Elizabeth Warren said canceling $50,000 in student debt would give 36 million borrowers 'permanent total relief'

Lauren Frias
Thu, January 27, 2022

Sen. Elizabeth Warren at a press conference on July 23, 2019, in Washington, DC.Win McNamee/Getty Images

Sen. Elizabeth Warren spoke at a town hall Thursday as part of a push for student-debt forgiveness.

She repeated arguments from a letter Democrats sent urging President Joe Biden to act "immediately."

The letter argued Biden should forgive up to $50,000 a borrower before the end of the payment pause.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday said canceling $50,000 in student-loan debt could give 36 million borrowers "permanent total relief."

Warren appeared at a virtual town hall with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Ayanna Pressley to continue Democrats' push for broad student-loan forgiveness.

The Massachusetts senator reiterated her call on President Joe Biden and his administration to "do the right thing" and offer relief to student-loan borrowers.


"Canceling $50,000 of student-loan debt would give 36 million Americans permanent total relief," Warren said during the town hall. "That would be the end of their debt burden. And it would aid millions more by significantly reducing the principal on their debt."

Federal student-loan debt totaled $1.6 trillion in 2021, held by more than 43 million borrowers.

The Biden administration has faced mounting pressure to fulfill his campaign promise and cancel at least $10,000 in student-loan debt — a figure some Democrats have been urging him to raise significantly.

More than 80 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter this week urging Biden to "immediately" cancel student debt before May, when the pause on payments is scheduled to end.

The letter, which mentioned the $50,000 and 36 million figures that Warren cited at the town hall, also urged the administration to publicly release a memo outlining its authority to provide student-loan relief to borrowers; thus far the administration has instead asked Congress to send a student-debt bill to Biden's desk.

"When Elizabeth and I started on this, they denied that they had the authority to do it — they don't deny that anymore," Schumer said during the Thursday town hall. "We've made the conclusive case."

"The president can do it with a flick of the pen — all he has to do is sign an executive order. He doesn't need a single Congress member on his side — he just has to do it," he continued, adding: "And if the administration signs this, it will provide immediate relief to millions of Americans currently saddled with this awful debt."

Jen Psaki responds to a question about Democrats' demands for student-debt cancellation by saying 'no one has been required to pay a single dime' in federal loans under Biden

Ayelet Sheffey
Wed, January 26, 2022, 2:26 PM·3 min read

Democratic lawmakers urged Biden to release a memo on his legal ability to cancel student debt.

Psaki touted the two-year pause in student-loan repayment in response to a letter from 85 Democrats.

The White House remains near silent on the memo and Biden's promise to forgive student debt broadly.

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers asked the White House for answers on the student-debt crisis on Wednesday, and the White House responded by touting already implemented relief.

During a press briefing, a reporter asked Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, about a letter that 85 Democratic lawmakers sent to President Joe Biden on Wednesday demanding the release of a memo that outlines his legal ability to cancel student debt broadly and the forgiveness of up to $50,000 in student debt for every federal borrower.

When asked if Biden planned to release the contents of the memo, Psaki responded:

"No one has been required to pay a single dime in federal student loans since the president took office over a year ago, and I'll also add that our country is seeing one of the strongest economic recoveries in history, and the pause announced in December gives some breathing room for several more months to borrowers who are still coping with the pandemic."

She added that "the president supports Congress sending him a bill that would provide $10,000 in debt relief, and he continues to look into what debt relief can be taken administratively."

Psaki was referring to the three extensions of the student-loan-payment pause under Biden, with the most recent extension being through May 1.

Ron Klain, the White House chief of staff, told Politico last April that Biden asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to create a memo on the president's legal authority to forgive $50,000 in student loans per person. As Insider reported in November, redacted documents obtained by the Debt Collective, the nation's first debtors union, indicated that the memo has existed since April 5, and that White House officials have seen its contents but haven't made them public.

The White House has yet to acknowledge those documents and has stayed relatively quiet about Biden's campaign promise to approve $10,000 in student-debt forgiveness for every federal borrower. For example, during his first solo press conference of the year, Biden ignored a question from a reporter who asked if he planned to fulfill that promise.

And in December, Psaki reiterated her Wednesday comments on the matter, telling reporters that if Congress sent Biden a bill to cancel student debt broadly, he would be "happy to sign it."

But Democratic lawmakers are growing restless and want answers from the White House. New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez said during a virtual roundtable on Wednesday that "it would be good to be publicly known" whether Biden has the legal authority to cancel student debt.

"I have not read the memo," he added, "but it is my view that the memo should ultimately certify that the president has the authority to do exactly what we're advocating for."

Xiomara Castro: Honduras' first female president sworn in

Thu., January 27, 2022

Xiomara Castro has been sworn in as Honduras' first female president, amid a political crisis that threatens her plans for the impoverished nation.

Speaking at the ceremony, the leftist leader said she was taking the lead of a "broken" country - but vowed to pursue social justice and transparency.

Ms Castro, 62, has promised to tackle powerful drug trafficking gangs and liberalise strict abortion laws.

But her agenda has been undermined by a feud in her Libre (Free) Party.

Ms Castro's husband, Manuel Zelaya, ruled the country from 2006 until 2009, when he was ousted by a coup. She ran for office twice in the years following his removal from power, before her victory in the election last November.

Since then, Ms Castro has enjoyed a wave of positivity among the public. Her arrival marks the end to the 12-year reign of the right-wing National Party, which has been plagued by scandals and corruption accusations.

Thousands of people joined the inauguration ceremony at the national stadium in the capital, Tegucigalpa.

"The economic catastrophe that I'm inheriting is unparalleled in the history of our country," she said in her speech, highlighting the need to restructure the national debt.

But she promised: "My government will not continue the maelstrom of looting that has condemned generations of young people to pay the debt they incurred behind their back."

US Vice-President Kamala Harris was among the foreign officials who attended the inauguration - receiving a huge wave of applause from the gathered crowd.

Ms Harris received a red-carpet welcome in Honduras

The Biden administration hopes Ms Castro will fight corruption, poverty and violence, long-standing problems that have helped fuel illegal immigration from the Central American country to the US.

Taiwanese Vice-President William Lai was also at the ceremony, as Honduras is one of the few countries in the world to have diplomatic ties with Taipei.

Ms Castro replaces the divisive President Juan Orlando Hernández, who has been dogged by allegations of ties to the drugs trade after his brother was jailed for trafficking in the US - claims he has repeatedly denied.

FROM THE ARCHIVE: Has Honduras become a 'narco-state'?

The presidential sash was placed upon her by her preferred choice for leader of the congress, Luis Redondo.

But she takes office amid a dispute with dissidents in her own party.

Ms Castro had reached an agreement with another candidate, Salvador Nasralla, who stood down from the race to strengthen her chances of victory.

In return, Ms Castro pledged to support Mr Redondo, who is from Mr Nasralla's party, as Congress leader. But a group of Libre lawmakers rebelled against the proposed candidate, and aligned with the National Party to vote for one of its members to head Congress.

As a result, the rival candidates have each declared themselves head of Congress - and the deadlock could result in legislative paralysis.

Xiomara Castro Takes Office Today in Honduras

January 27, 2022

Xiomara Castro de Zelaya asume hoy la presidencia de Honduras. (27.01.2022).
By La Prensa

HAVANA TIMES – Xiomara Castro, the first woman ever to govern Honduras, will assume her mandate this Thursday, January 27, in a country hit hard by poverty, emigration, drug trafficking and corruption. Meanwhile, she also must quench the crisis in the Honduran Parliament.

In a message on Twitter, the new Honduran president announced: “it’s the beginning of the Government of the People.”

“Twelve years of struggle and twelve years of resistance. Today begins the Government of the People. Good morning, Honduras!” tweeted 62-year-old Castro. Xiomara Castro is the wife of former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, whose government was overturned by a military coup on June 28, 2009.

The new leader will officially assume power at 12 noon local time, in a ceremony to be held at the remodeled Honduran National Stadium in Tegucigalpa. Stadium doors opened at 4 am. She’ll take the oath before 29,000 spectators, including guests of honor US Vice President Kamala Harris and Felipe VI, King of Spain.

Thousands of Hondurans from different regions of the country formed long lines beginning in the wee hours of the morning to witness Castro’s inauguration. Castro won a decisive victory last November 28 in Honduras’ eleventh consecutive general elections, following their return to Constitutional rule in 1980.

Castro will be the first woman in the country’s history to assume the Honduran presidency. In addition, her victory under the banner of the Libertad y Refundacion [“Freedom and Rededication”] or LIBRE Party, founded in 2011, marks the first time that a left-leaning party has won power in Honduras.

“God willing that Mrs. Xiomara makes the situation better for the poorest people. (…) Women are our mothers, and a conscientious mother will get the country moving forward,” stated Santos Barahona, a retired Honduran, in downtown Tegucigalpa.
Facing a rocky start in Congress

Deputies from Xiomara Castro’s LIBRE party dissented with her tactical choice for Head of Congress. On January 23, a splinter group met separately, in an effort to forge their own Congressional majority. Photo: La Prensa

Castro won the presidency, but not a majority of seats in the 128-seat legislature. The Honduran Congress remains split between several factions, including the outgoing National Party. In order to move forward with her plans, Castro will need the support of Parliament.

However, her first attempts to cement a Congressional alliance met with disaster, when a group of deputies from her party split off. Two “Congresses” then met separately last weekend, each electing their own Parliamentary President.

Castro supported the candidacy of Luis Redondo from the Honduran Salvation Party (PSH). This had been part of a previous agreement, in order to forge an alliance with that party. The former PSH candidate for the presidency, Salvador Nasralla, had agreed to step down prior to the November election, in order to become Castro’s running mate and thus further assure her victory.

With 30 of the 50 LIBRE deputies supporting Castro’s choice, a reduced group of deputies and alternates met last weekend to ratify Redondo as Congressional Head. Castro then invited him to preside over the inauguration ceremony.

Meanwhile, on the same weekend of January 21–23, a dissenting group of 20 elected LIBRE deputies convened at an alternate site, along with deputies from the rival National Party and the Liberal Party. That group endorsed Jorge Calix, a LIBRE deputy, to lead the Congress.

Calix, who received support from over 70 of the 128 members of Congress, continues to insist that he, not Redondo, is the legally elected President of Congress.

Jorge Calix, deputy for the Libertad y Refundacion (LIBRE) party.

In an attempt to put an end to the crisis, Castro has now offered Calix the position of Cabinet Leader in her new government, but he has yet to accept her offer.

On Friday, January 21, the new president expelled 18 dissident LIBRE deputies from the party, accusing them of allying with the National Party of outgoing president Juan Orlando Hernandez to block the transformations that Castro has promised. Hernandez has been accused by prosecutors in New York of maintaining ties to narcotrafficking. His brother, former Congressman “Tony” Hernandez is serving a life sentence in the United States for that crime. Both brothers deny the charges against them.

“It’s key that Castro be able to form a cabinet made up of those who have honest trajectories. There’s a long history of corruption and ties to organized crime within the outgoing party,” commented the National University professor and political analyst Eugenio Sosa.

Read more feature reports here on Havana Times.

Xiomara Castro inaugurated as first woman president of Honduras, with US pledging support

Xiomara Castro was sworn in as Honduras’ first woman president on Thursday in front of a cheering crowd including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who pledged U.S. government support to stem migration and fight corruption.

© Luis Acosta, AFP

Castro’s inauguration ends the eight-year rule of Juan Orlando Hernandez, a one-time U.S. ally who has been accused in U.S. courts of corruption and links to drug traffickers. It comes as her government faces tests over a sharply divided Congress, rising debt and relations with China.

Castro, flanked by her husband, former President Manuel Zelaya, was sworn in at a packed soccer stadium where supporters applauded her vows to fix the country’s massive debt burden.

“The economic catastrophe that I’m inheriting is unparalleled in the history of our country,” a somber Castro said in her inaugural address.

Harris, who was loudly applauded when introduced during the inauguration, congratulated Castro over her “democratic election.”

In a meeting shortly after the ceremony, Harris promised to collaborate on migration issues, economic development and fighting impunity, and said she welcomed Castro’s plans to request United Nations help to establish an anti-corruption commission.

Harris has been tasked with addressing the “root causes” of migration in Central America’s impoverished Northern Triangle of countries, but her trip comes as U.S. President Joe Biden’s popularity at home has waned and his immigration strategy has stalled.

“We do very much want and intend to do what we can to support this new president,” said one administration official.

Castro tweeted that she appreciated Harris’ visit and the Biden administration’s willingness to support the Honduran government.

Sostuve un encuentro con la @VP Kamala Harris. Abordamos temas de interés común, como la migración, la lucha contra la corrupción y el narcotráfico. Agradezco su visita al país y la disposición de los EEUU de apoyar a nuestro gobierno en asuntos prioritarios para nuestro pueblo. pic.twitter.com/yj1DBKF3kv— Xiomara Castro de Zelaya (@XiomaraCastroZ) January 27, 2022

Harris also pledged to send Honduras several hundred thousand more COVID-19 vaccine doses along with 500,000 syringes and $1.3 million for health and educational facilities.

The two did not discuss China, she told reporters.

U.S. officials want to work with Castro both to curb illegal immigration from Central America and shore up international support for Taiwan as part of its efforts to stem China’s influence.

Honduras is one of the few countries maintaining diplomatic ties with Taipei instead of Beijing, and Castro during her campaign backtracked on comments that she might switch allegiance to China as president.

Taiwanese Vice President William Lai attended the inauguration in a bid to bolster ties with Castro’s government. Harris said the two spoke over their common interest in Central America.

Luis Leon, director of the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy in Central America, said Harris’ arrival was a boost for Castro in the dispute over control of Congress and in addressing Honduras’ weak economy.
“Maelstrom of looting”

Castro said it was “practically impossible” to make current debt payments without a restructuring, after debt jumped sevenfold under her two conservative predecessors.

The country’s total debt stands at about $15.5 billion, or nearly 60% of gross domestic product, an economic problem Castro frequently highlighted ahead of her landslide win in November.

“My government will not continue the maelstrom of looting that has condemned generations of young people to pay the debt they incurred behind their back,” she added.

She vowed to immediately give more than 1 million poor Hondurans free electricity, with bigger consumers subsidizing the cost.

Castro, who describes herself as a democratic socialist, has vowed to tackle corruption, poverty and violence, chronic problems that have fueled U.S.-bound migrants.

But her legislative program has been jeopardized by renegade politicians from her leftist Libre party who allied with the opposition National Party to vote for one of its members to head Congress, breaking a pact with a key electoral ally.

Castro also takes office at a time of controversy for her predecessor Hernandez, who had been a longstanding U.S. ally in immigration and anti-narcotics operations.

U.S. Congresswoman Norma Torres has called for Hernandez’s indictment on drug charges, and for U.S. officials to request his extradition.

But Hernandez may be shielded from extradition for up to four years as a new member of the Central American parliament. He has repeatedly denied accusations of corruption and links to drug traffickers.

Hernandez’s brother last year was sentenced by a U.S. judge to life in prison plus 30 years for drug trafficking.

(REUTERS)

'Living in a dark era': one year since Myanmar's coup



'Living in a dark era': one year since Myanmar's coupA year after Myanmar's coup, the junta is struggling to contain the backlash unleashed by its power grab, with daily clashes and swathes of the country outside of its control (AFP/STR)

Thu, January 27, 2022

Hours before Myanmar's new parliament was due to convene last February, troops rounded up lawmakers in dawn raids, ending a brief democratic interlude and setting the stage for months of bloodshed.

A year later the country's latest junta is struggling to contain the backlash unleashed by its power grab, with daily clashes and swathes of the country outside of its control.

Almost 1,500 civilians have been killed and over 11,000 arrested in its ongoing crackdown, according to a local monitor, with rights groups accusing junta troops of torture and extrajudicial killings.

But for a pro-democracy movement angered by the military's power-grab, ending its decades-long entanglement in Myanmar politics once and for all is the only option.

That means, analysts say, there is no end in sight to the crisis that has devastated the economy, emptied schools and hospitals across the country and sent thousands fleeing to neighbouring Thailand and India.

"We are still living in a dark era," said Htoo Aung -- using a pseudonym for fear of reprisal -- at a market in commercial hub Yangon.

"We have to think how we can struggle on through our daily lives under this military dictatorship rather than about our goals, our dreams in the future."

In Yangon and other cities, the junta is projecting a return to normality as traffic jams return and shopping malls slowly fill up again.

But, days before the February 1 anniversary, it is taking no chances.

Authorities recently announced that those honking car horns or banging pots and pans -- popular protests in cities following the coup -- could be charged with treason or under an anti-terror law.

But daily clashes between the dozens of "people's defence forces" (PDFs) that have sprung up across the country to fight back against the putsch show no sign of abating.

The ex-protesters and villagers that fill their ranks have dealt some painful blows to junta troops with guerilla ambushes and mine attacks, even as they struggle to secure heavy weapons.

A shadow group of lawmakers claims almost 3,000 junta troops died in fighting with PDFs between June and November -- the junta says 168 soldiers and police were killed between February and late October.

- Air strikes -

The year of conflict has taken a toll on the military, which is facing morale and recruitment problems, said International Crisis Group's Myanmar senior advisor Richard Horsey.

"But these challenges are very unlikely to force the military to capitulate or lose its grip on state power," Horsey said.

Junta troops were blamed for a Christmas Eve massacre that left the charred remains of more than 30 people on a highway in the east of the country, including two staff members of the Save the Children charity.

Earlier in January it ordered air and artillery strikes on a state capital in the east to prevent anti-coup fights from seizing ground in the town.

Myanmar's myriad ethnic armed groups have largely held back from throwing their lot in with the democracy movement thanks to a longstanding mistrust of the majority Bamar elite -- epitomised by Aung San Suu Kyi and her ousted National League for Democracy.

It is a trust deficit that a shadow "National Unity Government" dominated by lawmakers from her party, and which has widespread support, is trying to overcome.

Suu Kyi's closed-door trial in the military-built capital continues, and in the coming months she will likely be sentenced on a clutch of corruption charges -- each of which carries a maximum 15-year jail term.

- 'Knockout blow' -

With the generals shielded at the United Nations by China and Russia -- and the crisis jostling for attention with wars in Ethiopia, Yemen and Ukraine -- many in Myanmar have given up on help arriving from the international community.

The military is killing protesters almost daily "without the world noticing," said Htoo Aung.

The generals have promised a return to multiparty democracy and fresh elections by 2023.

But "it is impossible to see how they could do so given their tenuous control of much of the country," said the Crisis Group's Horsey.

It seems "very unlikely that either side will be able to deliver a knockout blow", he said.

"The stage is set for months, possibly years of violent confrontation."

bur-rma/je/dva

Ex-government workers mine for salvation in Afghan mountains

Issued on: 28/01/2022 -

A tiny piece of emerald from Afghanistan's Mikeni Valley can be all that separates miners from extreme poverty

 Mohd RASFAN AFP

Mikeni (Afghanistan) (AFP) – In the bone-splitting chill of the Afghan mountains, Mohammad Israr Muradi digs through coarse earth spilling from the open mouth of an emerald mine.

With an improvised sieve and a few splashes of water, the former police officer scours a slag heap for fragments of the green gemstone, swarmed by dozens of others vying for the same prize.

Measured in a dusty open palm, the emerald pieces, pried from the bowels of the Mikeni Valley 130 kilometres (about 80 miles) northeast of Kabul, are no bigger than peanuts.

But they are just about enough to assuage total poverty in a nation mired in humanitarian catastrophe.

"The emeralds we find, we sell them for 50, 80, 100 or 150 Afghanis (between 50 cents and US$1.50)," Muradi said



Afghan workers perform clean raw stones with water before searching for emeralds in the bitter cold of the Mikeni Valley in Panjshir province 

Mohd RASFAN AFP

He was once head of the anti-terrorism police in neighbouring Paryan district.

Unemployed when the Taliban overran Kabul in mid-August, he initially tried his hand as a secondhand clothing salesman on the streets of the Afghan capital.

"It didn't work out," said the 25-year-old. Without any source of income, he was "forced" to head for the hills.

- Glimmer of hope -

Echoing booms roll across the valley, 3,000 metres above sea level, as blasting teams carve out shafts crisscrossing the innards of the mountains.

Systematic mining in the Mikeni Valley only began in the 1970s and remains largely artisanal 

Mohd RASFAN AFP

Locals have known about the presence of emeralds in Panjshir province for thousands of years.

Systematic mining only began in the 1970s and remains largely artisanal, but the gems found here are compared to Colombian emeralds, the most sought-after on the planet.

Each shaft is co-owned by several dozen partners and manned by a team of about 10 miners, digging lengths of more than 500 metres in search of glimmering veins of quartz.

But the last workers to arrive at the camp are relegated to the thankless, tedious and low-paid work at the mine entrances, where rickety trolleys tip out mounds of rubble.

Emeralds found by the Mikeni Valley's miners are often sold for as little as 50 cents Mohd RASFAN AFP

It is a far cry from the decent job 27-year-old Gulabuddin Mohammadi previously had earning 35,000 Afghanis ($340) per month in the now defunct army.

The mines are a two-hour hike from the bottom of the valley up precarious paths of grimy ice, cresting at a mud hut village supplied by donkeys and powered by petrol generators.

But its far-flung location is part of the attraction for Mohammadi, a seven-year veteran who was looking for sanctuary when the army crumbled as US troops withdrew in August.

Many former soldiers and police officers have come here to eke out a living while evading potential reprisals for their roles in the previous Western-backed regime.

The Taliban have publicly proclaimed an amnesty, but human rights groups warn more than 100 people from those groups have been executed or "disappeared".

Living conditions around the mines are harsh, with workers complaining of a lack of water and access to medical treatment 

Mohd RASFAN AFP

But for the moment, the squalor of the camp seems like the greatest injustice on Mohammadi's mind.

"We are treated like cattle," he sighed. "We have no real place to live, we are in tents. We have no water, no fire, no clinic if we get sick."

The withered Afghan economy means he has little choice of how else to feed his 25 family members.

Since their chaotic withdrawal, Western powers have frozen billions of dollars in overseas Afghan assets and aid, which propped up the country.

- Return to Kabul -

The mountainous redoubt of Panjshir has historically been a nest of resistance against outside forces.

The anti-Soviet mujahideen mustered here in the 1980s, and anti-Taliban forces rallied among the ridges when the hardline Islamists first ruled the country from 1996 to 2001.

The emeralds found in Afghanistan's Mikeni Valley are often compared to those found in Colombia, the most sought-after on the planet

 Mohd RASFAN AFP

But this time, the Mikeni Valley has not escaped the Taliban's touch.

The province was the last to fall in September, but when Taliban soldiers arrived there was little resistance.

Fighters travelled up to the mine a few days later, recalled Mohammad Riyah Nizami, a former senior Kabul police officer who worked there at the time.

They examined men's hands to identify newcomers with skin not yet roughened by mine work, and rounded up 20 who were later released.

"Nobody told them we were police, army or security services," said Nizami.

The Taliban, it turned out, were looking for fighters mobilising against their new government.

Nizami was lucky during his time at the mine. His job, secured through a friend, was to haul a cart through the mineshafts, a posting with a 400 Afghani (almost $4) daily salary.

Now he is back in Kabul, at the request of Taliban officials seeking his computer skills.

Muradi is ready to do the same.

The Taliban want to rebuild Afghanistan's army and police force.

For years, it was his task to chase them down. Now, he says, "If they call me back to work, I will go."

© 2022 AFP

Remembrance of 1962 Isly massacre: 'A really difficult period in French history'

 

Dr. Fiona Barclay, Senior Lecturer at the University of Stirling, joins France 24 on a day of remembrance, marking the 1962 Isly massacre in Algiers. "It really marks the moment," explains Dr. Barclay, "at which point the conflict slips from being an official conflict between France and the FLN (National Liberation Front), and the Algerians fighting for independence, to become almost a Franco-French war." During the commemoration, she believes that French President Emmanuel Macron struck the right tone for the community of former French settlers in Algeria, "but he's always walking a tightrope between the different constituencies who have a stake in the Algerian War and its aftermath."  As Dr. Barclay points out, "There is this history of appealing to the 'Pied-Noir' community in the weeks running up to presidential elections."

Nietzsche's Antichrist: The Birth of Modern Science out of the Spirit of Religion

Babette Babich

2014, Jahrbuch für Religionsphilosophie

57 Views21 Pages

1 File ▾

Friedrich Nietzsche,

Hellenism,

Greek Architecture,

Anaximander,

Ancient Greek Science and Philosophy

Show more ▾

Text is a pre-correction proof copy. Abstract Nietzsche argued that the Greeks were in possessions of every theoretical, mathematical, logical, and technological antecedent for the development of what could be modern science. But if they had all these necessary prerequisites what else could they have needed? Not only had the ancient Greeks no religious world-view antagonistic to scientific inquiry, they also lacked the Judeo-Christian promissory ideal of salvation in a future life (after death). Subsequently, when Greek culture had been irretrievably lost, what Nietzsche regarded as the "decadent" Socratic ideal of reason ultimately and in connection with the preludes of religion and alchemy developed into modern science and its attendant ideal of progress and redemption not in the afterlife but in "the future."

https://www.academia.edu/69706251/Nietzsches_Antichrist_The_Birth_of_Modern_Science_out_of_the_Spirit_of_Religion?auto=download&email_work_card=download-paper

Police believe they've identified sixth victim of 1970s Doodler killer

SERIAL KILLER OF GAY MEN NOT AS FAMOUS AS SCORPIO KILLER

By Calley Hair


Sketches released by the San Francisco Police Department portray The Doodler, a man believed to have killed at least six and as many as 14 men in 1974 and 1975. Image courtesy of the San Francisco Police Department

Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Homicide detectives said Thursday they believe they've identified a sixth victim of The Doodler, one of San Francisco's most prolific 1970s serial killers who remains uncaught today.

The San Francisco Police Department announced in a news release that they believe Warren Andrews was among The Doodler's victims. Andrews, 52, was beaten in Lands End in 1975 and found unconscious by a passing hiker. He never regained consciousness, dying seven weeks later.

According to the release, Andrews fit The Doodler's established pattern. All of his victims were gay white men that he likely lured into sexual encounters before murdering.

Lead detective Dan Cunningham told the San Francisco Chronicle last year that he'd be "a fool" not to consider Andrews a potential Doodler victim.

"The location, the time period, the victimology -- it all makes me think that it might be connected," Cunningham said.

The macabre nickname comes from his modus operandi. According to witnesses, The Doodler would visit bars and restaurants, identify a victim, and sketch their picture before assaulting and killing them. He's believed to have killed at least six and up to 14 men between January 1974 and September 1975.

At the time, police believed they found a suspect. Multiple victims survived attacks by The Doodler and gave a thorough description to law enforcement. But when it came time to testify, the victims refused. Publicly discussing their encounters would amount to outing their sexuality, SFGATE reports, which would have been an especially fraught decision at the time.

Police hadn't previously counted Andrews as a Doodler victim because of the method of his murder. The five other known victims were stabbed to death, but Andrews was beaten with a rock and a tree branch.

Detectives believe the killer likely struggled with Andrews, lost his knife and grabbed any weapon he could find from the trail, the Chronicle reports.

The SFPD is still looking for The Doodler. Earlier this month, it doubled its award for information leading to the killer's arrest and conviction from $100,000 to $200,000.

"We've come a long way in this investigation, and I think we're closer than ever to solving it -- but we just need a bit more information," Cunningham told The Chronicle.

Investigators asked anyone with information to call the SFPD's 24-hour tip line at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411.

Survey: Most adults with asthma wear masks despite discomfort

By HealthDay News

An online survey of more than 500 adults with asthma found that 84% reported discomfort and 75% reported trouble breathing or shortness of breath at least occasionally while wearing a face mask to guard against COVID-19. Photo by InspiredImages/Pixabay

Although they report difficulty breathing and discomfort while wearing a face mask, most people with asthma still use them in public places during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study finds.

University of Illinois Chicago researchers conducted an online survey of more than 500 adults with asthma. They found that 84% reported discomfort and 75% reported trouble breathing or shortness of breath at least occasionally while wearing a face mask to guard against COVID-19.

Still, "the majority of those surveyed said about masks, 'Just wear it,'" study co-author Dr. Sharmilee Nyenhuis said in a university news release. Nyenhuis is an associate professor in the College of Medicine.

Poorer asthma control and wearing a mask for longer periods of time were associated with more symptoms while wearing a mask, according to the study. The findings were published in the January issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.

As well as answering survey questions, participants were asked open-ended questions about their experiences wearing masks and their recommendations for other people with asthma.

In that part of the study, 45% of participants said they had problems breathing and increased coughing when wearing a mask 39% said they had no change in their asthma when wearing a mask, and 2% said their asthma symptoms improved when wearing a mask, likely because the mask filtered out pollen and pollutants that trigger respiratory distress, according to the researchers.

About 5% of the participants said they don't always wear a mask.

The study participants offered suggestions about mask-wearing for others with asthma. They included:
Take the time to find a comfortable, well-fitting mask.
Keep your inhaler with you.
Stay on top of your asthma medications.
Make sure your mask is at room temperature if cold triggers your asthma.
Take mask breaks.

"Taking a mask break is important. It allows for opportunities to take large, deep breaths and do some breathing techniques," said Nyenhuis, who suggested that employers consider making accommodations for those with asthma to take safe mask breaks.

There is no reason a person with asthma should not wear a mask, but those who have concerns about wearing a mask should talk with their doctor, Nyenhuis said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on COVID-19 and asthma.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Picasso heirs launch digital art piece to ride ‘crypto’ wave

By JAMEY KEATEN

January 26, 2022

1 of 7

Marina Picasso, right, granddaughter of artist Pablo Picasso, and her son Florian Picasso pose with a ceramic art-work of Pablo Picasso in Cologny near in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. Heirs of Pablo Picasso, the famed 20th-century Spanish artist, are vaulting into 21st-century commerce by selling 1,010 digital art pieces of one of his ceramic works that has never before seen publicly — riding a fad for “crypto” assets that have taken the art and financial worlds by storm. (AP Photo/Boris Heger)


GENEVA (AP) — Pablo, meet Crypto.

Heirs of Pablo Picasso, the famed 20th-century Spanish artist, are vaulting into 21st-century commerce by selling 1,010 digital art pieces of one of his ceramic works that has never before been seen publicly — riding a fad for “crypto” assets that have taken the art and financial worlds by storm.

For an exclusive interview before the formal launch this week, Picasso’s granddaughter, Marina Picasso, and her son Florian Picasso opened up their apartment — which is swimming in works from their illustrious ancestor — in an upscale Geneva neighborhood. There they offered up a glimpse, however tantalizingly slim, of the piece behind what they’re billing as an unprecedented fusion of old-school fine art and digital assets.

They’re looking to cash in on and ride a wave of interest in non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which have netted millions for far-less-known artists and been criticized by some as environmentally costly get rich schemes.

A Picasso, his family’s promoters say, would mark the entry of a Grand Master into the game.

In economics jargon, a fungible token is an asset that can be exchanged on a one-for-one basis. Think of dollars or bitcoins — each one has the exact same value and can be traded freely. A non-fungible object, by contrast, has its own distinct value, like an old house or a classic car.

Cross this notion with cryptocurrency technology known as the blockchain and you get NFTs. They are effectively digital certificates of authenticity that can be attached to digital art or, well, pretty much anything else that comes in digital form — audio files, video clips, animated stickers, even a news article read online.

“We’re trying to build a bridge between the NFT world and the fine art world,” said Florian Picasso, the artist’s great-grandson.

The artist’s descendants are playing close to the vest, to drum up interest and protect — for now — a family heirloom. They’re showing only a sliver of the underside of the work linked to the NFTs, a ceramic piece about the size of a large salad bowl. The exposed parts show forms like a thick yellow line, a dribbling green splotch, and a brushed-on number “58” at the base.

Marina Picasso says the cherished pottery piece dates to October 1958, when she was a child.

“It’s a work that represents a face, and it’s very expressive,” she said. “It’s joyful, happy. It represents life ... It’s one of those objects that have been part of our life, our intimate lives — my life with my children.”

Cyril Noterman, a longtime manager for Florian Picasso, and Kathryn Frazier, a publicist for the project, told The Associated Press that Sotheby’s would host an auction in March that will include a unique NFT as well as the actual ceramic bowl.

But Matthew Floris, a spokesman for Sotheby’s, contacted the AP on Wednesday and said in a statement: “Sotheby’s has clarified that it will not be selling an NFT of a work by Pablo Picasso.”

Noterman and Frazier said a first-phase, online sale of more than 1,000 other NFTs starts Friday through the Nifty Gateway and Origin Protocol platforms.

Florian Picasso said they agreed on the colorful ceramic piece because it was “a fun one” to start.

An NFT Picasso brings with it almost epochal symbolism, something like when the Beatles collection was finally put up on iTunes. The family and its business managers say the aim is to create a younger community of Picasso fans.

“Everything is evolving,” said Florian Picasso, insisting that the NFT honors the great artist.

“I think it fits within Picasso’s legacies because we are paying tribute to him and his way of working, which was always being creative,” he said.

How quaint seem those days of yore when Picasso, as the legend has it, would simply doodle on a napkin as payment for a restaurant meal — his handiwork supposedly carrying a value far in excess of the cost of the food and drinks he had enjoyed.

Some of the proceeds will be donated — one portion to a charity that aims to help overcome a shortage of nurses, and another to a nongovernmental organization that wants to help reduce carbon in the atmosphere. The NFTs will also come with music put together by Florian Picasso, who is a DJ and music producer, along with songwriter John Legend and rapper Nas.

Even a full rendering of that track isn’t being publicly released just yet: Florian Picasso played a snippet for a reporter, then turned it off.

“And to hear more, you gotta purchase the NFT,” he quipped.

___

AP video journalist Boris Heger contributed to this report.

EPA acts to curb air, water pollution in poor communities

By MATTHEW DALY

1 of 6

FILE - EPA Administrator Michael Regan poses for a photo for his EPA photographer near a cemetery in a neighborhood next to the Nu Star Energy oil storage tanks, after conducting a television interview, in St. James Parish, La., Nov. 16, 2021. Regan visited low-income, mostly minority communities in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas as part of an effort to focus federal attention on communities adversely affected by decades of industrial pollution. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency announced a series of enforcement actions Wednesday to address air pollution, unsafe drinking water and other problems afflicting minority communities in three Gulf Coast states, following a “Journey to Justice” tour by Administrator Michael Regan last fall.

The agency will conduct unannounced inspections of chemical plants, refineries and other industrial sites suspected of polluting air and water and causing health problems to nearby residents, Regan said. And it will install air monitoring equipment in Louisiana’s “chemical corridor” to enhance enforcement at chemical and plastics plants between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The region contains several hotspots where cancer risks are far above national levels.

The EPA also issued a notice to the city of Jackson, Mississippi, saying its aging and overwhelmed drinking water system violates the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The order directs the city to outline a plan to “correct the significant deficiencies identified” in an EPA report within 45 days.

In separate letters, Regan urged city and state officials to use nearly $79 million in funding allocated to Mississippi under the bipartisan infrastructure law “to solve some of the most dire water needs in Jackson and other areas of need across Mississippi.″

The actions were among more than a dozen steps announced being taken in response to Regan’s tour last November. Regan visited low-income, mostly minority communities in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas as part of an effort to focus federal attention on communities adversely affected by decades of industrial pollution.

A Toxics Release Inventory prepared by the EPA shows that African Americans and other minority groups make up 56% of those living near toxic sites such as refineries, landfills and chemical plants. Negative effects include chronic health problems such as asthma, diabetes and hypertension.

“In every community I visited during the Journey to Justice tour, the message was clear: residents have suffered far too long and local, state and federal agencies have to do better,” Regan said.

The unannounced inspections of chemical plants and other sites “are going to keep these facilities on their toes,″ he told reporters on a conference call.

Inspections currently are done on a schedule or with advance notice, Regan said, but that is about to change. “We are amping up our aggressiveness to utilize a tool that’s in our toolbox that ... has been there for quite some time,″ he said.

When facilities are found to be noncompliant, the EPA “will use all available tools to hold them accountable,″ he added.

A pilot project combining high-tech air pollution monitoring with additional inspectors will begin in three Louisiana parishes — St. John the Baptist, St. James and Calcasieu — that are home to scores of industrial sites and are long plagued by water and air pollution.

President Joe Biden has made addressing racial disparities, including those related to the environment, central to his agenda. He has pledged that at least 40% of new spending on climate and the environment go to poor and minority communities. The administration’s commitment to the issue has come under renewed scrutiny in recent weeks, as two key environmental justice appointees departed. Cecilia Martinez, a top official at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and David Kieve, who conducted outreach with environmental justice groups, both left the White House, putting a spotlight on promises yet to be fulfilled.

Regan, a former environmental regulator in North Carolina, has made environmental justice a top priority since taking over as EPA head last year. As the first Black man to lead the agency, the issue “is really personal for me, as well as professional,″ he told The Associated Press in November.

“I pledge to do better by people in communities who have been hurting for far too long,” he said Tuesday.

Historically marginalized communities like St. John and St. James, along with cities such as New Orleans, Jackson and Houston, will benefit from the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law signed by Biden, Regan said. The law includes $55 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure, while a sweeping climate and social policy bill pending in the Senate would pump more than twice that amount into EPA programs to clean up the environment and address water and environmental justice issues.

As part of its enforcement action, the EPA is requiring a former DuPont petrochemical plant in La Place, Louisiana, to install fence-line monitors to identify emissions from the site, Regan said. The plant is now owned by the Japanese conglomerate Denka.

The agency also said it will push for greater scrutiny of a proposed expansion of a Formosa Plastics plant in St. James and issued a notice of violation to a Nucor Steel plant that emits hydrogen sulfide and other harmful chemicals.

Regan said he has spoken with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell about Gordon Plaza, a city neighborhood built on the site of a former toxic landfill. Gordon Plaza was designated as a Superfund site in the 1990s, but dozens of mostly Black families still live there.

The EPA will review the site, starting in March, Regan said, and will add nine homes not included in earlier plans to help families move. City officials hope to use money from the infrastructure law to relocate families and build a solar farm on the site.

EPA also said it has completed a review of proposed actions to clean up creosote contamination from a site in Houston now owned by Union Pacific Railroad. The site, in the Kashmere Gardens area in the city’s Fifth Ward, has been linked to higher than normal cancer rates in the historically Black neighborhood.

EPA said it will work with Texas officials to ensure corrective actions address the concerns of community members.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who toured the area with Regan, said Wednesday it was “very encouraging” that federal officials “share our concerns and know the names and faces of those affected.″

Sharon Lavigne, president of Rise St. James, a grassroots organization that has battled petrochemical plants in Louisiana, said the EPA’s actions were “just the beginning of what needs to be done″ to address pollution from the petrochemical industry.

“It’s important that EPA recognizes the need to listen to the science, which shows the destructive Formosa plastics facility should be stopped and that no other harmful chemical facilities should be allowed to cause harm in our community anymore,″ Lavigne said. “I’m hopeful that he will really get some things done.”