U.S. reports 1.35 million COVID-19 cases in a day, shattering global record


Long lines for testing for COVID-19 continue in California

Mon, January 10, 2022
By Lisa Shumaker

(Reuters) - The United States reported 1.35 million new coronavirus infections on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, the highest daily total for any country in the world as the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant showed no signs of slowing.

The previous record was 1.03 million cases on Jan. 3. A large number of cases are reported each Monday due to many states not reporting over the weekend. The seven-day average for new cases has tripled in two weeks https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR to over 700,000 new infections a day.

The record in new cases came the same day as the nation saw the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients also hit an all-time high, having doubled in three weeks, according to a Reuters tally.

There were more than 136,604 people hospitalized with COVID-19, surpassing the record of 132,051 set in January last year.

While the Omicron variant is potentially less severe, health officials have warned that the sheer number of infections could strain hospital systems, some of which have already suspended elective procedures as they struggle to handle the increase in patients and staff shortages.

The surge in cases has disrupted schools, which are struggling with absences of staff, teachers and bus drivers.

Chicago canceled classes for a fourth day as the district and teachers failed to agree on how to deal with increased infections.

New York City suspended service on three subway lines as a large number of workers were out sick, according to its Twitter account. Companies' plans for workers to return to office have also been derailed.

Deaths are averaging 1,700 per day, up from about 1,400 in recent days but within levels seen earlier this winter.

A redesigned COVID-19 vaccine that specifically targets the Omicron variant is likely needed, Pfizer Inc's CEO said on Monday, adding his company could have one ready to launch by March.

(Reporting by Lisa Shumaker in Chicago, Aparupa Mazumder and Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Himani Sarkar)

There’s no excuse good enough to have let Florida’s warehouse of COVID tests expire | Editorial

HE COULD HAVE GIVEN THEM TO TEXAS

THEY NEED THEM😲



the Miami Herald Editorial Board
Mon, January 10, 2022, 

Florida allowed up to a million rapid COVID tests to expire in a warehouse, and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ excuses just don’t add up.

The DeSantis administration has said that the demand for tests fell off late in 2021. That’s true, as far as it goes. But demand came roaring back after Thanksgiving, when the omicron variant took hold. In Miami and other parts of the state, there were lines of cars snaking around parking lots. People waited for hours. Some ran out of gas. Store shelves were stripped of at-home test kits, with some big chains resorting to limits on the number we could buy.

That happened before the government’s tests expired in the final week of December.

So why didn’t the governor offer to distribute the tests to counties and cities back then? Open more testing sites, even? Or just, you know, make the issue public in case someone, somewhere, could use the tests before they expired?

State points fingers

Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, tried some fancy footwork to explain the expired tests during a Jan. 6 press conference. He said the state had been waiting to see if the Food and Drug Administration and the company that makes the rapid tests, Abbott, would extend the expiration date by three months. He said the state had gotten a similar extension prior to that.

OK, fine. They asked for an extension and didn’t get an answer. But as the expiration date on the tests edged closer and closer, why didn’t the administration take action? If it had been monoclonal antibody treatment, which DeSantis has pushed relentlessly, we bet he would have been shouting it from the rooftops.

The blame-shifting and misdirection at the news conference continued. After Guthrie tried to say it was the federal government’s fault for not issuing another extension, DeSantis tried another tack. He pointed out that the Abbott tests required someone trained to administer them, and that at-home tests are better because they don’t require a trained person to use them.

Again, fine. But we didn’t imagine those lines for medical staff-administered tests at official Miami-Dade County sites in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Clearly, the need was there.

That brings us to politics. The expired tests came to light after Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat running for governor against DeSantis, started talking about them on social media. She accused the governor Dec. 30 on Twitter of stockpiling COVID tests that were about to expire, calling the situation either “negligent, or heartless.” It wasn’t until that Jan. 6 press conference that Desantis and Guthrie acknowledged that, actually, yes, they did have up to a million expired tests in a warehouse.
Less testing foolish

The backdrop to all of this is that the governor and his surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, recently started advocating for less COVID testing. Ladapo, with DeSantis at his side, said on Jan. 3 that it was time to “unwind the testing psychology” (though Miami roundly ignored him, with a record-breaking 70,236 COVID tests that day.) We’re not scientists, but if you test less, you’re going to find less COVID. In effect, you’ll be creating an artificially rosier picture of the infection level. We wonder whom that would help.

And driving home the administration’s odd reasoning, DeSantis’ spokeswoman, Christina Pushaw, tweeted on Jan. 6: “Think about it. Before COVID, did anyone go out and seek testing to determine if they were sick? @GovRonDeSantis,” Well, we thought about it and the answer is obvious. We get colonoscopies, we get mammograms, we get X-rays and eye exams — all in the name of prevention, all to make sure things are in good working order. We do our best not to get sick.

Pushaw wrote the Editorial Board Monday that the “governor/governor’s office is not the custodian of COVID tests. Managing the procurement and logistics of COVID tests has always fallen to the Department of Health and Division of Emergency Management.”

Nope, sorry, that doesn’t wash. Both of those agency chiefs answer to the governor.

She noted that the state will be sending a million at-home tests to nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, apparently part of its new “low value” and “high value” testing strategy.

She also said it was a good thing that those tests were stockpiled, in case they were needed. The Division of Emergency Management, she wrote, “was over-prepared. It is a good thing that COVID cases were so low in Florida last fall that there wasn’t enough demand to use up the tests before they expired.”

We don’t have a quarrel with stockpiling tests for future use. And, yes, it is good that the demand was low in the fall. But by December, it was a vastly different story in Florida. And none of that explains why the state failed to act when the tests were getting close to expiration with no extension in sight.

Sitting on your hands while trying to blame the other guy isn’t a great look for a governor running for reelection. And it sure isn’t serving the people of Florida.

US Insurers To Cover Cost Of At-Home Covid Tests
The change comes into effect on Saturday, Jan. 15.

VERONIKA BONDARENKO

Taking an at-home COVID-19 test is about to get a lot less expensive for the average person — starting on Saturday, private insurance providers will be obligated to cover their costs.

In a new policy change brought forth by President Joe Biden, private insurance providers will have to cover the price of up to eight at-home tests per policy holder or dependent.

An at-home test, in which a person swabs one's nose and swirls it around in a sample to obtain an immediate positive or negative results, typically costs around $24 for a set of two packs.

As part of a push to increase testing and curb spread by knowing who should avoid going out, the move only applies to at-home testing as medically-recommended PCR and rapid antigen tests should already be covered by insurers.

Right now, most people who buy COVID-19 tests would get reimbursed after submitting receipts. In the same announcement, the Biden administration encouraged insurance companies to work out arrangements with popular pharmacies like CVS ( (CVS) - Get CVS Health Corporation Report) and Walgreens ( (WBA) - Get Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc Report) so that free tests can be picked up by visitors directly.

"This is all part of our overall strategy to ramp up access to easy-to-use, at-home tests at no cost,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement to the Associated Press. "By requiring private health plans to cover people’s at-home tests, we are further expanding Americans’ ability to get tests for free when they need them."

But while the change will settle the financial problem of at-home testing for some people, actually obtaining one may be another issue altogether — there are currently nationwide shortages due as omicron infections rise. The changes come into effect on Jan. 15; tests purchased after that period will need to be reimbursed.

NORTHERN ONTARIO

Nuclear Waste Management Organization studies road and rail for shipping used fuel bundles

The NWMO has released two planning documents but says they will be revised in years to come

Gary Rinne
a day ago

Hundreds of truckloads of used nuclear fuel bundles could be delivered annually to the Ignace area by truck, rail or both (NWMO photo)

TORONTO — If everything goes according to plan, by the 2040s more than 650 truckloads of spent nuclear fuel could be shipped to Northwestern Ontario on the highway each year.

But the number of trucks carrying used fuel rods would be reduced significantly – to fewer than 250 annually – if the Nuclear Waste Management Organization opted to ship by rail as well.

The NWMO's newly-released preliminary transportation plan provides an overview of transport requirements for both the proposed Ignace-area storage site and the South Bruce site.

However, until a final site selection is made, its preliminary focus is on all-road options.

That's because there is no existing rail infrastructure to the South Bruce location, which makes the use of trucks to that site more likely than the hybrid option.

There are currently more than three million spent fuel bundles in interim storage facilities at eight facilities across Canada.

By the time the country's existing nuclear reactors stop operating, the number of used bundles will increase to 5.5 million.

The preliminary shipping plan includes a detailed description of the containers that could be used, and how they are tested for their ability to withstand the impact of a collision.

The NWMO on Wednesday also released its Transportation Planning Framework which it said sets out its objectives and considerations for transporting nuclear fuel. The document was adjusted after public feedback on a draft issued in 2020.

It said key updates include more discussion of the importance of Indigenous voices in the planning process, and an acknowledgement that people have concerns about existing infrastructure gaps and impacts.

Transportation Engagement Manager Caitlin Burley said NWMO knows the transportation of used fuel is a subject of broad public interest, and it wants to hear from Canadians including Indigenous people "about what they want to see in a safe and socially acceptable transportation plan."

Burley said the planning framework and the preliminary plan are intended to advance NWMO's public dialogue as it develops more detailed site-specific plans in the coming years.

"Like everything else we do, we are interweaving western science and Indigenous knowledge into our transportation planning approaches," Burley added.

The organization expects to decide between Ignace and South Bruce sometime in 2023.

The transportation of used nuclear fuel in Canada is jointly regulated by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Transport Canada.

Regulatory requirements are based on international standards.

NWMO said it will revise its plans every three years over the next two decades to consider evolving best practices and new technologies.

It plans to choose between Ignace and South Bruce sometime next year.

 

The organization has developed a tight working relationship with the Township of Ignace, and has offered that community as well as South Bruce millions of dollars for local infrastructure projects.

 

The current Ignace council recently announced it will leave it to the next council to decide whether to accept a nuclear waste repository nearby.

 

South Bruce, on the other hand, plans to hold a referendum.

 

NWMO continues to consult with Indigenous groups including Wabigoon Lake First Nation near Dryden, whose Chief said in October that "we still hold the authorization to stop the project."

Biden Interior Department defends Trump-era coal-mining plans

The Biden administration in a Friday court filing defended a Trump-era policy that advocates say disregarded a court order to consider coal alternatives in the Powder River Basin

.

In a 2018 decision, the U.S. Federal District Court in Montana ordered the Trump Bureau of Land Management to revise its resource management plans (RMPs) for its field offices in Miles City and Buffalo.

The RMPs outline the amount of coal that is to be sold to companies, mined and burned. The Powder River Basin, an area in Montana and Wyoming that includes Miles City, accounts for more than 40 percent of all coal produced nationwide.

In the decision, the court found that the Bureau of Land Management did not properly consider alternatives that restricted the amount of coal available for strip mining. It also ordered the agency to disclose environmental effects associated with downstream burning of fossil fuels as well as the effects of methane emissions on climate in the short term.

Two years later, while former President Trump was still in office, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) responded to the order but did not consider the costs of alternatives the earlier ruling had required.

In its filing Friday, the agency argued it had properly considered alternatives in compliance with the order.

"BLM's consideration of alternatives that made reduced acreages available for further consideration for coal leasing complied with the Court 's order and with [the National Environmental Policy Act]," the agency said in the filing. After the ruling, agency officials wrote, "Based on the results of the coal-screening processes, both Field Offices considered alternatives that would reduce the amount of acreage available for coal development."

Between them, the two field offices considered a total of five alternatives, the filing claimed.

In a statement Monday, a coalition of environmental groups blasted the filing, saying it ran contrary to the administration's stated goals of tightening environmental regulations rolled back under the Trump administration.

The coalition had earlier filed a brief in support of a motion ordering the Bureau of Land Management to conduct a new analysis.

The organizations involved included the Western Organization of Resource Councils, the Montana Environmental Information Center, the Powder River Basin Resource Council, the Northern Plains Resource Council, the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians as well as attorneys with Earthjustice, the Western Environmental Law Center and the Sierra Club.

"President Biden promised to hold polluters accountable and accelerate the transition to clean and renewable energy. But while the president calls climate change 'code red for humanity,' the administration's BLM is doubling down on Trump-era policies that prop up a dying coal industry at the expense of American taxpayers," the coalition said in a statement. "Why does the Biden administration want to hide the devastating public health impacts of burning federal coal? And if it cares about fighting climate change, why would it refuse to even consider ways to reduce the mining of publicly owned coal?"

YouTube Removes QAnon Videos Falsely Claiming Donald Trump Is Mussolini's Nephew

YouTube has removed viral QAnon videos that promoted the false claim that Donald Trump is the nephew of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

© Getty A split photo of Donald Trump and Benito Mussolini. Conspiracy influencers claimed that Donald Trump is Benito Mussolini's nephew.

The two-part conspiratorial Jesus Strand series, uploaded in October 2021, racked up more than 300,000 views on YouTube until it was removed last week after Newsweek alerted the platform.

In the videos, Dallas QAnon leader Michael Protzman and other conspiracy theory influencers, who between them have tens of thousands of followers on social media, promoted numerous bogus beliefs, which included that Trump was related to the infamous Italian dictator.

Over a series of increasingly fantastical claims, the hosts in the videos claimed Jesus Christ had numerous descendants, including assassinated presidents Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and World War II General George S. Patton.

Further bizarre claims made were that Trump was secretly the son of General Patton, thereby also a member of Christ's bloodline and was the nephew of Mussolini.

One conspiracy influencer said: "Our beloved President Donald Trump is a general like his father George S. Patton, a builder like his uncle Benito Mussolini, and a unifier like his great grandfather Abraham Lincoln."

In the clip, Mussolini's dictatorship is whitewashed with claims his imperialist campaigns in Africa were done to improve the standard of living in Ethiopia and Libya.

But in reality, Mussolini's campaign's in Africa underpinned the expansionist motives of the Axis powers ahead of World War II, and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

The conspiracy influencers further claimed the banking Rothschild and Rockefeller families are among numerous groups who are hunting down members of Christ's bloodline.

In a bid to connect the outlandish beliefs, the influencers referred to gematria, a form of numerology that connects words or phrases to a number sequence.

Through this practice, Protzman linked the words (such as Jesus) to phrases and words associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory.

Protzman has continued to use gematria with his followers who remain in Dallas after they descended on the city in November last year in the hope of seeing John F. Kennedy alive, despite him having died in a plane crash back in 1999.

The claims made in the video series about Christ's bloodline have no basis in fact and are not seriously considered among any of the major Christian denominations.

After Newsweek approached YouTube with information about the QAnon references in the video, part one of the series was removed, although part two remained on the platform.

Since 2018, YouTube has removed tens of thousands of QAnon-related content and accounts as it considers the online movement to be "used to justify real-world violence."

A YouTube spokesperson said in a first statement sent to Newsweek on December 30: "We removed one video flagged to us by Newsweek for violating our harassment policy, which prohibits content that targets someone by suggesting they are complicit in a conspiracy theory that is used to justify real-world violence, including QAnon.

"We enforce our policies rigorously and since 2018, we've removed tens of thousands of QAnon-videos and terminated hundreds of channels."

Newsweek then sent an additional message to YouTube, which mentioned cases where QAnon references were made and part two was later removed on January 4.

In a second statement, YouTube told Newsweek: "Upon further review, we removed the second video for violating our harassment policy."

While the viral videos have been removed, Newsweek has found the clips have been re-uploaded by smaller accounts back onto the platform.

The Jesus Strand video series has also been found on the online video service Rumble as well as being shared in Telegram groups linked to Protzman.

Newsweek has contacted YouTube and Rumble for further comment.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Lawsuit accuses 16 major universities, including Yale and Northwestern, of illegally collaborating to limit students' financial aid
asheffey@businessinsider.com (Ayelet Sheffey) 

© Provided by Business Insider Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, in 2015. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

A suit accuses 16 universities of illegally restricting financial aid, The Wall Street Journal said.

It said schools, including Yale, illegally weighed students' abilities to pay when determining aid.

The plaintiffs seek damages and an end to schools' collaboration in calculating financial need.

A new lawsuit accuses major universities, including Ivy League schools, of engaging in illegal behavior that restricts students' access to federal aid.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that five former students were suing 16 schools in the US, including Yale, Georgetown, and Columbia, accusing them of engaging in price-fixing and unfairly cutting off some students from financial aid by collaborating on financial-need calculations.

The Journal reported that schools are legally allowed to collaborate on their financial-aid formulas, but the lawsuit said the schools weighed the students' ability to pay in some situations, which is not permitted under the law. Attorneys in the suit said more than 170,000 former students who received partial financial aid from the 16 schools could be eligible to become plaintiffs in the case.

Other defendants in the lawsuit include Northwestern University, Brown University, the University of Chicago, Dartmouth, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"While conspiring together on a method for awarding financial aid, which raises net tuition prices, defendants also consider the wealth of applicants and their families in making admissions decisions," Eric Rosen, a partner at one of the firms that filed the suit, told The Journal.

Representatives for all of the mentioned schools either declined to comment on pending litigation or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

There's historical precedent for the type of anticompetitive behavior accused in the lawsuit. In 1991, all members of the Ivy League were charged with price-fixing, which is when competitors get together to set the price of a product, often making prices higher for consumers. As a result, Congress passed legislation that exempted those schools from antitrust violations as long as the collaborations on aid were need-blind — meaning not taking into account the student's ability to pay. This led to the creation of the 568 Presidents Group, a group of universities that meets a few times a year to discuss aid calculations on a need-blind basis.

But the new lawsuit argues that schools are collaborating on financial aid and admissions practices that aren't completely need-blind.

"Under a true need-blind admissions system, all students would be admitted without regard to the financial circumstances of the student or student's family," the lawsuit said. "Far from following this practice, at least nine Defendants for many years have favored wealthy applicants in the admissions process."

The Journal reported that the lawsuit is seeking damages and a permanent end to the schools' collaboration in determining and awarding financial aid.

GM recognizes California's right to set emissions rules, in reversal from Trump era

General Motors completed a full reversal of its support for the Trump administration's stance on emissions on Monday as it recognized California's right to set vehicle emissions standards and rules. In a letter sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom and Liane Randolph, the chair of the California Air Resources Board, the automaker affirmed its commitment to a zero-emissions future while recognizing the state's authority.

© Provided by Roadshow GM is now backing California. General Motors

The move places GM on the list of "CARB-aligned OEMs," so the state will be able to purchase GM vehicles for government fleets. The company also affirmed support for CARB goals and attested it will support the state's regulations.

The reversal comes after GM notably sided with the Trump administration as the government and state battled over California's rights to set its own emissions standards. GM, along with other automakers such as Toyota, preferred a single national standard. In late 2020, shortly after President Joe Biden's election, GM withdrew support from the Trump administration to strip California of its emissions-setting capabilities. Cross-town rival Ford, notably, did not back the Trump administration.

"GM is proud to share California's vision of an all-electric future with zero emissions," Omar Vargas, GM vice president and head of Global Public Policy, said in a statement.

"GM is joining California in our fight for clean air and emission reduction as part of the company's pursuit of a zero-emissions future," Gov. Newsom said in his own statement. "This agreement will help accelerate California's nation-leading commitment to tackling the climate crisis. We welcome GM in our clean vehicle revolution."

Under the Biden administration, the US will adhere to stricter fuel economy standards that reverse cuts made under President Donald Trump. Biden also targets 50% of new vehicles sold to be electric cars by the end of this decade. Locally, in California, the state plans to ban the sale of new cars with an internal-combustion engine by 2035.

A White House economist says it's a 'Great Upgrade,' not a Great Resignation, as workers quit for higher pay
insider@insider.com (Juliana Kaplan,Madison Hoff) 

© Provided by Business Insider Fast food workers and activists demonstrate outside McDonald's downtown flagship restaurant on July 31, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images

National Economic Council Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti said that workers are experiencing a "Great Upgrade."

Ramamurti was referencing the elevated number of workers quitting low-wage work and job switching.

The country seems to be grappling with a wage shortage as workers leave behind low paying jobs for better prospects.

A record-breaking number of workers quit their jobs in November — and the White House is celebrating.

That's because workers in the lowest-paying sectors decided to throw in the towel and bid goodbye to their old jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest data release. In leisure and hospitality alone, a record 1 million workers quit their job. At the same time, hiring boomed and job openings fell slightly, suggesting that workers weren't permanently leaving the workforce, but rather job switching.

National Economic Council Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti tweeted out a chart from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute that showed how quits were elevated in lower-paying sectors. The chart in particular compared the rates of quits and hires by industry:

"Workers are quitting to go take new, better-paying jobs. It's not the Great Resignation -- it's the Great Upgrade," Ramamurti wrote. He said that it's "exactly the kind of economy" President Joe Biden said he wanted to create.

The ongoing pushback against a wage shortage, as workers leave low-wage jobs for higher-paid work, comes after decades of stagnant and declining wages.

"I think it's very good that we're seeing wage growth in our country," Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh told Insider last week. "I think it's good, particularly on our low income workers."

Indeed, workers with less than a college degree have seen their wage expectations skyrocket up, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Survey of Consumer Expectations Labor Market Survey. The lowest wage they'd be willing to accept for a new job has grown by about 16.5% from November 2019 to November 2021. Nick Bunker, an economist at Indeed, pointed out on Twitter that the entire increase in how much workers expect from a new job has been driven by workers with less than a college degree.

"It's time for employers to realize that it's frontline workers like us who keep the doors open — and if they want us to keep showing up they need to respect us, protect us and pay us what we deserve," Maribel Cornejo, a McDonald's worker and leader with the Fight for $15 in Houston, Texas, previously said in a statement to Insider.

But even as wages rise and workers act with their feet to drive up pay, the federal minimum wage has not increased since 2009. It remains at $7.25 an hour. A push last year to raise it to $15 an hour as part of Biden's American Rescue Plan ultimately failed, with eight moderate Democrats voting against the proposal.

"I'm hopeful that we can get the $15 an hour minimum wage through the Congress," Walsh said. "It's a baseline wage for workers."

What the public keeps getting wrong about pedophilia


Alia E. Dastagir, USA TODAY
Mon, January 10, 2022

Pedophilia is viewed as among the most horrifying social ills. But scientists who study the sexual disorder say it is also among the most misunderstood.

When most of the public thinks of pedophilia, they assume it's synonymous with child sexual abuse, a pervasive social problem that has exploded to crisis levels online. Researchers who study pedophilia say the term describes an attraction, not an action, and using it interchangeably with "abuse" fuels misperceptions.

The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders said pedophilia is defined by “recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children.“ Scientists have in recent decades improved their understanding of pedophilia's causes, prenatal and early childhood risk factors as well as how pedophiles can better control impulses.

One of the most significant findings is that scientists who study the disorder say pedophilia is determined in the womb, though environmental factors may influence whether someone acts on an urge to abuse.

"The evidence suggests it is inborn. It's neurological," said James Cantor, a clinical psychologist, sex researcher and former editor-in-chief of, "Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment." "Pedophilia is the attraction to children, regardless of whether the (person) ever ... harms."

Not all people who sexually abuse children are pedophiles. Some pedophiles never abuse children, experts say, and some people who sexually abuse children do not sexually prefer them, but use them as a surrogate for an adult partner. They may be disinhibited and anti-social, with impulse control problems.

Sexual abuse at camp: Three victims, the man they call a pedophile and the lifelong impact of child sexual trauma

"There are child molesters and pedophiles. If you think of Venn diagrams, there's a lot of overlap," said Anna Salter, a psychologist, author, and internationally recognized expert who has done over 500 evaluations of high-risk sex offenders. "There are the people who are sexually attracted to children ... (and then) there are some people who molest kids who are not pedophiles. They molest kids because of anger. They molest kids because they're scared of adult women. They molest kids to get revenge, but they don't actually have an age preference for prepubescent children."

CHILD MOLESTERS /MURDERERS  INDIGENOUS CHILDREN 

'This is not something that people choose'

Michael Seto, forensic research director at the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group in Canada, said there is more neuroscientific knowledge of pedophilia than ever before. MRI research is showing how sexual interests develop in the brain.

"I think as a field, we've accepted the idea that this is not something that people choose," Seto said.

Seto said pedophilia is something people are born with or at least have a predisposition to. Evidence shows men are more likely to have pedophilia than women. This aligns with research showing men are more likely to have other paraphilias, including exhibitionism, voyeurism and sadism. Men are also more likely than women to commit criminal acts.

Research also offers insights into risk factors. Seto said men with pedophilia have a much higher incidence of early childhood head injury. One study on diagnosed pedophiles showed they are more likely to report their mothers had received psychiatric treatment, which suggests the disorder may be influenced by genetic factors.

Pedophiles and the choice to abuse

Salter said when she conducts trainings, she often asked the audience, "How many of you have ever had an inappropriate sexual thought?"

If no one raises their hand, she tells them they're in denial.

"Of course, people have had inappropriate sexual thoughts. You may be attracted to your wife's sister. You may be attracted to a 16-year-old postpubescent babysitter. It doesn't mean you act on it," she said. "Pedophiles may not have control over the fact that they are attracted to kids, but they are responsible for whether they do or don't act on it."

Salter's conceptualization of the dynamics of sexual abuse involves a motor and brakes. Many people experience inappropriate sexual thoughts (the motor) but there are brakes (empathy, for example) that keep someone from acting on them. For a pedophile, the motor is their sexual attraction to children, but they can still use brakes to stop from abusing.

Salter said more research is needed to understand why some pedophiles do not act on their attractions, but her clinical observations suggest at least some pedophiles with bad brakes are raised in homes where they were mistreated or neglected. There is also a genetic component, as some pedophiles show psychopathic traits.

The controversy over 'destigmatizing pedophilia'

An academic at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, who talked about “destigmatizing pedophilia” and referred to pedophiles as "minor-attracted people" resigned in November following outcry over the phrase. Allyn Walker argued destigmatizing the attraction would allow more people to seek help and ultimately prevent child sexual abuse.

The Child Protection System is used to track down and convict individuals and networks that sexually exploit children.

There is growing support in the field for Walker's point of view. While Cantor said there's no treatment that can turn a pedophile into a non-pedophile, pedophiles can be taught self-control and compensatory strategies, which he said is more likely if they're under the care of a professional. He argues that pedophiles need to be able to access therapy, which can be difficult since those afflicted may be ashamed to seek help or worried about being reported to the authorities if they do.

Josh Duggar's sex abuse allegations: Why treatment in this area is complex, controversial

"Where do you want the person? Therapy is where he should be going, and all we've done is make it very, very difficult for a pedophile to get that," Cantor said. "Which to me is insane. It makes the problem worse."

Salter said while pedophiles do not choose their attractions, she does not believe those who offend are being punished unfairly. Treatment should be encouraged, but without minimizing the impact abuse has on victims' lives.

"It's a choice to act on child molestation," she said. "We don’t need to say, 'Offending isn’t so bad. It really isn’t your fault. ... You really couldn’t control it. You are a victim of a punitive society.' We need to say, 'Offending is devastating. It damages the lives of victims. It has damaged your life. You can learn to control yourself. You have the capacity to do better.'"

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pedophiles: We all think we understand pedophilia. What we get wrong,