‘Mental health care is health care’

‘Pilots shouldn’t be grounded for seeking mental health care’

Rep. Sean Casten at the Chicago Tribune

For “decades, aviators have had minimal access to mental health care generally,” says Illinois Rep. Sean Casten (D). Those ”who have sought care have often been grounded for extended periods of time,” and this has “served only to prevent people from seeking or receiving the care they need.” Pilots and “air traffic controllers who seek mental health care are unfairly penalized,” and “aspiring pilots shouldn’t have to choose between their job and their necessary health care.”

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‘Jews and Israel are not the same. Equating them is a propaganda technique.’

Norman Solomon at The Guardian

Rhetoric “equating Israel with all Jews and Israel’s future with theirs is an effort to sanctify Israel and shield it from criticism by brandishing the charge of antisemitism,” says Norman Solomon. Fusing “Israel with ‘the Jewish people’ is a key propaganda technique,” and the “fact that it’s so ubiquitous makes it no less ridiculous, or dangerous.” The country “that we’re told is the ultimate target of antisemitism is now, in reality, the world’s most powerful cause of antisemitism.”

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‘Genetic engineering and the fight for the soul of conservation’

Anjana Ahuja at the Financial Times

A “precautionary movement has sprung up, arguing that synthetic biology and genetic engineering have no place in conservation, particularly when it comes to releasing engineered organisms and microorganisms in the wild,” says Anjana Ahuja. The “key question is really whether any scientific innovation should be beyond the pale in saving species and habitats.” This “feels like an era-defining fight for the soul of conservation — just as humanity confronts the possibility of a sixth mass extinction.”

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‘For America’s Congolese diaspora, peace deals offer little comfort’

Hannah Epstein at The Nation

Donald Trump has “shown a growing interest in the Congo due to the region’s abundance of rare earth minerals like cobalt and copper, key products sustaining the United States’ tech industry,” says Hannah Epstein. But a recently signed mineral deal “turned a blind eye to Rwanda’s invasion of the Congo,” as the “past year has been particularly brutal.” For “America’s Congolese diaspora, securing peace in the region is far more imperative than promoting economic prosperity for U.S. investors.”

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