New 'Life is Strange' debuts as LGBTQ video games take off


Issued on: 10/09/2021

"Life is Strange: True Colors" allows players to pursue same-sex relationships as they journey through a supernaturally-tinged version of small-town America 

Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD AFP

Brussels (AFP)

With a bisexual protagonist who wields a mysterious superpower, the new instalment of "Life is Strange" is the latest in a growing array of video games that place LGBTQ characters in the spotlight.

Like previous games in the popular series, "Life is Strange: True Colors" allows players to pursue same-sex relationships as they journey through a supernaturally-tinged version of small-town America.

"We really wanted to continue to honour the story of queer characters in 'Life is Strange'," lead writer Jon Zimmerman of Nine Deck Games, the US studio behind "True Colors", told AFP ahead of its release on Friday.

The latest game follows Alex Chen, a young Asian-American woman who embraces her power to sense other people's emotions as she investigates her brother's death in the Colorado mountains.

Like its predecessors in the series, which is being adapted into a TV show, the game features a folk-pop soundtrack, soft pastel graphics and a gentle rhythm of play.

The games have won critical acclaim for the sensitivity of their storylines since 2015 when French studio Dontnod produced the first instalment, which has sold more than three million copies alone.

"True Colors" is the fourth full-length game in a series that has been praised for its portrayal of characters across the LGBTQ spectrum.

"Back in 2015, I was still 'in the closet'," said Mai Torras, a Buenos Aires-based game developer who runs a fan site devoted to the series.

"Life Is Strange", she said, "helped me a great deal to finally come to terms with a few things about myself."

- From indies to blockbusters -

For years, gay, bisexual and transgender characters featured mainly in video games made by small independent companies.

But larger studios are now also eager to depict a wider diversity of characters, in part to better reflect players' own life experiences as gaming has become a mainstream hobby for millions worldwide.

Video game studios are now eager to depict a wider diversity of characters Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD AFP

Last year gay rights activists hailed "The Last Of Us Part II" -- a huge commercial and critical success -- as the first blockbuster game to feature a lesbian protagonist.

Before it developed "True Colors", Deck Nine Games worked on "Before The Storm", a 2017 "Life is Strange" prequel which similarly depicts a range of LGBTQ characters.

"It's one of the hardest things we do," Zimmerman said of the studio's efforts to depict queer characters in a way that feels both authentic and sensitive.

The games' writers are well aware that players' own experiences with their gender and sexuality can be "connected to great tragedy or trauma", he added.

Video game giant Ubisoft had stumbled with its own attempt at introducing LGBTQ characters in its cult "Assassin's Creed" series.

The "Odyssey" game, released in 2018, offered players the option to pursue a same-sex relationship -- but the storyline then forced them into a heterosexual one. Ubisoft's creative director apologised for the gaffe.

- Backlash -

Elizabeth Maler, co-founder of French games publisher Abiding Bridge, said the industry was waking up to the fact that it "has an impact on society" and can play a role in encouraging tolerance.

In 2017 she co-wrote "A Normal Lost Phone", a game which tackles the theme of transgender identity.

"It can be risky to speak about these subjects in games," said Maler.

"There are people who hate it and will give you negative reviews for it."

And these reviews, particularly on the influential platform Steam, can be crucial to a game's success, she added.

"It totally influences the algorithms and the visibility you can have," Maler told AFP.

Some players have accused games like "Life is Strange" of trying to force political correctness down their throats.

"I don't play games to hear about other people's political ideas, especially if it's pushy about it," read one comment about "True Colors" posted on Steam.

Gaming culture has long battled with a reputation for jokes at the expense of minorities, not least the LGBTQ community.

Twitch, the world's biggest video game streaming platform, has been struggling lately with the phenomenon of "hate raids", barrages of homophobic, racist and sexist abuse.

And while studios are increasingly trying to emphasise diversity within their games, critics say the teams developing them often remain overwhelmingly white, straight and male.

"We are still in an industry that remains very sexist and that can be racist, ableist, and that isn't great at integrating marginalised people," Maler said.

© 2021 AFP

TEEN TITANS THE NEXT GEN
Raducanu to face Fernandez in historic all-teen US Open final


Issued on: 10/09/2021

Canada's Leylah Fernandez reacts after defeating Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday at the US Open to reach her first Grand Slam final 

TIMOTHY A. CLARY AFP


New York (AFP)

British 18-year-old qualifier Emma Raducanu and Canadian 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez completed astonishing runs to their historic first Grand Slam final on Thursday at the US Open.

Raducanu became the first qualifier to ever reach a Grand Slam final, and the youngest Slam finalist in 17 years, by ousting Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-4.

"I'm in the final and I can't actually believe it," Raducanu said.

Fernandez, a 73rd-ranked left-hander, beat second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-4, for her third Open win over a top-five rival, a feat not seen at a Slam since Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2012.

"Now I can say I've done a pretty good job of achieving my dreams," Fernandez said.

In a real-life epic as amazing as any fairy-tale, the teen prodigies will meet Saturday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where one of them will claim her first Grand Slam title.

"Is there any expectation?" Raducanu said. "I'm a qualifier so technically on paper there's no pressure on me."

It's the first Slam final between teens since 17-year-old Williams beat 18-year-old Martina Hingis at the 1999 US Open, and just the eighth all-teen Slam final in the Open era (since 1968).

"I just want to play a final," Fernandez said. "I'm going to enjoy my victory and worry about it tomorrow."

Raducanu is the youngest Slam finalist since 17-year-old Maria Sharapova won at Wimbledon in 2004.

She became only the second woman ranked outside the top 100 to reach a US Open final after unranked Kim Clijsters came out of retirement and won the 2009 US Open.

"Today I wasn't thinking about anyone else except for myself," Raducanu said.

Raducanu is trying to become the first British woman to win a Grand Slam title since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977 and the first British woman to win the US Open since Wade in 1968.

Britain's Emma Raducanu became the first qualifier to ever reach a Grand Slam final by defeating Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari on Thursday in the US Open semi-finals TIMOTHY A. CLARY AFP

Wade and British legend Tim Henman were watching.

"Tim is such a big inspiration," said Raducanu. "He has been helping me, telling me take one point at a time. You have to stay in the moment and can't get ahead of yourself."

Fernandez, who turned 19 on Monday, had earlier ousted defending champion Naomi Osaka and fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina before Sabalenka, 23, become her third top-five victim.

"I had opportunities but I didn't use them in the key moments," Sabalenka said. "I didn't play well. She deserved this win."

Raducanu could become the first US Open champion not to lose a set since Serena Williams in 2014.

Raducanu saved three break points in her opening service game then broke to lead 2-0. Sakkari double faulted to hand the teen a 4-0 edge and she took the first set in 36 minutes, aided by Sakkari's 17 unforced errors.

An errant Sakkari forehand in the third game of the second set handed Raducanu the only break she needed as she advanced after 84 minutes on an overhead smash.

"I played some of my best tennis to date," Raducanu said. "I knew I'd have to be super aggressive and execute and I'm just really happy with today's performance."

- 'Years of work' -

Fernandez, never deeper than the third round in six prior Slam starts, showed the mental toughness preached by her father-coach Jorge in the tie-breaker.

Sabalenka netted a forehand with a wide-open court to hand Fernandez a 3-2 edge. The teen never trailed after that, winning the last four points to claim the first set in 53 minutes.

"That's years and years of work and tears and blood and sacrifice," said Fernandez of her mental fortitude.

The Ashe stadium music director played the Eric Clapton song "Layla" as the crowd roared when she took the set.

"I have no idea (how I won)," said Fernandez. "I'd say it's thanks to the New York crowd. They helped me. They cheered for me. They never gave up."

Fernandez sent a forehand long to surrender a break in the ninth game and Sabalenka held at love to take the second set.

In the third, Fernandez held to 5-4 and Sabalenka crumbled with the match on the line, issuing back-to-back double faults to 0-40 and sending a forehand long -- her 52nd unforced error -- to fall after two hours and 21 minutes.

"I don't know how I got that last point in but I'm glad it was and I'm glad I'm in the finals," Fernandez said.

© 2021 AFP

Turn off the oil taps? Norway torn between climate and cash

Issued on: 10/09/2021 -

The 'code red' sounded by the United Nations last month has reignited debate about the future of the oil industry in Norway 

Petter BERNTSEN AFP

Stavanger (Norway) (AFP)

In Stavanger's harbour, the Petroleum Museum chronicles Norway's road to riches. Now, faced with the climate crisis, a growing chorus wants fossil fuels to be relegated to history for good.

The "code red" sounded by the United Nations in early August has reignited debate about the future of the oil industry in Norway, the largest oil producer in western Europe, ahead of Monday's legislative elections.

The Green party, MDG, -- whose support the opposition centre-left, currently leading in the polls, may rely on in order to obtain a parliamentary majority -- has called for an immediate end to oil prospecting and a halt to production by 2035.

"Oil belongs in a museum. It served us very well for many decades but we can now see that it is destroying our climate," says Ulrikke Torgersen, the Greens candidate in Stavanger, Norway's oil capital where it is often said locals have oil running through their veins.

'Oil belongs in a museum,' says Ulrikke Torgersen, the Greens candidate in Stavanger, Norway's oil capital, in Monday's legislative elections 

Petter BERNTSEN AFP

The UN climate report, which warned of an acceleration of "unprecedented" extreme events linked to climate change, propelled the subject right to the heart of the election campaign.

Norway's two biggest parties -- the Conservatives led by Prime Minister Erna Solberg and the Labour Party led by her likely successor Jonas Gahr Store -- have both refused to bid farewell to black gold.

But each camp has small factions pushing for the country to set an example by putting an end to its oil dependence and speeding up its green transition in order to respect its commitments under the 2015 Paris climate accord.

According to a poll on August 20, 35 percent of Norwegians said they were in favour of ending oil exploration.

Even the International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that all fossil fuel exploration projects must cease immediately if the world is to keep global warming under control.

- A painful break -

A clean break would be painful for Norway: the oil sector accounts for 14 percent of gross domestic product, as well as 40 percent of its exports and 160,000 direct jobs.

Over the years, oil and gas have financed Norway's generous welfare state, as well as costly environmental initiatives such as incentives for electric car purchases and the protection of rain forests.

In addition, the cash cow has helped the country of 5.4 million people amass the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund, today worth more than 12 trillion kroner (almost 1.2 trillion euros, $1.4 trillion).

Over the years, oil and gas have financed Norway's generous welfare state and helped amass the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund

 Petter BERNTSEN AFP

The oil industry has been quick to point out that of all the world's oil, Norwegian crude emits the lowest amount of greenhouse gases -- at least at the drilling stage.

A recent study even claimed that an end to Norway's oil and gas production would lead to an increase in worldwide emissions, as Norwegian products would be replaced by even more polluting energy sources.

"It would be paradoxical to halt oil and gas production which has the lowest CO2 footprint at a time when the world still needs it," said Anniken Hauglie, head of the oil lobby Norsk Olje & Gass.

But Anniken Hauglie, head of the oil lobby Norsk Olje & Gass, insists that other kinds of fossil fuels must be got rid of first, especially coal

 Petter BERNTSEN AFP

"We need to get rid of other kinds of fossil fuels first, in particular coal," she said.

And, she insisted, oil companies also have a wealth of knowledge, technology and capital that will be needed for the development of future energy solutions, such as offshore wind power, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

- Students going elsewhere -

Despite paying high salaries, the oil industry is struggling to attract young talent.

At the University of Stavanger, the number of Masters students in oil engineering is shrinking like the icecap in summer.

Despite the prospect of a high-paying job later on, at the University of Stavanger, the number of Masters students in oil engineering is shrinking

 Petter BERNTSEN AFP

From over 60 students in 2013, most of them Norwegians, their number has dropped to 22 this year, including only a handful of nationals.

"We need to get rid of fossil fuels, no doubt about it. Even we in Norway as an oil-producing country, we know that. But the question is how fast we should do that and how prepared we are for that," professor Mahmoud Khalifeh told AFP.

"Even if you want to stop oil production, we need petroleum engineers to design how to properly close thousands of active wells to avoid leakages to the environment," he added.

Camilla Abrahamsen is determined to get her degree and become a drilling engineer.

Student Camilla Abrahamsen, 25, hopes one day to help make oil a bit greener

 Petter BERNTSEN AFP

"I want to contribute to the future. Maybe try to make oil a bit greener," the 25-year-old student said.

Does she have any doubts about her career choice?

"I'll be old by the time we can live without oil," she added.

© 2021 AFP

Climate change dominates elections in oil-rich Norway

Issued on: 10/09/2021 -

Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg has been in power for eight years 

Ali Zare NTB/AFP

Oslo (AFP)

Oil-rich Norway goes to the polls on Monday in elections dominated by climate change that the ruling Conservative party is widely expected to lose to a Labour-led coalition.

Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Store is hoping to wrest power from centre-right Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who has headed the wealthy Scandinavian nation for eight years.

Polls suggest Solberg is unlikely to win again, and the key question is whether Store's hoped-for coalition with the Centre and Socialist Left parties will get enough votes for a parliamentary majority.

If not he may have to seek the support of other small parties.

"Something really dramatic would have to happen for the right-wing to win," political scientist Johannes Bergh of the Norwegian Institute for Social Research told AFP.

The campaign has largely focused on the future of the oil industry in Norway, western Europe's biggest producer.

Norway owes its riches to black gold, enabling it to amass the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund.

The country has embraced environmentally-friendly policies to tackle climate change in recent years, but Store says it's not been enough.

He has vowed to introduce "fair" climate policies and narrow socioeconomic divides.

"We haven't done nearly enough in our climate transition and our welfare state has in many areas been cut back, privatised or carved up," the 61-year-old told AFP.

"After eight years of right-wing politics, inequalities have increased in Norway."

- Black gold -

Though Store's own Labour party is expected to put in a poor showing at the polls, he should be able to take the election with the help of his allies, primarily the agrarian Centre Party and Socialist Left.

It remains to be seen whether the three parties will win a majority, or have to rely on support from the communist Rodt party and the Green MDG party.

Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Store is hoping to wrest power from centre-right Prime Minister Erna Solberg 

Javad Parsa NTB/AFP

The Greens have called for an immediate halt to oil exploration and an end to production by 2035.

But Store has rejected the ultimatum, saying he wants to fight global warming without endangering jobs.

"The climate and environment will be a major issue, maybe the key issue, when it comes to building a government after the elections," Bergh said.

"It will be difficult for the various parties to agree."

The centre-right has called on Norwegians to vote for continuity, citing Solberg's strong track record.

In eight years at the helm -- a record for the Conservatives -- Solberg has steered the country through the migrant crisis, plunging oil prices and the pandemic.

"The choice this year is between Erna (Solberg's) safe leadership with policies that work, and an uncertain alternative," the Conservative Party said.

"We need solid management and a clear course ahead to kickstart Norway after the pandemic."

- 'More billionaires' -

After the Vatican and Iceland, Norway has the lowest number of Covid deaths in Europe per capita, and its economy has already returned to its pre-pandemic level.

But critics have accused the outgoing government of being overly optimistic about returning to a post-pandemic reality.

In mid-August Health Minister Bent Hoie told Norwegians "we'll be able to dance slow dances and resume 'one-night stands' at the end of September".

But facing rising infection rates, the government has had to postpone the lifting of all its restrictions several times.

Solberg also ran into trouble when she broke her own government's social distancing rules at her 60th birthday celebration in March, a mistake that also cost her a hefty fine.

Norway is western Europe's biggest oil producer

 Tom LITTLE AFP

Ahead of the vote Monday, the election campaign was in full swing in downtown Oslo.

"Under Solberg, the inequality gap has widened. The number of billionaires keeps growing," complained one pensioner.

Near a Conservative Party campaign stand, an elegantly-dressed woman says she wants Solberg to win.

"Of course we all care about the environment, but without oil revenues what is going to pay for our welfare state?".

© 2021 AFP

Amazon invests $1.2 billion to pay for 750,000 employees' education


A graduate walks among his peers. Amazon announced that it will fully cover the cost of tuition for its employees' educations. 

Photo by Charles Deloye/UNSPLASH

Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Amazon announced on Thursday that it will pay full tuition -- including the cost of books and fees -- for its more than 750,000 front-line employees.

The retail giant will fund the 2022 initiative by investing $1.2 billion to expand its education and skills training benefits program by 2025.

Rather than offering reimbursement after coursework completion, Amazon will pay the fees in advance. The offer stands for those who have been working at the company for 90 days, including 400,000 employees who joined the company since the start of the pandemic.

"Through its popular Career Choice program, the company will fund full college tuition, as well as high school diplomas, GEDs and English as a Second Language proficiency certifications for its front-line employees -- including those who have been at the company for just three months," Amazon said in a press release.

Amazon is also launching three upskilling programs: Amazon Web Services Grow Our Own Talent, which will train employees to become data technicians; Surge2IT, which will help entry-level IT employees pursue higher-paying roles in the company; and the User Experience Design and Research Apprenticeship, which will help employees combine education and training to work on research and design teams.

In 2019, Amazon announced a $700 million commitment to train 100,000 employees by 2025 to help them transition to higher-paying jobs. It began offering nine programs. The three new programs will affect 300,000 employees, representing 30% of Amazon's workforce
To handle a surge in demand during the pandemic of applicants interested in the programs, Amazon switched its training to virtual sessions. These include the Amazon Technical Academy, the Amazon Technical Apprenticeship, the AWS Training and Certifications, and Machine Learning University.

The move comes after other retail giants announced similar plans. Last month, Walmart said that it would cover the cost of college tuition for 1.5 million employees and Target announced that it would fund advanced degrees in 40 different institutions.

Remote work curbs communication, collaboration, study finds


Economist Gray Kimbrough works at home in April 2020 alongside his daughter Violet, who was participating in distance learning from her school. New research suggests that entirely home-based workforces can limit communication and collaboration that comes from being together in an office. 

File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo


Sept. 9 (UPI) -- When employees work remotely, lines of communication between colleagues, teams and departments get severed, according to new research.

The study of 61,000 Microsoft employees -- published Thursday in the journal Nature Human Behavior -- found remote work led to more siloed lines of communication and fewer real-time conversations.

While working remotely full-time, employees were also less likely to spend time in meetings, limiting the opportunity for collaboration and information-sharing.

"Measuring the causal effects of remote work has historically been difficult, because only certain types of workers were allowed to work away from the office," study co-author David Holtz said in a press release.

"That changed during the pandemic, when almost everyone who could work from home was required to do so," said Holtz, an assistant professor at the University of California's Berkeley Haas School of Business.

With entire workforces relegated to the home office, researchers were able to able to measure changes in behavior.

For the study, Holtz and his research partners analyzed anonymized data from thousands of emails, instant messages, calls, meetings and working hours logged by Microsoft employees. All of the content and identifying information were scraped from the messages before being analyzed.

In addition to communication data, researchers had access to data on employees' roles, managerial status, business group and length of tenure at the company.

Researchers analyzed the volume and trajectory of messages -- calls, texts and emails -- across different groups of employees. The research team also tracked the time employees spent in scheduled and unscheduled meetings.

The data showed communication networks shrunk when the workforce began operating remotely, with fewer calls, emails, texts and meetings between different teams and departments. Researchers determined cross-group collaboration declined by 25%.

However, researchers found communication within groups happened more frequently. Predictably, higher volumes of texts and emails were responsible for increases in in-group communication, as colleagues spent less time on the phone or in video conferences while working form home.

Because roughly 15% of the Microsoft's workforce was remote prior to the pandemic, researchers were able to isolate the the effects of working from home and working with remote colleagues.

"The fact that your colleagues' remote work status affects your own work habits has major implications for companies that are considering hybrid or mixed-mode work policies," Holtz said.

Having one's teammates and collaborators in the office at the same time, for example, can improve communication and information flow for people who are in the office, as well as those working remote, he said.

"It's important to be thoughtful about how these policies are implemented," Holtz said.

Increasing affordable housing may decrease heart disease rates, study says

By HealthDay News


Increasing availability of affordable housing could reduce incidence of heart disease in many communities in the United States, according to a new study. Photo by Ribastank/Pixabay

One of the keys to good health could be in the hands of those who decide zoning policies for their communities.

Inclusionary zoning policies that provide for affordable housing were associated with lower rates of heart disease for those who benefited from these dwellings, according to a new U.S. study.

"Many cities around the country are facing a severe shortage of affordable housing," said lead study author Antwan Jones, an associate professor of sociology at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

"Our study suggests that inclusionary zoning programs can help not just boost the supply of safe, affordable housing, but may also reduce the risk of heart disease," Jones said in a university news release.

RELATED Study: Heart attacks are less common in greener neighborhoods

Researchers found that places that had inclusionary zoning also had fewer residents with high blood pressure and higher cholesterol compared to communities without these programs.

The residents were less likely to be taking medicine for high blood pressure. They also were less likely to have already developed coronary heart disease.

These policies were associated with better cardiovascular health even when the study controlled for other factors linked to heart disease, such as poverty, health insurance and smoking

However, the study only showed an association, not a direct cause-and-effect relationship.

The researchers used data from the 500 Cities Project, along with zoning and demographic information.

They noted that more than 880 cities and counties in 25 states have adopted inclusionary zoning policies or incentive programs for developers who set aside a portion of their building projects for low- and moderate-income families

These incentives can include tax breaks and exemptions from some regulations.

Mandatory inclusionary zoning had the biggest impact on markers of heart health, the authors said in the report, published Wednesday in Circulation.

More than 365,000 people die from coronary heart disease annually in the United States. The authors called for more research on the links between zoning and heart health, while adding that this study suggests inclusionary zoning can address some of the complex health challenges faced by struggling families.

"Stable, affordable housing in healthy communities can reduce stress and increase access to fresh produce, parks, jobs, safe streets and other amenities that help people stay healthy," said co-author Gregory Squires, a professor of sociology and public policy at the university.More information

The American Heart Association has more information on heart health.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

USA

Study: Nearly 69K COVID-19 cases, 17K deaths at nursing homes went uncounted


Nursing homes across the country, including the California home pictured last year as a patient was moved out of the facility, were known epicenters for COVID-19 outbreaks last year -- but researchers say that cases and deaths from senior homes were widely under-reported. Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Nearly 69,000 additional COVID-19 cases and 17,000 more deaths occured at nursing homes in the United States in 2020 than were reported, an analysis published Thursday by JAMA Network Open found.

This means that at least 40% of COVID-19 cases and deaths went unreported -- at least initially -- at these facilities across the country, the data showed.

These figures equate to about 12% of total reported cases and 14% of total reported deaths in nursing homes nationally, the researchers said.

They said the differences are attributable, at least in part, to the federal government not asking nursing homes to report COVID-19 cases and deaths until the end of May, or about three months after the first infections were reported.

"It's pretty inexcusable that the federal government didn't start counting cases and deaths in these facilities until the end of May," study co-author Karen Shen told UPI in a phone interview.

"For their families and loved ones, we wanted these people to be counted," said Shen, a doctoral candidate in economics at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.

In addition to the JAMA Network Open article, Shen and her colleagues have made their findings on nursing home infections and deaths publicly available.


RELATED CDC: More than 40% of staff at long-term care facilities not fully vaccinated

Since the start of the pandemic, nearly 676,000 COVID-19 cases occurred among nursing home residents, with more than 134,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

However, these figures are based on facility reports to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network, which has been tracking the impact of the pandemic on nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

Nursing homes have been epicenters for COVID-19 outbreaks from the early days of the pandemic, but delays in reporting numbers -- homes were not required to report cases and deaths until May 2020 -- continue to cloud the real toll the coronavirus had on these facilities, the Harvard researchers said.

Still, the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., the site of the first known nursing home outbreak in the United States, reported zero cases, despite a March 2020 CDC investigation identifying 81 infections and 23 deaths among residents.

In addition, state officials in New York are alleged to have intentionally under-reported COVID-19 cases and deaths in nursing homes in 2020.

For this study, the researchers analyzed COVID-19 case and death data from more than 15,000 nursing homes across the country through the end of last year.

They compared figures from 20 states that required reporting from the start of the pandemic to the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network data for these states.

Based on the differences in these numbers, researchers then estimated the true number of nursing home cases and deaths for the 30 states that did not require reporting before late May of last year.

After crunching the numbers, Shen and her colleagues estimated that, nationally, nursing homes under-reported infections by about 44%, on average, and deaths by about 40%, on average.

However, the true scope of the pandemic may be even greater, given that there is evidence that cases and deaths may have been under-reported even in states that began collecting data in March 2020, including New York, according to Shen.

"We felt it was important to get these numbers from early in the pandemic out there, before we forget about them," Shen said.

"Right now, individual states are collecting data in different ways, and we may not be getting an accurate picture -- and that needs to change," she said.

Monday’s tornado in southern 

Ontario was one of the rarest

 in Canada

Digital Writers

Wed., September 8, 2021

It’s not every day you see a tornado in Canada, but it’s extraordinary to see a tornado in Canada before the day has even started.

The tornado that swept into Port Albert, Ontario, from the eastern waters of Lake Huron early Monday morning was one of those rare tornadoes that touched down before sunrise.

Port Albert Ontario Tornado Sept 6 2021

A survey conducted by the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) found that an EF-0 tornado hit Port Albert at 4:05 a.m. on Monday, September 6, as a supercell thunderstorm rolled ashore from Lake Huron.

NTP’s analysis found that the tornado stayed on the ground for 2.3 km and reached a maximum width of 175 m. The tornado produced “notable tree damage,” according to their survey, that was consistent with maximum winds of about 115 km/h.

4:05 a.m. is an exceedingly rare time of the day to witness a tornado in Canada. Most tornadoes across the country develop during the afternoon and evening hours as severe thunderstorms thrive with the heat of the day.

Nighttime tornadoes are exceptionally dangerous because people in harm’s way are often sleeping or otherwise tuned out from the threat for severe weather. The inability to see the tornado coming adds to the danger of these nocturnal twisters.

PHOTOS: Wild tornado-warned storms take a toll in southern Ontario

We’ve seen more than 50 tornadoes across Canada so far in 2021, and about half of this year’s twisters touched down in Ontario. This count will likely rise as crews finish up their damage surveys from Tuesday’s severe storms in southern Ontario.

WATCH NOW: MONDAY MORNING'S HAILSTORM DAMAGED CROPS NEAR PORT ALBERT, ONTARIO

Click here to view the video

FREER THAN A TEXAN

"Feeling free": women criminalized by Mexico's abortion bans celebrate ruling

Laura Gottesdiener
Thu., September 9, 2021,

A woman takes part in a protest to celebrate the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) that declared the criminalization of abortion as unconstitutional, in Saltillo


By Laura Gottesdiener

MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - When a nurse arrived at Martha Mendez's bedside in a Mexican hospital carrying a fetus and told the teenager to ask it for forgiveness, Mendez resigned herself to the prison sentence she assumed would inevitably follow.

It was March 2015, and hours earlier Mendez had arrived at the public hospital in the southern state of Veracruz suffering from pain and stomach cramps.

She said she was unaware she was pregnant and that the medication she'd been prescribed months earlier, after being misdiagnosed with gastritis, could harm her pregnancy.

After she suffered a miscarriage in the hospital, first the medical staff and then local prosecutors accused her of committing the crime of inducing her own abortion - sparking a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

While Mexico's highest court declined to rule on Mendez's situation and her case was eventually shelved, she watched in shock on Tuesday as the body declared that abortion was not a crime. 

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-supreme-court-rules-criminalizing-abortion-is-unconstitutional-2021-09-07

"I felt overjoyed," she told Reuters by telephone. "It was part of feeling free after everything I went through."

According to the Mexican reproductive rights group GIRE, 172 people in Mexico were imprisoned for the crime of an illegal abortion from January 2010 to January 2020.

Over 3,500 more - including Mendez - were accused of the crime, according to GIRE's data, which was obtained through freedom of information requests and was shared exclusively with Reuters ahead of its publication.

All but four Mexican states - Oaxaca, Veracruz, Hidalgo and Mexico City - prohibit abortion under most circumstances, although it is legal in all states in cases of rape.

Veracruz legalized abortion earlier this year; it was restricted when Mendez was accused of the crime.

While Tuesday's unanimous Supreme Court ruling did not overturn those bans, it set a binding precedent that judges cannot sentence people to jail for either having, or assisting in, illegal abortions.

Advocates say eliminating the threat of prison time for those seeking an abortion is the most significant part of the ruling.

"Now all women know that if they decide to have an abortion they won't be criminalized, they won't be persecuted," said Veronica Cruz, co-founder of the Guanajuato-based advocacy group Las Libres.

NO MORE JAIL

Reuters could not determine exactly how many people in Mexico are currently jailed for illegal abortions. It was not immediately possible to contact any.

Supreme Court President Arturo Zaldivar said in a news conference on Wednesday he did not know the number of those imprisoned, but that the criminalization of abortion has primarily affected poorer women.

 https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexican-president-says-court-ruling-abortion-should-be-respected-2021-09-08

"Rich girls have always had abortions and never gone to prison," he said.

The government does not publish data about how many people have been jailed for having or assisting in illegal abortions, although publicly available crime figures show it has opened 432 investigations nationwide so far this year.

For years, reproductive rights advocates in Mexico have sought to track such cases and provide legal support to the accused, some of whom - like Mendez - say they were criminalized after miscarriages.

Tuesday's ruling marked a striking contrast with new abortion restrictions

 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-declines-block-texas-abortion-ban-2021-09-02 in Texas, just across the border

"In the same week, we have these regressive changes in Texas, and this advance in Mexico," said Isabel Fulda, deputy director of GIRE.

PROTECTION FOR ACTIVISTS

The Mexican court decision came in response to a legal challenge to a 2017 law in the northern border state of Coahuila, which set a maximum prison sentence of three years for either having, or assisting with, an illegal abortion.

The ruling immediately invalidated the Coahuila law, and paved a path for advocates to challenge abortion restrictions nationwide.

The ruling also offers increased security to members of the dozens of feminist collectives that for years have helped women induce abortions, using widely available medications such as misoprostol.

Cruz's group, Las Libres, was among the first in Mexico to begin offering this so-called "accompaniment" to women, offering them both emotional support and practical information based on World Health Organization's recommendations.

Since the early 2000s, Las Libres has helped thousands of women access a self-induced abortion, Cruz says.

Among those who have since joined this effort is Mendez, who now lives in Guanajuato with her first child, a 9-month-old son, and helps women through the process of taking the pills at home.

"Now I feel like it's safer for me to help other women," she said.

(Reporting by Laura Gottesdiener in Monterrey, additional reporting by Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

OFF GRID

Solar and electric living offer independence, says Willisville cottager


Thu., September 9, 2021

Living off grid is freedom and it could be easier to achieve than you think. So says Ian Graham, an audio engineer from Kitchener with a camp on Charlton Lake in Willisville. His home is powered by the sun, as is his cabin and his customized pontoon boat, which also has an electric motor. He pulls the boat and trailer with his Tesla 3. A stop at the charging station at the Georgian Bay Travel Centre costs him $18. That can't be easily dismissed, with the average price per litre for gasoline in Canada up 30 cents since the beginning of 2021.

He can trace his interest in renewable energy back to the 1990s, when his parents purchased the cabin beside a waterfall on Charlton Lake. At the time, it would have cost $75,000 to have hydro installed so they used propane for the stove, fridge and lights. Mr. Graham’s father researched alternatives. “He came across a company that sold a propeller that, when hooked on the back of a sailboat, would charge 12V batteries,” he said. Mr. Graham Sr. purchased a propeller and set it up to power four 12V lead acid batteries, generating hydro power from the waterfall. “He had a satellite TV, a satellite phone and lights (they didn’t have LED back then). They got along fine. It was my first real realization that you could do this.”

His current lifestyle has come through a series of incremental changes. After his father passed away, Mr. Graham started to look into solar power for the cabin. He put up a couple small panels to supplement the waterfall hydro. Last summer he installed four 390 watt bifacial solar panels on a new deck extension. “There’s more power than I know what to do with on those four panels,” he said. The system uses four six-volt lead acid batteries wired as 24 volts that is shut down over the winter. Other cabins located around the lake are outfitted with solar as well. “One guy has a 60-inch television.”

Solar is a good option for year-round power, even in winter, Mr. Graham said. “February is one of the best times for solar. You get the reflection, especially with bifacial panels, and it’s colder. Panels like cold. They’re not as efficient in this heat; you don’t get as much daylight time during winter months but the system is more efficient overall. It’s amazing how much power comes out of that.”

He pointed to the February 2021 winter storm in Texas when power outages essentially shut down the state. “There were people on Facebook who had solar panels connected to a Tesla Powerwall. They didn’t have to worry. The grid went down and they didn’t care. Last time I was here there was a big thunderstorm. It took out the hydro for Willisville but didn’t affect me at all.”

At home in Kitchener he has two 10 kilowatt systems, installed 10 years ago. It cost $80,000 to install and he gets paid to feed back into the grid but “now you can do net metering and a 10-kilowatt system installed is around $20,000, so that’s how much the cost has dropped.” All energy has a consequence, said Mr. Graham, but “while it will take a year to a year and a half of energy to produce a solar panel, that panel will last 25 years.”

An August 2021 study, Impacts of Behind-the-Meter Solar in Ontario, conducted by Power Advisory LLC for the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA), concluded that installation of more rooftop solar panels would help Ontario to meet future electricity demand. “Doubling Ontario’s solar generation capacity would help reduce costs for the whole energy system by up to $250 million per year by 2030,” reported CanREA. The cost of solar electricity has fallen by about 90 percent since 2010, making residential rooftop solar panels more affordable, but “regulatory red tape” continues to limit solar expansion in the province, the organization said.

Mr. Graham has chosen to use renewables in all areas of his life. He drove a van on waste vegetable oil for eight years. More recently, he drove an electric Chevrolet Volt for three years before purchasing the Tesla 3 three years ago (when there was still an Ontario rebate program for electric vehicles) and “absolutely loves it.” He is a member of the Waterloo Electric Vehicle Association. “We have about 500 members and not one of them would go back to gas.”

When you add up the savings in gas, oil changes and other maintenance with an electric vehicle (EV), it more than pays for itself, he said. “I can get 500 kilometres on a full charge. Charging at home, it will cost seven or eight dollars for 500 kilometres. I’ll stop at Parry Sound to charge and have some lunch and it’s about $18 for 500 kilometres.”

“There are so many myths about EVs, like they don’t work in the winter,” he said. “That’s baloney. I just read an article about a lady in Thunder Bay with a Model 3.”

He acknowledged there is a carbon footprint with EVs but pointed out the bigger one from gas. “I tell people that their gas first has to be mined. It has to be refined, which takes a lot of electricity and water. The cobalt used in EVs is also needed for desulphuring gas. Gas has to be transported, using energy, before you put it in your engine which is only 15 to 20 percent efficient, and then it only burns once.”

A new study by the International Council on Clean Transportation supports this. The study looked at the entire life cycle of vehicles from sourcing the battery materials to production, then compiled driving data in different markets to get an average life cycle emission from the use of vehicles. Results showed “that battery electric vehicles have by far the lowest life cycle greenhouse gas emissions,” with “emissions over the lifetime of average medium size battery electric vehicles registered today already lower than comparable gasoline cars by 60 to 68 percent in the United States.”

That’s not even considering the health costs of gas transportation, Mr. Graham noted. “Emissions from gasoline engines lead to higher rates of asthma, emphysema, circulatory disease and cancer. In my mom’s case, she passed away about a year and a half ago from dementia, which is now being linked to air pollution.” When fuel doesn’t burn efficiently, very fine metal particulates get into the atmosphere. We breathe those in and our nasal passages provide access to the brain, he said.

“We keep giving oil and gas billions of dollars a year and what do they contribute to our health care? They’re the ones polluting us. What are they contributing to the environment? They need to be held accountable.”

Mr. Graham’s latest project is a pontoon boat he has converted to solar/electric. He bought the boat second-hand in January and started building the battery boxes in April with help from a friend. They custom built the canopy using aluminum rails purchased after they were found in someone’s back yard. A friend custom designed the connector plates and corner brackets in a CAD program. A shop in St. Mary’s did the fabrication. The brackets for the solar panels were 3D printed and it all came together.

The solar canopy consists of 1400W of bifacial solar panels. They get power from the top and the reflection from both the water and the boat’s white seats. There are four Tesla batteries in two custom built boxes, made plug-and-play using Anderson connectors. There is a solar charge controller and a battery management system that dictates how the batteries are (properly) charged. The battery system sits within a mounted deck box and takes up less space than the original motor compartment. The gasoline motor was swapped for a 20 HP Elco electric motor to complete the 48V system. “This is a simple system,” Mr. Graham said. “It only goes 10 kilometres an hour but for a floating couch, it’s good.”

The batteries are always charging. “When I wake up in the morning, I’ve got power here. When I go out on the water, I’ve still got power. I can go fishing or drift and after spending an hour or two out here, I’ve got 15 or 20 percent of my power back.”

“The only propane I use is for the stove and barbecue and hot water for the shower,” he said. “I have a solar air heater for my recording studio. The only thing I’m owned by is having to pay property taxes. With solar, you’re independent of a lot of hydro bills and gas and prices going up. All those things add up and make a big difference.”

"The big thing I try to get across to people is that this is independence," Mr. Graham said.

Lori Thompson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor