#TreatYoShelf: 02/14/19

by Dan Masterton

Couldn't squeeze this week's links into the morning pre-Lucy-waking-up routine because we had a fun outing planned! Thanks to a well-placed CTA ad, Lucy and I made our first visit to the University of Chicago's Infant Learning and Development Lab. We got to spend an hour with a few researchers participating in a study that will help find effective ways to teach little ones. Dad got a little cash, and Lucy got to pick a thank you treat! She went with a Sesame Street book starring Grover.

Now, on to treating yo shelf!

"Unvaccinated teens are fact-checking their parents and trying to get shots on their own" by Alex Horton via Chicago Tribune/Washington Post
The anti-vaccination movement just doesn't seem to go away. A fresh measles outbreak is even putting this further back in the spotlight. This young man reached the age of adulthood and has utilized his autonomy to obtain proper vaccinations. The Catholic Social Teaching in me screams in so many ways for the anti-vaxxer movement to stop. Not getting immunized hurts our human dignity, damages our solidarity, and ignores the call to community and participation. Herd immunity is the strongest defense, and it should be a no-brainer to deploy this surefire strategy against preventable diseases.

"Director of operations position emerges through Renew My Church" by Michelle Martin via Chicago Catholic

Renew My Church is the pastoral and practical way that my archdiocese is attempting to reevaluate its structure, primarily through reorganizing parishes and churches to more intelligently allocate its diminishing priests and staff our faith communities more effectively. One of the happy elements of this often grim process -- one that frequently downgrades parishes to worship sites within a larger, merged parish -- is the rise of more lay people into positions of leadership. This article describes the growing niche for Directors of Operations, who in collaboration with their pastor, put the unique skills of qualified lay people to great service in more efficiently running the many aspects of a parish's machinery. I have a friend whose background in accompaniment-based service of marginalized people, education in psychology, theology, and non-profit business, and interpersonal skills as a humble and service-oriented person of faith landed her one of these positions. It's a prophetic evolution in our local Church.

"How can we transform the U.S.-Mexico border? Opportunity zones." by Edward F. Cullen and Derrick H. Lewis via America Magazine

As the debates around immigration and border security continue, as President Trump prepares to declare his dubious national emergency, the problems remain mostly unresolved. Even those who  accompany and advocate for people in transit rarely have a clear, articulated plan for what comprehensive immigration reform would exactly look like. I know, personally, I imagine some combination of DACA enshrined in law, amnesty and a path to citizenship for current undocumented people, and a reexamination of border budgets, policies, and enforcement principles. But what specifically should be passed into law to fix our border problems? This article presents one concrete idea, drawing on elements of the new tax law. It proposes opportunity zones that would incentivize new business in vulnerable borderlands and seek to create economic activity as a way forward.

"Why We Can't Break Up With Big Tech" -- interview by LuLu Garcia-Navarro via WBEZ/NPR, speaking to writer Kashmir Hill of Gizmodo

Actual live shot of big tech executive.

I heard this interview over the weekend, and I thought the concept was amazing and the takeaways even more jaw-dropping. This Gizmodo reporter used the wherewithal of her colleague to create targeted VPNs (virtual private networks) that prevented her from interacting with particular tech giants for one week at a time, before trying to isolate herself from all five big names for one full week. Her experience shows just how many tentacles these mammoth companies have, reaching into so many areas of our world beyond what we may even realize. The NPR interview is a great thumbnail, and I've bookmarked her full series on Gizmodo to read further, too.

"Actor Gary Sinise describes his road to the Catholic Church" by Mark Pattison via Catholic News Service
I am a big fan of when famous people/celebrities/public figures demonstrate that they are people of faith. I am not looking for them to speak as representatives of my/their church or to be preachers of prophetic messages; I do find consolation, though, when someone famous hasn't discarded their faith and even wears it confidently. For example, I loved when Chris Pratt casually referenced his faith and love of prayer in his wonderfully ecclectic speech at an MTV award show last year. This article is a nice little snapshot of Gary Sinise (you may remember him from such films as Forrest Gump) and how he came to his Catholic faith. It's a neat little read.

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And a little PS from me on my favorite sports team, the Chicago Cubs!

One of the many welcome and wonderful ways that my wife, Katherine, has humanized me is by teaching me how to be a better sports fan. She will watch sports with me -- her favorite is hockey and our Chicago Blackhawks -- but she won't engage in objectifying the players. She has called me out for treating them simply as stats or contracts or commodities. As a result, I still may get frustrated with my teams' and my players' struggles, but I'm much more grounded in the realities that they are people with families and lives and mistakes.

Last year, the Cubs made a big splash late in the offseason to bring in arguably the best pitcher on the market, Yu Darvish. He signed a six-year deal at a below-market rate that was considered a good value but still a lot money -- $126 million to be exact. He proceeded to struggle mightily, suffer injury, and have his dedication and toughness questioned by fans and commentators. After a corrective surgery and an offseason of rehab and hard work, he is coming into spring training full-go. And what's more, he's giving public interviews, like all his teammates do.

Mad props to this guy.
Here's to a great 2019!

Why is this surprising and exciting? Well, Yu is Japanese, and to this point, rarely spoke English in front of cameras and microphones. He reportedly took meetings with prospective teams last winter in English but never offered that publicly. Now, he is showing a new confidence and expressing himself personally, not through translators or second-hand reports. Getting to hear his voice and get his thoughts directly is really neat. His English is great, and his attitude is even better. A lot of Spring Training stories are generic cliches about people being in great shape or feeling great or ready to take the bull by the horns. We could write those stories about Yu, but the neat thing is that he has the confidence and outlook that is prompting him to speak for himself. It's such a treat, and I am only more excited for him and the Cubs. He is well compensated but was poorly treated by a lot of people and chose to keep his head up. Way to go, Yu! We're rooting for ya.