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Re: Is pandemic providing cover for privatization? Jan. 26

Re: Nursing shortage fix is obvious Jan. 26

Gillian Stewards column out of Alberta enumerates the many reasons an Alberta resident could conclude that In many ways the pandemic has provided opportunity, and cover, for politicians, such as (Alberta Premier Jason) Kenney and medi-entrepreneurs who have long wanted to cash in on health care through the public purse.

Birgit Umaigba, an emergency and intensive care nurse who also teaches nursing, is furious that thousands of internationally trained nurses are not allowed to apply their talents, in a province needing more than 22,000 nurses.

These stories bring to mind the anticipation as my family gathered to read Pierre Bertons columns in the Toronto Star, reporting instances of medical hardships suffered by Toronto citizens in the years after universal medicare was won for Saskatchewans survivors of the Great Depression. Other survivors from coast to coast, like my family, could suddenly imagine debt-free medical attention.

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Health-care deficiencies run very deep - TheRecord.com

Parlays are fun. Therein lies their genius for the sportsbooks. Bettors cant resist the temptation to mix and match. They cant resist the promise of massive payouts and the opportunity to glorify their own massive ego should all legs, improbably, cash. So every weekend we flock to the D. All of the above of sports betting, and every weekend we lose. Unless, of course, youre this NFL bettor, who turned a simple two-leg, conference-championship parlay into one of the most ridiculous paydays you will ever see.

As far as parlays go, its not exactly sexy. Two final scores. Wham, bam, thank you man. But take a look at those odds. 29,000-to-1. Take a look at the wager. $20 of house money. Not a single cent spent. Now take a look at the bottom line: $529,020. Folks, thats not a bad weekend at the office. Craziest of all, this bettor wasnt the only one to cash this very same parlay on Sunday.

We dont know what sort of telekinetic mind meld these maniacs had on Sunday, but it certainly paid off. And like all parlays, it almost didnt. The likelihood of this cashing probably plunged double-digit percentage points when the Chiefs won their second overtime coin toss in as many weeks and probably shot up double-digit percentage points when the Bengals picked off Patrick Mahomes three plays into said overtime. Same goes for Jimmy Garaoppolos no-look interception deep in the fourth quarter, setting up one last sweat, with bettors praying McVay wasnt salty enough to pad the scoreline against his dreaded division rivals after taking over the ball in the red zone.

So congrats to these iron-stomached, steel-cojoned heroes. Fortune favors the bold and its better to be lucky than good.

Original post:
This 29,000-to-1 NFL parlay is one of the longest long shots in sports betting history - GolfDigest.com

Walter Kamau Bell, April 2019

W Kamau Bell has made a career of embracing uncomfortable conversations. The kind others might choose to sidestep. Or run from entirely. When asked how hes doing these days, the comedian, television host and now first-time director responds, Im holding on to my mental health by my fingernails.

With his new Showtime docuseriesWe Need To Talk About Cosby, debuting January 30, Bell again dives deep, and wide, into his preferred kind of topicthe messy kind. Informed by Ezra EdelmansOJ: Made In Americaand Dream HamptonsSurviving R Kelly, Bells lens is on grappling with another fallen Black heroone of his own personal and professional heroes for decadesin the context of whats widely believed to be glaring misconduct.

As Bell puts it, How do I reckon with the fact that I still feel the presence of the good of Bill Cosby in me, while I reckon with the awfulness of the truth I believe from these women. Cosby was convicted of sexual assault in 2018; he has denied all accusations.

People of all races are dealing with this, and a lot of Black people dealt with it in a very different way because we dont have as many role models as white folks do. Some Black people felt like hes too valuable to throw away, and some people felt like, What are we saying if we dont throw him away?

So there are all these different conversations but oftentimes they are silod, he says. Either you have the assault and rape conversation or the heres the good work he did conversation. In my work its always about having the biggest, messiest, most inclusive conversation you can have because thats the only way to get to a new place.

Aside from sparking conversation, Bell hopes his work will move some needles. This is a film about, how do we create a situation where if you are a victim of sexual assault you know you can tell somebody and they will help you instead of, I dont believe you, why would you make this up? Or, I believe you but dont tell anybody. That is certainly not a mentally healthy society that does that. But that is the society we currently live in.

In fact, the society we currently live in isnt giving Bell much to smile about.

Riffing off his signature signoff, Were doomed, the multiple Emmy winner for his CNN showUnited Shades of Americagrimaces as he reflects on the past 20 months since George Floyd was murdered and a whole lot of white people pledged to be better anti-racists.

Ive grown more cynical in the past year and a half than I ever have been, and I dont know if I started out too optimistic to begin with, Bell says. Then, after a pause, Cynical is not the right word. But really clear. And maybe this is what happens to everybody whos engaged in trying to look at racism in America. We are so far away from solutions. Its just really clear this American experiment really might not work out.

If I was to give a letter grade judging white peoples intentions of what they said they were going to do in the summer of 2020 until now, its very much an incomplete grade. But class is ending soon, so get your homework in. You could get an F. I feel like we have to understand that racism is an active and an always growing concern.

Befuddled the term woke has been demonized in some circles, Bell says, All woke means is pay attention and be aware, specifically through a lens of Black folks. I talk to people, and you can look at that critical race theory thats taught in schools and say, Oh thats just some school board, blah blah blah and Im like, No, that is a key thing thats working its way through all levels of society. Its just starting there.

Noting police interactions with Black people remains a dangerous proposition, he says, Thre are still Black people being killed by the police for no good reason. If I saw a Black person having a mental health crisis theres no way Im calling the police. We are still in the same place. Even though weve talked about it, even though in some cases families have sued the city and gotten some money, its not structural change. Were always looking for a band aid or putting a black box on Instagram. But we need structural change in society to create the America many history books in Texas want to tell us we already have.

There are a few rays of light.

One thing Ive seen happen more is that those of is who have therapists, like me, feel more free to claim it out loud, Bell notes. But theres also a caveat.

We also know the people who probably need the most therapy are the people who are dealing with the brunt end of racism and Americas oppression of women. They arent getting access to therapy the same way I have access to it. So I think we have to not judge it by those of us who have privilege, we have to judge it by the people who have the least privilege.

He finds other glimmers in his own backyard, the entertainment industry: I look at Issa Rae. She has completely transformed and rebranded HBO as a network for Black women, which is not what it was known for before she got there.

And he remains determined to use his own station to create pockets of hope. Case in point, while he was filming forUnited Shadesseveral years ago he noticed a field producer, a Latina woman, getting the run-around from a co-worker.

Shes really good, and I saw the way she was being treated by another producer, a white man. The way she was having to fight for things other people wouldnt have to fight for, Bell recounts. So it became part of my job to make sure she doesnt get stuck in this job. That woman, Geraldine Porus, is a co-executive producer onWe Need To Talk About Cosby.

And so for me the hope I see is when I take the privilege I have and the opportunities I have to really pull people in who would not be looked at, and really tell those stories. It doesnt mean anything if Im not keeping that door open for people who that door would not normally be open for. That makes me feel hopeful.

Hollywood & Mind lives at the intersection of entertainment and wellbeing, and features interviews with musicians, actors, sports figures and other culture influencers who are elevating the conversation around mental health.

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Hollywood & Mind: W Kamau Bell On His New Cosby Doc, And Racisms Ongoing Toll - Forbes

Imagining Trauma

I read with great interest Parul Sehgals essay about our cultures fascination with trauma (A Critic at Large, January 3rd & 10th). As a sitcom writer, and as someone whose life has been shattered by traumamy two children were killed by a drunk driver when they were teen-agersI am often dismayed by film and television depictions of parents who have lost children. Need a quick, easy way to explain a characters depression, or failed marriage, or difficulty getting through the day? Whip out the dead kid backstory. It seems to have become the perfect explanation for any debilitating dysfunction.

When I talk about my grief with friends, they often say, I cant even imagine. If they are fellow-writers, I urge them to not just use their imaginations but to do some research. Traumatized characters are too often approached without curiosity and rigor, and rendered without dimension. Although recent movies and TV series might suggest that traumatized people spend all our time slumped under a blanket, swilling bourbon, turning away from someone in a bed, or standing atop a cliff with our toes too close to the edge, in real life we also manage our pain while doing things like teaching algebra, performing surgeries, perhaps even writing comedy. It bears remembering that, in spite of our suffering and fragility, we can be the resilient, idiosyncratic people we once were.

Gail LernerLos Angeles, Calif.

Though I agree with much of Sehgals wonderfully written essay, I feel compelled to add that many therapists who, like me, focus on treating the long-term consequences of complex developmental trauma share her objections to the reductive nature of a P.T.S.D. diagnosis. Sehgal writes that the experience of uncertainty and partial knowledge is one of the great, unheralded pleasures of fiction. In my opinion, openness to this experience is also essential to the posture of an effective therapist. Good therapy is unscripted, and acknowledges that a therapist doesnt know everything. It creates room for the client to fill in the blanks with contributions that the therapist could not have imagined. When it doesnt allow for this ambiguity, therapy is likely to be as routine and uncreative as the characters in the works that Sehgal critiques.

Leslie LebowitzBerkeley, Calif.

Elizabeth Kolberts piece on the island nation of Naurus role as a sponsor for the deep-sea-mining outfit the Metals Company brought to mind another troubling partnership that the country has pursued (Comment, January 3rd & 10th). For the past two decades, Nauru has served the Australian government as a dumping ground for refugees and asylum seekers, in return for millions of dollars in aid. Hundreds of cases of abuse have been documented in the islands refugee-processing center, and numerous deaths have resulted from medical neglect and suicide. Nauru has also made attempts to resist independent oversight. For instance, journalists wishing to obtain visas are charged a fee of eight thousand Australian dollarsthe equivalent of almost six thousand U.S. dollars. Last September, Australia renewed its agreement to have Nauru serve as an enduring offshore processing center. Having seen Nauru assist Australia in implementing a morally bankrupt policy, none of us should be surprised that the country is now trying to make money by supporting mining ventures that threaten to do serious harm.

Guy S. Goodwin-GillHonorary Professor of Law & JusticeUniversity of New South WalesOttawa, Ont.

Letters should be sent with the writers name, address, and daytime phone number via e-mail to themail@newyorker.com. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and may be published in any medium. We regret that owing to the volume of correspondence we cannot reply to every letter.

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The Mail - The New Yorker