Notices by dan (civicdetroitdan@a2mi.social)

Question for anyone who loves taking Amtrak (i.e. all you train foamers):

Is there a way to find out how long the delays usually are on a given Amtrak route?

#amtrak

“Journalists must now, by any means available, choose class consciousness – stronger unions, explicit support for Democracy, building worker-owned outlets, defending our communities, and others, too (here and abroad).

“There is no room for outlets, and newspaper owners, that undermine the basic democratic principles we all need to live with dignity.”

https://objectivejournalism.org/2025/02/democracy-can-die-in-broad-daylight-too/

#journalism #media

We need working-class journalism, more than ever.

“While Americans in polls report historically low levels of trust in the media, it could be in large part because much of the press hasn’t been speaking to the concerns of their everyday lives. ...

“What’s the use of a media that centers Americans who take their pets to private dog runs or dine at Eleven Madison Park?”

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/america-needs-working-class-media-end-catering-rich-audiences.php

#journalism #media

Um, so the post I wrote while laying in bed blew up. @skinnylatte, I’m guessing that was your doing. 👋

“Let’s face it, a lot of social media interaction is likely bots already anyway, so maybe, then, AI social is the next stage, which will help to address the loneliness epidemic.”

I’m at a loss for words for how buckwild that statement is.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/new-app-interact-with-millions-ai-bot-profiles/727451/

Hear me out: Investing in places like public recreation centers, libraries and parks will probably do more to cure the loneliness epidemic than any technological invention.

Two major health insurance companies in Detroit appear to have taken down content about their executives. Thread below. 🔽

#detroit #michigan

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan had portraits on its “Leadership” page as recently as Nov. 26, per an Internet Archive capture.

The page no longer has photos for Board Chair Gregory Sudderth and Vice Chair F. Remington Sprague. https://web.archive.org/web/20241126235032/https://www.bcbsm.com/about-us/our-company/leadership/

HAP seems to have entirely removed a page of its executives. Internet Archive saved it on Aug. 26.

An Oct. 1 capture shows the “About” page had a link to “Meet our leadership team” — including CEO Michael Genord. https://web.archive.org/web/20240826130130/https://www.hap.org/about/leadership

Videos of workers being laid off are trending on TikTok.

“I felt lonely, and watching layoff videos helped me feel normal and that this is just part and parcel of being in the corporate world.”

https://web.archive.org/web/20241204155256/https://www.ft.com/content/ad52fba2-536d-4211-b08d-2f6b2a8cb7a3

#labor #tech

“It’s like we’ve become the robots.”

Call centers in the Philippines are using artificial intelligence to aid and monitor workers.

They say the tech makes them efficient. But it listens to every call to spot errors, long call times or less-than-satisfied customers, and scores workers accordingly. Their workloads have also increased.

From @restofworld:

https://restofworld.org/2024/ai-reshaping-call-center-work-philippines/

#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AsianMastodon #filipino #labor #philippines #tech

I sense a banger incoming for queer Asian cinema: https://letterboxd.com/film/extremely-unique-dynamic/

I sense another queer Asian cinema banger: https://letterboxd.com/film/all-shall-be-well-2024/

Amtrak is tearing down homes in a historic Black neighborhood in Baltimore to build a tunnel. Residents are crying foul.

The proposed tunnel zig-zags around several majority-white neighborhoods nearby.

https://capitalbnews.org/baltimore-amtrak-tunnel-displacement/

#amtrak #baltimore #train #transit #urbanism

The Chippendales are unionizing.

The dancers don’t receive benefits, despite being classified as employees. The pay is unfair, they say.

“When I started really calculating the time that I was required to be on call, there’s times where we’re getting paid like $17 an hour, or sometimes less,” Freddy Godinez says.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/chippendales-union-vegas-stripper-organizing

#labor #LasVegas #nevada #ParadiseNV #union

“‘Deeply concerning’ reports and footage of torture inside Israeli prisons sparks calls for their closure”

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/podcast-episode/deeply-concerning-reports-and-footage-of-torture-inside-israeli-prisons-sparks-calls-for-their-closure/0kmhsbg2u

Detroit organizers are meeting Sunday in the aftermath of a deadly eviction in the Palmer Park neighborhood.

https://detroitcpta.org/justice-for-sherman-lee-butler-sunday-august-4th-3pm/ #detroit #housing #justice

Charles Coughlin was a Catholic priest who spread antisemitic conspiracy theories across the U.S.

Based in Michigan, he was one of the most popular radio personalities of the 1930s, and his rhetoric was broadcasted to an audience of millions.

Decades later, his church — the National Shrine of the Little Flower — has finally pledged to educate visitors on Coughlin’s antisemitism.

https://www.jta.org/2024/06/25/united-states/father-coughlins-detroit-area-church-will-now-teach-visitors-about-his-antisemitism #michigan #RoyalOak

Anti-Asian racism? On the fediverse? It’s more likely than you think.

https://mstdn.social/@GreenFire/112661026027312818

For your consideration: #FediBlock.

Dig this: In the very last two years I used X, I never encountered anti-Asian racism from people purporting to be socially liberal.

In the two years I’ve used Mastodon, I’ve encountered two instances of anti-Asian racism from people purporting to be socially liberal. That’s not to mention the torrent of anti-Black racism I see from this same kind of people.

Make of that what you will.

I also don’t want to exhaust myself defending against ignorant, racist statements.

When I read, “most Chinese are still poor peasants,” I hate that my first instinct was to fact-check. I really should know better, but I ended up spending 30 minutes researching this person’s uncited claim.

And as it turns out, that statement is statistically untrue, according the World Bank: https://www.npr.org/2021/03/05/974173482/what-chinas-total-victory-over-extreme-poverty-looks-like-in-actuality