Alacranes and its coral reefs do not escape climate change
By Yucatan Times on August 21, 2021

Photo: (Yucatan ahora)

YUCATAN, (August 21, 2021).- Climate change represents one of the main threats to coral reefs since heat stress events can cause their bleaching (loss of pigment) and with it their massive degradation and subsequent death.

Aarón Israel Muñiz Castillo, doctoral student, and Jesús Ernesto Arias González, researcher at the Department of Marine Resources of the Cinvestav Unit Mérida, evaluated the vulnerability of the corals of the Arrecife Alacranes National Park, located in front of the municipality of Progreso, in Yucatán, before a heat stress event occurred from September to December 2015.

The Alacranes Reef is a group of small islands of coral origin located in the Gulf of Mexico at an approximate distance of 130 km from the coast of Progreso, Yucatán. 

Photo: (The Yucatan Times)

In the study published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, it is reported that the bleaching of the corals varied spatially along the Alacranes Reef depending on the depth at which they were located, as well as the vulnerability of each species to increased sea ​​temperature.

The results show that, although an unprecedented heat stress event occurred in the area in 2015, coral bleaching was low (between 10 and 20 percent), which suggests that the corals in this Protected Natural Area have developed some resistance after facing, in the past, the increase in water temperature.

“We not only identified that the accumulated heat stress in the water and the thermal variation in the last 28 days of the analyzed period were the main drivers of coral bleaching, but also the reefs located deeper and those with a complex structure; that is to say, made up of various species, they were more affected ”, explained Arias González, a researcher at the Coral Reef Ecosystem Ecology Laboratory.

Regarding the coral species most susceptible to bleaching, there are those belonging to the genera Agaricia, Orbicella, and Siderastrea; while the damage in those of the Acropora genus was low to moderate.

These data on the response of coral species to bleaching could be useful in generating sensitivity indicators for reefs in other similar areas and in establishing restoration programs and conservation strategies in the face of the increase in global temperature, said Muñiz Castillo, first author of the article.

It is noteworthy that the results obtained, regarding the low percentage of coral bleaching, suggest that the Alacranes Reef is a potential refuge from heat stress events, especially in shallow areas where these organisms have adapted to the constant variations in the increase of the water temperature.

Photo: (Yucatan ahora)

Because there is a great diversity of microhabitats and reef landscapes in the Arrecife Alacranes National Park, 16 sites were sampled for the study from September to December 2015, a period of high heat stress in the southern Gulf of Mexico.

The coral colonies sampled were counted, measured in their length and height, and the species that made them up were identified. The coral bleaching condition was defined from a visual evaluation considering the categories: normal (completely pigmented), pale (loss of pigmentation but with color retention), bleached (no color), and freshly dead.

The authors of the article took into account 15 indicators as potential drivers of coral bleaching, including different thermal patterns (accumulated heat stress and short-term variation in sea surface temperature, among others); as well as the depth of the location of the corals and the sensitivity of each species.

Arias González and Muñiz Castillo agreed that coral reefs protect coasts and are home to a great diversity of organisms, some of commercial importance such as lobsters, fish, crustaceans, and mollusks, which is why they have an economically relevant role in tourism and fishing.

Hence the need to continue generating assessments within poorly studied areas, especially since the average global temperature for the next 20 years is expected to reach or exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius warming, thereby increasing heat waves and the duration of the warm seasons will be longer; this according to the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Source: CINVESTAV
The Yucatan Times

AUSTRALIA

Massive 400-year-old coral is widest ever found in Great Barrier Reef

Maybe it needs a "wide load" sign.


Amanda Kooser
Aug. 20, 2021 

Scientists swim over the top of the Porites coral.Woody Spark

You've heard of chonky cats, but how about chonky coral? Researchers have measured a piece of coral that's the "chonkiest" yet discovered in Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

The Porites (a genus of coral) specimen is located in the Palm Islands in Queensland, Australia. The Indigenous Manbarra people, traditional custodians of the area, named it Muga dhambi (big coral). "It is the widest and sixth tallest coral measured in the Great Barrier Reef," according to a statement Thursday by Springer Nature, publisher of a study on the coral in the journal Scientific Reports.

The study, led by marine scientist Adam Smith of James Cook University, describes the coral as "exceptionally large" and estimates the age at 421 to 438 years old. The coral measures 17.4 feet (5.3 meters) tall and 34 feet (10.4 meters) wide, eclipsing the next-widest coral measured in the Great Barrier Reef by 7.9 feet (2.4 meters).

Coral can create entire underwater metropolises. Last year, scientists with Schmidt Ocean announced the discovery of a coral reef taller than the Empire State Building. The Great Barrier Reef is a massive system of coral reefs that covers an area of about 133,000 square miles (344,000 square kilometers).

The Great Barrier Reef is under threat from rising ocean temperatures spurred by the human-caused climate crisis. Parts of the reef have died and researchers have been working on ways to save it from destruction and help the coral recover. Scientists are studying heat-resistant coral and looking at ways to curb explosions of predatory starfish.

RESCUING THE REEF
Mother Nature can save the Great Barrier Reef... if we help her
The Great Barrier Reef could be saved by these lab-grown coral babies

Muga dhambi is in very good health with 70% of it consisting of live coral. "The large Porites coral at Goolboodi (Orpheus) Island is unusually rare and resilient," the study said. "It has survived coral bleaching, invasive species, cyclones, severely low tides and human activities for almost 500 years."

The researchers hope the big coral will be monitored and that it will "inspire future generations to care more for our reefs and culture."

400-year-old 'Muga dhambi' is one of the largest and oldest corals in the Great Barrier Reef

It predates the colonization of Australia.




Australian scientists have discovered one of the largest and oldest coral colonies in the Great Barrier Reef, which is the largest coral reef system on Earth.

The massive coral belongs to the genus Porites and measures 34 feet (10.4 meters) wide and 17.4 feet (5.3 m) tall, making it the widest and sixth-tallest coral in the Great Barrier Reef. Snorkelers found the record-breaking coral off the coast of Goolboodi, part of the Palm Island Group in Queensland, Australia, and they named it "Muga dhambi" — meaning "big coral" in the language of the Manbarra people, who are the Indigenous people of Palm Islands.

The researchers found that the massive coral has been around for between 421 and 438 years, meaning that it predates the colonization of Australia. The colony has survived centuries of exposure to invasive species, coral bleaching events and low tides, as well as around 80 major cyclones, the researchers said.

"The structure is probably one of the oldest on the Great Barrier Reef," Nathan Cook, a marine scientist at Reef Ecologic, an NGO in Australia specializing in corals, told Live Science.

Corals are colonial animals that get a majority of their energy from a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae called Zooxanthellae. The colony is connected by a skeleton made out of calcium carbonate from the surrounding seawater, which slowly grows over time.

Muga dhambi's incredible girth is the result of its hard skeleton, which requires extra stability in the water, whereas more flexible soft corals require a less solid foundation

"These massive colonies grow in a hemispherical shape, likely prioritising width over height for stability," Cook said. "It is difficult for any hard coral species to grow really tall without breaking."

Other Porites corals in the Pacific grew even larger than Muga dhambi; in American Samoa, one coral colony was recorded at an astonishing 56.8 feet (17 m) wide and 39.4 feet (12 m) tall. That reef is outside of the Great Barrier Reef, but it does suggest the possibility of finding even larger Porites colonies in the Great Barrier Reef, Cook said.

"There are many unexplored corners of the Great Barrier Reef," Cook said. "It is possible there are larger coral colonies waiting to be documented by intrepid citizen scientists."

Ancient colonies like Muga dhambi provide scientists with a rare opportunity to learn more about the reef conditions as the corals grow.

"Large coral colonies are like historical repositories holding secrets within their calcium carbonate skeletons," Cook said. Similar to taking cores of Antarctic ice sheets to see how atmospheric conditions have changed over time, it is possible to take samples of coral skeletons to see how ocean conditions on the Great Barrier Reef have changed, he added.

Unfortunately, this is only likely to confirm what scientists already know — that ocean conditions are becoming much more inhospitable to corals.

"Corals are sensitive to environmental changes, particularly rising sea temperature," Cook said. "There has been a decline of 50% of coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef over the past 30 years," he added, making them the "canaries in the coal mine" for climate change.

Researchers remain hopeful that even if a majority of coral cover is lost, resilient colonies like Muga dhambi could continue to survive in the future. The colony is in very good health with 70% consisting of live coral and the rest being covered with sponge and non-symbiotic algae.

"Due to the increasing severity and intensity of disturbances to ecosystems worldwide, corals like this are becoming increasingly rare," Cook said. "As optimists, we hope that Muga dhambi will survive for many more years, but it will require a big change in human impacts."

The study was published online Aug. 19 in the journal Scientific Reports.

Originally published on Live Science.



Astonishingly Large Coral Spotted in the Great Barrier Reef

The 400-year-old coral is more than 34 feet wide, but the living structure may be imperiled by human activities.





By George Dvorsky

Snorkelers swimming in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have stumbled upon a coral of epic proportions. Composed of living organisms, the gigantic mass is the widest coral ever found in the region and one of the oldest.

The coral, discovered this past March, measures 17.4 feet (5.3 meters) tall and 34.1 feet (10.4 meters) wide. That makes it the widest single coral structure and the sixth tallest in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, according to new research published in Scientific Reports. The coral is nearly 8 feet wider than the previous record holder in the Great Barrier Reef. Adjunct associate professor Adam Smith from James Cook University led the new research.

Recreational snorkelers found the coral while swimming off the coast of Goolboodi island, a member of Queensland’s Palm Island Group. The coral, a happy conglomeration of tiny marine animals and calcium carbonate, sits in a protected area that rarely gets any visitors. Traditional owners of this territory, the Manbarra people, were consulted by the researchers, and chose to name the coral Muga dhambi, which translates to “big coral.”

Smith and his colleagues scoured through the available literature and talked to other scientists to acquire a better understanding of the coral and how it compares to others. The natural structure belongs to the Porites genus—a group of coral known for its tremendous size. These corals can be found in Japan, Taiwan, and American Samoa, the latter region being home to an absolutely colossal Porites colony measuring 26.3 feet (8 meters) tall and 73.5 feet (22.4 meters) at its widest point.

Often brown and cream in color, Porites coral is built from small, stone-like polyps, which “secrete layers of calcium carbonate beneath their bodies as they grow, forming the foundations upon which reefs are built,” as Smith, along with study co-authors Nathan Cook, a marine scientist from Cook University, and Vicki Saylor, a Manbarra Traditional Owner with indigenous knowledge, wrote in an article prepared for The Conversation.

Approximately 70% of the structure is live coral, with the remaining 30% consisting of green boring sponge, turf algae, and green algae, according to the study. Living coral “can die from exposure to sun at low tides or warm water, and dead coral “can be quickly colonised by opportunistic, fast growing organisms, as is the case with Muga dhambi,” the authors wrote in The Conversation.

At somewhere between 421 and 438 years old, Muga dhambi is old in addition to being big. The age estimate was derived by calculating coral growth rates and yearly sea surface temperatures. The oldest known coral in the Great Barrier Reef is 436 years old, so Muga dhambi is right there along with it in terms of age. As the authors point out, Muga dhambi is a survivor, having withstood upwards of 80 major cyclones over the years. This hardy coral has managed to stay safe from invasive species, coral bleaching episodes (the scientists found no evidence of bleaching), low tides, and—at least so far—human activities.

Muga dhambi appears to be healthy, but human-caused climate change, poor water quality, and other factors threaten this coral and the Great Barrier Reef in general. The scientists are asking traditional owners and others to monitor the coral in hopes that it will continue to thrive for many more generations.

More: Freakishly tall coral reef found off the coast of Australia.

Australian Scientists Discover Over 400-year-old Coral Reef In Queensland

The scientists said that the coral reef is about 421-438 years old, which means it is older than the European expedition and the foundation of Australia.

Written ByAjeet Kumar


Image Credit: AP
A team of scientists in Australia's Queensland discovered a 10.5 metres wide, 5.3 metres tall coral reef on 20 August, Friday. According to a report by the Guardian, the coral reef, which was found a day ago, is the widest to be found in the Great Barrier Reef. The scientists said that the giant reef is about 421-438 years old, which means it is older than the European expedition and the foundation of Australia. The indigenous occupants of Palm Island, Manbarra folks have named the recent discovery as ‘Muga Dhambi', which means ‘Big Coral' in their language.

Scientists surprised to know how giant reef managed to escape man-made disaster

According to scientists, the reef whose size is equivalent to a double-decker bus must have survived major events, like coral bleaching, invasive species exposure, low tides and at least 80 massive cyclones. They believe that the man-made disaster could have damaged the entire reef. The investigators are also surprised how the giant reef has survived at least 4-5 major disastrous events. "The reef, which is made of small marine animals and calcium carbonate, is in surprisingly good health, with 70 per cent of its coral life intact," noted the investigators.

Locals and fishermen had known about the reef but no one had looked closer:

 Researchers

The researchers said that the locals and the fishermen had known about the reef but no one had looked closer. James Cook University adjunct associate professor and managing director of Reef Ecologic, Adam Smith, said that the recent development is the most surprising discovery in his entire career. "It’s a bit like finding a giant redwood tree in the middle of botanic gardens," said Smith. He said that the discovery is less surprising than the fact no one has noticed or thought it newsworthy enough to share any photos or documents on the coral reef.

Australia recently avoided UNESCO downgrade of Great Barrier Reef

Recently, Australia garnered enough international support to defer an attempt by the United Nations’ cultural organisation to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef’s World Heritage status because of damage caused by climate change. The UNESCO had recommended that its World Heritage Committee add the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem off the northeast Australian coast to the World Heritage in Danger list, mainly due to rising ocean temperatures. However, a strong diplomatic hold deferred the United Nations’ cultural organisation effort to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef.

Elon Musk announces humanoid ‘Tesla Bot’, netizens react with memes

Speaking at Tesla's AI Day event, the billionaire entrepreneur said the robot is designed for dangerous, repetitive, or boring work that people don't like to do

By: Trends Desk | New Delhi |
Updated: August 22, 2021

From going to the market to killing insects, netizens have started imagining hilarious situation in which they might find Telsa Bot.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that his the electric automobile company is taking the next step in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and is all set to launch a humanoid robot prototype, probably by next year. As images of the upcoming robot was unveiled, it took social media by storm and reminded people about dystopian movies where cyborgs took over.

Titled “Tesla Bot” it has been designed for dangerous, repetitive or boring work that people don’t like to do. Speaking at Tesla’s AI Day event, the billionaire entrepreneur said the robot would have “profound implications for the economy” and address labour shortage. He also stressed on the importance of making the new addition to his Tesla family, which he says is not “super-expensive.”

The humanoid model, which would be five feet eight inches tall, would be able to handle a variety of jobs from lifting heavy objects to mundane household chores. And netizens couldn’t pass off the opportunity to poke some fun and share all Terminator jokes!


Things also took a hilarious turn at the event as Musk decided to introduce an actor in a bodysuit, resembling the bot, who flaunted some killer dancing moves!

Social media is abuzz with jokes and memes online, with netizens sharing their favourite ‘I, Robot’ joke to imagine what it would be like to spend time with the humanoid robot. From going to the market to killing insects, netizens have started imagining hilarious situations in which they might find the Telsa Bot.

 

Tesla also unveiled chips it designed in-house for its high-speed computer, Dojo, to help develop its automated driving system. Musk said Dojo would be operational next year.

[With inputs from Reuters]

Why anti-vaxx attitudes fit so perfectly with far-right ideology across the globe

Magdi Semrau, Alternet
August 21, 2021

Marine Le Pen (AFP/File / Lionel Bonaventure)


It is increasingly clear that much resistance to vaccination in the United States is driven by partisanship. Fox News has spent months comparing vaccination efforts to apartheid and forced sterilization. Conservative politicians have been vaccinated in private, if at all. GOP voters have declared that their opposition to vaccination is driven by opposition to liberals. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, hundreds of thousands have participated in anti-vaccination protests throughout Europe. Many far-right politicians in Europe have aligned themselves with these movements. In France, the far-right leader Marine Le Pen has called mandatory vaccination for health workers an "indecent brutality," while her Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, has described vaccination passports as "totalitarian."

This swell of international activity has left some journalists wondering, why is anti-vaccination emerging as a distinctly right-wing phenomenon across the globe?

The answer is multiply determined, as is typical of socio-political phenomena. There is, nonetheless, a clear explanatory variable for much of this trend: anti-vaccination sentiment is perfectly aligned with extant populist ideology, particularly within the far-right.

The meaning of "populism" is contested. It's often used imprecisely and may denote a variety of things. However, populism is commonly associated with a cluster of concepts. Populism is a superficial or "thin" ideology, meaning it rarely reflects deep thinking about policy.

Populist movements characteristically embody the pathos of the masses in opposition to an imagined "elite." The "masses" are, typically, not representative of the public at large, but rather ethnically and culturally homogeneous. Populists are bound together by strong cultural identity and moral superiority and perceive their values as under perceived threat. The populist's opponents—including politicians, academics, scientists, ethnic and religious minorities—are not only corrupt, but actually evil. They are, quite literally, enemies of the people.

From this perspective, it is hardly surprising that anti-covid vaccination movements have become associated with far-right populist movements. The two are made for each other like adjacent pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Within the context of public health, especially vaccination, the quintessential populist themes of victimization, moral righteousness and distrust of authorities are all simultaneously afforded opportunity for expression.

Consider, for example, some recent expressions of anti-vaccination sentiments.

The Holocaust and related symbols are being coopted by anti-vaxxers. Protesters and politicians alike are decorating themselves in golden stars, symbols of Jewish persecution. Some blithely compare vaccination efforts to the cruel pseudoscience of genocidal torturers, such as the Nazi doctors. A Republican Senate candidate in Oklahoma tweeted a photo of Anthony Fauci donning a Hitler mustache in front of the words, "Faucism: Scare them into Submission; Profit from the Panic." In the UK, Kate Shemirani, an ex-nurse, gave an anti-vax speech in Trafalgar Square in which she compared the vaccination efforts of the NHS to experimental torture by Nazi Doctors, shouting to a cheering crowd, "Get their names. … At the Nuremberg trials, the doctors and nurses stood trial and they hung."

In Poland, rather than relying on symbolism of the Holocaust, some anti-vax groups have taken the route of blaming Jews for the pandemic, an old technique that merges bigoted tropes about Jews and infectious disease with those about Jews and global control. Another Polish anti-vax group recently expressed themselves by burning down an inoculation clinic.

Notice also how, in the United States, Donald Trump and the Republican Party have been actively weaving the threads of populism throughout their own response to the pandemic, from anti-lockdowns, to anti-masking, to anti-vaccines. And they haven't stopped at merely casting doubt on science and inspiring rage towards public health. Trump has declared that those who doubt the vaccine do so because they believe the 2020 election was illegitimate, thus explicitly tying anti-science to political loyalty, as well as to distrust in government, and, indeed, in distrust of democracy itself.

Tellingly, this distrust in science extends beyond sowing doubt about vaccines. For example, when Trump was contradicted by scientists about the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine, he dug deeper in his advocacy for the treatment. Now, effective anti-virals have been developed, yet far rightists continue to tout the benefits of hydroxychloroquine, some even claiming it as part of their personal treatment. Thus, as is the case with anti-vaccination, a dubious treatment has itself become a symbol of populist resistance. Hydroxychloroquine, doubted by scientists, is glorified. Vaccination, validated by scientists, is portrayed as a tool of Nazi-esque torture.

To be sure, the marriage of populism and the anti-vaccination movement is not a recent development. The French, German and Italian far-right were already turning towards anti-vax rhetoric even prior to the arrival of covid. The pandemic has, however, certainly strengthened the union.

The marriage also has limits. Anti-vaccination sentiment is a powerful tool for fomenting social discord, and undermining trust in government and institutions of the "elite'." This is useful for budding authoritarians seeking to gain power or secure more of it. It is less useful for those who are already powerful enough to be held accountable. This logic is supported by the facts.

For example, leaders in power who rely on populist rhetoric have approached vaccination differently. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro once hypothesized that the Pfizer vaccine would turn people into crocodiles, but has since changed course. Polish President Andrzej Duda was anti-vax in 2020 when that was politically advantageous during an election. Now that the election is over, Duda has expressed doubts about mandates, but has generally toned down any vaccine skepticism. Meanwhile, Viktor Orban, of Hungary, is advocating for limited vaccine mandates. And Rodrigo Duterte, of the Philippines, is threatening unvaccinated people with jail or forced injections of anti-parasitics used to treat animals.

The US domestic context also demonstrates the complex relationship between the possession of political power and the proclivity to exploit anti-vax sentiments. Federalism affords state-level officials finite plausible deniability. The response of right-wing governors is therefore far from uniform. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has condemned the unvaccinated. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has declared he regrets his support of a ban on mask mandates. Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continues to wage war against private companies who wish to enforce vaccinations. All of these politicians have, to some extent, engaged in anti-government and anti-science populist rhetoric during the pandemic. Some, like Ivey, are adjusting in the face of the delta variant and others, like DeSantis, are recalcitrant.

What happens next? Some near-term predictions are possible. In terms of public health, strict mandates and negative incentives—such as barring unvaccinated people from large public events—are likely necessary. Those who have made anti-vaccination a crusade of the virtuous against the corrupt are unlikely to be convinced by mere rhetoric. Populism is, again, a thin ideology, motivated by rage over reason.

It is much harder to say, with any confidence, what the mid-to-long term future holds. The marriage could end. Populists could abandon the anti-vaccination movement the moment it ceases to further their agenda. Alternatively, anti-vaccination could become an enduring feature of our politics, endemic as the virus itself. Perhaps it, like anti-immigration sentiment, will soon enough be a staple of the far-right. This raises serious public health concerns, far beyond covid.

It's hard to know how things will develop. The future is uncertain. But the marriage between the far-right and the anti-vaccination movement is no mystery.

Vaccination was always going to be fodder for right-wing populists.

How staunch atheists show higher morals than the proudly pious

Phil Zuckerman, Salon
August 21, 2021

Twitter

Two recent events have shed an illuminating light on who is and who isn't moral in today's world.

First, Cardinal Raymond Burke, a leader in the U.S. Catholic Church and a staunch anti-masker/vaxxer, was put on a ventilator as a result of his suffering from COVID-19. Second, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations released its latest data-rich report, warning that "unless there are rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to close to 1.5 degrees Celsius or even 2 degrees Celsius will be beyond reach."

The global pandemic and the rapidly warming of our planet — these dire phenomena are, above all, deeply moral matters in that they both entail care for the well-being of others and a desire to alleviate misery and suffering.

Now, while most people assume that such a morality is grounded in religious faith, and while it is certainly true that all religions contain plenty of moral ideals, in our nation today, it is actually the most secular among us who are exhibiting a greater moral orientation — in the face of deadly threats — than the most devout among us, who are exhibiting the least.

Before proceeding, let me make it clear: When I say the "most secular among us," I mean atheists, agnostics, people who never attend religious services, don't think the Bible is the word of God, and don't pray. Such self-conscious and deliberatively irreligious people are to be distinguished from the lackadaisically unaffiliated — often called "nones" — who simply don't identify with a religion.

And by the "most devout among us" I mean religious fundamentalists who believe in God without any doubts, who attend church frequently, who consider the Bible the infallible word of God, who pray a lot, and who insist that Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. These strongly religious folks are to be distinguished from moderately religious Americans, who are generally liberal and tolerant.

Think of it like two ends of a spectrum, with one end representing the staunchly secular and the other end representing the deeply devout. Most Americans fall somewhere in the middle; both the "nones" and the moderately religious together comprise the majority of Americans. But as to those who occupy the end points of the spectrum, it is — as stated above — the affirmatively godless who are exhibiting greater moral proclivities in our nation today than the proudly pious.

We can start with the global pandemic. COVID-19 is a potentially deadly virus that has caused — and continues to cause — dire woe. Surely, to be moral in the face of such a dangerous disease is to do everything one can — within one's limited power — to thwart it. No moral person would want to willfully spread it, bolster it, or prolong its existence. And yet, when it comes to the battle against COVID-19, it is the most secular of Americans who are doing what they can to wipe it out, while it is the most faithful among us, especially nationalistic white Evangelicals, who are keeping it alive and well. Taking the vaccine saves lives and thwarts the spread of the virus. So, too, does sheltering in place as directed and wearing protective face masks. And yet, here in the U.S., it is generally the most religious among us who refuse to adhere to such life-saving practices, while it is the most secular who most willingly comply. For example, a recent Pew study found that while only 10% of atheists said that they would definitely or probably not get vaccinated, 45% of white Evangelicals took such a position.

Consider climate change. The best available data shows that — as a direct result of human activity — we are destroying our planet. The results are already manifesting with greater and deadlier frequency: poisoned air and water, massive wildfires, stronger hurricanes, brutal mudslides, quickly melting glaciers, rising sea levels, the wanton disappearance of forests and coral reefs. Such developments do not bode well for the future; more suffering and death are on the rapidly approaching horizon. And, yet again, what do we see? It is the most staunchly secular among us who understand the science behind climate change and want to do what needs to be done in order to prevent it, while it is the most pious among us who dismiss the science and don't want to address the dire threat. For example, a recent PRRI study found that over 80% of secular Americans accept the evidence that human activity is causing climate change — and they place addressing climate change at the top of the list of their political priorities — while only 33% of white Evangelicals accept such evidence, and thus place is towards the bottom of their list of political priorities.

But it's not just the pandemic and climate change that illustrate this widening religious/secular moral divide. Take gun violence. Currently, more Americans die annually from firearms than automobile accidents; since 2009, there have been 255 mass shootings in the U.S.; every few hours, a child or teen dies from a gun wound. When the founders of the country passed the Second Amendment, they couldn't have imagined the instantaneous devastation a semi-automatic rifle can do in the hands of one vicious person. And there is no question that Jesus — who taught an unmitigated message of non-violence — would denounce the existence of such weapons. And yet, who is more pro-gun in today's America? Not the hardest of atheists. Rather, it is the most fervent of Christians. For but one example: While 77% of atheists are in favor of banning assault rifles, only 45% of white Evangelicals are.
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In terms of who supports helping refugees, affordable health care for all, accurate sex education, death with dignity, gay rights, transgender rights, animal rights; and as to who opposes militarism, the governmental use of torture, the death penalty, corporal punishment, and so on — the correlation remains: The most secular Americans exhibit the most care for the suffering of others, while the most religious exhibit the highest levels of indifference.

But wait — what about the rights of the unborn? While many people oppose abortion on decidedly moral grounds, it is also the case that many others support the right of women to maintain autonomy over their own reproductive capacities, on equally moral grounds. Hence, the deep intractability of the debate. And yet, most Americans — both religious and non-religious — do not see the abortion of a non-viable fetus as being akin to the murder of a living human being. And let's be frank: It is impossible to square the assertion that the strongly religious are "pro-life" while they simultaneously refuse to get vaccinated, to wear a mask, to fight climate change, to support universal healthcare, or to support sane gun legislation. To characterize such an agenda as "pro-life" renders the label rather insincere, at best.

Admittedly, how morality plays out in the world is always complex, with numerous exceptions to the correlations above. For example, African Americans tend to be highly religious and yet are also extremely supportive of gun control. The Catholic Church, which has deftly overseen the most extensive pedophile ring in history, and continues to ban the life-saving use of condoms, also happens to morally oppose the death penalty. One study has found that Evangelicals actually get vaccinated at higher rates than the religiously unaffiliated (though not at a higher rate than agnostics). And members of religious congregations tend to donate more money to charity, on average, than the unaffiliated. And of course, the 20th century has witnessed the immoral, bloody brutality of numerous atheist dictatorships, such as those of the former USSR and Cambodia.

However, despite such complexities, the overall pattern remains clear: When it comes to the most pressing moral issues of the day, hard-core secularists exhibit much more empathy, compassion, and care for the well-being of others than the most ardently God-worshipping. Such a reality is necessary to expose, not simply in order to debunk the long-standing canard that religion is necessary for ethical living, but because such exposure renders all the more pressing the need for a more consciously secular citizenry, one that lives in reality, embraces science and empiricism, and supports sound policies — not prayer — as a way to make life better, safer and more humane.

RSF calls for US plan to evacuate Afghan journalists

Reporters Without Borders have stressed that the US should focus on evacuating Afghan journalists as well as its own citizens.

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
21 August, 2021

The US have received surmounting pressure to protect those who have been allies to the West [Getty]

Reporters Without Borders called Saturday on US President Joe Biden to make "a special plan for evacuating endangered Afghan journalists" from Taliban-controlled Kabul.

RSF said the United States currently seemed to be concerned only with the evacuation "of its own citizens and former employees".

"This is blocking the evacuation of those on the lists of sensitive persons who are in danger," it added.

"We are receiving dozens and dozens of urgent evacuation requests," said RSF chief Christophe Deloire.

"Our problem today is not getting visas or seats on planes, it is making it possible for these people to access planes."

The NGO is calling on the US to postpone the end of its military operation at Kabul airport so journalists and rights activists from various countries and organisations can be identified and given access.

"It will be materially impossible to complete the evacuation of all those in great danger, including Afghan journalists, by 31 August," it said.

"The image of the United States as a defender of press freedom and human rights is at stake," Deloire said.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said it had received "hundreds of requests for help" from Afghan journalists, mostly women, who are "in panic and fear".

The Taliban, looking for a Deutsche Welle journalist now based in Germany, shot dead a member of his family on Wednesday and seriously wounded another, German radio reported.

UK
Extinction Rebellion targeting London with protests

By Orlando Jenkinson @Lando_jReporter - 

Kingston, Epsom, Elmbridge, Richmond, Wandsworth, Croydon

Extinction Rebellion previously staged an occupation of Westminster. 

Image: Alexander Savin / wikipedia

Environmental protest group Extinction Rebellion (XR) will stage a series of protests in London starting Monday (Monday, August 23).

The explicitly non-violent group said they plan to target the City of London in particular with two weeks of various demonstrations and direct actions planned, while other protest sites including Trafalgar Square are also likely to emerge.

In a small press release published ahead of Monday's demonstrations, the group described their plan for two weeks of civil disobedience in London as the 'Impossible Rebellion', and said:

"We’re at a crucial moment in history. Our climate is breaking down and life on Earth is dying: accelerated by our economic system and supported by politicians.

"Do you feel powerless to change anything? You are more powerful than you think.

"Join the Rebellion and together we will can make the politically impossible inevitable."

The latest stage in the group's ongoing drive to force governments to take emergency action on the climate crisis comes just days after the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a landmark report that laid out the daunting scale of the current climate crisis.

The report called the ongoing heating of the planet caused by fossil fuel use as "unequivocal" and said increasing numbers of extreme weather events like heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, floods and cases of food insecurity were assured in the coming years in Europe and across the globe.

UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres meanwhile called the report "Code Red" for humanity, warning there is precious little time left for humanity to decarbonize the world economy and therefore mitigate the most catastrophic effects of the crisis.

In response to the planned demonstrations, the Met Police said they would take a proactive approach to policing any disruption that arises.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Matt Twist, said: "It is clear to us, from reading and listening to their public announcements that Extinction Rebellion’s intention is to once again cause significant disruption to London and to London’s communities through acts of civil disobedience.

"There have been three previous extended periods of demonstrations by Extinction Rebellion in London. People going about their normal business saw bus routes being diverted or cancelled, significant roads closures, tubes and DLR routes being disrupted by spontaneous demonstrations, and the abstraction of hundreds, if not thousands of officers from their normal duties.

"Like everyone else, Extinction Rebellion have the right to assemble and the right to protest. However these rights are qualified and are to be balanced against the rights of others. They do not have the right to cause serious disruption to London’s communities and prevent them going about their lawful business."

A Met spokesperson added that their officers would "engage with organisers from Extinction Rebellion, hoping to minimise where possible any disruption to London’s communities". Meanwhile, specialist policing teams "who can respond and manage protesters in a safe manner who have built or locked themselves to complicated structures" would be placed on standby.

Ken Loach: Keir Starmer Is Mr Bean Trying to Act Like Stalin

AN INTERVIEW WITH KEN LOACH

Last week, Ken Loach was kicked out of the Labour party. In his first interview since his expulsion, the socialist filmmaker told Jacobin that Keir Starmer’s purge of the Left is driving the party to destruction.

Ken Loach said he was kicked out of the Labour Party last week after he refused an order to renounce left-wing friends and comrades who had been ejected. (Chris Payne / Flickr)

When Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the Labour Party, socialist filmmaker Ken Loach was given pride of place — and a prominent seat on the conference floor, after rejoining the party he had left years earlier in disgust at Tony Blair. The Palme d’Or–winning filmmaker’s position drew the ire of Blairites like former MP Mike Gapes, who still today resent being “banished to the balcony” under the left-wing leadership.

But today, right-wingers are cheering, after the I, Daniel Blake director was expelled from the party last week. Loach, whose films are considered landmarks of social realism, said he was kicked out after he refused an order to renounce left-wing friends and comrades who had been ejected, along with the now-banned groupings of which they were members.

Announcing his removal via Twitter, Loach was defiant — declaring that “Starmer and his clique will never lead a party of the people” and insisting “We are many, they are few.” Speaking to Jacobin in his first interview since his expulsion, the filmmaker paints a bleak picture of life inside the party for the Left. He told Mattha Busby that recent events suggest Labour is no longer interested in listening to its members — and that it is retreating to the staid, right-wing politics of Blair’s era, in the hope of coddling the Tory press.

This interview has been edited slightly for clarity and brevity, and the Labour Party was contacted for comment.

MB


What exactly happened with your ejection from the party?

KL


The letter that I got charged me with supporting a proscribed organization; well, in law as I understand it, if you pass a law to criminalize an act, you can’t prosecute someone for having done that before the law was passed. You can’t retroactively punish people for things that were not crimes when they did them.

All the ridiculous evidence that they trotted out against me quoted things that happened way before these proscriptions. So how does that stack up? I don’t have the energy or the will to be involved in a protracted dispute, because it’s such a waste of time. I’d rather work and do a film, than talk to malicious people. It’s like ending an abusive relationship, actually — it’s a weight off your shoulders.

MB


What was the extent of your involvement with these now-banned organizations?

KL


I’m not a member of any of the proscribed organizations. But I support many of the people who have been expelled, because they are good friends and comrades. A witch hunt within the party is in progress, and I will not renounce them. Party apparatchiks are exercising arbitrary and completely undemocratic rule; making the rules up as they go along. For someone like Keir Starmer, who is meant to be a senior lawyer and former head of the Crown Prosecution Service, to give it all his seal of approval just shows what a shoddy man he is.

MB


It seems there’s no love lost between yourself and the leader. What are your views on his leadership of the party more generally?

KL


What Starmer is trying to do is very clear. As a leader, he is totally untrustworthy and a plain liar. He said he would unite the party, but he has driven out over 120,000 members. His actions suggest that was his intention from day one, so there was no way he intended to unite the party. He consciously misled the membership. He revealed himself as untrustworthy and really unprincipled. And his intention, as far as I can see, is to have a small party with no troublesome activists, with no transformative program. It’s a retreat from left domestic policies on public ownership, housing, the welfare state, and the environment. It’s a retreat from a foreign policy based on international law and human rights.

What he’s doing through expulsions and driving people out is reproducing Blair’s party — a small party where he speaks to the electorate through the media and tries to convince the right-wing press that Labour is no threat to their power.

MB


You’ve been among those downplaying the issue of antisemitism in the party, and you were accused of Holocaust denialism. Do you think this played any role in your ejection?

KL


My position on Holocaust denial is very clear. I am totally opposed to it. It’s there on the record. “In a BBC interview, where speech overlapped, my words have been twisted to suggest that I think it is acceptable to question the reality of the Holocaust. I do not. The Holocaust is as real a historical event as the Second World War itself and not to be challenged,” it says. I’ve had threats to my family over this, people coming up to me in the street, pushing you up against the wall, just the foulest abuse.

MB


I can tell you are frustrated over events throughout the past several years. Do you harbor any bitterness over your expulsion?

KL


For me, it’s a badge of honor — I have no problem falling out with Starmer’s clique. Democracy is dead in the Labour Party: constituency parties have been shut down for no reason; resolutions have been ruled out of order if they’ve criticized Starmer or supported the Palestinians. They’ve been told they’re not allowed to pass resolutions commenting on the fact that they can’t pass certain resolutions. It’s a total denial of internal democracy.

MB


Sounds fairly Orwellian. Does it seem chaotic at all?

KL


The whole disciplinary process, there is no due process at all. People are told they’re suspended, they write back, they get no reply; it goes on for months and months. For Starmer, who made his name as a lawyer, it makes him look ridiculous. He’s a figure of fun. They said that with Gordon Brown as leader, it was like Stalin became Mr Bean; for Starmer, it’s the other way around, he’s Mr Bean trying to act like Stalin, and he’s doing it very clumsily.

MB


I have the image now of Stalin ordering Peter Mandelson to scrub clean the Mona Lisa and chastising him for not doing a good job. But on a serious note, what do you make of this moment in British politics?

KL


There is a huge question for democracy. Under Jeremy Corbyn, Labour was the largest political party in Europe: almost six hundred thousand members. The members were very strongly united on the party’s program, which would have been transformative. But a clique within the parliamentary party, most of them Blairites, successfully led efforts to undermine it. You know the story of the leaked emails from Labour HQ — a number of officials were actively working against a Labour victory in 2017 and rejoiced when they lost, amid the most foul-mouthed insults to people like Diane Abbott and the few MPs loyal to Corbyn, and now they’re being rewarded under Starmer. It all leads me to wonder whether it is possible to elect a party committed to transformative change; is the British establishment so all-powerful that it can stop it happening?

Ken Loach is a socialist filmmaker. His works include Kes and I, Daniel Blake.
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER

Mattha Busby is a freelance journalist, currently based in Mexico, who has written widely on health policy and society.

THEY ARE ALSO CHRISTIANS

Caught in the crossfire, Ethiopian minority flees to Sudan


Issued on: 21/08/2021 - 

Ethiopians from the Qemant ethnic group have fled to neighbouring Sudan after violence in the Tigray region spilled over into their homeland ASHRAF SHAZLY AFP


Basinga (Sudan) (AFP)

Dragged into a conflict not of their making, members of Ethiopia's Qemant ethnic group say their only choice was fleeing to Sudan -- marking another bleak turn in a widening war.

"Houses were burned, and people killed by machetes," said refugee Emebet Demoz, who, like thousands of others, ran from her village last month. "We couldn't even take the bodies and bury them."

Thousands have been killed since fighting erupted in November in Ethiopia's northernmost Tigray region, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent in troops to topple the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the regional ruling party, saying the move came in response to TPLF attacks on army camps.

The violence has since sucked in other groups in bitter battles over land, and has spread from Tigray into Ethiopia's neighbouring Amhara region, homeland of both the Amhara people and the ethnic minority Qemant.

Amhara fighters supported Abiy's forces, in an attempt to settle a decades-long dispute over territory they claim was seized by the TPLF during its nearly three-decade rule before Abiy took power in 2018.

Ethiopian refugees from the Qemant ethnic group queue for food at a camp in Sudan, with officials saying they are expecting more to come 

ASHRAF SHAZLY AFP

The Qemant have long chafed under the cultural and economic influence of the dominant Amhara people, and in recent years have called for self-rule.

A 2017 referendum on the question of creating a Qemant autonomous zone ended in rancour, with the resulting territorial dispute sparking increasingly frequent clashes between the two groups.

"The Amhara fighters backed by the government wanted us off our land," 20-year-old Emebet said. "They are killing us because we're an ethnic minority."

- 'Refused to take sides' -

But Amhara regional spokesperson Gizachew Muluneh squarely denied that members of the Qemant ethnic group were being targeted.

Amhara leaders say the Qemant's quest for self-rule has largely been stoked by Tigrayan rebels, who they allege are fighting a proxy war by backing the group.

Gizachew told AFP that those described as refugees were "pro-terrorist TPLF, and they are created by TPLF for the purpose of distracting Ethiopia and Amhara".

Ethiopia Simon MALFATTO AFP

The United Nations estimates that some 200,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Amhara, where the violence is driving a wedge deeper between the ethnic groups.

"The Amharas wanted us to pick their side in the conflict against the Tigrayans," said refugee Balata Goshi. "We refused to take sides, so they fought us."

Clashes between the Amhara and Qemant forced thousands to flee in April this year, according to the UN's humanitarian agency.

Qemant campaigners claim that their historic homeland includes villages bordering Sudan.

But that has also led to accusations that the Qemant have received support from Sudan, which has territorial issues with Ethiopia, mostly in areas located near the Amhara region.

Many Ethiopian refugees are living in basic conditions with plastic sheeting for shelter in Sudan ASHRAF SHAZLY AFP

Relations between Khartoum and Addis Ababa have also soured over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, which downstream Egypt and Sudan fear threatens the water they depend on.

For civilians like Emebet stuck in the middle, the violence left her no option but to leave.

She is part of a stream of some 3,000 Qemant refugees who have crossed into Sudan in recent weeks, Sudanese officials said.

"We are expecting more Qemantis to arrive, as well other ethnicities," said Mohamed Abdelkareem, from Sudan's refugee commission.

Sudan already hosts more than 60,000 refugees from Ethiopia, according to the UN, putting heavy pressure on a country already struggling with its own acute economic crisis.

Over 60,000 Ethiopian refugees have fled to Sudan seeking shelter from conflict at home in recent months ASHRAF SHAZLY AFP

Emebet has found shelter in the Sudanese border town of Basinga, cramped inside a school converted into a makeshift camp, now a temporary home for a thousand refugees.

There are basic food supplies, but she is sleeping under plastic sheeting that offers little shelter from either sweltering heat or heavy rains.

"We are safe here at least," she said.

- 'Can't go back' -

Refugees said they are victims of long-running ethnic strife.

"Tensions had already been rising for years," said Aman Farada, a 26-year-old refugee from Ethiopia's northern city of Gondar.

"Initially, it was inter-ethnic disputes, but now it's the government fighting us."

Kasaw Abayi believes the Amharas used the Tigray conflict as "an excuse" to expand their control over other land.

Many of the Ethiopian refugees fear they will be in Sudan for a long time until peace is restored at home ASHRAF SHAZLY AFP

"They see the entire area as theirs, so they want neither us (Qemant) nor the Tigrayans there," said the 50-year-old builder.

Early in the fighting, Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, declared victory after his forces seized Tigray's regional capital Mekele.

But in June, the TPLF recaptured much of Tigray, including Mekele, and pushed east and south into the Amhara and Afar regions.

The UN says the conflict has driven 400,000 people into famine-like conditions. Fighting continues.

Qemant refugees say they see little chance of returning to Ethiopia any time soon.

"We can't go back," said Emebet. "How can we return when this government is still in place?"

© 2021 AFP