Unsafe on Set
October 25, 2021
- Scientists shocked to discover how much lightning may clean the atmosphere (CBC)
- A critically endangered Sumatran orangutan in New Orleans is having twins (NPR)
“Distrust and caution are the parents of security” — Benjamin Franklin
Unsafe on Set
(Sam Wasson via Getty Images)
New Mexico’s criminal statutes define involuntary manslaughter, in part, as an unintentional killing resulting from either recklessness or criminal negligence. It’s a fourth-degree felony, punishable by up to 18 months in prison and fines up to $5,000.
Last Thursday actor Alec Baldwin fired the supposedly “cold” prop gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza on the set of Baldwin’s low-budget movie being filmed near Santa Fe. He could be charged with killing Hutchins “… without due caution and circumspection” as the statute reads. Did Baldwin act “without due caution and circumspection”? He had relied on the assurance of assistant director Dave Halls, who handed Baldwin what he said was a “cold gun,” film lingo for a gun without any live or blank ammunition that is safe to use. But Baldwin was also a producer of the movie, and could perhaps be held to a higher standard.
The “armorer” is a firearms specialist in charge overseeing the gun props; in this case it was 24-year-old Hannah Gutierrez Reed. The gun Baldwin used was one of three Reed had placed on a cart outside the building where a scene was being rehearsed. Halls grabbed a gun off Reed’s cart and handed it to Baldwin. After the shooting Reed reportedly removed a shell casing from the gun before turning it over to police.
There are a slew of safety steps that must be followed on a movie set, including extensive rules regarding firearms. Maggie Goll is a prop maker and licensed pyrotechnician who said she filed an internal complaint with the executive producers of Hulu’s 2019 “Into the Dark” series over concerns about Halls’ behavior on that set; she complained he disregarded safety protocols for weapons and pyrotechnics. Several sources said safety protocols standard in the industry, including gun inspections, were not strictly followed on the “Rust” set either. There had already been two accidental prop gun discharges, and at least one of the camera operators complained last weekend to a production manager about gun safety on the set. Hours before the fatal shooting, six camera crew workers walked off to protest working conditions surrounding the B film. One crew member said “There were no safety meetings. There was no assurance that it wouldn’t happen again. All they wanted to do was rush, rush, rush.”
Computer-generated imagery is limitless, so the question becomes: Why are any productions still using live weapons? Careful attention to rules and regulations may lessen the risk, but people are still being killed unintentionally. Computers can create completely risk-free gunshots post-production. Even if the audience could tell the difference, isn’t no risk better than unnecessary risk? (Justia Law, AP News, ABC News, LA Times)
This Is Not The Way
(Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
- The Third Way, a far-right German political party with suspected links to neo-Nazi groups, called for its members to stop illegal immigrants from Belarus crossing the border into Poland near the town of Guben. German police say over the weekend they disbursed more than 50 vigilantes, who were armed with pepper spray, a bayonet, a machete and batons and trying to patrol the border.
- Dozens of people held a vigil in Guben on Saturday to show their opposition to the planned patrols. Germany’s interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said Sunday an additional 800 police officers had been stationed on the border to control the flow of migrants trying to enter the EU. Seehofer said there had already been 6,162 unauthorized entries into Germany from Belarus and Poland this year, and the government might have to consider closing its border with Poland.
- Many EU states accuse President Alexander Lukashenko of sending illegal migrants across the border into the E.U. to put pressure on the bloc, which imposed sanctions on Belarus after Lukashenko’s disputed re-election in 2020. (Guardian)
Is-this-raeli Necessary?
- The Israeli government has labeled six Palestinian civil society groups as terrorist organizations, among them Al Haq, one of the longest-established human rights organizations in the West Bank, and Defense of Children International-Palestine (DCI-P), which documents violations of child rights.
- The groups are supported by the international community and the designation left human rights campaigners dismayed. Israel’s Defense Ministry stated all six “constitute a network of organizations active undercover on the international front on behalf of the ‘Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine [PFLP],’ to support its activity and further its goals.”
- A State Department spokesman said Washington was seeking more information from Israel over the basis for the designations; he added the U.S. had not been forewarned that an announcement was coming. Israel’s move is a challenge for many European countries that provide financing to the six organizations, which also include Addameer, the Bisan Center, the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees. (CNN)
Additional World News
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- Heavy Is the Burden on Japan’s Royal Women (NYT, $)
- Long Arm of Russian Law Reaches Obscure Siberian Church (NYT, $)
- In India, Facebook Struggles to Combat Misinformation and Hate Speech (NYT, $)
- Iran: The painful choices of being pregnant and unmarried (BBC)
- China’s ‘sinicization’ push leads to removal of mosque domes (NPR)
- I Was in Israel. I Swiped Right on a Man in Palestine (Wired)
Confirmed To Be Disrespectful
- Florida’s surgeon general designate, Joseph Ladapo, was supposed to attend a meeting last Wednesday at the office of Democratic state senator Tina Polsky. When Ladapo and two aides arrived at Polsky’s office they were offered masks and told the senator had a serious medical condition. The visitors refused to don the masks; after a tense exchange they were asked to leave.
- Polsky hadn’t yet made public that she is diagnosed with breast cancer. Ladapo had asked for the meeting with Polsky as he seeks Senate confirmation following his appointment last month by Governor Ron DeSantis. Democrats oppose Ladapo’s appointment because of his comments and actions related to the pandemic.
- On his first day in office, Ladapo introduced new rules allowing parents to decide whether their children should quarantine or stay in school after being exposed to COVID-19. Ladapo has also said he’s opposed to vaccine mandates because the federal government hasn’t been open about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines, and stories of people with adverse reactions were being kept hidden. (AP News)
California’s Not-So-Lazy River
- A massive bomb cyclone and atmospheric river slammed into Northern California Sunday, bringing record-breaking rainfall, flooding highways, toppling trees and causing mud flows in areas burned bare by recent fires.
- Winds blew through the San Francisco Bay Area at more than 50 mph. Hundreds were ordered evacuated from their homes in the Lightning Complex Fire burn scar zone in the Santa Cruz Mountains; at least two evacuation centers were set up in Sacramento. Several feet of snow are forecast for the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
- The atmospheric river — a long, wide plume of moisture pulled in from the Pacific Ocean — is expected to move south over the next few days, bringing possibly severe weather to a large part of the country early this week. Tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds are all possible Sunday across parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri; St. Louis to Springfield has a significant tornado threat. Expect a powerful low pressure system known as a nor’easter along the East Coast by Tuesday and Wednesday. (ABC News, CNN)
Additional USA News
- Florida is ditching palm trees to fight the climate crisis (CNN)
- Victims of Charlottesville Rally Argue the Violence Was Planned (NYT, $)
- Again and again. Women’s pro soccer players are just the latest to deal with abuse (NPR)
- A ‘shoot to incapacitate’ policy puts Georgia police chief and town in the spotlight (WaPo, $)
- Colombian drug lord Otoniel to be extradited to US (NPR)
- Anti-vaccine protesters support Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving outside Brooklyn game (CNN)
There’s A New Old Mummy On The Block
- There’s a new discovery of something ancient that Egyptologists say will send our knowledge on the evolution of mummification packing. The preserved body of a high-ranking nobleman called Khuwy — first ‘introduced’ in 2019 — has been found to be far older than originally thought. It’s been dated to the Old Kingdom, proving 4,000 year-old mummification techniques were actually highly advanced.
- Experts say Khuwy’s mummification process and the materials used were quite sophisticated. The dressing was of exceptionally fine linen and the resin itself was high-quality — something not thought to have been achieved until 1,000 years later. According to Professor Salima Ikram, head of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo and a leading expert on the history of mummification: “If this is indeed an Old Kingdom mummy, all books about mummification and the history of the Old Kingdom will need to be revised.” Wait — is there still a question? We thought it had been dated already.
- Ikram continues talking about the materials used, their origins, and the trade routes associated with them. “Until now, we had thought that Old Kingdom mummification was relatively simple, with basic desiccation — not always successful — no removal of the brain and only occasional removal of the internal organs. Indeed, more attention was paid to the exterior appearance of the deceased than the interior. Also, the use of resins is far more limited in the Old Kingdom mummies thus far recorded. This mummy is awash with resins and textiles and gives a completely different impression of mummification … [it’s] more like mummies found 1,000 years later.”
- National Geographic has a documentary series coming up about this and other majorly ancient discoveries. It’s called Lost Treasures of Egypt, and it starts November 7. The mummification discovery is Episode 4 on November 28; it’s creepily titled Rise of the Mummies. Of course, if you have the time and some really old linen and high-quality resin, you can show off your own mummy-fication skills this Halloween. Then again, for just $2.99, you can get a Knife-Thru-the-Head Zombie mask. (Guardian)
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