🐤 Shower with your mouth closed

The water situation in Jackson, Mississippi continues to worsen as officials try to downplay the severity.

Monday | September 5th, 2022
Early Chirp

It's another week, chirpers. We're back to lay the smackdown on your Monday morning brain fog on this Labor Day holiday (for those chirpers in the United States). Raise your green tea cups, and let's get the day going.

However, we need to figure out this entire environment thing. We only get one of those on earth, and in our future article today, we look at what's going on with water in Jackson, Mississippi. And of course, we also talk about Serena Williams.

Are you ready? Let's get on with the news.

-Walter Yeates

World

The Breakdown

A quick look around the world.

Giphy

🍗 Ravens mascot on IR after drumstick injury. During a halftime game during the Baltimore Ravens' last preseason game, the Ravens' mascot Poe had to be carted off the field after a scrimmage game against other mascots. Poe is unfortunately out for the season, and a replacement is necessary (yes, I typed all of this with a straight face). Quote the Poe, nevermore (okay, no straight face here.)

💾 Wait, floppy disks still exist? They do in Japan. And Japan's digital minister, Taro Kono would like to exterminate them (along with fax machines) Kono wants Japan to move past the culture of using outdated technology in offices. Is this a war he can win?

🇬🇧 Liz Truss is expected to be the next UK Prime Minister. After Boris Johnson was taken out of 10 Downing Street by numerous controversies -- it looks like Liz Truss is set to be the new Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Her main rival Rishi Sunak signaled his defeat and support for Truss. The official announcement comes Monday.

💍 The Rings of Power is a hit with fans and trolls (no, the human ones). The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power is the biggest debut on Prime of all time, with the first two episodes being seen by 25 million people around the world. However, trolls (again, humans) are upset and review-bombed the show. Despite their wishes, the show is set to be a smashing success.

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culture

Jackson water crisis is getting ugly

Jackson, Mississippi's water is brown in some places, and help isn't arriving...at least not quickly.

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So the people of Jackson, Mississippi, a mostly minority populated area, are dealing with a water crisis. Some people even have to drink brown tap water in some parts of the city. The city has gone so far as to tell residents to "shower with their mouths closed".

Brown Water Shouldn't Be Okay.

The water supply in Jackson, Mississippi is damaged due to a combination of climate change and aging infrastructure. In 2020, freezing temperatures (not too common in Mississippi) caused the water treatment facility to shut down, leaving an entire district without water for nearly six weeks.

The treatment facility is obsolete, leading to the city's current issues. The problem is similar to what Flint, Michigan is dealing with.

What is redlining?

"This is a deep-seated, decades-long, in-the-making kind of situation," says Arielle King, a lawyer, and environmental justice advocate.

In the 1940s, the government started a program called redlining. This was when they denied people of color mortgages and loans because they were considered "too risky."

This program went on for more than 40 years, and as a result, low-income, predominately black communities were concentrated in areas with polluting industries like landfills, oil refineries, and wastewater treatment plants. And those areas, she notes, still exist today.

She points to parts of the country like the so-called Cancer Alley as an example. Once the home to Louisiana's sprawling plantations, the area along the Mississippi River is now an industrial highway of more than 150 oil refineries and factories.

For decades, the predominately black residents have suffered from some of the highest rates of cancer in the nation because of pollution.

A bit ugly and a bit racist.

Ms. King says the legacy of this kind of environmental racism, coupled with decades of underinvestment in low-income areas is playing out in Jackson.

"They can say that there are different factors that lead to flooding, but people wouldn't be subject to areas that are susceptible to flooding without redlining in the first place," says King.

"So again, it does kind of come back to race, and environmental racism, unfortunately, every time." she continues.

We can do a bit better.

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technology

Tech billionaires are building bunkers

Sigh...super bunkers because that will solve real issues.

Southpark via Giphy

First off, let me say I wish I was drunk off sh*tty wine

A little Childish Gambino is the only thing to prepare me for this one. Tech billionaires are buying up luxurious bunkers and hiring military security...because they're scared...

Of what?

They fear a societal collapse. Yes, and what did they do? They sought guidance from a self-proclaimed Marxist.

I didn't make any of this up (I wish I had).

They've spent millions already attempting to get these bunkers prepared, like doomsday prepping with a limitless credit card.

Is any of this necessary?

No, it probably isn't. But, like most things -- these individuals are within their own bubbles and instead of acting to preserve positive change, they are searching to save themselves.

The tech billionaires are a really interesting bunch, and oftentimes frustrating with their views on society (it was society that gave them their riches, nobody is a self-made billionaire).

Hopefully, there isn't ever a real societal collapse, and if there was a sign, people would act to prevent it than running in fear when they have the power to stop such things.

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sports

Ajla Tomljanovic sends Serena Williams' home without a fairy-tale ending

Tomljanovic brought her A-game and ruined Serena Williams' dream run.

Sarah Stier via Getty Images

Ajla Tomljanovic said she felt 'very sorry' after defeating Serena Williams in the Third round of the US Open Tennis Tournament. The match may be the last Grand Slam Serena Williams ever plays in after announcing her 'evolution' away from competing professionally.

Williams did joke during her press conference that she always loved Australia (the country hosting the next Grand Slam [Australian Open] tournament in January).

Her Legacy Lives On

Serena Williams will walk away from tennis as the most accomplished with:

  • 73 singles titles
  • 23 doubles tiles
  • Over $94 million in earnings over her career (most by any female tennis player)

Ajla Tomljanovic is looking for her first career title and may be able to use the victory to push her into doing so. Tomljanovic is currently the 45th-ranked woman tennis player in the world.

If Serena is done, we will likely see her pop up with several projects in the future as she has become a mainstream star.

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Early Chirp

Written by Walter Yeates

90 N Church St, The Strathvale House
Grand Cayman KY1, 9006, Cayman Islands

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