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National Geographic is slammed for suggesting July 4 fireworks are racist because their smoke 'disproportionately targets communities of color'
Daily Mail ^ | July 5, 2021 | Brian Stieglitz

Posted on 07/05/2021 8:01:40 AM PDT by rickmichaels

National Geographic caused a stir by suggesting that Fourth of July fireworks are racist because their smoke disproportionately affects communities of color.

The publication marked Independence Day on Sunday by tweeting: 'Scientists found that vulnerable people and communities of color are disproportionately exposed to air pollution from firework celebrations.’

The tweet included a link to an article about a study which found that communities of color and vulnerable populations with higher rates of asthma, older residents and children, are exposed to higher levels of smoke from firework displays than other groups.

The study by researches at the University of California's Irvine campus suggests that law enforcement should crack down on illegal displays and that municipal and corporate displays should be replaced by drone light shows.

National Geographic's tweet was met with swift criticism from Twitter users who branded it unnecessarily divisive and decried the outlet for putting a damper on the holiday.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


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This kind of smoke also disproportionately targets their communities:


1 posted on 07/05/2021 8:01:40 AM PDT by rickmichaels
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To: rickmichaels

Accidentally funny and stupid at the same time, it’s a double!


2 posted on 07/05/2021 8:02:57 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods ( comment might be sarcasm, or not. It depends. Often I'm not sure either.)
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To: rickmichaels

It’s part of the celebration. Geez. Everything and everyone is racist. Getting old quick. The people calling us racist are white.


3 posted on 07/05/2021 8:04:13 AM PDT by glimmerman70
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To: rickmichaels

Mental illness - that’s the only explanation.


4 posted on 07/05/2021 8:04:55 AM PDT by jmaroneps37
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To: rickmichaels
'Scientists found that vulnerable people and communities of color are disproportionately exposed to air pollution from firework celebrations.’


5 posted on 07/05/2021 8:05:33 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire. Or both.)
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To: rickmichaels

I cancelled my long running subscription to NG over 15 years ago over its anti-science wokeness. I don’t regret it in the least.


6 posted on 07/05/2021 8:07:00 AM PDT by fwdude
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To: rickmichaels

I much prefer the colored fireworks with their soothing reds, yellows, and blues.. The white ones are too bright and hard on the eyes.

Is that anti-racist enough?


7 posted on 07/05/2021 8:08:24 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“I’m not a conspiracy theorist....but, I don’t believe in coincidences, either.” ~ Steve Bannon)
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To: rickmichaels

The burden of the article seems to be the higher exposure of POCs due to “illegal” fireworks, i.e. backyard festivities. So: if POCs disproportionately set off fireworks at home, National Geographic is engaged in a culturally oppressive assertion of dominance over indigenous celebrations. National Geographic has gone racist.


8 posted on 07/05/2021 8:09:35 AM PDT by sphinx
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To: rickmichaels

What morons.


9 posted on 07/05/2021 8:09:46 AM PDT by bgill
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To: rickmichaels

Isn’t National Geographic known for photographs of nude black people wearing penis gourds and huge rings in their lips?

That sounds pretty racist to me. I’m not sure I want to take what they say as credible.


10 posted on 07/05/2021 8:09:54 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd (I love my country. It’s my government that I hate.)
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To: rickmichaels
'Scientists found that vulnerable people and communities of color are disproportionately exposed to air pollution from firework celebrations.’

This has to be straight out of the 'Journal of Irreproducible Results.'


11 posted on 07/05/2021 8:11:15 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“I’m not a conspiracy theorist....but, I don’t believe in coincidences, either.” ~ Steve Bannon)
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To: rickmichaels

That is why thoughtful, envirmentally conscious gangbangers use smokeless gunpowder.


12 posted on 07/05/2021 8:12:58 AM PDT by allendale
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To: rickmichaels

The only people buying and detonating fireworks in my neighborhood are the POCs.


13 posted on 07/05/2021 8:17:30 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy." ― Mao Zedong)
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To: rickmichaels
I looked up the UC Irvine study and found this. It is hilarious. And hilariously pathetic...
UCI Study Shows Dangers of Fireworks In Southland
By City News Service
June 29, 2021

UC Irvine scientists have published a study showing that Fourth of July fireworks spark plumes of pollutants that can pose significant health risks, so they are encouraging a reimagining of the typical Independence Day celebrations that are more environmentally friendly. The lead author of the study, Amirhosein Mousavi, a postdoctoral scholar in UCI's Program in Public Health, told City News Service thepollutants were worse last year because the COVID-19 quarantine restrictions spurred more individual backyard fireworks displays.

Instead of gathering with neighbors for fireworks displays, “everybody basically had a firework,'' Mousavi said.

On average, Los Angeles County last year saw a 50% increase over 2019 in pollutants on the Independence Day holiday that were generated by fireworks, Mousavi said. “That was so shocking,'' he said.

Pollution was down during the lockdown restrictions because there were less people driving and more working from home, but that all changed as residents blasted off bottle rockets and other pyrotechnics, he said.

“People were needing to see some celebration because it was the Fourth of July, which I understand, but they didn't choose one of the safer ones'' that were suggested, Mousavi said.

The scientists compared the air with Northern California, where laws are more strict regarding fireworks, and there was less pollution up north, Mousavi said.

The UCI researchers were able to use newer technology to measure the pollution in the air. PurpleAir sensors were able to get more specific data on various areas.

Before, the data was from much larger geographical areas, which watered down what was happening in various neighborhoods more prone to fireworks activity, Mousavi said.

The fireworks-related pollution was also twice as much in neighborhoods housing lower socioeconomic residents, more minorities and those with higher asthma rates, Mousavi said.

The fireworks-related pollution was higher in the northern cities of Orange County, where “safe and sane'' fireworks are allowed, Mousavi said.

The larger, more organized fireworks displays put on by local governments are just as toxic as the backyard fireworks, Mousavi said.

“They could be replaced by much better'' alternatives, such as “drone shows,'' or laser displays, Mousavi said. Drone shows are growing in popularity in Japan, for instance, Mousavi said. The “younger generations'' prefer the drone shows on holidays such as New Year's Eve in Japan, Mousavi said. “The drone shows are more sustainable,'' he said. An investment in drones will be much cheaper in the long run than setting off new batches of traditional pyrotechnics year after year, Mousavi said.

The pollutants generated by the fireworks can increase the risks of cancer as well as anxiety attacks for those with asthma, Mousavi said. The pollutants can be sucked into the lungs and passed on to other tissues in the body, the researchers say. Fireworks contain barium, copper, magnesium, potassium and strontium. “These fine particles are known to cause a wide range of adverse health effects, including premature mortality, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and neurological diseases,'' said Jun Wu, a UCI professor of public health who is a co-author of the study.

There's nothing like having a Persian guy and a Chinese guy tell us how to celebrate Independence Day with more "sustainable" celebrations.

I'm disappointed that the Person and the Chinese guys didn't tell us how fireworks are causing global warming.

14 posted on 07/05/2021 8:24:00 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“I’m not a conspiracy theorist....but, I don’t believe in coincidences, either.” ~ Steve Bannon)
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To: rickmichaels

Out in a section of southern California where a sibling lives, it is 90% “people of color” (”Latinos”) that are shooting off most of the fireworks, and that’s not only on the 4th of July.


15 posted on 07/05/2021 8:25:05 AM PDT by Wuli
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To: rickmichaels

Lets not forget menthol fags as well


16 posted on 07/05/2021 8:27:23 AM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom Hi Dad)
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To: SaxxonWoods

Maybe these people who find the color of something racist should stop eating chicken, pork, potatoes, vanilla ice cream and so on. Oh, and what about under garments? This is beyond ridiculous!


17 posted on 07/05/2021 8:31:40 AM PDT by hsmomx3
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To: fwdude

Me, too. It seemed like they just couldn’t let go of global warming and other leftist fads in every issue. A bit more than a year ago I accepted a dirt cheap subscription to Smithsonian Magazine, which I awlays enjoyed years ago. I let it lapse for exactly the same reason. More the half the articles were just some crap. The left ruins everything they touch


18 posted on 07/05/2021 8:35:20 AM PDT by j.havenfarm (20 years on Free Republic, 12/10/20! More than 3700 replies and still not shutting up!)
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To: rickmichaels

The depths of stupidity keeps getting deeper.


19 posted on 07/05/2021 8:38:13 AM PDT by Jenny217
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To: rickmichaels
Notice that when it was climate change, everything was caused from climate change. The Left made lists of thousands of everyday occurrences and behaviors that were due to the climate changing. It became laughable after a while.

Now it's racism. Everything is racist. Now the "woke" Left are deciding hundreds, soon to be thousands, of everyday occurrences and behaviors are due to racism. It's becaming laughable too.

Fireworks are racist? How is one supposed to respond to that claim without bursting out laughing? It's ludicrous.

For years I tolerated the National Geographic creeping into the world of climate change. But I think this is the straw that broke the camel's back of me continuing my subscription to National Geographic. It is the last publication I used to take that has finally gone over the edge into the world of stupidity.

20 posted on 07/05/2021 8:38:27 AM PDT by HotHunt
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