Study finds family members are most common perpetrators of infant and child homicides in the U.S.

Analysis of 44 years of FBI data sheds light on possible prevention strategies for pediatric homicide

Texas A&M University

Homicide is a leading cause of death among people 19 and younger in the United States, and firearms are used in a large proportion of these crimes. Although the homicide rate for this population declined in the 1990s and 2000s, it has increased every year since 2013, with a large spike during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, new research by Hannah Rochford, PhD, an assistant professor with the Texas A&M University School of Public Health, and two colleagues from the University of Iowa, provides insight into the characteristics of those who committed these crimes and their use of firearms from 1976 to 2020.

“The more national-level information we have about these perpetrators, the better we can develop comprehensive, evidence-based public health policies and prevention strategies,” Rochford said. “Unfortunately, the data has lagged behind data that is known for most other public health challenges. For example, the National Violent Death Reporting System did not exist at all before 2003, did not include a majority of states until 2015, and still does not fully represent violent deaths in all states. This makes it difficult to learn from past trends, like the youth violence surge of the late 1980s and early 1990s.”

For their study, published in Injury Epidemiology, the researchers sought to fill these gaps by describing trends between 1976-2020 in perpetrator characteristics (sex, age and relationship to victim) and firearm presence by the age, sex, and race of U.S. homicide victims from birth to 19 years of age.

To do so, researchers applied the multiply-imputed version of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 1976–2020 Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR).

“The unimputed SHR is limited by ‘unit missingness’ because not every law enforcement agency provides data for the reports every year, and ‘item missingness’ because some homicide incidents were missing case information,” Rochford said. “For example, more than one quarter of homicide incidents were missing information on the perpetrator’s age, sex and race.”

After stratifying the descriptive analyses by victim age group, sex, race and five-year time periods, the team found that family members were the most common perpetrator of infant and toddler (ages 0–4) and child (ages 5–12) homicides, and acquaintances accounted for the majority of adolescent (ages 13–19) homicides. One quarter of adolescent homicides with female victims were perpetrated by an intimate partner.

The team found there was a sustained increase in the proportion of homicides committed with a firearm. From 2016 to 2020, the proportion of homicides that involved firearms was an all-time high across the study period for three categories: infants and toddlers at 14.8 percent, children at 53.1 percent, and adolescents at 88.5 percent. Firearm homicide was particularly burdensome to Black pediatric victims, with Black infants and toddlers experiencing twice the burden as White infants and toddlers, for example.

“These differences appear to align with developmental changes in family dependency and interaction, peer and romantic relations, and age-related role independence,” Rochford said. “For example, adult female family members were responsible for more than a quarter of all infant and toddler homicides, but to less than 1 percent of adolescent homicides.”

Rochford said these findings indicate that policy interventions that improve family stability and well-being may be most effective at preventing infant, toddler and child homicides, and programs that target peer and community relationships, as well as policies that focus on firearm access, may be more crucial for preventing adolescent homicides.

By Ann Kellett, Texas A&M University School of Public Health

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Journal

Injury Epidemiology

DOI

10.1186/s40621-024-00518-0 

Article Title

Perpetrator characteristics and firearm use in pediatric homicides: Supplementary Homicide Reports - United States, 1976 to 2020

OBAMACARE

Affordable care act may increase access to colon cancer care for underserved groups

American Association for Cancer Research

LOS ANGELES – The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has led to increased guideline-concordant care for colon cancer among non-white patients, patients from rural areas, and patients from the most deprived neighborhoods in Pennsylvania, according to results presented at the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, held September 21-24, 2024.

“The ACA was the largest change to the health insurance system in the United States since the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960s, but there is limited evidence on how it affected cancer treatment for different patient populations,” explained Sriya Kudaravalli, a third-year medical student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who presented the study. “We were interested in examining changes in receipt of guideline-concordant cancer treatment across various racial and socioeconomic groups after ACA insurance expansions. Understanding these changes can inform future policies to address treatment disparities.”

Kudaravalli explained that receiving guideline-concordant care is associated with improved cancer outcomes, including survival, and that insurance access is an important determinant of receiving guideline-concordant care. In the study, Kudaravalli and colleagues defined guideline-concordant care for stage 3 colon cancer as the use of adjuvant chemotherapy and the resection of affected regional lymph nodes based on medical literature and the criteria established by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The retrospective study then examined data between 2010 and 2019 from the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry for 3,290 patients aged 26-64 who were diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. The year the main insurance expansions under the ACA were implemented, 2014, served as the cutoff between pre- and post-ACA.

They compared the receipt of guideline-concordant care over the two time periods across several socioeconomic factors including, age, sex, race/ethnicity, insurance status, community type, and area deprivation index (ADI, a measurement developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin to rank neighborhoods by socioeconomic disadvantage based on variables related to income, education, employment, and housing quality). In their study, Kudaravalli and colleagues grouped ADI scores into quartiles, with ADI quartile 1 representing the least disadvantaged neighborhoods and ADI quartile 4 representing the most disadvantaged neighborhoods.

About two-thirds of patients in the sample had private insurance (63.7%), 10.5% were covered by Medicare, 11.9% by Medicaid, and 13.8% were either uninsured or had an insurance status that was unknown or from another source. The study population included mostly males (54.5%), non-Hispanic whites (79.8%), and people living in urban areas (87.9%). About 4% were non-Hispanic Blacks and 3.6% were Hispanics with 7.5% living in large towns, 2.5% in small towns, and 2.1% in rural areas. Each of these variables was balanced pre- and post-ACA based on standardized mean differences.

Across the entire study period, 82.8% of patients received guideline-concordant care. However, post-ACA, the receipt of guideline-concordant care increased on average per year for non-white patients (7.8%), those in rural areas (7.7%), and those in ADI quartile 4 neighborhoods (3.5%). 

“Implementation of the ACA is associated with an increase in the quality of colon cancer care for underserved groups,” Kudaravalli said. “Availability of insurance coverage is important for reducing disparities in cancer care and outcomes. States that haven’t yet expanded Medicaid are missing an opportunity to improve access to guideline-concordant treatment for cancer.”

Kudaravalli said they plan to also examine the effect of the ACA on receipt of guideline-concordant care for prostate cancer and lung cancer.

Limitations of this study include the fact that patients with missing variables who were excluded from the final results tended to be from underserved groups, which could have decreased the size of the effect. Additionally, the data comes from a single state.

The research was supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Kudaravalli reports no conflicts of interest.

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COI Statement

The research was supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Kudaravalli reports no conflicts of interest.

 

Study shows psychedelic drug psilocybin gives comparable long-term antidepressant effects to standard antidepressants, but may offer additional benefits

Psilocybin as good as SSRI for depression, but doesn’t lower sex drive, gives better sense of well-being and psychosocial functioning

European College of Neuropsychopharmacology

A direct comparison between the experimental psychedelic drug psilocybin and a standard SSRI antidepressant shows similar improvement of depressive symptoms, but that psilocybin offers additional longer-term benefits.

The comparison, between psilocybin (the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms”) and the SSRI escitalopram gave similar long-term improvements in depressive symptoms over a 6-month period, however patients taking psilocybin also reported better psychosocial functioning including experiencing a greater sense of meaning in life and psychological connectedness.

The work is presented for the first time at the ECNP Congress in Milan. A related paper will appear in the peer-reviewed journal Lancet eClinicalMedicine1 to coincide with the conference presentation (see details below). Lead researcher Mr Tommaso Barba (PhD candidate from Imperial College, London) said:

“This is the first work to compare the long-term effects of these two drugs in the context of overall well-being, not just freedom from depression.  In previous work we had found that both treatments led to comparable improvements in alleviating symptoms of depression at the 6-week mark, such as sadness and negative emotions.  However, this work shows that psilocybin outperformed escitalopram in several measures of well-being, meaning in life, work and social functioning. These results appeared to be maintained over a 6-month follow-up period. In addition, in previous work* we had found that psilocybin also improves sexual drive, in contrast to SSRIs which tend to lower libido in many patients. So overall it seems psilocybin might give additional positive mental health benefits.”  

SSRI drugs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft, are one of the main types of drugs used to treat depression. However, around a third of patients don’t respond to SSRI treatment, so for them psilocybin may offer an alternative, although this was not studied in this trial.

Tommaso Barba continued:

“SSRIs work well, but not for everyone. They are also associated with some side effects. However this work implies that psilocybin generally seems to offer a real alternative, and perhaps additional benefits, to people who are worried about taking conventional antidepressants”.

The researchers, from Imperial College in London, undertook a 6-month study (phase 2, double-blind, randomised controlled trial) with 59 patients with moderate to severe depression. 30 were treated with a single dose of psilocybin, 29 patients were given a six-week course of escitalopram. Each group received similar psychological support of around 20 hours in total. Both groups showed significant improvement in depressive symptoms, even up to 6 months after treatment (the researchers stopped monitoring at 6 months). However those given psilocybin reported greater improvements in social functioning and psychological connectedness, with large effect sizes.

Co-first author Dr David Erritzoe, Clinical Director and Deputy Head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College, London, commented:

“This is important because improving connectedness and having greater meaning in life can significantly enhance a person's quality of life and long-term mental health. The study suggests that psilocybin therapy might be a more holistic treatment option for depression, addressing both the symptoms of depression and overall well-being. This could make a substantial difference in the overall happiness and daily activities of those suffering from depression, providing a more joined-up approach to mental health treatment”.

The researchers note that the patients were only treated for 6 weeks, and that many of the patients received additional treatments over the 6-month follow up.

Dr Erritzoe cautioned:

“Psilocybin is still an experimental drug; it has not yet been approved for general use. It is administered in highly controlled and protected environments: these precautions are not found in recreational psychedelic use, which is known for having unpredictable and potentially harmful effects, especially for vulnerable people struggling with mental health issues”. 

Commenting, Johan Lundberg (Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the

Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm) said:

“This report is an important attempt to compare the clinical value of psilocybin compared to a state-of-the-art treatment of major depressive disorder. The results come with several caveats, including the lack of a non-inferiority analysis and failure to report other interventions given during the follow-up period. That said, as a hypothesis generating piece it may benefit the field substantially.  For now, we don’t know if psilocybin will be approved for the treatment of major depression, but if so, it won’t be for everyone. Some future patients might prefer psychedelic treatment over SSRI, but some patients may be intimidated by the dramatic alterations in perception and confrontations with challenging emotions that psychedelic drugs promote”.

This is an independent comment, Professor Lundberg was not involved in this work.

Notes:

1. Publication details: Effect of psilocybin versus escitalopram on depression symptom severity in patients with moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder: observational 6-month follow-up of a phase 2, double-blind, randomised, controlled trial. In press at Lancet eClinicalMedicine. Authors: David Erritzoe, Tommaso Barba, Kyle T. Greenway, Roberta Murphy, Jonny Martell, Bruna Giribaldi, Christopher Timmermann, Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner, Michelle Baker Jones, David Nutt, Brandon Weiss, and Robin Carhart-Harris. Paper reference 10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102799
2. See Psychedelic experiences linked with improved sexual function | Imperial News | Imperial College London

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Method of Research

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

Mount Sinai expands Psychedelic Research Center with new facility in upper Manhattan

The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine

 

image: 

From left to right:

Dr. Amy Lehrner, Dr. Rachel Yehuda, Renee Parsons, Bob Parsons, Dr. Eric Nestler, Dr. Rene Kahn. 

view more 

Credit: Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System this week celebrated the opening of an expansion of its psychedelic psychotherapy research center into a new location and announced a foundational $5 million gift from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. The center has been renamed The Parsons Research Center for Psychedelic Healing.

The new location is designed to support the Center's capacity to facilitate a growing number of rigorous clinical trials that focus on well-known compounds like MDMA, psilocybin, ketamine, and potentially others in the future. These chemical compounds have garnered significant attention in academic medicine for their potential to alleviate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and other stress-related conditions.

The Foundation’s gift, which comes at a pivotal time for the field, will expand the Center's capacity for therapy, research, and therapist training, including a primary focus on veterans.

Located at 600 West 112th Street, on the southwest corner of Broadway, the new space will house six treatment rooms and a group therapy room, with features to enable therapy supervision, teaching, and research. Large floor-to-ceiling windows provide natural light and a view of the surrounding tree-lined streets.

“Since its initial launch in 2021, our psychedelic psychotherapy research center has made progress towards our understanding of the therapeutic potential for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy,” said Rachel Yehuda, PhD, Director of The Parsons Research Center for Psychedelic Healing. “The recent decision by the Food and Drug Administration to withhold approval for MDMA-assisted therapy has cast some uncertainty as to how and when psychedelic therapy will be broadly available, but has also made clear that there is a critical need to advance rigorous psychedelic research. Our team remains steadfast in our commitment to this work and to ensure the incredible momentum that has been generated by academic researchers does not falter.”  

Dr. Yehuda went on to say, “This is an existential moment for the field of psychedelic research in mental health, and rather than backing away from investment, as some are doing, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation is shining a light on what has become a darker path forward. Thanks to their vision and commitment and the continued generosity of our donors, we will meet the needs of the moment.” 

“My own battle with PTSD lasted for decades after I returned from the Vietnam War.  It was psychedelic-assisted therapy that finally brought me home after all those years,” said Bob Parsons, United States Marine Corps Vietnam war veteran and co-founder of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “Despite the FDA’s recent decision on MDMA, we’re digging in and funding more research because I have all the evidence I need—I know it works.”

The expansion of the Center reflects Mount Sinai’s commitment to providing institutional resources, strong scientific vision, and the established track record necessary to push forward with groundbreaking clinical trials. The gift from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation reflects an understanding by the Foundation that the moment demands serious and careful research and a deep commitment to uncovering effective treatments for veterans, who disproportionately experience conditions like PTSD that have been resistant to conventional therapies.

“The space was designed to embrace the importance of setting in therapeutic outcomes. From the moment our patients enter the beautifully designed Center, they will feel that they are in a place of safety and healing, which is paramount to maximizing the impact of the therapy sessions,” said Amy Lehrner, PhD, Clinical Director of The Parsons Research Center for Psychedelic Healing. “The views of nature, natural light, and complementary design will communicate serenity and warmth, setting a new standard for applying this nascent science. While solutions for traumatized people have been few and far between until now, with the advances we have made through this new space and the highly trained practitioners within, we now see renewed hope and healing.”

The Center is currently developing protocols for several studies, including pivotal group therapy studies, which required the creation of a large group space. The Center's expanded capacity allows for multiple simultaneous dosing sessions and group integration sessions, essential for advancing this critical work.

Mount Sinai investigators affiliated with the Center will also be conducting research on ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and psilocybin for patients with major depression and for the treatment of intergenerational trauma, as well as MDMA-assisted therapy for patients with eating disorders. Almost all trials will examine the mechanism of action of psychedelics using the latest developments in neuroimaging, molecular neuroscience, and natural language processing. These initiatives underscore the Center's role as a leader in developing innovative and effective treatments for mental health conditions. The Center also plans to continue to expand its focus on training and education of mental health clinicians in the use of psychedelic-assisted therapies.  The Center has provided training and education free of charge to 250 clinicians thanks to a prior $5 million gift from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation in 2021.

“We are hopeful that the cutting-edge research and training being done at Mount Sinai will go on to transform the lives of veterans, and others, suffering from debilitating mental health conditions,” said Renee Parsons, co-founder of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “Bob and I know firsthand the detrimental impacts of PTSD—not only on the individual but their entire family. We remain committed to battling the stigma surrounding mental health and shining a light on promising treatments like psychedelic-assisted therapy.”

“New treatment options are desperately needed for the millions of people, both civilians and veterans, who suffer from mood and anxiety disorders like PTSD and major depression,” said Dennis S. Charney, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of Icahn Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System. “Mount Sinai researchers lead on the frontier of biomedicine, applying scientific rigor while also challenging clinical and scientific dogma to emerge as true innovators. Under Dr. Yehuda’s leadership and through the unwavering support of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, this new space enables us to propel our efforts with the speed, safety, and quality that will have a meaningful impact on the field of psychedelic psychotherapy and the patients we serve.”

About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across eight hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.

Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2024-2025. For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

About The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation
The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation offers support to nonprofit organizations successfully working to empower, educate, nurture and nourish people during what is often the darkest time of their lives. Founded in 2012 by philanthropists and business leaders Bob and Renee Parsons to provide hope and life-changing assistance to the country’s most vulnerable populations, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation offers critical funding at critical times to those in need. The Foundation’s giving is driven by the core belief that all people – regardless of race, religion, roots, economic status, sexual orientation or gender identity – deserve access to quality healthcare, education and a safe place to call home. Follow @WeDealInHope on social media or visit TBRPF.org, to learn more about partner organizations and the important work being done in the community.

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Entrance to The Parsons Research Center for Psychedelic Healing at Mount Sinai

Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy treatment room within The Parsons Researh Center for Psychedelic Healing at Mount Sinai 

Waiting Area within The Parsons Research Center for Psychedelic Healing at Mount Sinai

Interior of The Parsons Research Center for Psychedlic Healing at Mount Sinai

Credit

Mount Sinai Health System

 

UK study shows there is less stigma against LGBTQ people than you might think, but people with mental health problems continue to experience higher levels of stigma

European College of Neuropsychopharmacology

A study of stigma against LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) people in British Society has shown that there is less stigma against these groups that might be expected from social and media perceptions. The same study looked at stigma against people with mental health problems and discovered that they continue to experience higher levels of stigma. This work will be presented at the ECNP conference in Milan. This is an advance press release see note below.

Researcher Professor Karen Ersche (University of Cambridge) said, “Our aim was to look at the level of stigma against LGBTQ people in British society, and also to look at stigma against people with mental health problems. This is the first such survey to compare what society thinks to what individuals think about minority groups, the results surprised us”.

The researchers carried out 2 separate studies, measuring stigma via the Perceived Discrimination and Devaluation Scale*. They first questioned 264 people about how mental health problems are perceived by society. The researchers also broke down the answers according to whether or not the respondents had experienced close contact with people with mental health problems or not. They then asked how they personally felt about people with mental health problems.

For the second part of the study, the researchers asked 124 people similar questions about how they felt society would perceive LGBTQ people, and how they themselves felt about them.

Researcher Mr Charlie Evans (University of Cambridge), who conducted the study, said, “It’s difficult for people to admit to any prejudice against a particular group, so we first asked participants what levels of stigma exists in society- this gave them a reference point In each case, we found that respondents perceived society to be less accepting of LGBTQ orientation or mental health problems than they themselves were.

We found that the societal level of stigma against LGBTQ people was less than we might have expected. Personal and societal stigma against LGBTQ people is less than the level perceived against people with mental health problems.

I think this throws up two questions. Why is societal mental health stigma perceived more strongly than LGBTQ stigma? And why do people with mental health problems self-stigmatise more than LGBTQ people? Perhaps this has something to do with the idea that a mental health problem is experienced as a personal deficit rather than an identity; there are no ‘mental health pride” celebrations for example.

Our work may suggest that different approaches are needed to reduce stigma. It seems awareness campaigns have helped reduce LGBTQ stigma, given that  prior contact with LGBTQ people tends to reduce stigma, but this effect is less marked with mental health stigma. We need to be open in looking for what works with overcoming mental health stigma. It may also be useful to undertake similar studies throughout Europe, to understand what level of stigma exists in different countries.”

Commenting, Professor Pedro Morgado (School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal).said:

“The most relevant finding of the study is the existence of significant stigma both against LGBTQ people and against people with mental illness. These are early results and should be interpreted with caution, considering the risk of minimizing the severe impacts (also on mental health) of stigma and discrimination against LGBTQ people. Of course, LGBTQ issues relate to a stable and defining characteristic of individuals, whereas mental illness refers to a pathology.

“Even though the results cannot be generalized beyond the UK, they show that the work being done in the fight against LGBTQ discrimination produces positive outcomes and should be continued and deepened. So, I would welcome studies on stigma from other countries. Regarding mental illness, interventions to reduce stigma should leverage some of the models used in LGBTQ issues, contributing to greater visibility of people with mental illness, increased knowledge about the diseases, and a better understanding of their nature and impacts”.

Dr Morgado (https://icvs.uminho.pt/member/pedro-morgado/) was not involved in this work, this is an independent comment.

Notes

*See Perceived Discrimination and Devaluation Scale: https://supp.apa.org/psycarticles/supplemental/prj0000142/prePRJ20141264Self.pdf

 Norway now has more electric vehicles than petrol-powered cars

 • FRANCE 24 English

Norway's road federation revealed on Tuesday that the number of electric vehicles on its roads was now larger than the number of petrol cars. Though diesel cars are still the most common type of vehicle in the country, EVs could overtake them in 2026. In this edition, we take a look at why Norway is leading the way in the transition to electric mobility. Also on the show, we discover the sweet Algerian spread that's creating a viral sensation in France and attracting the attention of regulators

How plastic pollution poses challenge for Canada marine conservation

Montreal (AFP) – One of the largest producers of plastic waste per capita, Canada is struggling to protect its designated marine protected areas from this pollution, experts warn.


Issued on: 20/09/2024 - 

In 2020, more than 90 percent of plastic waste ended up in landfills or was incinerated, and only seven percent was recycled, according to the Canadian environment ministry 

© Sebastien ST-JEAN / AF

Here are some key points about the issue facing the North American country.

Significant plastic pollution

With more than four million tonnes produced each year, Canada generates "two to four times more" plastic pollution per person than the global average, said Anthony Merante of the NGO Oceana.

In 2020, more than 90 percent of plastic waste ended up in landfills or was incinerated, and only seven percent was recycled, according to the Canadian environment ministry.

The remaining roughly two percent, or 90,000 tonnes, ended up in the environment.

"Plastic pollution is so ubiquitous at this point, we can't protect marine protected areas from plastic pollution unless we stop plastic pollution at the source," said Merante, head of Oceana Canada's plastics campaign.

Globally, annual plastic production has more than doubled in 20 years to reach 460 million tonnes.

Only nine percent is recycled, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

And more than half of it is single-use packaging -- "things that we use for a few moments and that end up lasting hundreds of years," said Merante.
New regulations

In June 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's federal government banned six types of single-use plastics with the goal of achieving zero plastic waste by 2030.

The regulation is being challenged in court by Canadian and American plastics manufacturers, as well as petrochemical firms.

Several municipalities, including Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton, have already banned certain single-use plastics.

More biodegradable utensils are being found on the banks near the island city of Montreal, said Anne-Marie Asselin, a marine biologist who has been carrying out collection campaigns along the Saint Lawrence River for five years.

This shows that people's "behaviors have not changed," but the kind of waste now generated has "much less impact on the environment," she noted.

Ottawa is also working on creating a federal plastics registry.

The goal is to hold manufacturers accountable by requiring them to report on the life cycle of the plastics they put into circulation.

In the case of federal marine protected areas, few measures have been put in place against plastic pollution.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans maintains that it is, however, "taken into account" when creating new marine protected areas and that since 2019, it has been prohibited to dump waste in protected areas.

© 2024 AFP


Scientists track plastic waste in pristine Canada marine park

Petit-Saguenay (Canada) (AFP) – Old tires, discarded cups, and cigarette butts litter the magnificent Saguenay Fjord, a marine protected area in eastern Canada that attracts belugas and other whales seeking respite.

Issued on: 20/09/2024 - 

Viridiana Jimenez, a marine biologist with Reseau Quebec Maritime, collects trash near L'Anse-Saint-Jean © Sebastien ST-JEAN / AFP

Cliffs sculpted by glaciers flank the fjord that connects to the Saint Lawrence River, far from any major city. The marine sanctuary was granted protected status 26 years ago.

"It's one thing to legislate to make it a protected area, but then how do we maintain it?" said Canadian biologist Anne-Marie Asselin before diving in search of trash.

With her team from the Blue Organization, she navigates the brackish waters of the fjord to document pollution in the area.

The objective is twofold: to identify the most common waste to target the plastics that should be banned from sale, and to predict the banks most at risk of being polluted, based in particular on currents, to better target cleaning campaigns.

Worrying trend

Members of the Blue Organization team remove a tire from the waters of the Saguenay Fjord © Sebastien ST-JEAN / AFP

By paddle board, on foot or freediving, Asselin and her crew collect all kinds of waste in the bay of the village of Petit-Saguenay.

Under a blazing hot sun, the group's Laurence Martel sorted the waste by more than 100 criteria, including by brand, to eventually seek to hold producers responsible for their products' entire lifecycle.

"The most popular find is the cigarette butt, it is omnipresent," Martel said.

She noted that a single cigarette butt can contaminate up to 500 liters of water due to the thousands of chemical compounds it contains.

In five years, the team's research has revealed a worrying trend: the concentration of plastic waste is increasing significantly closer to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Atlantic, "suggesting a shift in waste from urban areas towards downstream parts of the river."

"Very often, the smallest plastics are the ones that pollute the most," Martel said.

Ecosystem health

Laurence Martel, plastic pollution project manager for the Blue Organization, sorts waste collected in the Saguenay Fjord © Sebastien ST-JEAN / AFP

Waste becomes microplastics as it disintegrates. Most often invisible to the naked eye, these particles are made of polymers and other toxic compounds that vary from five millimeters to one thousandth of a millimeter.

They are found throughout the food chain of marine life, particularly invertebrates.

The Blue Organization fishes and analyzes these "sentinel species" -- considered gauges of the health of their environment -- during each cleanup operation.

"If your mussels and your invertebrates are starting to suffer, that could be an indicator that the health of the ecosystem is also declining," said Miguel Felismino, of McGill University in Montreal.

Seated on a catamaran, Felismino measured, photographed and arranged the mussel specimens, which he will also analyze in a laboratory to study the effects of microplastics.

Using a homemade pump and a few pipes placed at the front of the boat, he also collected surface water and sediment from the seabed for his research

Behavioral changes

Miguel Felismino of McGill University analyzes mollusks © Sebastien ST-JEAN / AFP

The Blue Organization wants to produce a complete picture of the plastic lifecycle in protected areas such as the Saguenay-Saint Lawrence Marine Park.

But to protect these ecosystems, the solution is "also to trigger behavioral changes" in people, said the biologist Asselin, who called on artists to "raise awareness" of the situation.

This could involve making music from natural sounds or creating a "literary translation" of scientific research, Asselin said.

"With climate change, the soundscapes associated with certain territories are set to evolve," said one such artist, Emilie Danylewick, before plunging her hydrophone into the water to record the sounds.

Danylewick said her work is a "way to preserve the current soundscape memory of the territory."

© 2024 AFP

WAIT, WHAT?!

Two Uruguayans convicted for trafficking $3 mn in cow gallstones

Montevideo (AFP) – Two Uruguayan siblings were sentenced to prison this week for trafficking more than $3 million in bovine gallstones to Hong Kong for use in Chinese medicine, Uruguayan authorities and Interpol said.


Issued on: 20/09/2024 - 

Gallstones found in the bladders of cattle during meat processing are highly prized in Asia, where they are used in alternative medicine 

© Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP/File

A 50-year-old man was sentenced to two years and one month in prison for smuggling and money laundering, while his sister, aged 48, received an 18-month jail sentence for money laundering but was released on probation.

They acquired the gallstones from Uruguayan slaughterhouses, according to the Monday court ruling and Interpol.

Uruguay has more than three cows for each of the country's 3.5 million inhabitants -- the highest number per capita in the world.

It exports most of its production.

The charge sheet said the defendant paid between $198,000 and $200,000 a kilo -- more than the price of gold currently at around $83,000 a kilo -- for the gallstones, which were acquired from slaughterhouse owners or staff in five different Uruguayan departments.

He then sent them by DHL to two companies in Hong Kong identified in the investigation by the initials H.H.L. and H.T.B.T.C.

The investigation revealed he made a profit of about $8,000 per kilo.

Court documents showed he received a total of $3.2 million in bank transfers from his Hong Kong customers and deposited an additional $188,000 into his sister's account.

Uruguayan authorities seized a vehicle and a property in Montevideo belonging to the pair jointly valued at about $2.5 million.

Gallstones found in the bladders of cattle during meat processing are highly prized in Asia, where they are used in alternative medicine for their purported anti-inflammatory properties and to fight fever.

© 2024 AFP

MIGRANT LABOUR

Ohtani makes MLB history with first 50-homer, 50-steal season

Miami (AFP) – Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani made Major League Baseball history on Thursday, becoming the first player ever to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season.

Issued on: 20/09/2024 - 

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hits a home run in the seventh inning against the Miami Marlins © Chris Arjoon / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Ohtani officially established MLB's 50-50 club with a seventh-inning homer in the Dodgers' 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami.

The win clinched the Dodgers' post-season berth -- a first for Ohtani, who never made the playoffs even as he earned two American League Most Valuable Player awards while with the Los Angles Angels.

The Dodgers had runners on the corners when Ohtani came to the plate with two outs in the seventh. He launched a curveball from Mike Baumann over the left centerfield wall.

His second home run of the contest gave him 50 for the season, after two stolen bases earlier in the game pushed his tally of steals to 51.

The Japanese standout had smashed his 49th home run of 2024 in the sixth, a 438-foot blast that tied Shawn Green's record for most by a Dodger in a single season, set in 2001.

And to cap a monster offensive performance, Ohtani added a third home run in the ninth inning, finishing the game with 51 homers and 51 steals so far this season.

He had six hits in six at-bats, including two doubles for a total of five extra-base hits.

He drove in 10 runs and scored four and could only laugh as he returned to the dugout after his final blast, the cheers of fans at LoanDepot Park ringing in his ears.

"To be honest, I'm the one probably most surprised," Ohtani said through a translator of the spectacular show. "I have no idea where this came from, but I'm glad I performed well today."

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, addressing his players in the clubhouse as they celebrated the victory, noted the achievement.

"This is a game that has been played for over 200 years," Roberts said. "And this is something that has never been done."
Something to cherish

But Ohtani himself tried to keep the focus on the team.

"I'm glad that the team won," he said, admitting that with so much attention focused on his 50-50 pursuit, it "was something I wanted to get over as quickly as possible.

"It's something that I'm going to cherish for a very long time."

Already the fastest player to reach 40 homers and 40 stolen bases in a season, Ohtani had nabbed his 50th steal in the first inning when he belted a leadoff double and stole third, his well-timed slide allowing him to evade a tag by Marlins third baseman Connor Norby.

Ohtani scored on a sacrifice fly and one inning later he notched his 51st steal, swiping second after a single.

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani beats the tag by Miami Marlins third baseman Connor Norby to post his 50th stolen base of the MLB season © Megan Briggs / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

With his 50th stolen base, Ohtani surpassed Roberts for the second most by a Japanese-born player in MLB history, a list led by Ichiro Suzuki, who stole 56 in 2001.

Ohtani had earlier this season become MLB's all-time leader in home runs among Japanese-born players when he surpassed the 175 of Hideki Matsui.

The 30-year-old, who signed a record $700 million free agent deal with the Dodgers in the off-season, now has 222 career home runs.

Meanwhile, Ohtani is ramping up his rehabilitation from surgery on his throwing elbow. Unable to showcase his pitching prowess this year, he has been throwing bullpen sessions and could face hitters soon.

© 2024 AFP

 A New Left Wing Party in the UK?

September 18, 2024  in Uncategorized by craig

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Keir Starmer has left about 70% of the landscape of historic western political and economic thought vacant to his left. It is unsurprising that a new party will arrive to claim the unoccupied ground.

A meeting at the weekend discussed a new party provisionally called The Collective, which may be led by Jeremy Corbyn, who addressed the meeting. That was strangely secretive but seems to have been an adjunct of Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Movement international conference, which occurred simultaneously and featured many of the same cast.

The Collective is not new. This name was used for a loose coalition of independent candidates in the last general election, although it did not register as a political party so the name was not on the ballot paper. I had expected it to join forces with the Workers Party for which I stood, which did not happen. I think a non-aggression pact was broadly observed, though I recall grumbles.

My general attitude is positive – I think a new left party is urgently needed as it sinks in to people just how right wing Starmer is. He is also becoming massively unpopular very quickly, while the Tories still are.

But I believe these practical points are important on the detail of what needs to be done on the left in the UK today.

1) Corbyn and Galloway must come together.

The Workers’ Party got 210,000 votes at the General Election, which is a good start that cannot be ignored, and is building a membership and organisational base.

I count both men as friends and I know they get on fine on a personal basis. Jeremy remains the leader who gained three million more general election votes in 2017 than Keir Starmer did in 2024. George Galloway has a large base of dedicated support.

The failure to come together as a united left in the 2024 general election was a historic opportunity lost. The blame for this did not lie with Galloway, who in January 2024 himself put a motion to the Workers Party conference enabling such merging. I did not discuss it direct with Jeremy, but I believe he thought his best chance of election was as an Independent.

My own belief is that a Corbyn led party might have won several seats and this was a tactical mistake by Jeremy; whereas George needs to tone down his populist social conservatism, which alienated many around Jeremy, if the aim is for a united left.

The biggest mistake of all would be for the two parties to refuse to unite; which sadly is far from impossible. Initially any new party needs to be led by Jeremy to establish itself. George should be Deputy Leader. Neither man would wish to serve for an extended period.

I would like to see Andrew Feinstein eventually lead, not least because he most definitely would not want to do it.

2) The party must be anti-zionist.

The destruction of Jeremy’s very real prospects of being Prime Minister by the utterly ludicrous, Establishment organised slur of anti-semitism cannot simply be ignored.

The truth is, I am very sorry to say, that as Labour leader Jeremy was far too willing to attempt to appease the zionist lobby, by throwing people who would have walked through fire for him under the bus. Tony Greenstein, Jackie Walker, Ken Livingstone and Chris Williamson are among the scores of people who come to mind.

A great many of the expelled activists were Jewish.

A new party of the left should make plain that these anti-genocide activists are positively welcome, and celebrated.

3) The party must avoid cliquishness

If the new party is essentially Jeremy’s project, this is a problem. He does tend to surround himself with a very tight and unchanging group. If you will allow me a moment of delusion of grandeur, the fact that they held a conference on forming a new party of the left and did not bother to contact Craig Murray is an indicator they are not reaching out widely.

According to the report in the Canary, the Director of the new party will be Pamela Featherstone, who is Director of Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project, unelected to either position.

I exclude Ms Fetherstone from this next, because I simply do not know in her case. But one irony, and the reason so many decent activists were stabbed in the back when Corbyn was leader, is that many of the close Corbyn clique are in fact zionists.

They are “soft” zionists, you know, the ones who want to treat the natives kindly, pat Palestinians on the head and build them cultural centres in their reservations. But zionists they are. They support the continued existence of the terrorist entity in the Middle East.

The Peace and Justice Project has laudable aims and does advocacy and campaigning work worldwide, with a focus inter alia on South America, influenced by Jeremy’s impressive and underrated wife Laura. But I am obliged to say it is not the most transparent of organisations.

The Peace and Justice Project Ltd is a private company. I believe it has a very serious membership income but I am not entirely sure what it is. The published accounts tell you next to nothing, certainly not its income or membership figures.

There are a number of linked organisations – Progressive International is another – which appear to primarily exist to pay their staff to do stuff that other activists do for nothing, only with added layers of self-importance and entitlement.

Perhaps the paying bit is a good thing, and doubtless the abuse is much worse in the world of right wing think tanks. But there is just something about it all that does not quite sit right with me, and makes me think it is not a good basis for a mass political party.

So, in short, a genuine new party of the left cannot just automatically get run by the bunch around Jeremy Corbyn, as appears to be the presumption.

4) The party must avoid British unionism

I have always found it very strange that there are those who support Irish unification but oppose Scottish Independence. The current support of the UK state for the genocide in Gaza is just one example of its malevolence, which is a feature and not a glitch.

In Scotland the large majority of the left wing are pro-Independence; while the right, including the Starmerite right, are overwhelmingly unionist. The space for a radical left unionist party is very small indeed.

The desire to break up the imperialist UK – whose continuing Imperial instincts have helped devastate Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and Palestine in recent times – is a perfectly decent left wing impulse.

The Alba Party in Scotland is already anti-NATO and anti-monarchy, among other left wing markers.

Ideally, a new left party should simply leave Scotland (and perhaps Wales) alone. If it does wish to campaign in Scotland, it should take the line that Independence is for the Scottish people alone to decide, and suppport the unfettered right of the Scottish people to choose, at a minimum.

But any genuine left wing party should wish to break up the rogue UK state.

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