May 2021
Vol. 1, Issue 3
On My Mind
The CDC released new guidance for vaccinated people, saying they no longer have to wear masks outdoors or indoors except in certain situations like public transportation and medical settings. This is a huge shift that is going to take some getting used to after more than a year of hunkering down. And there are also some unanswered questions, especially around kids. How careful should vaccinated parents of unvaccinated children be? What exactly is the level of risk to them? What do we know about the bizarre long-term health problems some kids get from COVID? When will kids under 12 be able to get the vaccine? It feels like we’re moving in the right direction, but a quick look at India tells us this pandemic is not over yet.
Support Sustainatoy
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What’s Up With Me
Episode 3 of the second season of my monthly TV show, “Well Read with Justin Chapman,” is out now. The new episode features an interview with legendary punk rock musician Brad Logan of F-Minus, Leftover Crack, The Adolescents, and more, and author of Architects of Self-Destruction. Watch it here.
Episode 1 of my new monthly TV show, “NewsRap Local with Justin Chapman,” aired on April 23 on Pasadena Media’s TV channel and streaming apps. It features an interview with Dr. Ying-Ying Goh, director of the Pasadena Public Health Department. Watch Episode 2 at 5 p.m. PT on May 21, featuring an interview with filmmakers Dennis Haywood and James Farr about their recent film, “Thorns on the Rose: Black Abuse, Corruption & the Pasadena Police,” the proceeds of which are going toward a new college scholarship.
Read my latest article in Pasadena Now about the Pasadena People’s Collective, a new grassroots group of volunteers who are providing mutual aid to those in need during the pandemic, such as grocery deliveries and hygiene kits.
SAVE THE DATE! I will be delivering a presentation about Mad Mike Hughes—the flat earther daredevil rocketeer who launched himself in a rocket and crash landed and died last year—to the Adventurers Club of Los Angeles on Thursday, August 26, 2021. Stay tuned for more details.
#PressLife—I’m once again a member of the Los Angeles Press Club.
DesertX was a lot of fun this year. DesertX is a series of art installations throughout the Coachella Valley. It closes tomorrow—there’s still time!
Sienna is ready for a post-pandemic summer...
Great Reads
Here are some recommendations for great books I’ve read recently:
The Company—by Robert Littell
A historical fiction novel about the CIA during the Cold War, spanning multiple decades in the 20th century. This is a subject I find endlessly fascinating, and Littell’s sprawling 900-page book (it flies by!) puts you right there in the action during such historic moments as the struggle over Berlin in the years after World War II, the Soviet invasion of Hungary in ‘56, the CIA’s bungling of the Bay of Pigs operation in Cuba in ‘61, and more.
Drug Use for Grown-Ups—by Dr. Carl Hart
Dr. Hart of Columbia University makes the convincing case against the hypocritical, racist, counterproductive, and destructive War on Drugs in this brave and candid book about his own recreational drug use. Americans’ views on drugs have been warped by a century of pseudoscientific propaganda. It’s time for drug policies that are based on actual science and common sense. That begins with legalization, decriminalization, treatment instead of prison, and a public health lens.
Where Law Ends—by Andrew Weissmann
Weissmann was the wolfish federal prosecutor who brought down Enron and served as one of Robert Mueller’s top prosecutors in the Special Counsel’s Office investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. His book is an absolute must-read for anyone who wondered, “What the fuck?” and, “How is this possible?” when newly-minted Attorney General Bill Barr released a four-page memo in March 2019 “summarizing” and undermining the findings of the Mueller Report.
Stories to Keep an Eye On
International:
The biggest story right now is the violent Israel-Palestine conflict (all over six houses—really?), but another international story not getting enough attention is—wait for it—climate change. A new study found that if current greenhouse gas emissions continue, a third of global food production will be at risk by the end of the 21st century. When, exactly, are we planning to do something about this pandemic-scale crisis?
National:
According to the U.S. Census, population growth in the United States in the last decade (2010-2020) was the slowest it has been since the Great Depression and the second-slowest in any other decade since the nation’s founding. According to the CDC, the U.S. birth rate fell for the sixth year in a row. The predicted wave of “pandemic babies” didn’t materialize, and in fact quite the opposite happened. Turns out, women don’t want to give birth wearing a mask and distanced from their loved ones. Who’dathunkit?
California:
In the wake of the news about the looming recall election of Governor Gavin Newsom, he has announced a number of policies and programs to help people and businesses, such as $600 stimulus checks for two-thirds of Californians and $12 billion to combat homelessness, as well as funds for free kindergarten and hundreds of millions to help small businesses struggling during the pandemic. This is helped along by the budget surplus the state is currently experiencing. It was already a losing argument to pin the blame on him for taking public health safety precautions; now the timing is such that the state’s economy will take off just as Californians go to the polls for an election that will be a referendum on his performance. It’s practically a foregone conclusion.
Local:
The Pasadena Central Library, a beautiful historic building first constructed in 1924 by Myron Hunt, has been closed indefinitely due to earthquake-unsafe structural issues. Why has it taken this long to figure this out? What’s it going to take to get it back open?
Something You May Not Know About Me
I have dual citizenship with Ireland and the United States. Because my grandparents were born in Ireland, I was able to apply for Irish citizenship through the island nation’s Foreign Birth Registry program. That also means I have an EU passport and can live and work anywhere in the European Union. Along with my wife’s dual U.S.-Canadian citizenships, we got options. :)
Spotlight on One of My Past Stories
Growing up in Berlin during World War II, Jürgen Schadeberg witnessed the destruction of his hometown. As a result of experiencing the dismantling of Germany’s Nazi regime, Schadeberg developed a lifelong hatred of anti-democratic injustices. So it came as no surprise to people who know him that he would one day become internationally recognized for his pioneering photography focused on struggles for human rights. After the war, young Schadeberg volunteered with the German Press Agency in Hamburg. Then, in 1950, at age 19, he followed his mother’s and British stepfather’s footsteps out of war-torn Germany to racially divided Johannesburg, South Africa — just two years after apartheid became institutionalized. I wrote about his iconic photographic coverage of Nelson Mandela and apartheid South Africa for the Pasadena Weekly in 2012. Schadeberg passed away in August 2020 at age 89.
