Chilean Senate commission approves adjusted mining royalty bill
Reuters | January 27, 2022 

Senate of Chile. Credit: Wikipedia.

Chile’s Senate on Thursday pushed forward an amended version of the country’s mining royalty bill, which would raise tariffs on firms operating in the world’s top copper producing nation despite being watered down amid industry pushback.


The upper chamber’s Mining Commission waved through the amended draft, which seeks to address concerns within the copper and lithium industries that higher tariffs will hit Chile’s competitiveness and hurt new investment.

The commission approved the adjusted bill that proposes royalties based on two areas: first the value of gross copper sales and a second calculated according to profitability, similar to the current tax model for the industry.

The commission said the bill would see an ‘ad valorem’ tax corresponding to 1% of annual sales of copper products applied to firms producing under 200,000 metric tonnes of copper per year. Mines producing under 50,000 tonnes would be exempt.


Related Article: Chile’s constitution drafters want to annul mining concessions on indigenous lands

“For companies that produce higher levels, the royalty will be applied depending on the average annual copper price registered according to the prices of the London Metal Exchange,” the commission added.

Chile’s mining industry has strongly opposed plans to raise taxes, arguing that the level is already at its limit. Lawmakers, especially from the leftist opposition, have pushed to increase taxes to bolster funds for social spending.

Leftist President-elect Gabriel Boric, 35, comes into office in March after his strong election victory last year. He does, however, face a divided Congress which is likely to temper any reform plans.

The modified bill includes a sales tax of some 3% for lithium, but excludes contracts signed with a development office in the Salar de Atacama, where the two main current lithium miners Albemarle and SQM operate.

The bill will now move to the Senate Treasury Committee and then will be reviewed in a plenary session of the chamber, to later return to the lower Chamber of Deputies.

“We hope that the Treasury Commission can quickly deal with this initiative and that before March 11 of this year we can send this project into law,” said Senator Yasna Provoste, president of the parliamentary body.

The global price of copper has hit a decade high fueled by expectations about a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to state mining firm Codelco, the world’s top copper producer, multinationals such as BHP, Anglo American, Glencore, Antofagasta Minerals and Freeport operate in Chile.

(By Fabian Cambero; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Paul Simao)

UCC/CUC ARE RIGHT WING NATIONALISTS

'Nightmare': Ukrainians in Canada worry for their home country

Issued on: 27/01/2022

Montreal (AFP) – Worried and helpless, members of the Ukrainian community in Canada are closely following the crisis involving their home country from the other side of the globe.

Many in the community, the second-largest overseas population of Ukrainian origin in the world, are pessimistic about how the increasingly tense situation on the border between Ukraine and Russia will play out.

"Despite all the difficulties, we always hoped that things would progress like a normal European country," said Michael Lichacz, a 77-year-old Montreal resident whose father was Ukrainian.

But the current crisis between Moscow and Kiev is "worse than a nightmare," Lichacz, who was born in Canada but speaks Ukrainian fluently, told AFP while shopping at an Eastern European grocery store.

Hostilities have only grown in recent months as Moscow has been accused by the West of amassing more than 100,000 troops on the border as a lead-up to a potential invasion.

Russia, for its part, has demanded guarantees for its own security, including pushing back on the idea of its neighbor and former Soviet state joining the NATO alliance.

Lichacz says he is so overwhelmed by the circumstances that he still has trouble believing it's all real.

His grandparents were part of the "first wave" of Ukrainian immigrants to arrive in Canada more than a century ago, before the first World War.

The second large influx of immigrants from Ukraine came during the inter-war period of the last century, when they joined already established communities in Canada's central-west region. A third wave came after World War II.

Nearly 1.4 million Canadians, or 3.8 percent of the population, is of Ukrainian origin, the majority of whom were born in Canada.

"We're very nervous about the escalation of aggression by the Russian president and forces," Ihor Michalchyshyn, the head of the community organization Congress of Ukrainian Canadians (CUC), told AFP.

Angel Zytynsky, a third generation Ukranian and deli owner in the Rosemont area of Montreal, Canada, is among several in the community closely monitoring the crisis between their country of origin and Russia Andrej Ivanov AFP

"We're hopeful that Canada will quickly join the growing list of countries that sends weapons, and sanctions the Russian Federation" in response to Russian "aggressions," he said.

"The nightmare scenario for me -- for the world, I think -- is a full-scale, large invasion by Russian air and ground forces," Michalchyshyn said.
'So worried'

Fears over Eastern European relations are just as acute across the country in Alberta, the province that has the second-largest community of Ukrainians in Canada after Ontario.

"I'm feeling so worried," Valentina, who has lived in the city of Edmonton for about a decade and prefers to not share her full name, told AFP. "Everyone is."

"Everybody's understanding who Putin is," she said.

Valentina, who was born in a town 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Kyiv, said she is worried for her brothers and other members of her family who still live there, referencing their fear that the situation will deteriorate further.

"Everybody knows that Russian armies are stronger than other countries," said the 35-year-old, who works at a Ukrainian restaurant in the Alberta capital.

"We have seen the Russian armed forces on the border, and nobody knows exactly what is going to happen," said Michael Schwec, a CUC member in Quebec recalling Russia's 2014 seizure of Ukraine's Crimea.

The Sainte-Sophie Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral is seen in an area heavily populated by the overseas Ukrainian community in Rosemont, Montreal, Canada Andrej Ivanov AFP

For now, many are still hopeful that diplomatic efforts between NATO allies will pay off, and urge Canada to step up aid to the Ukrainian government.

After announcing a CAN$120 million (84.3 million euros) loan to Ukraine last week, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that Canada would extend an ongoing military training exercise and send non-lethal supplies such as bulletproof vests and other equipment.

© 2022 AFP

Filipino dictator's son loses 1 of 3 votes on elections bid


FILE - Former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. greets a small group of supporters after filing his certificate of candidacy for next year's presidential elections with the Commission on Elections at the Sofitel Harbor Garden Tent in Manila, Philippines on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021 in Manila, Philippines. The son of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos defeated on Monday Jan. 17, 2022 a bid to disqualify him from the May 9 presidential race but still faces other petitions from human rights victims and others who have raised alarm over atrocities under his late father's rule. 

(AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File) 

JIM GOMEZ
Thu, January 27, 2022

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — One of three Philippine election commissioners handling petitions to disqualify late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ son from the May presidential polls said Thursday that she voted in favor of the petitions and suspected there were efforts to nullify her vote against the leading candidate criticized by human rights groups.

Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said she voted to uphold the petitions, which sought Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s disqualification from the race because of a previous tax conviction. An offense of “moral turpitude” is one of the grounds to bar a candidate from seeking and holding public office.

Two other commissioners, however, have not disclosed their votes on the petitions. A majority vote is needed to either uphold or reject the petitions, most of which were filed by left-wing and anti-Marcos activists.

The 64-year-old Marcos Jr. had already served as a provincial governor and a senator. He has been leading in pre-elections polls to succeed President Rodrigo Duterte.

Any ruling by Guanzon and two other commissioners can be appealed.

Guanzon said she voted against Marcos' candidacy “because he was convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude,” citing his non-payment of taxes for four years starting in 1982, when he was still governor of northern Ilocos Norte province.

Marcos Jr. did not comment immediately.

Last week, another group of election commissioners rejected a separate bid to oust Marcos Jr. from the race. The petitioners in that case said he falsely stated that he had not been convicted of any crime. Guanzon said any decision by the Commission on Elections on his candidacy would most likely be challenged before the Supreme Court.

Guanzon, who is retiring from the commission on Feb. 2, said she disclosed her vote ahead of two fellow commissioners to preempt what she said was an effort to nullify her vote. “I believe there is political interference here,” she said without elaborating. “They think if I retire, my vote will not count, which is not true.”

She tweeted separately without providing details on Thursday: “To whom it may concern: Do not influence the commissioners. And do not try to buy me, threaten me, or seduce me."

The other major contenders for the presidency include Vice President Leni Robredo, an opposition leader who narrowly defeated Marcos Jr. in the 2016 vice presidential race, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, Sen. Panfilo Lacson and former boxing champion Manny Pacquiao.

The elder Marcos placed the Philippines under martial rule in 1972, a year before his term was to expire. He padlocked Congress and newspaper offices, ordered the arrest of political opponents and ruled by decree.

He was toppled in an army-backed “people power” revolt in 1986. He died in exile in Hawaii three years later without admitting any wrongdoing, including accusations that he and his family amassed an estimated $5 billion to $10 billion while he was in power.

A Hawaii court found him liable for human rights violations and awarded $2 billion from his estate to compensate more than 9,000 Filipinos who filed a lawsuit against him for torture, incarceration, extrajudicial killings and disappearances.

His widow, Imelda Marcos, and her children were allowed to return to the Philippines in 1991. They have made a political comeback, winning seats in Congress and powerful provincial posts that brought them closer to the top job they said was stolen from them.

Marcos Jr. has called the allegations against his father “lies,” angering human rights and pro-democracy activists.

He has joined hands with Davao city Mayor Sara Duterte, Duterte’s daughter, as his vice presidential running mate. Duterte backs his daughter’s run but opposes her pairing with Marcos Jr. and has vowed to never support him.

US Navy officer 'bribed by cash and prostitutes'

Thu, January 27, 2022

A ship in the US Navy 7th fleet, from which dozens of officers were bribed

A US Navy Commander has pleaded guilty to receiving $250,000 in cash and prostitution services from a foreign defence contractor in exchange for state secrets.

Information Commander Stephen Shedd provided to the firm helped it defraud the navy of $35m (£26.1m).

The plea is the latest in the 'Fat Leonard' case, considered one of the worst corruption scandals faced by the navy.

Dozens of officials have been ensnared.

Shedd is one of nine members of the Okinawa-based 7th US fleet indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2017 for their role in the scandal, and the third officer to plead guilty.

According to the Justice Department, Shedd and the other officers received "sex parties with prostitutes and luxurious dinner and travel" in exchange for military secrets and "substantial influence" for the Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA) company, a Singapore-based firm founded by a Malaysian national, Leonard Glenn Francis.

The scandal became widely known as the "Fat Leonard" scheme due to Francis's then-corpulent figure. He was arrested in California after being lured there by US officials in 2013. He has since pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy charges and has remained in prison or home detention.

According to prosecutors, information Shedd and others provided helped GDMA to win and maintain contracts and overbill the Navy by $35m for services such as providing tugboats, security and waste removal to ships at port.

As part of a plea deal, Shedd admitted that he and the other defendants gave Francis schedules of naval movements and other information, and lobbied on behalf of GDMA to other naval officials.

The defendant knew these efforts would result in the service paying GDMA's claims, the Justice Department said.

A total of 34 naval officials, defence contractors and GDMA employees, including Francis, have been charged with crimes related to the scheme. Of these, 28 have pleaded guilty, including two other 7th fleet officers.

Shedd is scheduled to be sentenced on 21 July in a California federal court, while the trial of the remaining six 7th fleet officers is due to begin on 28 February.

"Fat Leonard" himself is expected to testify in the February trial of the officers.

ROSA LUXEMBURG HER LIFE AND LEGACY PDF

 https://www.academia.edu/33819779/Rosa_Luxemburg_Her_Life_and_Legacy_Schulman_pdf?auto=download&email_work_card=download-paper

RIGHT WING MILLIONAIRES ON WHEELS

Freedom Convoy plans to gridlock Ottawa until all vaccine mandates repealed
THE MANDATE APPLIES TO BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER AMERICAN AND CANADIAN 
Up to 2,000 trucks are due on Saturday, but there will be events every day until the convoy receives an answer from the government
Author of the article:Rachel Parent
Publishing date:Jan 27, 2022 •

The Freedom Convoy 2022, which is expected to start rolling into Ottawa on Saturday, is not about COVID-19 vaccines, but about mandates, organizers say.

 PHOTO BY TODD HAMBLETON/POSTMEDIA NETWORK

Thousands of vehicles could snarl Ottawa traffic for up to a week, with a convoy of truckers due to arrive as early as Friday — and some vowing to stay until they’ve successfully convinced the government to repeal all vaccine mandates.

The convoy was planned in response to a vaccine mandate that came into effect this month requiring unvaccinated Canadian truckers re-entering Canada from the United States to get tested for COVID-19 and quarantine. But the group is calling for all levels of Canadian government to stop the use of vaccine passports, waive fines linked to COVID-19 and reinstate employees who were fired for breaking COVID-19 rules.


“This is not about the vaccine, by the way. There’s nobody in here that’ll tell you it’s about vaccines on this entire convoy. We’ve got double jabbed, we’ve got single jabbed, we’ve got no jabbed, we’ve got the boosted,” said James Bauder, founder of the Canada Unity Foundation, one of the groups that is organizing the “Freedom Convoy 2022.”

We’ve got double jabbed, we’ve got single jabbed, we’ve got no jabbed, we’ve got the boosted

JAMES BAUDER, FOUNDER, CANADA UNITY FOUNDATION

“It’s not about the vaccine. It’s about the mandate…. We’re done with mandates.”

While truckers from Ontario will arrive in Ottawa on Friday, the majority will arrive on Saturday, and that’s when the protest will begin in earnest, said Jason LaFlace, an organizer who previously planned events and protests for a group called No More Lockdowns.

“The first day is going to be the 29th. We’re just going to go on a roll. And that will be the starting point, to get ourselves set up. On the 31st, the Monday, that’s the first day of business for Ottawa and for us, us freedom fighters, and Canadians all across the country. And we’re expecting a huge amount,” LaFlace said.

The plan is to essentially gridlock the city, while leaving room for traffic to businesses and emergency vehicles to get through, LaFlace said.

Ontario protestors who will be converging in solidarity with a convoy of truckers expected to arrive in Ottawa this weekend (Monte Sonnenberg /Postmedia)

While an itinerary hasn’t been released to the public, LaFlace said organizers have arranged speakers — including politicians, truckers and Indigenous elders — and a stage will be set up in an undisclosed park on Monday. There will be events every day until the convoy receives an answer from the government.

A “memorandum of understanding,” posted on the Canada Unity website, says its coalition is opposed to restrictions and mandates related to COVID-19, rules it deems are “unconstitutional, discriminatory and segregating.”

The memorandum’s goal, it says, is to form a committee with the Senate and Governor General to override all levels of Canadian government, and if they refuse to join, the group says they should “resign their lawful positions of authority immediately.”

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was a “small fringe minority who are on the way to Ottawa who are holding unacceptable views.”

“What we are hearing from some people associated with this convoy is completely unacceptable,” he added.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said he is “concerned about the small number of far-right, vocal opposition that is polluting much of our political debate.”

A spokeswoman for the Governor General said Rideau Hall was “keeping on top of the situation and waiting to see how things unfold.”

The Parliamentary Protection Service said in a statement it was aware of the protest and was closely monitoring the situation.

Ottawa police are communicating with the organizers and planning for the arrival of around 1,000 to 2,000 vehicles, police said Wednesday at a special meeting of the Ottawa Police Services Board. Ontario Provincial Police warned that the convoy could cause slowdowns on all highways across eastern Ontario beginning as soon as Thursday.

Ottawa police said that the Freedom Convoy had so far been peaceful and cooperative with police and city officials in other jurisdictions.

“We don’t have any risk information to suggest that people or business owners need to barricade themselves into their homes or businesses or that they need to close,” said Chief Peter Sloly.

But he warned that the protest could be accompanied by other elements, including counter-protests, which are harder to predict.

LaFlace and other organizers have emphasized that they are not planning violence.

We don't have any intent to create violence

ORGANIZER JASON LAFLACE

“We’ve been hearing things like, ‘Oh, you’re a domestic terrorist,’” La Place said. “We don’t have any intent to create violence.”

Tamara Lich, who organized the GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $5.5 million, said in a recent Facebook video that convoy participants should report anyone who is “misbehaving, acting aggressively in any way or inciting any type of violence or hatred,” to the police.

Tim Coderre, one of the organizers tasked with logistics, is working out of a school in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., that Canada Unity is using as their headquarters. He said he doesn’t have a firm number on how many people will arrive in Ottawa, but reports from the road indicate that it’s a lot.

“All I’ve been hearing within the last couple hours is something in a range of 90 to 100 km of convoy. It seems awfully long to me and what I can tell you is that I’ve gotten call, call after call. It’s been nonstop,” Coderre said on Tuesday.

Truckers protesting a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for those crossing the Canada-U.S. border on the Trans-Canada Highway west of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

 PHOTO BY DAVID LIPNOWSKI /THE CANADIAN PRESS

Videos posted to social media have shown kilometres-long lines of trucks and other vehicles filling up highways, with crowds of dozens of people waving flags and cheering the convoys on from roadsides and overpasses.

The convoy is scheduled to stay for a week in Ottawa, until Feb. 4, but Coderre says it depends on when or if they get an answer from the federal government.

“I can tell you that they’ve also vowed to, if need be, to stay for however long it takes for the mandates to be lifted,” said Coderre.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance has estimated that about 15 per cent of truckers — as many as 16,000 — are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19. It has strongly denounced any protests on public roadways, highways and bridges and has urged all truckers to get inoculated.

Chris Barber is a trucker from Saskatchewan and another organizer. He left for Ottawa on Jan. 24.

He said some of the truckers in the convoy are out of work, having lost their jobs because they can no longer cross the border, while others are taking time off to support the effort.

“It should be a personal choice whether they want to get vaccinated. If they haven’t done it already, they’re probably not going to do it,” Barber said.

“The narrative out there is that we’re a bunch of unvaccinated socialists and sort of separatists. I’m actually fully vaccinated. I have a passport with me right now, this allows me to do the things that the government says I can do. And that’s exactly what we’re fed up with. We shouldn’t have to have a vaccine passport.”

National Post, with additional reporting from The Canadian Press and Ottawa Citizen

O'Toole says he will meet with truckers, tells politicians to 'take the temperature down' over protest

WON'T TELL THEM TO GET VACCINATED

Meanwhile, the. Commons' Sergeant-of-Arms warned of attempts to have the home addresses of MPs posted online and told MPs to go 'somewhere safe' if needed

Author of the article: Catherine Lévesque

Publishing date: Jan 27, 2022

“Everyone deserves to have their voice heard in a peaceful protest. That is a democratic right,” Conservative leader Erin O'Toole said Thursday. 

PHOTO BY DAVID JACKSON/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says a truckers convoy heading to Ottawa is a symbol of the fatigue and division being felt in Canada and that he will meet with the truckers on Friday to hear their concerns.

And he appealed for all political parties to call for calm and let the protesters have their voice heard.

He said there were groups using the plight of truckers to bring “division and hatred.”

“And we need to call that out and stamp it out because it’s also depriving people’s ability to have their voice heard in Ottawa,” said O’Toole. “So I’m calling on everyone… regardless of how you feel about the pandemic, whether you’re Liberal, Conservative, NDP, let’s call for calm.

“Everyone deserves to have their voice heard in a peaceful protest. That is a democratic right. So let’s take the temperature down. And make sure we work together as Canadians in a time of crisis. Not against one another.”

He added, “The convoy itself is becoming a symbol of the fatigue and the division we’re seeing in this country. So tomorrow I will be meeting with truckers to hear their concerns, to talk about the proposals I brought three weeks ago to try and make sure we can keep grocery store shelves full, keep people working and work together.

How the truck convoy could wreak havoc on Ottawa streets

Ottawa police brace for ‘parallel groups’ when trucker convoy reaches Ottawa


O'TOOLE HAS ANTIVAXXERS IN HIS CAUCUS

“And I would ask Canadians that are frustrated by the convoy, or frustrated by people that may not yet be vaccinated, let’s work together as a country.

“We shouldn’t divide people over their personal health choices in a pandemic.”

O’Toole said he would only be meeting with truckers not with the protest organizers, and he “will try and do it outside of the Hill core so it can be done effectively.”

Meanwhile, the Sergeant-of-Arms of the House of Commons warned MPs to go “somewhere safe” if there is a protest outside their home or office. He said there had been attempts to have the home addresses of MPs posted online.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decried the “fringe” views among some of those who were supporting the trucker convoy.

“The small fringe minority of people who are on their way to Ottawa who are holding unacceptable views that they are expressing do not represent the views of Canadians who have been there for each other, who know of that following the science and stepping up to protect each other is the best way to continue to ensure our freedoms, our rights, our values, as a country,” Trudeau said.

Trudeau said Thursday he will isolate for five days after being exposed to COVID-19, although he has tested negative for the virus.

WITH SUPPORT FROM LIBERTARIAN BILLIONAIRES

Elon Musk tweets in support of Canadian truckers ahead of 'Freedom Rally' protest

Musk also appears to show support for repealing COVID mandates in later tweets

Author of the article: National Post Staff

Publishing date :Jan 27, 2022 •

Judging by later tweets, Musk also seemed to support repealing of vaccine mandates.

 PHOTO BY TWITTER
Article content

Elon Musk tweeted in favour of Canadian truckers as a convoy heads to Ottawa to protest COVID regulations across the country.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO was seemingly throwing his support behind the protesters in a tweet Thursday afternoon.

“Canadian truckers rule,” tweeted Musk, who was born to a Canadian mother. He holds citizenship with United States, Canada and South Africa.

A convoy of truckers and others opposed to public health restrictions is on its way from British Columbia to Parliament Hill for a “freedom rally” this weekend against mandatory vaccinations in Canada. Police in Ottawa have said they are planning for as many as 2,000 demonstrators.

The federal government ended truckers’ exemption to the vaccine mandate on Jan. 15, meaning Canadian truck drivers need to be fully vaccinated if they want to avoid a two-week quarantine when they cross into Canada from the United States.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called the protesters a “small fringe minority who are on the way to Ottawa who are holding unacceptable views.”

In his later tweets, Musk appears to show support for repealing vaccine mandates. He sent a thumbs up emoji to a tweet alleging Denmark is planning to “stop all measures Jan. 31,” in reference to COVID vaccinations. In another he sent a supportive ‘100’ emoji to a doctor and fitness guru who wrote that he was in favour of COVID vaccines but not mandates requiring them.

Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly told a police services board meeting Wednesday that officers had been in contact with protest leaders, whom he said have been co-operative and have shared their plans. However, concerns have also been raised that far-right extremist groups have attached themselves to the convoy and could spark violence.

While an itinerary hasn’t been released to the public, Jason LaFlace, an organizer who previously planned events and protests for a group called No More Lockdowns, said organizers have arranged speakers — including politicians, truckers and Indigenous elders — and a stage will be set up in an undisclosed park on Monday. There will be events every day until Ottawa exempts them again.

A “memorandum of understanding,” posted on the Canada Unity website, says its coalition is opposed to restrictions and mandates related to COVID-19, rules it deems are “unconstitutional, discriminatory and segregating.”

The memorandum says, it says, is to coordinate efforts to form a committee with the Senate and Governor General to override all levels of Canadian government, and if they refuse to join, the group says they should “resign their lawful positions of authority immediately.”

Donald Trump Jr. also took to social media Tuesday to endorse the Canadian truck convoy’s fight against “tyranny” and to urge Americans to follow suit.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance has estimated that about 15 per cent of truckers — as many as 16,000 — are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19. It has strongly denounced any protests on public roadways, highways and bridges and has urged all truckers to get inoculated.

A spokesperson for Musk could not immediately be reached for comment.

— With additional reporting by The Canadian Press and Rachel Parent

Paris hospitals chief sparks debate on whether unvaccinated patients should pay for treatment


Geert De Clercq
Publishing date: Jan 27, 2022 

PARIS — The head of the Paris hospitals system has set off a fierce debate by questioning whether people who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19 should continue to have their treatment covered by public health insurance.

Under France’s universal healthcare system, all COVID-19 patients who end up in intensive care are fully covered for their treatment, which costs about 3,000 euros ($3,340) per day and typically lasts a week to 10 days.

“When free and efficient drugs are available, should people be able to renounce it without consequences … while we struggle to take care of other patients?” Paris AP-HP hospitals system chief Martin Hirsch said on French television on Wednesday.

Hirsch said he raised the issue because health costs are exploding and that the irresponsible behavior of some should not jeopardize the availability of the system for everyone else.

Several French health professionals rejected his proposal, far-right politicians called for Hirsch to be fired, and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo – who chairs the AP-HP board and who is the socialist candidate in the April presidential elections – said she disagreed with his proposal.

A hashtag calling for Hirsch’s dismissal was trending on Twitter in France.

Health Minister Olivier Veran has not commented on Hirsch’s call but Olga Givernet, a lawmaker for President Emmanuel Macron’s LREM party, said on BFM TV on Thursday that “the issue as raised by the medical community could not be ignored.”

A mid-January IFOP poll https://www.ifop.com/publication/limpact-de-la-non-vaccination-dans-lopinion showed that 51% of French people considered it was justified that non-vaccinated people who wind up in intensive care should pay part or all of their hospital bill.

Conservative Les Republicains lawmaker Sebastien Huyghe – whose bill to make the unvaccinated pay some of their medical costs was rejected by parliament – said the idea was not to reject the non-vaccinated from intensive care wards, but to make them pay a minimum contribution toward the cost of their care.

The proposal would be similar to Singapore, a city-state with one of the world’s highest COVID-19 inoculation rates in the world, where people who decline vaccines must pay for their medical treatment.

The median bill size for COVID-19 patients that require intensive care is about S$25,000 ($18,483), according to Singapore’s health ministry. ($1 = 0.8973 euros) ($1 = 1.3526 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Geert De Clercq, additional reporting by Chen Lin in Singapore; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Judge cancels major US oil and gas exploration sale

Thu, January 27, 2022

A judge on Thursday canceled the sale of oil and gas exploration leases of some 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico, after environmental groups sued the Biden administration citing major concerns.

Federal District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras declared existing contracts invalid, saying the Department of the Interior did not adequately consider the leases' impact on climate change when issuing them.

According to the ruling, officials had used outdated analyses to calculate the leases' effects on the environment and said the government must run a new analysis with current data.

The administration had in August announced its intention to sell the rights to the Gulf exploration, a decision decried by environmental activists and seen as a stumbling block for President Joe Biden's climate agenda.

A coalition of environmentalist groups sued to prevent the sales.

"We are pleased that the court invalidated Interior's illegal lease sale," Brettny Hardy, a lawyer for climate group Earthjustice, which represents the coalition, said in a statement.

"We simply cannot continue to make investments in the fossil fuel industry to the peril of our communities and increasingly warming planet," she said.

The Gulf of Mexico, located along the southeastern United States, is one of the most important oil production regions in the country.

Biden last January had announced a moratorium on new gas and oil drilling on federal land pending a review in an effort to make responding to the climate crisis a central part of his presidency.

But a federal judge in Louisiana, nominated by former president Donald Trump, ruled in June that the administration had to get congressional approval for such a move.

led/ybl/caw/bfm

'Heart of Gold': Neil Young takes a stand against Spotify, puts 'principles above profit'

 

Neil Young's music is being removed from Spotify's streaming service after the singer-songwriter released a letter addressed to his manager and record label, Warner Music Group, demanding that Spotify no longer carry his music. The legendary musician and celebrated activist, twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, objects to having his music on the same platform that features podcasts from the fiery polemicist and ever-popular comedian Joe Rogan for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. Simon Vozick-Levinson, Deputy Music Editor for Rolling Stone, joins France 24 and lauds the "very bold, and, I think, brave choice that Neil Young has made to put his principles above profit." Now that streaming accounts for over 80% of music industry revenue, Mr. Levinson asserts that cutting ties with the reigning music streaming giant Spotify "is no easy choice for a musician. But this is a very personal issue for Neil Young. He had polio when he was a kid, vaccines mean something very important to him, and I think he sees the danger of spreading misinformation about life-saving vaccines." Mr. Levinson also sees this battle over hearts and minds as a defining moment for Spotify, which is "a huge source of both music and also ideas, conversations, thoughts. And that gives it an important responsibility that I think many in the world are calling for them to take seriously."

Neil Young-Spotify row underscores podcast disinformation issues


Rocker Neil Young, left, made good on his vow to have his music removed from Spotify after demanding the streaming service choose between him and Joe Rogan, the controversial podcaster accused of spreading disinformation 

(AFP/Alice Chiche, Carmen Mandato) 

Maggy DONALDSON
Thu, January 27, 2022

Neil Young's ultimatum to Spotify that it choose between his music and the controversial star podcaster Joe Rogan has become a flashpoint in the conversation over online disinformation and corporate responsibility to moderate it.

The prolific rocker this week demanded the streaming giant remove his music -- he had 2.4 million followers and over six million monthly listeners -- unless it was willing to drop Rogan, whose show is the platform's most popular but is widely accused of peddling conspiracy theories.

Rogan, 54, has discouraged vaccination in young people and promoted the off-label use of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to treat the virus.

"I realized I could not continue to support SPOTIFY's life threatening misinformation to the music loving public," Young, a polio survivor, said in an open letter.

His challenge followed a demand from hundreds of medical professionals that the streaming service prevent Rogan from promoting "several falsehoods about Covid-19 vaccines," which they said is creating "a sociological issue of devastating proportions."

Rogan, who has a $100 million multi-year exclusive deal with Spotify, was kept on. On Wednesday Young's hits -- including "Heart of Gold," "Harvest Moon" and "Rockin' In The Free World" -- began vanishing from the platform.

The company -- which on Wednesday voiced "regret" over Young's move but cited a need to balance "both safety for listeners and freedom for creators" -- did not respond to an AFP query seeking further comment.

Last year, its CEO Daniel Ek told Axios he didn't think Spotify -- which recently began heavily investing in podcasts -- had editorial responsibility for Rogan.

He compared the podcaster to "really well-paid rappers," saying "we don't dictate what they're putting in their songs, either."

- 'Business concerns' -

Spotify's move drew applause online from organizations including Rumble, a video streaming platform popular with the right wing, which credited the Swedish company with "defending creators" and standing "up for free speech."

But Young, 76, also garnered wide praise for taking a stand, including from the World Health Organization chief. The musician has urged fellow artists to follow his lead.

Summer Lopez, the senior director of the free expression programs at nonprofit PEN America, emphasized that "he's probably one of the only artists who could really afford to make this kind of call."

"He has every right to do that," said the advocate at PEN, an organization dedicated to defending free speech. But she voiced concern over "broader calls for boycotting of Spotify," because "it is such an essential venue for artists to reach their audiences, and a source of income."

The role of platforms like Spotify to moderate content is complex, Lopez said, because unlike social media outlets it's a service "designed primarily to amplify art and artwork."

"I think the real issue here is that Spotify doesn't have a clear policy on this," Lopez said.

And she raised questions of whether "there's any meaningful independence" between "the decision-making process and their business concerns."

- 'Mandating more clarity' -

In recent years online media titans including Facebook and YouTube have come under fire for allowing conspiracy theorists to spread their views.

But despite its explosive growth, podcasting has largely flown under the radar.

Valerie Wirtschafter, a senior data analyst at the Brookings Institution who studies contemporary media and political behavior, said that's primarily because "it's such a big and decentralized space."

But she said audio is a particularly potent medium for spreading falsehoods: "There's a sort of personal experience that happens there."

The intimacy of sound combined with the conversational style of podcasts, Wirtschafter told AFP, allows listeners to process information in a way that "potentially makes it a stronger medium for these untruths, for this misinformation, to fester."

And tracking disinformation in a podcast is "kind of like the needle in the haystack," according to Wirtschafter. Episodes of "The Joe Rogan Experience" often fall in the two-to-three-hour range.

Moderation possibilities include disclaimers before episodes, Wirtschafter said, and platforms that host podcasts could also take steps to mediate their algorithms so they aren't "amplifying... harmful content."

Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist specializing in conspiracy theories at the University of Miami, meanwhile cautioned against giving any "tools of censorship" to government to combat disinformation.

"They can be used for benevolent reasons today, but those same tools will be available tomorrow for people who aren't quite as benevolent."

Lopez agreed, but cited a need for "mandating more clarity on how these decisions are being made, how appeals are handled."

"Giving researchers access to understand what the implications of those decisions are," she said, could help "better understand what the impact of different approaches might be."

For his part, Young dismissed accusations of promoting censorship.

"I did this because I had no choice in my heart," he wrote. "It is who I am. I am not censoring anyone."

"I am speaking my own truth."

mdo/caw

Civil War Expert: U.S. Capitol Riot Made 1 Chilling Thing ‘Impossible To Deny’

Lee Moran
Thu, January 27, 2022

University of California professor Barbara Walter, an expert on civil conflicts, said the U.S. Capitol riot “made it impossible to deny and ignore that there really was this cancer growing” of anti-democratic sentiment in America.

Walter, after CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan showed her footage of Donald Trump supporters repeating the former president’s 2020 election lies and claiming democracy in the United States was dead, said her response to such rhetoric only 10 years ago “would have been shock and disbelief.”

“I would have thought, ‘Well she’s an outlier and she’s not representative of anything larger than a fringe movement maybe,’” Walter said. “But of course, that’s not the case anymore.”

Experts on civil wars had been talking about the warning signs in the U.S., “but nobody wanted to believe it,” Walter said.

“Citizens do believe what they are hearing and if they hear it long enough and consistently enough, and if that’s all they hear, they absolutely don’t think it’s a lie, they think it’s the truth,” she continued, referencing falsehoods promoted by Trump and his flatterers.

She slammed those cynical leaders for “feeding them lies consistently.”

“They’re priming their supporters to believe that democracy isn’t worth defending because they don’t want democracy anymore,” Walter said.

Civil war expert recoils in horror at interviews with Trump fans: 'They don’t want democracy anymore'
Travis Gettys
January 27, 2022

CNN

The U.S. recently fell out of the rankings of democratic nations, and one expert worries that it will happen again -- and tip the country into civil war.

Barbara Walter, a University of California professor and an expert on civil conflicts, recently wrote about the political volatility in the U.S. since the Jan. 6 insurrection, which dropped the country into the anocracy zone, and she told CNN the riot had made the deadly risks from Donald Trump's lies "impossible to deny and ignore."

"Anocracies are neither fully democratic nor fully autocratic; their citizens enjoy some elements of democratic rule (e.g., elections), while other rights (e.g., due process or freedom of the press) suffer," Walter wrote for the Washington Post. "In the last weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency, the respected Center for Systemic Peace (CSP) calculated that, for the first time in more than two centuries, the United States no longer qualified as a democracy. It had, over the preceding five years, become an anocracy."

President Joe Biden's peaceful inauguration moved the polity ranking back into the democratic zone, but Walter warned the threat remained, putting the U.S. at real risk of additional violence and instability, and Walter reacted with alarm when a CNN host showed her interviews with Trump supporters who refused to accept the former president had lost the election.

"Well, 10 years ago, [my reaction] would have been shock and disbelief," Walter said. “I would have thought, ‘Well she’s an outlier and she’s not representative of anything larger than a fringe movement, maybe.' But of course, that’s not the case anymore.”

Walter and others who study civil conflict have been sounding the alarm for years, but she said no one wanted to believe the risks, but she said Trump and his right-wing media allies have corroded trust in democracy itself -- with already fatal results.

“Citizens do believe what they are hearing and if they hear it long enough and consistently enough and if that’s all they hear, they absolutely don’t think it’s a lie, they think it’s the truth,” Walter said.

"You know, they're good people," she added. "They are trying to do what they think is right. It's the leadership that's cynical. It's the leadership that knows better who is feeding them lies consistently. They’re priming their supporters to believe that democracy isn’t worth defending because they don’t want democracy anymore."