 case, a prosecutor remarked that a potential juror who worked for Shell oil was a “dyke”. In notes from a 1995 case, a prosecutor wrote that a prospective juror was a cashier and a “possible fagot [sic]”. Neither were selected for the juries.
The files are coming to light two months after US judge Vince Chhabria said evidence suggested Alameda prosecutors have systematically excluded Black and Jewish jurors over the years and ordered the DA’s office to review all implicated death penalty cases. While some records of discrimination are decades old, the scandal could have a significant impact on defendants who remain incarcerated with death sentences and continue to appeal their cases.
…In the case of Ernest Dykes, sentenced to death in 1995, files showed that prosecutors marked down when candidates were Jewish, repeatedly scrawling “Jew?” in their notes.
MY TAKE: Articles like this appear on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. Each exposes a deeply ingrained bias running through a government agency that we rely on for protection and safety. What is especially galling is that it’s never a case of just one person’s bias, it’s a hive of buzzing bigot activity. Others know about it and either directly aid it or, by not reporting it, are complicit in nourishing it. Is this how they make America great?
What makes this kind of injustice systemic is that the bosses don’t actively root it out. That means they agree with racism, antisemitism, and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments. This conspiracy of idiocy runs deep, not just locally but nationally. A police officer can be fired for racism in one city and immediately hired in another without the reason for their firing ever being conveyed. Or is that the very reason the new city is hiring them?
We’ve given immense power—and weapons—to these people and they betray their oath, their city, and their country without any qualms about doing so. This kind of thinking needs to be screened out during the hiring process. And others need to be vigilant about the misdeeds of those in their profession with a safe way to report these misdeeds. We should offer mandatory training about discrimination to everyone in government positions, and fire anyone unwilling to uphold these standards.
Kareem’s Kvetching Korner
This is where I indulge my pettiness about minor things that bug me but aren’t worth getting outraged about.
Virginia city repeals ban on psychic readings as industry grows and gains more acceptance (AP News)
SUMMARY: …The City Council in Norfolk, Virginia, repealed a 45-year-old ban this week on “the practice of palmistry, palm reading, phrenology or clairvoyance, for monetary or other compensation.”
Soothsaying, it turned out, had been a first-degree misdemeanor and carried up to a year in jail.
…It’s unclear exactly why this city of 230,000 people on the Chesapeake Bay, home to the nation’s largest Navy base, nullified the 1979 ordinance. Versions of the ban had existed for decades before.
…[T]he city’s repeal comes as the psychic services industry is growing in the U.S., generating an estimated $2.3 billion in revenue last year and employing 97,000 people, according to a 2023 report from market research firm IBIS World.
In late 2017, a Pew Research Center survey found that most American adults identify as Christians. But many also hold New Age beliefs, with 4 in 10 believing in the power of psychics. A 2009 survey for the Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project found about 1 in 7 Americans had consulted a psychic.
…In 2022, AARP warned of scam psychics who prey on “people who are grieving, lonely or struggling emotionally, physically or financially.”
MY TAKE: Everyone knows someone who has an amazing story of a psychic who knew things they couldn’t possibly have known. However, there’s no such thing as psychic power any more than there is magic. We’ve all watched illusionists perform some amazing feats—throwing a deck of cards against a window only to have a selected card appear on the other side of the glass—and wondered, “How did they do that?” “Psychics” are good at reading people’s expressions and micro-expressions, have a strong understanding of basic psychology, and know what people want and fear. We are all vulnerable because we want to believe in supernatural forces, we want to believe we can contact those whom we loved who have died.
Other states have shut down stores that feature witchcraft or soothsayers based on laws that prohibit telling the future for money. But those laws have come under scrutiny as violating the First Amendment’s protection of free speech. For those wishing a little entertainment in the form of a psychic or illusionist, it’s all harmless fun. But for those paying a lot of money to communicate with a dead relative, it’s a costly and cruel scam. But then again, the same can be said of those evangelical preachers pulling in millions from elderly followers in exchange for being “healed” or promised a happy afterlife. Or those donating money to Trump based on the lies that they choose to believe. FYI: Illusionists have duplicated the “healing” of audience members to prove it’s fake.
There’s a limit to legislating protection for suckers. However, it is fair to compel psychics to display a sign that says: “For entertainment value only” and to establish a minimum age to partake. That won’t stop some from believing, but it gives an official warning to the young and the gullible.
Kareem’s Jukebox Playlist
JLCO with Wynton Marsalis: “Ida’s Crusade”
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has a new album, Freedom, Justice, and Hope. The website best describes the contents and intent:
Featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis alongside social justice activist and founder of The Equal Justice Initiative Bryan Stevenson, Freedom, Justice, and Hope is a stirring experience that explores Black Americans’ pursuit of equality through music and spoken word. Originally performed in front of an empty house and then webcast globally during the Covid pandemic, this special event is now an album, just in time for Juneteenth 2024.
Freedom, Justice, and Hope pairs Stevenson’s moving monologues on race in America with classics like John Coltrane’s “Alabama” and “We Shall Overcome” performed by the world-renowned JLCO. Stevenson also contributes his considerable piano chops to two tracks, joining special guests Endea Owens (bass) and Josh Evans (trumpet) who also each wrote monumental new compositions for the occasion. Freedom, Justice, and Hope illuminates how Black jazz artists have been inspired by—and have, in turn, inspired—the struggle for freedom for decades, and it adds an important chapter to the music’s growing legacy of activism.
The song I’ve highlighted is “Ida’s Crusade,” written and performed by bass player Endea Owens (who also plays bass on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert). It’s inspired by the life of Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) who helped found the NAACP, campaigned for women getting the right to vote, and was an influential civil rights activist.
I used to frequent small jazz clubs to enjoy the intimacy of a sweaty trio or blazing quartet filling the room with their soulful sound. But listening to a large orchestra play jazz is a whole different experience. There’s a richness to the sound and a larger scope to the vision. It’s the difference between a leisurely walk in the woods and flying low over the Amazon jungle to witness both its massiveness and the interaction of life below.
Kareem, to answer your question, “If we continue down this restrictive road, where do you think women’s rights will be five years from now? Better or worse?” Worse! If women don’t become a cohesive unit, a politically fatal outcome awaits us in four months. Should Trump return to office, in five years, women will be without a voice, out of leadership positions, and back into kitchens. Republican males are after all forward progress. Period! But women are at the forefront of their wrath—and you defined the issue well.
There are days I read your words for insight into a news event or a social discussion. But today I was touched by this paragraph you wrote: “It doesn’t matter whether the interaction is a minute in an elevator or an evening at a banquet, the time when we brush up against others is our opportunity to make that time—our most personal and precious commodity—joyfully memorable.”
Kareem, the gift of your time today through these words prompts me to say thank you. I appreciate your good heart, your intelligence, and your dedication to your readers.