2020 Olympics: these are beautiful games

Wang Guan

Opinion  

09-Aug-2021

CGTN

Editor's note: The Tokyo 2020 Olympics comes to a close. Is team China the ultimate "medal machine" that prioritizes golds at any cost? Or did people miss out on something more subtle yet significant? CGTN anchor and longtime sports observer Wang Guan believes the younger generation of Chinese athletes challenged stereotypes.

Hey guys, welcome to Reality Check. Every four years, we celebrate the Olympic Games, a singular event that unites us and reminds us, even if for a brief moment, that there's great beauty in this world.

On the beam, the biggest cheer-leader for Chinese gymnast Guan Chenchen was the American all-around champion Sunisa Lee. "I love her so much" as Lee tweeted. The two apparently bonded over the years as competitors but also friends.

Out of respect, Wang Shun, the new 200-meter individual medley champion, bowed to the guy he just defeated, Hungarian swimmer and five-time Olympian Cseh László, whose entire Olympic endeavor had been overshadowed by Michael Phelps and now at his last Olympic swim, by Wang Shun himself.

And let's not forget Su Bingtian, the fastest Asian man in the world. Su's trainer is famous American coach Randy Hungtington, who helped him to get to where he is today. And likewise, Chinese coaches helped other national teams train too in volleyball, gymnastics and other disciplines.

A hug...a hand-shake, an exchange of pleasantries. These are beautiful games. If only governments could come together in politics athletes do in sports, our world would have been quite a place.

In reality, there are media stories covering the Olympics from a political angle. For example, a New York Times article says "The Chinese Sports Machine's Single Goal: The Most Golds, at Any Cost," making it look as if these Chinese athletes were robots who can't think or feel for themselves.

Perhaps these Western reporters missed out on all the fun.

One may also want to know that Su Bingtian holds, in fact, a PhD in sports science. Chinese shooter Yang Qian studies at the prestigious Tsinghua University. And half of the Chinese Women's Volleyball team have a master's degree. Plus, those who suggest that elite sports in the Olympics and grassroots fitness are two different things should take a closer look at some facts.

For young kids, they need a role model - a Su Bingtian, or a Liu Xiang or an Alex Morgan or a Caeleb Dressel - to want to become one. Elite sports inspire grassroots participation. The two complement each other.

In China, for example, now more young Chinese than ever go to the gyms or participate in sports regularly. In 2020, fitness and sports in China is a growing 7-billion-dollar industry.

Back to the Tokyo Olympics. Again, they are beautiful games. Amid a global public health crisis and a world divided by geopolitics, they reminded us, every now and then, that our common humanity matters more than our differences.

VIDEO

2020 Olympics: these are beautiful games - CGTN

Script: Wang Guan

Editors: Xu Shuo, Liu Yuqing

Designer: Qi Haiming

Videographer: Wang Yilin

Producer: Wang Ying, Zhao Yunjie

Supervisor: Mei Yan

'Most challenging' Tokyo Olympics declared closed


By AFP
Published August 8, 2021

Fireworks went off over the Olympic Stadium at the end of the closing ceremony. - Photo: © AFP, Mohd RASFAN

Talek HARRIS

The Tokyo 2020 Games were declared closed on Sunday by IOC chief Thomas Bach, who said it had been the “most challenging Olympic journey” after a year’s pandemic delay and threats of cancellation.

Bach called the Tokyo Games “unprecedented” as he addressed the 68,000-seat Olympic Stadium, which was empty of spectators as Japan battles a record coronavirus outbreak.

“In these difficult times we are all living through, you give the world the most precious of gifts: hope,” the International Olympic Committee president told athletes at the ceremony.

“And now I have to mark the end of this most challenging Olympic journey to Tokyo: I declare the Games of the 32nd Olympiad closed,” Bach said.

It marked a low-key end to an extraordinary Olympics that have mostly played out in empty venues with only athletes, team officials and media present.

Athletes have lived in strict biosecure conditions with social distancing at the Olympic Village and instructions to wear masks unless eating, sleeping, training or competing.

As the Olympic flag was passed to Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo for the 2024 Games, live footage showed cheering crowds in the French capital — in stark contrast to Tokyo.

Bach has described how the IOC considered cancelling the Olympics and claiming the costs on its insurance policy but said officials ploughed ahead with holding the Games “for the athletes”.

– ‘Our athletes moved people’ –

On Sunday, the climax of the biggest sports event since the pandemic, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge won the men’s marathon and the USA edged China at the top of the medals table.

The United States scored victories in volleyball, track cycling and basketball to top the tally with 39 gold medals, just one ahead of China.

The Olympics were plagued by low Japanese support as they went ahead with Tokyo and other regions under a state of emergency and with infections multiplying to new highs.

But Japan’s record haul of 27 golds to finish third on the table has won hearts. Britain were fourth with 22 and the Russian Olympic Committee, the team for Russian athletes after their country was banned for systematic doping, were fifth with 20.

“We believe our athletes’ earnest spirit and all-out performance moved people,” said Tsuyoshi Fukui, chef de mission for the Japanese team.

A succession of big names have failed to perform in Japan, where new sports skateboarding, surfing, sport climbing and karate brought young new stars to the fore.

But marathon world record holder Kipchoge showed his class on Sunday, kicking in the closing stages and clocking 2hr 08min 38sec to retain the title he won in 2016.

“I know there were a lot of people against holding this Olympics due to the coronavirus,” said a flag-waving, 47-year-old fan on the marathon route who gave his name as Tsujita.

“But I am glad it took place. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone.”

The marathon, moved north to Sapporo to avoid Tokyo’s summer heat, was one of the few events to allow spectators.

– Trans athletes, ‘twisties’ –

Fears of a major outbreak among the mostly vaccinated Olympic athletes and officials proved unfounded and 430 cases were picked up during the Games, including 32 in the Olympic Village.

However, the virus has lurked as an ever-present threat. Victory celebrations were muted, with lonely laps of honour. But the athletes’ emotions were on full view.

Superstar gymnast Simone Biles provided the most jaw-dropping moment when the American abruptly pulled out of competition over a bout of the “twisties”, a disorientating mental block.

Biles, widely acknowledged as the greatest gymnast in history, recovered sufficiently to claim a redemptive bronze medal in her final event, the beam.

Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand became the first openly transgender woman to compete at the Games and Canada’s Quinn became the first openly transgender Olympic medallist, with gold in the women’s football.

In other highlights, US swimmer Caeleb Dressel assumed the mantle of Michael Phelps with five gold medals and Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah achieved a sprint double on the track.

Among the final events on Sunday, Jason Kenny claimed the men’s keirin to become the first Briton to win seven Olympic titles.

The USA started the day two golds behind China but the women’s basketball and volleyball titles and track cyclist Jennifer Valente’s omnium victory put them top of the table.

Tokyo will host the Paralympics from August 24. The Olympic circus will reconvene in just six months when Beijing, faced with boycott threats and a renewed coronavirus emergency, holds the Winter Games in February.

Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/most-challenging-tokyo-olympics-declared-closed/article#ixzz731Xz87KW

Tokyo Olympics: COVID-19 restrictions, no fans and more questions for the IOC

Though COVID-19 and public outrage loomed large, Tokyo 2020 still possessed the Olympic magic we all know and love. But the IOC won't always be able to hide behind the athletes' brilliance, writes DW's Oliver Moody.

    

"So what are you actually going to do in Tokyo?" It was a fair question.

The buildup to this year's Olympic Games was filled with uncertainty, and it was no different for journalists like me traveling to Japan. Would we be able to move around the city? To talk to people? Would we even be able to get into the events themselves?

Before we even got that far, there was a series of Tokyo 2020 systems and apps to navigate, about half of which actually seemed to work. The fear of getting turned back at the airport over an unchecked box felt terrifyingly real in the weeks before departure.

So when my doctor asked the question as he was giving me my COVID-19 vaccine, I didn't know what to say. On top of the pragmatic issues, some even more basic dilemmas had been swirling around my head. Should I even be going to Tokyo when the locals will be shut out? Should the Games be taking place at all?

Most of the restrictions were overcome — some relatively easily, others with a fair degree of difficulty and a scarcely believable quantity of deodorant. But it is perhaps unsatisfying to say that I still don't have a firm answer to those last questions.

The role COVID-19 played during the Olympics

Coronavirus case numbers exploded here during the Games, reaching record levels in Tokyo since the Olympics got underway. But the relatively low number of cases among people involved in the Olympics, and the fact that cases started rising rapidly before most of us had arrived in Tokyo, suggests that has more to do with the delta variant than the influx of foreigners.

Empty stands serve as a backdrop to IOC President Thomas Bach at the Opening Ceremonies

The ban on spectators is a travesty that truly eats away at the soul of the Games, and laying eyes on the empty fan park still standing next to Tokyo Bay is a brutal reminder of that. But, in this case, disappointing hundreds of thousands of locals with tickets meant giving joy to hundreds of millions of viewers around the world.

Athletes who trained their whole lives for this moment but then tested positive for COVID have been locked up heartlessly. Others have been able to fulfill their dreams, some with their very last chance at Olympic glory. Seeing intense euphoria and acute physical pain simultaneously etched into the faces of American swimmer Caeleb Dressel, British BMX cyclist Bethany Shriever and Ugandan steeplechase runner Peruth Chemutai in the flesh and knowing that thousands of hours of grinding away just paid off for them perhaps changes one's perspective.

The Japanese people themselves are also conflicted on the issue of the Games. At the opening ceremony, I could hear the demonstrators outside railing against the organizers who showed them so little respect. I've walked through protests to get into the Olympic Stadium in the last few days, and seen banners with slogans like, "Stop playing Games! Save lives, not the Olympics!" while others tell IOC President Thomas Bach, in no uncertain terms, to get out of Japan.

This shows unmistakably that the anger has not subsided. But I've also seen people lining up for photos with the rings, not 50 meters away from the protests. I've seen crowds form on a bridge as people tried to get a good view of the BMX events. I've seen people wearing Team Japan replica shirts all over town. They are all still part of the spectacle, even if they're not allowed to spectate.

Just before the start of the Games, I spoke to a pair of tour guides, who gave me almost identical quotes. "The Olympics should have been canceled because of the pandemic," they agreed. "Now that it's happening, though, I'll probably watch some of it."

If any of this sounds inconsistent, even hypocritical, ask yourself what any normal person is supposed to do in these circumstances.

Questions asked of IOC, Japanese government

What is clear is that none of these things have been treated with the gravity they deserve by the powers that be. The IOC makes grand claims of bringing the world together and giving athletes their big moments, but the truth of the matter is that hosting the Tokyo Olympics in spite of everything is an act of protecting revenues. The vast majority of the IOC's income stems from broadcast and sponsorship deals associated with the Summer and Winter Games. That's why we're all here.

The Japanese government meanwhile, staring down the barrel of billions in wasted investment and further bills to come in the event of cancellation, instead followed the gambling addict's logic that eventually their luck just had to change. To an extent, it has.

As increasingly seems to be the case with the Olympics, the unpalatable realities behind the scenes are countered by the brilliance of the performances and the compelling stories of previously unknown athletes who shoot to stardom over 16 breathless days. For a couple of weeks, we can intermittently forget how inherently wrong the direction the Olympic movement is heading in feels these days. No doubt the host nation's record-shattering performance in the medal table has helped the locals focus on the positives.

IOC President Thomas Bach during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics

But the gap between perceptions of athletes and authorities grows ever larger. That was made abundantly clear by the IOC's lumbering, reluctant response to the case of sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who was kicked off Belarus' Olympic team for refusing to compete in the 4x400-meter relay.

And already they're having to bat away questions about Winter Olympics in Beijing, which start in just six months. They have already been dubbed "The Genocide Games" due to the Chinese government's treatment of its Uyghur population. Tokyo can almost breathe a sigh of relief, but scrutiny of the IOC is likely to ramp up even further in the coming months.

If one moment sums up the Tokyo Olympics, it was a scene immediately after the women's park skateboarding final. We had just witnessed an astonishing performance from a group of mostly teenaged athletes who, on top of their phenomenal skills, displayed compassion, togetherness and a joie de vivre that is often lacking in the seriously competitive forum of the Games. They were supremely talented, genuine, and fun.

And right there at the bottom of the press tribune, posing for photos and basking in their reflected glory, was Thomas Bach. The man who externally speaks almost exclusively in platitudes but internally demands fierce loyalty from his IOC subjects; the man currently leading the organization's drive for more profits and less humanity. These are the two sides of the Olympic coin.

 

Belarus: Women as the drivers of protest

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko once had many women among his supporters. But now, they are some of his most uncompromising opponents.

    

Women are at the forefront of Belarus' protest movement

One year ago, on August 9, 2020, Alexander Lukashenko declared himself the winner of Belarus' presidential elections. Massive nationwide protests ensued, which were followed by a seemingly unending wave of arrests, torture and intimidation of the participants.

"I had the feeling that they would soon come for me as well," says Anna Koval, who, along with other helpers, collected food, toiletries and clothing for people in detention.

"We joke among ourselves that we suffer from bus phobia — a specifically Belarusian anxiety disorder," she says. "We mean the small buses carrying unknown people who can stop you on the street at any time and force you into the vehicles. They don't tell you who they are or why they are taking you away. Even people who aren't at all politically active can have it happen to them."

The personal story of Anna Koval, who felt compelled to leave her native country four months ago, and that of many other women in Belarus is told by the author Alice Bota in her new book "Die Frauen von Belarus" ("The Women of Belarus"), which has just been published by the Berlin Verlag.

"There is something noble about people overcoming their fears and taking up an unequal struggle even though they have so very much to lose. And when they stay peaceful despite experiencing so much violence," writes Bota, a journalist. 

It is women like these who have realized their own strength and challenged Lukashenko. They have been a crucial factor in the resistance to a regime that does not accord women any place in politics.

Bota's book highlights the role of women in Belarus' protests

Women on the move

For decades, Lukashenko seemed to many like a father figure, the protector of the nation. Women were among his main supporters and voted for him in droves at presidential elections.

"For women, social guarantees were important, and the regime ensured that social guarantees were upheld. Women were particularly vulnerable and relied on the state to help them, if they had no male partner, with child allowances, maternity leave and child care," Bota told DW.

But then the worm suddenly turned, she said, describing how women were horrified at seeing their own children being manhandled on the streets — something they could not forgive Lukashenko for.

"Although families in socialist countries had a matriarchal structure, with women keeping families together, working, looking after children and perhaps caring for grandma as well, the system was and still is dominated by men," Bota said. "Women are assigned a special role; they are revered but at the same time kept in their places." But now, she said, women have overcome their reticence and become visible — and are surprised at their own power.

Three women against Lukashenko

And Lukashenko had not expected resistance of this kind from women. Maria Kolesnikova, a musician and feminist; Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a homemaker, former teacher and mother; and Veronika Tsepkalo, an IT manager and also a mother, have become three of the main Belarusian opposition figures. They are the new face — a female face — of the country's revolution.

Arm in arm, the three women traveled the length and breadth of the country, spoke to journalists and demonstrated strength and resolution through their words and gestures in front of crowds of people. Veronika Tsepkalo's special symbol was the victory sign, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya used the fist and Maria Kolesnikova the heart.

At the start, Lukashenko did not take the women seriously. He called them "girls" who "could make rissoles" but not talk about politics. This contemptuous attitude toward women and his humiliating words in public were his biggest mistakes — they turned him from being the protector of the nation to a hated opponent.

These three women actually never wanted to become involved in politics. But circumstances have forced them to do so. They took up the political cause after Tskihanouskaya and Tsepkalo's husbands were both stopped from running in the elections, as was Viktar Babaryka, whose campaign was managed by Kolesnikova. They managed to frighten Lukashenko, who reacted all the more harshly. While Tskihanouskaya and Tsepkalo succeeded in fleeing abroad, Kolesnikova is in pre-trial detention and faces a potential 12-year prison sentence.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has taken on the role of the main opposition leader in Belarus

Civil society on the march

Lukashenko has been in power since 1994. Two years after taking office, he had the constitution changed by referendum to give himself virtually boundless powers. He introduced state symbols strongly redolent of the Soviet era. Belarusian traditions and even the Belarusian language are frowned upon.

Although the protests were long in coming, discontent has been building up for a long time among Belarusian citizens, Bota said. "The cynicism of the state in the coronavirus crisis, Lukashenko's comments and the mockery of the dead have all led to society rediscovering itself. A civil society has arisen. Many people underestimated how great the discontent was," she said. "These three women were catalysts. Perhaps the protests would have taken place anyway, but they created such a strong contrast to the contemptuous rhetoric used by the regime by speaking about love and respect."

The protests in Belarus called all age groups onto the streets

The struggle continues

A year after the protests, the regime has made no concessions at all to civil society. On the contrary, intimidation and torture are still the order of the day. The struggle on the streets and the women's revolution are not over.

"At the moment, a total cleansing of dissidents is happening," says Marina Vorobei, a journalist from Belarus and the founder of freeunion.online, an online platform that aids people to organize themselves in public associations and initiatives.

"It is not just those who took part in the protests, but simply everyone who can be regarded as a member of civil society, like NGOs," Vorobei says. "Since the start of July, more than 50 NGOs in Belarus have been searched." According to her, on July 14 alone, a day described as a "Black Wednesday" for Belarusian NGOs,  searches were carried out at at least 18 public organizations.

She said that the Belarusian NGO sector had never seen such a huge wave of arrests, searches and confiscations.

It would seem that the protests in Belarus are moving from the streets to the online sphere, where activists can operate with more protection. At any rate, they are not considering giving up the fight, as both Anna Koval and Marina Vorobei agree.

Police fire tear gas, rubber bullets at Bangkok protesters

Anti-gov’t protesters rally in the Thai capital against the state’s failure to handle COVID outbreaks and the economy.

Demonstrators gather during a protest against what they call the government's failure in handling the coronavirus pandemic [Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]

7 Aug 2021

Thailand police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators in Bangkok protesting against the government’s failure to handle coronavirus outbreaks and its effect on the economy.

More than 1,000 protesters defied restrictions on public gatherings on Saturday and marched towards Government House, the office of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, demanding his resignation.

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Police sealed off a road near Victory Monument using containers and shot tear gas and rubber bullets to push protesters back.

“We are holding this line,” police announced over a loudspeaker.

About 100 officers were seen in riot gear and shields metres away from where demonstrators had gathered.

Street protests against the government have been held in recent weeks by several groups, including Prayuth’s former political allies, as frustrations mount over its management of coronavirus outbreaks and the damage pandemic measures have inflicted on the economy.
Franc Han Shih, a journalist based in Bangkok, told Al Jazeera that Saturday’s protest was partly triggered by the Thai government’s sluggish rollout of its COVID vaccination programme

“The wrong vaccination policy really irritated citizens in Thailand,” said Shih, who added that the government had made a deal for 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca jab, but had only received half so far.

“Although China provided more than 6 million doses of Sinovac, it isn’t enough,” he added

.

A police officer fires a weapon during clashes with demonstrators protesting against what they call the government’s failure in handling the coronavirus pandemic [Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]

On Saturday, Thailand reported a record of nearly 22,000 new reported COVID-19 cases and the highest number of daily deaths – 212.

Overall, it has reported 736,522 cases of the coronavirus, including 6,066 deaths, since the pandemic began last year.

“I’m worried about the situation but we will have to continue fighting despite the severe COVID outbreak,” 27-year-old protester Nat, who only gave one name, told AFP news agency.

A youth-led street protest movement for democracy rose up last year and at its peak drew tens of thousands to rallies in Bangkok.

The demonstrators called for the resignation of Prayuth, the former army chief who came to power in a 2014 coup, as well as changes to the military-scripted constitution and calls for changes to the monarchy.

Thai anti-govt protesters clash with police in Bangkok
2021/8/7 

©Reuters


By Jiraporn Kuhakan and Chayut Setboonsarng

BANGKOK (Reuters) -More than a thousand Thai anti-government protesters clashed with police on Saturday, as they demonstrated against the government's failure to handle coronavirus outbreaks and its impact on the economy.

About a hundred police officers in riot gear sealed off a road near Victory Monument in the capital Bangkok with containers and used water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets to stop a march toward Government House, the office of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

"Tear gas and rubber bullets were used for crowd control. Our goal is to maintain order," Krisana Pattanacharoen, a police spokesman, told reporters.

The demonstrators threw ping pong bombs, stones and marbles, he added.

Dozens of protesters were seen being carried away on motorcycles and in ambulances. The Erawan Emergency Medical Centre said at least two civilians and three officers had been injured.

"We want Prayuth to resign because people aren't getting vaccines," said a 23-year-old male protester, who only gave his first name "Aom", for fear of repercussions.

"We don't have jobs and income, so we have no choice but protest."

Some 6% of Thailand's population of more than 66 million has been fully vaccinated and most of the country including Bangkok is under lockdown with a night-time curfew. Gatherings of more than five people are currently banned.

Nonetheless, street protests against the government have been held in recent weeks by several groups, including Prayuth's former political allies, as frustrations mount over its management of the health crisis.

Thailand reported on Saturday a record of nearly 22,000 new COVID-19 infections in a single day and the highest deaths, 212 fatalities.

The Southeast Asian country has reported 736,522 total cases and 6,066 deaths from the coronavirus since the pandemic began last year.

(Additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Kirsten Donovan)

Plastic waste and the recycling myth

By Dr. Tim Sandle
Published August 8, 2021

Tonnes of microplastic granules from a burning container ship have inundated Sri Lanka's west coast - Copyright AFP LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI

At the present rate, the levels of plastic emissions globally are likely to initiate effects that humanity will not be able to reverse. New research finds plastic pollution to be a global threat. The report also signals that unless actions are taken to reduce emissions of plastic to the environment, then the consequences for the planet will be catastrophic.

According to Greenpeace, while plastic is useful and versatile, the large qualities that are used are highly problematic. As a symbol of the throwaway culture, vast quantities of plastic pollute flows into the oceans causing considerable damage to the food chain.

Another way of expressing the problem is where it is projected that plastic pollution will weigh as much as 1.3 billion tonnes in just two more decades.

The Swedish researchers have been looking at the extent of the current problem. According to the lead scientist, Professor Matthew MacLeod, achieving change will be culturally challenging: “Plastic is deeply engrained in our society, and it leaks out into the environment everywhere, even in countries with good waste-handling infrastructure.”

The central concern is that while people express support for ecological issues in general and plastic pollution specifically, the signs are that change is not happening to any great extent.

For instance, plastic emissions are trending upward even though awareness about plastic pollution among the public, according to opinion polls, appears to have increased significantly in recent years.

The new research appears in the journal Science, in a paper titled “The global threat from plastic pollution”.

Can the damage be reversed? To do so will take enormous political will. A different research team estimate the scale of human response needed to reduce future emissions and manage what is already floating around out there requires a fundamental shift to a framework based on recycling all end-of-life plastic products and phasing out plastic products wherever possible.

However, as the Swedish researcher point out, recycling plastic is not easily achieved. While governments urge people to recycle plastic, this does little to actually reduce plastic pollution. This is because, technologically, recycling of plastic has many limitations. Some types of plastics cannot be recycled and the extent to which they are recycled depends upon technical, economic and logistic factors.

This means recycling plastic is often simply too expensive and even plastic collected by a local authority for recycling still ends up in a landfill site (where it can enter water streams).

It also stands that a common approach by many high-income countries is to export their plastic waste to lower-income countries with poor facilities, even assuming an attempt is made to recycle rather than landfill.

For example, the U.S. exported 436 million kg in 2019 and is continues to export over 5,600 shipping containers (30 million kg) of plastic waste every month to other countries, so that the waste can be disposed of.

Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-science/plastic-waste-and-the-recycling-myth/article#ixzz731fiau25

Op-Ed: Unbelievable and out of control — US COVID reported infections over 100K per day

By Paul Wallis
Published August 8, 2021

The EU has now passed the US in terms of the percentage of population that have been fully vaccinated. — Photo: © AFP

US infection rates are now as bad as the worst of the second wave of COVID. As of 6 August, Johns Hopkins reported infections of 100K in that one day. The question is why. The answer isn’t so clear.

Millions of Americans, more or less 50% of the population, haven’t been vaccinated.

Reasons for not getting vaccinated vary:
Side effects – The mixed messages regarding side effects are definitely NOT an asset.
Political reasons – These vary from QAnon “plandemic” stuff to Trump-based propaganda or variations thereof. For some reason, politics is a reason to die of a disease. Go figure.
Disinformation – Anti-vaxxers, many widely reported to be getting vaccinated themselves, are still at work against the COVID vaccines.

The short, repulsive history of failing to understand COVID

At first Trump said COVID was a hoax. Then it was a Chinese conspiracy. Then came a range of bizarre things like a malaria drug which was tested in Germany Trump was taking, and was found in March 2020 to be useless. Then it was “try disinfectant”. Then the CDC was to blame. Then Fauci. Around election time, the Democrats.

During this fecal flower arrangement of abysmal US policy misses, not a lot was done. Data was sent direct to the White House, and nothing was done with it that ever got mentioned publicly.

That was then, this is now – The two Americas, again

It’s now August 2021. Trump is gone, arguably more gone than ever. Yet the mythology lives on in Florida, where Governor Santis is getting a lot of flak as the state acquires the unenviable distinction of massive rates of infection. The state recorded 50,997 cases in three days last week. 10,000 were hospitalized in that same period.

The Red State Theory of 2020, that COVID is a red state problem, is now even more widespread. Politics, not medicine or common sense are seen as drivers of failure. The virus started off worst in the big cities, which are mainly Democrat. The situation is now reversed. That’s more than a minor issue, because the rural areas don’t have the sort of services required to manage the pandemic.

Trump said, in a sort of ultimate monument to his own ignorance, that rates of infection went up because there was more testing being done. That’s not how it works. Infections increase simply because there are more infections. This level of idiocy, however, is still viable political currency in the red states.

The result of the total mismanagement of the pandemic by the Trump “administration” is that COVID is well on the way to being endemic to the US, if not already endemic. That means the virus is now a permanent risk to US citizens. Outbreaks could be commonplace.

It’s only “now” in the progressive regions. It’s still “then” in the red states and the mercenary senile minds of Trump and the GOP, as usual. It’s still a political partisan issue. It’s still political capital to be anti-vax for conservatives. That’s why the virus is out of control.

Until the vaccinations become the majority of people, that’s the only way it can be.

A few fun observations:
616,718 Americans have now died of COVID. That’s 12 Vietnam Wars and about 1.5 World War 2s, in terms of deaths.
Not one single word of sympathy has been uttered by Trump or his supporters since the pandemic began.
Approximately 10% (rough figure) of people who get COVID get “long COVID”, a debilitating condition of varying levels of severity.
About 150 million Americans are at immediate risk of getting COVID.

Happy, jerks?

Post script:

Several complaints were received from readers regarding the original article, in which I cited 200K as the number of infections. Johns Hopkins figures currently show a very different story at around 100K. I hyperlinked the JH figures specifically to illustrate the figure. I either misread the numbers (I did check them because they looked- and look- so bad) or misinterpreted the graph.

Apologies for any and all inaccuracies, which are entirely my responsibility.

That said – Anyone happy about 100K, the accepted figure? How is that good? Is that out of control or not?

Further complaints were received regarding other content in this Op-Ed, notably misinformation. Kindly see this article by AFP regarding misinformation spread by Trump and my DJ article on the subject of advocating the use of disinfectants.
Shar

In this article:

Florida COVID infections August 2021, 

Johns Hopkins COVID stats,

USA COVID infection rate August 2021, 

USA COVID pandemic 2021

Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/op-ed-unbelievable-and-out-of-control-us-covid-reported-infections-over-200k-per-day/article#ixzz731d3eXbJ

Historic drought threatens California farms supplying much US food

Issued on: 09/08/2021 -

Robyn Beck AFP/File

Reedley (United States) (AFP)

In the valleys of central California, the search for water has turned into an all-out obsession as the region suffers through a drought that could threaten the US food supply.

Residents have watched with dismay as verdant fields have turned into brown, dusty plains, leaving shriveled trees, dying plants and exasperated farmers.

Much of California, and of the broader US West, has suffered through years of lighter-than-usual precipitation and a particularly dry winter.

State and local authorities, fearful that there may not be enough water for city dwellers or wildlife, have abruptly cut supplies to farms, provoking anger and consternation.

Along the roads between major farming operations, billboards have popped up everywhere, urging: "Save California's Water." They accuse the authorities of "dumping... our water in the ocean."

Billboards like these have popped up in farming areas of central California amid political battles over precious water supplies Robyn Beck AFP/File

Growers complain that the state's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, is strangling them under a mountain of pointless restrictions, leaving them unable to fill their usual role of supplying America's supermarkets.

- 'Starving' the world -

"I had two wells dry up last week," 28-year-old Nick Foglio, a fourth-generation farmer and feed broker, told AFP. He added that he has "2,000 acres (800 hectares) of alfalfa going dry."

A bird eats the seeds of a dried flower on the farm of Liset Garcia, in Reedley, California Robyn Beck AFP/File

Standing in a dusty field near Fresno, he said he worries that with "the wrong political agenda, we're simply going to starve ourselves and probably the rest of the world."

California authorities don't seem to be hearing that message.

Reacting to dire signs of a worsening climate crisis, they passed new emergency legislation last week to prevent thousands of people -- notably farmers -- from diverting streams or rivers.

Lacking water, farmers plowed up almond trees in this field in Huron, California 

Robyn Beck AFP/File

"In a year when Mother Nature doesn’t make it rain, there is no water for them," said Jeanine Jones, a manager with the California Department of Water Resources.

- A 'devastating' situation -

When the authorities cut off water supplies, farmers find themselves forced to rely on wells, dug deep into the ground at costs of several thousand dollars. They draw groundwater from subsurface pools hundreds of feet deep. But even they eventually run dry.

Years of low rainfall in a warming world have desiccated farm fields like this one, near Fresno, California Robyn Beck AFP/File

"The situation is pretty terrible," said Liset Garcia, who relied on well water to irrigate half her 20-acre farm -- until it dried up.

She has been waiting for weeks for a well-drilling service -- which has more work than it can handle -- to make it to her farm in hopes of finding even a small new supply of water deep in the ground.

Sitting in her vegetable stand near the town of Reedley, the 30-year-old farmer greets clients with enthusiasm that belies the ravages her farm has suffered in a warming world.

Heat has destroyed several of her crops -- which have "literally baked under the sun."

"There's a lot of foliage that is already burnt and pretty much just crisped up," as well as "fruit not getting a size -- not getting its juiciness and sweetness," she said, wearing a checked shirt and a baseball hat marked "Sweet Girl Farms."

Liset Garcia drives a tractor on her farm in Reedley, California -- the drought situation, she says, is 'pretty terrible' Robyn Beck AFP/File

"It becomes even a luxury to have food," she said with a grimace. "Does that sound insane?"

Climate change, scientists say, will even more extreme and frequent episodes of drought -- further jeopardizing food security.

Feeding America in these conditions will be a challenge. But the region may already have found one partial savior.

Endless rows of solar panels in what was once a farmfield in California's drought-stricken Central Valley Robyn Beck AFP/File

Under leaden skies, workers in uncultivated fields recently uncrated huge boxes. Inside were thousands of solar panels -- offering a new business opportunity and the promise of some relief for a region in pain.

© 2021 AFP

A drought-hit California town finds itself sinking into the ground


By AFP
Published August 7, 2021


An aerial view from July 24, 2021 of the farming town of Corcoran, California, which is steadily sinking as drought, worsened by climate change, has forced big farms to pump increasing amounts of water from the ground. — © AFP Camille CAMDESSUS

“You’ve got too many farmers pumping all around,” complained Raul Atilano. This octogenarian resident of Corcoran, the self-proclaimed farming capital of California, was struggling to make sense of the strangest of phenomena: his already suffering town is sinking, ever so gradually, into the ground.

A constant stream of trucks carrying tomatoes, alfalfa or cotton outside this town of 20,000 shows just how inextricably Corcoran’s fate is tied to the intensive farming practiced here.

A sign just outside the California town of Corcoran proclaims it as the state’s ‘farming capital’; drought has caught its farms in a vicious cycle. — © AFP

To irrigate its vast fields and help feed America, farm operators began in the last century to pump water from underground sources, so much so that the ground has begun to sink — imagine a series of giant straws sucking up groundwater faster than rain can replenish it, as hydrologist Anne Senter explained it to AFP.

– Like a 2-story house –

Strangely, signs of this subsidence are nearly invisible to the human eye. There are no cracks in the walls of the typical American shops in the town’s center, nor crevices opening up in the streets or fields: to measure subsidence, Californian authorities had to turn to NASA, which used satellites to analyze the geological change.

And yet, over the past 100 years, Corcoran has sunken “the equivalent of a two-story house,” Jeanine Jones, a manager with the California Department of Water Resources, told AFP.

The phenomenon “can be a threat to infrastructure, groundwater wells, levees, aqueducts,” she said.

The one recognizable sign of this dangerous change is a levee on the edge of the city, in an area where wisps of cotton blow in the air. In 2017, the authorities launched a major project to raise the levee, for fear that the city, which sits in a basin, could be flooded … whenever the rains finally return.

Raul Gomez (L) and Greg Ojeda, standing on July 23, 2021 near a levee in Corocoran, California which was raised in 2017 for fear of floods — that have yet to come. — © AFP

This year, however, the problem has been not floods but an alarming drought aggravated by climate change.

It has transformed this food-basket of America into a vast field of brown dust, forcing the authorities to impose water-use restrictions on farmers.

So Corcoran now finds itself in the midst of a vicious circle: with their water supplies limited, farm operators are forced to pump more underground water, which in turn speeds the sinking of the town.

– Fear of losing jobs –

Few locals have spoken out against the problem — not surprising, since most of them work for the same big agribusinesses pumping up groundwater.

“They are afraid that if they speak against them, they might lose their job,” said Atilano. He spent years working for one of the country’s biggest cotton producers, J.G. Boswell, whose name is seen on thousands of cloth bags stuffed with cotton that are seen stacked around town.

“I don’t care,” he adds with a smile. “I’ve been retired for 22 years.”

The Corcoran area is a major cotton producer; these thousands of bags of cotton belong to major US producer J.G. Boswell. — © AFP

As big farm operations have increasingly become mechanized and industrialized, requiring less and less local labor, the town’s inhabitants themselves have been sinking — into a debilitating economic and psychological slump.

One-third of the majority Hispanic population here now lives in poverty. The three movie theaters that once brought life to the town have all closed their doors.

“A lot of people are moving out,” said local resident Raul Gomez, who is 77.

On this summer afternoon, under a crushing heat wave, some people have stopped to chat under an enormous wall painting.

It depicts a clear blue lake surrounded by snow-capped mountain peaks — for now, a distant dream

Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-science/a-drought-hit-california-town-finds-itself-sinking-into-the-ground/article#ixzz731aF2CCP

Big battle looms over California water rights

BY DAN WALTERS

AUGUST 8, 2021

California Capitol. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

IN SUMMARY

As the state moves to curtail water diversions by California farmers, the stage is being set for a showdown over water rights.

California doesn’t have enough water to meet all demands even in wet years, and when drought strikes the competition becomes, to put it mildly, intense.

State and federal officials who must ration the restricted supply are beset with pleas from farmers, municipal water systems and advocates for the environment.

However, water managers must also contend with a bewildering array of water rights, some of which date to the 19th century, as well as long-standing contractual obligations and laws, both statutes and judicial decrees, on maintaining flows for spawning salmon and other wildlife.

Those conflicting factors came into play last week when the state Water Resources Control Board voted unanimously to curtail nearly all agricultural water diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed, which stretches about 500 miles from near the Oregon border to near the Tehachapi Mountains.

Get a veteran journalist's take on what's going on in California with a weekly round-up of Dan's column every Friday.

The decree will affect farmers, who use most of the water allocated for human use, but not immediately. The season for irrigating crops is nearly over and water managers delivered a fairly substantial share of agricultural water earlier in the year — too much in the eyes of environmental groups.

However, if drought and the board’s no-diversion policy continue into 2022, they will almost certainly ignite a high-stakes political and legal conflict over whether the state can essentially usurp historic water rights and dictate how local farm water systems are to be operated.

Valerie Kincaid, a water law attorney who represents the San Joaquin Tributaries Authority, bluntly told the board, “We now have a draft regulation that exceeds water board authority,” hinting that a legal battle over water rights is looming.

The state first began regulating water in 1914 and holders of pre-existing water rights, plus landowners adjacent to waterways, have long been presumed to have virtually unfettered rights to draw water without regulation.

However, in more recent years, the legal status of those pre-1914 rights has been questioned. As drought gripped the state during his first stint as governor 40-plus years ago, Jerry Brown appointed a commission to review water rights, saying, “the existing law included impediments to the fullest beneficial use of California’s water.”

Nothing came of that effort but when another drought hit during Brown’s second governorship, his water board appointees attempted to breach senior water rights by punishing a small water district near Tracy for ignoring a curtailment order.

“We are a test case,” the Byron-Bethany district’s manager, Rick Gilmore, said at the time. “I think this has become a larger issue. I think the water board wants to use this as a precedent so they can start to gain more control over senior water right users.”

The conflict fizzled before it could morph into an all-out legal battle but other senior rights holders did win a legal ruling that the state was issuing its curtailment decrees without due process.

Environmental groups and some agricultural interests that lack water rights, such as the immense Westlands Water District, seem to be spoiling for a water rights battle.

Westlands endorsed last week’s board action, referring to deliveries to senior rights holders as “unlawful diversions” of water needed to maintain water quality. Westlands thus became a strange bedfellows ally of the Natural Resources Defense Council, which complains that the federal Central Valley Project gave farmers with senior rights too much Lake Shasta water in the spring, leaving too little to support salmon spawning runs.

As drought becomes more frequent, California will — or should be — compelled to re-think its entire water system and the status of water rights will be a central and very volatile factor.



Dan Walters
dan@calmatters.org
Dan Walters has been a journalist for nearly 60 years, spending all but a few of those years working for California newspapers. He began his professional career in 1960, at age 16, at the Humboldt Times... 

Northern California wildfire now second-largest in state's history



Issued on: 09/08/2021 - 

Text by: NEWS WIRES|
Video by: Luke SHRAGO

The monstrous Dixie Fire in northern California has grown to become the second-largest wildfire in state history, authorities said Sunday, with three people reported missing and thousands fleeing the advancing flames.

As of Sunday, the fire had destroyed 463,477 acres (187,562 hectares), up from the previous day's 447,723 acres. It now covers an area larger than Los Angeles.

The Dixie blaze is the largest active wildfire in the United States, but one of only 11 major wildfires in California.

Over the weekend, it surpassed the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire to make it the second-worst fire in state history.

On Saturday, Governor Gavin Newsom visited the burnt-out historic town of Greenville, expressing his "deep gratitude" to the teams fighting the flames.

He said authorities had to devote more resources to managing forests and preventing fires.

But he added that "the dries are getting a lot drier, it is hotter than it has ever been... we need to acknowledge just straight up these are climate-induced wildfires."

Climate change amplifies droughts which dry out regions, creating ideal conditions for wildfires to spread out-of-control and inflict unprecedented material and environmental damage.

The Dixie blaze, which on Saturday left three firefighters injured, remained 21 percent contained Sunday, unchanged from the day before, the CalFire website reported.

Crews estimate the fire, which began July 13, will not finally be extinguished for two weeks.

California Governor Gavin Newsom surveys a burned United States Post Office during the Dixie fire in downtown Greenville, California on August 07, 2021 JOSH EDELSON AFP/File

Higher temperatures forecast

Weak winds and higher humidity have provided some succor to firefighters, but they are bracing for higher temperatures expected to exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) in the coming days.

Heavy smoke was making driving hazardous for fire crews in some areas, and steep trails also made access difficult.

The state's eight largest wildfires have all come since December 2017. The still-blackened scars of previous fires have aided Dixie Fire crews at times, reducing available fuel.

Thousands of residents have fled the area, many finding temporary housing -- even living in tents, and often unsure whether their homes have survived.

The Plumas County sheriff's office said it was still searching for three people listed as missing, after two others were found over the weekend.

The Dixie Fire has already destroyed about 400 structures -- gutting Greenville -- and CalFire said workers and equipment were being deployed to save homes in the small town of Crescent Mills, three miles (five kilometers) southeast of Greenville.

More than 5,000 personnel are now battling the Dixie blaze.

Despite repeated evacuation orders from the authorities, some residents have refused to flee, preferring to try to fight the fire on their own rather than leave their property.

By late July, the number of acres burned in California was up more than 250 percent from 2020 -- itself the worst year of wildfires in the state's modern history.

A long-term drought that scientists say is driven by climate change has left much of the western United States and Canada parched -- and vulnerable to explosive and highly destructive fires.

A preliminary investigation has suggested the Dixie Fire was started when a tree fell on a power cable owned by regional utility Pacific Gas & Company (PG&E), a private operator that was earlier blamed for the Camp Fire in 2018, which killed 86 people.

(AFP)

Cyber-bullying campaigner Charley Oliver-Holland says education is key

CGTN



VIDEO Cyber-bullying campaigner Charley Oliver-Holland says education is key - CGTN

WHAT'S THE ISSUE?

During lockdown there were several public cases of online trolling and bullying. Most notably, the England football team faced torrents of racist abuse following their penalty shootout in the Euro 2020 final.

Most of this abuse comes from anonymous accounts, known as "trolls," which makes it hard to track them down and hold them accountable.

Stephen Cole speaks to cyber-bullying victim-turned-campaigner Charley Oliver-Holland about what needs to be done to better support young people in the fight against online harassment.


MEET THE EXPERT

Charley Oliver-Holland is a member of the Welsh Youth Parliament, for Newport East, and has been campaigning against cyber-bullying after becoming a victim of trolling at school.

She is also part of the British Youth Council's 2019 Knife Crime Youth Select Committee and lives with her family in Caldicott, Wales.


WHAT DOES OLIVER-HOLLAND SAY?

Having joined social media at the age of just 12, Charley Oliver-Holland is from a permanently online generation. But it was around this age that she also became a victim of cyber-bullying for the first time.

"My Instagram page was private and it was supposed to be a safe space for me," she explains to Stephen Cole - "but kids from school found it and began calling me names relating to my sexuality."

Oliver-Holland explains that her struggles with social media aren't just confined to cyber-bullying either. "Fear of missing out is also a big thing," she says. "We use our phones every day, it's really hard to disconnect from them."

And although Stephen Cole argues she can just switch it off when it becomes too much, Oliver-Holland says it is just not that simple. "Social media is the place young people meet and engage, you can't just switch off from that."

WHAT'S NEXT?

Education is the future of managing social media, according to Oliver-Holland.

"Young people should be taught how to use these platforms in a safe and positive way," she says. But there have also been discussions about taking more severe steps - like banning mobile phones in schools. Could it work?

"I don't think people should have their phones taken off them," she tells Stephen Cole, "but maybe banned from classrooms. The main focus for schools should really be on safety issues like bullying."

ALSO ON THE AGENDA:

Instagram saw the most new users of any other platform during the pandemic. To get an insight into why it's so addictive Stephen speaks to writer Bella Younger. The self-described 'accidental influencer' explains how she became so obsessed with checking her phone that she ended up in rehab for a social media addiction.

Also in the show is Professor Yvonne Kelly, the Director of the ESRC International Center for Life Course Studies at UCL. She explains how her study concluded that 14-year-old girls were twice as likely to show depressive symptoms linked to social media use when compared with boys of the same age.

Finally, are there long term consequences of harmful online behavior? And how has online aggression changed in the last decade? Dr Maša Popovac - a psychologist who specializes in Cyberpsychology explains the evolution of trolling.