#DECRININALIZEDRUGS

CANADA

Divert police funds to community groups, coalition says in decriminalization platform

Thu., December 9, 2021


OTTAWA — A group of organizations, including some that represent drug users and their families, are calling for money to be diverted from police to community agencies that promote safe supply and address mental health concerns.

The coalition, which also includes human rights organizations, front-line service providers and researchers, has released a framework for drug decriminalization.

Their framework calls for funds that would flow to police to be invested instead in community-based organizations, services that promote harm reduction and address mental health issues, safe supply programs, and other forms of healing.

The organizations said in a statement that the current approach to drug use, which is punitive and tries to deter people from using, is a "failed experiment" that has disproportionately harmed Indigenous and Black people.

Sandra Ka Hon Chu, executive director of the HIV Legal Network, said the coalition felt the need to develop their own vision of drug decriminalization that met the needs of people who use drugs, instead of what municipalities, police or prosecutors felt was the right way to approach the issue.

Donald MacPherson, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, one of the contributors to the platform, said their proposed policy shift would help change a "historically cruel" use of criminal law that has harmed Canadians.

Ka Hon Chu said that since the majority of drug use is not problematic in that most people who use drugs are not dependent. The coalition takes the position that most of the time there is no need to make mandatory referrals, and if there is a health-related need for interventions, the person involved should opt for it voluntarily.

This national call comes days after the federal government tabled Bill C-5, which would repeal mandatory minimum penalties for drug offences and some gun-related crimes, and would require police and prosecutors to consider alternative measures for cases of simple drug possession.

The coalition said that the government's bill "is a step in the right direction, but doesn't go far enough."

She said the coalition would want firstly a full repeal of section four of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, which is the section that criminalizes personal drug possession, a move that would go further than the changes proposed in Bill C-5.

Ka Hon Chu said they would also want to decriminalize necessity trafficking, which is the selling or sharing of drugs for subsistence to support personal drug use costs.

"No one has been unaffected by the overdose crisis in Canada. I think it's really touched so many of us and there's a feeling of urgency that the government needs to act now," she said.

The offices of Justice Minister David Lametti and Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2021.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Erika Ibrahim, The Canadian Press

2021 now deadliest year for illicit-drug overdoses in B.C., after record 201 deaths in October, coroner says

Thu., December 9, 2021,

The Moms Stop the Harm group is seen walking down Hastings Street in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood to mark five years of B.C.’s overdose crisis on April 13, 2021. With 201 deaths, October saw the highest ever number of fatal overdoses recorded in a single calendar month in B.C. (Ben Nelms/CBC - image credit)More

As the number of people dying from illicit drug overdoses in British Columbia continues to climb to grim heights, the province's coroner is calling for an urgent and immediate response from all levels of government to expand safe supply.

"Simply put we are failing," said B.C. chief coroner Lisa Lapointe. "With six people now dying every single day in our province, the status quo cannot be accepted."

Numbers released from the B.C. Coroners Service show a death toll through the first ten months of 2021 of 1,782, surpassing the 1,765 deaths recorded in all of 2020.

B.C. also saw a single month record high of 201 illicit drug overdose fatalities in October. Deaths were recorded in all age groups and in every local health area in the province.

Lapointe said fentanyl continues as the main factor in overdose deaths, but increasing levels of stimulants and benzodiazepine are being detected in the illicit drug supply. Benzodiazepine is a depressant that cannot be reversed by naloxone, which is used to treat fentanyl overdoses.

Illicit drug toxicity deaths by year in British Columbia

While the province has embarked on a safe supply program, Lapointe said it is too limited in scope and facing too many barriers, including the lack of prescribing clinicians and slow action from regulators on drug decriminalization.

"I know that work is being done but we are too far along in this crisis with these number of deaths to have 12 or 18 or 24 months to plan a roll out. We need a massive roll out on an urgent basis," she said.

"Today we will lose six more people. Tomorrow we will lose six more people. And by Christmas we will lose another 40 or 50 members of our community."

B.C.'s minister of mental health and addictions said the government is pushing out safe supply programs in every health authority, but there are challenges.

"This is a first in Canada. We don't have models of what prescribed safe supply looks like in our provincial-federal system," said Sheila Malcolmson.

Illicit drug toxicity deaths by month in B.C.

Malcolmson said addressing the COVID-19 public health emergency has been easier because it is being fought on the foundation of a strong health-care system, something that doesn't exist in the realm of mental health and addictions.

"We've been working to fight two public health emergencies while also building up [the mental health and addictions] system of care. And at the same time the health authorities are unrolling the largest vaccination program in our province's history," she said.

"We are pushing the system in every way we can."

Safe supply advocate Garth Mullins said governments are abdicating responsibility by not acting quickly in the face of a worsening crisis.

"We call it a kind of 'necro-politics,'" said Mullins, a member of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users. "People sit in capitals like Victoria or Ottawa and they just decide who's going to live and who's going to die by policy."

The B.C. Coroner Service report said more than 70 per cent of illicit drug overdose deaths in 2021 were among those aged 30 to 59. Men account for 79 per cent of the deaths.

Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria saw the most overdose deaths so far this year, according to the report, with 602 deaths in the Fraser Health Authority and 494 in Vancouver Coastal Health.

The highest rates of fatal overdoses per local health area from January to August were in Upper Skeena, Lillooet and Merritt.

Over 8,500 British Columbians have died of toxic drugs since the province declared a public health emergency in 2016.

Back then the rate of overdose deaths per 100,000 people was 20.4. It has now doubled to more than 41.2 deaths per 100,000.

Toxic drugs are now by far the most common cause of unnatural death in the province, and the leading cause of death among British Columbians aged 19 to 39.

The report noted that no deaths have yet been recorded at overdose prevention sites, or due to prescribed safe supply.

Maggie MacPherson/CBC

Give gig workers more rights, transparency, benefits, Ontario committee recommends

Thu., December 9, 2021


TORONTO — Ontario should develop a worker benefits plan that is not tied to employers, set up a job board for gig work, and force greater transparency in gig work contracts, a new report on the province's changing employment landscape recommends.

The report from a committee of experts tasked by the government with addressing labour market disruptions from COVID-19 also recommended creating a "dependent contractor" category for app-based gig workers with guaranteed employment rights, including severance pay and minimum wage.

The final report from the Ontario Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee, including 21 recommendations, was made public Thursday.

"The recommendations are about designing a policy regime that takes into account how changes in technology and COVID, which coincide, are changing the workplace," said Rohinton Medhora, chair of the committee that began its work in June.

Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said he was impressed with the recommendations and would consider all of them.

Of particular interest, he said, was the recommendation that the government look into developing a portable benefits plan that’s tied directly to workers, not their employers.

"This is one that's a priority for me and I really want to move forward with looking at this seriously,” McNaughton said in an interview Wednesday.

The report said a portable plan might see the benefits administered through "an independent body, through government, the private sector or some combination," and would support worker mobility, give certainty to their futures and potentially help businesses attract more workers.

McNaughton said he’s "excited" by the concept, which he said could cover gig workers and others in restaurant and retail jobs who don't have health, vision or dental benefits.

Medhora, the committee chair who is also president of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, said the portable benefits idea goes "hand-in-hand" with the advice to better ensure rights for gig workers, and also addresses the changing nature of careers as people hold more jobs through their lives.

The committee recommends appointing an expert to study how the program would best work.

The group's short consultation period over the summer and the makeup of the committee, which didn't include any worker or union representatives, has sparked concerns from worker groups that the recommendations lack fulsome research and could skew towards the interests of large employers like Uber, leaving gig workers more vulnerable.

The Ontario Federation of Labour wrote in submissions to the committee of serious concerns about what it called a "rushed and deeply flawed" consultation process that didn’t include public hearings.

McNaughton said he wanted the work completed quickly because "there is an urgent need to act" in response to economic changes from the pandemic. He also pointed to consultations with gig workers and said he would welcome more feedback now that the report is published.

Uber spent the last year asking the province to require app-based gig employers to accrue self-directed benefit funds that can be dispersed to drivers for prescriptions, dental and vision care and provide safety training and tools like reflective vests. The proposal called Flexible Work+ would not designate gig workers as employees and does not include minimum wage or severance pay requirements.

Uber is still reviewing the committee's recommendations, spokesperson Laura Miller said.

"Given the diverse and complex needs of drivers and delivery people, a comprehensive policy plan is the only way forward," she wrote in an email.

Brice Sopher, vice-president of Gig Workers United, said he was alarmed by how many similarities there are between the committee's recommendations and Uber's pitch, which many workers have long denounced.

His organization feels the "dependent contractor" category is unnecessary and workers should instead be recognized as employees.

"These portable benefits and new category is a lowering of the bar for all workers because once it is legislated, there is very little stopping other workplaces from transforming their workers into this new category," said Sopher, who couriers food for UberEats and works as a DJ.

"So we are sad for ourselves and we fear for the long-term."

The committee's "dependent contractor" recommendation suggested creating that worker category through the Employment Standards Act "or elsewhere." The recommendation said those workers should have basic employment rights like termination pay, minimum wages, benefits, pay stubs, regular wage payment and notice of termination with severance pay entitlements.

The committee further said gig platform companies that operate in Ontario should be required to provide basic, clear and transparent contracts with information on payment, penalties, suspensions or pay deductions.

The report also said contracting companies should be forced to state they are complying with employment standards, specifically on worker classification, so there is no ambiguity over liability.

It also suggested piloting a virtual platform "that matches supply and demand for various types of gig and contract work," which could start with some occupation types and expand to more if found to be effective.

It also recommended a dedicated communications strategy promoting the province as a desirable place to work, and giving greater clarity to the definition of "independent contractors."

The Progressive Conservative government has already acted on some of the committee's recommendations, which it saw in an interim report.

Labour legislation that passed this month requires medium-sized workplaces to have policies on employees disconnecting digitally after work hours and limits non-compete clauses. It also requires that businesses give delivery drivers access to washrooms — something that wasn’t explicitly recommended by the committee but came up repeatedly during consultations, McNaughton said.

— with files from Tara Deschamps.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2021.

Holly McKenzie-Sutter, The Canadian Press

European Commission drafts directive designating gig workers as employees

Lyft and Uber logos are shown on a car. The European Commission proposed a directive Thursday that could turn gig workers for ride-share companies and others into employees. File Photo by Raysonho/Wikimedia/UPI

Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The European Commission announced initial steps that would turn independent contractors, or gig workers, into employees, giving them traditional labor rights and benefits enjoyed by other full-time employees.

The move would target such companies as ride-sharing business Uber and various delivery jobs but could have a wide-ranging effect on numerous other industries as well.

"The proposed directive seeks to ensure that people working through digital labor platforms are granted the legal employment status that corresponds to their actual work arrangements," the European Commission said in a statement about the directive. "It provides a list of control criteria to determine whether the platform is an 'employer.'

"If the platform meets at least two of those criteria, it is legally presumed to be an employer. The people working through them would therefore enjoy the labor and social rights that come with the status of 'worker.'"

RELATED Judge rules California's new law for app-based drivers is unconstitutional

The directive said the "worker" status, would give that person the right to a minimum wage, collective bargaining, working time and health protection, the right to paid leave or improved access to protection against work accidents and unemployment and sickness benefits among other benefits.

"The clear criteria the commission proposes will bring the platforms increased legal certainty, reduced litigation costs and it will facilitate business planning," the commission said.

The directive could change the employment status of up to 4.1 million gig workers throughout the European Union. It said more than 500 digital platforms using gig workers generated revenue of $15.8 billion in 2020.

RELATED Labor Dept. terminates Trump-era gig worker rule to favor contractors

Uber has pushed back, saying the directive will put jobs and the business models at risk, shrinking revenues. It said those services have proven vital during the pandemic.

Industrial Gothic: Workers, Exploitation and Urbanization in Transatlantic Nineteenth-Century Literature by Bridget M. Marshall 

Bridget M. Marshall
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This volume carves out a new area of study, the ‘industrial Gothic’, placing the genre in dialogue with the literature of the Industrial Revolution. The book explores a significant subset of transatlantic nineteenth-century literature that employs the tropes, themes and rhetoric of the Gothic to portray the real-life horrors of factory life, framing the Industrial Revolution as a site of Gothic excess and horror. Using archival materials from the nineteenth century, localised incidences of Gothic industrialisation (in specific cities like Lowell and Manchester) are considered alongside transnational connections and comparisons. The author argues that stories about the real horrors of factory life frequently employed the mode of the Gothic, while nineteenth century writing in the genre (stories, novels, poems and stage adaptations) began to use new settings – factories, mills, and industrial cities – as backdrops for the horrors that once populated Gothic castles.

‎December 6 anniversary: Media must be an integral part of the fight against femicide‎

Thu., December 9, 2021, 8:47 a.m.

‎People attend a rally on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada on Parliament Hill.‎‎ ‎‎ ‎‎

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick‎‎ ‎

‎On December 6, 1989, in a misogynistic gesture of extreme violence, fourteen young women were shot dead at ‎‎the École Polytechnique of the Université de Montréal.‎

‎Although perpetrated by one man, this mass femicide stems from a social environment marked by gender inequality, misogyny, colonialism, racism and other intersectional phenomena of oppression.‎

‎Femicide — the murder of a woman or girl because of her gender — is no coincidence. Although the media often portray femicide as spontaneous "crimes of passion," when a man kills his partner, it is the culmination of a history of violence ‎‎in more than 70% of cases‎‎ — and more frequently the result of controlling behavior of a criminal nature.‎

‎Femicide is also ‎‎more premeditated, compared to the murder of a non-intimate partner.‎‎ Therefore, many of these deaths are preventable, and we must use all the tools at our disposal to increase public awareness of the phenomenon and improve prevention strategies.‎

‎ Read more: ‎‎Polytechnique, 30 years later: a first anti-feminist attack, finally named as such‎‎ ‎

‎Engaging decision-makers‎

‎Public health efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic have illustrated the importance of spreading a clear message, making room for science and holding political leaders and social institutions to account in order to save lives.‎

‎As these efforts continue, we will once again mark December 6, the ‎‎National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women,‎‎and reflect on the pandemic of male violence that continues to take the lives of many women and girls around the world.‎

‎A woman gathers near the Women's Monument in London, Ontario, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the 2014 Polytechnique massacre.‎‎ ‎‎ ‎‎

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dave Chidley‎‎ ‎

‎Part of our work at ‎‎the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability‎‎ is to monitor this extreme form of sex- or gender-based violence. As the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted, the ‎‎media play a vital role‎‎ in informing us about threats – how they define themselves, what aspects deserve our attention or how to address a particular issue.‎

‎In short, the media frame the problem and propose solutions. To this extent, the media can be a key mechanism for primary prevention, as long as they provide an accurate representation of the problem.‎

‎The media have a crucial role to play in the coverage of femicides, not only in raising awareness and general education, but also ‎‎by actively participating in the construction of attitudes and beliefs‎‎ that can contribute to prevention efforts.‎

‎In contrast, harmful portrayals, such as those depicting this type of murder as an ‎‎isolated act or the work of a single person,‎‎have the effect of shining a ‎‎spotlight on the victims' behaviour‎‎ and suggesting (implicitly or explicitly) that they are responsible for their own deaths or ‎‎marginalizing certain groups.‎‎ because of their race, religion, socio-economic status, participation in the sex trade, sexual orientation or other factors.‎

‎There is also the question of those who are not represented at all. The ‎‎"missing white woman syndrome"‎‎ is a good illustration of the media bias in which White victims, usually from privileged backgrounds, ‎‎receive significant coverage,‎‎while the case of missing and murdered Indigenous or non-white women and girls is considered to be of lesser interest to society. As a result, some women and girls remain invisible, in life as well as in death.‎

‎Girls gather for the annual Women's Memorial March in Vancouver in February 2021, an event held in memory of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The route is punctuated by stations in various places where women were last seen or found.‎‎ ‎‎ ‎‎THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck‎‎ ‎More
‎

The importance of media coverage of femicide‎

‎When it comes to accurately informing the public, the way journalists portray femicide is therefore of paramount importance. Indeed, media coverage of femicide ‎‎helps to address broader issues related to violence against women‎‎ and, in so doing, to raise public awareness of these crimes, their underlying societal causes, consequences and implications.‎

‎Such media coverage may include terms specific to femicide, statistics on the number of women killed by their intimate partners, support resources for victims of domestic violence, or new sources of expertise that are better qualified to treat femicide, including those who provide primary care, are involved in advocacy and research.‎

‎In addition to providing a deeper context, supported by empirical data, this type of coverage has the power to raise public awareness of the problem. Instead of reporting femicide as isolated incidents, it sheds more light on community and societal solutions.‎

‎These may include funding services for victims of violence, prevention education initiatives, legislative reforms or cultural changes, such as targeting attitudes that support or normalize violence against women.‎

‎As we honour the memory of women and girls who have died as a result of violence in Canada, we can take a critical look at how their stories are told in the media, as well as how they tell us about their deaths. We can take our analysis beyond police reports and ‎‎cultural references surrounding femicide,‎‎drawing on the experience and expertise of survivors and people who have lost a loved one to violence.‎

‎It is possible to deviate from sensational and explicit reports and stop insinuating that the gestures, behaviors or lifestyles of the victims may have contributed to their deaths.‎

‎Femicide is a tragic loss. It is a gesture of extreme violence directed against women. This is a violation of human rights and a real public health issue. However, in order to accurately portray this crime, the media must take all these aspects into account.‎

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Yasmin Jiwani, Professor of Communication Studies; Research Chair on Intersectionality, Violence and Resistance, Concordia University, 

Myrna Dawson, Professor and Research Leadership Chair, Sociology, University of Guelph, Jordan Fairbairn, Associate Professor, Sociology, King's University College, Western University,

Ciara Boyd, PhD Student, Sociology, University of Guelph

‎Jordan Fairbairn receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.‎

Ciara Boyd, Myrna Dawson, and Yasmin Jiwani do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

ORIGINAL IN FRENCH Anniversaire du 6 décembre : les médias doivent faire partie intégrante de la lutte contre les féminicides (yahoo.com)

THE VIEW FROM CANADA

With Donald Trump’s ‘next coup’ underway, it’s a bit rich for the the United States to be holding a democracy summit

TORONTO STAR
December 9, 2021


WASHINGTON — When representatives from more than 100 nations convene virtually on Thursday for a “democracy summit” hosted by the White House, U.S. President Joe Biden will greet them “from a place of humility,” according to a senior administration official speaking on background.

“The president has been forthright and clear about the challenges facing democracy here at home throughout his presidency,” the official added, “and I think you can expect him to do so as well at the summit.”

The challenges facing democracy here at home. Yup. Hosting a global symposium on democracy in Washington today feels a little like holding a fire prevention conference next to a blazing wood stove in a log cabin with faulty wiring.

My colleagues Susan Delacourt and Martin Regg Cohn have already directed readers to “January 6 was Practice,” the cover story in the current issue of The Atlantic magazine, in which Barton Gellman warns that former president Donald Trump’s “next coup” is already well underway. That story is being heard in Washington like the “hurrying hoof beats” of Paul Revere’s ride, warning of impending danger that requires action. (Incidentally, Longfellow’s 1860 poem that immortalized Revere’s “voice in the darkness” — and served as a call to action on the eve of the U.S. Civil War — also first appeared in The Atlantic.)

“The democratic emergency is already here,” University of California Irvine professor Richard L. Hasen says in the story. “We face a serious risk that American democracy as we know it will come to an end in 2024, but urgent action is not happening.”

The essay compiles the developments that, taken together, history might come to view as the defining story of 2021. There is Trump’s ongoing and blatantly false insistence that he won the 2020 election, and the heavily armed and increasingly open-to-violence segment of America that believes him.

There are Republican legislators, who have embraced Trump’s message and have been perversely gerrymandering state legislature and congressional districts, rewriting state laws to allow them to throw out future election results they don’t like, restricting who can vote and how in the future, and replacing state election officials with those who are openly on the side of Trump’s power-highjacking schemes. And there are published accounts of the last days of Trump’s presidency detail the logic of his failed attempt to steal the 2020 election, and making clear how the actions Republicans are taking now could make such a scheme successful next time around.

So this isn’t a moment when the U.S. will be in a position to lecture other countries about democracy.

What’s more, everyone knows it. A timely survey of global attitudes to democracy released this week by the Pew Research Center shows that around the world, 57 per cent of people who think the U.S. used to be a good example of democracy for other countries to follow, say it isn’t any more. In Canada, only 14 per cent of people think the U.S. remains a model of democracy. Even in the U.S., there isn’t a lot of patriotic chest-thumping: 80 per cent of Americans say the U.S. is not, or never was, a good democratic model.

That lines up with 85 per cent of Americans who say that their political system either “needs to be completely reformed” or “needs major changes.” (Only 47 per cent of Canadians, by comparison, say the same about theirs.)

Clearly, not all those Americans would agree on what changes are needed. As Gellman points out, 68 per cent of Republicans (and 31 per cent of all Americans) believe Trump’s big lie that the election was stolen from him. Those are the people who are doing something about it — and it is their actions that Gellman, the Biden administration and most reasonable observers and experts think is posing the threat to democracy that the rest of Americans perceive.

But because of their reluctance to override the Senate filibuster rule, which gives the minority Republicans a legislative veto, Biden’s party has failed to pass two voting rights laws, which would have ended gerrymandering and imposed protections against voter suppression and partisan sabotage of elections. On Wednesday, the eve of Biden’s summit, the House of Representatives brought another measure intended to curb presidential corruption and protect elections to a vote. Like the other two, it might be expected to languish in the Senate.

Time may be running out for these Democrats, who proclaim themselves defenders of democracy. The midterm congressional elections, which at this point are widely expected to give Republicans control of at least one and possibly both houses of Congress, are less than a year away. If that happens, the opportunity to pass any democratic protections at all will have passed.

Meanwhile, the members of his own party continue to wrangle over Biden’s economic agenda — and probably will continue to through the end of the year.

So the “democracy summit” offers an opportunity to “put the issue on the front burner,” the Biden official told the media briefing, with a planned announcement of a “year of action” coming out of it. We may find out Thursday and Friday what actions are contemplated in that year, and how successful the meetings are at pushing this up higher on the congressional agenda.

The administration’s self-proclaimed “humility” is justified. You’ll have to stay tuned to see whether bringing that attitude to an international summit can prompt the kind of action needed to head off an unfolding crisis of U.S. democracy.

New CDC report finds increase in autism, with 1 in 44 8-year-olds diagnosed

Katie Shepherd, (c) 2021, The Washington Post
Tue., December 7, 2021, 

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JUNE 22: Young children dance with their umbrellas at the launch of an art installation called the Umbrella Project, featuring 200 brightly coloured umbrellas suspended over Church Alley on June 22, 2017 in Liverpool, England. The project is to raise awareness of ADHD and autism in children. 

ADHD IS NOT RELATED TO NOR IS IT AUTISM 

Local school children also performed a dance at the launch despite the rain. The ADHD Foundation wants the project to inform the public "that young people with ADHD and other conditions possess many gifts and can succeed in their community despite their condition". 

(Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)More

The rate of 8-year-olds in the United States diagnosed with autism rose in 2018, to about 1 in 44, according to data tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - an increase attributed to better access to early interventions that result in more comprehensive identification of the condition.

A March 2020 report from the CDC estimated that 1 in 54 8-year-olds had received an autism diagnosis. Between the release of that report and the findings presented this month, the prevalence of autism increased from about 1.9% to 2.3% of children in that age group.

"The substantial progress in early identification is good news because the earlier that children are identified with autism, the sooner they can be connected to services and support," Karen Remley, director of CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, said in a statement. "Accessing these services at younger ages can help children do better in school and have a better quality of life."

The federal agency collects data from 11 communities in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin. Though those communities are not a representative sample of the U.S. population, researchers have tracked changes in autism prevalence in those areas since 2000 to understand the developmental condition over time.

The latest report found that autism rates varied greatly throughout the United States. California had the highest incidence rate, with 1 in 26 8-year-olds receiving a diagnosis. Missouri had the lowest rate, with 1 in 60 children in that age group assessed with the condition. The report said those differences may reflect how communities identify children with autism, because some regions have more services for children with autism and their families.

Andy Shih, interim chief science officer at the advocacy group Autism Speaks, agreed that regional differences may be tied to more robust services in some of the 11 locations studied by the CDC, which tend to draw families seeking treatment options for their children.

"We often hear about parents moving to a state where it's easier for them to access services and regular support," Shih said.

Some experts caution that the way the CDC collects data could skew the numbers and make it seem like autism is more common than it is. Developmental psychologist Bryna Siegel warned that the CDC is likely overcounting autism cases in many places.

In some states, an autism diagnosis is often a path to affordable services for a child with special needs. That dynamic can create an ethical dilemma for doctors who want to help families find services to improve a child's quality of life.

"If a child gets a diagnosis of a language disorder, maybe he'll get group speech therapy once a week when he goes to Head Start, but if you say that he has autism, he might get home-based one-to-one applied behavior analysis services for 25 hours a week," said Siegel, executive director of the Autism Center of Northern California, an assessment clinic that provides services to children with autism. "And, truthfully, any kid is going to do better with 25 hours a week of one-to-one service than with a 20-minute group speech therapy session each week."

Because doctors want to connect patients with the best services available, they may be inclined to justify an autism diagnosis so that children can get access to the services that come with it.

"And so clinicians are put in a terrible bind to use the diagnosis of autism," Siegel said.

A CDC epidemiologist said the agency's data reflects practices and services.

"There is not a universal and objective 'gold standard' diagnostic procedure; there is variability in diagnostic practices and policies, and experts (and diagnostic instruments) can disagree on their conclusions," Matt Maenner, an epidemiologist for the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, said in an email. "The [Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring] Network data allow people to see what is happening in their communities, including how and when children are identified as having autism."

Maenner said issues with improper diagnoses should be addressed by providers, and would not affect how the agency collects data.

"If the data raise questions about how communities are identifying children with autism, it would seem better to work to improve practices rather than adjust the surveillance data to mask these issues," Maenner added.

Still, the CDC's data gives some insight into who is being diagnosed with autism and where.

Boys were four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls - a trend that has held up since the CDC began collecting data on the condition in 2000. The researchers found few differences in prevalence based on race, with similar rates among 8-year-olds in Black, White, and Asian or Pacific Islander communities. Fewer Hispanic children were diagnosed with autism compared with other groups, according to the report. The data showed that about one-third of the children diagnosed with autism also had an intellectual disability.

Shih said the CDC's study suggests that efforts to expand early intervention have been succeeding, but some states could be doing more to reach children in underserved and lower-income communities.

"It's really imperative for us trying to identify children as early as possible, to get them into support and services," he added.

In additional findings regarding children who turned 4 years old in 2018 in those same 11 communities, new patterns in diagnosis emerged, according to the CDC. There were more diagnoses among Black, Hispanic, and Asian or Pacific Islander children than among White children in that cohort. Lower-income neighborhoods also had higher prevalence rates, the agency said.

Those children who were born in 2014 were 50% more likely to have received a diagnosis by their fourth birthday, compared with children who were born in 2010. The researchers said that data reflected improved access to early intervention, which can help children with autism thrive later in life.

"We're doing a better job for the younger kids," Shih said.

Welcome to Temple Grandin's Official Autism Website

https://www.templegrandin.com

Dr. Temple Grandin of CSU Named One of the Top 10 College Professors in the Country. Read the full article here. About Temple Grandin. Dr. Grandin did not talk until she was three and a half years old. She was fortunate to get early speech therapy. Her teachers also taught her how to wait and take turns when playing board games. She was mainstreamed into a normal kindergarten at age five 

The Last Oracle: A Sigma Force Novel - James Rollins

https://jamesrollins.com/book/the-last-oracle-a-sigma-force-novel

A master at combining historical and religious intrigue with edge-of-your-seat adventure, New York Times bestselling author James Rollins brings back Sigma Force to battle a group of rogue scientists who’ve unleashed a bioengineering project that could bring about the extinction of humankind.

• Estimated Reading Time: 6 mins

ITS ALL MUTABLE

The Pope Says Sexy Sins Are Not the ‘Most Serious’ Sins
By Mia Mercado

Pope Francis, contemplating which sins are the most sinful. 

Photo: Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Let us proclaim the mystery of faith: Sometimes the pope says unexpected things because he wants to and feels like it. This week, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit after a report that Aupetit had a consensual intimate affair with a woman in 2012. Ooh la la! When asked about the accusations during a recent press conference, the pope decided to give a fun little ranking of the sins.

“This is a sin, but it is not one of the gravest sins,” the pope said, referring to rumors of Aupetit’s affair, which the archbishop has denied but admitted his actions may have been “ambiguous.” Pope Francis added, “Because sins of the flesh are not the gravest.” So there! A little bit of extramarital sensuality is a sin but not, like, a sin sin. “It was a failing against the sixth commandment,” — you shall not commit adultery — “but not a total one, one of small caresses, massage given to his secretary — that is what the accusation is,” Francis continued, referring to the claims the woman made about her intimate relationship with Aupetit. “There is a sin there but not the worst kind.”

Then what, pray tell, are the most sinful sins? According to the pope, pride and hatred are “more serious” sins. But lust? Not the worst! So, that time the pope’s Instagram account liked a butt pic? A minor sin! A chill sin! A casual, everyday version of sinning!

Mass has ended. You may go in peace with the newfound knowledge that Catholics may have a little ambiguous flesh sin as a treat.

SEE  THE SONG OF SONGS, LIBER 1075

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Passover Song 

Hubble telescope clicks photo of colliding gases in 'running man' nebula
WION Web Team
New Delhi Published: Dec 09, 2021,

(Image: NASA) Colliding gases can be seen in this image captured by Hubble space telescope Photograph:( Others )

The image Hubble telescope clicked was of Herbig-Haro object (HH 45). Herbig Haro nebula is a type of nebula that forms when gas from a young star collides with surrounding dust and produces shockwaves

Hubble space telescope has been humankind's eye in the sky for decades and though the space telescope has developed glitches, hit snags and has required frequent repairs, it has clicked wonders lying in unimaginably distant corners of the universe and enhanced our knowledge.

It has now clicked an image of colliding gases in 'Running Man' Nebula

Nebulas are where stars form. When this image was clicked, Hubble was trying to observe effect young stars have on their surroundings.

The image it clicked was of Herbig-Haro object (HH 45). Herbig Haro nebula is a type of nebula that forms when gas from a young star collides with surrounding dust and produces shockwaves.

Herbig Haro objects are a rare sight in the universe. This Herbig Haro object has been spotted by Hubble in nebula named NGC 1977. This nebula is also called 'Running Man Nebula'. This is a complex structure of three nebulae. The Running Man Nebula is about 5000 light-years away from Earth. The Running Man Nebula is a reflection nebula. This means that it does not emit light of its own but reflects light emitted by other nebulae.

NASA is soon launching a 'successor' to Hubble Space Telescope. In December, it is going to launch James Webb Space Telescope. This space telescope is more powerful than Hubble telescope and will be equipped with latest technology.

NASA depicts solar eclipse from space in a brilliant photo
WION Web Team
New Delhi Published: Dec 08, 2021, 

(Photo: NASA) The image of a solar eclipse taken by NASA's Deep Space Climate Observatory. Shadow of Moon can be seen over Antarctica in the south

 Photograph:( Instagram )

Watching solar eclipse from Earth is such a passe. Now watch what happens from space courtesy NASA

Solar eclipse is a treat to the senses. It's amazing to see a day give way to a sudden night and the ever-shining disc of the Sun getting obscured by the Moon. Those observing can see stars twinkling right in front of them in a black sky which, by logic, should have been lit by bright sunshine.

But not everyone is lucky to have seen a total eclipse. You have to be in the right place at the right time to witness this natural wonder. There may be thousand who wouldn't have seen total, or even a partial solar eclipse.

But witnessing a solar eclipse from space is a privilege afforded to even fewer people.

NASA has come to aid of those who can't become an astronaut overnight in order to see an eclipse from space.

In its Instagram post, NASA has posted an image taken from space during the recent total eclipse which was visible only from Antarctica.

"Have you ever seen a total solar eclipse? How about seeing a total solar eclipse FROM SPACE?" asks NASA at the outset. The image shows the familiar blue orb of our planet. But what's different than usual is a black spot right over Antarctica in the south. That is Moon's shadow as it passes between the Sun and Earth, therby treating the regions under that shadow to a beautiful solar eclipse.

"Our robotic and human explorers are here to help. On Dec. 4, 2021, the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft captured the Moon's shadow as it passed over Antarctica, home to penguins and a handful of scientists. Shaped like a cone extending into space, the shadow has a circular cross-section most easily seen during a solar eclipse. People in parts of Namibia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the Falkland Islands were treated to a partial eclipse," says NASA in Instagram post.

Check it out below

As it can be seen. Netizens have loved the pic and it has been 'liked' by nearly a million people.

Scientists plan to land on Apophis, an ominous asteroid set for a rare Earth flyby

They estimate such a flyby only happens once every 20,000 years.


Eric Mack
Dec. 8, 2021 

Artwork of an asteroid approaching Earth. In 2029, Apophis will fly lower than many artificial satellites.NASA

When the stadium-sized asteroid 99942 Apophis comes uncomfortably close to Earth on April 13, 2029, a team of South Korean scientists hopes to greet it in space and bring a sample back to Earth.

Apophis is classified as "potentially hazardous" due to its proximity and size. Earlier this year, NASA ruled out the possibility that the asteroid poses any threat of colliding with Earth when it passes closer to us than the ring of large communications satellites in geostationary orbits.

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Still, scientists see a rare opportunity to study such a large body and also conduct a planetary defense exercise that will be as close to the real thing as humanity has ever seen.

The Korean plan involves approaching Apophis in January of 2029 before it makes its close pass above us. A spacecraft that would launch from Earth in late 2027 would basically accompany the asteroid as it whips by our planet. The plan is to observe and map Apophis the whole way to look for possible changes in its structure as a result of its close encounter with Earth and our planet's gravitational forces.

The Deep Space Network's Goldstone complex in California and the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia picked up radio images of Apophis from distance of 10.6 million miles (17 million kilometers) away.NASA/JPL-Caltech and NSF/AUI/GBO

"When the gravity has the greatest impact on the asteroid... I think we will have real-time data from the asteroid," explained Young-Jun Choi from the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, who presented the plan at the Korea Space Forum on Monday. "For example, earthquakes or landslides happening on the asteroid."

Choi also mentioned the possibility of landing on the asteroid and taking a sample to return to Earth, similar to Japan's Hayabusa missions and NASA's Osiris-Rex, which have sampled other asteroids.

For the record, Apophis will come within 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) of Earth, which is remarkably rare for such a massive object. But there's zero chance of impact.

At a 2020 conference on Apophis and its 2029 visit, the Korean team noted that "with a dedicated rendezvous mission to Apophis, we should be able to fill in the knowledge gaps in our scientific understanding of (gravitational) effects that could be used for planetary defense when there is a real threat."

Earlier this year NASA called the 2029 flyby "an unprecedented opportunity for astronomers to get a close-up view of a solar system relic that is now just a scientific curiosity and not an immediate hazard to our planet."

Choi reiterated that the opportunity to see such a large asteroid up close while it's also so close to Earth is truly rare. He estimates such a flyby only happens once every 20,000 years.

First published on Dec. 7, 2021 at 9:50 a.m. PT.

Opinion: The Ocean Is Returning Our Plastic Waste. That’s a Real Problem.

New research has brought to light a global plastic cycle that could haunt us for generations to come.

Visual: Nariman Mosharrafa/Unsplash

BY CHARLOTTE STEVENSON
12.09.2021

SOME SAY THAT the ocean throws back anything it does not want. In the wake of new research on plastic waste, the truth of this aphorism has taken on new meaning: Recent studies have revealed that the ocean is spitting tiny bits of plastic pollution back onto land.

In a paper published earlier this year, a team led by Janice Brahney of Utah State University and Natalie Mahowald of Cornell University found that the oceans have been spraying a steady stream of microplastics into the atmosphere, where they can float across continents and oceans before eventually settling back to earth. The work illuminates a global cycle of plastic, akin to other biogeochemical cycles like those of water, nitrogen, and carbon.

But it also puts the problem of plastic pollution in a new, disheartening light. The study by Brahney, Mahowald, and their colleagues is among the latest in an accumulating body of work that suggests the estimated 8.8 million tons (8 million metric tons) of plastic waste that annually slide off the continents doesn’t just pose a problem for aquatic life. Rather, there is no final resting place for plastic, no corner of the globe that is spared. The plastic waste we produce today will continue to haunt us for generations to come. In other words, we may have vastly underestimated the scope, breadth, and intractability of the global plastic pollution problem.

RELATEDThe Dawn of the Plastics Age

To say that plastic is everywhere isn’t really a revelation anymore. By now, it’s been established that plastic waste in the environment is broken apart primarily by sunlight, abrasion, and temperature into fragments ranging from the size of tiny pebbles to the size of bacteria. This microplastic can break down even further: Nanoplastic, which scientists are only beginning to measure but expect is equally abundant, can be as small as a virus.

Microplastic — often laced with potentially harmful chemical additives — is known to alter soil quality, diminish crop production, and move through food chains. Research suggests we eat an estimated 39,000 to 52,000 pieces of microplastic a year and inhale tens to hundreds of pieces a day into our lungs, and microplastic has even found its way into hard-to-reach places like the human placenta. Microplastics, and the chemicals that ride them into our bodies like a trojan horse, are being investigated as possible causes of immune system dysfunction, reproductive complications, neurodevelopmental delays in children, and other disorders.

According to Brahney, all dust on earth now contains microplastic. Microplastic rains down from the Antarctic to the Arctic, from Tibetan Plateaus to the peaks of the Pyrenees. More than 1,100 tons of microplastic — or 132 pieces per meter per day — fall annually on remote landscapes in the Western U.S.

Yet, it was only during the past two years that scientists began to fully understand the sources of all this plastic. In 2020, a team led by Steve Allen of Canada’s Dalhousie University and Deonie Allen of Scotland’s Strathclyde University showed for the first time that microplastic can be lifted off the ocean surface through the complex physics of bubbles and sea spray. They estimated that more than 149,000 tons of ocean plastic were being spat back onto shorelines through coastal breezes around the world every year.

Microplastic rains down from the Antarctic to the Arctic, from Tibetan Plateaus to the peaks of the Pyrenees.

Brahney and her colleagues went a step further, showing that these sea-sprayed plastics could be lofted not only onto shore but also into the atmosphere. Their model suggests that the plastic ejected from the ocean — on the order of millions of tons per year — is part of a continuous, global transaction of plastic dust between the ocean, the atmosphere, and the land. They concluded that even in remote areas of the Western U.S., roughly 11 percent of all raining microplastic originated from the ocean. In fact, the model suggests the ocean is sending almost twice as much plastic back onto the continents as the continents are sending atmospherically to the ocean — a counterintuitive finding that Brahney attributes to the vast amount of plastic that’s already accumulated for decades in areas like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

“What we’re seeing in the atmosphere is legacy pollution. It’s not this year’s emissions,” Brahney explained to me. “It’s decades of emissions.”

The implications of this finding could be profound. It suggests that even if humanity stopped producing plastic tomorrow, the problem of plastic pollution would remain with us for generations. For a substantial amount of plastic that finds its way into the oceans, the sea is not a final destination, but a mere pitstop on a journey that will eventually see it back to land — back to us — in a dusty form that makes it seem nearly impossible to remediate. Trying to corral decades of plastic dust cycling the globe would be like trying to sweep during a sandstorm. (Regardless, plastic production is escalating, not waning. At the current rate, the annual global flow of plastic into the ocean will nearly triple by 2040.)

It’s also possible that microplastics lofted into the skies could alter physical processes in the atmosphere. Some scientists are probing whether the particles could behave like aerosols, possibly absorbing enough radiation to have a net warming effect on the planet. Others have shown that floating microplastics can seed ice crystals, possibly forming clouds, which also could have climate effects.

To be clear, the existence of a global plastic cycle does not significantly mitigate the threat that plastic waste poses to aquatic life. Scientists estimate that there are 24.4 trillion pieces of microplastic floating on or near the ocean surface, swirled into enormous ocean gyres, with concentrations that call up images of soup or even smog. Still, 99 percent of all plastic dumped into the ocean has sunk below the surface. Recent research shows much of it is now being swept into mounds by deep sea currents, often in areas of deep ocean biodiversity. (Yes, there are essentially garbage patches on the ocean floor too.) Although we still know less about the topography of the deep sea than the surface of Mars, preliminary work suggests that deep sea canyon microplastics can be resuspended, only adding to the growing evidence that even the deep sea may not be willing to sequester our plastic problem forever.

Perhaps the most important lesson of the newfound plastic cycle is that plastic pollution is a global problem that demands global cooperation. We cannot solve this issue by shipping our plastic waste to other countries, as many first world nations have done for decades. As Allen, author of the 2020 paper, told me, “There are no borders in nature, and plastic is a prime example.”

The science journalist Christina Reed has aptly called this moment the “dawn of the plasticene age.” These days, we can get a mouthful of plastic when biting into a Hot Pocket or enjoying a beer. Even a baby’s first poop can contain plastic. And now we know that we are constantly being showered with microplastic from around the world. The ocean, apparently, does not want it.

Charlotte Stevenson has a M.S. from Stanford University in environmental toxicology, was a National John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow, and is currently a Masters candidate at the Johns Hopkins program in science writing. Her work is published with University of Southern California Sea Grant, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NOAA, and Age of Awareness.