Sansa likes to back up into my mom to get her butt fluffed. There’s a lot of butt to be fluffed, frankly.
In 16 “undisclosed locations” across northern Los Angeles, digital eyes watch the public. These aren’t ordinary police-surveillance cameras; these cameras are looking at your face. Using facial-recognition software, the cameras can recognize individuals from up to 600 feet away. The faces they collect are then compared, in real-time, against “hot lists” of people suspected of gang activity or having an open arrest warrant.
Considering arrest and incarceration rates across L.A., chances are high that those hot lists disproportionately implicate African Americans. And recent research suggests that the algorithms behind facial-recognition technology may perform worse on precisely this demographic. Facial-recognition systems are more likely either to misidentify or fail to identify African Americans than other races, errors that could result in innocent citizens being marked as suspects in crimes. And though this technology is being rolled out by law enforcement across the country, little is being done to explore—or correct—for the bias.
I love a good fabulist, so I found this INCREDIBLY detailed look at a woman who’s been cheating in triathlons to be utterly fascinating and damning (it does seem odd to devote so much space to a relatively unimportant athlete, but she’s also a serial cheater and thems the breaks):
The winners were announced: Julie Miller first, Susanne Davis second. “She didn’t come down and shake our hands,” Davis said, referring to Miller. “In my entire 20 years of racing, I’ve never had that happen. That’s when I looked at her and said: ‘Gosh, I didn’t see you. Where did you pass me?’ ”
Miller replied that she had been easily recognizable in her bright green socks and then all but ran off the awards stage, Davis said, telling Davis that she would see her at the world championships in Kona, Hawaii.
Davis compared notes with the third- and fourth-place finishers. They, too, were mystified. They had not seen Miller on the course, either.
Reform Jews are getting it done:
At its biennial meeting in Orlando, Fla., members of the Union for Reform Judaism approved the resolution that calls for their congregations and children’s camps to have gender-neutral bathrooms and encourages gender-neutral language. The resolution, which passed on a voice vote, also calls for religious school staffers to receive training on gender issues and urges members to lobby governments on behalf of the transgender community.
it’s all about the money / money / money:
Laurence Olivier, Inchon
How did Laurence Olivier, the finest actor of his generation, end up starring in Inchon, a war movie funded by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon that’s widely regarded as one of the worst films of all time? We don’t have to guess, as Olivier gave a very candid answer in an interview on the film’s set. “People ask me why I’m playing in this picture,” he explained. “The answer is simple. Money, dear boy.” The 73-year-old Olivier, who was paid $1 million (delivered by helicopter) to play Douglas MacArthur in the film, compared himself to a vintage wine: “You have to drink me quickly before I turn sour. I’m almost used up now and I can feel the end coming.” With the void approaching, the only thing that mattered was making as much money for his family as possible. “Nothing is beneath me if it pays well,” he concluded. “I’ve earned the right to damn well grab whatever I can in the time I’ve got left.” Olivier would live another eight years, taking 15 more screen roles; his answer went on to inspire an entire TV Tropes page.
I honestly do not know why anyone would bother writing this book?:
But Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings, judging from early reviews, is most interested in exploring potential ambiguities of their relationship. The book wonders: Did Hemings perhaps enjoy it? To what extent was she complicit?
According to Kirkus, in this novel Hemings enthusiastically consents to the relationship: “And so, when some half hour after Sally Hemings arrives late at the upstairs parlor, and Thomas Jefferson confesses breathlessly that he would very much like to lie with her as a man lies with his wife … she whispers that she would like that, too. …”
NPR quotes a passage in which she whispers ecstatically to Jefferson, “I want us always to be as we are here … where we are only our eyes, our hands, those parts of us made for each other by nature, where our only words are the ones we whisper in the little caves we make between pillow, cheek and lips.”
carly my love:
< https://youtu.be/b1LNQBX8JwE >
Our VP of compliance emailed and my direct supervisor and me (we’re in Human Resources) to say that the CFO’s son is going to do an internship with her (the CFO). He will be doing financial auditing on behalf of compliance. She stated in her email that she didn’t think it was a conflict of interest. She also said we should amend our conflict of interest policy because it currently says that as a member of the executive team, the CFO cannot hire a relative. Also, despite the fact that we have never had a paid intern before, she said that the CFO/mom is giving up part of her budget to compensate him $13 an hour. As a side note, this is a higher hourly rate than many of our entry-level employees. She then asked us to let her know if we had any issues with the arrangement.
I strongly felt it was unethical so I wrote back and highlighted my concerns: he would be auditing work done by his mom and her department, which could cause internal control issues and may compromise the accuracy of his findings; him being paid, especially out of her budget, could be seen as preferential since we’ve never paid an intern before (we have around 30 unpaid interns at any given time); and lastly, I felt the policy should stand because nepotism can cause several problems.
She came down to my office shortly after and told me I need to work on my communication as my email was very harsh, shocking, and unsettling. I had had a colleague of mine read my email before I sent it and she had helped me soften the language considerably so I definitely didn’t think it was “shocking” or “harsh.” She stated that she was only telling me that for my own growth and development. She then proceeded to explain the situation to me again and insist it was kosher and said she would proceed. My supervisor, who had previously agreed with me, completely backed down and said she should go ahead with the internship. Am I living in a twilight zone or is this really weird and unethical? And wasn’t her reaction weird and defensive?
Friend of The Toast Esmé Weijun Wang on what it means to be “the good schizophrenic”:
According to stereotype, schizophrenics are seen as some of the most dysfunctional members of society: We are homeless, we are inscrutable, and we are murderers. We are mass shooters like James Holmes, Jiverly Wong, Maj. Nidal Hasan, and Jared Loughner. Less headline-grabbing are people such as Elyn Saks, a recipient of the MacArthur “genius” grant who is a University of Southern California law professor, advocate, and author of a critically acclaimed memoir about life with schizophrenia. In a 2008 paper, Saks recalls, “When I was examined for readmission to Yale Law School, the psychiatrist suggested I might spend a year working at a low-level job, perhaps in fast food, which would allow me to consolidate my gains so that I could do better when I was readmitted.” The criteria for being able to return to a top-ranking law school, it seems, is being able to have a job, thus proving that you’ve returned to productivity — yet having schizophrenia is seen as canceling out the abilities that allowed someone like Saks to get into law school in the first place.
I am indeed terrified of getting sepsis in a hospital, so I guess it’s good to be aware of the symptoms (EMPHASIS IS MINE):
Until recently, the CDC failed to even mention sepsis in it’s A–Z index of medical terms. Then, following the tragic death of a 12-year-old boy named Rory Staunton, Rory’s parents successfully lobbied the CDC to add it. While the CDC’s new fact sheet is, indeed, largely factual, it would be hard to read it and other similar online resources without concluding that you need to run to the hospital every time you come down with a flu-like illness. For example, in response to “When Can You Get Sepsis?” the CDC explains: “Sepsis can occur to anyone, at any time, from any type of infection, and can affect any part of the body. It can occur even after a minor infection.” Additionally—in the sepsis acrostic, the I stands for “I feel like I might die.” (If you ever genuinely feel like you might die, please go to an emergency room immediately rather than consulting the internet.)
Picture a single tear rolling down my face, crushed by “Robert”‘s cruel jibes:
