We have trainings to stop cops from mistaking their guns for Tasers. Few departments use them.

View in browser   April 13, 2021 Last week, I drove to Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Denver and had a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine injected into my arm. Colorado has expanded vaccine eligibility to anyone aged 16 and over, and, in my experience, appointments have been easy to come by. Two days later, the mass vaccination site was shut down after 11 people experienced "adverse reactions" to the J&J shot, ranging from dizziness to nausea. Two people were hospitalized, and the other nine were treated with water and juice and sent on their merry way. The 640 people whose appointments were canceled received the first of two Pfizer shots on Sunday instead. Then, today, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a major setback for J&J vaccine distribution in the US—and potentially for vaccine confidence in general. Out of the nearly seven million people who have received the J&J shot, six women developed a rare blood clotting disorder, leading federal health officials to call for a pause in the distribution of the vaccine "out of an abundance of caution." One woman died, and another is in critical condition. I am neither an epidemiologist, nor a hematologist, nor a public health official, so I can't comment on the wisdom of halting J&J vaccinations. I can, however, say that I'm happy that I got vaccinated, right under the wire. —Abigail Weinberg Advertisement   We Have Trainings to Stop Cops From Mistaking Their Guns for a Taser. Few Departments Use Them. "They designed the Taser like a gun," an expert says. BY SAMANTHA MICHAELS SPONSORED POST   Farmers on the Front Line: How They're Responding to the Global Food Crisis Sparked by COVID-19 With the pandemic affecting food supply, farmers are finding new ways to keep feeding the world. THIS CONTENT WAS PAID FOR AND SPONSORED BY HEIFER INTERNATIONAL.   An infamous international operator signed on to lobby for Myanmar's junta. What is he really up to? BY DAN FRIEDMAN A "superhero pirate" radio host is Gavin Newsom's strangest—and most dangerous—threat BY LIL KALISH The NCAA signals it might remove championships from states that target trans athletes BY LAURA THOMPSON Police in Minnesota Suburb Where Daunte Wright Was Killed Rely on Policies Designed to Protect Cops BY MADISON PAULY Advertisement   A Year Later, It's Still Impossible to Tell How Many Food Workers Are Contracting COVID-19 More than 50 food and meatpacking plants have had repeated outbreaks of the virus. But a full picture of the problem remains elusive. BY LEAH DOUGLAS   Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. Donate SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE A Nonprofit Tackling Homelessness Receives a $100 Million MacArthur Grant The MacArthur Foundation has awarded a New York-based nonprofit $100 million to expand efforts to eliminate homelessness in 75 communities across the country within five years. Community Solutions was chosen out of six finalists in the competition, with a track record of housing more than 235,000 people in the past decade. But numbers paint just part of the picture. For a personalized portrait of a housing crisis that predated the coronavirus pandemic, and is compounded by it, watch this short new documentary. At eight minutes long, it centers on a woman living in a tent encampment before the city of Oakland bulldozed it. Voice of America commissioned Living in a Tent from producers Deana Mitchell and Wendi Jonassen, and it cuts powerfully through the policy jargon of political debates to do narrative justice to an unjust story—with inside-the-tent interviews and carefully framed footage that respects the multidimensional experiences of who is telling the story. The film and grant come on the heels of the United Nations designating the Bay Area housing crisis "systemic cruelty." And the doc is crushing. It's also illuminating, pairing urgency with deeply observed storytelling. More than half a million people experienced homelessness before the pandemic on any given night in this country. And there's a recharge to be found in filmmakers doing the hard-to-thread work of unpacking a crisis too often shorthanded or underreported in the media. Watch the doc, and read about the $100 million grant. Share good housing news 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. Donate Subscribe This message was sent to franchmaverickk.secretwords123@blogger.com. To change the messages you receive from us, you can edit your email preferences or unsubscribe from all mailings. For advertising opportunities see our online media kit. Were you forwarded this email? Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today. www.MotherJones.com PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755