PLASTIC AND ASPHALT

Plastic pollution now combining with tar to form ocean-threatening 'plastitar'

Plastitar found in Arenas Blancas, El Hierro, Canary Islands. (University of La Laguna)

Michael Lee
CTVNews.ca Writer
Published June 11, 2022 

Scientists have identified a new type of coastal pollution composed mainly of tar and plastic, material so unique in its combination that researchers are suggesting it receive its own name: "plastitar."

A research group from the University of La Laguna in the Canary Islands, a Spanish region located west of Morocco, recently published details of the pollution in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

And they say it could pose a wide-ranging threat to the marine ecosystem "with unknown environmental consequences."

RELATED LINKS Plastitar: A new threat for coastal environments

They found that "plastitar" originates from crude oil spills from ships. Once the oil reaches coastlines it covers rocks, allowing plastics to embed in the tar.

The study found evidence of "plastitar" in several areas of the Canary Islands, including a nature reserve and some beaches.

These areas were identified as hotspots due to the large amount of plastic waste they receive as a result of year-round dominant north and northeast winds, the study says.

However, the researchers say they are not ruling out other coastal areas where "plastitar" may be located.

"A relevant aspect about the presence of tar on coastal environments is the fact that it contains hydrocarbons that can be photo-oxidized and impact negatively the marine ecosystem altering the ecological equilibria," the study says.

The researchers point to the example of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are present in tar and can be toxic to aquatic organisms. PAHs also act as endocrine disruptors and can be carcinogenic.

The combination of tar and plastic also has a negative visual impact, the scientists say, and is likely present in other coastal areas around the world.

"Its combination with plastic materials clearly supposes a double threat to the marine ecosystem with unknown environmental consequences, since plastics can be ingested by marine organisms causing intestinal blockage, internal injuries, oxidative stress and damage, inflammatory responses, among other important issues," the researchers say.

"Therefore, further research is necessary to fully understand the potential effects of this particular plastic formation, which is probably present in many parts of the globe.

The plastic found included polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics, types of low-density polymers that are among the most commonly used in the world.

The microplastics ranged between one and five millimetres in size. Further analysis found nearly 91 per cent of the microplastics studied were polyethylene and more than nine per cent were polypropylene.

The researchers say this matches previous studies they have done, which found these types of microplastics on beaches of the Canary Islands.

Wood, glass, rocks and sand also were found in the "plastitar" but to a lesser extent, along with small pieces of rope.

The researchers say "plastitar" can be included as one of several other new formations linked to plastic waste in the marine environment.

These include plastiglomerates, which mainly form from the uncontrolled burning of waste and can include melted plastic, beach sediment or sand, basaltic lava and organic debris; plasticrusts or plastic fragments embedded in wave-exposed coastal rocks; pyroplastics or melted plastic with a rocky appearance; and anthropoquinas or sedimentary rocks containing plastics, which gets its name from the Anthropocene or the unofficial geological epoch defined as when human activity began to have a significant impact on the climate and ecosystems.

THE NEVER ENDING SEARCH

Working on nuclear fusion is a 'moral obligation' for this CEO

TAE is one of the leaders in the race for nuclear fusion, and its CEO sees a viable path for the technology in the next decade.

“It's not false confidence,” TAE CEO Michl Binderbauer said. 

“The building blocks we need — they’re coming.”

 | Photo: TAE Technologies

Sophia Chen
June 13, 2022

Michl Binderbauer has made an audacious promise. Within the next decade, his company, TAE Technologies, will create a nuclear fusion reactor that delivers energy to the power grid.

“It's not false confidence,” said Binderbauer, the CEO of TAE. “The building blocks we need — they’re coming.”

Nuclear fusion is the process that makes the sun shine. At temperatures higher than 25 million degrees Fahrenheit, our star mashes together hydrogen atoms to form helium to generate energy. Harnessing that power in a controlled setting would give the world a major tool in the fight to get to net zero emissions by midcentury, one that comes without the downsides of nuclear fission (such as long-lived nuclear waste).


TAE, a California-based company that formed in 1998, aims to make a mini-sun that fuses hydrogen and boron atoms at nearly 2 billion degrees Fahrenheit to generate net energy for the grid by the late 2020s. Other companies have similar ambitions. A 2021 survey of the industry conducted by the Fusion Industry Association and the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority found that most private fusion companies expect the technology to be supplying electricity to the grid in the 2030s.

It’s an aggressive goal, particularly for TAE, a company that would have folded years ago by conventional metrics. The company has pursued a hydrogen-boron fusion reactor for 24 years without delivering a commercially viable product — though to be fair, no other company or research group has been able to generate more energy than the test reactors consume either. “The rate of progress would have to be remarkably faster than has ever been accomplished in fusion,” said physicist Stewart Prager of Princeton University.

But fusion is no ordinary industry. During the Cold War, scientists first harnessed fusion to build thermonuclear bombs, the most powerful weapons known to humankind. Following successful bomb tests, they began to consider how to release that energy not in deadly explosions, but in a controlled manner for the benefit of humankind.


Fusion would provide a zero-carbon, low-waste form of energy that could help the world meet its climate goals.Photo: TAE Technologies



On paper, fusion seems to offer the answer to humanity’s energy needs. Engineered as envisioned, fusion would be a self-sustaining process, where fusing atoms produce enough energy to fuel more fusion indefinitely, all with zero carbon emitted.

As Binderbauer tells it, it was a happy accident that he ended up working in fusion. A physics major at the University of California, Irvine, he got into Johns Hopkins University to study astrophysics in graduate school. But after touring the school, he found that he disliked the Baltimore area. While Binderbauer mulled over his next steps, a former professor, Norman Rostoker, invited him to become his next Ph.D. student.

Rostoker had been studying fusion since the 1950s. Over decades, he had guided some 40 graduate students through research topics in the field. Within three weeks of working with Rostoker, Binderbauer discarded his astrophysics dreams to devote his studies to fusion. He loved how the work combined hands-on engineering and complex physics concepts. “I got deeply bitten by the bug,” he said

In 1998, Binderbauer, Rostoker and a few other fusion advocates founded TAE during an ebb in government funding. Early on, TAE relied on what Binderbauer called “altruistic” funding. More recently, it has begun to sell secondary technology to stay in business. In 2018, TAE spawned a biotech company based on particle accelerator technology developed for fusion.

After decades of research and tests, Binderbauer said that fusion power is about to truly come of age. Investors seem convinced, too. TAE has raised $880 million, and rival companies have gathered comparable funds. Commonwealth Fusion Systems in Massachusetts has raised $1.8 billion, and Helion Energy in Washington has raised $2.2 billion. This money builds on more than $40 billion of government funding since 1953.

The industry has drawn comparisons to private space exploration. Like rocketry, fusion power research began in the public sector before capturing the attention of venture capitalists. But space travel was long proven before SpaceX ever formed. In contrast, the government’s many fusion projects have never produced net energy.

The world needs to have a realistic view of fusion's promises.

Photo: TAE Technologies

Fusion is an unprecedented commercial gamble, according to journalist Charles Seife of New York University, who has covered fusion since 1995 and authored a book about the field, “Sun In A Bottle,” in 2008. “I’ve never seen this amount of money flowing without even a single product,” he said. “[There are] no prototypes. Can you think of another industry where billions of dollars have been spent upon a promise of something that hasn't been built yet?”

Prager counters that fusion researchers have made significant progress in recent years. “I think it’s legitimate for all this money to flow into fusion,” he said.

The field has made strides in controlling plasma, the state of matter required for fusion to occur. Plasma, which consists of a fluid of charged particles, tends to expand and blow apart. The sun contains its plasma due to its immense gravitational field, but puny human-made plasmas require other techniques.

TAE accelerates its plasma in a ring-like trajectory to keep the material together. Collaborating with Google in 2017, TAE developed AI software that controls the plasma on short timescales to keep it stable. In 2021, Commonwealth made headlines for creating powerful superconducting magnets that could enable more compact and cheaper fusion machines.

Though TAE and other companies think fusion will become viable in the next decade or so, Prager thinks 20 years is a more realistic timeline to produce net electricity from fusion. “I do have a fear that after five, 10 years when these companies don't deliver, it could smear the field a little bit,” said Prager.

Indeed, fusion already has a “boy who cried wolf” reputation. Physicist Homi Bhabha’s 1955 prediction that fusion power would exist within two decades has become a running joke about how fusion is always 20 years away.

Despite flashy announcements from companies and the recent rush of investments, Seife remains skeptical. He said that the industry suffers from a Silicon Valley-esque “tunnel vision.”

“It’s the culture of startups, where they believe they can bully nature into compliance,” said Seife. “It works when you're talking about regulations or code, but physics is harder to bully.”

Instead of pouring money into fusion, Seife thinks the money would be better spent on more near-term strategies for mitigating climate change. For example, a United Nations report published this year shows that existing clean energy technology as well as demand-side tweaks could cut carbon pollution between 40% and 70%.

Binderbauer said that TAE has consistently met incremental goals, which include a recent demonstration that they can hold a stable plasma for 35 milliseconds. Now, the company is constructing a $250 million machine called Copernicus that’s expected to go into operation around 2025. TAE’s goal is to have Copernicus generate net energy by fusing tritium and deuterium, two types of hydrogen. After that, it will pivot to fusing hydrogen and boron, which requires a higher temperature, but may offer other engineering advantages.

Binderbauer’s motivation also comes from what he said is a “moral obligation” regarding climate change. He and his wife have two children, and they often talk about protecting their future. “I'd like to at least be on the side that says, ‘Hey, I may have failed, but I tried. I really tried hard,’” said Binderbauer.


“I do have the deep conviction that fusion can be done,” said Binderbauer. “I wouldn't sit here wasting my time on this if I didn't absolutely believe we can do it.”

At the very least, the influx of cash means the industry has bought some time to test those beliefs.

Sophia Chen is a freelance journalist.
Sophia Chen is a science writer who cover physics, space, AI, and anything involving numbers. She has a master’s degree in physics and is based in Tucson, Arizona.

Nutrien will boost fertilizer production capacity as prices soar
Bloomberg News | June 9, 2022 | 

Storage facility at Nutrien’s Rocanville, one of Canada’s lowest-cost potash mines. (Image courtesy of Nutrien (Former Potash Corp.)

The world’s largest fertilizer company will increase production after months of supply disruptions and skyrocketing commodity and food prices.


Nutrien Ltd. will ramp up potash production capability to 18 million tons by 2025, a 40% increase compared to 2020, the company said in a Thursday statement, citing “structural changes in global energy, agriculture and fertilizer markets.”

“The challenge of feeding a growing world has never been clearer as global supply constraints have contributed to higher commodity prices and escalated concerns for global food security,” said Ken Seitz, Nutrien’s interim president and CEO. “There is no simple or fast solution to overcome this challenge and we see potential for multi-year strength in agriculture and crop input market fundamentals.”

The announcement comes as fertilizer prices have been soaring after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is an important exporter of every major kind of crop nutrient. Market players have been concerned about how much supply will make it out of the country and how global supply chains might change in the aftermath. Some prices have dropped off of records, but they’re still high.

Nutrien will be well-positioned to fill supply gaps, Seitz said.

“Financial sanctions and other restrictions on Russia and Belarus will create more lasting changes to global trade patterns as customers prioritize reliability of supply,” Seitz said on an investor call Thursday.

The Canadian company also says there’s a potential for delays in new potash capacity coming online from the region, which was supposed to account for 60% of new supply in next five years, he said.

Canada is the world’s largest potash producer, followed by Russia and then Belarus. Belarus accounts for about a fifth of global supply, but in January, Lithuania cut off a key transit route for the nutrients amid US sanctions imposed on the country in 2021. That’s tightened the market.

Nutrien’s move could help serve a growing deficit as high commodity prices encourage farmers to purchase fertilizer to grow more crops and conflict in Europe threatens supply, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jason Miner said in a note.

“The key is remaining a low-cost producer,” Miner said. “Nutrien held potash cost per metric ton to $94 in 2021, yet construction and wage inflation are increasingly challenges to expansion projects across chemicals.”

(By Elizabeth Elkin and Jen Skerritt)

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO; 'POLLUTER PAYES'

Canadian government pledges up to $100M to help reduce emissions at future BHP potash mine in Sask.

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Feds offer funding for BHP Jansen mine

CBC News · Posted: Jun 13, 2022 

The Canadian government is partnering with mining giant BHP to make the Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan more sustainable. (Submitted by BHP)

The Canadian government has offered up to $100 million to help global Australian mining giant BHP create the "world's most sustainable potash mine" in rural Saskatchewan. 

​BHP's Jansen mine project, located ​about 140 kilometres east of Saskatoo​n, is currently in development and is expected to be operational by 2027. It's planned to be the largest potash producing mine in the world,.

Canadian officials are putting the money forward to help the company reduce the mine's carbon footprint and invest in more environmentally friendly technology. 

The company said it is committed to reducing emissions. 

"You will see 50 per cent less carbon dioxide coming out of this mine than a traditional potash mine. We're committed to responsible use of water, we will use 60 per cent less water than your average mine in terms of production of potash on a tonne-per-tonne basis," Ragnar Udd, president for minerals America with BHP, said while speaking at the federal funding announcement in Saskatoon on Monday morning.

"We expect that Jansen will generate the lowest direct onsite emissions intensity of any potash mine in North America." 

Udd said BHP expects to use 60 per cent less equipment underground​ for the Jansen mine, while being 2.5 times more productive. 

It will also introduce electric vehicles for underground work, reducing diesel exhaust. Funding will help the mine be more technically advanced, embracing "state of the art" integrated mining systems for boring and bringing the minerals to the surface, Udd said. 

• New Sask. potash mine will slash water use, eliminate tailings waste, says CEO

Potash is a potassium-rich salt used mainly as fertilizer by farmers. 

Federal officials said on Monday that the partnership between the government and BHP is expected to benefit the environment and the economy, while addressing growing global food security concerns and shortages. 

Mike Henry, BHP's CEO, noted Russia's invasion of Ukraine has disrupted the global potash supply and emphasized the need for a more stable provider. 

Both Russia and Ukraine are major fertilizer-producing countries. Henry said Canada is seen as a stable jurisdiction that can meet the growing global demand for years to come. 

"We think the need for potash is going to be driven by global population growth, the move to improve diets, and the need for more sustainable agriculture," he said.

BHP committed to the Jansen Stage 1 project last year with a $7.5-billion investment — a decision Henry said was a decade in the making. He said the company's commitment to potash mining in Canada is a vote of confidence for the country. 

The company anticipates its initial production capacity will be 4.3 to 4.5 million tonnes of potash per year, increasing Canada's production of the mineral by nearly 22 per cent. 

• Sask. fertilizer company ramping up potash production in response to Ukraine crisis

Federal Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Canada exported 22 million tonnes of potash last year, and like Henry, he believes the demand will only grow. 

In addition to its green ambitions, officials note that the project is expected to create hundreds of local jobs. BHP has also signed opportunities agreements with six First Nations in southern Saskatchewan in an effort to further economic opportunity and partnership. 

Henry said BHP is accelerating the work on Phase One and launching studies for Phase Two.

BHP open to potash partner, but plans to

enter fertilizer business alone

UNTRUE CANADIAN TAXPAYERS ARE YOUR PARTNERS

Reuters | June 13, 2022 |

BHP to start potash production at Jansen a year earlier than planned. 

(Image courtesy of BHP.)

BHP Group is open to taking on a partner as it builds its first potash mine in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, but can also go it alone and is not currently involved in discussions with rival Nutrien Ltd, a senior BHP executive said on Monday.


“We are more than happy and willing to work with partners. We don’t need a partner though,” Ragnar Udd, BHP president of Minerals Americas, said in an interview with Reuters. “So it has to be really about what’s that partner actually going to be contributing to the mix.”

BHP last month said it was looking at accelerating the Jansen, Saskatchewan project by a year amid tight global potash supplies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prices of the crop nutrient have soared since Western sanctions were imposed against Russia over the invasion.

Nutrien, the world’s biggest potash producer and based in Saskatchewan, last week said it plans to boost capacity by 20% by 2025.

Nutrien interim CEO Ken Seitz told Reuters that he has had no discussions with BHP since taking that job in January.

Russia and Belarus, which also faces sanctions, are the world’s second- and third-largest potash producers, while Canada is No. 1.

Prior to the sanctions, some analysts said potash output looked well-supplied. But Udd said steady global demand growth for potash appeals to BHP, and planned expansions of eastern European mines now look to be in jeopardy.

Jansen’s first phase is estimated to cost up to $5.7 billion with annual capacity to produce 4.4 million tonnes, starting as soon as late 2026.

“Are we contributing to a glut? That remains to be seen,” Udd said, adding that BHP eventually wants to be the market leader.

Jansen’s mine shafts are designed for capacity of 16 million tonnes annually, Udd said.

Canada will invest up to C$100 million ($77.83 million) in Jansen’s development as a low-emissions mine, Canadian Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said earlier on Monday.

“We know how critical potash is for our country when it comes to food security,” Champagne said.

BHP, in a partnership with Sandvik AB, is planning to install new mining systems at the mine that are expected to reduce environmental impact by using 60% less equipment underground than traditional potash mines, Udd said.

Reuters, citing a source, has reported that the investment will allow BHP to use electric vehicles and equipment.

($1 = 1.2844 Canadian dollars)

(By Ismail Shakil; Editing by Chris Reese, Will Dunham and Mark Porter)

Sask. potash mine gets $100M boost from feds to cut carbon emissions

05:42
Jansen could start potash production in late 2026: BHP executive Ragnar Udd

02:18
The potential of potash

Pat McKay
Multi-Skilled Journalist

 CTV News Saskatoon
Updated June 13, 2022

The Government of Canada and mining giant BHP have committed to making the potash mine outside Jansen, Sask. the world’s largest and greenest.

“We want to be the green supplier of choice to the world,” Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne said.

The federal government will spend $100 million on what it calls state-of-the-art mining systems. The Jansen project is estimated to cost up to $5.7 billion in the first phase, which is expected to take five years and have an annual capacity to produce around 4.4 million tonnes of potash.

The federal deal covers a $400 million component of that project, said Ragnar Udd, president of BHP's Minerals Americas division.

The systems use 60 per cent less equipment underground than traditional potash mines while being two-and-a-half times more productive. 

“We're committed to emissions reductions, you will see 50 per cent less carbon dioxide coming out of this mine than a traditional potash mine,” Udd said.

“We're committed to the responsible use of water. We will use 60 per cent less water than your average mine, in terms of production of potash on a ton-per-ton basis, and we expect that Jansen will generate the lowest direct on-site emissions intensity of any potash mine in North America.”

Udd says 3,500 jobs will be created at peak construction, while 600 employees will work at the mine long-term.

“We will have a gender-balanced workforce from day one, and 20 per cent of our workforce will be an Indigenous workforce, as well partnering with our local Indigenous groups and tribes that actually work closely together.”

Champagne says the future is bright when it comes to greening the supply chain in Canada.

“We've been transforming the steel industry to produce green steel which we're going to be one of the first producers in the world,” he said. “We're going to be the first producer of green aluminum, we're looking at green batteries, now we're going to be producing green potash.”

“My message when I was at the Economic Forum in Europe, and when I'm going to be in Japan and Korea later on this month, is that we can be part of the solution. We could be the green supplier of choice for the number of critical minerals you need, and parts and equipment.”

BHP says as the world population continues to grow, growing crops with less arable soil through improved agricultural practices and fertilizers will be a must.

“If you're a world agricultural producer going forward and looking at options around secure supply chains, Canada's going to be front and centre,” said BHP CEO Mike Henry.

- With Reuters files

RELATED STORIES

Business group expects BHP potash mine to create high paying jobs for Saskatoon economy

Jansen residents optimistic for local economy following multi-billion-dollar mine announcement

Here’s why the planned Jansen potash mine could be the greenest one built in 50 years

RELATED IMAGES

Pieces of potash at a surplus pile at the Mosaic potash mine in 

Esterhazy, Sask. on Wednesday, May 3, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards

This Alberta town named one of the top 10 best places to live in Canada

Laine Mitchell
|DH
Jun 10 2022

Instagram A post shared by Town of High River (@townofhighriver)

A town in southern Alberta has been named one of the best places to live in the country and it’s the sole spot to make the cut in western Canada.

The list, from Moving Waldo, focuses on three main criteria for determining the rankings. First up is safety (based on the crime rate), then there’s affordability, and finally, access to recreational facilities and parks.

High River was ranked #10 on the list, being awarded for its tranquillity and outdoorsy culture.

The town also found itself on the list thanks to it being one of the cheapest places to live in Alberta and also having a low crime rate. Lethbridge needs to take some notes when it comes to the crime department. Lethbridge outranks Atlanta, Baghdad for cities on the global crime index

Moving Waldo

Moving Waldo also pointed to High River hosting annual events all year round, but it is particularly known for its old-fashioned outdoor parade during Christmas festivities as the entire town lights up. The city has many craft fairs, art studios, and galleries.

Here’s the full ranking of the best places to live in Canada right now:

Deep River, Ontario
Levis, Quebec
Trenton, Nova Scotia
Wellington County, Ontario
Quebec City, Quebec
Saguenay, Ontario
Barrie, Ontario
Thetford Mines, Quebec
Edmundston, New Brunswick
High River, Alberta

High River, Alberta Flood 2013

Overview

Open in Map Viewer   

A swipe map of the June 2013 Alberta flood in High River. 

The flood imagery is 16 cm resolution.
 Web Map by corppub

Created: Jul 18, 2013 Updated: Feb 12, 2016 
Description
This swipe map displays the imagery before the flood and the flooding impact in High River, AB. The town was evacuated after flooding of the Highwood River caused water to rise over the top of vehicles in the town's main streets and necessitated the rescue of over 150 people from the rooftops of their homes.

BUILT ON A FLOOD PLAIN

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/high-river-flood-alberta-uncertain-future-1.4710837

High River has moved on 5 years after devastating flood, but some ... 

Jun 19, 2018 ... Mention the flood to people in High River and most will tell you they are included on a floodplain map from the early 1990s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Alberta_floods

2013 Alberta floods - Wikipedia 

Abandoned homes - due to 2013 flood - in High River, ... demolish most of them and return the area to its natural state as a floodplain.

ALSO HOME TO CARGILL AND FEED LOTS

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2021/11/cargill-serves-lockout-notice-on-high.html

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/cargill-meat-plant-linked-to-44-covid-19-cases-in-latest-outbreak-union

Cargill meat plant linked to 44 COVID cases in latest outbreak: Union 

Jan 8, 2022 ... The Cargill meatpacking plant in High River has been linked to 44 cases of COVID-19 in latest outbreak at the site, according to the union.

https://www.okotokstoday.ca/local-news/covid-19-cases-climb-in-high-river-cargill-plant-4953197

COVID-19 cases climb in High River Cargill plant - OkotoksToday.ca 

Jan 13, 2022 ... In 2020, Cargill closed its doors temporarily after more than 484 cases of COVID-19 and one death were linked to the plant. By fall, union ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb5a9Lparwo

Police investigating COVID-19 death at Cargill meat plant - YouTube 

... COVID-19 on the job. Police are now investigating the death of a man who worked at the Cargill meat processing plant in High River, ...

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/workers-canadian-beef-plant-vote-cargill-offer-ahead-strike-date-2021-12-01

Workers at Canadian beef plant to vote on Cargill offer ahead of ... 

Dec 1, 2021 ... Workers at Cargill Inc's beef-processing plant in High River, ... COVID-19 hit the High River plant hard in 2020, sickening more than 900 ...

All Recent Russian Crises have had Same Impact on Class Relationships, Mikhaylichenko Says

Paul Goble  Monday, June 13, 2022

  Staunton – “Every crisis in Russia – the Crimean, covid pandemic, and special operation – hits the middle class and poor most of all, Dmitry Mikhaylichenko says. “At the first stage of the crisis, the country’s rich and super rich suffer huge losses but then more than make up for their losses as the crisis continues.”

            As a result, in recent decades, the poor have gotten relatively poorer, the middle class has been squeezed and reduced in size, and the rich have become richer regardless of the crisis one considers, the Ufa economist says (newizv.ru/comment/dmitriy-mihaylichenko/27-05-2022/chislennost-srednego-klassa-v-rossii-prodolzhit-sokraschatsya).

            Because the Russian economy is all about access to power which acts as a redistributor, those with access benefit and those without lose, Mikhaylichenko continues; and that has not changed fundamentally since tsarist times, although the specific features of those at the top have changed enormously.

            And that has one tragic consequence that few are focusing on, he says. “The ruling class, which is based on rent and has political leverage is a priori less interested in modernization” than the country needs it to be. And “now, under conditions of sanctions, its main mission to defend its ‘right’ to rents and resources” rather than to develop the country.

            In this new reality, the Ufa economist argues, conditions have been created for reversing modernity, and with its reversal, for the elimination of the middle class which is the product of modern societies. As a result, “in Russia, that class will continue to shrink and become part of the new poor, however much official data outlets seek to hide that fact.”

ZIONIST TRADE UNIONIST

UK Trade union backs calls for antisemites to face ‘full force of the law’

GMB leader Gary Smith supports motion calling for tough action, including against GMB members posting anti-Jewish hatred online

By LEE HARPIN June 13, 2022, 

The GMB congress is taking place this week (Photo: GMB/YouTube)

One of Britain’s biggest trade unions has unanimously passed a motion calling for antisemites, including those found guilty amongst its own membership, to “face the full force of the law.”

In a move backed by the GMB’s General Secretary Gary Smith, the union, which has 600, 000 members across nearly all industrial sectors, committed itself to a zero-tolerance policy on anti-Jewish racism.

Motion 213 was backed by the union’s leadership across the country during GMB Congress in Harrogate, Yorkshire, on Monday.

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It stated: “This congress strongly challenges the disturbing rise in antisemitism across the UK.

“This unacceptable behaviour and the perpetrators should be subjected to the full force of the law.

“Where such behaviour may be present from any member of GMB Union, including social media posts, our Union should take immediate action to investigate and apply appropriate measures to address this within rule.”

GMB leader Smith, who has been deeply critical of Jeremy Corbyn’s failure on antisemitism, and made a point of reaching out to Jewish Labour activists, said after the motion was passed: “Antisemitism is a scourge in our society, and the GMB is clear that we won’t tolerate it.

“We stand firm against antisemitism in this union. There is no room for hatred in our union. Those who commit it should face the full force of the law.”

In an op-ed for Jewish News, he detailed the proud history of Jewish involvement with the union.

But he also wrote: “We have to recognise antisemitism within our own ranks, and not be afraid to call it what it is. It flies in the face of our historic ties to the Jewish community – and in the face of what is right.”

Speakers in favour of the motion were applauded by delegates, including GMB Redbridge’s Stephen Jones, who warned that on occasion “anti-Zionist motivations” could stray into anti-Jewish racism.

Another speaker Unmesh Desai, a London Assembly member, warned that what started with hatred of Jewish people had historically turned into wider racist hate.

Speaker for the union’s executive committee Margaret Gregg spoke of the horror of seeing Jewish members afraid in the Labour Party under its previous leadership.

The motion on antisemitism, which was submitted by the GMB’s Redbridge branch, called for a review of current GMB policies for the handling of hate crimes and all forms of discrimination to ensure they are fit for purpose.

A motion calling for similar focus on rising Islamophobia was also passed by delegates on Monday.

On Tuesday, the Jewish Labour Movement will stage antisemitism training for union to understand the issues around rising anti-Jewish hatred.

Both Mike Katz, JLM’s national chair, and Rebecca Filer, its national organiser, will be attending the conference to conduct the training session, which is the first time the organisation have been invited into a trade union conference.

Katz told Jewish News: “The GMB have been strong allies of the JLM and Jewish Labour members in our fight against antisemitism in the party.

“Under Gary Smith’s strong, principled leadership, they are clear that their union won’t tolerate anti-Jewish racism – this is underlined by their invitation for us to come to their Congress to deliver our antisemitism training for their members.”

Sky News Australia is a global hub for climate misinformation, report says

Murdoch-owned channel creates and distributes content promoting climate scepticism across the world, analysis finds

The report looked at how views antagonistic to climate change action are spread and and who is influential in spreading those views. Photograph: David Moir/REUTERS


Graham Readfearn
THE GUARDIAN

Mon 13 Jun 2022

Australia’s Sky News channel has become a central source for climate science misinformation around the world, gaining high traction among conservative social media influencers and networks, according to a report.

An analysis of a global network of climate science deniers and “delayers” and the content they shared found the News Corp Australia-owned channel was a key “content hub” for “influencers, sceptics and outlets”.

The analysis, published by UK thinktank the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, said the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sky News Australia consistently ranked highly for traction, pushing the partisan views of its hosts and guests to a global audience through social media networks.
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Sky News Australia said it rejected the findings of the report, saying it would “continue to encourage debate” on climate change in its programs.


Climate policy dragged into culture wars as a ‘delay’ tactic, finds study

The report looked at how views antagonistic to climate change action are spread around the world, how the content is created, and who is influential in spreading those views.

The report said: “Our analysis has shown how a small but dedicated community of actors boast disproportionate reach and engagement across social media, reaching millions of people worldwide and bolstered by legacy print, broadcast and radio outlets.”

A failure to stem “mis- and disinformation online” had allowed junk science, climate delayism and attacks on high-profile individuals working on the climate crisis to become mainstreamed,” the report said.

It said Sky News Australia and contributors from News Corp’s stable of newspaper columnists had formed a “system of content production and distribution” that promoted “scepticism of climate science and fear or confusion around mitigation efforts”.

Chris Cooper, a director at Purpose, an Australia-based consultancy that works with organisations to understand their impact and which helped carry out analysis for the report, said: “Australia seems to have two significant export industries. One is emissions through fossil fuel exports and the other comes in content from these prolific media outlets.”

He said Sky News Australia was now having a “disproportionate contribution to global climate misinformation”. “We see the content shared through denier networks across the globe.”

Social media outlets were monetised through algorithms that prioritised “anything that’s outrageous and engaging”, Cooper said, and this meant climate misinformation was “reaching millions more people than it otherwise would”.

The report claims Sky News Australia produced its own partisan content through the views of its hosts, and also provides a platform for influential individuals from around the world who undermine the need to act on the climate crisis

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In one example, a tweet from Canadian climate science denier Patrick Moore – retweeted 16,000 times – promoted a Sky News Australia segment where former host Alan Jones described youth climate activists as “selfish, badly educated virtue-signalling little turds”.

Most segments, which are routinely edited into shareable videos, stem from Sky News Australia’s “after dark” shows.

Rita Panahi, a Sky News Australia host, is identified in the report as a “key amplifier” alongside other figures from around the world.

The analysis showed that before 2017, Sky News Australia posted an average 25 tweets a month on climate-related issues. But they now publish an average of more than 100 posts a month, with peaks of up to 300 a month.

Cooper said the aim of the report was to raise awareness of the scale of climate misinformation and disinformation worldwide, as well as the “actors behind it”.

Another aim, he said, was to detail to advocates for action on climate change how disinformation travels around the world.

UK judges clear way for migrant deportations as UN agency slams ‘catastrophic’ plan

Issued on: 13/06/2022 -

A protest against the deportation flights outside the High Court in London on June 13, 2022. © Alastair Grant, AP

Judges in London have thrown out last-ditch bids by human rights groups and campaigners to stop Britain sending its first flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda on Tuesday, a plan the United Nations' refugee chief described as "catastrophic".

As part of an initial 120-million-pound ($148 million) deal with Rwanda, Britain will send some migrants who arrived illegally by crossing the Channel in small boats from Europe.

Britain's Conservative government says the deportation strategy will undermine people-smuggling networks and stem the flow of migrants risking their lives in Channel crossings.

Amid legal challenges, the number of people scheduled to leave on Tuesday's plane, which charities said originally included people fleeing Afghanistan and Syria as well as Iran and Iraq, had now fallen to less than a dozen.

A High Court judge refused on Friday to grant a temporary injunction to block the flight, and on Monday three justices on the Court of Appeal upheld that decision.

Judge Rabinder Singh said they could not interfere with the original "clear and detailed" judgement, and refused permission for further appeal. A full hearing to determine the legality of the policy as a whole is due in July.

A second legal challenge at the High Court was also later rejected, with judge Jonathan Swift saying everyone on the flight had been given access to a lawyer to challenge their deportation.

Human rights groups say the policy is inhumane and will put migrants at risk. The UNHCR has said Rwanda, whose own human rights record is under scrutiny, does not have the capacity to process the claims, and there is a risk some migrants could be returned to countries from which they had fled.

"We believe that this is all wrong...for so many different reasons," UN High Commissioner For Refugees Filippo Grandi told reporters. "The precedent that this creates is catastrophic for a concept that needs to be shared like asylum."

Initially, some 37 individuals were scheduled to be removed on the first flight, but the charity Care4Calais said that number has dwindled to just eight. Three more individuals will have their cases heard at the High Court on Tuesday morning.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had earlier said the government was determined to press ahead with the policy despite the legal challenges and opposition, reportedly including from Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne.

"It's very important that the criminal gangs who are putting people's lives at risk in the Channel understand that their business model is going to be broken and is being broken by this government," Johnson told LBC radio.

"They are selling people false hope and luring them into something that is extremely risky and criminal."

The government said the deportation plan would deter the Channel crossings, although more than 3,500 people have reached Britain in small boats since the middle of April when the Rwanda scheme was unveiled, according to government figures.

As the court hearings were taking place, about 35 migrants arrived in Dover, some carrying their possessions in black bags, where they were taken away by British border forces.

(REUTERS)

Experts Find Another Dinosaur That Lived in Sahara Desert 100 Million Years Ago

BY JOSEPH GOLDER,

 ZENGER NEWS 

ON 6/13/22 

A team of Egyptian and American researchers has discovered yet another kind of meat-eating dinosaur that was one of many that lived in what is now the Sahara Desert nearly 100 million years ago.

The new discovery of Abelisauridae, which some experts have said could have been up to 11 meters (36 feet) long and weighed up to 3 tons (6,613 pounds), adds yet another fearsome predator to the list of those known to have co-existed in the same region, with experts predicting they may have survived alongside each other by specializing in eating different prey.

Ohio University said in a statement June 8: "The fossil of a still-unnamed species provides the first known record of the abelisaurid group of theropods from a middle Cretaceous-aged (approximately 98 million years old) rock unit known as the Bahariya Formation, which is exposed in the Bahariya Oasis of the Western Desert of Egypt."

This reconstruction of the ecosystem of the Bahariya Oasis in the Sahara Desert of Egypt approximately 98 million years ago shows the diversity of large theropods (predatory dinosaurs).

ANDREW MCAFEE, CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY/ZENGER

The university said that the area in Central Egypt was famous in the early 20th century for having yielded specimens from a wide range of dinosaurs and that this fossil appeared to belong to a whole new kind of dinosaur.

It is also the first time that an Abelisaurid fossil has been discovered at the Bahariya Formation.

The Abelisaurid dinosaur fossil is believed to date back to the middle Cretaceous era, making it approximately 98 million years old, according to experts.

The university explained in its statement: "Abelisaurid fossils had previously been found in Europe and in many of today's Southern Hemisphere continents, but never before from the Bahariya Formation."

Ohio University graduate student Belal Salem carried out the study, based on work he initiated while a member of the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center (MUVP) in Mansoura, Egypt.

Study leader Belal Salem of Ohio University and the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center (MUVP) examines the roughly 98-million-year-old abelisaurid therood neck vertebra discovered from the Bahariya Oasis that forms the basis of the new study.

HESHAM SALLAM, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO/MUVP/ZENGER

The fossil was reportedly recovered during an expedition to the Bahariya Oasis in 2016, but it has only been identified as a new species recently, with the study being published this month.

Salem said: "During the mid-Cretaceous, the Bahariya Oasis would've been one of the most terrifying places on the planet."

He added: "How all these huge predators managed to coexist remains a mystery, though it's probably related to their having eaten different things, their having adapted to hunt different prey."

The university added: "The new vertebra holds implications for the biodiversity of Cretaceous dinosaurs in Egypt and the entire northern region of Africa. It is the oldest known fossil of Abelisauridae from northeastern Africa, and shows that, during the mid-Cretaceous, these carnivorous dinosaurs ranged across much of the northern part of the continent, east to west from present-day Egypt to Morocco, to as far south as Niger and potentially beyond.

"Spinosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus are also known from Niger and Morocco, and a close relative of Bahariasaurus has been found in the latter nation as well, suggesting that this fauna of large to gigantic theropods coexisted throughout much of northern Africa at this time."

The abelisaurid neck vertebra constitutes the first record of this dinosaur group from that classic fossil locality. The bone is shown in anterior view.

BELAL SALEM, OHIO UNIVERSITY/MANSOURA UNIVERSITY VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY CENTER/ZENGER

The Bahariya Oasis is renowned among paleontologists as the location where several extraordinary dinosaurs were first discovered during the early 20th century. But all Bahariya dinosaur fossils collected prior to World War II were destroyed during the Allied bombing of Munich in 1944.

The study, published in Royal Society Open Science, is titled "First definitive record of Abelisauridae (Theropoda: Ceratosauria) from the Cretaceous Bahariya Formation, Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt."

It was authored by Belal S. Salem, Matthew C. Lamanna, Patrick M. O'Connor, Gamal M. El-Qot, Fatma Shaker, Wael A. Thabet, Sanaa El-Sayed, and Hesham M. Sallam.

Other experts who worked on the study also included Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine professor of biomedical sciences Patrick O'Connor; Matt Lamanna, associate curator of vertebrate paleontology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History; Sanaa El-Sayed, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan and the MUVP's former vice director; Hesham Sallam, a professor at the American University in Cairo (AUC) and Mansoura University and the founding director of the MUVP; and additional colleagues from Benha University and the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency.

This story was provided to Newsweek by Zenger News.