The News Not Noise Letter: She’s a Pilot, Senator
How many women does it take to fly a plane? And other tales of workplace woe. Plus: America’s sickest comeback, Boeing dramas, and news that doesn’t suck.
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Today, a detour away from international crises and domestic political brawls. So many stories in the news this week could impact your well-being directly. Today, we bring you news that could affect your body, your pocketbook, your travel plans and more. We’ll get back to world-on-fire topics next week and you can check Instagram for updates on the latest political and global news.
Here are your headlines:
Measles Outbreak: In the year 2000 the measles was declared “eliminated” from the US. But, it’s making a comeback, thanks to an uptick in anti-vaccine sentiment. The number of measles cases in the US this year has already surpassed the total number reported in 2023. There are 59 cases in 17 states so far, and Chicago has the highest caseload with 12 cases. According to the CDC, most reports are linked to unvaccinated Americans who traveled abroad and brought the virus back to the US. Measles causes an itchy rash not unlike chicken pox, but it is more dangerous – typically, about 1 in 5 unvaccinated Americans who catch the measles are hospitalized, and young children are at higher risk for complications including death. There is no cure for measles outside of the preventative vaccine. Measles symptoms take up to 2 weeks after exposure to appear, and the virus is extremely contagious. Measles is so infectious that 95% of people need to be vaccinated to successfully limit its spread, according to public health experts. The CDC reports that 90.8% of Americans receive the vaccine by age 2.
Real Estate Shake-Up: Under a new settlement, anyone buying or selling a home can now negotiate how and how much to pay their realtor. Analysts predict this could reduce the amount Americans pay annually in real estate commissions by 30%. They also predict it’ll cut the number of working realtors in the US by half. Until now, home sellers in the US had to pay 5-6% commission to real estate brokers: about 3% to the buyer’s broker and 3% to their own. That’s among the highest rates in the world. Facing lawsuits which alleged the system artificially inflated home costs, the National Association of Realtors reached a settlement that will allow both parties to negotiate fees with their agent up front; no longer require sellers to pay both commissions; and allow buyers more freedom to negotiate home prices directly, without a real estate agent. If you were in the position to buy a home, would you consider doing it without using a real estate agent?
Boeing Whistleblower: This year, it seems like there’s another new Boeing incident every few days, from missing panels to flaming engines to missing tires to mid-flight plummets. Now a twist: a former Boeing employee-turned-whistleblower was found dead Saturday in an apparent suicide. The whistleblower, 62-year-old John Barnett, formerly worked as a quality manager for Boeing at the 787 Dreamliner plant in South Carolina. In 2017 he filed a safety report against the company over missing parts and poor quality control; he warned of potentially “catastrophic” safety concerns. The FAA investigated his complaints and ordered Boeing to fix the problems Barnett identified. Fast forward and in the midst of the current Boeing crisis, Barnett was pursuing a whistleblower retaliation case against the company. On Saturday he was meant to begin day three of his deposition. When he didn’t show up, his lawyers called his hotel. Barnett was found dead in his car from what the coroner said, “appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Now there are questions about the suicide finding and some discrepancies. In a statement his lawyers said, “He was in very good spirits and really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him and moving on. We didn’t see any indication he would take his own life. No one can believe it.” Charleston police are investigating. Last week the FAA released a new audit of Boeing that found multiple quality control issues. Just today, Boeing has issued a new alert warning pilots about a small mechanical issue related to pilot seats on 787 Dreamliners which investigators believe caused this week’s midair drop. And as we were writing this, reports are emerging that an external panel fell off a Boeing plane mid-flight today.
Issues That Affect You: While we are talking about news that hits home, it’s worth mentioning that this election season your vote could have a significant impact on your body and your wallet. Some of the policies at stake in November: possible changes to Social Security and Medicare, the government’s ability to negotiate down prescription drug prices, support accessing childcare, student loan forgiveness, your ability to pursue IVF and other reproductive healthcare, and more. Elections have consequences. We’ll continue covering these consequential issues in the coming months, so please let us know which policy issues you want us to examine.
Woman Pilot = Pilot: This week we posted a video of a Minnesota state senate hearing in which a Delta Airlines pilot testified that she’s a pilot. A male senator called her a “stewardess.” After she calmly corrected him, the senator said, “I don’t know why I said that.” We asked if any of you has encountered a similar situation in your line of work; we expected some lively replies but we were amazed by the absolute flood of stories from so many women — surgeons, construction managers, business owners, veterans, founders, police officers, lawyers, dentists, architects, pastors, and even a fighter pilot who had all encountered this sort of disrespect or doubt. (Read about them in comments here.) Sometimes it seems as though our culture skipped over gender equity. What do you think we can or should do about this, as individuals or collectively? Is there an effective way to change the association between certain jobs and gender?
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Here’s some news that doesn’t suck:
What Does The Fox Say? Above is a video of an employee at the Richmond Wildlife Center in Virginia, dressed in a fox costume to care for an orphaned baby fox, known as a fox kit. The employees wear the costume to try to prevent the baby fox from imprinting on humans so that she can someday be safely released to the wild. While we find it hard to accept that the fox actually mistakes the furry human for one of her own, we’re willing to roll with it and admire the commitment to wildlife conservation. According to Richmond Wildlife Center, the baby fox was found when she was less than 24 hours old, and they believe that her mother had been trapped and removed from her den site. Staff members (wearing the fox mask) feed the kit from a syringe every 2-4 hours, and she has two stuffed foxes to cuddle up with. The wildlife center plans to transfer her to another animal rehabilitation center in northern Virginia where she can bond with other young kits before they’ll all be released into the wild together.
Chill Dogs: StudyFinds consulted 10 canine experts to create a list of the seven most low-energy dog breeds – and some of the results stunned us. You’d probably (correctly) guess basset hounds made the list, but would you have known greyhounds made #1? The list also says Maltese dogs are low-energy, but Bruno disagrees. (He’s a maltipoo, maybe the poodle gives him his energy?)
Books for Brains: Sitting down with a good book could improve your memory, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. They conducted a study that showed that reading for pleasure improved working and episodic memory among older adults compared to a control group that did word puzzles. The effect, researchers believe, isn’t just tied to the verbal processing skills you use when reading. They suggest reading for pleasure provides benefits because you’re truly absorbed in the story, paying sustained attention and engaging your memory skills to keep track of the narrative details. The benefits aren’t just for older adults – reading for pleasure is also extremely beneficial in children. So go forth and read something you enjoy, whether it’s classic literature or a beach read. As long as you’re engaged it’s helping your brain. (We were tempted to write – as long as you’re not using a screen, it’s helping your brain, but it turns out the seniors in the Illinois study were all reading on iPads.)
Here’s something to make you smile:
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