1. Medical staff gave Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin CPR for nine minutes after he collapsed with cardiac arrest during Monday night’s NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He left the field in an ambulance while a national television audience—and players and coaches from both teams—watched. The latest report as I write this has Hamlin still in critical condition. The Nation’s Dave Zirin examines how the NFL’s leadership failed by initially signaling they would restart the game after Hamlin almost died on the field in The NFL Just Showed the World What It Thinks of Its Players. “But the players and coaches on the Bengals and Bills had seen enough and they refused to “play.” While the league was still twiddling its thumbs, coaches were meeting, players were getting dressed, and, at their behest, the game would be postponed. It’s important to note that the league only called the game after player reps from both teams contacted the union, the NFLPA, which informed the league that the game was done. This was a workplace action. Participants exercised their collective power and demanded that their trauma, their grief, their very humanity be recognized.” Zirin rightly calls upon the NFL owners to fire Commissioner Roger Godell over his latest failure of compassion and leadership. I am also stunned that the NFL (and perhaps other major sports leagues) do not have a protocol for this kind of medical situation after the justified criticism aimed last summer at the European soccer body UEFA after Danish star Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest in a game against Finland. Why wasn’t the NFL prepared?
2. ProPublica’s Daniel Golden shares an investigation demonstrating how untenured faculty in Florida universities are canceling classes because of fear officials could fire them in the wake of new laws prohibiting the teaching of critical race theory. “A month before the fall 2022 semester was set to start, he scrapped both courses. Students scrambled to register for other classes. “It didn’t seem like it was worth the risk,” said Cox, who taught a graduate course on inequality and education instead. “I’m completely unprotected.” He added, “Somebody who’s not even in the class could come after me. Somebody sees the course catalog, complains to a legislator — next thing I know, I’m out of a job.” This result is what Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the supporters of the anti-CRT laws wanted to see. The students and untenured faculty are facing ongoing consequences.
3. Should you have the right to repair the electronics you purchase without returning them to the manufacturer? New York’s Chris Stanton updates us on the gains made by the right-to-repair movement in the face of opposition from companies like Apple after New York state became the latest to pass one of these laws. “Dubbed the Digital Fair Repair Act, the bill centers microchip-powered devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops. When it goes into effect on July 1, 2023, the law will require manufacturers to supply consumers and independent repair shops in New York with the tools, parts, and manuals required to fix their devices at a reasonable cost, effectively democratizing resources that manufacturers have increasingly restricted to their own repair networks. To its supporters, the fact that the bill received bipartisan support in Albany offers further proof of the right-to-repair movement’s broad appeal — as a cost-saving initiative for consumers; a lifeline for independent repair businesses; and a step toward reducing e-waste, a fast-growing and notoriously toxic waste stream.” A similar bill in California died in the Senate Appropriations Committee last May. I hope to see it revived as the new California Legislature begins its session.
4. Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day recaps the news from across the country regarding reproductive freedom and sexual and reproductive health care. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin is planning to introduce 12-week abortion ban legislation; a bill in North Dakota would require doctors to prove rape, incest, health, and life exceptions in court; and anti-abortion activists in Georgia are seeking to ban abortion medication. Also worth watching: some national forced pregnancy groups are furious with former President Donald Trump for his comments blaming their extreme views for the GOP’s underperformance in the 2022 elections.
5. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes one of my favorite Substacks because he covers many political and cultural issues with wisdom and insight. He begins his most recent newsletter with a thoughtful message explaining his point of view. “Most of the issues I write about concern power, especially those who crave it and abuse it—always at the expense of others. The struggle for civil rights—whether based on race, gender, LGBTQ+, ethnic origin, or religion—is always about those with power and money trying to suppress those without. That’s how they keep their power and money. But in a democracy, they can’t do it alone, they need to enlist followers, usually those without power and money who greedily will do anything to get it, or those who blindly worship those who have it.” It is so important to recognize and understand these dynamics.
Quick Pitches:
Happy perihelion day! At 11:17 a.m. eastern time on Wednesday, January 4, the Earth will be at the point in its orbit where our planet is closest to the sun. (Phil Plait, Bad Astronomy)
The United States military received $858 billion in the recently passed omnibus bill—including billions more than the Pentagon requested. Those 770 federal lobbyists for the defense industry are effective. (Judd Legum, Popular Information)
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