Link Roundup May 2019

Solitary Voices

The records show dozens of cases of detainees placed in solitary confinement solely due to a disability, many simply because they needed a wheelchair, cane, crutches, or some other aid. One detainee from Guatemala was put in isolation for more than two months only because he had a prosthetic leg. A Nicaraguan man was put in solitary for almost two months — the only listed reason: “Detainee utilizes crutches — deformed leg.”

Parents are poisoning their children with bleach to 'cure' autism. These moms are trying to stop it.

Eaton and Seigler often do their work with little sense of whether they’re making a difference. State privacy laws mean they don’t hear back on most of their child abuse reports, and federal agencies have been hesitant to act on their tips, often claiming a lack of jurisdiction or evidence, according to emails viewed by NBC News. The Department of Justice declined to comment, and the FDA did not respond to a request for comment. And for years, until the recent crackdown on health misinformation groups, Eaton said, Facebook simply replied with a “blanket statement that it doesn’t violate their policy.”

Where's Masculinity Headed? Men's Groups And Therapists Are Talking

Meanwhile, the American Psychological Association published guidelines this year suggesting that therapists consider masculine social norms when working with male clients. Some traditional ideas of masculinity, the group says, "can have negative consequences for the health of boys and men."

A Bizarre Form of Water May Exist All Over the Universe

In an earlier experiment, published in February 2018, the physicists built indirect evidence for superionic ice. They squeezed a droplet of room-temperature water between the pointy ends of two cut diamonds. By the time the pressure raised to about a gigapascal, roughly 10 times that at the bottom of the Marianas Trench, the water had transformed into a tetragonal crystal called ice VI. By about 2 gigapascals, it had switched into ice VII, a denser, cubic form transparent to the naked eye that scientists recently discovered also exists in tiny pockets inside natural diamonds.

The “smarter” wall: how drones, sensors, and AI are patrolling the border

Nevertheless, the idea of bolstering a technological wall has backing from key politicians on both sides of the aisle. Those supporters include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Reps. Will Hurd (R-TX), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA); and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT).

Kickstarter will not voluntarily recognize its employee union

Kickstarter CEO Aziz Hasan and management will not voluntarily recognize Kickstarter United, its nascent employee union. (The staff is organizing with the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 153.) Instead, the company wants a National Labor Relations Board election.

Trump Administration to LGBT Couples: Your ‘Out of Wedlock’ Kids Aren’t Citizens

The Trump administration’s promised executive orders ending this “loophole” have not materialized, but the president’s war on birthright citizenship has many fronts—and one little-noticed State Department policy, first implemented in 2014, has now resulted in a reverse version of Trump’s “anchor baby” scenario, where the children of U.S. citizens born abroad are effectively being stopped at the border. That policy unilaterally changed the department’s interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), a 1952 law that, along with the 14th Amendment, codifies eligibility for U.S. birthright citizenship. “The U.S. Department of State interprets the INA to mean that a child born abroad must be biologically related to a U.S. citizen parent,” the State Department’s website says. “Even if local law recognizes a surrogacy agreement and finds that U.S. parents are the legal parents of a child conceived and born abroad… if the child does not have a biological connection to a U.S. citizen parent, the child will not be a U.S. citizen at birth.”

“The Fourth Amendment Doesn’t Apply Here” — U.S. Border Guards Arrest Arizona Immigrant Rights Volunteer

With Adlerstein acting as an observer on the ground, Wellock took steps to insure that Reneé would be able to exercise his right, under U.S. and international law, to apply for asylum. On Friday night, Wellock called the Lukeville port to inform officials there that he was Reneé’s attorney and that Reneé would be coming to the port to seek asylum. The official who picked up the phone said the port was at capacity and wouldn’t have room at that time. On Sunday, Wellock called the port again. This time, he was able to speak to a CBP supervisor by the name of Noriega, who said that Reneé could come to the port to request asylum and that her agency did not have a policy of turning away asylum-seekers. With a signed immigration form and a cover letter from Wellock in hand, Reneé walked up to the port of entry with Adlerstein trailing behind shortly before 3 p.m. Noriega informed the pair that the facility was at capacity and to return in a couple of hours.

Tug-of-Love: Immigrant Mom Loses Effort to Regain Son Given to US Parents

The judge handed down the decision in a courtroom closed to all but the parties involved and their lawyers. There was no translator provided by the court today for the Guatemalan woman, who speaks only a little English.

Heart-wrenching fight for immigrant's son

With Bail Romero in prison, her brother and sister cared for the boy, at first. They sought help in caring for the child from an education worker who put them in touch with a clergy couple who offered babysitting services, attorneys in the case say. The couple asked to adopt the boy, but Bail Romero said no, Riojas says. Rebuffed, the couple introduced the boy to the Mosers. The clergy couple eventually put the boy up for adoption -- something the boy's biological mother says they lacked the legal ability to do.

'Straight pride' parade organizer has held and attended far-right events

Mark Sahady is the principal organizer, under the moniker Super Happy Fun America. He has previously organized and attended events, some of which have turned violent, as the leader of the Boston chapter of a group called Resist Marxism. The Daily Beast described the new organization as a “front for [the] far-right group”.

The Making of a YouTube Radical

Google Brain’s researchers wondered if they could keep YouTube users engaged for longer by steering them into different parts of YouTube, rather than feeding their existing interests. And they began testing a new algorithm that incorporated a different type of A.I., called reinforcement learning. The new A.I., known as Reinforce, was a kind of long-term addiction machine. It was designed to maximize users’ engagement over time by predicting which recommendations would expand their tastes and get them to watch not just one more video but many more.

'It’s a miracle': Helsinki's radical solution to homelessness

Housing First costs money, of course: Finland has spent €250m creating new homes and hiring 300 extra support workers. But a recent study showed the savings in emergency healthcare, social services and the justice system totalled as much as €15,000 a year for every homeless person in properly supported housing.