It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, September 13, 2021
THE DEGENERATION OF AMERICAN PROTESTANTISM
GOP's Lauren Boebert calls on right-wing Christians to remove Biden:
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) called for the immediate removal of President Joe Biden and replacing him with "righteous men and women of God."
The Colorado Republican spoke Saturday at a conference hosted by the right-wing Truth & Liberty Coalition at Charis Bible College, where she called for the impeachment of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as part of a conservative Christian revolution against democratically elected leaders, reported Right Wing Watch.
"When we see Biden address the nation and the world and show more contempt and aggravation and aggression towards unvaccinated Americans than he does terrorists, we have a problem," Boebert said, "and that's why I have articles of impeachment to impeach Joe Biden, Kamala Harris."
"We cannot take another 18 months, we cannot take another three years of this poor, failed leadership," she continued. "We are sons and daughters of revolutionaries. They went to battle for a lot less. They took a stand for a lot less, and it's time we get involved. I need you involved in every local level. I need you speaking up. I need the world to hear your voice. You know the word of God, and you know that there is power in your words, that the world was framed by words. You have the Lord God Almighty on your side. I need you to use your voice and speak."
The first-year lawmaker told attendees the Bible had given them permission to impose their views on their political rivals.
"What if Jesus showed up today and said, 'From this point forward, everything you say you will have it'?" Boebert said. "He said it! That's exactly what he said to us, so what are we saying? Are we going to sit and agree with the enemy? Are we going to agree with what the enemy is doing? Are we going to sit back and complain and murmur? Or are we going to speak life into this nation? Are we going to speak victory? Are we going to declare that God removes these unrighteous politicians, these corrupt, crooked politician, and installs righteous men and women of God?"
Boebert then explained that the church should have authority over the government.
"It's time the church speaks up," she said. "The church has relinquished too much authority to government. We should not be taking orders from the government; the government needs to be looking at the church and saying, 'How do we do this effectively?'
The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu
Early in 1987, Drummond and Cauty's collaborations began. They assumed alter egos – King Boy D and Rockman Rock respectively – and adopted the name The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs), after the fictional conspiratorial group "The Justified Ancients of Mummu" from The Illuminatus! Trilogy.[23][24] The JAMs' primary instrument was the digital sampler with which they would plagiarise the history of popular music, cutting chunks from existing works and pasting them into new contexts, underpinned by rudimentary beatbox rhythms and overlaid with Drummond's raps, of social commentary, esoteric metaphors and mockery.[20][25]
Michigan Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) introduced legislation last week that would decriminalize the use of psilocybin and mescaline — two plants and fungi commonly found in psychedelics.
Senate Bill 631, which was co-sponsored by state Sen. Adam Hollier (D-Detroit), would allow the possession, cultivation and delivery of the two types of psychedelics. Commercial production or sales of entheogenic plants or fungi would still be illegal, but practitioners would be able to charge fees for counseling, spiritual guidance, or a related service if the service utilizes an entheogenic plant or fungus.
In an interview with the Advance, Irwin contended psychedelics provide several benefits and prohibition is a waste of time and resources.
“These substances have medicinal value, they have religious significance and they have a very low propensity for abuse," Irwin said. “And so that's why I'm proposing to decriminalize the substance because it really makes no sense to spend any time or money arresting people and turning their lives upside down."
The trend in decriminalization efforts for psychedelics also comes after many states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana — another Schedule 1 drug. A majority of voters in Michigan passed Proposal 1 in 2018 which legalized recreational marijuana for those age 21 and older.
In Michigan, the Ann Arbor City Council passed a resolution in September 2020 decriminalizing the use of psychedelics. The city also passed a resolution designating September as Entheogenic Plants and Fungi Awareness Month. In Grand Rapids, a vote is likely to happen this year as to if the use, possession, growing or gifting of psychoactive plants and fungi should be decriminalized in the city.
Other major U.S. cities, like Denver and Washington, D.C,. have decriminalized the use of psychedelics.
There's also been movement at the state level. Oregon was the first state to legalize psilocybin therapy in 2020, In California, lawmakers are moving closer to passing a bill that would decriminalize psychedelics in the state.
However, reform at the federal level has stalled. The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives voted against a proposal 140-285 in July that aimed to amend a spending bill to expand funding for research related to the medical use of psychedelics. But a report attached to spending bills in July, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies urged the need for psychedelic research to be conducted on how those drugs can benefit veterans suffering from mental illness.
Irwin said his proposed legislation would build off of decriminalization efforts in Ann Arbor and other communities to ensure no one is criminally penalized for utilizing the drugs.
Irwin also said the bill will contribute to efforts to reverse the effects of the War on Drugs — which has disproportionately affected communities of color since the 1970s. Federal restrictions on psychedelics began in 1970 after seeing an increase in psychedelic use in the 1960s.
“There are efforts in other communities across the state to decriminalize these substances and to stop wasting any police resource [and] turning people's lives upside down over it," Irwin said. “I'm really proud to be kind of starting up this conversation at the state level of why is it that we're continuing to engage this fail in government policy of prohibition? Why are we continuing to prosecute the war on drugs in ways that don't help us and lead to mass incarceration?"
Psychedelics are currently classified as a Schedule-1 drug in the U.S., meaning the drug has “no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse."
However, recent studies have shown that psychedelics may help patients with crippling mental illnesses such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and addiction. In a study published last year, it was found that 71% of people with a major depressive disorder had a more than 50% reduction in symptoms within a month of taking psilocybin. Half of the participants even entered remission after using psilocybin for a month.
Irwin emphasized that the legislation will rid people of the ugly choice of having to choose between prioritizing their health and safety or following the law.
“Fixing that for those people and giving our institutions an opportunity to research and learn more about why these substances work for some people can be a great benefit to many people who are struggling with mental illness," Irwin said. “I think there are a number of benefits that can come out of [this] legislation."
Myc Williams, spokesperson for Decriminalize Nature Ann Arbor, spoke to the Advance about the bill's ability to decriminalize the use of psychedelics. Decriminalize Nature Ann Arbor is an organization that focuses on helping neighboring towns decriminalize psychedelics while also pushing for decriminalization at a state level.
Williams said the use of psychedelics goes beyond just having medicinal value, but can also change an individual's everyday life. He also highlighted that the use of psychedelics has been used in cultural and spiritual practices for centuries.
“People have found spiritual purpose [and] have found better practices in their daily life," Williams said. “Whether it be appreciation for the little things in life, family, and nature. And so this isn't strictly a medical thing, this isn't strictly a spiritual thing, but this is for the well-being of every individual and larger communities across the state."
Research institutions such as John Hopkins University and the University of California, Berkeley, have also recently opened centers dedicated to psychedelic research. Studies coming out of research institutions have indicated that psychedelics can be safely administered and help people with a myriad of mental health issues.
In a 2006 study at John Hopkins University, it was found that 67% of participants who received psilocybin versus a placebo “rated the experience with psilocybin to be either the single most meaningful experience of his or her life or among the top five most meaningful experiences of his or her life."
Williams went on to praise the role research has in destigmatization and decriminalization efforts, highlighting that recent studies examining the use of psychedelics have “overwhelmingly [been] in support of changing the laws around these substances."
“To deny that relationship with nature is in and of itself criminal if you ask me," Williams said. “All this [bill] really does is [protect] accessibility… because [psychedelics] are safe. Because they don't require a doctor's supervision. And when the medical model comes, [it will come], but at least we'll have protected the people of Michigan's access to these substances first."
Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and Twitter.
Former Attica prisoner describes racist, brutal treatment that sparked deadly uprising 50 years ago
On the 50th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, the deadliest prison uprising in U.S. history, we speak with Tyrone Larkins, a formerly incarcerated survivor, who was shot three times in the brutal crackdown of September 13, 1971. He describes Attica as "the roughest place that I've ever seen in my life," as he recalls what led to the rebellion on September 9, 1971, when prisoners overpowered guards and took over much of Attica prison in upstate New York to protest conditions. At the time, prisoners spent most of their time in their cells and got one shower per week. Larkins lays out how tense negotiations with politicized prisoners followed, and says the rebellion was on its way to being resolved through diplomacy when Governor Nelson Rockefeller ordered state police to storm the facility. Police opened fire, killing 29 inmates and 10 hostages.
Why a Warming Arctic Has the U.S. Coast Guard Worried About the Rest of the Country
Aryn Baker
One of the perks of going out on a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker in the Arctic is something called Ice Liberty. Ports are few and far between when you’re north of the Arctic Circle, so instead of shore leave, Coastguardsmen and women will locate a large slab of floating ice, cordon off a safe area, put up a watch for polar bears, and throw a football around. It’s cold, but worth it, says electrician master chief Mark Hulen, who, over the past two decades, has gone out for Ice Liberty on every one of his last six Arctic missions with the Coast Guard. But this year, as the Coast Guard cutter Healy —one of two ice breakers in the U.S. Fleet—traversed the Arctic from Seattle to Baltimore via the Northwest Passage, Ice Liberty wasn’t an option. “We struggled with finding a good enough piece of ice to stand on,” he says. “Nothing was thick enough.”
A small disappointment for Hulen and his crewmates is a warning sign of things to come. The Arctic is warming at roughly twice the rate as the rest of the world, and summer sea ice cover has declined to unprecedented lows. Arctic sea ice minimums are measured in September, before the winter starts a new cycle. This year’s extent was tied for seventh lowest in 43 years of recordings (2020 was the second lowest). Overall, minimum sea ice extent has decreased by more than a third since 1979. That means what would have been work for an icebreaker 40 years ago was largely smooth sailing this time around. But that doesn’t mean things will get any easier for the Coast Guard. In fact, it’s likely to get a lot harder. “A warming Arctic means more work for the Coast Guard,” says Admiral Karl L. Schultz, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. And not just in the Arctic, but across the United States. “There is that old saying that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” he says. “Well, what happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic.”
That sea ice decline has critical effects on climate and weather, says oceanographer Larry Mayer, director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire, and the lead scientist on the Healy expedition. “The greater extent of the open water in the Arctic is having a severe impact on storminess in North America. A lot of the anomalous weather patterns we’ve seen over the past few months are really a direct result of that.”
By some estimates, we could start seeing consistently ice-free Arctic summers as early as 2035 and certainly by 2050 if fossil fuel emissions are not radically reduced, according to a study published last year in Nature Climate Change. For centuries explorers had sought a sea route through the Arctic Archipelago north of mainland Canada. Such a route, dubbed the Northwest Passage, would dramatically shorten shipping times between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. In 1906, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was the first man to successfully navigate the passage by boat. But the perennially ice-bound route was never easy. By the 100th anniversary of Amundsen’s successful transit, only 103 other transits had been completed. But as summer sea ice declines, the passage becomes increasingly viable. Since 2006, cruise liners, pleasure yachts, ice breakers and other vessels have transited the Northwest Passage more than 200 times. Easy access to the top of the planet opens up immense opportunities for resource extraction, tourism and shipping traffic. It also opens up the region to conflict, ecological disaster, and, for both the Canadian and U.S. Coast Guards, the potential for increased search-and-rescue operations as explorers and tourists venture further north in search of adventure.
On Sept. 6 Admiral Schultz joined his Canadian counterpart on the Healy to observe a joint search-and-rescue exercise in the Northwest Passage. TIME was invited along. As crewmembers raced to rescue a boat full of stranded and drowning mannequins in the vast, frigid expanse of Resolute Bay, Shultz spoke to TIME about what a warming Arctic means for U.S. foreign policy, maritime security and Arctic governance. And while he covered the expected geostrategic implications of trans-Arctic shipping routes and newly accessible mining resources, he returned repeatedly to the issue of climate change. It’s a subject impossible to ignore up in the Arctic. “Over the course of my 40-year Coast Guard career we’ve seen a 31 to 32% reduction in the amount of ice in the Arctic. That’s palpable,” says Schultz.
Sea ice reflects 80% of sunlight back into space. When there is no ice, the darker waters absorb up to 90% of that solar energy, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. “It’s like parking a black car and a white car next to each other on a sunny day,” says Shultz. “Take the thermometer inside, and you will see the black car is going to be a whole lot hotter.” The more the ocean absorbs the sun’s rays, the warmer it gets, which in turn melts even more ice in a continuous feedback loop. The effect stays through the winter, resulting in a decline of multi-year ice—the thick layers packed together over the course of years that make for good Ice Liberty sessions—which means at the beginning of the following summer, there is even less of an ice base to start from.
The Arctic, says Schultz, acts as the planet’s refrigerator. When it stops functioning the effects are felt globally, and not always predictably. A study published in Science last week drew strong links between a warming arctic and the deep freeze that devastated Texas in early 2021. “What we are seeing here is a harbinger for weather across the globe,” says Schultz. When the Arctic warms, there is less of a temperature difference between the northern and southern latitudes. That in turn weakens the jet stream, the band of wind that circulates the globe in the upper atmosphere, driving weather patterns. “When the jet stream is in a weaker state it tends to take these bigger north–south swings,” says climatologist Jennifer Francis, acting deputy director for the Massachusetts-based Woodwell Climate Research Center. It also moves more slowly, which means that the weather patterns stay in place longer. Both the heat wave in the Pacific Northwest earlier this summer as well as the droughts and subsequent wildfires that have plagued the Southwest and California can be attributed to this effect. So too can the rapid intensification of Hurricane Ida and unusually wet summers on the east coast. So even though those extremes seem like polar opposites, they are, in fact, two manifestations of the same phenomenon. “Those are all tied to the fact that the globe is warming so fast, and that what is happening in the Arctic is accelerating that warming,” says Francis.
A third of Americans were impacted by extreme weather events over the past three months, according to a recent assessment by The Washington Post. The Atlantic hurricane season of 2021 is shaping up to be just as bad, if not worse, than 2020’s record-breaking season. As someone who has served in the Coast Guard since 1983, and as its commander for the past three years, Shultz has had a front row seat to some of the worst weather-related disasters the U.S. has ever seen. More are bound to follow.
Just because Hulen and his fellow crewmates couldn’t find a good enough slab for ice liberty doesn’t mean the Healy saw nothing but open waters. Earlier in the transit, the icebreaker encountered a passage clogged with towering, jagged fragments of broken ice that had been compacted together by severe winds. Ridged ice, as the phenomenon is called, is much more dangerous to traverse than what is known as fast ice—flat slabs attached to land that make for easier ice-breaking. As multi-year ice declines, ridged ice will be more common. A warming Arctic means the Coast Guard will be navigating a more challenging route, both north of the Arctic Circle as well as further afield.
GET UNIONIZED Non-Union Toyota and Honda Have Issues With Biden's Pro-Union EV Tax Credit Mack Hogan
Democrats in Congress recently revealed a sweeping reform of the federal zero-emission vehicle tax credit. The plan eliminates the current limit that phases out credits for automakers that have sold over 200,000 qualifying EVs, caps the sticker price of eligible cars, allows buyers to deduct the credit at the time of purchase, and would be limited to American-made cars starting in 2027. But the most controversial restriction has to do with union labor.
While the new bill is largely an extension and refinement of the current $7500 tax credit for battery-electric (and other zero-emissions) vehicles, it adds a $500 incentive for vehicles that use U.S.-built batteries, plus an additional $4500 credit exclusively for EVs built with unionized labor.
That last stipulation heavily favors the Big Three American auto manufacturers, all of which operate unionized factories in the United States. Notably, it excludes Tesla, Rivian, and every foreign automaker that operates a U.S. assembly plant, none of which are unionized. That means that, for example, a U.S.-built Ford EV would receive up to $12,500 in federal rebates, while a U.S.-built BMW EV would cap out at $8000.
Unsurprisingly, allegations of favoritism quickly started flying.
Toyota and Honda both criticized the plan almost immediately, as Reuters first reported. In a statement, Honda told Road & Track:
"If Congress is serious about addressing the climate crisis, as well as its goal to see these vehicles built in America, it should treat all EVs made by U.S. auto workers fairly and equally. We urge Congress to remove discriminatory language tying unionization to incentives from its budget reconciliation proposal."
Toyota, too, said that while it does not oppose the plan holistically, it takes issue with the way it favors union-built vehicles.
"The proposal to provide a $4500 incentive exclusively for union-built electric vehicles runs counter to the goal of carbon reduction," Toyota said in a statement to Road & Track."The current Ways and Means Committee draft makes the objective of accelerating the deployment of electrified vehicles secondary to discriminating against American autoworkers based on their choice not to unionize. Toyota will stand strong against proposals that disadvantage one American autoworker over another. We will also fight to focus taxpayer dollars on making all electrified vehicles accessible for American consumers who can’t afford high-priced cars and trucks."
It is quite clear that this plan does offer a significant advantage to the three legacy U.S.-based automakers. But there's ample obfuscation in the way that Toyota and Honda (and other automakers) portray their non-unionized workforces as reflecting employee choice. Foreign automakers have long been accused of intentionally setting up plants in states that are politically and culturally anti-union, favoring states with "right to work" laws that limit collective bargaining power and ban agreements that require workers to join a union. Employers cannot bar employees from unionizing, so strictly speaking, it's up to each workforce to decide whether to unionize. But automakers that choose to build plants exclusively in right-to-work locales have also made a choice, one that heavily discourages labor organizing.
The complexities of this issue will likely thrust automakers into the spotlight of a political fight once again. EV encouragement is already a partisan issue, and unions are a perennial arguing point between Democrats and Republicans. Such an explicitly pro-EV and pro-union bill is unlikely to get any cross-aisle support, meaning all 50 Democratic Senators will need to support it for the bill to pass. In the face of mounting criticism, it's far from certain that the bill can make it through as currently written.
Canada election: O'Toole promises expanded employment benefits for parents mourning the loss of a child, miscarriage
Conservative Party Leader Erin O'Toole announced on Sunday that if elected prime minister, his government would provide up to eight weeks of paid leave for parents mourning a stillbirth, and three paid bereavement days for parents mourning a miscarriage.
A MISCARRIAGE IS NOT A BABY
IT IS GOD'S ABORTION OF A FETUS
AS IS A STILL BIRTH
O'TOOLE IS GIVING A SOP TO HIS ANTI ABORTION FLANK WITH THIS PROMISE
PARENTAL LEAVE SHOULD BE FOR ANY FORM OF GRIEF OR LOSS
INCLUDING OF ONE'S FAMILY ANIMALS. AN ACTUAL LIVING BEING
YOU ARE NOT A HUMAN BEING UNTIL BIRTHED
AND ABLE TO SURVIVE OUTSIDE YOUR MOTHER
THAT'S CALLED SCIENCE
Little to celebrate after 50 years of activism: Greenpeace chief
Issued on: 13/09/2021 Jennifer Morgan said she was 'deeply worried' that the world's response would fall short at the crucial COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in October CHRISTOF STACHE AFP/File 4 min ADVERTISING
Amsterdam (AFP)
Half a century after a small group of radicals created Greenpeace, the head of the environmental organisation warned that it still has far to go on the climate crisis before it can truly celebrate.
Created on September 15, 1971 when a boat of the same name tried to stop a US nuclear test, Greenpeace has become one of the world's best known action groups with its headline-grabbing stunts.
But the organisation's 50th anniversary is expected to be a subdued affair, Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International, told AFP.
"There is not a lot to celebrate right now. We are in a climate emergency," Morgan said in an interview at the group's headquarters in a modest office block on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
Morgan said she was "deeply worried" that the world's response would fall short at the crucial COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in October.
"Everything that we've done over those 50 years, we have to pull together now and deploy it into creating absolutely radical and deep change. Time is running out." - 'Change the world' -
Greenpeace's journey began idealistically, if unsuccessfully, with that first sailing from the Canadian port of Vancouver. The bid by the boat "Greenpeace" to halt a nuclear test off the Alaskan coast was cut short when the police intervened.
Since then, the organisation achievements include helping to stop commercial whaling, targeting fossil fuel companies, working to stop toxic dumping and protecting Antarctica, Morgan said.
'I think over 50 years Greenpeace has achieved really miraculous things,' said Jennifer Morgan
John THYS AFP
Surrounded by memorabilia from Greenpeace's history including colourful campaign posters and a ship's door kicked in by Russian officials in 2013, Morgan says the organisation's core principles remain the same today.
"Greenpeace started as an idea that individuals could change the world with an idea and a bit of hope," said Morgan, who took the helm of the group in 2016.
"I think over 50 years Greenpeace has achieved really miraculous things." There has also been tragedy among the triumphs.
In 1985, the French secret service bombed Greenpeace's flagship vessel the "Rainbow Warrior" while it was docked in Auckland, New Zealand, killing Portuguese photographer Fernando Pereira.
The first 'Rainbow Warrior' was bombed by the French secret service, but the group has continue to use the name
PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL AFP/File
Greenpeace activists "mark that date every year" and the organisation remains wary of governments, with activists in Brazil, Indonesia and China in particular facing personal risk.
- 'Tipping point' -
Greenpeace has vastly expanded since the early days and now has than 3,500 staff operating in some 55 countries - almost as big as some of the multinational firms it targets.
But Morgan insisted the group was still "radical" despite the emergence of younger rivals such as Extinction Rebellion, which has gathered huge attention with activists gluing themselves to buildings or blocking roads and bridges.
Greenpace has often staged daring protests to highlight the urgent need for climate action
Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD AFP/File
Known in the past for its own stunts, Greenpeace is now increasingly embracing other strategies including climate-based legal action against governments and polluters.
Morgan said Greenpeace was also cooperating more with other environmental groups and with indigenous people -- things she said the group should have done more often.
It would also be involved with the COP 26 summit, a "fundamental moment for the planet" that she feared countries might not seize.
"I'm deeply worried, what I see right now is governments that are almost acting as if we're back in the 1980s" in terms of their levels of urgency on climate, she said.
She also called for the summit to be postponed if developing countries are not able to attend because of a lack of Covid-19 vaccines.
For its anniversary, Greenpeace has planned small-scale events in offices around the world on Thursday.
At a celebratory event in Germany in August, Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the group as "persistent, combative, steadfast and persuasive".
So what lies ahead for Greenpeace over the next 50 years?
"I guess the goal would be that Greenpeace doesn't exist anymore," said Morgan.
But assuming the environmental campaign will face more battles ahead, she said she hoped Greenpeace could help create a "tipping point where there was a movement into hope".
Greenpeace: An 'insane' vision that took flight 50 years ago Agence France-Presse September 13, 2021 Greenpeace was founded 50 years ago around a kitchen table in Vancouver, Canada John THYS AFP/File
"Insane" -- that was teenager Barbara Stowe's reaction 50 years ago when her parents and the other founders of Greenpeace decided that they would send a boat to halt US nuclear tests.
But their conviction won over Stowe and her brother Robert, who witnessed these pathbreaking meetings in the family home in Vancouver to send a ship to Amchitka in Alaska.
"I have to say that my dad, my parents, the Bohlens, Bob Hunter, Ben Metcalfe, they were visionaries, they were empowered with the idea which is somewhat crazy that a single individual or a small group of individuals can actually effect change that can change the world," said Robert Stowe, a 66-year-old neurologist.
"For them it was partly an issue of the fact they felt they had to take a stand, regardless of whether or not it would be effective."
On September 15, 1971, a crew of 12 Canadians and Americans who had left their country after the Vietnam war, set out from Vancouver Island in an 80-foot boat called the Phyllis Cormack, which was renamed Greenpeace.
Their mission was to steam to the Aleutian island of Amchitka and protest, or even prevent, the detonation of an underground nuclear test.
Now one of the world's best-known brands, Greenpeace earned a reputation for creative and audacious stunts to get its messages across Leon NEAL AFP
The boat didn't make it to Amchitka. US president Richard Nixon delayed the test and the crew were arrested in the Aleutian port of Akutan by the US Coastguard on a technicality.
At this time Greenpeace -- now one of the best known names worldwide -- was called Don't Make a Wave but a name change was decided at a meeting to flesh out the daring and unprecedented mission to Alaska.
- 'A green peace' -
"Bill Darnell was leaving the meeting and my dad flashed the peace sign, and Bill said 'make it a green peace'," Robert Stowe said.
"Barbara and I were arguing with him at the breakfast table saying 'Come on dad, Greenpeace is no word'. He said 'No I think that's it'.
"That's how the name was formed. Initially it was two words, but when we had the buttons (badges) printed, the space between the two words was taken out."
Barbara Stowe, a 65-year-old writer, said her first reaction to the Alaska mission was "This is insane.
"And then I saw it could be done," she said.
"My father said we'll have a rock concert and again I thought it was insane. But when he got Joni Mitchell and raised 17,000 (Canadian) dollars (to rent the boat), I had to start seeing that the impossible could be done and it was really exciting seeing the energy rise."
Greenpeace has added warning of nuclear dangers to its long list of campaign issues ATTILA KISBENEDEK AFP - 'Pacifism is a discipline' -
The boat was intercepted by the US Coastguard and the mission foiled but the media coverage and the "mindbomb" paid off for Greenpeace, which has now added global warming to its long list of campaign battles.
Robert Stowe said the Quaker principles and unshakeable faith that helped shape the movement had paid rich dividends.
"If you have deep conviction that something is wrong and needs to be stopped or changed, and speak from the heart, people will listen to you," he said.
"We have maintained our activism over the years although perhaps not as intensely as when we were teenagers," Stowe admitted.
"I'm really moved by the action of Greenpeace activists in countries like China or Russia, where they risk long jail sentences."
Barbara Stowe underscored the institution's underlying commitment to non-violence.
Greenpeace replaced the original Rainbow Warrior after it was sunk by French spies in New Zealand in 1985 Pedro PARDO AFP
"Pacifism is a discipline, difficult to apply when you're young but the minute you use violence it's going to come back against you," she said.
When the French secret service "bombed the Rainbow Warrior to the bottom of the Auckland harbour and killed the photographer Fernando Pereira, that gave Greenpeace the biggest boost it ever had, its popularity rose enormously," she said, of the infamous July 10, 1985 operation against the Greenpeace vessel.
The price of Litecoin rose to more than $237 this morning following erroneous reports from major news outlets that U.S. retailer Walmart would be introducing a payment option for the cryptocurrency on all its eCommerce websites.
CNBC, Reuters, Decrypt and others reported on Monday that Walmart planned to have a “Pay with Litecoin Option” for its retail websites starting on Oct. 1 as part of a partnership with the Litecoin Foundation, the organization financing and promoting adoption of the Litecoin (LTC) ecosystem. The reports seemed to spawn from a single press release through distribution service GlobeNewsWire. The release claimed Walmart chose to adopt LTC for payments based on its “cheaper and faster” features and the token having “no central authority.”
However, according to CNBC, a Walmart spokesperson confirmed the press release was “not authentic” roughly an hour after the initial report broke. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro shows the LTC price surged more than 35% immediately following promulgation of the fake report — from $175 to a monthly high of more than $237 — before sharply falling. At time of publication, the price of Litecoin is $182.
With a market capitalization of more than $406 billion, Walmart has previously hinted it would be looking into cryptocurrencies. In August, the company posted a job listing for an expert who could develop a digital currency strategy and product roadmap, but did not specifically mention it would be introducing a path for crypto payments. In addition, Walmart has used blockchain technology starting as early as 2016 for supply chain management, customer marketplaces and smart appliances.
Cointelegraph reached out to Walmart and the Litecoin Foundation, but did not receive a response by time of publication. This story may be updated.
Explainer-How will Biden's vaccine mandate impact workers, companies?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden announced new mandates on Thursday to spur Americans who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 to get a shot. The measures apply to more than 100 million workers, but it is not known how many of those are already vaccinated.
Here is a look at what the measures do and do not do: WHO DOES IT COVER?
That would cover an estimated four million federal employees and workers on government contracts.
In addition, the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will issue a rule using emergency authority in the coming weeks to require employers with more than 100 employees to ensure their workers get vaccinated or get tested weekly. That would have an impact on some 80 million private sector workers.
OSHA said the new Emergency Temporary Standard will also "apply to public sector state and local government workers, including educators and school staff, in the 26 states and two territories with a state OSHA plan."
The Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will further issue a rule requiring vaccinations for workers in most healthcare facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement, including hospitals, dialysis centers, ambulatory surgical settings, and home health agencies - about 17 million healthcare workers. It estimated more than half of them - 64% of hospital staff, 62.7% of nursing home staff, and 54.7% of workers at dialysis facilities - have already been vaccinated.
HOW LONG DO WORKERS AND EMPLOYERS HAVE TO COMPLY?
Federal workers have roughly 75 days to get themselves vaccinated, the White House indicated.
For healthcare workers, the CMS is issuing a so-called interim final rule, which becomes effective immediately upon official publication, in mid-to-late October.
The agency has urged all workers who are not currently vaccinated to begin the process immediately.
The clock for private sector workers doesn't start ticking until the Department of Labor actually issues its rule, expected in coming weeks. After that, they are likely to have a period of 50 to 90 days to comply, officials said. ARE THERE ANY EXEMPTIONS?
The federal employee mandate includes "limited exceptions for legally recognized reasons, such as disability or religious objections," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act forbids discrimination against any employee based on an "individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." A very small number of religious groups in the United States have a theological objection https://www.vumc.org/health-wellness/news-resource-articles/immunizations-and-religion to vaccines, which they say interfere with divine providence.
The vaccines are not recommended for people with allergies to some ingredients.
WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY?
Federal workers who refuse to get vaccinated will first receive counseling and ultimately face termination if they persist in refusing.
Companies that don't comply with the rule could be fined nearly $14,000 per violation.
It is not immediately clear how the CMS can enforce compliance, but the agency has the authority to terminate agreements with entities that violate its regulations.
(Reporting by Heather Timmons, David Shepardson, Jeff Mason and Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
Biden’s Vaccine Plan Puts OSHA in Spotlight; Expected to Trigger Legal Challenges
President Joe Biden’s sweeping new vaccine requirements have Republican governors threatening lawsuits. His unapologetic response: “Have at it.”
The administration is gearing up for another major clash between federal and state rule. But while many details about the rules remain unknown, Biden appears to be on firm legal ground to issue the directive in the name of protecting employee safety, according to several experts interviewed by The Associated Press.
“My bet is that with respect to that statutory authority, they’re on pretty strong footing given the evidence strongly suggesting . the degree of risk that (unvaccinated individuals) pose, not only to themselves but also unto others,” said University of Connecticut law professor Sachin Pandya.
Republicans swiftly denounced the mandate that could impact 100 million Americans as government overreach and vowed to sue, and private employers who resist the requirements may do so as well. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called it an “assault on private businesses” while Gov. Henry McMaster promised to “fight them to the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian.” The Republican National Committee has also said it will sue the administration “to protect Americans and their liberties.”
Such cases could present another clash between state and federal authority at a time when Biden’s Justice Department is already suing Texas over its new state law that bans most abortions, arguing that it was enacted “in open defiance of the Constitution.”
The White House is gearing up for legal challenges and believes that even if some of the mandates are tossed out, millions of Americans will get a shot because of the new requirements _ saving lives and preventing the spread of the virus.
Biden is putting enforcement in the hands of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is drafting a rule “over the coming weeks,” Jeffrey Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said Friday. He warned that “if a workplace refuses to follow the standard, the OSHA fines could be quite significant.”
Courts have upheld vaccination requirements as a condition of employment, both before the pandemic _ in challenges brought by health care workers _ and since the coronavirus outbreak, said Lindsay Wiley, director of the Health Law and Policy Program at American University Washington College of Law.
Where Biden’s vaccine requirements could be more open to attack is over questions of whether the administration followed the proper process to implement them, she said.
“The argument that mandatory vaccination impermissibly infringes on bodily autonomy or medical decision making, those arguments have not been successful and I don’t expect that to change,” Wiley said. “I think the challenges that are harder to predict the outcome of are going to be the ones that are really sort of the boring challenges about whether they followed the right process.”
Emergency temporary standards — under which the rules are being implemented on a fast track — have been particularly vulnerable to challenges, Wiley said. But the risks presented by the coronavirus and the existence of a declared public health emergency could put this one “on stronger footing than any other ones past administrations have tried to impose that have been challenged in court,” she said.
Indeed, the question of whether the mandate is legally sound is separate from whether it will be upheld by judges, including by a conservative-majority Supreme Court which has trended toward generous interpretations of religious freedom and may be looking to ensure that any mandate sufficiently takes faith-based objections into account.
Vaccination “has become politicized and there are many Republican district judges who might be hostile to the regulation for political reasons,” said Michael Harper, a Boston University law professor.
“I could imagine an unfortunate opinion that attempted to justify this political stance by rejecting the use of OSHA against infectious disease rather than against hazards intrinsic to the workplace,” Harper wrote in an email.
The expansive rules mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly, affecting about 80 million Americans. And the roughly 17 million workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated.
Biden is also requiring vaccination for employees of the executive branch and contractors who do business with the federal government _ with no option to test out. That covers several million more workers.
Republican-dominated Montana stands alone in having a state law on the books that directly contradicts the new federal mandate. The state passed a law earlier this year making it illegal for private employers to require vaccines as a condition for employment.
But University of Montana constitutional law professor Anthony Johnstone said the federal rules would trump the state law. That means larger Montana businesses that previously couldn’t require their employees to get vaccinated will now likely be required to, including hospitals that are some of the largest employers in the sparsely populated state.
Given that the rules are still being drafted and haven’t been released, experts say the devil is in the details. It remains to be seen exactly what the rule will require employers to do or not do, and how it accounts for things such as other rights that unvaccinated employees may assert, such as the right to a disability accommodation, Pandya said.
For example — with the growing number of fully remote businesses and workers — if the rules are written to include people who don’t have workplace exposure, “there certainly is room for an issue there,” said Erika Todd, an employment attorney with Sullivan & Worcester in Boston.
Charles Craver, a labor and employment law professor at George Washington University, said the mandate presented a “close question” legally. But he said the Biden administration did have a legitimate argument that such a requirement was necessary for employers to protect the safety of workers, customers and members of the public.
The thornier question, though, is how employers _ and courts _ will sort through requests for accommodations for employees on religious or other grounds.
Though such accommodations may include having an employee work from home, “you can have a situation where someone has to be present and you can’t provide an accommodation because of the danger involved,” he added.
“I would not be a betting person if this went up before the Supreme Court,” Craver said. “I could even picture the court divided 5-4, and I wouldn’t bet which way it would go.”
Richer reported from Boston. Reporter Iris Samuels contributed to this report from Helena, Montana. Samuels is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Exclusive-Afghan women should not work alongside men, senior Taliban figure says
Waheedullah Hashimi, a senior Taliban commander, speaks with Reuters during an interview at an undisclosed location near Afghanistan-Pakistan border
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Afghan women should not be allowed to work alongside men, a senior figure in the ruling Taliban said, a position which, if formally implemented, would effectively bar them from employment in government offices, banks, media companies and beyond.
Waheedullah Hashimi, a senior figure in the Taliban who is close to the leadership, told Reuters the group would fully implement its version of sharia, or Islamic law, despite pressure from the international community to allow women the right to work where they want.
Since the movement swept to power last month, Taliban officials have said women would be able to work and study within the limits laid down by sharia.
But there has been widespread uncertainty about what practical effect that will have on their ability to keep their jobs. When the Taliban last ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001, women were barred from employment and education.
The issue is of major importance to the international community and could impact the amount of aid https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/un-seeks-600-million-avert-afghanistan-humanitarian-crisis-2021-09-12 and other assistance that is given to Afghanistan, which is in the throes of economic crisis.
"We have fought for almost 40 years to bring (the) sharia law system to Afghanistan," Hashimi said in an interview. "Sharia ... does not allow men and women to get together or sit together under one roof.
"Men and women cannot work together. That is clear. They are not allowed to come to our offices and work in our ministries."
It was unclear to what extent Hashimi's comments reflected the new government's policies, although they appeared to go further than public comments made by some other officials.
Video: Female Afghan news anchor says Taliban prevent her from working (NBC News)
In the days following the Taliban's conquest of Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters that women were an important part of the community and they would work "in different sectors".
He also specifically included women employees in a call for government bureaucrats to return to their jobs. ALL-MEN CABINET
However, the cabinet appointments announced on Sept. 7 did not include any women and there have been widespread reports of women being sent back home from their workplaces.
Hashimi said the ban on women would also apply to sectors like media https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/actions-or-words-afghan-journalists-question-talibans-free-press-pledge-2021-08-19 and banking https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/afghan-women-bankers-forced-roles-taliban-takes-control-2021-08-13, where women have become increasingly prominent since the Taliban fell in 2001 and a Western-backed government was installed.
Contact between men and women outside the home will be allowed in certain circumstances, for example when seeing a male doctor, he added.
Women should also be allowed to study https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/taliban-say-woman-can-study-university-classes-must-be-segregated-2021-09-12 and work in the education and medical sectors, where separate facilities can be set up for their exclusive use.
"We will of course need women, for example in medicine, in education. We will have separate institutions for them, separate hospitals, separate universities maybe, separate schools, separate madrassas."
On Sunday, the Taliban's new education minister said women could study at university, but must be segregated https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/taliban-say-woman-can-study-university-classes-must-be-segregated-2021-09-12 from men.
Women have staged several protests https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/afghan-protests-persist-posing-problem-new-taliban-government-2021-09-07 across Afghanistan, demanding that the rights they won over the last two decades be preserved. Some rallies have been broken up by Taliban gunmen firing shots into the air.
Improved women's rights - more noticeable in urban centres than deeply conservative rural areas - were repeatedly cited by the United States as one of the biggest successes of its 20-year operation in the country that officially ended on Aug. 31.
The female labour participation rate stood at 23% in 2020, according to the World Bank, up from effectively zero when the Taliban last ruled.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
HOW LONG WILL THIS LAST
Kabul airport: Women head back to work as civilian flights resume
An international commercial flight left Kabul on Monday, the first since the Taliban retook power last month, offering some hope to Afghans still desperate to leave the country.
How Afghan women are resisting Taliban rule
Since the Taliban took over power, their decrees and crackdowns have shown how the Islamic fundamentalist regime wants to repress the rights of women and girls.
Women's rights activists have been at the forefront of anti-Taliban protests since the group seized power last month
"For security reasons, demonstrations are banned in Afghanistan from now on," reads the first official decree issued by the Afghan Interior Ministry under the Taliban regime.
The statement added that people must secure official permission before any protests, and security agencies must be informed of all details such as the kind of slogans that will be used during the demonstrations.
The ministry, which is now led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is wanted by the United States on terrorism charges, warned that protesters will face "severe legal consequences" in case of violations of the new rules.
"We will continue to demonstrate for our rights, even without official permission," Mahbobe Nasrin Dockt, a Kabul-based women's rights activist told DW. "The Taliban-led Interior Ministry has not even started its work properly. Who should we seek permission from? It's also obvious that they won't give us permission once they know why we want to gather."
Nasrin Dockt has been organizing demonstrations in the Afghan capital Kabul against the nation's new rulers since early September. At a recent protest, she was arrested by the Taliban. "They entered my data into a system and warned me not to organize any more demonstrations. But I will not be intimidated. If we don't fight, we've lost."
Taliban 'don't see women as part of the population': Khalida Popal
Tough path ahead for Afghan women
Since the Taliban takeover, Afghan women have been afraid of reprisals and new restrictions of their rights by the Islamists. When the radical group was last in power, between 1996 and 2001, it banished women from education and public life.
The Islamists proceeded to immediately abolish the Ministry of Women's Affairs, indicating a tough path ahead for women in the country.
The new government formed by the Taliban is all male, comprising mostly mullahs. Even in the Ministry of Education, female professionals are absent.
"The Taliban's Higher Education Ministry consulted only male teachers and students on resuming the function of universities," a lecturer who worked at a Kabul university during the last government told AFP news agency in late August. She said that showed "the systematic prevention of women's participation in decision making" and "a gap between the Taliban's commitments and actions."
But women will be allowed to study at university, although there will be a ban on mixed classes, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, the Taliban's acting higher education minister, said recently. Taliban values 'are not our values'
He announced that the Taliban would develop "a reasonable Islamic curriculum in accordance with Islamic, national, and historical values." Women and girls have already been banned from playing sports.
"I don't think women will be allowed to play cricket because it is not necessary that women play cricket," Wasiq said. "In cricket, they might face a situation where their face and body will not be covered. Islam does not allow women to be seen like this."
"Their values are not our values," Basira Taheri from Herat city told DW. "The Taliban fighters have lived all their lives in some remote places, far away from civilization, and have only learned to fight. They can hardly read or write. Many of them have no idea of life in a city. Afghan society has changed over the past 20 years. We will not allow the Taliban to take away our rights," she said.
In Herat, Taheri organizes demonstrations for women's rights. At a recent protest, she was injured by Taliban fighters. She said she was lucky not to have been hit by a bullet. "It was a peaceful gathering. Several women made short speeches. Across from us, the Taliban were standing with weapons in their hands, watching us. Suddenly they started shooting, first in the air and then at us. I know that several women were seriously injured."
"This is only a small part of what the Taliban did to journalists of the newspaper," editor Saki Darjabai said.
One video shows a journalist unable to walk by himself, while another shows a journalist standing alone but barely able to speak.
"We need the support and solidarity of the international community," says a women's rights activist from Kabul, who asked not to be named.
She does not believe Afghan women can organize quickly and effectively against the Taliban. The shock of the Islamists' takeover of Kabul still runs deep, she says, pointing out that the Taliban also cut off telephone and internet connections.
"The Taliban want global recognition. So, the international community must stand up for us and our rights. Under pressure from outside, they will give in," the activist stressed.
This article was translated from German.
Taliban say women can study at university but classes must be segregated
(Reuters) -Women in Afghanistan will be allowed to study in universities as the country seeks to rebuild after decades of war but gender-segregation and Islamic dress code will be mandatory, the Taliban's new Higher Education minister said on Sunday.
The minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, said the new Taliban government, named last week, would "start building the country on what exists today" and did not want to turn the clock back 20 years to when the movement was last in power.
He said female students would be taught by women wherever possible and classrooms would remain separated, in accordance with the movement's interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
"Thanks to God we have a high number of women teachers. We will not face any problems in this. All efforts will be made to find and provide women teachers for female students," he told a news conference in Kabul.
The issue of women's education has been one of the central questions facing the Taliban as they seek to persuade the world that they have changed since the harsh fundamentalist rule they imposed in the 1990s when women were largely banned from studying or working outside the home.
Taliban officials have said women will be able to study and work in accordance with sharia law and local cultural traditions but strict dress rules will apply. Haqqani said hijab religious veils would be mandatory for all female students but did not specify if this meant headscarves or compulsory face coverings.
On Saturday, a group, apparently made up of women students in black robes that covered them completely from head to foot, demonstrated in Kabul in support of the rules on dress and separate classrooms.
Haqqani said where no women teachers were available special measures would be adopted to ensure separation.
"When there is really a need, men can also teach (women) but in accordance with sharia, they should observe the veil," he said. Classrooms would be curtained off to divide male and female students where necessary and teaching could also be done through streaming or closed circuit TV.
Classrooms divided by curtains https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/curtain-divides-male-female-students-afghan-universities-reopen-2021-09-06 have already been seen in many places since the Western-backed government collapse and the Taliban seized Kabul last month.
Haqqani told reporters that gender segregation would be enforced across Afghanistan and all subjects taught at colleges would also be reviewed in the coming months.
(Reporting by Islamabad newsroom. Editing by Jane Merriman)
Jennifer Morgan said she was 'deeply worried' that the world's response would fall short at the crucial COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in October CHRISTOF STACHE AFP/File
