Largest U.S. City Prepares for Climate-Driven Flooding Rains

July 8, 2022 News Editoron Largest U.S. City Prepares for Climate-Driven Flooding Rains

NEW YORK, New York, July 8, 2022 (ENS) – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and staff Thursday released the Rainfall Ready NYC action plan – a plan to prepare the city government and all New Yorkers for a future of more extreme rainfall. As climate change brings more extreme weather to the five boroughs, the city is making investments in infrastructure to keep New Yorkers safe, but in the short-term the city of eight million people needs to be ready for trouble.

Since September 2010, New York has experienced weather disasters: severe storms, tornadoes, floods, tropical storms, snow and ice storms. Just 10 months ago, Hurricane Ida’s sudden heavy rainfall killed a dozen New Yorkers. Eleven of those people, police officials said, were in basements when they died.

“Climate change is the city’s biggest environmental threat, and while we continue to invest in resiliency and infrastructure projects to protect us for generations to come, the Rainfall Ready NYC action plan will help every New Yorker to protect themselves, their families, and their homes,” said Mayor Adams, announcing the plan on Thursday.

New York Mayor Eric Adams February 2022 (Photo courtesy Office of the Mayor)

“The city is acting now to keep New Yorkers safe as we move into hurricane season, and I encourage every New Yorker to make emergency plans for the next extreme weather event,” Mayor Adams said.

The new action plan outlines new steps New Yorkers can take to protect themselves and their property, say city officials, led by New York City Chief Climate Officer and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala.

“Our climate is changing and that means increasingly common extreme weather impacting New York City, but there are measures we can take to prepare ourselves and the Rainfall Ready NYC action plan outlines the projects city government has underway to manage our new reality, as well as steps residents can take to protect themselves and their property,” said Aggarwala.

“The design and construction of large infrastructure projects to manage our changing climate will take time to complete and Rainfall Ready NYC is meant to outline the shared actions that can be taken in the short-term to ensure public safety,” he explained.

“Every New Yorker deserves to live in a safe home in the face of a changing climate,” said New York City Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz. “Working with Chief Climate Officer Aggarwala, we will ensure that New York City is prepared for increasing extreme weather and that our neighbors’ homes are protected against flooding. Rainfall Ready is an important step forward in building stronger housing and a more resilient city.”

New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol sees the value of preparing now for future flooding rains. “Being prepared for extreme weather emergencies is a shared responsibility, and Rainfall Ready NYC is a blueprint that will guide us throughout all phases of the disaster cycle,” said Commissioner Iscol.

“While the city has made several improvements to its operations – from mitigation to preparedness, response, and recovery – Rainfall Ready NYC captures how we will continue to safeguard our city and the public. With hurricane season and summer under way,” said Iscol, “I also encourage New Yorkers to make emergency plans that best match their needs before extreme weather and other emergencies occur, by visiting us online or calling 311.”

As rising greenhouse gas emissions accelerate climate change, New Yorkers should expect more frequent and extreme rainfall events that can produce volumes of stormwater that the city’s infrastructure was never designed to capture.

While the city is making investments to improve resiliency and prepare New York City for the effects of climate change, all New Yorkers can take immediate steps to prevent death, injury, and property damage when these intense rainfall events do occur.

Rainfall Ready NYC outlines what steps New Yorkers and city government can take to combat extreme weather together, including:

• – Encouraging New Yorkers to use new interactive stormwater flood maps to understand the likelihood of flooding on one’s block and to make a plan to get to higher ground if needed.
• – Inspecting chronic flooding locations and clearing debris from catch basins in at-risk locations prior to predicted storms. New Yorkers are encouraged to clear litter and debris from the curb line and nearby catch basins and deploy barriers to protect low-lying areas.
• – Expanding FloodNet, a network of street flooding sensors designed to better understand the frequency, severity, and impacts of flooding in New York City. These sensors will be installed in the most vulnerable areas for real-time data collection and will be accessible via a dashboard for public use beginning later this month.
• – DEP will also be providing sandbags and flood barriers to residents in at-risk neighborhoods, and the city has engaged Los Deliveristas, Uber Eats, GrubHub, and DoorDash in a working group to create new strategies for ensuring extreme weather messaging reaches delivery workers. The group will also work to develop protocols to ensure that delivery workers are kept safe during extreme weather, such as restricting deliveries during dangerous weather conditions.

“As somebody who grew up in South Beach, we know full well that Staten Island has too often seen extreme flooding impact neighborhoods, homes, and lives caused by rainfall during heavy storms,” said Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella. “Fortunately, there has been much progress over the last 40 years, but we still need to do more. After remnants of Hurricane Ida hit New York City in September, many families who historically have never seen flooding in their communities, were directly impacted. Extreme rainfall has been a dangerous problem for the borough and will continue to be a public safety issue without the proper action.”

As New York City prepares for rising sea levels and heavier rains due to climate change, Bluebelts offer a natural and effective solution for stable stormwater management. 2021 Staten Island (Photo courtesy City of New York)

The plan also calls attention to the importance of the Bluebelt system. More than a dozen Bluebelts on Staten Island alone use natural spaces such as ponds and creeks to divert stormwater away from flooding that could invade homes.

“These tried and true measures prove it is often best to work with nature, and not against it,” said Fossella. “Additionally, keeping our catch basins and sewer grates clean of litter, especially ahead of a storm, will help to mitigate the flooding that Staten Island often sees during and after a big storm.”

New York City Council Member James Gennaro, who chairs the Committee on Environmental Protection, said, “Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing our city. New York City has over 7,500 miles of sewers that are designed to capture rainfall from a five-year storm, which is a rain event that has a 20 percent chance of occurring in any given year.”

“It is crucial that we invest in the appropriate infrastructure and prepare New Yorkers, especially as extreme weather events become more common,” Gennaro said, calling the Rainfall Ready NYC action plan a “much-needed resource.”

Food Delivery Workers Like New Action Plan

When the weather hits extreme, the whole city relies on its food delivery workers.

Hildalyn Colon Hernandez, director of policy and strategic partnerships, Los Deliveristas Unidos/Workers Justice Project, deals with extreme weather situations now more than ever, due to climate change.

“Deliveristas work under rain, shine, or snow. Los Deliveristas Unidos/WJP sees closely and personally how climate change impacts the job and workers’ safety across New York City,” Hernandez said.

“As the city put a plan to develop the infrastructure to deal with the impacts of climate change and we need bigger efforts to prepare and protect the people and the worker force, such as Deliveristas, that make the city move,” she said.

“The Rainfall Ready NYC action plan is an urgent call to the climate crisis we all live in. This plan shows how working people, such as Deliveristas, can be part of the change and propose solutions to protect and care for our planet,” offered Hernandez.

A snowstorm hits New York City just before the holidays, but food delivery never stops. December 16, 2020, Park Slope, Brooklyn (Photo by spurekar)

“It is critical to our mission that those who deliver on our platform can do so safely,” said Freddi Goldstein, communications manager, Uber Technologies. “We are looking forward to working with Mayor Adams, the DEP and NYCEM to do all we can to keep couriers safe when extreme weather is in the forecast.”

“We welcome Rainfall Ready NYC and commend Mayor Adams for launching this important and necessary initiative,” said Sascha Owen, senior manager of government relations, DoorDash. “Rainfall Ready NYC recognizes that everyone – from companies to community groups and governments – has an important role to play in helping keep all New Yorkers safe. The safety of delivery workers and the communities we serve is core to everything that we do, and we will continue to work closely with policymakers and share the lessons we’ve learned from developing our robust emergency response protocols.”

“Every day, Grubhub works with tens of thousands of delivery partners and restaurants across the five boroughs, and their safety is absolutely our highest priority,” said Joshua Bocian, senior manager for government affairs, Grubhub. “We continue to use our in-app messaging system to communicate ahead of and throughout extreme weather events, and we look forward to working closely with the city on innovations to best protect each and every one of our delivery workers.”

“New Yorkers are already feeling the impacts of a changing climate and increased rainfall, and these impacts are not felt equally,” said Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice Kizzy Charles-Guzman.

“Initiatives like Floodnet provide the real-time, hyperlocal flood information that we need to take immediate street-level action like road closures, travel bans, or informing residents on the need to deploy sandbags and flood barriers, as well as help us to target our efforts in the most vulnerable communities, validate existing flood models, and provide data for future drainage investments,” she said.

“As the City continues to invest in longer-term projects to address these hazards,” Charles-Guzman said, “Rainfall Ready NYC is a crucial resource for residents and City government to take action now towards shared stormwater resiliency.”

The Rainfall Ready NYC action plan will be shared widely in the weeks and months to come as all New Yorkers take steps to prepare for more extreme weather.

Featured image: Hurricane Ida dumps rain on Manhattan’s Sixth Avenue at 29th Street. September 1, 2021 (Photo by Eden, Janine and Jim)

Environment News Service (ENS) © 2022 All Rights Reserved.

IDAHO: Need for Better Science Halts USDA Carnivore Killing

July 1, 2022 News Editor on IDAHO: Need for Better Science Halts USDA Carnivore Killing

BOISE, Idaho, July 1, 2022 (ENS) – A U.S. District Court in Idaho has approved a settlement agreement filed by Advocates for the West on behalf of two conservation groups that will protect Idaho’s native carnivores through restrictions on methods of killing wildlife.

Based in Boise, Advocates for the West, with in-house counsel from Western Watersheds Project, represented the nonprofit groups WildEarth Guardians and Predator Defense in the case.

The agreement between the conservation groups and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services, and the Department of the Interior’s U.S. Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management guarantees interim protections for native wildlife pending the completion of new environmental reviews of Wildlife Services’ actions.

“We’re pleased to have added restrictions to the wildlife-killing activities that USDA Wildlife Services is pursuing across Idaho,” said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project. “This new agreement blocks wildlife killing on protected public lands across Idaho, and blocks the use of certain lethal methods employed against native carnivores throughout the state.”

The settlement gives Wildlife Services until the end of 2024 to complete a new environmental review of its activities on federal lands.

The settlement also requires the agency to consider an alternative restricting native predator-killing on certain public lands, blocking “preventative” killing of wolves and coyotes, and placing a long-term moratorium on the use M-44 “cyanide bombs” of the type that poisoned 14-year-old Canyon Mansfield and his dog near Pocatello, killing the family dog, in 2017.

“Working side-by-side with the Mansfield family, as well as with other M-44 victims for over 30 years, I have witnessed the pain and loss these indiscriminate poisonous devices inflict,” said Brooks Fahy, executive director of Predator Defense, a national wildlife advocacy group. “Since M-44s can never be used safely, Wildlife Services agreeing not to use them in Idaho, even temporarily until their analysis is complete, will better protect people, pets and wildlife.”

In the interim, the agreement halts the use of “denning,” a term that means gassing or immolating wolf pups in their dens, limits the agency’s methods of trapping, and requires reporting if Wildlife Services traps go un-checked for more than 72 hours, a measure to prevent animal cruelty.

“This settlement forces the federal agencies to come up to speed on the new science around management of native carnivores and to stop using inhumane and antiquated methods like poison or body-gripping traps,” said Wildlife Program Director of WildEarth Guardians Lindsay Larris. “This settlement ensures that Wildlife Services won’t use gas cartridges or burn wolves alive in their dens – a practice they were unfortunately still able to lawfully employ, until today.”

Under the settlement, Wildlife Services will not use snares to target gray wolves in Idaho on public lands. When using foothold traps for wolf damage management, Wildlife Services will only use foothold
traps with offset jaws, pan-tension devices set to a minimum of eight pounds of resistance, and swivels.

In 2011, Congress ended protections for gray wolves in the northern Rockies, and in 2020 the Trump administration stripped wolves of their Endangered Species Act protections across the country.

The settlement was reached pursuant to a lawsuit filed in Idaho District Court in 2020, asserting that Wildlife Services had violated federal law with regard to its predator management programs by relying on outdated and inadequate assessments of its policies and methods.

“Our settlement also means that native predators that live in Wilderness or Wilderness Study Areas in Idaho will not be killed by Wildlife Services except to protect human health and safety,” said Laurie Rule, senior attorney at Advocates for the West. “These areas are intended to remain in their natural state, including allowing predators to fulfill their natural role in the ecosystem.”

This settlement follows a March 2020 settlement in an earlier lawsuit that restricted the places where Wildlife Services could kill wolves in Idaho. Predator protections under both agreements will be in place until Wildlife Services completes a new environmental impact statement in 2024.

The government agencies that are defendants in this case agreed to pay plaintiffs $50,000 to satisfy all claims related to this lawsuit.

Read the Settlement here.

Featured image: A gray wolf, canis lupus, in Idaho. Gray wolves are no longer listed for protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. (Photo courtesy Idaho Department of Fish & Game)

Environment News Service (ENS) © 2022 All Rights Reserved.

Dallas Cowboys face backlash for partnering with gun-themed coffee company


The Dallas Cowboys sparked criticism on social media Tuesday, July 5, 2022, after announcing a marketing agreement with a gun-themed coffee company with blends that include “AK-47 Espresso,” “Silencer Smooth” and “Murdered Out.” The partnership with the Black Rifle Coffee Co. was revealed on Twitter the day after seven people died in a shooting at a Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago. 

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

By: Sarah Dewberry
Jul 08, 2022

DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys faced backlash after they announced they were partnering with a gun-themed coffee company a day after several people were killed in a mass shooting in suburban Chicago.

On Tuesday, "America's Team" announced the partnership with Salt Lake City-based Black Rifle Coffee Co., which sells coffee with names like "AK-47 Espresso" and "Murdered Out."

"#CowboysNation, please welcome America’s Coffee to America’s Team. We are celebrating America’s birthday all week long by giving away tickets to a #DallasCowboys home game & a -year subscription to @blckriflecoffee!" the team tweeted.

The coffee company, which a U.S. Army veteran founded, is popular among conservatives and gun-rights advocates, the Associated Press reported.

The team faced immediate criticism due to the timing of the announcement.

On July 4, seven people were killed, and more than 30 others were wounded at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois.

News of the partnership also comes a month after 19 students and two teachers were killed during a school shooting in Uvalde.

The Cowboys previously announced they were donating $400,000 to support victims and survivors of the school shooting.

A Disturbing Shift Has Affected Earth's Delicate Energy Balance, Scientists Report

Tessa Koumoundouros - 

Our living planet is unique among all we've been able to explore in the Universe so far. From our axial tilt preventing too many temperature extremes, to our goldilocks zone position, life on Earth depends on many finely balanced, interwoven cycles that come together to produce the exact circumstances we need to thrive.


© NASA/Reid Wiseman Sunrise from the ISS.

One of these cycles is Earth's delicate energy system – the inputs and outputs of the energy received from the Sun.

This cycle dictates all planetary climate systems. On Mars, the seasonal change in energy imbalance – around 15.3 percent between Mars's seasons, compared to 0.4 percent on Earth – is thought to cause the planet's infamously epic dust storms.

For at least a while, before the 1750s, this fluctuating energy cycle on Earth was relatively balanced. But we've now created an imbalance that's recently doubled in just 15 years.

"The net energy imbalance is calculated by looking at how much heat is absorbed from the Sun and how much is able to radiate back into space," explains atmospheric scientist Kevin Trenberth from the National Centre for Atmospheric Research.

"It is not yet possible to measure the imbalance directly, the only practical way to estimate it is through an inventory of the changes in energy."

Trenberth and Chinese Academy of Sciences atmospheric physicist Lijing Cheng reviewed data from all components of the climate system: land, ice, ocean and atmosphere between 2000 and 2019, to conduct a stocktake of these changes.

Earth's atmosphere reflects almost one quarter of the energy that hits it, unlike on the Moon which takes the full impact of the Sun's energy, leading to surface temperatures of around 100°C (212°F). Most of that energy is then absorbed by the Moon and radiated back out into space as thermal infrared radiation, more commonly known as heat.

Again, it's the atmosphere that changes this process here on Earth. Some molecules in our atmosphere catch that heat before reaching space and keep holding onto it. Unfortunately for us, these are the greenhouse gasses, which have effectively now enveloped the planet in a too-snug blanket at the top of the atmosphere.

That extra trapped energy not only changes the place it ends up in but also impacts its surroundings on the way to its final destination, the researchers explain in their paper.

"It is vital to understand the net energy gain, and how much and where heat is redistributed within the Earth system," they write. "How much heat might be moved to where it can be purged from the Earth via radiation to limit warming?"

While everyone has mostly been focusing on increasing temperatures, that's only one product of this extra energy. Only 4 percent of it goes into raising temperatures of land and another 3 percent goes into melting ice, Trenberth and Cheng worked out.

Almost 93 percent is being absorbed by the ocean, they found, and we're already witnessing the unpleasant consequences.

Although less than 1 percent of the excess energy whirls around in our atmosphere, it's enough to directly increase the severity and frequency of extreme weather events, from droughts to floods.

However, the increased atmospheric turbulence may also be helpful.

"Those weather events move energy around and help the climate system get rid of energy by radiating it to space," explain the researchers.

Clouds and ice also help to reflect solar radiation before it becomes long-wave heat that the gasses trap. But both reflective clouds and ice are being reduced by disruptions in this energy cycle.

There's still too much missing information for a comprehensive Earth system model that accurately predicts specific outcomes beyond the short term, Trenberth and Cheng say. But by incorporating their Earth energy imbalance framework that considers each Earth system component, this may be improved on.

"Modeling the Earth energy imbalance is challenging, and the relevant observations and their synthesis need improvements," concludes Cheng.

"Understanding how all forms of energy are distributed across the globe and are sequestered or radiated back to space will give us a better understanding of our future."

This research was published in Environmental Research Climate.

Edmonton law student sues province, law society over mandatory oath to the Queen

Katarina Szulc -CBC 

An Edmonton articling student set to be called to the bar next month is suing the province and the Law Society of Alberta because he says swearing a mandatory oath to the Queen would contradict his religious beliefs.


© Jamie McCannel/CBC

Prabjot Singh Wirring is suing the province and Law Society of Alberta because he says swearing a mandatory oath to the Queen would contradict his religious beliefs.

Prabjot Singh Wirring is a devout Amritdhari Sikh. He says he made an absolute oath and submitted himself to Akal Purakh and cannot make a similar allegiance to another entity or sovereign.

"For me, it's a fundamental part of who I am as a person. The requirement to take that oath of allegiance would require me to renege on the vows and the oath that I've already made and a lot of damage to who I am as a person and to my identity," Wirring told CBC.

In Alberta, provincial legislation requires lawyers swear an oath to "be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, her heirs and successors."

Wiring's legal challenge is being heard in Court of Queen's Bench. He's seeking to be exempt from the oath.

Wirring says he hoped the province would make an exception for him considering other provinces, like Ontario and British Columbia, have opted to make the oath optional or offer a different oath.

"Inclusion is a collective responsibility of the profession of our community and society in general. But unfortunately, a lot of the time this burden falls on racialized people," he said.

Although Wirring initially tried to negotiate with the Law Society of Alberta, he says he soon realized the oath was legislated and he would have to take up the issue with the provincial government.

A spokesperson for the province declined to comment because the matter is before the courts.

The Law Society of Alberta said in a statement that the issue is for the province, because any change must be legislated.

In court Thursday, the Crown motioned to strike or dismiss the claim, stating that the issue has been decided in other cases.

Wirring's lawyer Avnish Nanda told CBC he finds it frustrating the province is unwilling to make an exception.

"There's no willingness on the part of the minister or the Alberta government to back down. Either you make the oath of allegiance to the Queen, or you can't practise law in Alberta," Nanda said.

The government's statements of defence are set to be filed by July 15, with the court hearing after October 7.

IN CONSERVATIVE COUNTRY
'Happy Stampede': Prime minister mobbed by admirers at Calgary Stampede events


CALGARY — Inch by inch. Step by step. It could be the lyrics to a country and western song featured at the Calgary Stampede, but in reality it was the progress Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was making Sunday as he attended a pancake breakfast in Calgary.


© Provided by The Canadian Press'Happy Stampede': Prime minister mobbed by admirers at Stampede events

The annual 10-day celebration of the cowboy way of life has become an irresistible magnet for politicians of all political stripes.

Trudeau is no exception and has made an appearance year-after-year.

"This is a moment to gather and to celebrate being able to gather once again. It's great to see everyone in person. Happy Stampede," said Trudeau, who was attending a breakfast hosted by his lone Liberal MP in Calgary, George Chahal.

Trudeau briefly referenced the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and global events before spending some time flipping pancakes.

"It's been a tough couple of years where people have had to pull together and make it through and we really saw the strength of community," he said.

"We're facing more challenges with the war in Ukraine and with the global inflation crisis, but at the same time we're seeing it — time and time again — Canadians stepping up and being there for each other."

A lone protester, carrying a Canadian flag, yelled "traitor" a number of times before being quietly escorted out of the parking lot and across the street.

Trudeau was mobbed as he slowly made his way through the crowd, posing for pictures, holding small children and shaking hands.

He also visited the Stampede grounds and appeared at a Liberal fundraiser later in the day.

At the Stampede, Trudeau met with the Stampede's veterinarian and some students who are researching animal safety. They walked along the horses in the pens behind the grandstand infield as they talked.

He then met with Mayor Jyoti Gondek, who welcomed him to Calgary.

Trudeau also went to one of the barns and talked to some heavy horse owners before walking through the crowds on the grounds, where many young families were attending.

People stopped him and asked for selfies as he talked about how nice it was to be back at the event. Others, including refugees from Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan, thanked him. One woman from Calgary thanked him for helping to save her home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A few people could be heard muttering negative comments under their breath, before walking away. Others yelled in the background.

The prime minister's visit came on the heels of the federal Conservative barbecue in Calgary on Saturday night where four of the five leadership candidates had an opportunity to impress supporters before the party elects a leader in September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 10, 2022.

Bill Graveland and Colette Derworiz, The Canadian Press

Rogers customers grow increasingly frustrated on 3rd day without cell, internet service

Laura McQuillan -CBC - July 10,2022


After waiting hours on hold to speak with a Rogers representative, Rosanna Minicucci is still no closer to finding out when her landline, internet and TV service might be restored.

"I stayed five hours on hold, on the line. People are obviously calling — there are obviously a lot of people out there still with no service," Minicucci, who lives in Vaughan, north of Toronto, said.

She is one of a number of Rogers customers who told CBC News they're still struggling to use their phones, internet and other Rogers services more than 48 hours after Friday's nationwide outage caused major disruptions, including to 911 lines and banking services.

In a statement on Sunday afternoon, Rogers said its networks and systems were "close to fully operational," with service restored to "the vast majority" of customers.

"We are aware that some customers continue to experience intermittent challenges with their services," Rogers said.

The company did not answer questions about how many customers were still facing issues. It said its technical teams were working to resolve the remaining issues, and affected customers would receive credits on their accounts. Rogers has not said what the amount of the credit would be.

Earlier, it blamed the outage on a maintenance update that caused some of its routers to malfunction early Friday morning.

Some Rogers customers who have been waiting more than two days for service restoration say they are unhappy with the company's lack of communication and are now considering switching providers.

With her internet down on Friday, Minicucci was unable to work from home as she usually does, and on Sunday afternoon, she was uncertain about whether her service would be restored in time for work on Monday morning.

"Will I stay with Rogers? How can I? I don't trust their service," she said.

Jen Dieleman, a DoorDash driver in London, Ont., said she was unable to work on Friday or Saturday because her Rogers cellphone couldn't connect to the app that drivers use to pick up and deliver orders. Her service was still spotty on Sunday, she said.

"I'm out trying to work right now, and it's still glitching and having issues," Dieleman said, adding that she had missed out on picking up orders due to issues with her cellphone data.

In Whitby, northeast of Toronto, Justine Creagmile and her parents are still waiting for their home phone, internet and cable to resume working — even though service has been restored for their neighbours.

"It's absolutely frustrating, honestly," she said. "We're all connected to the same wiring. How is theirs working and ours isn't?"

Creagmile said her family has had "absolutely no luck" in trying to troubleshoot their issues with Rogers via phone and social media, and their future as Rogers customers will "depend on what Rogers is going to do to rectify the problem."


© Matt Fratpietro/CBC

Friday's outage left businesses across the country unable to process debit card payments, including this coffee shop in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Service resuming but patchy

Other customers told CBC News that their service appeared to be returning on Sunday afternoon, but it remained patchy.

Adriano Burgo said the Wi-Fi at his house in London, Ont., had "slowed down immensely," while his cellphone calls were dropping intermittently and he was unable to send texts.

He described Rogers' communication with its customers about the ongoing issues as "very poor," but he was unsure if he would switch providers.

"My problem is it's such a monopoly market, especially in London," he said. "We don't really have many options when it comes to internet and cable."

Rogers' issues were also affecting other companies that rely on its network, including internet provider TekSavvy, which was advising its customers in Ontario and Quebec of ongoing issues on Sunday afternoon.

In a statement, TekSavvy vice-president Andy Kaplan-Myrth said thousands of customers were still reporting slow or intermittent internet speeds, or were having difficulty connecting to the internet at all.

The company recommended customers try rebooting their modem and contacting TekSavvy if problems continued.

Ottawa orders meeting with telecom bosses

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne is to meet with Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri and other telecom company leaders on Monday "to discuss how important it is to improve the reliability of the networks across Canada," according to a statement from Champagne's office.

The statement did not provide any details about which other companies' executives would be attending the meeting.

Champagne called the outage "unacceptable" and said he had expressed that view directly to Staffieri, his office said.

Rogers Has Revealed The Cause Of Friday's Outage & The Company's CEO Has Apologized

IT IMPACTED MORE THAN JUST ROGERS CUSTOMERS

Sofia Misenheimer - MTLBLOG

Rogers is finally sharing the cause of the massive network outage that rocked Canada on Friday: a maintenance update in the company's core network that caused some routers to malfunction. The company CEO wrote to customers on Sunday morning, apologizing for the system failure.


© Provided by mtlblogRogers Has Revealed The Cause Of Friday's Outage & The Company's CEO Has Apologized

"We let you down on Friday. You have my personal commitment that we will do better," Rogers President and CEO Tony Staffieri wrote in an email to customers.

"We know how much you rely on our networks and I sincerely apologize. We’re particularly troubled that some customers could not reach emergency services, and we are addressing the issue as an urgent priority."

Internet and phone service went down for Rogers customers and those of other cell providers that use the company's network, like Fido, chatr and Cityfone.

Some emergency and banking services that rely on Rogers systems were also unavailable.

Meanwhile, Montreal's municipal services were seriously affected, with passport office call centres shut down for the day, along with taxi offices and the city's 311 information line.

While Rogers acknowledged the outage on Friday morning, it offered little information about the cause or when services might be restored.

Staffieri wrote that, as of Sunday, services have been restored and that company networks and systems are "close to fully operational."

He said technical teams are monitoring for any lingering issues while experts dig into the root cause of the outage to improve stability.

The company plans to credit customers who were affected by the outage. That credit will be applied automatically with no action required.

The Cause For The Rogers Outage Has Been Revealed & The CEO Says 'We Let You Down'

Canada - Trending Team - NARCITY

In the aftermath of the huge Rogers outage that affected the internet and phone services of people across Canada, the company has shared an apology and an explanation.



On Saturday, July 9, "A Message from Rogers President and CEO" Tony Staffieri was posted on their site.

"We now believe we’ve narrowed the cause to a network system failure following a maintenance update in our core network, which caused some of our routers to malfunction early Friday morning," Staffieri wrote.

To fix the problem, they disconnected certain equipment "which allowed our network and services to come back online over time as we managed traffic volumes returning to normal levels."

"We know how much our customers rely on our networks, and I sincerely apologize," Staffieri continued, adding that they were "particularly troubled" that some people couldn't contact emergency services, which he says they are addressing.




As well, customers will be given credit for the disruption that will be applied automatically to their accounts.

Staffieri also said that, as CEO, he takes full responsibility for ensuring the company earns back the trust of its customers.

He also laid out a three-step action plan which consists of fully restoring all services, completing "root cause analysis and testing," and making "any necessary changes."

"We will take every step necessary and continue to make significant investments in our networks to strengthen our technology systems, increase network stability for our customers, and enhance our testing," he shared.

"We let you down yesterday," he wrote. "You have my personal commitment that we can, and will, do better."

During the outage on Friday, some people attending concerts were advised to physically print out their tickets to avoid any mishaps due to not being able to connect to the internet and get their tickets scanned.

As well, Passport Canada tweeted that the outage affected some call centres and offices, including passport offices.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.

Rogers outage shows need for Plan B when wireless, internet services fail, analysts say

Nick Logan - CBC

You didn't have to be a Rogers customer to feel the sense of dread when waking up to the news of a widespread wireless and internet outage Friday morning. The day, for millions of Canadians, was already off to a bad start.

At a Starbucks in Toronto, there was no quick tap of a debit card to get your caffeine fix on the run, as the disruption affected online payment systems across the country. Commuters in Vancouver were advised they may not be able to pay transit fares with debit cards. Cafes and libraries still offering Wi-Fi became makeshift offices. Any convenience to working from home became an inconvenience for those relying on the telecom giant's services.

It's the second major Rogers disruption in about 14 months. The company admitted to its 11 million wireless subscribers: "Today we have let you down."

The Canadian economy, and everyday life, is tethered to our communications networks, and when they go down, like Rogers did for much of the day Friday, there is no universal Plan B to keep widely-used – and vital — services online.

The repercussions are serious.

Change in traffic on the Rogers network since July 7, 2022

At least a half a million merchants use Interac debit payments, which rely on the Rogers network. Government services, including the ArriveCan app, have been impacted. The Niagara Health authority had to cancel radiation therapy appointments. Some cities have warned Rogers customers they may have trouble contacting 9-1-1 in emergencies.

"We have become remarkably fragile because of the rapid pace of innovation and the rapid pace of implementation of new techniques and new forms of technology," said economist Dan Ciuriak, a senior fellow with the Centre for International Governance and Innovation.

This needs to be a "wake up call," he said, not just for Rogers but for Canada's wireless communications infrastructure as a whole.

"We're talking about moving into the Metaverse. We're still in the dinoverse unfortunately, and this is pretty bad for Canada business-wise."

Loyalty to 1 company leaves you vulnerable

In an email to some corporate customers, Rogers blamed the disruption on an outage within its core network. There was no estimate for full restoration, though some services appeared to be returning to normal late Friday.

While Rogers will have to further explain what led to such a significant failure, Ciuriak said Canada has "lagged" in its development of wireless network hardware compared to other countries, as well with its security.

Tyler Chamberlain, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management, isn't as critical of the country's wireless communications infrastructure, noting these types of service interruptions are more common in other countries.

He said it would be "really expensive" to build any system that "never fails."


© Kate Dubinski/CBC

Merchants at the Covent Garden Market in London, Ont., told customers it was cash only on Friday due to the Rogers outage. The Interac system for debit payments relies on Rogers; credit payments would also be interrupted in businesses using Rogers internet.

Part of the problem is that, whether it's in our business or personal lives, we often rely on one company for all of our telecommunications services, said Chamberlain, which is something companies like Rogers, Bell and Shaw offer as an incentive for slightly lower prices.

"[That's] one of the things that maybe you want to … reconsider because if you are all-in-one and that one goes down, you really are isolated," he said, especially for those working from home full time. Though, he admitted that's not necessarily an option in rural parts of the country.

Businesses relying on wireless networks may want to consider the same thing, added David Soberman, a marketing professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

"If cashless payment systems are based on one network, you may find that some companies basically contract with two different [wireless or internet] suppliers so that they have one option if the other fails," he said.

"But not all companies can afford all those backups."

Who's to blame?

The responsibility lies with a company like Rogers when its services fail, said Soberman.

"I think the real issue here is that Rogers has a problem in their systems and they obviously aren't managing it very well," he said, noting the the other major wireless and internet providers in Canada haven't had such major disruptions in such a short period of time as Rogers has in the past two years.

Federal government critics are demanding an investigation into the Rogers service disruption.

"Given the critical infrastructure that's affected, and that the CRTC itself is affected, the cause of the Rogers outage should be immediately explained," Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner said in a statement shared on Twitter, calling for an emergency parliamentary committee meeting to "make sure it doesn't happen again."

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh claimed the widespread disruption to businesses and services is a consequence of the Liberal government "protecting the profits of telecoms giants."

Ciuriak said the government has a regulatory responsibility but it stops there.

"You would not expect a government bureaucrat to understand the software requirements to ensure that systems are robust and resilient," he said.

A vital service needing regulation?

Although the CRTC has declared broadband internet a basic telecommunications service, it's not a utility like water or power, which are mostly run by Crown corporations or quasi-Crown corporations, Chamberlain added.

But Soberman said the government may want to consider treating the wireless and internet services in a similar fashion to ensure there is limited disruption to business and vital services like 911.

"[The] internet is providing an infrastructure that is as important as the electrical system, is as important as the water, is certainly as important as the postal system," he said.

There could be a means of other wireless or internet companies stepping in to mitigate a disruption like this, he suggested.

"You might be able to make some kind of a law or regulation that would ensure that service is provided all the time to people, even if one of the suppliers has a problem."

The CRTC does have rules regarding the telecom networks ensuring cellphone users are still able to contact 911 even without wireless service. But the regulator did not immediately reply to CBC's question about whether that rule was breached as a result of the Rogers outage.

SEE 

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/07/rogers-outage-implications-show-need.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/07/canada-massive-rogers-outage-snarling.html

Hawaii museum revisits history of gender-fluid healers

July 7,2022

HONOLULU (AP) — More than 500 years ago, Hawaiians placed four boulders on a Waikiki beach to honor visitors from the court of Tahiti’s king who had healed the sick. They were “mahu,” which in Hawaiian language and culture refers to someone with dual male and female spirit and a mixture of gender traits.


© Provided by The Canadian PressHawaii museum revisits history of gender-fluid healers

The stones were neglected for many years, as Christian missionaries and other colonizing Westerners suppressed the role of mahu in Hawaiian society. At one point a bowling alley was built over the boulders.

Officials restored the stones multiple times since the 1960s but informational plaques installed next to them omitted references to mahu.

The stones and the history of the four healers now are featured in an exhibit at Bishop Museum in Honolulu. The display highlights the deep roots of gender fluidity in Polynesia.

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu is mahu and one of the exhibit’s curators. She said the healers were revered for their skill and hopes their story will show children in Hawaii that “proper Hawaiian culture” doesn’t pass judgment against those “who have elements of duality.”

“They were respected and honored because the people knew that their male and female duality made them even more powerful a healer,” Wong-Kalu said.

Kapaemahu was the leader of the four healers, and the exhibit is named The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu. Their story was passed down orally, like all Hawaiian stories, until a written language was developed in the 1800s.

But Hawaiians were discouraged from talking about mahu. DeSoto Brown, a Bishop Museum historian and the exhibit’s lead curator, said Christian missionaries who arrived in 1820 forbade anything that deviated from “clearly defined roles and presentation” of male and female genders.

The earliest known written account of the mahu healers is a 1906 manuscript by James Alapuna Harbottle Boyd, the son-in-law of Archibald Cleghorn, who owned the Waikiki property where the stones were at the time. Cleghorn’s wife, Princess Likelike, and daughter, Princess Kaiulani, were known to place seaweed and offer prayers at the stones when they swam.

Boyd’s manuscript “Tradition of the Wizard Stones of Ka-Pae-Mahu” said the Hawaiian people loved the healers for their “tall stature, courteous ways and kindly manners” and their cures became famous across Oahu.

“Their ways and great physique were overshadowed by their low, soft speech, and they became as one with those they came in contact with,” Boyd wrote. “They were unsexed, by nature, and their habits coincided with their womanly seeming, although manly in stature and general bearing.”

When it was time for the healers to leave, four boulders were brought down from Oahu’s Kaimuki area. Two were placed at the site of the healers’ hut and the others where they bathed in the ocean. Idols indicating the dual spirit of the healers were placed under each stone.

Many Hawaiians grew up not knowing about Hawaiian concepts of mahu or the stones because the American businessmen who overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 banned Hawaiian language instruction in schools and discouraged speaking it in homes. Generations of Hawaiians lost connections to cultural traditions.

Wong-Kalu, 50, said as a child she was made to believe mahu was a derogatory word. She remembers being among those who would sit on the stones and drape towels over them after swimming, oblivious to their significance.

Mahu are akin to “two-spirit” common in many Native American cultures, Wong-Kalu said, adding there are physical, emotional, mental and spiritual elements to being mahu. The representation of male and female depends on the person, she said.

“In Hawaii, one could exist really in the middle,” she said.

The stones nearly were lost just before the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. At the time, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported the boulders would be blasted or removed after a developer leased Cleghorn’s property to build a bowling alley.

Following an outcry, plans emerged for a concrete walkway between the stones. But the developer instead built over them.

The stones were uncovered two decades later when the city tore down buildings to build a public beach park. Elders recalled the story of the stones and urged they remain. The city agreed and created a plaque that mentioned the Tahitian healers but didn’t say anything about them being mahu.

In 1997, the city fenced off the stones and dedicated a new plaque. It also didn’t reference mahu.

During both periods, waves of homophobia and transphobia washed over Honolulu. In the 1960s, a new state law prohibited cross-dressing and police forced drag performers to wear a button saying: “I Am A Boy.” Three decades later, there was backlash in Hawaii and nationally when the Hawaii Supreme Court sided with same-sex couples seeking the right to marry.

The Bishop Museum exhibit, on display through Oct. 16, recounts this history and displays artifacts like massage sticks and a medicine pounder that healers would have used centuries ago. Islander concepts of gender fluidity are explored through stories like that of King Kamehameha III and his male lover.

A map shows terms used in Polynesia for those who don’t identify as male or female, including “fa’afafine” in Samoa and “leiti” in Tonga.

Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson helped curate the exhibit and hope it will spur the city to tell the full story of the mahu at the site of the stones.

Ian Scheuring, spokesperson for Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, said the city is researching the issue and local leaders plan to meet with members of the LGBTQ and Native Hawaiian communities to learn how they can help tell the “true and complete” story of the healers.

Tatiana Kalaniopua Young, a Native Hawaiian anthropologist, mahu and a director of the Hawaii LGBT Legacy Foundation, said the story the stones and healers helped her family understand that she was not “this weird creature that's outside of the norm." And that in a Hawaiian sense, she was part of the norm.

“It gave me a sense of place and purpose as a mahu and it really made me proud to be Kanaka Maoli, or Native Hawaiian,” she said.

___

This story has been updated to correct the title of the exhibit to The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu.

Audrey Mcavoy, The Associated Press

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