Category: News

Engineers didn’t cause the Titan explosion, indolence did 

In June 2023, the internet was taken by storm at the news that the Titan submersible, an experimental project by OceanGate, had gone missing on a trip to the Titanic wreckage. For four days, there had been no communication with the vessel and the search and rescue turned into a recovery mission. It was determined that during the mission, the Titan submersible had imploded, killing all five passengers inside, including OceanGate founder Stockton Rush.  

This September, the U.S. Coast Guard began the public hearing investigating the disaster. Each testimony by ex-employees, directors and engineers reveals new and disturbing details that show just how corrupt the company was. As the investigation continues to unfold, the Titan disaster should be a sobering reminder of the indolence and hidden workplace politics that put people at risk every day.  

 Anyone working on the submersibles at OceanGate would have been able to recognize that the Titan mission was doomed to fail. Whether they were willing to admit it, though, was a different question. According to testimonies by ex-employees, the Titan had experienced a plethora of development issuesleading up to the disaster. From equipment issues to irresponsible storage practices, it was clear that the Titan was not fit for the mission. Former engineering director, Tony Nissen, recognized these issues and did his due diligence, refusing to sign off on a mission to the Titanic wreckage. Soon after, Nissen was fired. He is just one of many engineers and team members that challenged the OceanGate founder and were silenced. 

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush email exchange with Submersible Operations Expert (Rob McCallum) pic.twitter.com/XYQuoX4ryR

— Benjamin Young Savage (ᐱᓐᒋᐱᓐ)  (@benjancewicz) June 26, 2023

The workplace politics at OceanGate are not the only failure that took the lives of the five passengers. Former director of machine operations, David Lochridge, was bold enough to bring his safety concerns to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration after he was fired. Despite promises by OSHA to investigate the company and involve the Coast Guard, nothing came from their inquiries except for a lawsuit and agreement for Lochridge effectively barring him from filing any more complaints. OSHA and other safety agencies failed to do their jobs and did not take seriously the complaints that Lochridge brought up.  

Since OceanGate was a private deep-sea exploration company operating outside of territorial waters, they were not required to obtain certifications or safety checks before operating the Titan. OceanGate was able to bypass all safety requirements in the name of engineering and money-generation.  

The lack of regulations on submersibles and private companies combined with the failure of safety organizations and responsible individuals underscores a problem we know all too well. There are far too few regulations on all companies that are responsible for human lives here and abroad. The regulations that exist are too full of loopholes and clauses that render them ineffective. Because of these two conditions, OceanGate was the perfect breeding ground for workplace politics that prevented any kind of complaint that might impact their reputation. Even for upstanding employees who valued safety, their efforts were useless.   

Far too many companies in recent years have been responsible for outbreaks of illnesses and putting lives at risk. The citizens of America and the world deserve to know that the products and services they enjoy have been properly regulated and investigated. They deserve to know that safety issues are not being buried and hidden away from public knowledge. The greed and indolence of individuals must not overrule our regulatory systems. After all, it was greed and indolence that led five people to a death sentence and a watery grave.  

Photo Benjamin Jancewicz, photographe pour la nation Naskapis de Kawawachikamach

From August 26 to September 4, about fifteen communities gathered for a total of about 500 people. The dean of the group is from the community of Pakua-Shipu. Her name is Henriette Vollant, and she is 92 years old.

There are 170 tents erected on the site. Each community has a kitchen, and people cook three meals daily for the elderly. They live without water or electricity but can access the internet thanks to Sichun, an internet service company of three communities, the Naskapi, Matimekush/Lac-John, and Uashat mak Mani-utenam.

The Gathering of Elders is an annual activity of the Innu and Naskapi nations. This year’s novelty is the integration of the Atikamekws, whose participation is the first for them. They are represented by 37 people from the three Atikamekw communities.

“I am very happy to be here; I love the openness and brotherhood we have here with the Innu and the Naskapis,” says Hervé Ottawa, a companion of the Wemotaci community.

These nations can speak about their concerns and aspirations for generations to follow. Joyce Echaquan’s event unites them.

“Many people talk to me about what is happening in each of their communities, in their respective hospitals; they live from discrimination,” says Debby Flamand, organizer of the trip.

PHOTO: BENJAMIN JOSEPH JANCEWICZ

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2100551/innu-naskapi-aines-culture-rassemblement

The annual Gathering of Elders, held in Kawawachikamach this year, honors the memory of Innu politician and pioneer Alexandre McKenzie, who passed away in May. For over 25 years, this event has brought together hundreds of Aboriginal people from Quebec and Labrador to celebrate seniors and the transmission of Aboriginal culture.

The Ka Mamunuiitananuch cultural site, situated between Schefferville and Kawawachikamach, was transformed for the occasion with the installation of over 150 tents and shaputuan to host the event’s activities, running from August 26 to September 4. The Gathering features songs, dances, craft workshops, and discussion circles focused on mental health, substance abuse, bereavement, traditional medicine, and caribou.

In addition to cultural celebrations, the Gathering serves as a platform for remembering Alexandre McKenzie’s legacy, especially his work in promoting Aboriginal traditions. The event features performances by Innu artists, with the group Maten from Mani-utenam closing the event. Nearly 350 participants arrived in Kawawachikamach via the Tshiuetin train, which connects Schefferville and Sept-Îles, with the Tshakapesh Institute—founded by McKenzie—helping fly in several elders to attend.

This year’s event welcomes delegations from the Cree and Atikamekw nations for the first time, along with dignitaries, families, and young people. Students from Jimmy Sandy Memorial Elementary School in Kawawachikamach also performed a traditional dance show. Next year, the Gathering will be hosted by Mashteuiatsh in Lac-Saint-Jean.

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Baltimore City Firefighters saved a victim from a residential fire in Southwest Baltimore on Monday, according to the department.

The department says at approximately 3:30 p.m., Baltimore City Firefighters battled a working dwelling fire in the 4200 block of Potter Street in Southwest Baltimore. Units arrived on the scene to find fire and smoke conditions coming from the first floor of this location. Firefighters performed a scene assessment and 360-degree observation and performed an interior attack on the fire. While performing search and rescue operations firefighters located a victim inside the dwelling. The victim was secured by firefighters and removed to the exterior where they are being cared by paramedics at the scene.

Fire officials say while battling the fire, firefighters identified holes in the floors of the structure that could create unsafe conditions. The incident commander ordered an evacuation of the structure to assure the safety of firefighters. At this time there have been no reports of injuries to any firefighters.

The Simcoe Gentlemen of Harmony returned victorious from the Ontario District Barbershop Competition in Belleville earlier this month.

The 34-member chorus won the provincial title, and one of four quartets they entered won in the novice division.

“The quartet of ours that won are called What Song Are We Singing,” said chorus member George Anger. “They were nervous but didn’t show it much on stage. They sang two pole cat songs – songs known by all barbershop choruses throughout the world – My Wild Irish Rose, and Sweet and Lovely.

Members of the winning novice quartet are Benjamin Jancewicz, Alan Daly, Les Komaromy, and Terry Pond.

The Simcoe Gentlemen of Harmony also were presented the trophy as the top performer in Plateau 3, while member John Deacon received the Sandy Bell Chapter Leader of the Year Award for his work at both the Simcoe Chapter and Ontario District level.

The Simcoe Gentlemen of Harmony has existed for over 50 years, and currently are directed by Derek Stevens, along with Robert Ross as assistant director.

“Our director has only been with us for a few years, and he decided that we were doing really well with these two songs,” Anger said. “’Let’s take them to provincial and see what we can do’, he said.

“It’s a lot of work to put in for six minutes on stage,” he noted. “But it’s worth it in the end.”

The men-only group sings every Tuesday evening at Old Windham Church in Simcoe.

“We would love for more guys to come out and join us,” said Anger. “We’d love to make it 50 (voices) again.”

The Simcoe Chapter draws members from London, Brantford and Niagara and performs at community fundraising events and special church services.

Diversifying the Police Force Won’t End Police Violence

Hiring a diverse police force may change what cops look like, but it doesn’t change what policing means and does.

After a white cop fatally shoots someone, prison reformers often suggest hiring more Black cops or more women. But diversifying the police force won’t end police violence, and neither will milquetoast reforms that have been tried and tried again.

Benjamin Jancewicz, a Baltimore-based abolitionist, points out that around 62 percent of the American police force is white, and around 85 percent of cops identify as male. But that lack of representation is not where the issue of policing lies. Jancewicz asserts that police have an established culture of “oppression and dominance” that does not change even when the force has more women or BIPOC officers. “Baltimore,” he points out, “has a 40 percent Black police force” which has not affected the “already established culture of corruption and brutality.”

In 2015, Freddie Gray died in police custody after being brutalized by Baltimore cops, and the police violence and misconduct in Baltimore hasn’t ended there. This is because a system will not and cannot reform itself, especially “when you dump more money and more personnel into it,” according to Jancewicz.

How do we know when a reform is actually going to funnel more money and power to the prison-industrial complex? In an interview with Truthout, Sarah Fathallah, an Oakland-based abolitionist, points to a Critical Resistance framework that helps to determine if a proposed reform “is an abolitionist step that works to chip away at the scope and impact of policing, or a reformist reform that expands its reach.”

The framework guides us to look at reforms critically and ask: Does the proposal reduce funding to police? Does the proposal challenge the notion that police increase safety? Does the proposal reduce the tools, tactics and technology police have at their disposal? And does the proposal reduce the scale of the police?

When it comes to hiring more police officers as an attempt to diversify, we can immediately see that this reform will not lessen the scope of the prison-industrial complex.

Instead, Fathallah says, “Hiring more diverse cops often expands the funding and bodies police departments have at their disposal.” Fathallah saw this firsthand in Oakland, where the City Council voted to approve a police academy in September 2021, citing “discrepancies between the gender and racial makeup of the police compared to communities” to justify the need to hire even more cops.

Focusing on the identities of the police who are committing violence actually prevents us from taking aim at the real issues. Fathallah rightfully points out that these pushes for gender and racial diversity frame “police brutality and murder as individual issues to solve” while reinforcing the “‘bad apples’ narrative of policing, that the police are harmful because of individually blameworthy and racially biased police officers.”

Pushing this narrative is imperative for those who seek to preserve the existing power structures, because it wrongly suggests that huge social problems are actually the failures of individuals, rather than structures.

The violence and cruelty of the prison-industrial complex has been well-documented since its inception, and public consciousness is reflecting this reckoning. More and more people are becoming increasingly critical of the prison-industrial complex. In the summer of 2020, this criticism came to a head with the protests against police violence after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Brutal police violence and the horrors of incarceration never stop, but when examples of them are catapulted onto the national stage, people want answers and solutions.

Because policing and incarceration are inherently violent and racist institutions, prison-industrial complex abolitionists have been working to dismantle them in the hopes of creating a safer and more just world. Without the prison-industrial complex, abolitionists argue that we can divert resources to life-giving resources and services, rather than death-making institutions.

Prison-industrial complex reformers and preservationists generally argue that the system is “broken” — that it has problems that are ultimately solvable, but that maintaining its existence is imperative for public safety. The truth is that the prison-industrial complex is functioning exactly as it is meant to; its creation was never intended to provide justice, but instead it was born of the desire to maintain white supremacy and racial capitalism. When we reframe our understanding of the prison-industrial complex, it becomes clear that it is accomplishing its intended purpose.

In this context, it becomes clear that reforms, such as hiring more Black cops or more women cops — as well as proposed changes like bans on private prisons, body cams on cops and requiring that police verbally warn before shooting — will never solve the problem of police violence.

While police violence can be enacted by individual officers due to racial bias, it is not limited to that. Fathallah says it is also (if not more so) “the outcome of intensive over-policing and systemic criminalization of racialized poverty,” meaning diverse hires will not stop violence.

When concerned people focus on reforming the police and removing the so-called bad apples, policing is able to continue existing in much the same way. Fathallah mentions the phrase “preservation through transformation,” coined by Professor Reva Siegel that describes the phenomenon wherein a violent institution shifts and changes just enough to remain legitimate in the eyes of most.

Hiring diverse cops changes who is doing policing and what the police look like, but it doesn’t change what policing is. And it certainly doesn’t change the fact that the system is actually functioning exactly as it was designed to do.

The only way to stop police violence is to abolish the police. “Policing itself is a form of violence,” says Fathallah, “and violence is a fixture of policing, not a glitch in its system.” Once we acknowledge that truth, then we can see that no reform will change what police are and what they were created to be: protectors of a white supremacist state, of racial capitalism and of private property.

Get to Know the Baltimore City Health Department’s Dynamic Social Media Duo

Using memes, GIFs, and evocative infographics, the duo aims to combat COVID misinformation and boost vaccinations.

For Adam Abadir, beginning his new job just weeks before the arrival of COVID-19 was like a rookie athlete being thrown into the World Series.

“If I had known a pandemic was on the horizon,” he quips, “I probably would have at least changed my salary request.”

Ironically, a year and a half later, Abadir, communications director for the Baltimore City Health Department—with contract graphic designer Benjamin Jancewicz—has created a campaign that’s become, well, viral.

Using memes, GIFs, and evocative infographics, the duo’s clever initiative to both combat COVID misinformation and boost vaccinations has not only garnered national acclaim but also changed the status quo for how health departments interact with their residents in the age of social media. The zany graphics are meant to turn often insipid harm-reduction messages into something “a little bit funny, kind of quirky, and sort of subversive,” says Abadir.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRguYurogNL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSK4-_Fqe7f/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Enter “MIMOSAS WITH THE GIRLS? YOU STILL AREN’T VAXXED, DEBRA!” That was one of Jancewicz’s first offerings, which features a generic stock image of an antagonized man arguing with a brow-furrowed woman. “I laughed when I saw it,” recalls Abadir, and the internet did, too.

The meme became one of their early hits on social media, particularly via the department’s Twitter account, @BMore_Healthy. Encouraged by its success, they went on to create “Salad Connor,” “Ginger Ale Derrick,” and “Green Tea Trina,” sending the message that: no, none of those “healthy” things cure COVID. They have since garnered tens of thousands of likes, thousands of comments, and shoutouts from major news outlets including the BBC, NPR, and The Washington Post.

The inspiration for each meme comes from feedback via the department’s frontline staff, from community ambassadors to infectious disease specialists. (In the case of “Mimosa Debra,” for instance, contact tracers had noticed an uptick in unvaccinated people contracting the virus over brunch.) And each message is fact-checked and vetted before being unleashed into the world.

Despite drawing much attention to their campaign, the guys behind the memes want to remind people that they are just a tiny part of what the country’s oldest continuously running health department has to offer, with some 800 employees, from school nurses to environmental enforcement officers, working to keep the city safe.

“The Baltimore City Health Department is staffed by some of the smartest people in the world,” says Abadir. “We are much more than just memes.”

https://www.wonkette.com/p/tx-lt-gov-dan-patrick-found-the-real-origin-of-covid-and-it-is-black-people

Texas is in the midst of a coronavirus surge, helped along by Gov. Greg Abbott’s absolute ban on mask and vaccine mandates. The state has lost more than 53,000 residents to the disease, and is rapidly running out of ICU beds. Earlier this month the Department of State Health Services requested five mortuary trailers to be parked in San Antonio as “a normal part of preparedness to have these available to support local jurisdictions in case they need them.” In short, it’s really bad.

With Texas’s governor rolling out the welcome mat for COVID, even going so far as to catch it himself, it fell to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to defend the administration’s honor on Laura Ingraham’s White Power COVID Love In last night. 

“They’re coming after your state … because of increased COVID numbers. Hospitalizations, deaths are up in Texas, and there’s a direct assault on your governor’s policies and your state’s policies, what’s your response?” Ingraham asked, setting up the tee for Patrick to bunt off of, like the littlest peewee baseball player in the league.

Because we all know that the real victims here aren’t people dying of a preventable disease, but the people refusing to prevent it.

“Well, Laura, the COVID is spreading, particularly, most of the numbers are with the unvaccinated. And the Democrats like to blame Republicans on that. Well, the biggest group in most states are African Americans who have not been vaccinated. And last time I checked, over 90 percent of them vote for Democrats in our major cities and major counties,” Patrick said.

And through the Botox and shamelessness, a momentary cloud passed across Laura’s face. For it was then she realized she and her guest were going to be the subject of yet another withering takedown in the Post for being a racist garbage fire that poisons the country.

Because Dan Patrick was lying, of course. While Black Americans are getting vaccinated at slightly lower rates than their White counterparts, there are simply a whole lot more White people in this country — and in Texas, for that matter — which means a whole lot more unvaccinated White people are wandering around spreading their germs like a bunch of assholes.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation , Black Texans represent 12 percent of the state’s population, but they constitute just nine percent of the cohort of vaccinated people. White people make up 41 percent of the population, but only 38 percent of this group are vaccinated. Which means that there are roughly three times as many unvaccinated White Texans as there are Black ones.

But of course Dan Patrick doesn’t give a shit about math or objective reality, not when there’s racist tropes about dirty Black people to be peddled.

“It’s up to the Democrats to get, just as it’s up to Republicans, to try to get as many people vaccinated,” he continued, making clear that he feels no responsibility whatsoever to care for his own melanin-rich constituents.

“And if people don’t want the vaccination, we’re not going to force it on them. That’s their individual right,” he said, careful to toe the party line that it’s totally cool to choose to be a vector for a deadly disease. “But in terms of criticizing the Republicans for this, we’re encouraging people who want to take it to take it. But they’re doing nothing for the African American community that has a significant, high number of unvaccinated people.”

Friends, if I might veer into the personal on a Friday afternoon, may I just say FUCK THIS GUY SO HARD. Because, like myself, Dan Patrick is from Baltimore, so this shit is humiliating to me on a whole ‘nother level. His conduct is vile by any metric, but it’s particularly disgusting because he hails from a majority Black city where he grew up around people of color. He doesn’t have to look at Baltimore’s COVID dashboard to know that it’s a lie to say that Democrats are “doing nothing for the African American community.” But if he did, he’d see that 65 percent of Baltimore residents have had at least one shot, which is a full 20 percent higher than Patrick’s constituents in the Lone Star State. Because, like Obama, we really do care .

But life is too short to dwell on assholes like Dan Patrick. So instead let’s give a shoutout to the Baltimore City Health Department, which is killing it on social media.

In a cheeky campaign to take on anti-vaxxers, BCHD is plastering social media with hilarious memes.

No brunch for you, DEBRA!

“[Residents] were dealing with friends and members who were going out to parties and other things they shouldn’t be doing but didn’t have the language to communicate the harms, so we turned some of those into memes,” BCHD consultant Benjamin Jancewicz told USA Today .

They’re here for a history lesson, for those of us who grew up next door to a world famous medical institution which consistently marginalized the city’s Black residents, but seem to have forgotten. Gee, Dan, do you think there’s a reason Black Americans might be a wee smidge leery of the medical establishment?

In 1899, Baltimore City Health Department Commissioner C. Hampson Jones, led racist efforts that targeted forced smallpox vaccinations of Black, Jewish, and immigrant communities in Baltimore. pic.twitter.com/YAqjepmq4R

— Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) (@BMore_Healthy) June 24, 2021

And they understand that we are in this together, each of us responsible for the other.

Every tribe, Every language, One Baltimore.

Get vaxxed: https://t.co/kmKfc0dLQD 443.984.8650 pic.twitter.com/EClXVmo241

— Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) (@BMore_Healthy) August 18, 2021

They have a mean clapback game, too.

Thomas, you seem to be interested in prostate exams.

The Men's Health Center (MHC), operated by Total Health Care, Inc., is located at 1515 W. North Avenue and provides primary care, screening and health education to uninsured males residing in Baltimore City. https://t.co/zHFS7gncIY pic.twitter.com/KFC6w7LaON

— Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) (@BMore_Healthy) August 18, 2021

So I don’t want to hear shit about Democrats not taking care of Black people, and certainly not from guys like Dan Patrick who are working to kill as many of their own constituents as possible. Get the shot, put on your mask, and shut up.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/08/18/baltimore-city-covid-vaccine-memes/8123916002

The city of Baltimore wanted to meet people where they were to provide COVID-19 vaccination information, so they turned to social media and used memes, ones that feature hilarious conversations while debunking myths.

And in the last few weeks, the city’s messages have gone viral with a positive outcome , according to Adam Abadir, director of communications for the Baltimore City Health Department.

“We can be authentic, we can be funny and we can reach people who we wouldn’t have been able to reach otherwise,” Abadir said.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the health department used more standard communications to get the information out about COVID-19, vaccinations and harm reduction principles.

After social media users reached out with questions on how to communicate safety principles with friends and family, members of the health department were scratching their heads – until a viral moment set off the light bulb.

In January, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott garnered media attention when he told a man, “Shorty, pull your mask up, man.”

Video of the incident set social media ablaze, and suddenly the health department had a new strategy.

Only in Baltimore “Pull your mask up shorty” 🤣🤣😂😂 pic.twitter.com/L57RSghBlZ

— iMatteSh*t 🏁 (@MySpacelylife) January 5, 2021

“I remember walking around the city and hearing people say ‘Shorty, pull your mask up,'” Abadir said. “To me, it meant if we could be authentic in our communications but also slide in a creative way to residents about harm reduction principles.”

A lot of the conversations used in the memes were conversations the health department knew people were having, according to Benjamin Jancewicz, a consultant for the department. 

“[Residents] were dealing with friends and members who were going out to parties and other things they shouldn’t be doing but didn’t have the language to communicate the harms, so we turned some of those into memes,” He said. 

The memes feature people debating on going to a house party or getting mimosas and also tap into some common misconceptions about what will help or what will hurt you.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10159263819050642&set=a.178094880641&ref=embed_POST

The first memes when out in early April or late May, with the department doing a new one every couple of weeks. Some of them have been shared in the same post which has really been making an impact, according to Abadir. 

“The response has been overwhelmingly positive, but there have been a few trolls,” he said.

In response to one troll who said their keto diet, full of kale salads, was keeping them COVID-19 free, the department turned it into a meme.

“The way we have been engaging with trolls is by showing how ridiculous they are, but that kind of humor disarms them,” Jancewicz said. “We’ve had multiple instances where we’ve been confronted with trolls, and they say, ‘That’s really funny.'”

Other cities have utilized different tactics, like the Los Angeles Dodgers who are offering two free game vouchers to those who attend their mobile vaccination clinic during a seven-game homestand.

The state of Louisiana partnered with businesses to provide free alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks to people who can prove they were vaccinated within the last seven days, according to the National Governors Association.

For Baltimore, Abadir hopes the memes will make people laugh but also will be shared friends and family members who aren’t vaccinated. 

“Memes are the language of the internet, and we need to be a part of that conversation,” Abadir said. “Not everyone is going to laugh at every joke, but what we are talking about is really important for people to hear.”

There is no way for the department to know if the memes are directly tied to people getting vaccinated, but Baltimore’s increase in residents getting the vaccine is consistently one of the highest in Maryland, according to Abadir.

“We want to acknowledge that the stakes are really high,” Abadir said. “We are humbled by the attention we get online, but the work continues.” 

Follow reporter Asha Gilbert @Coastalasha. Email: agilbert@usatoday.com.