Alternate Realities Roundup 11/19 | Buzz Blog
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Alternate Realities Roundup 11/19

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A map of decades of news coverage by regions of the world shows the U.S. being a focus of coverage, whereas places like sub-Saharan Africa remains “disconnected” from coverage.---

Top of the Alty World

“How Three Decades of News Coverage Has Shaped Our View of the World”--The Atlantic

Mother Jones explains how to shop for insurance without using the buggy Obamacare site.--Mother Jones

Filipino climate chief demands rich nations pay up for the costs of global warming in ninth day of hunger strike.--Democracy Now!

Medicare wastes billions by not tracking doctors who use name-brand drugs.--ProPublica

Top of Alty Utah

While Dems favor air-quality fixes, Sen. Stuart Reid, R-Ogden, claims inversion reports are “fear-mongering.”--Utah Political Capitol

A Salt Lake City real estate agent will donate home sales toward the opening of a new overnight youth shelter.--Q Salt Lake

Salt Lake City launches a sustainability dashboard.--Utah Political Capitol

Supporters of a plan to make Provo more bicycle friendly will rally Tuesday, Nov. 19.--Provo Buzz

Rantosphere

The libertarian-leaning Libertas Institute argues DUI laws shouldn't be strengthened this session as conservatives have called for, but instead should be repealed altogether.

“It’s difficult to imagine the principle upon which a person can be punished by the state for drinking something when that individual has not harmed another person. To be sure, there is a chance that the individual might do so, but a free society steers clear of Minority Report-esque “pre-crime,” in which people are declared criminals before actually committing a criminal act. We desire to find ways to save innocent people from harm—absolutely. This cannot, however, be the sole metric or justifying basis upon which new or harsher restraints are implemented by the state. Just as we oppose gun control on these grounds, so, too, do we oppose alcohol control based on mere probabilities, mights, and maybes.”--Libertas Institute

The Long View

Slate recounts the tragic tale of an Ethiopian orphan who died under the care of her large, adoptive, Christian-fundamentalist family.

“On the night of May 11, 2011, sometime around midnight, 13-year-old Hana Williams fell face-forward in her parents’ backyard. Adopted from Ethiopia three years before, Hana was naked and severely underweight. Her head had recently been shaved, and her body bore the scars of repeated beatings with a plastic plumbing hose. Inside the house, her adoptive mother, 42-year-old Carri Williams, and a number of Hana’s eight siblings had been peering out the window for the past few hours, watching as Hana staggered and thrashed around, removed her clothing in what is known ashypothermic paradoxical undressing and fell repeatedly, hitting her head. According to Hana’s brother Immanuel, a deaf 10-year-old also adopted from Ethiopia, the family appeared to be laughing at her.”--Slate

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