It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, February 07, 2022
Sudan security forces fire tear gas at anti-coup protestors
Sudanese anti-coup protesters take part in a demonstration in al-Diyum neighbourhood of the capital Khartoum on February 7, 2022. (AFP)
AFP, Khartoum Published: 07 February ,2022
Sudanese security forces fired tear gas Monday at thousands of demonstrators calling for civilian rule and justice for protesters killed since last year’s coup, witnesses and an AFP correspondent said.
The tear gas was fired as demonstrators were heading toward the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum, in the latest rally against the October coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the correspondent said.
Mass protests have been regular in Sudan since the coup which derailed the country’s rocky transition to civilian rule following the 2019 ouster of autocratic president Omar al-Bashir.
At least 79 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the crackdown on anti-coup demonstrations, according to an independent group of medics.
Monday’s protests took place despite heavy security presence in Khartoum and its neighboring cities of Omdurman and Khartoum North.
It came only two days after thousands of pro-military demonstrators rallied against recent UN talks that aimed to help Sudan resolve the political crisis since the coup.
On Monday, anti-coup protesters in the city of Wad Madani, south of Khartoum, were seen waving the Sudanese flags and carrying posters of people killed in the crackdown.
“No, no to military rule” and “blood for blood,” they chanted, according to witnesses.
Hundreds also gathered in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, residents there said.
In Khartoum, some protesters also called for the dissolution of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by Burhan’s deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, an AFP correspondent said.
“The Janjaweed should be dissolved,” the protesters chanted, in reference to the RSF which grew out of the Janjaweed militias accused by rights groups of atrocities in Darfur.
Sudan, which was already in the grip of a dire economic crisis before the coup, has seen vital foreign aid cut as part of the international community’s condemnation of the takeover.
The United States, which suspended $700 million in assistance to Sudan after the coup, has warned that a continued crackdown by the authorities would have “consequences.”
Sudanese authorities have repeatedly denied using live ammunition against demonstrators, reporting scores of security officers have been wounded and a police general was stabbed to death.
On Monday, the Sudanese Professionals Association, which called for anti-coup protests, said the latest demonstrations were “a message to the dictatorship that authority lies with the people.”
MYOB
U.S. Republicans vow to probe GoFundMe decision halting Ottawa trucker donations
Some U.S. Republicans on Saturday vowed to investigate GoFundMe's decision to take down a page accepting donations in support of protesting truck drivers in Ottawa, although GoFundMe early Saturday already said it would simply refund all donations.
The Freedom Convoy 2022 began as a movement against a Canadian vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers, but has turned into a rallying point against public health measures in Canada. It has also gained increasing support among U.S. Republicans, including former president Donald Trump.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Saturday it was fraud for GoFundMe to "commandeer" $10 million in donations sent to the Freedom Convoy in support of the truck drivers and said he would work with his state's attorney general, Ashley Moody, to investigate. "(T)hese donors should be given a refund."
But hours before DeSantis posted his statement on Twitter, GoFundMe said in a tweet that it had revised its original plan on how to handle funds already donated to support the truckdriver protest, saying that all donations would be refunded.
"This refund will happen automatically — you do not need to submit a request. Donors can expect to see refunds within 7-10 business days," GoFundMe said in its tweet.
GoFundMe took down the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser page on Friday, saying it violated its terms of service. At the time it said donors would have two weeks to request a refund, with any remaining funds distributed to "credible and established charities."
West Virginia and Louisiana attorneys general were among those who called on constituents to let them know if they had been a donor.
"My office will be looking into whether or not #GoFundMe violated our state law. If you are a Louisiana donor to the #FreedomConvoy, please contact my #ConsumerProtection Section!" Jeff Landry, attorney general in Louisiana, said on Twitter on Saturday.
GoFundMe did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Protesters have shut down downtown Ottawa for eight days now, with some participants waving Confederate or Nazi flags and some saying they wanted to dissolve Canada's government. To the increasing fury of residents, Ottawa police have largely stood by and watched as some protesters smashed windows, threatened reporters and health-care workers, and abused racial minorities.
Toronto and other cities braced for disruptions on Saturday as protests spread from Ottawa, raising fears of clashes with counter-protesters.
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the former president, on Twitter late Friday called for all Republican attorneys general to look into GoFundMe's move.
Canada
People are severing friendships over convoy protest, with some saying it shows 'true colours'
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Friendships vulnerable when 'core values' at issue,
Langley, B.C., contractor Damian Conn says he can "agree to disagree" with friends who are opposed to vaccinations or believe in conspiracy theories and still maintain a relationship.
But when he realized he had friends who support the convoy protest in Ottawa — which is now entering its second week of demonstrations, snarling the nation's capital, to call for an end to vaccine mandates and other public health measures related to COVID-19 — those relationships ended.
He'd known some of those friends since high school.
"It seems like this convoy has brought out everybody's true colours with people you never would have thought had that certain close-minded train of thought," he said.
"I think I've unfriended, like, 100 people — and that includes some family," he said. " I won't even talk to them anymore."
Over the course of the pandemic, there have been a number of stories of how disagreements over vaccination have ended friendships and relationships, and ripped families apart.
Last September, a Harris Poll survey conducted in the U.S. found that a combined 33 per cent of vaccinated respondents had in some way "cut ties or ended relationships" with at least some unvaccinated people in their lives.
WATCH | The 'worst display of Nazi propaganda in this country' happening at convoy protest, advocate says:
Canadian Anti-Hate Network chair Bernie Farber, who is the son of Holocaust survivors, says people can have opposing views when it comes to health care, but Ottawa's protest convoy was taken over by 'extremists with an agenda.' 4:48
Beverley Fehr, a University of Winnipeg psychology professor who specializes in interpersonal relationships, said research indicates that political differences are not often "make-or-break" issues in friendships.
"But I think what the vaccine issue and now the protests are really bringing to light are issues that are highly tied to our core values," she said.
These values include the idea of not just protecting yourself, but protecting others, she added. They also include feelings about racism, safety and personal choice versus the greater good — values that you hold that are so important, that they can't be compromised.
When friends diverge in ways that really are connecting to their core values, it's very challenging to keep the friendship together, she said.
"If that's a core value for you, then it's hard to meet in the middle."
'Going to have to unfriend you'
Many, like Conn, signalled their opposition to the rally by indicating they would be "unfriending" those who showed support for the controversial rally.
Vonica Flear, who lives in London, Ont., says you can't separate from the extremist element of the protesters.
"If you are going to a rally or a protest ... and you see flags that have swastikas on them, that's a big sign that you are in the wrong place," Flear said.
Flear said they were shocked to see that one of their friends from their Nova Scotia hometown posted that he had attended the rally. Flear, who has a master's degree in biology, said they reached out to him, said they would talk about vaccinations, and clear up any misunderstandings or confusing science jargon related to getting a shot.
"But he just replied with something along the lines of 'Canada is a free country' or something like that," Flear said.
"Ithink I just said, 'if you are going to just blindly follow these people without questioning, I'm going to have to unfriend you. I don't want to be associated with white supremacy.' And so I unfriended him."
'Straw that broke the camel's back'
Rachelle Bondy, a property manager in Windsor, Ont., went to Ottawa to support the convoy. Turns out, that was the "straw that broke the camel's back" for a friend she'd known for 14 years, who wound up blocking and deleting her.
"She was very upset with me. Very upset and I wouldn't budge. I wasn't going to change my views," Bondy said.
"I just thought, 'I understand that you do not agree with me, I'm not sitting here calling you names, I'm not calling you racist. I'm not calling you a bad mother. I'm not calling you these things. You're the one who's getting upset about it.'"
Bondy said it was "really sad" because her friend had known her for so long.
"I cannot believe this is where we've come to. Come to the point where our friendships depend on whether or not they know our medical status and what it is," Bondy said.
Following the weekend rally, Sheila Mills, from Salt Spring Island, B.C., posted on Facebook that anyone who believed the media's negative spin of the protest and accusations of racism should unfriend her.
"Anyone who believes that is not my friend, they don't know me well enough to be considered a friend," Mills said.
"Anyone who is going to label all of those people as racist or supporting white supremacy. I lose respect."
WATCH | Protesters say they won't budge, and tensions are rising:
Ottawa residents have grown more frustrated as protesters outside Parliament Hill refuse to budge and start building a structure. Police have started handing out tickets, but it’s unclear what more they will do. 4:19
Mills said she was very angry when she posted her comments, but has "calmed down" since and that she herself has not unfriended anyone. But she said that after her Facebook post, a few people unfriended her, including a family member.
She said that her support for the convoy, and opposition to vaccine mandates had probably lost her a lot of respect from some local community members.
"We live in a very small town and it's very divided. You're on one side or the other," she said.
While some friendships may be ending over the protest, the protest itself shows no sign of stopping. New protests are planned this weekend in several cities, including Toronto and Quebec City, and several counter-protests are also in the works.
Calgary Baptist Church votes in favour of motion to deny membership for LGBTQ2S+ community members
Mark Villani CTV News Calgary Video Journalist Feb. 3, 2022
The sign in front of the First Baptist Church Calgary on Fourth Street S.W. reads ‘Everyone Welcome,’ but a recent memo sent out to church members outlines future plans to deny membership for those identifying with the LGBTQ2S+ community.
According to the letter sent by Pastor Norm Derkson, the church is thankful for its long-time partnership with the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada (CBWC), but disagrees with other churches that are accepting of those with non-heterosexual lifestyles because it goes against their interpretation of scripture beliefs.
Derkson hopes the 160 member churches of the CBWC will follow suit with this motion.
"The CBWC has voted on a solid position with this matter, affirming and reaffirming a biblical view of marriage and sexuality, and yet these churches have been allowed to continue with practices that are contrary to our collectively stated convictions," the letter reads.
"While the vast majority of churches would not affirm the practice of these few, the number of churches choosing to welcome and affirm these members is growing and as a result the point of tension is on whether the denomination has any right to bring correction on individual churches, in light of our view on church autonomy."
Derksons’ letter goes on to states that First Baptist Calgary Church along with the High River Baptist Church have now advised the CBWC and its executive staff that a motion is needed.
According to the letter sent by Pastor Norm Derkson, the church is thankful for its long-time partnership with the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada (CBWC), but disagrees with other churches that are accepting of those with non-heterosexual lifestyles because it goes against scripture beliefs.
He says the goal is "to provide a procedure for addressing churches 'acting in ways contrary to our assembly ratified positions; one that both provides for hopeful restoration, as well as necessary removal from fellowship in cases where there is no repentance'."
A member of the First Baptist Church Calgary who does not wish to be identified confirmed to CTV News that the church board and members of its congregation voted in favour of recommending the motion at a meeting on Jan. 30.
The motion will be put forward at the 2022 CBWB Assembly this coming May.
CTV News contacted Derkson, who did not respond to calls, texts or emails.
When reporter Mark Villani visited his office Thursday morning, Derkson declined to comment and said he was not welcome to return.
According to the letter sent by Pastor Norm Derkson, the church is thankful for its long-time partnership with the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada (CBWC), but disagrees with other churches that are accepting of those with non-heterosexual lifestyles because it goes against scripture beliefs.
LGBTQ COMMUNITY SPEAKS OUT
Haley Wray grew up with two lesbian mothers in rural Alberta and says this letter from the First Baptist Church feels like a step back in time.
"It’s 2022," Wray said.
"It’s a tough thing, it marks exclusion, there’s no discussion, they’re not looking to learn or connect with anybody in the community, there’s judgement that’s been made and they’re taking the next step."
Fellow advocate and director of Affirming Connections in Calgary Pam Rocker agrees and hopes to strengthen and amplify voices for fully inclusive faith-based practices.
"It shocks me because I always hope that we're progressing or moving forward, and that we're continuing to realize the expansiveness the love of God and the divine have however we define it," Rocker said.
"Our job as citizens together and as people who don't want our friends and neighbors to be hurting, is to say that is not what I believe. I believe in something that's far more graceful and open and loving and that's what I believe Calgary and Canada is all about."
Rocker adds that anyone who has read the letter and has been affected by it should know that they have full supports available to them within the Calgary LGBTQ community.
"I would say that the folks who wrote that letter aren’t understanding how big and how amazing it is that we have all different kinds of people in the world," she said.
"That's a beautiful thing that we don't want to change and it has saved people's lives when we say that things like conversion therapy are not okay. It's actually criminal."
STRIKING A NERVE
The line about ‘repentance’ in the First Baptist Church Calgary letter also struck a nerve with John Pentland who is lead pastor at Hillhurst United Church.
"Repent means that you’re changing your mind, changing your direction, and my understanding and love for the LGBTQ plus community is that it’s not about choice, it’s who they are."
Pentland noted he is reluctant to interfere in other denominations and allow them to have their own policies and understanding, but he still believes the church should be an inclusive place for all.
"Our church has not always had an affirming stance, there was time when we were a community of concern within the United Church, but through looking at scripture and reason and tradition and experience, we realized there are larger decision-making elements.
"We have always been a church that seeks to be opening and welcoming and ever-progressing towards a wider inclusion of all people."
According to the letter sent by Pastor Norm Derkson, the church is thankful for its long-time partnership with the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada (CBWC), but disagrees with other churches that are accepting of those with non-heterosexual lifestyles because it goes against their interpretation of scripture beliefs.
Alberta premier speeding up restriction easing timeline amid convoy protest raises questions
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has made a significant shift over the past few days – going from saying COVID-19 restrictions would be lifted in late March, to much sooner. As Tom Vernon explains, Kenney and his caucus are being accused of using the Restrictions Exemption Program as a bargaining chip with trucker convoy protesters in the province.
First Nation in Alberta acquires Edmonton-based Internet company
Internet and DSL lights are illuminated on a modem in Chelsea, Que., Monday July 11, 2011.
A First Nation in Alberta is now in the business of providing high speed Internet.
Actually, the Bearspaw First Nation built and has been managing its own company, Stoney Nakoda Telecom, since 2015.
But on Feb. 1, officials from the First Nation announced they had acquired a 20-year-old company called Clearwave Broadband Networks, based out of Edmonton.
Clearwave hasbeen providing high speed Internet to both homes and businesses in and surrounding Edmonton.
With Bearspaw First Nation now purchasing the company, the goal is to expand upon the success the First Nation has had with its own company. With its Clearwave acquisition, Bearspaw reps hope to not only share their knowledge and improve the connectivity on other First Nations but also provide a revenue boost to its own economic development portfolio.
Rob Shotclose, the CEO of the Bearspaw First Nation, said the work of Stoney Nakoda Telecom had essentially reached a plateau.
That company was founded to bring better Internet service to Stoney Nakoda First Nation, which is comprised of not only Bearspaw First Nation but also includes Chiniki First Nation and Wesley First Nation.
When it was launched seven years ago, less than 10 per cent of the 1,200 Stoney Nakoda First Nation homes had Internet service. And now today, more than 95 per cent of them do.
Shotclose believes the time is right for Bearspaw officials to expand.
“I think we've got some experience,” said Shotclose, who is a Bearspaw First Nation member. “We've built our own network on reserve.”
Jim Sand, who is Metis and has been working as the chief financial officer for Bearspaw First Nation for the past two years, also thinks it's an ideal time to expand its Internet providing services.
“Since I've been here, we've engaged with other First Nations,” Sand said. “They've seen what we're doing and they're impressed and want the same.”
Bearspaw First Nation spent $4 million to buy Clearwave Broadband Networks.
“It's a good opportunity for us to step in and see how we can grow it,” Shotclose said. “It's a small company. They've got a good niche though around here in Edmonton.”
Shotclose said it won't be too long before Bearspaw officials announce which First Nations and communities they will start providing Internet services to, either by building up new networks or starting to manage existing ones.
Most of those are expected to be within the province.
“I think there's some opportunities outside of Alberta too,” Shotclose said, adding he believes officials from his First Nations can provide a more customer-friendly service than some current Internet giants.
“With the big companies now, they don't listen to the little guy,” he said. “You're not exactly Number 1 on their list for your problems that you have in your community.”
Sergei Lutzak founded Clearwave Broadband Networks and had operated the company out of Edmonton.
Though Bearspaw First Nation is located about 340 kilometres south of the Alberta capital, the company will continue to be based in Edmonton.
“It simply gives us a platform to grow this business off reserve,” Sand said.
He's looking forward to doing his part to make the business prosper.
“I'm a finance guy,” he said. “And I've spent my whole career building up companies.”
The creation of Stoney Nakoda Telecom resulted in five full-time on reserve jobs for members of Bearspaw and Chiniki First Nations.
Non-band members will have to be hired to take over Edmonton operations since it is believed that no members from that First Nation suitable for the jobs are currently living in the city.
Besides Alberta, Sand said First Nations located in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have been in touch with Bearspaw officials in the last couple of years to inquire about Internet services.
“Could it be Canada-wide? Could it be worldwide? I think so,” Sand said.
Bearspaw First Nation had received funding via the Alberta government and its Final Mile Rural Connectivity Initiative, as well as the Treaty 7 Economic Development Fund to launch Stoney Nakoda Telecom.
Shotclose said the COVID-19 pandemic has further raised awareness about the importance of having reliable Internet.
“It's so vital now with COVID, especially with online learning and working online,” he said.
‘Trump is not my God’: how the former president’s only vaccine victory turned sour
A rigid anti-vaccine stance among Trump’s supporters means Republicans can’t reap the benefits of Operation Warp Speed
Trump speaks during the Operation Warp Speed Vaccine summit. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
She is fiercely loyal to Donald Trump. But when the former US president came to her home city and praised coronavirus vaccines, Flora Moore did something she never thought possible. She booed him.
“He said take the vaccine but we all booed and said no,” she recalled of Trump’s event with broadcaster Bill O’Reilly in Orlando, Florida. “He heard us loud and clear because the Amway Center was packed. We let him know ‘no’ and a couple of us even hollered out, ‘It’s killing people!’”
There is no scientific basis to the claim that the vaccines are killing people. In fact, they have demonstrably saved thousands of lives. But Moore is indicative of the extreme anti-vaccine sentiment consuming the base of the Republican party – a monster that Trump himself can no longer control.
America is exhausted by a pandemic still killing more than 2,400 people a day, the overwhelming majority of whom are unvaccinated, bringing the total death toll to 900,000.
In more conventional times, Trump’s Operation Warp Speed, which developed vaccines in record time, would be a source of pride for his voters. Even his successor, Joe Biden, has praised the initiative, stating: “Thanks to the prior administration and our scientific community, America was one of the first countries to get the vaccine.”
But Trump’s eagerness to claim credit has been undone by conservatives’ backlash against Biden’s efforts to legally require worker vaccinations, which they cast as a threat to individual freedom. The ex-president’s customary applause turned to jeers when he encouraged supporters to get vaccinated and told O’Reilly that he received a booster himself.
What was arguably Trump’s most important legacy from an otherwise disastrous pandemic response, and a divisive four-year presidency, has turned into a political liability, threatening to turn his own fans against him. Laurie Garrett, an award-winning science writer, observed: “It’s probably the only time his base has ever booed him about anything. If he can no longer brag about Operation Warp Speed, what can he brag about regarding how he handled Covid?”
Trump supporters gathered at the World Wide Rally for Freedom, an anti-mask and anti-vaccine rally in New Hampshire on 15 May 2021.
Photograph: Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images
The anti-vaccine fervor has been stoked by some Republican politicians as well as rightwing media. Last month, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a notorious sceptic, gave writer Alex Berenson a platform to baselessly proclaim, “The mRNA Covid vaccines need to be withdrawn from the market now. No one should get them. No one should get boosted. No one should get double-boosted.”
The web has also become a place for unscientific conspiracy theories to thrive. Moore, the Trump supporter in Florida, said she gets her information from her 30,000 followers on Facebook as well as Telegram, Twitter and YouTube.
She said: “I don’t trust the government. I don’t trust the pharmaceutical companies. I’m active in politics here and found out lots of people were having complications and dropping dead. There’s a lot of jobs I wont’t even take because they want me to get a vaccine.”
The commercial analyst, who is in her 40s, refuses to wear a face mask in restaurants or at work. Her radical views on the issue outweigh even her faith in Trump.
“I trust him on certain things, but he’s not my God,” she said.
Trump appears to have heeded the shift and recalibrated. At a rally in Conroe, Texas, last Saturday, where anti-vaccine views were again rampant, he channeled the crowd’s anger towards Biden’s mandate for federal government workers (a similar mandate for businesses was rejected by the supreme court).
“It is time for the American people to declare independence from every last Covid mandate,” Trump said to cheers. “We have to tell this band of hypocrites, tyrants and racists that we’re done with having them control our lives, mess with our children and close our businesses. We’re moving on from Covid.”
He then added briskly: “We did a great job. Operation Warp Speed has been praised by everybody but it’s now time to move on.” Notably in the remarks he did not use the word “vaccines” at all. It was a pivot that appeared to acknowledge the political threat and it is enough to satisfy voters such as Moore. The one thing Republicans could claim as a great benefit that was saving lives, they’re now being compelled by their own base to renounceLaurie Garrett
She commented: “I think he’s gotten the message that he can say he took the vaccine and nothing happened to him and if you desire to take it, take it, but if you don’t want to, leave it alone.”
The number of anti-vaxxers in the Republican base is hard to estimate. The Guardian interviewed half a dozen Trump rally attendees last week and found that most had got the shots. They included Jered Pettis, from Phoenix, Arizona, who had changed his mind on the topic.
“We were totally anti-vaccine, didn’t really believe in it, didn’t want to get it,” he said. “Then a friend got it pretty severe: he could hardly breathe and felt like his head was going to explode. He didn’t go to the hospital but he was very, very sick to the point where he told me, ‘Hey, Jered. I’m very thankful for every breath of air that I get now’. After I had seen and heard one of my best friends go through that, I changed my mind in a heartbeat.”
Pettis received two Pfizer doses, then caught the virus just over a month ago. “So thank God, because I would have been a lot sicker than I was. It was almost like a mild cold. I could just imagine if I was not vaccinated.”
The 50-year-old exterior designer describes the recent booing as “absolutely ridiculous” and believes that Trump deserves credit, not criticism, for the vaccines. “Even though you may be anti-vaccine, you’ll change your mind if you get sick or you get somebody around you that dies.”
Even so, deep-seated suspicion of the vaccines could deprive Republicans of what might have been a powerful boast going into November’s midterm elections. Garrett, author of The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance, points out that counties that voted for Trump in 2020 have a far higher mortality rate than counties that voted for Biden.
Trump was booed in Alabama when he urged fans to get the vaccine. Photograph: Marvin Gentry/Reuters
“The Republicans are in a bind,” she said. “They are experiencing a higher death rate in their ranks and it is directly linked to their positions on Covid. The one thing they could claim as a great benefit that was saving lives, vaccination, they’re now being compelled by their own base to renounce.”
Vaccine scepticism has never been a solely rightwing stance. Some libertarians on the left have opposed profit-driven big pharma and championed holistic alternatives. But on Covid-19, at least, this group appears to be significantly smaller than the conservative holdouts.
Garrett said: “All the polls are showing tremendous partisan differential in everything to do with vaccines and it has been increasing steadily for the last two years. It’s very much driven by the rightwing myths and narratives around Covid.
“There still are some of those ex-hippie types that don’t want to get vaccinated, but if you look at the breakdown on political sentiment about vaccination, willingness to get a third booster or even a fourth if it becomes available, it’s so Democrat. It’s incredible” Garrett said. “I never thought in my life I would see something like this. It is an absolute partisan divide and it’s widening.”
About nine in 10 Democrats and six in 10 Republicans have been vaccinated, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, while 62% of Democrats and just 32% of Republicans have been both vaccinated and boosted. The trend suggests that Republican candidates for the midterm elections are likely to follow Trump’s lead in attacking Biden’s mandates rather than celebrating Trump’s vaccines. Giving up on Trump is like giving up on their dreams. Trump was their savior.Monika McDermott
But if any Republican can outflank Trump on the issue ahead of the 2024 presidential election, it may be the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, who has refused to say whether he received a booster. The New York Times reported that Patrick Ruffini, a Republican pollster, found Trump’s lead over DeSantis closing to just nine points among party members who like both men.
Monika McDermott, a political science professor at Fordham University in New York, said: “They can get disgruntled with Trump, certainly, and DeSantis is the obvious choice for people who are anti-vax. But giving up on Trump is like giving up on their dreams at this point. Trump was their savior. Trump brought about the wholesale remasculization of that portion of the American psyche.”
Indeed, despite the possible split with his Make America Great Again movement on vaccines, Trump remains by far the biggest beast in the Republican jungle and this week announced that he is entering 2022 with a staggering $122m in campaign funds.
Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman active on social media, said: “I talk to the extremists all the time and I agree with Trump’s people that they’re locked with him. They’re not going to anybody else.”
Walsh finds that 90% of the base are anti-vaccine, do not believe Biden won and either have no problem with the 6 January insurrection or regard it as a patriotic day.
“You could not as a Republican candidate run for office if you told people to get vaccinated or if you said Joe Biden won fair and square,” he added. “If you said either one of those two things, you couldn’t win a Republican primary.”
Canadians spared from Amazon Prime price increase
Michelle Zadikian, BNN Bloomberg
Amazon.com Inc. is hiking the price of its Prime membership, but in an email to BNN Bloomberg, the company confirmed the increases will only apply to Americans.
In a press release on Thursday, the e-commerce giant announced it will raise the price of its monthly Prime membership in the U.S. to US$14.99, from US$12.99; and the annual fee is going up to US$139, from US$119.
The changes take effect on Feb. 18 for new Prime subscribers in the U.S. and at the time of renewal after March 25 for existing members.
Amazon said the Prime price increase, the first hike since 2018, is due to higher wages and shipping costs.
Those inflationary pressures were apparent in the company’s fourth-quarter results.
Operating income was halved to US$3.5 billion from US$6.9 billion a year earlier, and it swung from US$31 billion in free cash flow a year ago to an outflow of US$9.1 billion in the most recent quarter.
“As expected over the holidays, we saw higher costs driven by labor supply shortages and inflationary pressures, and these issues persisted into the first quarter due to Omicron. Despite these short-term challenges, we continue to feel optimistic and excited about the business as we emerge from the pandemic,” said Andy Jassy, chief executive officer of Amazon, in a release.
In April 2021, Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos said in his annual letter to shareholders that the company had surpassed 200 million Prime members.
Amazon Prime annual fee hikes to $180, not $139, for many members
The company introduced the monthly subscription in 2016 to attract more middle- and low-income shoppers.
By Spencer Soper and Michael TobinBloomberg
Published On 4 Feb 20224 Feb 2022
When Amazon.com Inc. announced it was raising the price of its Prime program, the company said an annual subscription would climb $20 to $139. But slightly more than half of Prime members will end up forking over almost $180 a year.
That’s because they pay each month, a fee that’s rising to $14.99 from $12.99. The company introduced the monthly subscription in 2016 to attract more middle- and low-income shoppers. The strategy worked, and 52% of subscribers now pay each month, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners
Even though they pay more, monthly subscribers are almost as loyal as annual members, with about 97% of them likely to renew compared with 99% for their counterparts, said the Chicago research firm, which conducts quarterly surveys.
“Even though monthly members pay somewhat more on an annual basis, members like that they have a smaller cash outlay and the perceived flexibility,” said Josh Lowitz, CIRP’s co-founder. “Despite the option to pause and re-start monthly membership, our data suggests that only a very small percentage truly cherry-pick their Amazon Prime months.
The increase announced Thursday is the first since 2018. Amazon has invested billions of dollars to ensure packages get to customers on time amid an acute labor shortage and supply-chain bottlenecks. Prime subscribers also get access to movies, sports programming and photo storage, among other perks.
The company added millions of new subscribers after previous price increases, and analysts say Amazon probably won’t lose many customers once the latest hike goes into effect. Investors welcomed the increase and sent the shares soaring after the company reported robust results, fueled in part by a strong showing from its cloud-services division.
“Amazon has historically sold the increase in Prime to consumers by saying ‘we have much more and much more items,’” said Tom Forte, a senior research analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co. “They’re spending billions more on content than they were four years ago. I think there’s a strong case to make for price increases. I think there’s a compelling case that the retention rate will still be high.”
Morgan Stanley analysts led by Brian Nowak wrote in a note on Friday that Amazon attracted a large number of households averaging $55,000 to $70,000 in annual income over the last two years. “The growing and aging of Amazon’s Prime sub base continues to be a key enabler of Amazon’s retail business,” the analysts wrote.
Amazon shares rose almost 15% at 1:15 p.m. in New York.
The price change goes into effect on Feb. 18 for new Prime subscribers; it will apply to current members who renew after March 25.
The Seattle-based company signed up a combined 60 million U.S. Prime members in 2020 and 2021, according to CIRP, bringing the total number to 172 million. The firm tallies Prime members, not subscriptions. One Prime subscription can have multiple members since many households share one account. CIRP attributes the surge in sign-ups to consumers’ stampede online during the pandemic.
Prime helps Amazon convert occasional shoppers into loyal customers. Prime subscribers typically spend more on Amazon than non-members.
The price increase struck Evercore ISI retail analyst Greg Melich “as a bit early,” but he said it should “prove effective” given strong renewal rates and expand ed benefits.
US: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car Sales Rebounded In 2021 It was a record year, but the volume remains marginal.
Feb 05, 2022 By: Mark Kane
Hydrogen fuel cell cars, an alternative zero-emission solution for battery-electric cars, made us skeptical since the early beginning due to a variety of issues (price of the car, overall energy efficiency, and lack of refueling infrastructure to name the three major ones).
As years pass by, let's take a look at the sales results of hydrogen fuel cell cars (aka FCV or FCEV) in the U.S. (actually in California, where the few available models are sold). Is there any progress?
The year 2020 was pretty weak for FCVs as only 937 were sold (down 55%), according to the California Fuel Cell Partnership.
In 2021, things got better and not only did FCVs return to growth, but achieved a new record level of 3,341 (up 257% year-over-year).
The California Fuel Cell Partnership's FCVs sales data comes from Baum and Associates. "Sales data is based on car sales sold by a dealer to a retail or fleet customer".
The growth rate is high, but it's always easy from a low base. The volume, although at a record high, remains very low. It's now more than 100 times behind battery-electric cars, which are sold at a rate of several hundred thousand per year in the U.S. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Sales In U.S. - 2021
The growth in 2021 is associated mostly with the push from Toyota and also Hyundai. Toyota Mirai specifically noted 2,629 sales in the U.S. which is 427% more than a year ago. It's also nearly 79% of the total FCV segment.
Sales in 2021 (Mirai and NEXO sales as reported by the manufacturers): Toyota Mirai - 2,629 (up 427% from 499) Hyundai NEXO - 430 (up 107% from 208) other models - 282 (up 23% from 230) Total: about 3,341 (up 257%, from 937)
As we can see, over a decade now, the few Japanese and South Korean manufacturers are fighting the hydrogen battle alone and still only on a very limited scale in California (only selected dealers, single model per brand).
Cumulatively, hydrogen fuel cell car sales in the U.S. reached 12,272 as of the end of 2021 (37% more than a year ago).
As of January 31, 2022, the number of open retail hydrogen stations in California stood at 48, which is just 5 (or 12%) more than a year ago on January 20, 2021. 12 new stations are under construction. See the full list of hydrogen infrastructure here.
A quick calculation reveals that there are 256 cars per single station (cumulative sales divided by the number of stations). Although, it might be much less if some of the early cars were removed from service.
The viability of FCVs remains doubtful, and with the tremendous progress of the mainstream battery electric vehicles, the race might already be over. In the early days, at least there were concerns about BEVs range (100 miles), charging times or fast charging infrastructure, but today, with many 200- or 300-mile BEVs and thousands of charging stations, those issues are gradually being solved
First ever free-floating black hole found roaming through interstellar space
by Bob Yirka , Phys.org
An international team of researchers has confirmed that a possible microlensing event witnessed in 2011 was due to the presence of a free-floating black hole roaming through interstellar space—the first of its kind ever observed. The group has published a paper describing their findings on the arXiv preprint server.
Scientists have assumed for some time that there are many black holes wandering around in interstellar space, but until now they had not found one. This is due to the very nature of a black hole—they are difficult to spot against the black backdrop of space. Still, the evidence for their existence was strong. Prior research has shown that black holes are often formed when stars reach the end of their lives and their cores collapse, generally producing a supernova. And because many such supernova have been observed, it seemed clear that many black holes must have been created as a result.
But finding them has meant looking for lensing effects, when light from stars is bent by the pull of the black hole. Given the great distances, the lensing effect is slight, making it nearly impossible to detect using even the best modern telescopes. But luck prevailed in 2011 when two project teams looking for such lensing spotted a star that appeared to brighten for no apparent reason. Intrigued, the researchers with this new effort began analyzing the data from Hubble. For six years, they watched as the light changed, hoping that the change was due to magnification from a black hole. Then, they found something else—the position of the star appeared to change. The researchers suggest the change could only be due to an unseen moving object exerting a force that was pulling on the light as it passed by—an interstellar black hole. The researchers continued to study the star and its light, and eventually ruled out the possibility of any light coming from the lensing and also confirmed that the magnification had a long duration, both of which are prerequisites to confirming the existence of a black hole.
Taken altogether, the evidence is strong enough to confirm the sighting of a free-floating black hole. The researchers were even able to measure its size, at seven solar masses. They also found that it is traveling at approximately 45 km/second.Lack of massive black holes in telescope data is caused by bias
More information:Kailash C. Sahu et al, An Isolated Stellar-Mass Black Hole Detected Through Astrometric Microlensing. arXiv:2201.13296v1 [astro-ph.SR],arxiv.org/abs/2201.13296