April 1, 2021
Today, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced an absurd bill called the Fire Fauci Act, which would set the trusted NIAID director's salary to $0. (As the Hill points out, it's unclear whether such a cut would even be allowed in the next-to-zero chance the legislation passes.) Greene also introduced the We Will Not Comply Act, which would prevent businesses from banning customers based on vaccine status. But what I want to talk about is Greene's workout routine. People on Twitter are very concerned about a video the congresswoman posted of her strength-training routine, captioned "This is my Covid protection." Some viewers ridiculed her kipping pull-ups—that's what those swinging motions are called in CrossFit speak—while others suggested that her technique was dangerous. And, of course, you can still get very sick from COVID even if you work out. To get to the bottom of the matter, I texted my friend Curtis, who runs a 4:16 mile and has many very professional opinions about weightlifting and CrossFit. "The push presses are fine," he said. But the kipping pull-ups are "what happens when you make doing pull-ups a competition." "Is it a workout? Yes, they require some technique and skill. Should you ever do those over regular pull-ups for the purpose of gaining strength? Absolutely not." In his words, "She's been CrossFit-pilled." But hey, to each her own. I'll stick to ridiculing her legislation and leave the critique of her workout form to the experts. —Abigail Weinberg Advertisement    George Floyd was the one with all the power, his killer's attorney argues. BY NATHALIE BAPTISTE
 BY ARI BERMAN
BY TOM PHILPOTT
BY SAEED KAMALI DEHGHAN
BY KARA VOGHT AND REBECCA LEBER Advertisement    AIDS taught us that shame can be deadly. The coronavirus pandemic can't repeat those same mistakes. BY MOLLY SCHWARTZ
 Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack.
 SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE
An ambitious new series, Solutions Cinema, is off to a strong start. The monthlong festival searches for action and accountability around entrenched injustices through a slate of interactive films. Instead of one-directional storytelling, the 12 films are coupled with audience dialogue before and after, including panels with filmmakers, featured characters, and students. Free screenings range widely, from a portrait of an Oakland high school's reckoning with COVID-19 by director Peter Nicks, interviewed before by Mother Jones' Brandon Patterson, to a documentary about grassroots journalism by Dalit women in India defying threats of violence and intimidation, by directors Rintus Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh. The two, Homeroom and Writing With Fire, top my list. There’s another, about migrant laborers in Italy and Côte d’Ivoire (The Invisibles), and a timely documentary about South Africa's escalating water scarcity (The Water Queen), along with a look at indigenous people in Mexico defending their community (Cherán: The Burning Hope). What's uniquely promising here—the festival runs throughout April, launched by Doha Debates and Maine's Point North Institute—is more than the scope and scale. It's the basic premise, a kind of wager that is vanishingly incentivized in much of today's media: a bid for dialogue instead of monologue. An effort to learn and unlearn. And an affirmation that audiences are drivers, not passengers, of cinema. The goal of engaging across divides without false equivalencies or neutrality, and finding that sweet spot, needs amplifying. Variety has more. Register for screenings here. And share your own recharges at recharge@motherjones.com. —Daniel King Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by forwarding it to a friend or sharing it on Facebook and Twitter.
|
▼
No comments:
Post a Comment