I'm waiting for the pro-lifers' outrage.
Freelance writer and editor in metro Detroit. Words in Outside, National Geographic, the Guardian, Audubon, Harvard Public Health, Well+Good, WebMD & more. writing portfolio: https://atburtka.journoportfolio.com/
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I'm waiting for the pro-lifers' outrage.
True. And now you will have that soda pop song in your head all the time!
Look what I brought home from Disney World! A Mickey Mouse t-shirt and measles.
OK, but this isn't fair to rotting mangoes.
but food coloring, tho
I enjoyed my polio-free childhood.
This is going to be a disaster. A completely unnecessary one.
Instead, we have the Chicago-Detroit train that repeatedly breaks down, where people were stuck for an extra 4 hours on a broken train without working bathrooms or electricity recently.
I think for a lot of people, it's the racism. That justifies the hate and cruelty.
An absurd use of the military
My middle schooler was told that, if a gunman broke into the classroom, she should throw a stapler or book or whatever she could find at him. Preteens planning to throw staplers at a gunman who is trying to murder them.
My middle schooler explained the plan if a shooter broke into the classroom: The kids were to throw staplers or books or whatever they could find. At the gunman trying to murder them.
This should never be normal. Kids shouldn't have to think through how they'll try to fight a gunman who's trying to murder them. They worry about not getting to the hiding spot in time, and who won't be able to hide. This is traumatizing them, even if they aren't directly affected by a shooting.
We've failed all the kids. All who have been in school in the last decade have grown up w/active shooter drills, practicing what to do: throw staplers and books at the gunman, try to hide in a classroom where there isn't enough space for everyone to hide, and which way to run out of the building.
This is so, so far from the world I wanted my kids to have.
It has always been both.
except that time in the rural South when I was a teenager, when I walked in and nearly everyone in there (white) turned around to stare at me (Filipina)
Imagine hating rainbows. Or fearing them, or both?
Right. History is often the point.
I think he honestly doesn't know that all these museums contain plenty of examples of brightness--in the face of atrocity and injustice. These things coexist.
Yes, but this almost isn't fair to children. Children often have dreams and goals that don't involve being ordered around by somebody else.
I'm honestly surprised that they haven't tried to walk it back by now, with so many formerly loyal customers staying away. Not that any change of heart they express could be trusted, but I'm surprised they haven't tried.
Women will keep dying in all these states with abortion bans. And meanwhile, young doctors are staying away from these states--even when they're not going into obstetrics--which worsens health disparities. www.aamc.org/about-us/mis...
Um, I guess you don't understand what this list is? It is the California state library giving access to books that others have banned.
These books are banned in Florida schools. (Yes, you can still buy them in stores.) A state department of education banning books in schools throughout the state = a book ban. In most states, it's not the state that decides the books--it's the school district.
Step 1: Be born as something other than white. Done! There is no step 2.
false. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
At least the rest of us would know to stay away. And color me surprised that they homeschool!
Those not-white-enough applicants are really hoping it doesn't mean stabbing, like in Ecuador.
These 8 in 10 Americans also may remember the fact that they or their family members immigrated here.
True. These Sandhill cranes are basically pterodactyls, and they sound like them, too. They have been around for millions of years.
Can you imagine what they said in response?! Oh, wow. Yeah, that one's really beautiful, too.
So Santa Ono got a job in England. It's probably easier than getting a job in the U.S. when both the Michigan liberals AND the Florida MAGA people are mad at you! www.freep.com/story/news/e...
And I wrote this for @theguardian.com about how cutting T&F programs harms Black male students in particular--as it closes doors to college--but also T&F athletes and university communities more broadly. www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/m...
This article by Russell Dinkins at Tracksmith Foundation @tracksmith.bsky.social explains why T&F is America's opportunity sport and why schools should save it. www.sportico.com/leagues/coll...
Universities across the U.S. are cutting track & field programs, which is bad for many reasons. One is that high school participation in T&F programs is growing, not dwindling. It's the 2nd most popular sport, per NFHS, and it's America's "opportunity sport." (see comments) nfhs.org/stories/part...
I have to say it was a good day.
I was looking for something on the CDC website about teen mental health and ran into this. On a page that is not even about gender.
Fascism, plain and simple.
It's the black-and-white portion of the infomercial, before someone throws up their hands and says, "There's gotta be a better way!"
The origin of the word Jingoism is irrelevant to what I'm saying about Dean Cain. But you really, really want to criticize Japanese people, regardless of whether your statements are true.
Found this bullshit on a CDC website about adolescent mental health. The page it's on says nothing about what this administration labels "gender ideology." It's about supporting teens struggling with mental health. For people who want to keep struggling teens alive and healthy.
No, that's not what Jingoism is derived from. But even if it were, it's irrelevant.
Washington Post: “Is fascism bad? The answer may surprise you” Teen Vogue: “Here are three fun tips you can use this summer to disable an armored personnel carrier”
And? The U.S. government threw Japanese Americans, indiscriminately, into internment camps, much like ICE is rounding up immigrants (and people who look like they might be immigrants).
The amount of self-hatred you'd need to do this, while having some Japanese ancestry, is baffling.
“It seemed the primary response that most responsible tourism companies were having was—to put it in rather frank terms—to hire Northern, white consultants or companies to measure their carbon footprint and then pay for offsets,” says Jamie Sweeting @planeterra.bsky.social
Tree planting is a good thing. But beyond environmental benefits, it can help uplift struggling communities—if they’re true partners in the process. I visited an organic tea farm in Sri Lanka where a tree-planting project boosts the economy & empowers entrepreneurs. wander-mag.com/articles/tra...
simply existing as brown people
Cleaning up and "greening" vacant lots in Baltimore has multiple benefits. One of them: Teens who live near greened sites are significantly happier than those who live farther away. I talked to @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social researchers about this fascinating work. hub.jhu.edu/2025/07/16/g...
I'm grateful to these young people for sharing their insight with me. Safety has many layers, which are constantly shifting. As one of them put it: These students are experiencing a critical point in their development, and “it becomes a point where everything feels like it’s on fire.”
What does safety mean to you? I asked a dozen teenagers and young adults in Detroit this question, and their answers touched on various issues: worries about ICE, school shootings, bullying, lack of mental health support. Here's what makes them feel safe and unsafe. www.chalkbeat.org/detroit/2025...
I do think people have both, but regardless, Lululemon is arguing that people buying $10 pants at Costco are confused about whether they're actually Lululemon pants. And that's ridiculous--no one thinks that.
Agree, no one is safe, but I think the administration's overall message here is that Americans should = white people only.
Call me crazy, but my idea of making America great involves a lot fewer kidnappings and concentration camps.
The point is to make anyone who's not white, no matter where you were born, a second-class citizen (or non-citizen).
The whole purpose of the name is to be racist. I wrote this a few years ago, but I still don't get how many people know this but are unbothered by it. They just keep giving them their money. prismreports.org/2021/04/08/l...
The purpose of Lululemon's name is to be racist. Everyone knows it, the company has all but admitted it, and they still haven't changed it. So yeah, I'm with Costco.
Racism is the purpose of the name. I wrote this a few years ago, but still, it's past time for that company to change its name to something that's not racist. prismreports.org/2021/04/08/l...
Come on. No one buying a $8 hoodie at Costco thinks it's actually a Lululemon hoodie. Sit down, Lululemon. And while you're at it, change your name to something that isn't racist and wasn't created for the purpose of making fun of Japanese people. www.cnn.com/2025/06/30/b...
I love her and her message at the end: to keep pushing boundaries, that she or another woman will break 4. So I was cheering along. BUT it felt like a big Nike ad--like they did it to stay relevant in the running space while people move toward other brands.
something I saw said they'd tested it and what they did was the best for going around a track, rather than straight forward
Yes. You don't need much equipment at all, but it's one of the most expensive sports, so it's basically off-limits for a lot of kids.
This is why we need more community and school sport options before high school: parks and rec leagues, places like the Y, sport "clinics" at elementary schools (if not full teams). Some communities have a lot more options for this than others.
The different rules for buying alcohol from state to state are weird. When I moved to CT, I had no idea what was going on when the grocery stores locked up the beer at like 7pm. And when I wanted to buy Kahlua, the place I found was a seedy package store that had mostly porn on the shelves.
They’re planning on building a detention center for migrants in the middle of the fetid swamps of Florida. If you think this is something new, the first internment camp they sent me and my family to in 1942 was a barbed wire prison called Rohwer. It was located in the swamps of Arkansas.
Outdoor Afro is offering scholarships to cover the costs of anyone, at any age, interested in learning how to swim: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
This is endangering everyone, except maybe the terrorists.
This is inexcusable, and it's dangerous for everyone, including the U.S. It might be good for terrorist groups, though.
This is going to keep happening to people who supported the abortion bans. Miscarriage is more common than ectopic pregnancy, and both sometimes require "abortion" drugs or procedures, which they'll be unable to get because of the bans.
So the "Young Women’s Leadership Summit," highlighting women who are leaders in their careers, is telling women that they should get married, stay home, have babies, and NOT have careers. Got it. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/s...
OK, everybody! Time to build our own bananas.
These are maintenance meds that we need every day. We should be able to use the one that works best for us, not keep asking our doctors to prescribe a new one because the cost is unreasonable.
It's unconscionable. My everyday maintenance inhaler costs $600/month without the coupon I'm using. When the coupon runs out, I'll need to switch to something else. I've had to do this with my kid's daily inhaler, too--when insurance changed, the cost became several hundred $, so had to switch.
So they're moving away from the news and the professional writers--and toward just aggregating other people's news and paying nonprofessionals to "write" with AI. What readers want this?!
They keep outdoing themselves in efforts to be less of a newspaper and more a seller of crappy content.
They keep finding ways to be less and less of a news organization. What readers want more aggregation and crappy "content" produced by "nonprofessionals" and AI?!
I need you all to see the hype video that this person made to sell their 1994 Geo Metro
“Our family loves the outdoors. We just don’t like sleeping in it.” This is what I heard my 11-year-old daughter telling another girl on our camping trip, who had asked where else we’d been camping. The answer: Nowhere. I wrote this for NatGeo Travel. www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/artic...
New Mexico is called the "Land of Enchantment." After my first visit last year, I can see why! Here's @allisonburtka.bsky.social writing about our road trip there, including visits to state & national parks and other public lands. extendedweekendgetaways.com/destination/... #NewMexico #ParkChat
Eeeek, I don't think I'm brave enough. One was pecking/grabbing my hair on the back of my head, so I wouldn't want to offer up my eyes! #ParkChat
A5. This is last year, but kayaking through a little sea cave in Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.
The criminal history was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat.
Related: Stop saying the administration is "cracking down" on immigrants or international students, as if they have committed crimes. Many of the people rounded up--including the third grader in Sackets Harbor--have done nothing wrong.
Yes. There is absolutely no reason anyone should die of measles in 2025.
I hope other principals, teachers, and parents are taking notes.
Sure you’ve lost your life savings but hey at least you can say all the slurs you want in the break room of the job you no longer have
They handcuffed a third grader. Then threw the third grader, older siblings, and their mom into a detention facility in Texas.
More of them need to stand up. The Tufts president did, too. He stood up for Rümeysa Öztürk even though the op-ed that she wrote was criticizing him. www.tufts.edu/president/sp...
And this from CMU: "'These are members of our community that we have recruited to come here,' Harris said, adding that DHS officials have offered no explanation of why they revoked the students’ immigration records." www.bridgemi.com/talent-educa...
This is an attack on international students AND higher ed. "Students stripped of their entry visas are receiving orders from the [DHS] to leave the country immediately—a break from past practice that often permitted them to stay and complete their studies." www.detroitnews.com/story/news/l...
So much punching down today. The highest tariffs imposed today were on Lesotho, a tiny mountainous African country whose primary wage industry is making clothes for Levi, Gap, Walmart and other brands. I’ve spent a lot of time in those factories, and let me tell you…
Should have been our VP.
Or eating food
The op-ed that Rümeysa Öztürk wrote was criticizing the Tufts University president--WHO WROTE THIS DECLARATION defending her. It's a lesson in doing the right thing and standing up for students against this fascist administration. Take notes, University of Michigan and Columbia.
🚨Georgetown University Law Center students are detailing which law firms have caved and which have stood up to the Trump regime. They have created this spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Please share widely.
So cruel to so many people.
That dog looks really unhappy about being held by the greasy guy.
Imagine being this motivated by fear and hatred.