CANADA

Other countries have rules for online fundraising, committee probing convoy protest hears

Several other countries have adopted laws to govern how crowdfunding platforms can be used to raise money for causes, officials from the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe told members of a parliamentary committee Thursday.

While Canada has few laws that regulate crowdfunding platforms, Kim Wilford, general counsel for GoFundMe, said some other countries have introduced rules.

"In some jurisdictions, we see that fundraising for charity is quite regulated," she said, responding to questions from MPs about laws Canada could consider adopting.

"We see that you need to actually go to the government to get a permit to do that in places like Australia, in places like Denmark, in places like Finland."

Representatives of GoFundMe are appearing before the House of Commons finance committee to answer questions about its role in raising funds for the anti-vaccine mandate protest convoy that paralyzed downtown Ottawa for three weeks last month and blocked a number of border crossings across Canada.

Wilford said Singapore has a voluntary code of practice for online fundraising platforms to protect users and prevent data leaks, privacy breaches and fraud. She said Romania is the only country she knows of that has regulations limiting the size of individual donations.
Don't penalize worthy causes, MPs told

Wilford called on the government to bear in mind the ability of crowdfunding platforms to raise money for good causes. She said GoFundMe has raised $50 million from people in more than 140 countries to help those affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"It is wonderful how people can come together to help one other in their time of need, so we want to make sure that we don't do anything here that would impact that," she said.

The convoy protest attracted millions of dollars in donations via crowdfunding platforms – first on GoFundMe, then on GiveSendGo. A separate online cryptocurrency fundraiser raised more than $1 million.

It's not yet clear how much of the money raised has made its way to protest organizers or the protesters themselves.

GoFundMe says most donations came from Canada

GoFundMe president Juan Benitez told the committee that, based on an analysis by its payment processor of the types of payments that were used, 88 per cent of the more than $10 million collected came from donors located in Canada, while 12 per cent came from outside Canada.

Benitez said 86 per cent of the 120,000 donors came from Canada. That means that 14 per cent, or roughly 16,800 people, donated from outside Canada.

"There just was not a significant foreign contribution," he said.

Benitez said the analysis didn't identify any particularly large individual donations from international donors. Wilford said the largest donation to the GoFundMe campaign — for $30,000 — came from a donor located in Canada.

Benitez said only a handful of donations came from individuals located in Russia and the company did not see signs of coordinated activity in those donations.

GoFundMe's statistics don't match the numbers provided by its rival GiveSendGo, which took up the convoy protest fundraiser after GoFundMe concluded on Feb. 4 that the campaign did not meet its terms and conditions, shut it down and announced it would refund all donations.

GiveSendGo had been invited to appear before the committee. In an e-mail, co-owner Heather Wilson said they couldn't appear Thursday because they were travelling.

At a meeting of the House of Commons public safety committee on March 3, GiveSendGo co-owner Jacob Wells testified that, at that point, 60 per cent of the money raised on his platform came from Canada and 37 per cent came from the United States.
GiveSendGo says it's refunding donations

According to data hacked around Feb. 10 and then released widely online, the largest donation to the convoy fundraiser was $90,000 US, in the name of an American businessman.

Earlier this week, the convoy fundraising campaign was still active. A notice on the website now says the campaign is "currently disabled and cannot receive new donations."

At the point it was paused, the campaign had raised $9.7 million US, or $12.4 million Canadian.

© Félix Desroches/Radio-Canada Anti-vaccine mandate protesters gather on Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill on Feb. 13, 2022.

A notice posted on GiveSendGo's convoy fundraiser site says it is planning to refund donations to prevent the money from being seized.

"The Canadian government has criminalized the receiving of funds from the Freedom Convoy 2022 campaign and now are trying to seize the funds to redistribute," the company wrote. "In order to protect our Givers and the intended purposes of their gifts, all donations not already transferred to the recipients of the Freedom Convoy 2022 campaign will be refunded automatically, no refund requests necessary."

Wilson has not yet responded to questions from CBC News about how the refund process will work and when donors will receive refunds.

Elizabeth Thompson can be reached at elizabeth.thompson@cbc.ca

Indigenous knowledge takes its rightful place in atlas on climate change, mitigation

Almost four years after the Climate Atlas of Canada was launched, Indigenous knowledge is now a featured component.

The interactive climate atlas is the work of the Prairie Climate Centre at the University of Winnipeg. It projects climate change looking at high carbon and the increased temperatures between now and 2050.

That atlas now includes climate data for all 634 First Nations communities across Canada, all 53 Inuit communities, and projects across the Métis homeland.

“It isn’t just the context or the contents of this work that is being done…but the process that was taken based on respect, based on connection and understanding of one another and how we can build that from western science, southern universities, with Indigenous communities,” said Siila Watt-Cloutier, Inuk climate change advocate.

“That is the way to go forward on the issues that we need to go forward with and this is the time to strike while that iron is hot, to be able to really do this. And so this is timely, this is timely on so many fronts,” she said.

Watt-Cloutier in 2007 was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her ground-breaking work linking climate change and human rights.

This Indigenous knowledge aspect of the map was many years in the making, said Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett Huson), research associate with the PCC, which connected with knowledge keepers, Elders and youth across the country to make it happen.

It builds on the first national climate portal that was launched in 2018 and included projections for climate change impact on urban centres in Canada. But that was a colonial project, said Ian Mauro, who is non-Indigenous.

“We also knew it was wholly inadequate. That we needed to see Indigenous place names, that we needed to see Indigenous territories on this map…We’ve been able to do something truly tremendous,” said Mauro, executive director of the PCC.

Now the portal includes Indigenous knowledge along with climate change projections for every Indigenous community.

“This is about how Indigenous knowledge relates to climate change, adaptation. How colonization has impacted climate change and what it means to bring Indigenous knowledges into climate change research,” said Hetxw'ms Gyetxw.

Terry Duguid, parliamentary secretary for Environment and Climate Change Canada, said in a statement that the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge is “a significant national contribution that demonstrates how climate research and Indigenous ways of knowing can respectfully be brought together to advance reconciliation, climate preparedness and protection of the environment.”

The interactive map includes videos, films, information and articles about projects and initiatives being undertaken by Indigenous communities, climate activism, and perspectives of Elders and youth.

“(It shows) how Indigenous knowledge and science affects and impacts research in the north and across the country,” said Hetxw'ms Gyetxw.

The map is an important tool for risk management, adaptation planning, and creating resilience, said Mauro.

While Indigenous is the broad term used for the knowledge provided, Mauro stressed that the map takes a distinctions-based approach with First Nations, Métis and Inuit able to share their own stories.

“The Métis Nation has a strong desire to be part of the solution for climate change, and as Métis people we have a lot to offer. It is important for all Canadians to understand how the Métis have both historically been involved and continue to be involved in climate action today,” said Cassidy Caron, president of the Métis National Council.

“Climate change poses one of, if not the biggest, challenge to our citizens and our communities right now. As Métis we are intrinsically tied to the land and we have to do our part to protect it now and for our future generations,” said Caron.

The MNC helped fund this project as did the Assembly of First Nations.

“We need to be gathering all the knowledge that we can to make the best decisions for our people. And that is a balance of the traditional knowledge and in this case what western modern science can show us,” said AFN Yukon Regional Chief Kluane Adamek, whose portfolio includes environment and climate.

First Nations continue to be leaders in this space, said Adamek. The information available through the climate atlas provides important information that allows First Nations to be able to respond to changes.

Also helping to fund the project was Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

The map can be accessed at Climate Change in Canada | Climate Atlas of Canada and the Indigenous knowledges icon in the left-side legend leads to the Indigenous information.

Windspeaker.com

By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com, Windspeaker.com

NO WORKER EVER GETS A 15% ANNUAL WAGE INCREASE

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla received $24.3 million in total compensation for 2021

Spencer Kimball 

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla received $24.3 million in total compensation for 2021, a 15% increase over the prior year.

Bourla's total equity holdings, nearly 597,000 shares, are worth more than $32 million as of Thursday's closing price $54.24.

He's entitled to a golden parachute of nearly $113 million, which was valued at end of December 2021

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© Provided by CNBC Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla addresses a press conference after a visit to oversee the production of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at the factory of U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer in Puurs, Belgium April 23, 2021.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla received $24.3 million in total compensation for 2021, a 15% increase over the prior year as the company's full-year profit more than doubled with the successful rollout of its Covid vaccine.


Bourla took home a cash incentive of $8 million on top of his salary of $1.69 million. He also received stock and options totaling $13.2 million as well as $1.38 million in other compensation.

Bourla's total equity holdings, nearly 597,000 shares, are worth more than $32 million as of Thursday's closing price of $54.24. He's also entitled to a golden parachute valued at nearly $113 million as of Dec. 31, if the company is sold and he loses his job as a result.

Bourla also received more than $336,000 for home security and more than $60,000 for air travel. His total salary is 262 times higher than the median compensation for a normal employee at Pfizer.

Pfizer booked a profit of nearly $22 billion in 2021, double the previous year as the company's Covid vaccine became the most widely administered shot against in the U.S. and the European Union. Sales from Pfizer's Covid vaccine totaled $36.7 billion in 2021, making up about 45% of its annual revenue of $81.2 billion. Pfizer is projecting another $32 billion in vaccine sales this year.

The shot was developed with BioNTech, its German partner, who created the technology underlying the vaccine. Pfizer and BioNTech splits profits from the vaccine equally.

Pfizer's shot was the first Covid vaccine to receive emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in December and also the first to receive full approval from the FDA. The eligibility age has been gradually lowered to everyone over 5 years old.

Pfizer's Covid treatment pill, Paxlovid, is also expected to become a hit, with the company projecting at least $22 billion in sales.

The vaccine maker's windfall from the shots are controversial with activist groups, which are calling for the companies to share their intellectual property with developing nations to help boost vaccination coverage. Oxfam America, in a proposal for Pfizer's annual meeting, has called for shareholders to back a feasibility study on transferring the underlying vaccine technology.

Pfizer's board of directors has called on shareholders to vote against the proposal, saying transferring the technology behind the shots requires highly skilled local partners that have the know-how to manufacture them. The company has committed to suppling 2 billion vaccine doses to poorer nations by the end of 2022.

THAT'S MORE LIKE IT

GE cuts CEO Culp's incentive grant after shareholder rebuke

By Rajesh Kumar Singh 

© Reuters/ARND WIEGMANN Logo of General Electric is seen in Baden

CHICAGO (Reuters) - General Electric Co on Thursday said its Chief Executive Larry Culp would take a 67% cut to an incentive grant this year after shareholders last year rejected his compensation package in a non-binding but rare rebuke over executive pay.

In its annual proxy statement filed on Thursday, the Boston-based industrial conglomerate said Culp's annual equity incentive grant for 2022 will be reduced to $5 million from $15 million.

The company also disclosed Culp's annual compensation last year was about $22.7 million, down 69% from 2020, due to a reduction in stock awards.

Proxy votes against executive pay at S&P 500 companies became more common last year and were often sparked by "questionable practices and metrics," such as easier performance targets during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report by shareholder advocacy group As You Sow.

© Reuters/Alwyn Scott FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: 

General Electric Co. Chief Executive Officer Larry Culp at the company’s annual meeting in Tarrytown

Among the S&P 500, a record 16 companies had the pay of their CEOs and other top leaders rejected by more than half of investors last year, up from 10 in 2020 and seven in 2019, the report said.

As part of an extension of Culp's employment contract to 2024, GE in 2020 canceled old shares he had been given and granted him new shares tied to lower financial targets. The compensation package entailed a payout through 2024 of as much as $230 million.

Some 57.7% of GE shareholders last year rejected the pay deal, according to preliminary results, which some proxy advisory firms argued was too generous.

GE said in the proxy statement its board had gathered feedback from shareholders on the issue and tried to address concerns related to compensation matters.

While defending the 2020 grant, the company said its board does not intend to enter into a similar modification of the CEO's employment agreement in the future.

It also promised to use discretion sparingly in determining bonus pools.

GE's annual shareholders meeting is scheduled in May.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Additional reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Richard Pullin)

Telegram forgot to check its email and now it’s banned in Brazil

Mitchell Clark 2 hrs ago

Telegram’s founder and CEO Pavel Durov has just put out a statement about why Brazil’s Supreme Court is now suspending the app, and the reason is incredible. In the statement, which you can read in full below or on Durov’s Telegram channel, he says it was because his company was checking the wrong email address

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© Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The company apparently missed the missive.

“It seems that we had an issue with emails going between our telegram.org corporate addresses and the Brazilian Supreme Court,” Durov says, going on to explain that his company asked the court to send future takedown requests “to a dedicated email address.” But the court didn’t do that, apparently — it kept using “the old general-purpose email address,” and Telegram missed them somehow, and now it’s getting banned, unless the court takes pity.

The company says it’s now found those emails (implying that the old address did at least work, which makes it even more bizarre that the emails somehow got missed), and is trying to remedy the situation with the court. There’s a lot of political context surrounding the ban, which stems from accusations that Telegram facilitates the spread of disinformation, and my colleague Adi Robertson lays it out clearly in this story. But to hear Telegram tell it, the whole thing boils down to an issue we all struggle with — keeping track of emails.

It seems that we had an issue with emails going between our telegram.org corporate addresses and the Brazilian Supreme Court. As a result of this miscommunication, the Court ruled to ban Telegram for being unresponsive.

On behalf of our team, I apologize to the Brazilian Supreme Court for our negligence. We definitely could have done a better job.

We complied with an earlier court decision in late February and responded with a suggestion to send future takedown requests to a dedicated email address. Unfortunately, our response must have been lost, because the Court used the old general-purpose email address in further attempts to reach us. As a result, we missed its decision in early March that contained a follow-up takedown request. Luckily, we have now found and processed it, delivering another report to the Court today.

Because tens of millions of Brazilians rely on Telegram to communicate with family, friends and colleagues, I ask the Court to consider delaying its ruling for a few days at its discretion to allow us to remedy the situation by appointing a representative in Brazil and setting up a framework to react to future pressing issues like this in an expedited manner.

The last 3 weeks have been unprecedented for the world and for Telegram. Our content moderation team was flooded with requests from multiple parties. However, I am certain that once a reliable channel of communication is established, we’ll be able to efficiently process takedown requests for public channels that are illegal in Brazil.

Telegram Has Had a Representative in Brazil for 7 Years while Ignoring Supreme Court and Electoral Court

Company empowered a law firm in Rio to act on matters of interest to the federal government


Feb.21.2022 

Telegram has had a representative in Brazil for seven years to work on matters of interest to the federal government agency in charge of trademark registration in the country. Even so, the company has ignored calls from the Brazilian court and notifications related to elections. 

The powers of representation were conferred by the Russian businessman Palev Durov, one of the founders and CEO of the company, to the Araripe & Associados office, based in Rio de Janeiro. 

Meanwhile, the platform has eluded orders and requests from Brazilian authorities, including the Superior Electoral Court and the Supreme Court, who make attempts to contact them about demands involving publications on the social network.

Telegram is one of the main concerns for the 2022 elections due to the lack of controls on the dissemination of fake news. It has also become a subject of discussion in Congress and the TSE for possible restrictions on its operation in Brazil.

Folha had access to powers of attorney signed by Durov and which make up the process of registering the brand of the instant messaging application in progress at the National Institute of Industrial Property.

The president of the TSE, Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, sent a letter to Durov, but there was, according to the court, "no record of a response or confirmation of receipt so far." The Federal Public Ministry also did not receive a response.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en

Asia's youngest democracy East Timor heads to the polls

DILI (Reuters) - Voters in East Timor head to the polls on Saturday, as Asia's youngest democracy holds its fifth presidential elections since independence, with concerns over political stability and economic security at the forefront of the campaign.

© Reuters/LIRIO DA FONSECA Election officers transport ballot boxes to the polling station of the East Timorese presidential election at Dili

The 16 presidential hopefuls include former resistance fighter and incumbent President Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres, independence figure and Nobel laureate, Jose Ramos-Horta, and a former Catholic priest.

While the nation's so-called "guerrilla generation" of independence figures still dominate the field, for the first time there are also four female candidates, including deputy prime minister, Armanda Berta Dos Santos.

A recent poll by the national university showed that Ramos-Horta, 72, former defence forces commander, Lere Anan Timur, and Guterres are the favourites, with Ramos-Horta in front with 39%.

If no candidate wins an outright majority, the vote will proceed to a run-off on April 19 between the top two contenders.

Approaching twenty years since independence after the end of a brutal occupation by Indonesia, East Timor has for long spells struggled with political instability.

After the last elections in 2018, Guterres refused to swear in some ministers from the National Congress of the Reconstruction of East Timor (CNRT), a political party led by former prime minister and resistance leader Xanana Gusmao.

The move sparked a chain of ongoing political fractures.

In a streamed address on Thursday Ramos-Horta, who is backed by Xanana's CNRT party, said he was running because he felt the current president had "exceeded his powers".

In East Timor's political system, the president also shares some executive powers and appoints a government and has the power to veto ministers or dissolve parliament.

During a recent election debate, Guterres pledged to ensure peace and stability in the country and to defend its sovereignty and follow the constitution if he won a new term.

In a country heavily dependent on dwindling supplies of oil and gas, economic diversification and the role of young voters have also been key election issues. An estimated 20% of Timorese will be first-time voters this year in the country of 1.3 million people.

© Reuters/LIRIO DA FONSECA An election officer transports ballot boxes of the East Timorese presidential election at Dili

(Reporting by Kate Lamb in Sydney; Additional reporting by Nelson Da Cruz in Dili; Editing by Ed Davies)

LIFE OR DEATH DECISIONS
Posthaste: Pandemic stress drives many Canadians to consider a career change

© Provided by Financial Post 

A sign advertising available jobs at the Clocktower Brew Pub hangs in a window in Ottawa.


Noella Ovid 

FINANCIAL POST

Good morning!


Pandemic stress over the past two years has driven many Canadians to consider a career change, says a monthly health survey.

LifeWorks Inc.’s mental health index found nearly half of workers are, or possibly are, rethinking their career goals due to COVID-19.

“Canadians continue to face many challenges, both within and outside of the workplace as a result of the pandemic, across the full physical, mental, financial and social wellbeing spectrum,” Stephen Liptrap, LifeWorks president and CEO, said in a press release. “The decisions being made are largely due to people seeking opportunities to improve their overall wellbeing.”

Workers remain under strain. The findings showed that the general psychological health of Canadians is at the lowest point in the past 23 months.

Work productivity saw the most significant improvement in February, reaching a high not seen since the launch of the index in April 2020. Yet, 30 per cent of workers surveyed are considering retraining for a different career, 24 per cent are considering resigning and moving to a different role, and 21 per cent are considering retiring.

One worrying trend the poll identified is that nearly two-thirds (66 per cent) of survey-takers are comfortable with less social interaction than they had before the pandemic.

“There was a trend toward increased isolation before the pandemic, which has now been exacerbated,” said Paula Allen, LifeWorks global leader and senior vice-president in the press release. “This is yet another risk factor for mental health that both individuals and employers need to be concerned about.”

The survey found that employees who will be making a career change or whose career goals changed due to the pandemic have lower mental health scores (-18.5) than the national average (-10.6).

Poor mental health also had a strong correlation with absenteeism. The data showed that workers who missed more days of work due to illness had lower mental health scores than those with fewer days lost.

Better mental health was associated with feeling valued, doing work that is valued, having control, and being accepted.

Meanwhile, the lowest mental health score (-29.4) was among those who do not believe they can be themselves at work. Younger employees were also most likely to believe their work is not important to their employer.

Allen said that social interaction has to be part of the long-term solution. “It might take some time, but we need to start connecting to others more than we are now,” she said. “It is clear that people are comfortable interacting and seeing other individuals less, and even though less interaction is what we have become used to, it does not mean that it is best in the long-term.”

Trans swimmer Lia Thomas finishes fifth in bid for second NCAA championship

Dan Wolken, USA TODAY 

ATLANTA — University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas failed to add a second national title at the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships on Friday, finishing fifth in the 200-yard freestyle race.

© Brett Davis, USA TODAY Sports Penn swimmer Lia Thomas talks to head coach Mike Schnur after the 500 free prelim.

One night after becoming the first openly transgender person to win a Division I national championship, in the 500-yard free, Thomas struggled from the beginning of the race and came up more than two seconds short of completing a sweep of the two events in which she entered as the top seed. Stanford's Taylor Ruck was the winner. Thomas will contest a third event Saturday in the 100-yard freestyle.

Friday’s loss is unlikely to quell the media scrutiny and controversy surrounding Thomas’ ability to participate in the NCAA championships or whether this was a fair competition given the circumstances of her transition.

From NFL plays to college sports scores, all the top sports news you need to know every day.

Thomas, who competed for the Penn men’s team for three seasons, started hormone therapy in 2019 to begin the process of transitioning to a woman and almost immediately began threatening Ivy League records.

Her story launched into national consciousness in December when some anonymous parents of Penn swimmers publicly circulated a letter to the conference and NCAA looking for answers.

Earlier this year, USA Swimming changed its requirements for trans competitors, mandating three years of low testosterone levels. The NCAA declined to immediately adopt those restrictions, which would have barred Thomas from this competition, but will likely feel pressure from the public and politicians to adopt more stringent standards for trans athletes.

Several state legislatures are considering laws that would regulate trans sports participation, some of which critics claim are harmful to transgender children and discriminatory.

IN HER WORDS: Oregon's Sedona Prince, whose video at last year's women's NCAA Tournament showed inequalities, speaks out

Thomas, who declined to participate in the NCAA's supposedly mandatory press conference for race winners, told ESPN in a brief interview after the 500-yard win that it “means the world” to be able to compete here.

But her mere presence drew small protests outside the venue Thursday, and there was a noted lack of enthusiasm from the fans in attendance when she was introduced on the podium as the national champion.

“I try to ignore it as much as I can,” Thomas told ESPN. “I try to focus on my swimming, what I need to do to get ready for my races and try to block out everything else."

Follow Dan Wolken on Twitter @DanWolken

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trans swimmer Lia Thomas finishes fifth in bid for second NCAA championship

Trans swimmer Lia Thomas winning NCAA title should spark legitimate debate, not hate | Opinion

Dan Wolken, USA TODAY 


ATLANTA — Lia Thomas took off the oversized jacket with “PENN” on the back, revealing her long arms and broad shoulders, and stepped onto the platform to be introduced before the 500-yard freestyle race at the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships.

© Brett Davis, USA TODAY Sports Penn swimmer Lia Thomas holds a trophy after winning the 500-yard free final on Thursday.

Hardly anyone in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center cheered.

If you watched Thomas swim in the preliminaries earlier Thursday, it was obvious what was about to happen: In a few minutes, she wasn’t merely going to be a pariah of political opportunists and a cog in the outrage machine. At this moment, in this pool, she was going to forever be the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA championship in Division I.

“Lia did everything right,” said Naiki Kaffezakis, a Georgia Tech graduate student who runs one of the LGBTQ organizations on campus and was among the group of roughly 50 protestors and counter-protestors who had to eventually be moved to different sides of the street here Thursday. “She did nothing wrong.”

Of course, nothing about the Thomas story has been that simple, which is what makes everything that surrounds her so frustrating and disheartening.

There’s a legitimate and necessary conversation to be had over whether Thomas, who competed for three seasons on Penn’s men's swimming team before coming out as transgender and starting hormone therapy in 2019, should have been allowed to compete against women.

From the national-best times she posted this season in multiple events, to the dominance she displayed Thursday in beating three Olympians by more than a second, it’s not only fair but important to question whether this is a level playing field.

But that’s not the debate those who purport to be most upset by Thomas want to have.

On the walkway outside the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, a group of protestors affiliated with the “Save Women’s Sports” organization had lined up early Thursday to distribute stickers and shout down anyone in support of Thomas.

ANTI-TRANS LAWS: Conservatives want to ban transgender athletes from girls sports. Their evidence is shaky.


When they eventually organized into a rally, their rhetoric suggested a world in which transgender athletes like Thomas don’t merely have an undefined competitive advantage, but that they’re predators who seek to take women’s sports for themselves if they’re not stopped. Mostly, it was obvious they are using Thomas’ prominence as a thin veil to spread hate and animosity against one of America’s most vulnerable minorities.

“This is not an exaggeration," Macy Petty, a volleyball player at Lee University said. "Women's sports are at risk of disappearing.”

And K. Yang, who claims to have been a former trans rights activist who now runs “Stop Female Erasure,” characterized what was happening in the pool as a “war on sex-based rights of women and girls around the world.”

With all that ridiculous hyperbole swirling around her, you can understand why Thomas hasn’t had much interest in explaining herself publicly – and why her competitors have mostly been silent.

After the race, third-place finisher Erica Sullivan of Texas immediately reached over to shake Thomas’ hand. But on the podium, Thomas stood awkwardly by herself while the three swimmers who finished behind her hugged for photos.

Following the race, Thomas gave a brief on-camera interview but refused to participate in the NCAA-mandated news conference. Other competitors were not made available to the news media.

Perhaps the most notable statement that has been made thus far came from Stanford’s Brooke Forde, who has won multiple NCAA championships and a silver medal in Tokyo.

“I have great respect for Lia,” Forde wrote in January. “Social change is always a slow and difficult process and we rarely get it correct right away. Being among the first to lead such a social change requires an enormous amount of courage, and I admire Lia for her leadership that will undoubtedly benefit many trans athletes in the future. In 2020, I along with most swimmers, experienced what it was like to have my chance to achieve my swimming goals taken away after years of hard work. I would not wish this experience on anyone, especially Lia, who has followed the rules required of her. I believe that treating people with respect and dignity is more important than any trophy or record will ever be, which is why I will not have a problem racing against Lia at NCAAs this year.”

Of course, not everyone in the swimming world has been that magnanimous – including complaints from within the Penn swimming team and their parents.

It's understandable that some competitors would feel threatened by Thomas’ rapid rise from a middling collegiate swimmer as a man to the top of the sport as a woman. We know that Thomas would have had athletic advantages over women for most of her life. What we don’t know very much about is how those advantages change for men transitioning to women or what is necessary to ensure fair competition.

“We need to have better science,” Kaffezakis said. “Every trans person here, honestly we should have better science about what (hormone therapy) does to bodies of transitioning people, but that isn’t being funded. If the NCAA and these other leagues and the Olympic committee really put in the money to learn where to regulate these things, we can have a conversation. But when we have just a few studies here and there, there’s not enough to work on. You can’t blame the athletes.”

Thomas is only doing what the NCAA allowed her to do, based on the rules it had in place when the season began. In February, USA Swimming adopted tougher restrictions for transgender competitors, lowering its testosterone threshold by half and subjecting them to an eligibility panel.

The NCAA, which usually operates in lockstep with the national governing body, did not follow suit for this season because it did not want to implement a rule change late in the season that would have expressly kept Thomas out. The urgency of adopting a firmer policy, though, will only intensify for the NCAA – not just with Thomas' success, but a series of state legislatures attempting to pass laws that regulate transgender participation in sports.

If the circus surrounding Thomas proves anything, it's that this issue requires a delicate, measured, science-based conversation. Unfortunately, the loudest voices are fueled only by emotion.

Barbara Ehardt, a former college basketball coach at Cal State Fullerton who now serves in the Idaho House of Representatives and sponsored a bill that would require transgender athletes to play on teams that correspond to their sex at birth, was asked what she would say to Thomas.

“My message is, recognize you’re the one who is discriminating,” she said. “You had your opportunity.”

It is, of course, an ugly, rotten suggestion – that Thomas wanted to become a woman for competitive reasons. Meanwhile, across the street, there was a glimmer of common sense in a simple sign being held up by one of the Georgia Tech students: “Do y’all have nothing better to do?”

With Ukraine's conflict zone cut off from insulin supplies, concerns for diabetics escalate

By Tasnim Ahmed, CNN 

Continuing to face attacks from Russian forces, Ukrainian hospitals are strained by growing numbers of casualties and finite medical supplies. There are shortages across all types of medication, but limited access to insulin supplies has led to an uptick in conditions related to uncontrolled diabetes.

VOLNOVAKHA, UKRAINE - MARCH 12: A view of a damaged hospital as civilians continue to hide in a bomb shelter under the hospital amid Russian-Ukrainian conflict in the city of Volnovakha, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on March 12, 2022. 

(Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

"There's been significant shortages of insulin across the country and many, many actors and people in different areas calling out for that supply," Kate White, an emergency program manager for Doctors Without Borders, told CNN.

According to Valentina Ocheretenko, chair of the Ukrainian Diabetes Foundation, the country has enough insulin to supply its needs for three months. The challenge is getting it to the people who need it.

There are over 2.3 million people with diabetes in Ukraine, according to the International Diabetes Federation, making up 7.1% of the population. For some people with type 1 diabetes, immediate access to insulin is a necessity for survival.

Aid groups face logistical issues

"We have enough insulin in the country, and a lot of humanitarian aid ... is bringing more and more, but we have big problems with logistics," Ocheretenko told CNN.

Most of Ukraine's insulin supply is imported or made domestically by two pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, Indar and Farmak, both of which are in Kyiv, said Dr. Orest Petrychka, medical director of the Clinical Center of Endocrinology Lviv. Insulin is provided to people who need it for free in Ukraine.

"About the patients in the conflict zones, I am afraid they can be cut off from the supply of insulin ... because of actions of targeted terror held by Russian troops or by the physical impossibility to supply this insulin to patients ... from the pharmacy," Petrychka told CNN.

When the war started, supplies were distributed from Kyiv by Ukraine's Ministry of Health.

"Now what we're seeing, obviously, is quite intense fighting around Kyiv, which compromises that system," White said. "So it's about working with others on the ground to figure out a way the supplies can still get to all the places that they need to."


Hundreds of facilities in the conflict zone

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that there are over 300 Ukrainian health facilities along conflict lines or in areas that are under Russian control. In a statement Thursday, Tedros also said that attempts to send crucial supplies to conflict zones have been unsuccessful

.

© Adobe Stock insulin delivery device leaking a drop of insulin with needles in background

Roads have been destroyed, curfews have been set, and some pharmacies are being looted, a resident of the occupied city of Kherson told CNN. All of these factors add to the difficulty in accessing life-saving medication like insulin.

"There's cities in the east that are inaccessible or barely accessible and are desperate for any kind of supplies they can get," said Chris Skopec, executive vice president of global health for Project Hope, an organization that is providing disaster relief in Ukraine, including supplies of insulin.

Skopec, who was in Lviv last weekend to coordinate relief efforts, said that as more Ukrainians become displaced and as health care facilities fall along conflict lines, hospitals in western Ukraine are finding themselves serving twice as many people as usual.

At the same time, although these hospitals may have enough medical supplies in their own reserves, they are sending a portion of their stock to eastern Ukraine, where resources are scarce.

"There's no hospital that has been unaffected by this, even if they're not in ... a really devastated area. Everybody is feeling the pressure on this," Skopec said.


Other threats to insulin supply

Dr. Nuha El Sayed, vice president of health care improvement at the American Diabetes Association and an endocrinologist at Harvard Medical School, said glucose testing supplies are also needed.

People with diabetes who use insulin need test strips to measure their blood sugar level to determine how much insulin they need. Without the right testing supplies, it's like using "insulin in the dark," El Sayed said.

Another of the association's concerns is appropriately dosing and storing insulin. With supplies running short, people may not have guaranteed access to their regular type of insulin, and dosing depends on the type.

The American Diabetes Association has released guidelines on switching insulin regimens in a humanitarian crisis, which may be especially helpful for aid workers who may not be trained in insulin delivery.

Freezing weather in Ukraine is another threat to the insulin supply. El Sayed said insulin can become ineffective in low temperatures without proper storage, especially as the attacks leave some without electricity or heat.


Bordering nations struggle to keep up

Ukraine isn't alone in facing the effects of war on dwindling medical supplies. As over 3 million refugees seek asylum in bordering nations such as Poland, Romania and Moldova, these countries are also struggling to keep up.

Skopec said Poland has limited the number of agencies that are authorized to buy medical supplies there.

"As an NGO, we can't just go into a massive medical supply vendor and purchase their goods in Poland and send them to Ukraine," Skopec said. "And that's smart of them. ... They can't support and sustain -- and were never designed to -- the entire medical supply chain of Ukraine today." Instead, many nongovernmental organizations are relying on support from other countries in the European Union.


"People are coming across the border and have no idea where they're going to go," Skopec said. "Access to chronic medications for chronic conditions -- hypertension, diabetes -- kept coming up. ... How do we access this care?"

Hospitals are now not only seeing the direct casualties of war, they're seeing the indirect casualties: people with chronic diseases, left without any access to care.

"People have lost access to their medication, to their normal health care provider and to the normal place where they would go when they had an issue with their health," White said.

UKRAINIANS LIVING IN LONDON PROTESTING THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF THEIR HOME COUNTRY FEAR IT'S ALL THEY CAN DO

Russia invaded Ukraine  prompting global protests.
Insider spoke to two Ukrainian demonstrators living in London.
"All of Ukraine is strong if they work together," a protestor told Insider.

"Today, I came here, I took my flag, I took my everything, just to support my country," 19-year-old Yurii told Insider Friday at a protest in London against the Russian attack on Ukraine. "It's the only thing I can do."

Yurii moved from Ukraine with his parents to the United Kingdom six years ago and currently works in construction management. He was one of the many protesters taking part in global demonstrations condemning Russia's further invasion of Ukraine.

"Sometimes, these meetings won't actually help," Yuri added, but "it feels right to do, because I'm Ukrainian, and Ukrainian soul, even though I've lived here for a long time. I have to come."

USA
Amazon drivers staged a protest demanding higher pay to cope with surging gas prices

insider@insider.com (Isobel Asher Hamilton) 

© Provided by Business Insider Protesters held up signs depicting a skeleton in an Amazon with "running on empty." REUTERS/Mike Blake
Amazon Flex drivers and other gig economy drivers staged a protest outside an Amazon warehouse Wednesday.
The protest called for Amazon to pay drivers more in light of surging gas prices.
Tech companies including Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash have introduced measures in response to spiking prices.

Delivery drivers are trying to pressure Amazon to pay more to its Flex program drivers to accommodate surging gas prices.

Around 50 delivery and rideshare drivers, including drivers for the Flex delivery program, gathered to protest outside an Amazon warehouse near Los Angeles on Wednesday, CNBC reported.

Gas prices have spiked since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine at the end of February, and the price of gas had already been rising in the months running up to the invasion. The national average price for gas was $4.27 a gallon as of Thursday, according to American Automobile Association Gas Prices, an increase of about 75 cents from a month earlier.

Amazon Flex drivers use their personal vehicles to deliver packages for the e-retail giant, rather than being employed by delivery contractors for Amazon, and purchase their own fuel.

"My car used to fill up on $25, now it's closer to $40," a Flex driver called Kerry Selfridge told CNBC.

"I'm spending $280 a week, and lucky to make $500 to $700 during that same period," she added.

© REUTERS/Mike Blake Uber and Amazon Flex drivers protest the fuel price surge and demand more money outside an Amazon warehouse in Redondo Beach, California, U.S., March 16, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Blake

CNBC reported the protest was organized by Mobile Workers Alliance, a group which describes itself as representing gig-economy workers.

"We rideshare drivers are so proud to have joined Amazon Flex delivery workers yesterday to call for higher pay rates during this massive surge in gas prices," the MWA tweeted Thursday.

Other tech companies have tried to offset the surge in gas prices with added customer charges and new policies.

Rideshare companies Uber and Lyft added extra charges for customers to compensate for the rise in gas prices — although Uber drivers told Insider's Gabrielle Bienasz the surcharge is not enough to cover the higher cost of fuel.

Food-delivery company DoorDash introduced a "Gas Rewards Program" on Tuesday which gives drivers a prepaid business Visa debit card which the company said would "soon be able to get 10% cash back on gas purchases."

© REUTERS/Mike Blake Protesters taped posters to their cars. REUTERS/Mike Blake

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC the company is "closely monitoring the situation."

"We've already made several adjustments through pricing surges in impacted areas to help ease some of the financial challenges," the spokesperson told CNBC.

"As the situation evolves, we'll continue to make changes where we can to help support our partners," they added.

Amazon did not immediately respond when contacted by Insider

AFTER THIS; MERE GOVENORSHIP

Stacey Abrams Becomes President of United Earth on Star Trek: Discovery: 'She's a Civil Hero'

Kelly Wynne 

© Provided by People Marni Grossman/Paramount+

KEEP THE HAIR STYLE, STYLIST AND MAKE UP ARTIST FOR CAMPAIGN

Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams looked presidential in her recent acting role.

The longtime Star Trek fan, 48, made a cameo in the season 4 finale of Star Trek: Discovery as the new President of United Earth.

Abrams, who is currently the only Democratic candidate in Georgia's race for governor, has been vocal about her future plans to serve as the president of the United States. She previously told Five Thirty Eight that she hopes to run by 2040.

Discovery star Sonequa Martin-Green raved about Abrams' cameo, telling Deadline that the cast, including Chelah Horsdal, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Wilson Cruz, David Ajala, Blu del Barrio and Ian Alexander, were all ecstatic to spend time with the politician.

"I'm still floored when I think about Stacey gracing us with her presence in our Season 4 finale," Martin-Green said. "We spent so much of our time fanning out and pretending to be cool in her midst."

Praising Abrams, the actress added, "She's a legend in the making and a civil hero, and she was an absolute delight to work with. She wowed us with her charm, humility, and generosity, and she whipped out some acting chops too! It was an honor for me as a Black woman to stand with her in the story. It's an experience I'll cherish for the rest of my life."

RELATED: What Stacey Abrams Is Fighting for Next, After a Historic Voting Year in Georgia: 2021 'Must Be Better'

Abrams has been vocal about the impact the Star Trek franchise has made in her life, even using plotlines from the show to illustrate her own world views in her book Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change.

Because of her deep love for the series, Abrams had one request when stepping into the role as fictional president, according to executive Producer Michelle Paradise. Abrams agreed to the role if they promised not to spoil anything from season 4 — and just give her the information she needed to play the role.

"She was very specific about that," Paradise told Variety. "She wanted to be able to just watch it and enjoy when the show finally came out. So, yeah, we avoided all the spoilers."

Paradise also said Abrams was a natural choice for the role. "We always knew that Earth returning would be a big, big moment, and coming into season 4, we knew that was going to happen in the finale," she said. "As we started to look ahead to the finale, we realized we are going to need a face for this moment, someone to represent Earth."

Paradise added, "When the time came to start talking about the president of Earth, it seemed like, 'Well, who better to represent that than her?' "

Casting Abrams paid off. "There's just something that made us think, 'Well, of course she can do it,' " Paradise continued. "And she did. She just blew us away."

Georgia's gubernatorial race is expected to conclude in November and Abrams is running against current Georgia Governor, Brian Kemp.

This isn't her first time running for the position. She lost to Kemp in 2018.