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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday March 23 2017, @09:52PM   Printer-friendly
from the there-are-acceptable-levels-of-lead-poisoning? dept.

Some neighborhoods in California are experiencing levels of lead that exceed those measured in Flint, Michigan:

Dozens of California communities have experienced recent rates of childhood lead poisoning that surpass those of Flint, Michigan, with one Fresno locale showing rates nearly three times higher, blood testing data obtained by Reuters shows.

The data shows how lead poisoning affects even a state known for its environmental advocacy, with high rates of childhood exposure found in a swath of the Bay Area and downtown Los Angeles. And the figures show that, despite national strides in eliminating lead-based products, hazards remain in areas far from the Rust Belt or East Coast regions filled with old housing and legacy industry.

In one central Fresno zip code, 13.6 percent of blood tests on children under six years old came back high for lead. That compares to 5 percent across the city of Flint during its recent water contamination crisis. In all, Reuters found at least 29 Golden State neighborhoods where children had elevated lead tests at rates at least as high as in Flint.

Interactive map of U.S. lead hotspots.


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  • (Score: 2, Disagree) by jmorris on Friday March 24 2017, @01:53AM (6 children)

    by jmorris (4844) on Friday March 24 2017, @01:53AM (#483473)

    Because we should get our news from unfunny comedians. Next up Larry the Cable Guy will be laying some serious knowledge on us about SpaceX's latest launch.

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday March 24 2017, @02:36AM (5 children)

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday March 24 2017, @02:36AM (#483477) Journal

    One of the key signs of an empire in terminal decline is that only its fools and jesters dare to tell the truth to a wide audience. We are officially at the point where satire writes itself; ergo, the kind of mind that, as Franken said, specializes in pointing out absurdity for a living becomes, if only de facto and by accident, the perfect newscaster.

    You just don't like it because they're all laughing at you :D

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by jmorris on Friday March 24 2017, @03:24AM (4 children)

      by jmorris (4844) on Friday March 24 2017, @03:24AM (#483487)

      Oh yea, feel the fear, see the courage of the few willing to speak "Truth to Power", see them pat themselves on the back and hand each other awards for their bravery. Lemme give you a hint. When people are putting on bumper stickers about "Bush Hitler" and waving signs about how Trump is "Literally Hitler" it is a sign of virtue signaling only. Try it in Russia and get back to me on bravery. When it is really true you don't dare say it. What people like Oliver do, as low level but integral cogs in the ruling class, is speak "Power to Truth."

      John Oliver wouldn't know what Journalism was if it bit him on the butt and neither would his writers. His network would be angry if he wasted their valuable airtime on serious journalism even if he outsourced the writing to someone competent to do the work. Which side he does his politics on really doesn't matter. I love watching Milo's antics but I probably wouldn't be interested in any attempt he made at this subject either. I might watch to see the usual Milo behavior, but expecting to learn something about lead? No. And Milo actually was a working journalist before becoming... what exactly isn't readily quantifiable.

      You appear to be like most people these days, unable to even conceptualize what actual journalism would look like. It ain't nothing like the antics of political hacks scoring rhetorical points for laughs. Who, What, When, Where, Why and How; Just the facts. Anything else is analysis best left to smarter people than an ink stained wretch.

      • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday March 24 2017, @04:22AM

        by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday March 24 2017, @04:22AM (#483498) Journal

        Someone sounds just a liiiiiiittle triggered :) Go have a spell on yon fainting couch, J-Mo. Nothing you said invalidates my point.

        --
        I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
      • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24 2017, @04:43AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24 2017, @04:43AM (#483509)

        Virtue Signalling refers to the public expression of an opinion on a given topic primarily for the purpose of displaying one’s moral superiority before a large audience to solicit their approval.

        Almost like when right wing conspiracy theorists constantly use the phrase before talking about how much better they are than the person they are responding to.

        In this case, it appears to be "You aren't brave, and I know all about journalism. I'm the best at journalism. It's tremendous. Our journalists are the greatest, most talented journalists. Our people are the bravest. Not like your people. They're crap, they just say things to try to make other people think they're great, but they're not, they're bad. Fake and bad.

        I know. I'm smart. You aren't smart, but I'm tremendously smart. You and the people you follow are unsmart, it's a little thing called 'ink stains' maybe you've heard the term. Your people aren't funny, not like my people. My guy, Milo, he's tremendous. Really tremendous. Really funny. You'll laugh bigly"

        • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday March 24 2017, @04:53PM

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday March 24 2017, @04:53PM (#483743) Journal

          AC, that was awesome :D I actually laughed out loud reading that. Thank you! The one thing J-Mo and his kind cannot *stand* is being ridiculed.

          --
          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday March 24 2017, @06:14PM

        by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Friday March 24 2017, @06:14PM (#483772) Journal

        John Oliver wouldn't know what Journalism was if it bit him on the butt and neither would his writers. His network would be angry if he wasted their valuable airtime on serious journalism even if he outsourced the writing to someone competent to do the work.

        Without commenting at all on the quality of Oliver's "journalism" (which seems to be a term used mostly here to pretend that there's a difference between "journalism" and entertainment, when really 98% of the "news" is created in a format to be maximally entertaining and sell ads -- maybe not "funny ha ha" entertaining, but designed to provoke interest more than simply to inform)...

        History has long told us that many people are capable of insightful social commentary, even if they aren't "journalists" or whatever -- entertainers, comedians, heck even an occasional commenter here. Whatever your preferred brand of comedy, there's likely some comedian who has at times made insightful points about politics, society, etc. (Personally, I guess I'd have to put George Carlin at the top of my list of entertaining but insightful comedians; you may like someone else.)

        What Oliver does is take legitimate issues that don't often receive enough attention and create entertaining ways to allow an audience to spend a few minutes paying attention to something that they'd otherwise skip over in the newspaper or whatever. In the process, they might come away both entertained AND a bit more informed. There may be a lot of "low-hanging fruit" in many of his pieces, but I don't think he's claiming to be some sort of deep investigative journalist trying to find a hidden truth. He's drawing attention to neglected, but frequently important, issues while also being somewhat silly.

        It ain't nothing like the antics of political hacks scoring rhetorical points for laughs.

        Have you even watched more than 5 minutes of a John Oliver show? I'm not saying it's the best thing ever, and there are things I disagree with him about too. Some of his comedy is successful than it might be too. And yes, he clearly has a favorite political side, and he often makes fun of his opponents (though he also happily makes fun of himself and his allies). But amidst all of that puffery, there are actual issues frequently discussed, which should be concerning regardless of your party affiliation.

        So go ahead and criticize his delivery or format or bias, but that doesn't mean he can't also help draw attention to stuff that most people wouldn't think about otherwise. And because he's generally trying to introduce complex issues to people who don't usually pay attention to them, his segments frequently break things down to some basic stuff you need to know, generally coupled with a few outrageous facts that make the importance of the situation clear. (If you don't think his interview of Snowden in Moscow and the subsequent framing of the surveillance argument in terms of accessibility of "dick pics" was a genius move that is simultaneously hilarious AND brings the point home to people who before just didn't get it, I don't know what to say.) I haven't watched the segment on lead, but I'd assume he brings a similar mix to it.