Tory strike bill: Mass protest against plan set for Glasgow


By Gregor Young

Roz Foyer of the STUC called the bill a 'vicious piece of Tory legislation' 

A MASS rally has been called to protect the right to strike from a “vicious” piece of Tory legislation.

The Scottish Trade Unions Congress (STUC) have revealed plans for a major protest against the UK Government’s anti-strike bill, as part of a national day of action from the TUC.

The Tory plans for minimum service levels would allow bosses to legally fire staff who ignore a “work notice” ordering them to work during industrial action – and have been compared to “conscription” by the RMT’s Mick Lynch.

February 1 will mark a key day in the fight back against the proposals, with rail unions, civil service workers and education unions all going on strike in one of the largest strike days of recent memory.

The STUC will host party political leaders, striking workers and union representatives from across various sectors at their rally, taking place at Glasgow’s Trades Hall from 7pm on the day.

READ MORE: SNP unite with trade unions in opposition to Tory strike bill

Roz Foyer, the STUC’s general secretary, said: “This is yet another vicious piece of Tory legislation designed to put workers back in their box and strip us of our right to bargain for a better future.”

She went on: “Our entire movement is united. We’re taking co-ordinated action on February 1st in one of the biggest mobilisations seen in the UK for generations.

“This Tory attack cannot be allowed to pass unchecked and workers the length and breadth of the UK will be standing together in protecting our human right to withdraw our labour.”

Meanwhile, the TUC’s general secretary Paul Nowak said the “draconian” restrictions on the right to strike will be fought “every step of the way” – in both Parliament and in the courts.

For more information on the rally, and what else you can do to show opposition to the Tory plans, visit this link.

SCOTLAND TEACHERS STRIKE

Unions reject claim Shirley Anne Somerville making 'strenuous' efforts to end strike

Andrew Learmonth
Thu, 19 January 2023 

Unions reject claim Shirley Anne Somerville making 'strenuous' efforts to end strike (Image: PA)

UNIONS have rejected Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that the Education Secretary is making “strenuous efforts” to end the teachers’ strikes.

The SNP leader praised Shirely Anne Somerville in parliament on Thursday, after the Tories accused the minister of showing “no energy" and "no urgency to get involved” in the industrial action.

READ MORE: EIS announce 22 more days of school strike action

Schools in Moray and North Lanarkshire were closed on Thursday as teachers walked out on the fourth day of the EIS and AHDS unions’ 16 day rolling programme of strikes.

Pupils in Angus and East Dunbartonshire will stay at home on Friday.

Teachers are asking for 10 per cent, but the government and the councils have offered 5%, rising to 6.85% for the lowest earners.

More talks are scheduled to take place, involving the Scottish Government, Cosla and the unions, but Ms Sturgeon made clear there was still some distance between the teachers’ demands and what ministers could afford.

READ MORE: Sturgeon calls for compromise from teachers

She told MSPs: “This is a government that values public sector workers and seeks to negotiate fair pay deals. To that end, we continue to work closely with trade unions and local government partners to reach a deal that is fair and affordable. That dialogue has been constructive.

“There does still remain a gap between the union asks and to be blunt, what is affordable within our finite resources, and therefore, we look for further compromise.

“The Education Secretary is in regular dialogue with the unions and with Cosla and has spoken individually with each of the union general secretaries to progress things within the past week.”

READ MORE:Scottish secondary school strike to hit every local council

Tory MSP Stephen Kerr said the strikes had caused “chaos for hundreds of thousands of parents and carers and pupils.”

He added: “The Cabinet Secretary shows no energy, no urgency to get involved and to resolve the teachers strike. That's not just my view. That's the view of the unions. The First Minister used to say that education was her top priority. Will she step in and end the strike?”

Ms Sturgeon accused the Tory of hypocrisy. She pointed to comments from UK Government Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, who said it was her job to “negotiate the pay.”

“That’s not what we’re there to do,” she told Sky.

Nicola Sturgeon attacks 'staggering hypocrisy' of Tories over teacher strikes

Ms Sturgeon said: “As teachers' strikes loom in England, the hypocrisy of the Tories is absolutely staggering.

“Shirley Anne Somerville will continue to do everything possible to reach an agreement with Cosla and our teaching unions to deliver a fair pay increase for teachers.

“Over the past few years teachers have already had a 21% pay increase demonstrating the value we attach to what they do.

“Teachers in Scotland, I think, are the highest paid on average of any of the teaching professions across the UK. So we will continue to seek a fair settlement.

“But the hypocrisy really is staggering, because Stephen Kerr talks about the efforts Shirley Anne Somerville is making and she's making strenuous efforts, the Tory education secretary in England, just in the last few days said this, 'that we didn't negotiate pay with teaching unions because that is not what we are here to do'.

“So in Scotland, the demand that the education secretary resolves it, in England, of course, the Tories simply wash their hands and dig their heels in because they don't value public sector workers.”

Responding to the comments, EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said: “The Cabinet Secretary said recently that she would ‘leave no stone unturned’ in her effort to reach a fair pay agreement with Scotland’s teachers.

"Today, in Parliament, the First Minister has lauded the Cabinet Secretary’s ‘strenuous efforts’ in negotiations.

“Sadly, neither the apparent strenuous efforts nor the turning over of stones have yet led to an improved pay offer to Scotland’s teachers.”

Ms Bradley added: “The reality is that our members are not prepared to accept the sub-inflation 5% that has repeatedly been offered, and only a substantially improved offer from the Scottish Government and Cosla can end this dispute.

“Strike action will continue until that improved offer is on the table for our members.”

UK

Striking nurses hit out at health secretary’s ‘nonsense’ claims patients would suffer from pay rise

Mustafa Javid Qadri

The Independent
Thu, 19 January 2023 

Striking nurses have accused the health secretary of speaking “nonsense” after he warned patients would suffer if they were given a pay rise.

Health workers on a protest march to Downing Street argued that if the government has “billions of pounds to waste” on the Track and Trace app and useless PPE - they can help hard-working NHS staff.

It comes after Steve Barclay told the Independent any boost to wages would “take billions of pounds away from where we need it most”.

Nursing staff and supporters chant and wave placards outside University College Hospital (Getty)

Health workers outside University College London Hospital calling for the Prime Minister to “wake up” (Mustafa Qadri)

“Unaffordable pay hikes will mean cutting patient care and stoking the inflation that would make us all poorer,” he added.

But the argument was given short shrift during walkouts on Wednesday, with one nurse branding Mr Barclay's statement as “talking through his a***.”

Darragh O’Neill, from Charing Cross Hospital, said: “For 106 years we have not been on strike and now they are going to stop us and give themselves a pay rise at the same time. I've never heard such rubbish in all my life,” he said.

“The problem is they have already put the problem in place, by not paying us properly and people haemorrhaging from the system, and they're trying to say that this is what's causing it. It's got nothing to do with this.”

“Why isn't that money going back into the NHS? Because the Tories are giving backhanders to one another, all over the place, it is b*******.”

Darragh O’Neill (left) accused the health secretary of ‘talking through his a***’ (Mustafa Qadri)

Another NHS worker on the protest march from London’s UCL Hospital to No 10 referred to Mr Barclay’s claims as “nonsense that doesn’t require a response.”

“I work in an acute hospital, and every shift does not have enough nurses,” he said. “They've also spent the last four or five years working incredibly hard through the covid crisis too.

“It's been a challenging time. And compared to other people, their incomes have fallen the wealthier have earned more, and nurses less.”

Steve Barclay claims increasing nurses' pay would have harmful consequences towards patients (PA)

Health workers were greeted with cheers from the public as they made their way to Downing Street on Wednesday, the first day of a two-day walkout.

Royal College of Nursing members at more than 55 NHS trusts across England are taking part in industrial action in a bitter “cost-of-living” pay dispute.

The march was organised jointly by campaign groups NHS Workers Say No! and NHS Staff Voices which are part of the Keep Our NHS Public campaign.

Holly Turner, nurse and member of NHS Workers Say No! showed her support at the picket line and spoke outside Downing Street.

One nurse had a message for the Tories written on their scrubs (Mustafa Qadri)

Speaking to The Independent she responded to Steve Barclay’s claims saying: “if they have got the money when they want to blow billions of pounds on dodgy PPE, they have got enough to keep people safe, we are having 500 excess deaths a day, absolute shame on this government.”

The child and adolescent mental health nurse raised her concerns about nurses having to leave the NHS while children with mental health issues face waiting up to two years for an initial check-up.

“We are running on such short staffing, 40,000 nurses left in the NHS, and we run on a shortage of 135,000 staff,” she said. “When you are talking about a five-year child that is not safe when they are suffering from severe mental health difficulties and it is the same across the wards, ICU nurses are being forced to look after more patients and the ratio is not what it should be at all.”

Holly Turner said the current level of excess deaths was a shame on the government (Mustafa Qadri)

Nurse Esther Dixon, 28, said: “The government is saying anything to keep the power they have over the staff and nurses at the moment.

“If they can put millions of pounds into a useless covid app for example, if they can find the money to put into all the different funds they chose to look after their benefits, they can find some money to pay for nurses.”

Esther Dixon - right - said she feels ashamed of the care nurses are giving (Mustafa Qadri)

“As a nurse on the floor every day I feel guilty, I’m ashamed of the care we are giving, it is poor standards and I am really worried about the future of staffing for nursing,” she said.

“The work conditions are horrendous, very difficult to get through any shifts we do. On every shift we arrive at, there is more than half the staff not there because there are no nurses employed by the trust.

“My colleagues can't feed their families easily. It is just not tempting for anyone to stay in their job, so we are haemorrhaging staff.”

Pat Cullen: 'tenacious' leader of UK's striking nursing union

Caroline TAIX
Thu, 19 January 2023 


In the space of just a few months, Pat Cullen has become the public face of Britain's nurses, whose historic strike has laid bare a health service on its knees.

Cullen, 58, comes from a family of nurses: four of her five sisters are all in the profession and she admits that nursing is "in my blood".

The softly spoken Northern Irishwoman is not willing to budge on her union's demands and warns the government that she is "tenacious".

"When I believe in something I'll follow it through to the bitter end," she told The Guardian newspaper.

Wes Streeting, an opposition Labour lawmaker in charge of health policy, called her a "tough negotiator".

A nurse for 41 years, Cullen became the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union and professional body in 2021.

She represents its membership of nearly 450,000 nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants -- the largest such union in the world.

Under her leadership, the members voted for a historic strike: for the first time since the RCN was founded 106 years ago, they stopped work on December 15 and 20.

As the Conservative government stuck to its view that the pay rises they are asking for are unaffordable, the nurses went back on strike on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

Further industrial action is planned on February 6 and 7.

Cullen says they have no choice: due to the austerity policies of Conservative governments, nurses' pay has fallen nearly 20 percent in real terms in the last 10 years.

The RCN wants a pay increase of around 19 percent, well above inflation which stands at 10.5 percent, to offset the decrease.

- Support -

Cullen's mood was far from celebratory on the first day of December's strike.

"This is a tragic day for nursing, it's a tragic day for patients," she said at a picket outside a hospital.

Ambulance drivers, railway workers and teachers have also gone on strike over pay disputes, causing the kind of mass disruption not seen in Britain for decades.

But what's different about the nurses' strike is the degree of public support for their cause.

Almost two-thirds of British people support it, according to a poll published January 17.

The public retains a strong sense of loyalty to the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) and feels grateful to nurses for their care during the pandemic.

Cullen is playing an active role getting the nurses' position across.

She regularly tours television studios to describe exhausting daily rounds, tens of thousands of unfilled posts and how some nurses have had to resort to using food banks.

"This is our time to speak up and have our voice heard on behalf of our patients," she stressed.

- Family history -

For Cullen, nursing is more than a calling: it's also a family affair. Born to a farming family, she is the youngest of seven siblings, six of whom are girls.

Her eldest sister, who is 17 years older, was the first to qualify.

"I remember her coming home in her beautiful nurse's uniform talking passionately to us as a young family about what she'd been doing on her last shift", Cullen told The Guardian.

To her great regret, her two children have chosen other paths, but her husband works as a GP in Northern Ireland.

Cullen started work as a mental health nurse.

She embarked on her first fight with the management at a psychiatric hospital in Antrim in Northern Ireland in 1983.

She wrote to the management to complain about its "heartless policy" of taking personal items away from patients to punish them for difficult behaviour.

"I felt it was totally unfair. These people were ill... Patients on the wards couldn't cope without their own personal belongings," she recalled.

She won the battle.

Cullen had always been a member of the RCN, but in 2019, she became director of the RCN in Northern Ireland.

After seven months, she led a three-day strike by nurses demanding a pay increase. This was the first such action since the union's creation.

She won that battle, too.

As Rishi Sunak's government will be well aware, Cullen isn't one to give up without a fight.

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Down to Earth: How gas stoves ignited an American culture war

Oliver Milman
Thu, 19 January 2023


This piece first appeared in Down to Earth, the Guardian’s climate and environment newsletter. 

The US is deep into its second week of a strange culture war over, of all things, gas stoves. It’s a snarky sort of battle that tells us a lot about how the next phase of the effort to tackle the climate crisis may play out.

The gas stove saga (yet to be dubbed “stovegate” but give it time) began when an official from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said gas stoves are a “hidden hazard”, and banning their sale was “on the table”. This followed a study that found one in eight childhood asthma cases in the US could be due to the copious amounts of indoor air pollution emitted by gas stoves.

Cue a rather overwrought reaction from conservatives. Matt Gaetz, the Republican congressman, tweeted a picture of his stove’s flickering blue flame, warning “You’ll have to pry it from my COLD DEAD HANDS!” Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor and potential 2024 nominee, mocked up a Gadsden flag with a gas stove on it, tweeting “Don’t tread on Florida and don’t mess with gas stoves!” A chef and regular Fox News guest even taped himself to a gas stove in a sort of protest.

The outrage should soon simmer down: the White House has ruled out a national ban on gas stoves, although some cities such as New York and Los Angeles are moving to block gas hookups in new buildings for climate reasons. But the episode shows the challenge of trying to alter personal routines in dealing with environmental crisis.

While most of us want action to deal with global heating, we are most comfortable with the idea that solar and wind power will proliferate to solve this problem while we continue our lives as normal. The UK, for example, used to run largely on coal and now coal has virtually disappeared, without any tangible change when a light is switched on.

Unfortunately, planet-heating emissions are weaved into almost every action of our lives, meaning that we will each need in some way to confront this emergency. While climate change will be solved at a societal rather than individual level – you can’t recycle your way out of this, sorry – this shouldn’t negate the reality that some habits may have to change, which some will find meddlesome or even oppressive.

Donald Trump, if you recall, complained that new energy efficient lightbulbs made him look orange and became fixated upon the idea that water-saving toilets required flushing “10, 15 times”. Trump nemesis Greta Thunberg may have done much to stigmatise flying, meanwhile, but air travel has picked up globally since the depths of Covid-19 and most people won’t think twice about jetting off for a holiday.

Eating meat is so ruinous to the climate that scientists now recommend cutting back to two burgers a week, at most, but emissions from food production are expected to rise 60% by 2050 amid a worldwide rise in meat eating, driven by a newly wealthy middle class in countries such as China.

Despite being a vegetarian I recently tried lab-grown, or “cultivated”, meat from a California company that is looking to grow cells from an (unharmed) pig to make into meatballs and bacon. This sort of simulacrum of the real thing is, much like electric cars, a way to closely substitute a harmful practice without fundamentally changing what people are used to doing.

Given the rapid pace of required emissions cuts, however, environmentalists and politicians will have to sell a bit of change. We need to drive less and walk and cycle more, not just switch cars. It would be sensible to cut down on meat eating, for a variety of reasons, and think about using alternatives to flying.

If we don’t find an agreeable way to impose change, the climate system will do it for us less agreeably. This month, the water was cut off to the community of Rio Verde in Arizona. The desert town has seen a boom in home building despite the US west being in the grip of the worst drought in 1200 years, fueled by the climate crisis.

Arizona has to reduce the amount of water it uses from the dwindling Colorado river by 21%, equivalent to the water use of two million households a year. It is learning painfully, as we all may have to do, that clinging on to the status quo isn’t going to get us out of this crisis.

Climate activist Thunberg hits out at 'self-interested elite' at Davos

Paul Myers
Thu, 19 January 2023 

REUTERS - WOLFGANG RATTAY


Climate activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday accused political and business leaders of placing a higher value on their own futures and profits rather than their countries and the planet.

The 20-year-old Swede hit out at the elites at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“We are right now in Davos where basically the people who are mostly fuelling the destruction of the planet, the people who are at the very core of the climate crisis, the people who are investing in fossil fuels etcetera, etcetera and yet somehow these are the people that we seem to rely on solving our problems,” Thunberg said.

“They have proven time and time again that they are not prioritizing that. They are prioritizing self-greed, corporate greed and short-term economic profits above people and above planet.

“These people are going to go as far as they possibly can as long as they can get away with it. They will continue to invest in fossil fuels, they will continue to throw people under the bus for their own gain,” she added.

Thunberg was released by police earlier this week after she was detained with other activists for protesting against the expansion of a coal mine in the village of Lützerath in Germany.

Alongside Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, Thunberg took part in a seminar with fellow campaigners Vanessa Nakate, Helena Gualinga and Luisa Neubauer.

“We don’t see the sense of urgency reflected in action,” Gualinga, an Indigenous youth climate advocate from Ecuador told the seminar.

Starmer calls for ‘clean power alliance’ at Davos and criticises Sunak’s absence

Sophie Wingate, PA Political Correspondent
Thu, 19 January 2023

Sir Keir Starmer has called for a “clean power alliance” of countries at the forefront of climate ambition to accelerate action and bring down energy prices.

The Labour leader also criticised Rishi Sunak’s absence at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and said his own attendance alongside shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is a “statement of intent” of the UK’s increased presence on the global stage under a Labour government.

Speaking in a panel discussion on “repowering the world,” Sir Keir set out his vision for an international alliance that would operate as an “inverse Opec”, referring to the cartel of oil-producing countries.

He said: “One of the things that I am proposing is a clean power alliance where countries that are in the advance when it comes to net-zero share information, co-operate and share investment with a view to driving the global prices down.

“So, this is an inverse Opec, if you like. Instead of trying to ensure prices stay at a certain level, it’s to drive them down, to see the common benefit, whether it’s in the UK or across the globe.

“If we could get that alliance working together, then I think that will be a big step in the right direction.”

Sir Keir has pledged to make the UK a clean energy superpower by 2030 and create a publicly-owned energy company within Labour’s first year in office.

He said that under a Labour government, there would be no new investment in oil and gas.

Sir Keir Starmer, right, was speaking during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos (Markus Schreiber/AP)

“What we’ve said about oil and gas is there does need to be a transition.

“Obviously, it will play its part during that transition, but not new investment, not new fields up in the North Sea, because we need to go towards net-zero, we need to ensure that renewable energy is where we go next.”

Sir Keir was joined on the panel by speakers including Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and US Senator Joe Manchin.

Neither Mr Sunak nor Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are attending the annual gathering of international movers and shakers in the exclusive Swiss ski resort, although the Government is being represented by Business Secretary Grant Shapps and International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch.

Sir Keir said: “I think our Prime Minister should have showed up at Davos.

“One of the things that’s been impressed on me since I’ve been here is the absence of the United Kingdom.

Sir Keir Starmer is at the Davos summit with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves (PA)

“That’s why it’s really important that I’m here and that our shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is here as a statement of intent that should there be a change of government – and I hope there will be – the United Kingdom will play its part on the global stage in a way I think it probably hasn’t in recent years.”

Downing Street said Mr Sunak “continues to focus on delivering for the British people” as he made a series of visits across the north of England to highlight his £2.1 billion levelling-up spending.

A No 10 spokesman said: “I’d also point to the fact we’ve been actively represented in Davos by the Business Sec and the Trade Sec who were there to build relationships with other countries around the world while making sure the UK’s voice is heard.”

He pointed towards the Cop27 climate summit and G20 conference among other events to argue “we are active on the international stage and we will continue to be”.

The Labour leader also blamed the UK’s economic woes on the lack of a strategic plan for growth and a “sense of instability and drift” caused by the recent turmoil in the Tory party.

He said: “We’ve got all the attributes for investment, we just need to create the circumstances, the environment in which we can change around what I think is the drift.

“The fact that our Prime Minister is not here I think is evidence of the drift. And we intend to reverse that.”

Ms Reeves used her appearance at Davos to “send a message” that under Labour “the British economy will be open for business again”.

“Part of that is sorting out some of the mess of the Brexit deal of a couple of years ago, which has seen our exports fall and jobs move abroad in many cases,” she said.

Echoing Sir Keir’s criticism of the absent Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt, she said: “Somebody has got to be an ambassador for Britain, and the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of my country are not here.

“Labour want to form the next government and so we think it’s really important to be here talking to business and investors about our plans for the future.”

Game developers say they’re not interested in blockchain, metaverse: survey

Story by MobileSyrup • Yesterday 

The majority of game developers aren’t interested in NFTs, Web3 and other blockchain technology.



In the latest annual study commissioned by the organizers of the Game Developers Conference (GDC), more than 2,300 developers were asked about various subjects about their work and the industry as a whole. When asked about their studios’ interest in blockchain, 75 percent of people said they were “not interested,” while seven percent responded with “very interested,” 16 percent noted they were “somewhat interested” and two percent mentioned they were “already using it.”

GDC also asked developers to provide anonymous reasons for why they’re for or against the blockchain. Interestingly, the first response was more balanced. “Like any tech, it has its positives and negatives. I think it became too fashionable to be openly opposed, and score points on social media, yet I know many devs who are exploring its use more quietly.”

“Now that the hype has died down and the scammers have moved on I think now is a good time to seriously investigate its utility for any positive player experiences. I don’t believe something as large as blockchain is entirely without use,” said another.

However, many of the other responses were negative.

“Blockchain is a textbook example of a solution looking for a problem. Despite being well known for over a decade, it has no practical use-cases — outside of cryptocurrency, which itself has a single use-case of enabling finance fraud. I am distrustful of any company that pursues blockchain technology, as it tells me that they either lack a firm understanding of the technology or are acting unethically,” said one respondent.

One developer was much more blunt: “I’ve designed a game for use of blockchain, and having spent three months doing nothing but researching use-cases, I have concluded firmly that there aren’t any worth pursuing.”

Metaverse

Another buzzword in the industry is also not being all that well-received. While companies like Mark Zuckberg’s Meta continue to talk about the idea of shared, all-encompassing virtual worlds, just under half of developers (45 percent) said they think the so-called “metaverse” won’t ever deliver on its promise. This was in response to which companies they think would be best suited to actually succeed with the metaverse concept.

Meanwhile, 14 percent said Epic Games (Fortnite) is best positioned in this regard, with Meta (Horizon World) and Microsoft (Minecraft) getting seven percent of the votes each. Google and Apple, meanwhile, only got three percent each.

Related video: Future of the Metaverse Amid Crypto Winter (CoinDesk)

Duration 9:31 View on Watch

Developers cited a variety of hurdles that the metaverse will have to overcome, including proper monetization, cheaper VR hardware and better standardization of controls across experiences. One developer, though, put it best: the lack of a proper definition. “The ‘metaverse promise,’ as it stands, is nothing. The people trying to sell it have no idea what it is, and neither do the consumers. Remember what happened, and keeps happening, with cloud gaming a decade ago?”

Acquisitions

Another area of apprehension and uncertainty is the rapid spate of acquisitions. The one that’s on everyone’s mind, of course, is Microsoft’s pending purchase of Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, but others include Sony’s acquisition of Bungie and Embracer Group snatching up several Square Enix studios.

When asked what kind of impact these waves of acquisitions will have, 44 percent of respondents said they’ll have a “negative” one. A further 32 percent said “unsure” or “N/A.” Only 17 percent of people said “positive” and seven percent said “no impact.”

Some respondents were fairly realistic — “Consolidation is going to happen and we should not be afraid of it” — or indifferent (“As long as they pay the bills and let people make the games they want, I’m fine with it.”)

Others were more pessimistic. “Consolidation is bad for innovation, diversity of products, addressing consumer needs, and ability for new voices to compete on an equitable playing field.”

“I’m a Blizzard baby who’s still traumatized by the Activision Blizzard merger. Major acquisitions will always leave a sour taste in my mouth. There is a lot of money to be made in this industry, and business interests know this. If the trends of these past two decades are any indication, these most recent acquisitions will be terrible for the industry.”

Perhaps the most dryly humorous response: “Big companies get bigger. More homogenization. Less originality. But hey, I guess Banjo-Kazooie can show up in Guitar Hero now.”

Accessibility

One area of game development that’s continuing to see increased support, though, is accessibility. When asked whether their games include options for players with disabilities, the number of people who said “yes” was 38 percent (in line with the 39 percent last year), while the percent of people who said “no” dropped from 36 to 32 percent. Specifically, respondents said they’ve added such features as text captions, reduced motion blur, a colourblind mode and an “arachnophobia mode” to alter the look of enemy spiders.

It’s a good trend to see, especially since there are 400 million gamers around the world have some form of disability, according to Microsoft. In recent years, we’ve seen a number of high-profile games lead the charge on accessibility, including Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part I and Part II, Santa Monica Studio’s God of War Ragnarök and Eidos Montreal’s Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Further, PlayStation recently followed Xbox’s suit by revealing an accessibility controller for the PS5.

The full 2023 GDC survey can be found here.

Toronto surgeon performs first knee replacement in Canada using new robot

Story by Talia Ricci CBC

When Steven Gotal was having difficultly enjoying his European vacation last year due to agonizing knee pain, he knew it was likely time for surgery.

The 75-year-old Mississauga man had problems with his left knee decades ago, but now it was affecting his ability to do simple tasks like walking and going up and down the stairs.

"It was starting to be very painful," he explained, saying he also could no longer participate in some of his favourite activities like cycling and swimming.

Gotal paid a visit to Dr. Michael Zywiel, an orthopedic surgeon and clinician investigator with the Schroeder Arthritis Institute at Toronto's University Health Network.

Zywiel had an interesting proposal: Gotal could be the first patient in the country to undergo knee replacement surgery with a new robotic device at Toronto Western Hospital, where hundreds of knee replacement procedures are performed every year.

Gotal agreed, and said he jokingly told the surgeon he hoped he had practised. He underwent a successful operation last Friday, and is on the road to recovery.



One week after being the first patient in Canada to have knee replacement surgery with the help of a new robotic device, Steven Gotal is recovering well and able to walk up and down the stairs again comfortably.© Talia Ricci/CBC

The robot, known officially as the VELYS robotic assisted device, was funded entirely through a donation.

Built by Depuy Synthes, a U.S. medical device company, Zywiel says the robot allows the team to more accurately plan and execute the surgery. He explains this is important because every patient's knee is a little different and needs implants in a slightly different position. He says a fairly large percentage of patients aren't satisfied with the outcome of their knee replacements and this new device can potentially save them a lot of pain and additional surgery

"The robot lets us very accurately perform the exact cuts we want to perform," he said.

"So there's much less trauma to the knee and especially to all the ligaments and muscles in the knee, and ultimately what that means is getting out of hospital sooner, recovering faster and getting back to the things they want to do in their regular life as fast as possible."

Zywiel says using the device also means far less equipment and instrumentation is needed. Additionally, the patient doesn't require pre-operative scans, saving time and resources.

"Within an hour or two, they can get up and walk and put their weight on it and go home and get recovered faster than they would be if we didn't have this technology helping us," he said.



Dr. Michael Zywiel, an orthopedic surgeon and clinician investigator with the Schroeder Arthritis Institute, says he's excited about the opportunity to further advance and improve the quality of care for patients through the use of new technology.© Talia Ricci/CBC

It's estimated around 700 knee replacements are performed at Toronto Western Hospital annually, making it one of the most common surgical procedures. Zywiel believes the new technology will improve the outcomes and result in happier, more satisfied patients.

"So if we can make even a small dent in that proportion of people who struggle with their recovery and struggle to get a good outcome, all that's going to do is free up resources so we can look after all the other people with knee arthritis who need our care," he said.

Zywiel says his team will also have the opportunity to train other staff from hospitals in the GTA and internationally on how to use the device. The training process is more than a year long.

Gotal says his recovery is going smoothly. He's getting up and down the stairs and around his home with far less pain, and is no longer using a walker.

He's confident he'll be cycling and swimming again in the near future, and doesn't regret being the first patient in the country to undergo surgery with the new device.

"I'm very happy and I am so thankful to the hospital staff," he said.

"I feel so blessed."

94 Calls to Action are not proposals but declarations, says Mohawk journalist

Thu, January 19, 2023 at 10:43 a.m. MST·2 min read

Reading and understanding each of the 94 Calls to Action set forth by Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada can be daunting.

The Calls to Action released in 2015, call on federal, provincial, territorial and Aboriginal Nations to act. These are not “proposals or suggestions” but declarations, all vital to the process of reconciliation and healing.

Calls to Action 1 to 5 deal with child welfare.

“If we can raise a generation of non-Indigenous kids who don’t normalize discrimination, and have the tools to peacefully and respectfully advocate for the end of this kind of apartheid system, then we’ll be in a position where First Nations children never have to recover from their childhoods again,” stated Cindy Blackstock, professor and child advocate, School of Social Work at McGill University, in the McGill Reporter.

Blackstock’s credentials go before her: United Nations consultee, winner of countless accolades, honorary degrees from universities across the country and membership in the Order of Canada.

Call to Action 3, Jordan’s Principle, is a child-first needs-based Canadian principle used to ensure that First Nations children, living on or off reserve, have equitable access to government-funded public services and to not be denied access. This principle is in memory of Jordan River Anderson, from Norway House Cree Nation, in Manitoba, who died at age five after spending years in the hospital, waiting for provincial and federal governments to decide who was responsible to pay for his home-care. Read more about Jordan’s Principle at Assembly of First Nations (afn.ca).

Calls 1,2, 4 and 5 address the following: reducing the number of Indigenous children in the system; affirming the right of Aboriginal governments to establish child welfare agencies; that all agencies and courts take into consideration the legacy of residential schools; that the care and placement of Indigenous children be culturally appropriate; the publishing of annual reports comparing the number and reasons of Indigenous children in care with non-Indigenous people; the enacting of legislation to create national standards for Indigenous child apprehension and custody cases; and the creation of culturally appropriate parenting programs for Indigenous families.

Joyce Jonathan Crone is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter. She is Mohawk, born on the Six Nations Reserve. A retired teacher, she now makes Huntsville her home.

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Joyce Jonathan Crone, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Parry Sound North Star

'Zoom fatigue': New study suggests human brains need in-person interaction

MONTREAL — Communication between people is less effective when it's done through technology as opposed to in person — and remote video chatting may even require a greater level of concentration, a new study by Montreal researchers suggests.

The study's results, its authors say, could help explain "Zoom fatigue" — the discomfort that many felt during the COVID-19 pandemic after spending entire days participating in online meetings.

"Our findings clearly demonstrate the price we pay for technology," the authors say in the study, called "Technologically-assisted communication attenuates inter-brain synchrony," published in the December 2022 issue of the open-access journal NeuroImage.

Guillaume Dumas, a researcher with Université de Montréal and the Sainte-Justine children's hospital, along with colleagues, used an electroencephalogram — a test that measures electrical activity in the brain — to examine the brains of mothers and their children. Sixty-two mother-child pairs were studied; their brain activity was measured when they were talking in person and through a remote video chat.

The researchers found that participants' brains "synchronized" when they were in each other's presence but did not do so when they were chatting through a screen. Researchers said they were able to observe nine important "cross-brain links" between participants during in-person conversation, compared to only one link during the virtual chat.

They said they think the links formed during in-person discussion permit people to communicate emotions or offer non-verbal cues.

"It's the adage about being on the same wavelength," Dumas said, adding that it's clear from the study that certain cross-brain links are absent when people talk through video conferencing software.

"We pay a bit of a price by using technology to communicate by having lower-quality and less authentic communication, compared to what our brain is used to (and) what it was made for."

The human brain is the result of tens of thousands of years of evolution, while technology is rapidly evolving, he said. The brain, he added, is configured to manage interactions and communications with others face to face.

Researchers found that during in-person discussions, the frontal regions of the mother's brain linked to each of the regions measured in the child's brain. The frontal cortex is associated with high social functions, including social cognition and decision-making in a social context.

In-person communication, Dumas said, makes it easier to convey and identify non-verbal cues, to anticipate what the other person might say and to recognize innuendo — subtleties that are more difficult to identify when speaking over a screen.

The study, he added, raises concerns about youth — who heavily use technology to communicate.

There are neuroscience experiments that show there are critical periods for youth to learn certain social norms that can be harder to pick up later in the developmental process, he said. The use of technology also opens the door to certain habits that were more difficult to do in-person, like cyberbullying.

"People who would not have acted out (in person) have much less difficulty in exhibiting toxic behaviour on the internet," Dumas said.

"Zoom fatigue," he said, can be caused by delayed social feedback, difficulty sustaining attention, by people not showing their faces, by posture issues, or by responses that are slow in coming due to muted microphones. Reduced brain synchronization, Dumas said, can be added to that list.

"We may end up concluding that a 15-minute in-person meeting is more effective than an hour-long online meeting."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2023.

Jean-Benoit Legault, The Canadian Press