Tanvi Misra comments on research indicating that individuals with African American names statistically receive less attention from civil servants such as
librarians
.
Misra notes that "the researchers found a spatial discrepancy: The response gap was higher in the Midwest region—and in rural areas compared to urban ones."
This research is evidence for subtle racism, sometimes called microaggression. When I initially read Misra's comments, I thought there may be an alternate explanation, based on my experience working in tiny rural Midwest public libraries, where the desk staff recognizes an amazing number of their patrons by name. In most of these libraries (a) funding is extremely tight, and, (b) as a result, services are limited to cardholders. If a request for help was received from a person who is obviously not a cardholder, the staff would make the response low priority, if they responded at all. Such discrimination based on financial contribution is common in a free market system. But the original researchers seem to have eliminated the economic influence on their results by testing with a variety of ethnic names, with only the African American names reportedly receiving discrimination.
James Rainey suggests that people should be taught to survive a terrorist
nuclear threat
, as casualties from an isolated, low-yield bomb or radiation release could be reduced by more than half with minimal advance instruction. His main piece of advice is to hide from any initial flash and blast, and then minimize contact with the shower of radioactive dust particles. In a large building, avoiding the dust is often best achieved by staying indoors, preferably in a basement or an inner windowless room for multiple days.
David Neild reviews the audio technology for laptops and mobile devices, and suggests
speaker specifications
that will provide the best sound distribution.
Nick Routley provides information on the
Smart Speaker market
, including how people report using their devices such as the Amazon Echo or Google Home.
Preeti Varathan shares the observations of economist Angus Deaton, who said that some forms of
inequality
are fair, and others are unfair, and that good public policy recognizes the difference between them.
