Dr. Seuss pulls six books over racist imagery

SCHOOL LIBRARIANS DO THIS ALL THE TIME 

IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE THE NEWS

Issued on: 02/03/2021 - 

Dr. Seuss books on display in a bookshop in Florida in 2015

 JOE RAEDLE GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

New York (AFP)

They are beloved by generations of early readers for their wacky rhyming tales and mischievous plotlines, but six Dr. Seuss books are being pulled because of imagery now considered racist.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises -- the publisher of the bestselling children's books -- announced Tuesday that it is taking the six titles, which include "If I Ran the Zoo" and "The Cat's Quizzer," out of print.

The move comes as criticism grows in the United States over the way minority communities have been portrayed in many of his books.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises said it had made the decision after carrying out a review of its collection last year with the help of experts, including teachers.

"These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong," the company said in a statement.

The other titles being consigned to history are "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," "McElligot's Pool," "On Beyond Zebra!" and "Scrambled Eggs Super!"

"Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises's catalog represents and supports all communities and families," the statement added.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises made the announcement on what would have been the birthday of the famous children's book author.

Seuss, born Theodor Seuss Geisel in Massachusetts in 1904, published more than 60 books during his lifetime, including some of the most popular children's books of all time.

His most famous works include "The Cat in the Hat," "Green Eggs and Ham" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Seuss's books have sold more than 650 million copies and have been translated into dozens of languages.

However, his books are being reevaluated over their portrayal of Black and Asian people.

A 2019 study published in the "Research on Diversity in Youth Literature" journal studied 50 of his books.

The report concluded that 43 of the 45 characters of color had characteristics aligning with the definition of Orientalism.

The two Black characters in the books were identified as "African" and both "align with the theme of anti-Blackness," the study said.

Stereotypical characters portrayed as "Arabian" appear in "If I Ran the Zoo," "On Beyond Zebra!" and "Scrambled Eggs Super!"

"The Cat's Quizzer" also features "Arabian" figures as well as a character portrayed as "a Japanese."

"And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," features a "Chinese boy" with a rice bowl and chopsticks.

The study also noted that Seuss published anti-Black and anti-Semitic cartoons in a magazine in the 1920s as well as racist anti-Japanese propaganda during World War II.

On Saturday, a school district in Virginia suggested it was moving away from Dr. Seuss books while not banning them completely.

"Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss," Loudoun County Public Schools said.

In 2017, a school librarian in Cambridge Massachusetts said she would not accept a gift of ten Dr. Seuss books from then first lady Melania Trump because many of his books were "steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes."

© 2021 AFP

French music icon Serge Gainsbourg’s legacy continues to inspire

Issued on: 02/03/2021 - 17:40

French songwriter and performer Serge Gainsbourg died on

 March 2, 1991 in Paris. © France 24 screengrab

Text by:Philippe THEISE

French pop artist Serge Gainsbourg died thirty years ago Tuesday after a career that redefined the boundaries of pop songcraft and challenged conventional mores.

Born in Paris to Russian émigrés in 1928, Gainsbourg released his first album, Du chant à la une!... in 1958. He achieved international renown with the 1969 long-player Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg, which included the sultry hit Je t’aime, moi non plus, and 1971’s Histoire de Melody Nelson, a concept album with orchestral elements.

Gainsbourg’s romantic life imbued his music and helped make him a front-page artist. The title of a 1968 album, Initials B.B., refers to French actress Brigitte Bardot, who sang the chorus on its ode to the US outlaw characters “Bonnie and Clyde”. Gainsbourg and the English actress and singer Birkin were together for more than 10 years; their daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg is a musical artist and actress in her own right.

Challenging traditional values and mores also became an essential part of Serge Gainsbourg’s art. He recorded a reggae version of France’s national anthem, La Marseillaise, in 1979 that angered soldiers, and duetted with Charlotte on the 1984 track Lemon Incest about “the love we will never make together”.

Click on the video to watch the full FRANCE 24 report.

LONG LIVE THE QUEENS
UK's first LGBT+ retirement community to open in London
Issued on: 02/03/2021 -

"Older Londoners deserve to be able to enjoy their later years in comfort and security, surrounded by a thriving, supportive community," says London Mayor Sadiq Khan NIKLAS HALLE'N AFP/File


London (AFP)

Britain's first LGBT+ retirement community is to open in London later this year, after securing a multi-million-pound loan from the city's mayor, a housing association announced on Tuesday.

Tonic Housing said the £5.7-million ($7.9-million, 6.6-million-euro) loan from the Greater London Authority will help buy 19 properties in the Vauxhall area in the south of British capital.

Sales of the one- and two-bedroom shared ownership homes on the top flour floors of the Norman Foster-designed Bankhouse development on the banks of the River Thames will begin in the coming months.

Prices are likely to start from £135,000 for a 25-percent share of a one-bed apartment and £180,000 for a 25-percent share of a two-bed apartment.

Tonic called the scheme a "major milestone".

"There is no LGBT+ affirming provision with care currently in operation in the UK, despite there being a clearly defined need and demand from within the LGBT+ community," it added.

The company said "LGBT+ affirming" meant care, events, services and support at the development would be LGBT+-friendly, but would not exclude people who do not identify as such.

"We are making history today, realising a long-held dream to provide a safe place for older LGBT+ people to live well, in a community where they can be themselves and enjoy their later life," said Tonic Housing chief executive Anna Kear.

Similar assisted-living communities could be set up in London and other cities, she added.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the local authority's support was in keeping with the city's reputation as being "open diverse (and) inclusive".

"Older Londoners deserve to be able to enjoy their later years in comfort and security, surrounded by a thriving, supportive community," he added.

Tonic was set up in 2014 to address what it said were "the issues of loneliness and isolation of older LGBT+ people and the need for specific housing and support provision".

It has focused on London for its first project because it has the largest older LGBT+ population, estimated to be 145,000 people.

© 2021 AFP

Activists acquitted in Polish rainbow Virgin Mary case

Issued on: 02/03/2021 

Defendant Anna Prus, right, reacts to the acquittal of herself 

and two other gay rights activists in the Polish court JANEK SKARZYNSKI AFP

Plock (Poland) (AFP)

A Polish court on Tuesday acquitted three gay rights activists who were accused of offending religious sentiment after they put up posters of the Virgin Mary with a rainbow halo.

The defendants -- Joanna Gzyra-Iskandar, Anna Prus and Elzbieta Podlesna -- were found not guilty because they lacked the required intent to offend, according to the regional court in the central city of Plock.

"The goal of the activists... was to show support to LGBT individuals, to fight for their equal rights," Judge Agnieszka Warchol said.

She added that the court had received many letters from practicing Catholics, and even clergy, that said the rainbow halo images did not mock the religious icon.

The women had faced up to two years in prison under article 196 of Poland's criminal code, which prohibits offending religious sentiment.

Poland's influential Catholic church and the governing nationalists oppose gay rights, which the rainbow flag symbolises.

One of the defendants, Podlesna, described the church as "a formidable force in Poland" and told AFP she was crossing her fingers that the institution would change.

"Everything now depends on what form that force will take: will it encourage diversity, solidarity and empathy?" she said.

"Or will it be destructive, politicised and centred around money, as is the case now?" she added.

A group of LGBT activists gathered outside the courthouse holding a banner that said "The Rainbow Doesn't Offend", a slogan that was also circulated on social media by supporters and opposition politicians.

The prosecution said it planned to appeal the verdict.

The case dates back to April 2019, when the posters and stickers at issue appeared on rubbish bins and portable toilets near a church in Plock.

They showed a likeness of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, a revered icon of the Virgin Mary located in the devout Catholic country's Jasna Gora monastery.

Earlier that week, the leader of the governing PiS party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, had denounced LGBT rights as a "threat" and called on Poles to respect the Catholic Church regardless of personal beliefs.

Describing the defendants as "brave", Amnesty Poland took to Twitter on Tuesday to "call on authorities to refrain from targeting and harassing any other peaceful activists".

The NGO Love Does Not Exclude, which fights for LGBT rights in Poland, hailed the acquittal as a "breakthrough".

"It's a big win on the part of the LGBT+ resistance movement and the leftists fighting for equal rights in Poland, the most homophobic country in the European Union," the NGO said on Instagram.

© 2021 AFP

Saudi activist in court for first time since release

Issued on: 02/03/2021 - 

Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul is seen on her way to court in the Saudi capital Riyadh on March 2, 2021. 'Today was the first day Loujain appeared in court without being handcuffed or blindfolded,' her family said in a statement

 Fayez Nureldine AFP



Riyadh (AFP)

Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul appeared in court Tuesday for the first time since her provisional release from prison last month, as she appealed restrictions including a five-year travel ban, her family said.

Hathloul, 31, best known for campaigning against a decades-long ban on female drivers, was detained in May 2018 with about a dozen other women activists –- just weeks before the ban was lifted.

The release of Hathloul, who is still on probation and is barred from leaving Saudi Arabia for five years, came as the kingdom faces renewed US scrutiny of its human rights record under President Joe Biden.

"Today was the first day Loujain appeared in court without being handcuffed or blindfolded," her family said in a statement.

In late December, a court handed Hathloul a prison term of five years and eight months for terrorism-related crimes, but a partially suspended sentence -- and time already served -- paved the way for her early release last month.

The public prosecution on Tuesday appealed to raise her sentence and cancel the suspension, the family statement said.

Saudi authorities have not officially commented on her detention, trial or release.

Hathloul is appealing her sentence as well as restrictions placed on her and her family.

"Her sentence includes numerous restrictions including a pledge that Loujain had to sign as part of her release which states that she cannot speak publicly about her case or reveal any details regarding prison nor celebrate her release on a public level," the family said.

Hathloul's siblings based overseas say her parents are also barred from leaving the kingdom even though they are not charged with any crime.

Ahead of the hearing, Amnesty International demanded on Twitter that Hathloul "must be unconditionally free" to travel.

Hathloul's family has alleged that the activist experienced torture and sexual harassment in detention, claims repeatedly dismissed by a Saudi court.

Hathloul's next court hearing is scheduled for March 10, her family said.

While some women activists detained along with Hathloul have been provisionally released, several others remain imprisoned on what campaigners describe as opaque charges.

The detentions have cast a spotlight on the human rights record of the kingdom, an absolute monarchy which has also faced intense criticism over the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate.

Last week, Washington released a long-delayed intelligence report that accused Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of approving Khashoggi's murder, drawing a rebuke from Riyadh, which strongly rejected the assessment.

© 2021 AFP

Hungarian hospital staff quit over new state contract

A GENERAL STRIKE BY ANY OTHER MEANS

Issued on: 02/03/2021 - 

News reports have described hospitals emptying of staff 

ATTILA KISBENEDEK AFP


Budapest (AFP)

A senior Hungarian health official tried to allay fears about standards of care Tuesday, after several thousand hospital workers quit over new state contracts they say offered unacceptable terms.

The row comes as the country tackles steeply rising Covid-19 infection case numbers and deaths.

The National Healthcare Service Center (OFKO), the body that runs state-owned hospitals, said that "95 percent of the 110,000 public health workers signed the contract" before a deadline of March 1.T

But those who did not sign, some 5,500 workers, can no longer work in the public health sector under the terms of a new law designed to overhaul the country's hospitals.

OFKO head Zoltan Jenei sought Tuesday to quell alarm that some hospitals, already hard-pressed due to the coronavirus pandemic, would be unable to function.

"There is every guarantee that the standard of care in any part of the country will remain the same as before and may even improve," Jenei told journalists.

The law setting out new employment terms was adopted by parliament last October, and included a wage hike that Prime Minister Viktor Orban hailed as "unprecedented" this century.

It also criminalised gratuities from patients offered as bribes to doctors -- a common practise in Hungary -- and set limits for taking on jobs outside the public health system.

- Covid cases surging -

But many healthcare workers objected that the law restricted extra compensation on top of basic salaries, for example for on-call shifts, and could in effect cause a drop in take-home pay.

They also complained that it would prevent them taking second jobs at specialist clinics.

Since March 1, local news and social media have reported hospital departments around the country emptying of staff.

"After more than 25 years as a public health worker I didn't sign the new contract," one public healthcare worker commented on Facebook. "I don't know what comes next, but I made the right decision."

According to a letter published by the Telex.hu news-site only 20 percent of specialists in one department at the capital's South Pest hospital had signed the new contract.

"The department is now unable to function," said its head doctor.

Intensive care staff at the Saint Imre hospital in Budapest announced their departure Monday and said that "the (department) lights had been switched off".

Workers at a casualty department in the town of Tatabanya, west of the capital, also quit en masse, according to the Index.hu news-site.

The dispute comes as Hungary experiences a surge in coronavirus case and deaths. To date, more than 435,000 people have caught the virus, resulting in 15,188 deaths.

Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony issued a statement condemning the government for "endangering the security of healthcare provision in the midst of a raging epidemic".

The Hungarian health system has long suffered from underfunding. Health spending per capita is only about half of the EU average according to the World Health Organization.

© 2021 AFP

REST IN POWER
Jamaica's Bunny Wailer, reggae luminary and last Wailers member, dies at 73

Issued on: 02/03/2021 

Bunny Wailer performs at the One Love concert to celebrate the late Bob Marley's 60th birthday, in Kingston, Jamaica, on February 6, 2005. © Collin Reid, AP/File


Bunny Wailer, a reggae luminary who was the last surviving member of the legendary group The Wailers, died on Tuesday in his native Jamaica, according to his manager. He was 73.

Wailer, a baritone singer whose birth name is Neville Livingston, formed The Wailers in 1963 with late superstars Bob Marley and Peter Tosh when they lived in a slum in the capital of Kingston. They catapulted to international fame with the album, “Catch a Fire.” The Wailers and other Rasta musicians popularized Rastafarian culture among better-off Jamaicans starting in the 1970s.

Wailer’s death was mourned worldwide as people shared pictures, music and memories of the renown artist.

“The passing of Bunny Wailer, the last of the original Wailers, brings to a close the most vibrant period of Jamaica’s musical experience,” wrote Jamaica politician Peter Phillips in a Facebook post. “Bunny was a good, conscious Jamaican brethren.”

(1/5) My deep condolences to the family, friends and fans of legendary Reggae artiste, Neville Livingston, also known as Bunny Wailer, JahB. pic.twitter.com/gPiMZOPEt0— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) March 2, 2021

Jamaica's Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, also paid tribute to Wailer, calling him “a respected elder statesman of the Jamaican music scene,” in a series of tweets.

“This is a great loss for Jamaica and for Reggae, undoubtedly Bunny Wailer will always be remembered for his sterling contribution to the music industry and Jamaica’s culture,” he wrote.

While Wailer toured the world, he was more at home in Jamaica's mountains and he enjoyed farming while writing and recording songs on his label, Solomonic.

″I think I love the country actually a little bit more than the city,″ Wailer told The Associated Press in 1989. ″It has more to do with life, health and strength. The city takes that away sometimes. The country is good for meditation. It has fresh food and fresh atmosphere - that keeps you going.″


RIP Bunny Wailer (right), one third of a group, the original Wailers, as great as any that have ever graced this Earth. pic.twitter.com/df9vVRo92z— Danny Kelly (@dannykellywords) March 2, 2021

A year before, in 1988, he had chartered a jet and flew to Jamaica with food to help those affected by Hurricane Gilbert.

″Sometimes people pay less attention to those things (food), but they turn out to be the most important things. I am a farmer,″ he told the AP.

The three-time Grammy winner died at the Andrews Memorial Hospital in the Jamaican parish of St Andrew, his manager, Maxine Stowe, told reporters. His cause of death was not immediately clear. Local newspapers had reported he was in and out of the hospital after a stroke nearly a year ago.

(AP)

Reggae great Bunny Wailer dead at 73

Kingston, Jamaica's capital city, and where reggae great Bunny Wailer passed away on March 2, 2021 ALESSANDRO ABBONIZIO AFP/File


Kingston (Jamaica) (AFP)

Reggae legend Bunny Wailer, who co-founded The Wailers with Bob Marley in the 1960s, died Tuesday in Kingston at the age of 73, the Jamaican government said.

No cause of death was given but the culture ministry said Wailer -- his real name was Neville Livingstone -- had been hospitalized since December.

Wailer was the last surviving original member of the Wailers after Marley died of cancer in 1981, and Peter Tosh was murdered in 1987

Wailer, who was a childhood friend of Marley, won three Grammys over the course of his career and in 2017 he was awarded Jamaica's Order of Merit -- the country's fourth highest honor.

"We remain grateful for the role that Bunny Wailer played in the development and popularity of Reggae music across the world," Culture Minister Olivia Grange said in a statement.

"We remember with great pride how Bunny, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, took Reggae music to the four corners of the earth," she added.

Marley and Tosh acted as The Wailers’ primary singers and songwriters but Livingstone played a key role in providing harmonies to the trio's songs, according to Rolling Stone magazine.

"The Wailers are responsible for the Wailers sound. Bob, Peter, and myself: We are totally responsible for the Wailers sound, and what the Wailers brought to the world, and left as a legacy," Wailer told Afropop in 2016.

The band's debut album on a major label, "Catch a Fire," released in 1973, helped propel the group to international fame.

At one point that record was ranked 126th on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums list.

The band's biggest hits include "Simmer Down" and "One Love."

After leaving the band in 1974, Wailer went on to enjoy a prolific solo career as a writer, producer and singer of what is perhaps Jamaica's best known export.

He drew much praise for his album "Blackheart Man," which included the song "Burning Down Sentence," which drew on Wailer's experience doing a one-year prison sentence for marijuana possession.

"The tracks that were done in 'Blackheart Man' were very symbolic and significant to this whole development of reggae music," Wailer told Reggaeville in 2017.

"I really consider 'Blackheart Man' to be one of those albums that the universal reggae world should be focused on," Wailer said.

Wailer won the Grammy for best Reggae album three times in the 1990s.

Tributes to Wailer poured in Tuesday.

"In my view, Bunny Wailer was a more potent musician than even Bob Marley," said Karyl Walker, a veteran Jamaican entertainment journalist. "He played instruments, more than one, and he wrote very good songs."

Walker noted that the wildly popular line dance song "Electric Boogie" from 1983 was written by Wailer.

"Now all the Wailers are dead and it is incumbent on the younger Jamaican entertainers to raise the bar and carry on this rich legacy," Walker told AFP.

"We have lost an icon," added Herbie Harris, a keyboard player and vocalist who now leads The ATF band.

© 2021 AFP

FDA approves over-the-counter marketing of Q-collar to protect athletes' brains


Carolina Panthers middle linebacker Luke Kuechly walks onto the field as the Panthers play the Los Angeles Rams in the second half of an NFL football game in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 8, 2019. Before his retirement last summer, Kuechly was frequently seen wearing the Q-collar, which the FDA has just approved for over-the-counter sales. Photo by Nell Redmond/UPI. | License Photo

Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration authorized marketing of a device intended to help athletes reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury Friday.

The device, called the Q-Collar, is a C-shaped collar that applies compressive force to the neck, helping reduce the movement of the brain at head impacts -- which can cause traumatic brain injury.

The FDA said it assessed the safety and effectiveness of the Q-Collar through several studies, including a study involving 284 subjects 13 years or older who played high school football.

During the football season, 139 students wore the Q-Collar and 145 did not, and each underwent MRI scans before and after the season.

Researchers found "significant changes" in brain tissue in 73% of the students who didn't wear collars.

Of those who wore the collar, the majority -- 77% -- did not show significant changes.

The study also didn't find significant adverse events linked with device use

The FDA noted that the data did not demonstrate that the device prevents concussion or serious head injury, and that it should not replace other protective equipment.

"Today's action provides an additional piece of protective equipment athletes can wear when playing sports to help protect their brains from the effects of repetitive head impacts while still wearing the personal protective equipment associated with the sport," said Christopher M. Loftus, M.D., acting director of the Office of Neurological and Physical Medicine Devices in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

The device will be sold over the counter and is intended to be used by athletes aged 13 older during sports activities.

Carolina Panthers Linebacker Luke Kuechly, who retired last year at 28 after suffering several head injuries, was seen wearing the Q-Collar in his final seasons with the NFL.

Volkswagen says it will unveil autonomous minibus next year


The classic minibus is seen at an event at the 2016 International CES trade show in Las Vegas, Nev., on January 5, 2016. File Photo by Molly Riley/UPI | License Photo

March 1 (UPI) -- After years of a rumored return, Volkswagen's iconic minibus took a step closer to becoming a reality Monday -- and the automaker said it will be a self-driving vehicle.

The minibus, which will be called the ID Buzz, is a small van that will use autonomous driving software from Argo AI, which Volkswagen and Ford have teamed up to support. Argo AI specializes in software platforms for autonomous driving.

Volkswagen said the ID Buzz will be unveiled next year. CEO Scott Keogh told Automotive News the vehicle could be available for sale in the United States by 2023.

"Autonomous, electric driving will make an important contribution to urban mobility and road safety," Carsten Intra, CEO of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said in a statement.

"Our vehicles are the logical first choice to apply such systems to."

Christian Senger, Volkswagen head of autonomous driving, said the company will perform field trials this year for the vehicle in Germany.

Volkswagen said the ID Buzz will be an all-electric vehicle geared toward a ride-hailing and pooling concept. Senger said select riders in select cities will be able to ride the van to their destination autonomously by 2025.

Volkswagen announced a partnership with Ford last summer to collaborate on numerous projects, including the development of electric cars, self-driving technology and commercial vehicles with Argo AI, for which they plan to spend more than $4 billion through 2023.

The ID Buzz made its debut as a concept vehicle at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show.

Volvo says all of its vehicles will be electric, sold online by 2030


Also Tuesday, Volvo debuted its second fully electric car, 

dubbed the C40 Recharge. 

File Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI | License Photo


March 2 (UPI) -- Volvo announced on Tuesday that all of its new vehicles will be fully electric and sold exclusively online by the end of the decade.

Volvo said its plan will phase out all vehicles with internal combustion engines, including hybrids, by 2030. The automaker said the goal is for electric vehicles to comprise 50% of its global sales and the other half hybrids by 2025.

"We are fully focused on becoming a leader in the fast-growing premium electric car market," Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement.

"There is no long-term future for cars with an internal combustion engine," added Volvo Chief Technology Officer Henrik Green. "[This] will allow us to meet the expectations of our customers and be a part of the solution when it comes to fighting climate change."

The XC40 Recharge, Volvo's first full electric car, debuted last year in markets worldwide.

Also Tuesday, Volvo debuted its second fully electric car, the C40 Recharge.

"Instead of investing in a shrinking business, we choose to invest in the future -- electric and online," Samuelsson added.

Last month, Jaguar and Land Rover announced plans to transition to all electric vehicles by 2025.