默默新聞08

2021年4月2日星期五

April 2, 2021

By Lauren Jackson, Mahima Chablani and Desiree Ibekwe

Hi everyone, happy Friday! Spring is happening (at least where we are), vaccine access is expanding and we're feeling something like hope. So, inspired by our episode on one nursing home's first day out of lockdown, we're dedicating this newsletter to all the possibilities of a post-pandemic world.

Last week, we asked you what you're most looking forward to doing once the world calibrates to a new normal, and many of you wrote in to tell us about the happy things you've missed — as well as the "zillion ugly, annoying, little things," you'd like back. "I want to catch an underground train jam-packed with a crowd, to get an overbooked plane or scold a bunch of noisy students disturbing a lesson," Paola Izzi in Milan said. We've decided to share a few more of your replies below. Then, read on for updates from two of the women you met from the Good Shepherd Nursing Home.

'Looking forward to looking forward'

We're dreaming of dancing. Here's what you said you're hoping to do in the after-times. These responses have been lightly edited for brevity.

"Very simply, I look forward to going to a Mets game later this year with my son. Sitting outside, socially distanced and fully vaccinated. That's it. Not too much to ask, is it?" — T.J. Russo, New York

"Looking forward to HUGS in a post-vaccination world." — Katie Moore, Maryland

"My husband and I are museum-goers. All of them have been closed for a year. But we can now anticipate our first visit, which comes Sunday, with all-new shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art." — Nancy LeMay, California

"Looking forward to seeing a play or live music. Or simply looking forward to looking forward." — Michele Puryear, Maryland

"Most looking forward to a trip to Israel in September 2021 to visit my daughter, husband, three grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and one more great-grandson, who is scheduled to be born two days before we arrive." — Tony Joseph, Florida

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An update from Betty Lou and Zita

Residents of Good Shepherd Nursing Home in Wheeling, W.Va., participating in a penny auction.Amr Alfiky/The New York Times

Last Friday, Sarah Mervosh, a National reporter for The New York Times, introduced Daily listeners to two women who were experiencing their first day out of lockdown in their nursing home. We asked her to give us an update on how they've been doing in the time since:

By Sarah Mervosh

I was sitting at my desk in my New York City apartment this week when I got a video call from a familiar face: Betty Lou Leech, 97, was FaceTiming me from her room at the Good Shepherd Nursing Home in Wheeling, W.V.

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It had been nearly two months since I spent the day with her, chronicling the nursing home's first day out of lockdown for a New York Times story that later became an episode on The Daily. I wanted to get an update on how she and her friends at the Good Shepherd were doing.

One of the first things she told me was that, since the last time we spoke, she had finally been able to see her daughter after months of separation.

"Oh my, that was great," she said, describing how they had hugged and kissed, even though it was technically against the rules. She grew teary just talking about it. "A half-hour went by like five minutes."

She also had other news: The "beauty shop," a hair salon inside the nursing home, had opened up again and her silver hair had been coifed that day. They had also had another penny auction — an Easter theme featuring "all kinds of bunnies" up for grabs.

"It's getting much better, more relaxing," Betty Lou told me.

But as nursing homes across the country open up again, amid widespread vaccinations, life isn't completely back to normal.

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Family members have to make appointments for time-slotted visits. And residents still cannot leave the facility for most excursions, a decision that the nursing home administrator, Don Kirsch, made in part because of the risk of virus variants spreading in the community.

I also spoke with Zita Husick, an avid gambler who turned 96 since I last saw her. She told me she was disappointed not to be able to visit the local casino. When I asked Don about this over the phone, he told me he hoped to be able to allow her to go one day. "I still want her to get there," he said, adding with a laugh: "She promised me if she hits big, we're splitting."

Neither Betty Lou nor Zita has been able to listen to the Daily episode yet. (The nursing home is burning the episode onto CDs to give to them as a keepsake.) But they know their story has reached far and wide.

Betty Lou, who had won cheese puffs in an auction on the day that I saw her, had received bags of cheese curls in the mail from New York Times readers. She also did an interview with Australian radio.

Both women were happy to talk again — and so was I.

"Love you," Betty Lou said as we hung up.

"Thanks for calling," said Zita, who had worried that I had forgotten about her. "It makes me feel good. Like you are thinking of me."

From Serial: The Improvement Association

WE'VE GOT A NEW SHOW! LISTEN TO THE TRAILER NOW.

The Improvement Association is a five-part audio series about the power of election fraud allegations — even when they're not substantiated.

The New York Times

From Serial: The Improvement Association

A true story about election fraud.

If you've heard of Bladen County, N.C., the setting for this series, it's probably because the county made national headlines a few years ago. In 2018, Mark Harris, a Republican, beat out his Democratic opponent for a congressional seat, but the election was later thrown out and a new election was called after his campaign was investigated over suspicions of absentee-ballot fraud.

But according to some local residents, the authorities got it all wrong. They say there's a powerful group still at work in the county, tampering with elections, bullying voters and stealing votes — a Black advocacy group, the Bladen County Improvement Association. These accusations have never been substantiated, but they persist.

Join the reporter Zoe Chace as she goes back to Bladen County to figure out what's behind all this suspicion. Who exactly is making the accusations? And in small-town politics, where rumors and allegations abound, how can you be sure who is telling the truth? The trailer is out now, and you can listen to the first episode on April 13.

What to listen to this weekend

Listen to some of our best articles from around The Times. Then, watch the Oscar contender "Promising Young Woman" and listen to Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris break down the movie in the latest episode of Still Processing.

Hunter Biden's Memoir, Translating Amanda Gorman and Learning to Love Cardboard: The Week in Narrated Articles

Five articles from around The Times, narrated just for you.

No Country for Any Men

"Promising Young Woman," Emerald Fennell's dark revenge fantasy, raises deep questions about sexual assault and justice.

On The Daily this week

Monday: Ahead of the trial of Derek Chauvin, the white police officer accused of killing George Floyd, we looked at what we could expect from the defense, prosecution and jury.

Tuesday: An exploration of how Georgia's Republican leaders have moved to restrict voting rights in a state that is increasingly turning from red to purple.

Wednesday: A conversation between Raphael Warnock, Georgia's first Black senator, and Astead Herndon.

Thursday: How a small group of workers in Alabama are taking on Amazon.

Friday: What is in President Biden's infrastructure plan? And how will it get passed?

That's it for The Daily newsletter. See you next week.

Have thoughts about the show? Tell us what you think at thedaily@nytimes.com.

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On Tech: Biden’s plan to fix America’s internet

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April 2, 2021

Biden's plan to fix America's internet

Irene Suosalo

By Shira Ovide

America, our internet stinks. And it's time to try a different approach to fixing it.

Millions of Americans don't have modern internet service. It's a symptom of our internet dysfunction that we don't even know how many. The unreliable number from internet providers is 14.5 million households. Or maybe it's 157 million people. Even for people who have reliable access, Americans generally pay more for worse internet service than our counterparts in most other rich countries.

The White House's new infrastructure plan includes a proposal to spend $100 billion to extend fast internet access to every home. Its central premise is a powerful one: To achieve the internet that we all deserve, the federal government must be more involved — but not too much.

The Biden administration's plan is short of details, and a big spending bill will be tough to pass. But let me explain why the White House's plan could be the shakeout we need.

First, how it works now:

We currently have the worst aspects of free market capitalism and heavy handed government. Taxpayer money is poured into internet service, but the money is often spent in shortsighted ways. A system that promises light regulation actually has many rules — often encouraged by companies protecting their interests — but the regulations are often misguided or poorly enforced.

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The government now hands over a lot of money and authority to internet companies. The result is that Americans are forking over many billions of dollars each year to help build internet networks in places like rural towns and to subsidize the cost of service for schools, libraries and households.

But the funds often help maintain AOL-era internet pipelines. And money is spent on short-term solutions. Schools, for example, get help paying internet providers for Wi-Fi hot spots when they would be better off having fast internet pipelines that they control.

"That's not to say that the investments haven't gotten communities online. They have," said Kathryn de Wit, who manages the internet access project of the Pew Charitable Trusts. But, she told me, "The time has come for the federal government to take a more active role."

What's in the White House's internet plan:

The administration this week set out high-level goals: High-quality internet pipelines should reach every American home, and soon. Taxpayer money shouldn't help finance outdated internet technology. And we should pay less for internet service.

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Those principles sound simple but are deceptively revolutionary. The plan is essentially a statement that what we're doing now is not working, and the government shouldn't sit by and let the system continue.

As de Wit told me, the role for the government should be to make everyone involved in the internet system laser focused on a mission: Build fast, 21st-century internet pipelines to reach everyone, and make sure that the public rather than internet companies are the first and last word on our internet system.

When the federal government should get out of the way:

The Biden administration set out principles, but it proposes leaving wiggle room for communities, states and companies to come up with tailored internet technologies and policies built for their needs.

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My colleague Cecilia Kang wrote this week about community activists in Maryland who jury-rigged a system of antennas and routers to get internet service to low-income families. The White House wants to back more community-based internet providers like that one, as well as government-affiliated networks like the one in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The White House's support for alternative internet providers is a message that big internet companies like Comcast and AT&T can be part of the solution, but they're not the only answer. Not surprisingly, the big internet companies aren't warmly embracing the Biden plan.

A trade group that represents Comcast and others said that America's internet plumbing was in good shape and that the government shouldn't micromanage internet networks or prioritize government-owned networks. Here's more on why the internet providers aren't happy.

The challenges and opportunities ahead:

I don't want to downplay the difficulties in fixing America's internet system. It will be hard to build internet networks that reach all Americans, particularly in sparsely populated areas. It's not clear how the White House plans to make service affordable for everyone.

But let me stress what's exciting about the White House plan. It identifies the right problems, declares a worthy mission and demands fewer roadblocks to bridge the best of government with the best of capitalism.

If the White House plan works, our internet system could be both less expensive and more effective for all of us.

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Before we go …

What happens when complexity is destroyed online: Facebook and Instagram have been fertile grounds for scary, often misleading information about Covid-19 vaccines. This Bloomberg News article digs deep into why, including how the apps reward people for stirring people's anxieties and the difficulty of making medical truths engaging online.
Companies that mine our data do a lot of lobbying: The Markup reported that 25 relatively unknown companies that make money from collecting our personal information spent a combined $29 million on federal lobbying. One of them, Oracle, spent $9.6 million — more than Google, which is much larger.
TJ Maxx, but from Amazon? Before the pandemic, Amazon discussed the possibility of opening discount stores to clear its warehouses of unsold merchandise such as home goods and electronics, Bloomberg News reported. I'm not sure why Amazon would need stores to do this instead of … uhhhh, just selling discounted stuff on its massive website.